How to… support others in developing a career in clinical education research

The Incubator for Clinical Education Research (ClinEdR) is a UK-wide network, established with support from the National Institute for Health Research, to lead initiatives to build capacity in the field. A key barrier identified by this group is that many experienced educators, clinicians, and researchers, who may be committed to supporting others, have little guidance on how best to do this. In this “How to …” paper, we draw on relevant literature and our individual and collective experiences as members of the National Institute for Health Research ClinEdR incubator to offer suggestions on how educators can support others to develop successful careers involving ClinEdR. This article offers guidance and inspiration for all professionals whose role involves research and scholarship and who encounter aspiring or developing clinical education researchers in the course of their work. It will also be of interest to researchers who are starting out and progressing in the field

Providing baseline data for conservation–Heart rate monitoring in captive scimitar-horned oryx

Heart rate biologging has been successfully used to study wildlife responses to natural and human-caused stressors (e.g., hunting, landscape of fear). Although rarely deployed to inform conservation, heart rate biologging may be particularly valuable for assessing success in wildlife reintroductions. We conducted a case study for testing and validating the use of subcutaneous heart rate monitors in eight captive scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah), a once-extinct species that is currently being restored to the wild. We evaluated biologger safety and accuracy while collecting long-term baseline data and assessing factors explaining variation in heart rate. None of the biologgers were rejected after implantation, with successful data capture for 16–21 months. Heart rate detection accuracy was high (83%–99%) for six of the individuals with left lateral placement of the biologgers. We excluded data from two individuals with a right lateral placement because accuracies were below 60%. Average heart rate for the six scimitar-horned oryx was 60.3 ± 12.7 bpm, and varied by about 12 bpm between individuals, with a minimum of 31 bpm and a maximum of 188 bpm across individuals. Scimitar-horned oryx displayed distinct circadian rhythms in heart rate and activity. Heart rate and activity were low early in the morning and peaked near dusk. Circadian rhythm in heart rate and activity were relatively unchanged across season, but hourly averages for heart rate and activity were higher in spring and summer, respectively. Variation in hourly heart rate averages was best explained by a combination of activity, hour, astronomical season, ambient temperature, and an interaction term for hour and season. Increases in activity appeared to result in the largest changes in heart rate. We concluded that biologgers are safe and accurate and can be deployed in free-ranging and reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx. In addition to current monitoring practices of reintroduced scimitar-horned oryx, the resulting biologging data could significantly aid in 1) evaluating care and management action prior to release, 2) characterizing different animal personalities and how these might affect reintroduction outcomes for individual animals, and 3) identifying stressors after release to determine their timing, duration, and impact on released animals. Heart rate monitoring in released scimitar-horned oryx may also aid in advancing our knowledge about how desert ungulates adapt to extreme environmental variation in their habitats (e.g., heat, drought)

COVIDReady2 study protocol: cross-sectional survey of medical student volunteering and education during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom

Abstract: Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has led to global disruption of healthcare. Many students volunteered to provide clinical support. Volunteering to work in a clinical capacity was a unique medical education opportunity; however, it is unknown whether this was a positive learning experience or which volunteering roles were of most benefit to students. Methods: The COVIDReady2 study is a national cross-sectional study of all medical students at medical schools in the United Kingdom. The primary outcome is to explore the experiences of medical students who volunteered during the pandemic in comparison to those who did not. We will compare responses to determine the educational benefit and issues they faced. In addition to quantitative analysis, thematic analysis will be used to identify themes in qualitative responses. Discussion: There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that service roles have potential to enhance medical education; yet, there is a shortage of studies able to offer practical advice for how these roles may be incorporated in future medical education. We anticipate that this study will help to identify volunteer structures that have been beneficial for students, so that similar infrastructures can be used in the future, and help inform medical education in a non-pandemic setting. Trial registration: Not Applicable

Genome-Wide Analysis of Central Corneal Thickness in Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Cases in the NEIGHBOR and GLAUGEN Consortia

To investigate the effects of central corneal thickness (CCT)-associated variants on primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) risk using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) data from the Glaucoma Genes and Environment (GLAUGEN) and National Eye Institute (NEI) Glaucoma Human Genetics Collaboration (NEIGHBOR) consortia

Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease

We identified rare coding variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a 3-stage case-control study of 85,133 subjects. In stage 1, 34,174 samples were genotyped using a whole-exome microarray. In stage 2, we tested associated variants (P<1×10-4) in 35,962 independent samples using de novo genotyping and imputed genotypes. In stage 3, an additional 14,997 samples were used to test the most significant stage 2 associations (P<5×10-8) using imputed genotypes. We observed 3 novel genome-wide significant (GWS) AD associated non-synonymous variants; a protective variant in PLCG2 (rs72824905/p.P522R, P=5.38×10-10, OR=0.68, MAFcases=0.0059, MAFcontrols=0.0093), a risk variant in ABI3 (rs616338/p.S209F, P=4.56×10-10, OR=1.43, MAFcases=0.011, MAFcontrols=0.008), and a novel GWS variant in TREM2 (rs143332484/p.R62H, P=1.55×10-14, OR=1.67, MAFcases=0.0143, MAFcontrols=0.0089), a known AD susceptibility gene. These protein-coding changes are in genes highly expressed in microglia and highlight an immune-related protein-protein interaction network enriched for previously identified AD risk genes. These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to AD development

