The Chemistry Laboratory Experience of El Camino Students While in Emergency Remote Teaching Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Future college environments, including those in chemistry, will entail flexible formats. The pandemic spurred appreciation of the need, and though it has largely passed, adaptability to multiple formats in the future has been a critical part of planning for a rapidly changing future. Experiences during the pandemic will guide pedagogical changes and practices in the future. At El Camino College in Southern California, the chemistry department provided varied laboratory instruction to students during Emergency Remote Teaching. Understanding the experience students had during this extraordinary time is essential. Students who took courses that had an online laboratory course completed a mixed-methods survey. The survey consisted of a new tool designed for the study (Inquiry Rubric Tool), one used previously in the literature (Meaningful Learning in Laboratory Instrument), and a series of qualitative questions. Results of the complete survey showed that most students experienced low levels of inquiry and lower levels of meaningful learning compared to the literature during their online laboratory assignments. In addition, levels of inquiry showed a negative correlation when compared to affective, cognitive, and cognitive/affective scores derived from the survey. Levels of confusion and frustration were high. Poor quality materials, lack of hands-on activities, and lack of instructor presence were common. Some positives were noted regarding the ability to repeat experiments online and the flexibility of performing experiments when students wished. Students indicated interaction with fellow students during ERT as important. Suggestions for policy change, including synchronous work and hands-on activities, are made to invoke policy change at El Camino College in case of future ERT or further online chemistry course curriculum development

Methods to improve recruitment to randomised controlled trials : Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Leukocyte and serum S100A8/S100A9 expression reflects disease activity in ANCA-associated vasculitis and glomerulonephritis.

Antineutrophil cytoplasm antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) commonly results in glomerulonephritis, in which neutrophils and monocytes have important roles. The heterodimer calprotectin (S100A8/S100A9, mrp8/14) is a Toll-like receptor-4 ligand found in neutrophils and monocytes and is elevated in inflammatory conditions. By immunohistochemistry of renal biopsies, patients with focal or crescentic glomerular lesions were found to have the highest expression of calprotectin and those with sclerotic the least. Serum levels of calprotectin as measured by ELISA were elevated in patients with active AAV and the levels decreased but did not normalize during remission, suggesting subclinical inflammation. Calprotectin levels in patients with limited systemic disease increased following treatment withdrawal and were significantly elevated in patients who relapsed compared with those who did not. As assessed by flow cytometry, patients with AAV had higher monocyte and neutrophil cell surface calprotectin expression than healthy controls, but this was not associated with augmented mRNA expression in CD14(+) monocytes or CD16(+) neutrophils. Thus, serum calprotectin is a potential disease biomarker in patients with AAV, and may have a role in disease pathogenesis

Partial loss of actin nucleator actin-related protein 2/3 activity triggers blebbing in primary T lymphocytes

T lymphocytes utilize amoeboid migration to navigate effectively within complex microenvironments. The precise rearrangement of the actin cytoskeleton required for cellular forward propulsion is mediated by actin regulators, including the actin‐related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex, a macromolecular machine that nucleates branched actin filaments at the leading edge. The consequences of modulating Arp2/3 activity on the biophysical properties of the actomyosin cortex and downstream T cell function are incompletely understood. We report that even a moderate decrease of Arp3 levels in T cells profoundly affects actin cortex integrity. Reduction in total F‐actin content leads to reduced cortical tension and disrupted lamellipodia formation. Instead, in Arp3‐knockdown cells, the motility mode is dominated by blebbing migration characterized by transient, balloon‐like protrusions at the leading edge. Although this migration mode seems to be compatible with interstitial migration in three‐dimensional environments, diminished locomotion kinetics and impaired cytotoxicity interfere with optimal T cell function. These findings define the importance of finely tuned, Arp2/3‐dependent mechanophysical membrane integrity in cytotoxic effector T lymphocyte activities

PIRRIST: Patient and public involvement (PPI) to enhance recruitment and retention in surgical trials

Meeting abstract from the 5th International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference (ICTMC 2019) https://ictmc2019.com

Novel use of an exchange catheter to facilitate intubation with an Aintree catheter in a tall patient with a predicted difficult airway: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>The Aintree intubating catheter (Cook^®Medical Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA) has been shown to successfully facilitate difficult intubations when other methods have failed. The Aintree intubating catheter (Cook^®Medical Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA) has a fixed length of 56 cm, and it has been suggested in the literature that it may be too short for safe use in patients who are tall.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 32-year-old, 180 cm tall Caucasian woman with a predicted difficult airway who presented to our facility for an emergency cesarean section. After several failed intubation attempts via direct laryngoscopy, an airway was established with a laryngeal mask airway. After delivery of a healthy baby, our patient's condition necessitated tracheal intubation. A fiber-optic bronchoscope loaded with an Aintree intubating catheter (Cook^®Medical Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA) was passed through the laryngeal mask airway into the trachea until just above the carina, but was too short to safely allow for the passage of an endotracheal tube.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We present a novel technique in which the Aintree intubating catheter (Cook^®Medical Inc., Bloomington, IN, USA) was replaced with a longer (100 cm) exchange catheter, over which an endotracheal tube was passed successfully into the trachea.</p

Prediction of RECRUITment In randomized clinical Trials (RECRUIT-IT)— : —rationale and design for an international collaborative study

Funding: BK has received a project specific grant from the University of Basel to realize this project. In addition, this study is supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 320030_149496/1) and the Gottfried and Julia Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation. The provided work by BG, JHL, CW, and JY has been supported by the National Cancer Institute Cancer Centre Support Grant P30 CA168524 and used BISR core. The Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen, receives core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates. DC is supported by a Research Chair from the Canadian Institute for Health Research. The mentioned funding sources have no role in the design and conduct of the study; the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The selection of comparators for randomized controlled trials of health-related behavioral interventions : recommendations of an NIH expert panel

Funding and logistical support for the expert panel was provided by the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research.Peer reviewedPostprin