Investigating possible ethnicity and sex bias in clinical examiners: an analysis of data from the MRCP(UK) PACES and nPACES examinations

Bias of clinical examiners against some types of candidate, based on characteristics such as sex or ethnicity, would represent a threat to the validity of an examination, since sex or ethnicity are 'construct-irrelevant' characteristics. In this paper we report a novel method for assessing sex and ethnic bias in over 2000 examiners who had taken part in the PACES and nPACES (new PACES) examinations of the MRCP(UK)

Musso, Cornelio

Predicatore, vescovo e padre conciliare, il francescano conventuale Cornelio Musso compie la sua formazione filosofico-teologica e umanistica a Padova, addottorandosi nel 1533. In quegli stessi anni comincia il suo impegno di predicatore in lingua italiana, che proseguir\ue0 intensa lungo tutta la sia vita, da numerosi e diversi pulpiti italiani e soprattutto a Roma. Chiamatovi nel 1538 da Paolo III, che poi lo nomina vescovo di Bitonto, e poi ancora al servizio di Pio IV Medici, egli partecipa ai lavori del Concilio di Trento, adoperandosi per promuovere una autentica riforma della Chiesa di Roma e fiducioso nella possibilit\ue0 della sua riunificazione. Il richiamo alla necessit\ue0 della conversione personale e interiore, raggiungibile attraverso l\u2019imitazione di Cristo, e premessa indispensabile a una riforma dell\u2019istituzione ecclesiastica, \ue8 al centro della sua predicazione, di contenuto morale, pi\uf9 che teologico, e diretta a muovere i sentimenti e la volont\ue0. Fiduciosa nelle risorse della parola eloquente, l\u2019oratoria sacra di Musso si ispira ai grandi modelli della retorica classica e patristica, lasciandosi definitivamente alle spalle modi e forme della predicazione medioevale. Essa inaugura cos\uec la storia moderna del genere dell\u2019eloquenza sacra e segna la strada su cui si sarebbero incamminati il suo pi\uf9 celebre successore, Francesco Panigarola, e i rappresentanti della rigogliosa stagione secentesca.Cornelio Musso was a Franciscan preacher, bishop, and a conciliar father. He completed his philosophical-theological and humanistic studies at the University of Padua in 1533. In those same years, he began his commitment as a preacher in Italian, which continued throughout his life from many Italian pulpits, though especially he prayed in Rome, called by the Pope Paul III in 1538, who later appointed him bishop of Bitonto. Still confident in the reunification of the Church, Musso participated in the Council of Trent and worked to promote an authentic reform of the Roman Church. The central theme of his preaching is the necessity of personal and interior conversion, reachable through the imitation of Christ. This moral change is regarded as an indispensable premise for a reform of the ecclesiastical institution. His preaching relied on few key elements, such as Humanist culture, Franciscan spirituality, and Augustinian inspiration. These combined intellectual sources had an impact on the characterizing aspects of his praying, in particular on the moral content, on the Christocentric religiosity, and on the emotional tension to move the feelings and the will of the believers. Confident in the power of the word, rhetorically elevated, Musso\u2019s sermons were inspired by the great models of classical and patristic rhetoric, leaving behind forms of medieval preaching. His sermons paved the way for the modern history of sacred eloquence and inspired Musso\u2019s most famous successor, Francesco Panigarola, as well as representatives of the flourishing seventeenth-century literary and religious scenes

The Transcription Profile of Tax-3 Is More Similar to Tax-1 than Tax-2: Insights into HTLV-3 Potential Leukemogenic Properties

International audienceHuman T-cell Lymphotropic Viruses type 1 (HTLV-1) is the etiological agent of Adult T-cell Leukemia/Lymphoma. Although associated with lymphocytosis, HTLV-2 infection is not associated with any malignant hematological disease. Similarly, no infection-related symptom has been detected in HTLV-3-infected individuals studied so far. Differences in individual Tax transcriptional activity might account for these distinct physiopathological outcomes. Tax-1 and Tax-3 possess a PDZ binding motif in their sequence. Interestingly, this motif, which is critical for Tax-1 transforming activity, is absent from Tax-2. We used the DNA microarray technology to analyze and compare the global gene expression profiles of different T- and non T-cell types expressing Tax-1, Tax-2 or Tax-3 viral transactivators. In a T-cell line, this analysis allowed us to identify 48 genes whose expression is commonly affected by all Tax proteins and are hence characteristic of the HTLV infection, independently of the virus type. Importantly, we also identified a subset of genes (n = 70) which are specifically up-regulated by Tax-1 and Tax-3, while Tax-1 and Tax-2 shared only 1 gene and Tax-2 and Tax-3 shared 8 genes. These results demonstrate that Tax-3 and Tax-1 are closely related in terms of cellular gene deregulation. Analysis of the molecular interactions existing between those Tax-1/Tax-3 deregulated genes then allowed us to highlight biological networks of genes characteristic of HTLV-1 and HTLV-3 infection. The majority of those up-regulated genes are functionally linked in biological processes characteristic of HTLV-1-infected T-cells expressing Tax such as regulation of transcription and apoptosis, activation of the NF-κB cascade, T-cell mediated immunity and induction of cell proliferation and differentiation. In conclusion, our results demonstrate for the first time that, in T- and non T-cells types, Tax-3 is a functional analogue of Tax-1 in terms of transcriptional activation and suggest that HTLV-3 might share pathogenic features with HTLV-1 in vivo