The System: The Administration Presentation

Research and Capstone projects Building on the 2017 fall semester and insights from the Fall 2017 trip to Los Angeles, student working groups will predict the future of a system or related issue for an audience of their peers, offering reflections on navigating that future. These projects might take the form of posters, video installations, original speculative fiction, or mixed media that will be incorporated into the atmosphere of a campus party, both to maximize the student audience, and to celebrate our determination for an exciting future.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/ssir-presentations-2018/1002/thumbnail.jp

Is There an App for That? Apps for Post-Secondary Students With Attention Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

We compiled a comprehensive list of apps related to coping with academic work by post-secondary students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by examining 23 recent sources. Most of these were based on the opinion of single individuals, including persons with ADHD and experts. To discover relatively common apps, we summed the number of sources that mentioned each app and then checked with the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store to ensure availability in the summer of 2020. In the process it became apparent that while most apps directly supported schoolwork (e.g., calendars, timers, reminders) there were a variety of apps that, while not directly related to schoolwork, were apps that can support academic achievement by dealing with daily life demands (not ADHD therapy or assessment). We categorized apps related to both schoolwork as well as to aspects of daily life demands that can make academic work easier. Here we present the 20 most frequently mentioned schoolwork related apps and the eight most frequently mentioned daily life demands apps. Our findings suggest that if access coordinators, campus disability service providers, ADHD coaches and students with ADHD focus solely on schoolwork related apps, they will be missing an important part of the equation. They need to broaden their scope to ensure that students also have the help they need to structure and manage their daily life responsibilities, rather than simply focusing on doing schoolwork

Dans les mots de Dédé Fortin : « Bonyeu donne-moé une job »

Affiche présentée dans le cadre du Colloque de l'ARC, «La relève scientifique et la recherche collégiale : pratiques inspirantes au regard des chercheuses et chercheurs, et enjeux spécifiques à la formation des étudiantes et étudiants», dans le cadre du 84e Congrès de l'Acfas, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, le 10 mai 2016.Un problème récurrent chez les finissantes et finissants en situation de handicap est l’obtention d’un emploi. Une étude de 2011 du réseau de recherche Adaptech a démontré qu’une fois leurs études terminées, ces personnes angoissent à l’idée de devoir trouver du travail. Nous venons de terminer le pilote d’une étude sur cette question. Notre but est d’identifier les facteurs et stratégies menant à l’obtention d’un emploi après les études dans le cas de ces personnes. Dans le premier volet de notre projet, nous avons interviewé 16 finissantes et finissants en situation de handicap qui sont actuellement sur le marché du travail au sujet de leur emploi, de leur qualification et de leurs stratégies de recherche d’emploi. Nous leur avons également demandé quels conseils ils donneraient à une finissante ou un finissant en situation de handicap qui cherche un emploi. Les résultats préliminaires démontrent que le réseautage et les contacts sont extrêmement importants dans le processus de recherche d’emploi. Il semble également que les stages ou le bénévolat soient, dans plusieurs cas, une bonne porte d’entrée sur le marché du travail. De plus, il est conseillé de postuler à de nombreux endroits, même s’il faut pour cela sortir de sa zone de confort, et de ne pas s’imposer de limites quant à ses compétences

Brain Cell-Type Shifts in Alzheimer’s Disease, Autism, and Schizophrenia Interrogated Using Methylomics and Genetics

Few neuropsychiatric disorders have replicable biomarkers, prompting high-resolution and large-scale molecular studies. However, we still lack consensus on a more foundational question: whether quantitative shifts in cell types-the functional unit of life-contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders. Leveraging advances in human brain single-cell methylomics, we deconvolve seven major cell types using bulk DNA methylation profiling across 1270 postmortem brains, including from individuals diagnosed with Alzheimer\u27s disease, schizophrenia, and autism. We observe and replicate cell-type compositional shifts for Alzheimer\u27s disease (endothelial cell loss), autism (increased microglia), and schizophrenia (decreased oligodendrocytes), and find age- and sex-related changes. Multiple layers of evidence indicate that endothelial cell loss contributes to Alzheimer\u27s disease, with comparable effect size to APOE genotype among older people. Genome-wide association identified five genetic loci related to cell-type composition, involving plausible genes for the neurovascular unit (P2RX5 and TRPV3) and excitatory neurons (DPY30 and MEMO1). These results implicate specific cell-type shifts in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders

Barriers and enablers to blood culture sampling in Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam: a Theoretical Domains Framework-based survey

Objective Blood culture (BC) sampling is recommended for all suspected sepsis patients prior to antibiotic administration. We examine barriers and enablers to BC sampling in three Southeast Asian countries. Design A Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF)-based survey, comprising a case scenario of a patient presenting with community-acquired sepsis and all 14 TDF domains of barriers/enablers to BC sampling. Setting Hospitals in Indonesia, Thailand and Viet Nam, December 2021 to 30 April 2022. Participants 1070 medical doctors and 238 final-year medical students were participated in this study. Half of the respondents were women (n=680, 52%) and most worked in governmental hospitals (n=980, 75.4%). Outcome measures Barriers and enablers to BC sampling. Results The proportion of respondents who answered that they would definitely take BC in the case scenario was highest at 89.8% (273/304) in Thailand, followed by 50.5% (252/499) in Viet Nam and 31.3% (157/501) in Indonesia (p<0.001). Barriers/enablers in nine TDF domains were considered key in influencing BC sampling, including ‘priority of BC (TDF-goals)’, ‘perception about their role to order or initiate an order for BC (TDF-social professional role and identity)’, ‘perception that BC is helpful (TDF-beliefs about consequences)’, ‘intention to follow guidelines (TDF-intention)’, ‘awareness of guidelines (TDF-knowledge)’, ‘norms of BC sampling (TDF-social influence)’, ‘consequences that discourage BC sampling (TDF-reinforcement)’, ‘perceived cost-effectiveness of BC (TDF-environmental context and resources)’ and ‘regulation on cost reimbursement (TDF-behavioural regulation)’. There was substantial heterogeneity between the countries. In most domains, the lower (higher) proportion of Thai respondents experienced the barriers (enablers) compared with that of Indonesian and Vietnamese respondents. A range of suggested intervention types and policy options was identified. Conclusions Barriers and enablers to BC sampling are varied and heterogenous. Cost-related barriers are more common in more resource-limited countries, while many barriers are not directly related to cost. Context-specific multifaceted interventions at both hospital and policy levels are required to improve diagnostic stewardship practices

