Spatial Analysis of Environmental Factors Related to Lyme Disease in Alabama by Means of NASA Earth Observation Systems

This slide presentation reviews the epidemiology of Lyme Disease that accounts for more than 95% or vector borne diseases in the United States. The history, symptoms and the life cycle of the tick, the transmitting agent of Lyme Disease, a map that shows the cases reported to the CDC between1990 and 2006 and the number of cases in Alabama by year from 1986 to 2007. A NASA project is described, the goals of which are to (1) Demonstrate the presence of the chain of infection of Lyme disease in Alabama (2) Identify areas with environmental factors that support tick population using NASA Earth Observation Systems data in selected areas of Alabama and (3) Increase community awareness of Lyme disease and recommend primary and secondary prevention strategies. The remote sensing methods included: Analyzed Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and DigitalGlobe Quickbird satellite imagery from summer months and Performed image analyses in ER Mapper 7.1. Views from the ASTER and Quickbird land cover are shown, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) algorithm was applied to all ASTER and Quickbird imagery. The use of the images to obtain the level of soil moisture is reviewed, and this analysis was used along with the NDVI, was used to identify the areas that support the tick population

Multiplatform Analysis of 12 Cancer Types Reveals Molecular Classification within and across Tissues of Origin

Recent genomic analyses of pathologically-defined tumor types identify “within-a-tissue” disease subtypes. However, the extent to which genomic signatures are shared across tissues is still unclear. We performed an integrative analysis using five genome-wide platforms and one proteomic platform on 3,527 specimens from 12 cancer types, revealing a unified classification into 11 major subtypes. Five subtypes were nearly identical to their tissue-of-origin counterparts, but several distinct cancer types were found to converge into common subtypes. Lung squamous, head & neck, and a subset of bladder cancers coalesced into one subtype typified by TP53 alterations, TP63 amplifications, and high expression of immune and proliferation pathway genes. Of note, bladder cancers split into three pan-cancer subtypes. The multi-platform classification, while correlated with tissue-of-origin, provides independent information for predicting clinical outcomes. All datasets are available for data-mining from a unified resource to support further biological discoveries and insights into novel therapeutic strategies

Multiorgan MRI findings after hospitalisation with COVID-19 in the UK (C-MORE): a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction: The multiorgan impact of moderate to severe coronavirus infections in the post-acute phase is still poorly understood. We aimed to evaluate the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities after hospitalisation with COVID-19, evaluate their determinants, and explore associations with patient-related outcome measures. Methods: In a prospective, UK-wide, multicentre MRI follow-up study (C-MORE), adults (aged ≥18 years) discharged from hospital following COVID-19 who were included in Tier 2 of the Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) and contemporary controls with no evidence of previous COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antibody negative) underwent multiorgan MRI (lungs, heart, brain, liver, and kidneys) with quantitative and qualitative assessment of images and clinical adjudication when relevant. Individuals with end-stage renal failure or contraindications to MRI were excluded. Participants also underwent detailed recording of symptoms, and physiological and biochemical tests. The primary outcome was the excess burden of multiorgan abnormalities (two or more organs) relative to controls, with further adjustments for potential confounders. The C-MORE study is ongoing and is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04510025. Findings: Of 2710 participants in Tier 2 of PHOSP-COVID, 531 were recruited across 13 UK-wide C-MORE sites. After exclusions, 259 C-MORE patients (mean age 57 years [SD 12]; 158 [61%] male and 101 [39%] female) who were discharged from hospital with PCR-confirmed or clinically diagnosed COVID-19 between March 1, 2020, and Nov 1, 2021, and 52 non-COVID-19 controls from the community (mean age 49 years [SD 14]; 30 [58%] male and 22 [42%] female) were included in the analysis. Patients were assessed at a median of 5·0 months (IQR 4·2–6·3) after hospital discharge. Compared with non-COVID-19 controls, patients were older, living with more obesity, and had more comorbidities. Multiorgan abnormalities on MRI were more frequent in patients than in controls (157 [61%] of 259 vs 14 [27%] of 52; p<0·0001) and independently associated with COVID-19 status (odds ratio [OR] 2·9 [95% CI 1·5–5·8]; padjusted=0·0023) after adjusting for relevant confounders. Compared with controls, patients were more likely to have MRI evidence of lung abnormalities (p=0·0001; parenchymal abnormalities), brain abnormalities (p<0·0001; more white matter hyperintensities and regional brain volume reduction), and kidney abnormalities (p=0·014; lower medullary T1 and loss of corticomedullary differentiation), whereas cardiac and liver MRI abnormalities were similar between patients and controls. Patients with multiorgan abnormalities were older (difference in mean age 7 years [95% CI 4–10]; mean age of 59·8 years [SD 11·7] with multiorgan abnormalities vs mean age of 52·8 years [11·9] without multiorgan abnormalities; p<0·0001), more likely to have three or more comorbidities (OR 2·47 [1·32–4·82]; padjusted=0·0059), and more likely to have a more severe acute infection (acute CRP >5mg/L, OR 3·55 [1·23–11·88]; padjusted=0·025) than those without multiorgan abnormalities. Presence of lung MRI abnormalities was associated with a two-fold higher risk of chest tightness, and multiorgan MRI abnormalities were associated with severe and very severe persistent physical and mental health impairment (PHOSP-COVID symptom clusters) after hospitalisation. Interpretation: After hospitalisation for COVID-19, people are at risk of multiorgan abnormalities in the medium term. Our findings emphasise the need for proactive multidisciplinary care pathways, with the potential for imaging to guide surveillance frequency and therapeutic stratification

