Neurological interest and career exploration among black medical students: Perceptions and solutions for the pipeline.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to identify factors that influence the selection of Neurology as a career choice for Black medical students. METHODS: Survey data was collected from attendees at a national educational conference and at a large academic medical school. Two proportion z-tests were used to assess responses among students of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. RESULTS: 199 students participated in the survey. Compared to their Asian and White counterparts, Black students were significantly less likely to choose or consider a career in Neurology. In addition, we found that these students relied more heavily on their pre-clinical experiences to make this determination, citing preference for another specialty, lack of exposure, a preference for a different patient population, and a lack of racial/ethnic diversity as key reasons to not choose a career in Neurology. CONCLUSIONS: Neurological disorders are important contributors to morbidity and mortality. It is imperative that the field attract medical students toward careers in Neurology, particularly those students from traditionally and persistently underrepresented backgrounds. Our findings suggest that Black medical students consider Neurology as a specialty choice less frequently than their counterparts do, and this decision may be made prior to training. We conclude that a multifaceted approach is best to improve the racial/ethnic diversity within the neurological workforce, which should include targeted interventions prior to and after matriculation to medical school.

Solvent-free, Noncontact Electrostatic Sampling for Rapid Analysis with Mass Spectrometry: Application to Drugs and Explosives.

A hand-held Van de Graaf generator is used to apply a high voltage, negligible current electrostatic potential to a wire mesh positioned in close proximity to a particle-laden surface in order to collect those particles for analysis. The electrostatic field effects transfer particles to the mesh without a requirement for mechanical contact between mesh and surface. Analysis of chemicals present in the sampled particles is completed by thermal desorption electrospray ionization. The utility of the method for noncontact sampling is demonstrated using solid drug powder samples, and inorganic explosives dispersed either on solid surfaces or in sand/soil in order to simulate common interfering matrices that might be encountered in the forensic environment. A metal mesh sampling substrate is utilized instead of traditional polymer-based swabs in order to permit thermal desorption at higher temperatures. The method leaves no visible trace of sampling leaving details such as a fingerprint image unperturbed, as demonstrated using fluorescence photography. Direct sampling of trace particles from hard surfaces and skin documents flexibility in the choice of sampling substrates, desorption temperatures, and sampling times. The potential of the device for use in forensic analyses is detailed.

Reducing Reliance on Test Scores Reduces Racial Bias in Neurology Residency Recruitment.

PURPOSE: We sought to correct a low interview rate for racial groups underrepresented in medicine (URM) by analyzing our interview selection process, identifying sources of unintended bias, and developing a new process that would provide a more racially diverse interview pool. METHODS: We analyzed our review process to determine at which point we were eliminating URM candidates at a higher rate than those who are not from an underrepresented group. A point system was created incorporating clinical grades, extracurricular activities, research, letters of recommendation, board exam scores, and life experiences. We compared the rate at which interviews were offered to URM candidates and compared those rates to historical data. We then analyzed the new process by comparing groups who were offered interviews to those who were not. RESULTS: In 2016, 56% of URM applicants were screened out by a mandatory minimum United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) test score, whereas only 39% of all other groups were disqualified by test scores. This led to 20% of the URM applicants receiving interview offers. By comparison, 30.6% of other groups were offered interviews. After removing the required minimum test score for application review and modifying the screening process to a more holistic one the following application cycle, 24.5% of URMs were offered interviews in 2017 compared to 28.1% of others. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive review of applications that minimizes emphasis on USMLE step 1 scores substantially reduced the difference between the percentages of URMs and those of other racial backgrounds who were offered interviews for a Neurology residency.

Potential impurities in drug substances: Compound-specific toxicology limits for 20 synthetic reagents and by-products, and a class-specific toxicology limit for alkyl bromides.

This paper provides compound-specific toxicology limits for 20 widely used synthetic reagents and common by-products that are potential impurities in drug substances. In addition, a 15 µg/day class-specific limit was developed for monofunctional alkyl bromides, aligning this with the class-specific limit previously defined for monofunctional alkyl chlorides. Both the compound- and class-specific toxicology limits assume a lifetime chronic exposure for the general population (including sensitive subpopulations) by all routes of exposure for pharmaceuticals. Inhalation-specific toxicology limits were also derived for acrolein, formaldehyde, and methyl bromide because of their localized toxicity via that route. Mode of action was an important consideration for a compound-specific toxicology limit. Acceptable intake (AI) calculations for certain mutagenic carcinogens assumed a linear dose-response for tumor induction, and permissible daily exposure (PDE) determination assumed a non-linear dose-response. Several compounds evaluated have been previously incorrectly assumed to be mutagenic, or to be mutagenic carcinogens, but the evidence reported here for such compounds indicates a lack of mutagenicity, and a non-mutagenic mode of action for tumor induction. For non-mutagens with insufficient data to develop a toxicology limit, the ICH Q3A qualification thresholds are recommended. The compound- and class-specific toxicology limits described here may be adjusted for an individual drug substance based on treatment duration, dosing schedule, severity of the disease and therapeutic indication.