Using Facebook As A Tool For Informal Peer Support: A Case Example

The social media site (SMS) Facebook can provide social workers with a method to engage in informal peer support. Scholars to date have mainly focused on SMSs such as Facebook as they pertain to clinical interactions with clients, maintaining professionalism especially among social work students, using them for professional or organizational promotion, and using them as an educational tool. Informal peer groups have been found to be an effective tool to combat burnout in high-stress professions such as social work. The use of a SMS such as Facebook for informal peer support could provide additional benefits to social workers beyond what they would experience from offline contact. This article fills a gap in the literature by describing how a group of practicing social workers use a private Facebook group for peer support, informal consultation, emotional support, and personal social connection. Given the continual high rates of job stress and burnout, social workers should consider new and innovative ways to use SMSs such as Facebook to enhance their self-care efforts

Immunological Profiles of Bos taurus and Bos indicus Cattle Infested with the Cattle Tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus▿ †

The cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, is a major threat to the improvement of cattle production in tropical and subtropical countries worldwide. Bos indicus cattle are naturally more resistant to infestation with the cattle tick than are Bos taurus breeds, although considerable variation in resistance occurs within and between breeds. It is not known which genes contribute to the resistant phenotype, nor have immune parameters involved in resistance to R. microplus been fully described for the bovine host. This study was undertaken to determine whether selected cellular and antibody parameters of the peripheral circulation differed between tick-resistant Bos indicus and tick-susceptible Bos taurus cattle following a period of tick infestations. This study demonstrated significant differences between the two breeds with respect to the percentage of cellular subsets comprising the peripheral blood mononuclear cell population, cytokine expression by peripheral blood leukocytes, and levels of tick-specific immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) antibodies measured in the peripheral circulation. In addition to these parameters, the Affymetrix bovine genome microarray was used to analyze gene expression by peripheral blood leukocytes of these animals. The results demonstrate that the Bos indicus cattle developed a stabilized T-cell-mediated response to tick infestation evidenced by their cellular profile and leukocyte cytokine spectrum. The Bos taurus cattle demonstrated cellular and gene expression profiles consistent with a sustained innate, inflammatory response to infestation, although high tick-specific IgG1 titers suggest that these animals have also developed a T-cell response to infestation

New achievements for diagnostics of banana streak virus

Banana streak virus (BSV) remains one of the most challenging viral pathogens of banana to detect and most diagnostic assays rely on serological methods. The BSV capsid protein contains an N-terminal, intrinsically disordered (NID) domain that is surface-exposed on the virion and likely is multifunctional and plays important roles in viral replication and transmission. The immunodominant continuous epitopes on the virion are also located in the NID domain, and therefore this domain is of great interest from a diagnostics perspective. Using chemically synthesized peptides to mimic the continuous epitopes of five BSV species including Banana streak Mysore virus (BSMYV), Banana streak Obino I’Ewai virus (BSOLV), Banana streak Imove’ virus (BSIMV), Banana streak Goldfinger virus (BSGFV) and Banana streak Cavendish virus (BSCAV), antisera have been raised in rabbits, and shown specificity to each virus species and sensitivity in a range of assay formats such as Western Blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), immunosorbent electron microscopy and immunocapture PCR. This work confirmed the applicability of synthesis epitopes/peptides to produce antipeptide antibodies for BSV diagnostics when the native protein is absent. The Oxoford MinION Nanopore sequencing system is a promising new technology for point-of-care diagnostics. We have successfully used this system and generated long reads with greater than 99% accuracy, allowing accurate and sensitive detection of BSV. The long reads allow episomal from endogenous sequences to be differentiated

Identification of putative viroplasms within banana cells infected by banana streak MY virus

The badnavirus replication cycle is poorly understood and most knowledge is based on extrapolations from model viruses such as (CaMV). However, in contrast to CaMV, badnaviruses are thought not to produce viroplasms and therefore it has been a mystery as to where virion assembly occurs. In this study, ultrathin sections of a banana leaf infected with a badnavirus, banana streak MY virus (BSMYV), were examined by transmission electron microscopy. Electron-dense inclusion bodies (EDIBs) were sporadically distributed in parenchymatous tissues of the leaf, most commonly in the palisade and spongy mesophyll cells. These EDIBs had a characteristic structure, comprising an electron-dense core, a single, encircling lacuna and an outer ring of electron-dense material. However, much less frequently, EDIBs with two or three lacunae were observed. In the outer ring, densely packed virions were visible with a shape and size consistent with that expected for badnaviruses. Immunogold labelling was done with primary antibodies that detected the N-terminus of the capsid protein and strong labelling of the outer ring but not the central core or lacuna was observed. It is concluded that the EDIBs that were observed are equivalent in function to the viroplasms of CaMV, although obviously different in composition as there is not a paralogue of the transactivation/viroplasm protein in the badnavirus genome. It is postulated that production of a viroplasm could be a conserved characteristic of all members of the\ua0Caulimoviridae