Les deux côtés de la médaille : la perception des élèves de l'usage que font leurs enseignantes et enseignants des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC)

Affiche présentée dans le cadre du Colloque de l'ARC, «La relève scientifique et la recherche collégiale : pratiques inspirantes au regard des chercheuses et chercheurs, et enjeux spécifiques à la formation des étudiantes et étudiants», dans le cadre du 84e Congrès de l'Acfas, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, le 10 mai 2016.Le Réseau de recherche ADAPTECH a étudié la fréquence d’utilisation de divers outils technologiques en classe par des élèves de cégep, d’une part, et par des enseignantes et enseignants réputés auprès des élèves pour leur excellente utilisation de la technologie, d’autre part. Dans cette recherche, il s’est également demandé quels étaient les outils favorisant le mieux la réussite des élèves. Son objectif était d’examiner l’expérience des élèves avec les TIC au collégial, et de comprendre en quoi celle-ci se distingue de celle du personnel enseignant. Le terme TIC recouvrait une grande variété d’outils : tableaux blancs interactifs, télécommandes, système de gestion de cours, vidéoconférences, etc. L’étude explique comment on pourrait mieux utiliser les TIC en classe, car elle intègre les points de vue des élèves et ceux du personnel enseignant. Les similitudes et différences entre les deux groupes ont été analysées par un sondage en ligne auprès d’élèves (n = 311) et des entrevues semi-structurées auprès d’enseignantes et d’enseignants choisis par leurs élèves pour leur excellente utilisation des TIC (n = 114). Une des grandes différences est qu’un fort pourcentage des élèves aime les cours où ils utilisent leurs propres outils technologiques, alors qu’un faible pourcentage du personnel enseignant leur permet de le faire

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Topoisomerase Inhibitors Addressing Fluoroquinolone Resistance in Gram-Negative Bacteria.

Since their discovery over 5 decades ago, quinolone antibiotics have found enormous success as broad spectrum agents that exert their activity through dual inhibition of bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV. Increasing rates of resistance, driven largely by target-based mutations in the GyrA/ParC quinolone resistance determining region, have eroded the utility and threaten the future use of this vital class of antibiotics. Herein we describe the discovery and optimization of a series of 4-(aminomethyl)quinolin-2(1H)-ones, exemplified by 34, that inhibit bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and display potent activity against ciprofloxacin-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. X-ray crystallography reveals that 34 occupies the classical quinolone binding site in the topoisomerase IV-DNA cleavage complex but does not form significant contacts with residues in the quinolone resistance determining region

Refined histopathological predictors of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status : a large-scale analysis of breast cancer characteristics from the BCAC, CIMBA, and ENIGMA consortia

Abstract Introduction The distribution of histopathological features of invasive breast tumors in BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline mutation carriers differs from that of individuals with no known mutation. Histopathological features thus have utility for mutation prediction, including statistical modeling to assess pathogenicity of BRCA1 or BRCA2 variants of uncertain clinical significance. We analyzed large pathology datasets accrued by the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA) and the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC) to reassess histopathological predictors of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status, and provide robust likelihood ratio (LR) estimates for statistical modeling. Methods Selection criteria for study/center inclusion were estrogen receptor (ER) status or grade data available for invasive breast cancer diagnosed younger than 70 years. The dataset included 4,477 BRCA1 mutation carriers, 2,565 BRCA2 mutation carriers, and 47,565 BCAC breast cancer cases. Country-stratified estimates of the likelihood of mutation status by histopathological markers were derived using a Mantel-Haenszel approach. Results ER-positive phenotype negatively predicted BRCA1 mutation status, irrespective of grade (LRs from 0.08 to 0.90). ER-negative grade 3 histopathology was more predictive of positive BRCA1 mutation status in women 50 years or older (LR = 4.13 (3.70 to 4.62)) versus younger than 50 years (LR = 3.16 (2.96 to 3.37)). For BRCA2, ER-positive grade 3 phenotype modestly predicted positive mutation status irrespective of age (LR = 1.7-fold), whereas ER-negative grade 3 features modestly predicted positive mutation status at 50 years or older (LR = 1.54 (1.27 to 1.88)). Triple-negative tumor status was highly predictive of BRCA1 mutation status for women younger than 50 years (LR = 3.73 (3.43 to 4.05)) and 50 years or older (LR = 4.41 (3.86 to 5.04)), and modestly predictive of positive BRCA2 mutation status in women 50 years or older (LR = 1.79 (1.42 to 2.24)). Conclusions These results refine likelihood-ratio estimates for predicting BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status by using commonly measured histopathological features. Age at diagnosis is an important variable for most analyses, and grade is more informative than ER status for BRCA2 mutation carrier prediction. The estimates will improve BRCA1 and BRCA2 variant classification and inform patient mutation testing and clinical management