Provision of long-term monitoring and late effects services following adult allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant: a survey of UK NHS-based programmes.

Despite international guidelines, optimal delivery models of late effects (LE) services for HSCT patients are unclear from the clinical, organizational and economic viewpoints. To scope current LE service delivery models within the UK NHS (National Health Service), in 2014, we surveyed the 27 adult allogeneic HSCT centres using a 30-question online tool, achieving a 100% response rate. Most LE services were led and delivered by senior physicians (>80% centres). Follow-up was usually provided in a dedicated allograft or LE clinic for the first year (>90% centres), but thereafter attrition meant that only ~50% of patients were followed after 5 years. Most centres (69%) had a standard operating procedure for long-term monitoring but access to a LE Multi-Disciplinary Team was rare (19% centres). Access to medical specialities necessary for LE management was good, but specialist interest in long-term HSCT complications was uncommon. Some screening (endocrinopathy, cardiovascular) was near universal, but other areas were more limited (mammography, cervical smears). Funding of extra staff and investigations were the most commonly perceived barriers to implementation of LE services. This survey shows variation in the long-term follow-up of allogeneic HSCT survivors within the UK NHS and further work is warranted to optimize effective, sustainable and affordable models of LE service delivery among this group.

Life coaching following haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a mixed-method investigation of feasibility and acceptability.

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) cures many haematological cancers. Recovery post-HSCT is physically and psychologically challenging, lasting several months. Beyond the first post-transplant year, a fifth report difficulties encompassing practical, social and emotional domains, including finance and employment. We investigated the feasibility, acceptability and impact of a life coaching intervention designed to address psychosocial 'survivor' concerns of HSCT recipients and facilitate transition to life post-treatment. A concurrent embedded experimental mixed-method design was employed. Pre- and post-intervention data collection comprised qualitative semi-structured telephone interviews and quantitative postal questionnaires. Seven purposively sampled HSCT recipients (<18 months) participated, reporting on one-to-one life coaching delivered by a professional life coach fortnightly over 8 weeks. Participants reported less anxiety, depression and fewer survivor concerns post-intervention, with a trend for lower social difficulties and increased functional well-being. Perceived self-efficacy was unchanged. Life coaching was feasible to deliver and acceptable to the participants who indicated it was a positive experience, with benefits described in diverse areas including work, lifestyle and hobbies. Life coaching within cancer services potentially offers the means to address psychosocial concerns and support transition to life after treatment, enabling patients to reach their potential, e.g. returning to employment and financial independence. Further investigation of this intervention in cancer survivors is warranted.

Transmission mode desorption electrospray ionization (TM-DESI) for simultaneous analysis of potential inorganic and organic components of radiological dispersion devices (RDDs).

Transmission mode desorption electrospray ionization (TM-DESI) coupled to an ion trap mass spectrometer capable of source collision-induced dissociation (CID) was used to completely analyze radiological dispersion device components. Source CID significantly enhanced the signal for metal ions by reducing adducts while eliminating chemical noise from background molecules through extensive fragmentation. Source CID spectra yielded reasonably accurate isotopic ratios for the metals studied. By switching the source CID on and off between scans, all major constituents in mixtures of simulated radionuclides and explosives were simultaneously observed. These results indicate that TM-DESI/ion trap technology could be a powerful on-site tool for nuclear forensics.

Social perception in people with eating disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Social perception is a key aspect of social cognition which has so far not been investigated in eating disorders (ED). This study aimed to investigate social perception in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). METHODS: Outpatients with AN (restricting subtype [AN-R]: n=51; binge-purge subtype [AN-BP]: n=26) or BN (n=57) and 50 healthy control (HC) participants completed the Interpersonal Perception Task (IPT-15). This is an ecologically valid task, which consists of 15 video clips, depicting complex social situations relating to intimacy, status, kinship, competition and deception. The participants have to assess relationships between protagonists' based on non-verbal cues. RESULTS: Overall, there was no difference between groups on the IPT total score and subscale scores. Group differences on the Intimacy subscale approached significance so post hoc comparisons were carried out. HCs performed significantly better than AN-R participants in determining the degree of intimacy between others. CONCLUSIONS: Social perception is largely preserved in ED patients. Individuals with AN-R show impairments in identifying intimacy in social situations, this may be due to the lack of relationship experience. Further research into different aspects of social cognition is required to establish the link between interpersonal difficulties and ED psychopathology.

