LGBTQ Women, Workplace Dress Codes, and Appearance Negotiations

There is significant research on the impact of dress code regulations on employee performance and psychological health for heterosexual individuals. Studies that examine workplace dress code for the LGBTQ community are limited to findings based on court cases that are 16 years old. It is important to understand the current climate at work for LGBTQ women since workplace regulations may impact performance and psychological well-being. Due to the dearth of studies on the topic, this exploratory study asks: Do unwritten or written workplace dress codes impact LGBTQ women’s experiences at work

A Critical Lens on Drawing the Body: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Size in Fashion Illustration Textbooks

Scholars have extensively studied representations of race, gender, body, and size in visual imagery circulating in the fashion system. Our study extends Reddy-Best and Kane\u27s (2015) study and examines representations of gender, race, and the body in fashion illustration textbooks. We asked (a) what body sizes are present?, (b) do the illustrations have diverse racial representation?, (c) and how are bodies positioned?. This study is informed by intersectionality theory, in that we critically examined multiple subject positions in relation to systems of oppression (Shields, 2008). Using content analysis, we analyzed 3622 individuals in textbooks between 2006 and 2013. The fashion illustration texts are lacking mostly in racial diversity. Additionally, Black individuals were more often pictured with lighter skin colors continuing the issues of colorism. These findings highlight the reflections of racial hierarchies present in our society, and support the need for more diverse representations in fashion illustration texts

Fashioning Queer Bodies: Intersections of Dress, Identity, and Anxiety for Queer Women

The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship of dress and queer women, and how their sexual identity influences their appearance management behaviors without ignoring other subject positions such as class, race, ethnicity, location, age, and religion. Understanding queer women’s experiences with clothing is of benefit to society for promotion of equality. It is hoped this research will result in the reduction of discrimination

A Feminist Visual Content Analysis of College-Level Textile and Apparel Textbooks 1970s-2010: Intersections of Gender, Race, and Size

No scholars have examined the imagery or representations within our textbooks; therefore, with a feminist lens, this study asks who is represented or not represented in our textile and apparel textbooks? How are individuals represented? Have these representations changed over time? Lastly, how are gender differences portrayed? It is our goal to unearth and expose how scholars in our field chose to represent individuals in the texts, which are integral components to textile and apparel majors’ learning experience in the classroom. We ask these questions because these are the students who will enter the fashion industry to create and recreate images of beauty within fashion, media, advertising, and/or design. Our study is informed by the “feminist perspective” as we are “critically interrogating the texts” produced for our discipline to understand and disentangle representations that may influence how gender and beauty are recreated or redefined within the industry in the future (Leavy, 2007, p. 224)

Exploration of Communication Processes Related to Pre-Production for Apparel Companies

Communication is one of the most cited challenges within the product development process (PDP). The purpose of this study was to expand upon the previous literature on communication throughout the PDP by investigating the challenges and successes related to the document package and other communication tools used by both large and small apparel product development firms. The researchers employed a qualitative, grounded theory approach, where theory emerges from the data, and conducted in-depth interviews with 20 apparel product development professionals. Based on analysis of data, four key themes emerged: (a) the outcomes of the apparel product development process are similar, yet vary depending upon company size and type (b) the business size impacts the type of communication tools used, (c) all companies use a document package, and it varies based on company size and product, and (d) communication is the most common challenge throughout the process

Male hair cannot extend below plane of the shoulder and no cross dressing: Critical queer analysis of high school dress codes in the United States

With a queer theory lens, we analyzed if high school dress codes outlined in official handbooks allowed for flexibility in expression of gender and sexual identity. We used the content analysis method and analyzed public high school handbooks from the 2016-2017 school year that contained dress codes. We were interested in analyzing for emergent themes across a variety of geographic locations; therefore, handbooks were sought from five rural, five urban cluster, and five urbanized areas in each state (excluding Hawaii) resulting in analysis of 735 handbooks. In many handbooks (n = 615) the dress codes were not separated by gender. Yet, analysis of the remaining dress codes revealed the theme that there was marginalization of gender non-conforming or transgender identities or expressions. This was evident in that the dress codes were sometimes (n = 120) separated by gender with gender or sex specific terms such as ladies or guys

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Large-scale phenotyping of patients with long COVID post-hospitalization reveals mechanistic subtypes of disease

One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood1. Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials

SARS-CoV-2-specific nasal IgA wanes 9 months after hospitalisation with COVID-19 and is not induced by subsequent vaccination

BACKGROUND: Most studies of immunity to SARS-CoV-2 focus on circulating antibody, giving limited insights into mucosal defences that prevent viral replication and onward transmission. We studied nasal and plasma antibody responses one year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, including a period when SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was introduced. METHODS: In this follow up study, plasma and nasosorption samples were prospectively collected from 446 adults hospitalised for COVID-19 between February 2020 and March 2021 via the ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. IgA and IgG responses to NP and S of ancestral SARS-CoV-2, Delta and Omicron (BA.1) variants were measured by electrochemiluminescence and compared with plasma neutralisation data. FINDINGS: Strong and consistent nasal anti-NP and anti-S IgA responses were demonstrated, which remained elevated for nine months (p < 0.0001). Nasal and plasma anti-S IgG remained elevated for at least 12 months (p < 0.0001) with plasma neutralising titres that were raised against all variants compared to controls (p < 0.0001). Of 323 with complete data, 307 were vaccinated between 6 and 12 months; coinciding with rises in nasal and plasma IgA and IgG anti-S titres for all SARS-CoV-2 variants, although the change in nasal IgA was minimal (1.46-fold change after 10 months, p = 0.011) and the median remained below the positive threshold determined by pre-pandemic controls. Samples 12 months after admission showed no association between nasal IgA and plasma IgG anti-S responses (R = 0.05, p = 0.18), indicating that nasal IgA responses are distinct from those in plasma and minimally boosted by vaccination. INTERPRETATION: The decline in nasal IgA responses 9 months after infection and minimal impact of subsequent vaccination may explain the lack of long-lasting nasal defence against reinfection and the limited effects of vaccination on transmission. These findings highlight the need to develop vaccines that enhance nasal immunity. FUNDING: This study has been supported by ISARIC4C and PHOSP-COVID consortia. ISARIC4C is supported by grants from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council. Liverpool Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre provided infrastructure support for this research. The PHOSP-COVD study is jointly funded by UK Research and Innovation and National Institute of Health and Care Research. The funders were not involved in the study design, interpretation of data or the writing of this manuscript

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570