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Background: U.S. Hispanic/Latino construction workers constitute a large and historically underserved group in terms of smoking cessation services. Using formative research, we developed a worksite smoking cessation intervention tailored to the life/work circumstances of these workers. Aims: This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the developed intervention "Enhanced Care" (EC; one group behavioral counseling session provided around the food truck + fax referral to tobacco quitline [QL] + 8-week nicotine replacement treatment [NRT]) compared with "Standard Care" (SC; fax referral to tobacco QL + 8-week NRT) in a pilot, two-arm, cluster randomized controlled trial. Method: In collaboration with construction site safety managers, a sample of 17 construction sites (EC: nine sites/65 smokers; SC: eight sites/69 smokers) was enrolled. Participants received two follow-ups at 3 and 6 months after enrollment. Feasibility outcomes were enrollment rate, adherence to treatment, and 6-month retention rates. The primary efficacy outcome was 6 months prolonged abstinence verified by expired carbon monoxide <10 ppm. Results: Enrollment rate was high (85.9%). Six-month follow-up rates were acceptable (EC = 76.9%, SC = 66.6%). Adherence to treatment was better in the EC group (received worksite intervention: EC = 93.8%, SC = 88.4%; contacted by QL: EC = 49.2%, SC = 40.6%). Abstinence rates were 27.7% for the EC and 20.3% for the SC (p = 0.315). Discussion: The developed intervention was feasible and acceptable, and it substantially improved abstinence among Hispanic/Latino workers. The involvement of safety managers was essential to the implementation of the intervention. Training safety managers to deliver the intervention has great potential to implement a sustainable smoking cessation service in the construction sector.

BackgroundWe characterized the whole transcriptome of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in stage II-III breast cancer to evaluate correlations with primary tumor biology.MethodsCTCs were isolated from peripheral blood (PB) via immunomagnetic enrichment followed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (IE/FACS). CTCs, PB, and fresh tumors were profiled using RNA-seq. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumors were subjected to RNA-seq and NanoString PAM50 assays with risk of recurrence (ROR) scores.ResultsCTCs were detected in 29/33 (88%) patients. We selected 21 cases to attempt RNA-seq (median number of CTCs = 9). Sixteen CTC samples yielded results that passed quality-control metrics, and these samples had a median of 4,311,255 uniquely mapped reads (less than PB or tumors). Intrinsic subtype predicted by comparing estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) versus PAM50 for FFPE tumors was 85% concordant. However, CTC RNA-seq subtype assessed by the PAM50 classification genes was highly discordant, both with the subtype predicted by ER/PR/HER2 and by PAM50 tumors. Two patients died of metastatic disease, both of whom had high ROR scores and high CTC counts. We identified significant genes, canonical pathways, upstream regulators, and molecular interaction networks comparing CTCs by various clinical factors. We also identified a 75-gene signature with highest expression in CTCs and tumors taken together that was prognostic in The Cancer Genome Atlas and Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium datasets.ConclusionIt is feasible to use RNA-seq of CTCs in non-metastatic patients to discover novel tumor biology characteristics.

A20 is a ubiquitin-editing enzyme that is known to regulate inflammatory signaling and cell death. However, A20 mutations are also frequently found in multiple malignancies suggesting a potential role as a tumor suppressor as well. We recently described a novel role for A20 in regulating the wnt-beta-catenin signaling pathway and suppressing colonic tumor development in mice. The underlying mechanisms for this phenomenon are unclear. To study this, we first generated A20 knockout cell lines by genome-editing techniques. Using these cells, we show that loss of A20 causes dysregulation of wnt-dependent gene expression by RNAseq. Mechanistically, A20 interacts with a proximal signaling component of the wnt-signaling pathway, receptor interacting protein kinase 4 (RIPK4), and regulation of wnt-signaling by A20 occurs through RIPK4. Finally, similar to the mechanism by which A20 regulates other members of the receptor interacting protein kinase family, A20 modifies ubiquitin chains on RIPK4 suggesting a possible molecular mechanism for A20's control over the wnt-signaling pathway.

Objectives: Limited research exists on COVID-19 associated brain fog, and on the long-term cognitive and psychiatric sequelae in racially and ethnically diverse patients. We characterize the neuropsychological sequelae of post-acute COVID-19 in a diverse cohort and investigate whether COVID-19 clinical severity remains associated with brain fog and cognitive deficits approximately 2 years post infection. Methods: A cross-sectional study of patients with a history of COVID-19 hospitalization (March-September 2020). COVID-19 clinical severity was indexed using the National Early Warning Score 2 and a comprehensive neuropsychological tele-battery was administered 2 years post discharge. Pearson's r correlations assessed association, while independent sample t-tests examined group differences. Significant outcomes were further analyzed using multiple regression and ANCOVAs, adjusting for key covariates. Results: In 41 adult patients (19 female, 30 Hispanic, 13 Black, mean age of 65 (SD = 15), COVID-19 level of severity was associated with greater number of endorsed brain fog symptoms (Pearson's r =.34, 95% CI [.04,.59]), worse overall cognitive functioning (global cognition: r = -.36, 95% CI [-.61, -.05]) and reduced performance on an attention and working memory task (digit span backwards: r = -.41, 95% CI [-.66, -.09]) at 2-year follow-up. Brain fog symptoms most associated with COVID-19 severity included difficulty focusing (r =.46, 95% CI [.18,.67]), detached (r =.41, 95% CI [.12,.64]) and feeling sleepy (r =.40, 95% CI [.11,.63]). Patients' cognitive performance was generally below average (global cognition z-score: M = -.96, SD =.66), with group differences based on sex and ethnicity evidenced on individual cognitive tests. Discussion: This study emphasizes the importance of continued research on the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection on neuropsychological outcomes, particularly among underrepresented, health-disparate groups. Greater understanding of these associations could improve detection and treatment of those at increased risk of cognitive decline or impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explores engagement with postindustrial landscapes and conceptions of nature at Hunters Point, a formerly vacant waterfront site in Queens, New York City. Chronicling and documenting a number of appropriations and transgressive practices at this postindustrial site, it argues for the necessity of vacant spaces within dense contemporary cities, like New York. Vacant or marginal spaces, particularly those on the water's edge, offer opportunities for environmental engagement that are not available in traditional or emerging parks and public spaces, and speak to basic human impulses or needs to convene with the natural environment in which we live.