Fashioning modernity, myth and the macabre: An examination of the function of nurses’ uniforms on screen

Brien, DL ORCiD: 0000-0002-9005-3645; Mcallister, MM ORCiD: 0000-0003-1181-1610Long of sociological interest, uniforms are a symbol of order, standardization, professionalism and trust. As cultural objects, they are studied from a range of perspectives to consider how organizational systems such as the military, schools, airlines and health services construct and reinforce identity and image. This article adopts a popular culture-focused approach to representations of the nursing uniform on screen in a range of films and television programmes and series. In doing so, it proposes that film representations promote an understanding of the nursing uniform in a number of ways. These include understanding the uniform as a marker of professional identity; signifier of stratification and power; signifier of gender and object of (sexual) desire; marker of professional incompetence; and fetish object. This analysis reveals how the representation of nurses and nursing on screen both intersects with the reality of nursing work and identity, and affects how nursing work and identity are understood. The argument engages with a range of relevant research, and adapts research from other disciplines, in the context of analysing popular cultural texts

Death and contemporary gothic studies

The idea of ‘death’ offers a rich vein of material for Gothic scholars to mine. Of all the eerie and foreboding experiences in this world, it is perhaps the thought of Death that most simultaneously attracts and repels. For death is the great inevitability for us all and yet none of us knows, or can know, it fully. This issue of Aeternum: The Journal of Contemporary Gothic Studies is the result of discussions between its editors and the journal’s founding editor, Dr. Lorna Piatti- Farnell, at the inaugural Australasian Death Studies Network conference in Noosa, Australia, in 201

Friday essay: Saints or monsters, pop culture's limited view of nurses

This essay examines the shadow side of nursing – that is, the dark side that is not motherly or angelic, sacred or self-sacrificing but is, instead, flawed, impatient, ambivalent or nefarious. This is important because it is just as much a part of nursing as the virtuous aspects of the profession. By bravely turning to this hidden part, nurses have the potential for transformation and to become better humans, who are self-aware, and knowledgeable about our strengths, limitations and vulnerabilities

Using resilience as a tool for systematic change

“Wicked” problems occur not just for patients in healthcare services, as can be seen in Chapter 1, Resilience in Nursing, but also for nurses in attempting to change and improve their own professional culture. Nursing’s advancement and professionalization has been hampered by internal and external tensions, including professional disunity, public misunderstanding and devaluation, and lack of political will and support to improve conditions (Thorne, 2015). This situation leads to further problems, such as stress, conflict, and burnout, and defensive coping mechanisms that can metamorphose into uncaring behaviors toward patients. It is these "wicked" problems of stress, burnout, and conflict that we focus on in this chapte

Using resilience as a tool for systematic change

Brien, DL ORCiD: 0000-0002-9005-3645; Mcallister, MM ORCiD: 0000-0003-1181-1610“Wicked” problems occur not just for patients in healthcare services, as can be seen in Chapter 1, Resilience in Nursing, but also for nurses in attempting to change and improve their own professional culture. Nursing’s advancement and professionalization has been hampered by internal and external tensions, including professional disunity, public misunderstanding and devaluation, and lack of political will and support to improve conditions (Thorne, 2015). This situation leads to further problems, such as stress, conflict, and burnout, and defensive coping mechanisms that can metamorphose into uncaring behaviors toward patients. It is these "wicked" problems of stress, burnout, and conflict that we focus on in this chapte

Looking back to see ahead: Reassessing The Snake Pit for its gothic codes and significance

While the linking of mental illness and the gothic is prevalent and persistent in the popular imagination, little sustained investigation has interrogated prominent examples of this co-relation and the typographies which can be drawn from such a consideration. In this context, we dissect The Snake Pit (1948) in order to investigate how the gothic operates in this classic and influential film, the filmic techniques used to establish and develop gothic elements and how mental illness is used to illuminate both aspects of societies in disarray and the cultural anxieties around this. In the process we will demonstrate the power of popular culture to not only describe, portray and define mental illness but also to illuminate the human condition and act as a powerful catalysing agent for change

Paradoxes in nurses’ identity, culture and image: The shadow side of nursing

This book examines some of the more disturbing representations of nurses in popular culture, to understand nursing’s complex identities, challenges and future directions