The 2010 Campus Climate Survey: Status Characteristics as Predictors of Campus Climate Perceptions

Diversity issues are still real and relevant concerns for organizations; university campuses are no exception. This study surveyed the faculty and staff at Clemson University in South Carolina about their experiences with diversity issues and the campus climate. The research question evaluated what influenced employees to have a negative perception of the campus climate. In addition to status characteristics, a respondent\u27s level of cultural competence and exposure to harassment and discrimination were considered. A respondent\u27s race was found to be the most influential of the status characteristics while experiencing harassment or discrimination was also significant. Cultural competence was significant in some models, pointing to the appropriateness of incorporating this relatively new concept into the campus climate literature. Administrators and other stakeholders at the university can use this information when making policy decisions or changes. In addition, the Cultural Competence and Campus Climate Indices created through this study hold promise for subsequent research

Reduced-Intensity Allogeneic Transplantation Provides High Event-Free and Overall Survival in Patients with Advanced Indolent B Cell Malignancies: CALGB 109901

CALGB conducted a Phase II study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen with allogeneic transplantation to treat patients with recurrent low grade B cell malignancies. Patients over age 18 with a diagnosis of relapsed, chemotherapy-sensitive disease underwent transplantation with a matched sibling donor and conditioning with cyclophosphamide (1 g/m2/d × 3) and fludarabine phosphate (25 mg/m2/d × 5). GVH prophylaxis included cyclosporine or tacrolimus plus low-dose methotrexate. Forty-four evaluable patients with a median age of 53 and median of two prior regimens were accrued. Sixteen patients had follicular NHL and 28 had histologies including 7 indolent B cell lymphomas, 4 mantle cell, 15 chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and 2 prolymphocytic leukemia pts. The six-month treatment-related mortality (TRM) was 2.4% and three-year TRM was 9%. Three-year event-free and overall survival were.75 and .81 for the follicular patients, .59 and .71 for the CLL/PLL patients, and .55 and .64 for the other histologies. The incidence of grade 2–4 acute graft vs host disease (GVHD) was 29% and extensive chronic GVHD was 18%. This report demonstrates that allogeneic sibling transplantation with a reduced intensity conditioning regimen is safe and efficacious for patients with advanced indolent B cell malignancies enrolled on a Cooperative Group study

Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Patients with Hematologic Malignancies Who Relapse following Autologous Transplantation: A Multi-institutional Prospective Study from the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB trial 100002)

We prospectively treated 80 patients with relapse of malignancy or secondary myelodysplasia after autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AHCT) with allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) using a reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen of fludarabine 150 mg/m2 plus intravenous busulfan 6.4 mg/kg. Both sibling (MSD) and unrelated donors (MUD) were allowed. Patients transplanted from MUD donors received more intensive graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis, including rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin 10 mg/kg, mycophenolate mofetil, and an extended schedule of tacrolimus. With a median follow-up of 3.1 years (0.9 to 5.8), TRM at 6 months and 2 years was 8% and 23% respectively. Neither TRM nor the rates of acute GVHD were different in those with sibling or MUD donors. Donor CD3 cell chimerism > 90% at day +30 was achieved more often in patients with MUD than with MSD donors, 70% versus 23% (p<0.0001). Median EFS was higher in patients who achieved early full donor chimerism (14.2 versus 8 mo, p = 0.0395). Allo-HCT using this RIC regimen can be performed with low TRM in patients who have received a prior AHCT. Efforts to improve early donor CD3 chimerism may improve EFS

Lenalidomide after Stem-Cell Transplantation for Multiple Myeloma

Data are lacking on whether lenalidomide maintenance therapy prolongs the time to disease progression after autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation in patients with multiple myeloma

Schizophrenia-associated somatic copy-number variants from 12,834 cases reveal recurrent NRXN1 and ABCB11 disruptions

While germline copy-number variants (CNVs) contribute to schizophrenia (SCZ) risk, the contribution of somatic CNVs (sCNVs)—present in some but not all cells—remains unknown. We identified sCNVs using blood-derived genotype arrays from 12,834 SCZ cases and 11,648 controls, filtering sCNVs at loci recurrently mutated in clonal blood disorders. Likely early-developmental sCNVs were more common in cases (0.91%) than controls (0.51%, p = 2.68e−4), with recurrent somatic deletions of exons 1–5 of the NRXN1 gene in five SCZ cases. Hi-C maps revealed ectopic, allele-specific loops forming between a potential cryptic promoter and non-coding cis-regulatory elements upon 5′ deletions in NRXN1. We also observed recurrent intragenic deletions of ABCB11, encoding a transporter implicated in anti-psychotic response, in five treatment-resistant SCZ cases and showed that ABCB11 is specifically enriched in neurons forming mesocortical and mesolimbic dopaminergic projections. Our results indicate potential roles of sCNVs in SCZ risk

Mouse myotomes pairs exhibit left-right asymmetric expression of MLC3F and α-<i>skeletal</i> actin

Most muscle originates from the myotomal compartment of the somites, paired structures flanking the neural tube. Whereas vertebrate embryos show molecular and morphological asymmetry about the left-right body axis, somitic myogenesis is thought to occur symmetrically. Here, we provide the first evidence that myotome pairs are transiently left-right asymmetric, with higher expression of α-skeletal actin and myosin light chain 3F (MLC3F) on the left side between embryonic day 9.5-10.25. In iv mutants with situs inversus, the asymmetric expression of α-skeletal actin and MLC3F was inverted, showing that this process is regulated by global left-right axis cues, initiated before gastrulation. However, although left-sided identity is later maintained by Pitx2 genes, we found that Pitx2c null embryos have normal left-biased expression of α-skeletal actin and MLC3F. Myotome asymmetry, therefore, is downstream of the iv mutation but upstream of, or unrelated to, the Pitx2c pathway