Using a cultural landscape approach, this study examines all National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) sites in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, located in the southern United States. The NRHP recognizes sites representative of “our” national heritage by listing them on this registry. From analysis of these records and related archival materials and observations garnered from field visits to select historic sites in the parish, this study interrogates the officially-designated memorial landscape of the American South. We find that preservation and reuse practices of NRHP-sites have engaged in racialized “purposeful forgetting” (Roberts 2020) and reinforced power relations while enabling the appropriation of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) labor and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing phylogenies from nucleotide sequences is a challenge for students because it strongly depends on evolutionary models and computer tools that are frequently updated. We present here an inquiry-based course aimed at learning how to trace a phylogeny based on sequences existing in public databases. Computer tools are freely available on the Internet. Student feedback has been more than satisfactory in the six years (2002-2007) when this course was active at the University of Oviedo (Spain).

The 5S rDNA is organized in the genome as tandemly repeated copies of a structural unit composed of a coding sequence plus a nontranscribed spacer (NTS). The coding region is highly conserved in the evolution, whereas the NTS vary in both length and sequence. It has been proposed that 5S rRNA genes are members of a gene family that have arisen through concerted evolution. In this study, we describe the molecular organization and evolution of the 5S rDNA in the genera Lepidorhombus and Scophthalmus (Scophthalmidae) and compared it with already known 5S rDNA of the very different genera Merluccius (Merluccidae) and Salmo (Salmoninae), to identify common structural elements or patterns for understanding 5S rDNA evolution in fish. High intra- and interspecific diversity within the 5S rDNA family in all the genera can be explained by a combination of duplications, deletions, and transposition events. Sequence blocks with high similarity in all the 5S rDNA members across species were identified for the four studied genera, with evidences of intense gene conversion within noncoding regions. We propose a model to explain the evolution of the 5S rDNA, in which the evolutionary units are blocks of nucleotides rather than the entire sequences or single nucleotides. This model implies a two-speed' evolution: slow within blocks (homogenized by recombination) and fast within the gene family (diversified by duplications and deletions). Key words: 5S rDNA, concerted evolution, evolutionary model, gene turnover, Merluccidae, Salmoninae, Scophthalmidae. Dans le genome, l'ADNr 5S est organise sous la forme de repetitions en tandem d'une unite structurale composee d'une region codante et d'un espaceur non-transcrit (NTS). La region codante a ete fortement conservee au fil de Evolution, tandis que le NTS varie tant en longueur qu'en sequence. Il a ete propose que les genes codant l'ARNr 5S appartiennent a une famille de genes qui serait le produit d une evolution concertee. Dans ce travail, les auteurs decrivent l organisation moleculaire et l evolution de l ADNr 5S au sein des genres Lepidorhombus et Scophthalmus (Scophthalmidae), et les comparent aux ADNr 5S deja caracterises chez les genres tres differents que sont le genre Merluccius (Merluccidae) et le genre Salmo (Salmoninae) afin d identifier des elements structuraux et des motifs communs qui permettraient de mieux comprendre l evolution de l ADNr 5S chez les poissons. Une grande diversite intra- et interspecifique au sein de la famille d ADNr 5S chez tous les genres pourrait s expliquer par une combinaison d evenements de duplication, de deletion et de transposition. Des blocs de sequence presentant une grande similarite chez tous les ADNr 5S chez toutes les especes ont ete identifies au sein des quatre genres etudies et ils presentaient des traces de conversion genique intense au sein des regions non-codantes. Les auteurs proposent un modele pour expliquer l evolution des ADNr 5S, au sein duquel des unites evolutives sont formees de bloc de nucleotides plutot que de sequences completes ou de nucleotides individuels. Ce modele implique une evolution << a deux vitesses >>: lente au sein des blocs (homogeneises par recombinaison) et rapide au sein de la famille de genes (diversifiee par les duplications et les deletions). Mots-cles : ADNr 5S, evolution concertee, modele de l'evolution, remplacement de genes, Merluccidae, Salmoninae, Scophthalmidae. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Concerted evolution tends to homogenize the members of a gene family within individuals and populations (Coen et al. 1982; Dover 1993; Drouin and Moniz de Sa 1995). Turnover (unequal [...]