Bacterial mutagenicity screening in the pharmaceutical industry.

Genetic toxicity testing is used as an early surrogate for carcinogenicity testing. Genetic toxicity testing is also required by regulatory agencies to be conducted prior to initiation of first in human clinical trials and subsequent marketing for most small molecule pharmaceutical compounds. To reduce the chances of advancing mutagenic pharmaceutical candidates through the drug discovery and development processes, companies have focused on developing testing strategies to maximize hazard identification while minimizing resource expenditure due to late stage attrition. With a large number of testing options, consensus has not been reached on the best mutagenicity platform to use or on the best time to use a specific test to aid in the selection of drug candidates for development. Most companies use a process in which compounds are initially screened for mutagenicity early in drug development using tests that require only a few milligrams of compound and then follow those studies up with a more robust mutagenicity test prior to selecting a compound for full development. This review summarizes the current applications of bacterial mutagenicity assays utilized by pharmaceutical companies in early and late discovery programs. The initial impetus for this review was derived from a workshop on bacterial mutagenicity screening in the pharmaceutical industry presented at the 40th Annual Environmental Mutagen Society Meeting held in St. Louis, MO in October, 2009. However, included in this review are succinct summaries of use and interpretation of genetic toxicity assays, several mutagenicity assays that were not presented at the meeting, and updates to testing strategies resulting in current state-of the art description of best practices. In addition, here we discuss the advantages and liabilities of many broadly used mutagenicity screening platforms and strategies used by pharmaceutical companies. The sensitivity and specificity of these early mutagenicity screening assays using proprietary compounds and their concordance (predictivity) with the regulatory bacterial mutation test are discussed.

Stigma, public awareness about intellectual disability and attitudes to inclusion among different ethnic groups.

BACKGROUND: Attitudes to the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have been studied extensively, yet evidence on public awareness about ID and stigma is limited. The relationship between attitudes, knowledge and stigma associated with ID is poorly understood. The present study examined these factors and the relationships between them in the context of a multicultural society. METHOD: UK residents of working age (n = 1002) were presented with a diagnostically unlabelled vignette of someone with a mild ID. They were asked to label the difficulties presented and to complete measures of social distance and attitudes to the inclusion of people with IDs. RESULTS: While attitudes to the inclusion of people with IDs were relatively positive overall, social contact was viewed with ambivalence. Inclusion attitudes and social distance were only moderately correlated. Across the whole sample 28% recognised typical symptoms of mild ID. Recognition of ID was associated with lower stigma and more positive attitudes than attribution of the difficulties presented to other causes. White Westerners showed increased knowledge, lower stigma and favoured inclusion more than participants from ethnic minorities. Among the latter group, Asians showed lower stigma and attitudes more in line with inclusion policies than participants of Black African/Caribbean backgrounds. Once a host of contextual factors were considered jointly, only contact was consistently associated with the variables measured. CONCLUSIONS: Stigma associated with ID is of concern across all ethnic groups, although it appears to be increased among the public from ethnic minorities. Given that contact and awareness are associated with reduced stigma, they should be considered as prime foci for efforts to tackle ID stigma. The current findings serve as baseline for attempts to increase public awareness and tackle stigma.

Social cognition in bulimia nervosa: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical accounts and previous evidence suggest that socio-emotional impairments may be present in people with bulimia nervosa (BN). The aim of this paper was to systematically review studies of social cognition, and to evaluate whether social cognitive deficits exist in BN. METHOD: Keywords were identified using an existing model of social cognition (Green et al., 2007) [16], and used to search for relevant papers in three online databases. Records were then screened according to a priori inclusion/exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Five papers reporting seven social cognition tasks were identified as pertinent to the review. All involved either theory of mind ability or emotional processing skills. Participants with BN had impaired performance on the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale and showed greater attentional bias than controls on an emotional Stroop task. There were no overall group differences for any other tasks, although there were small differences for some specific test items. CONCLUSIONS: Basic social cognition does not appear to be impaired in people with BN. Future research should make use of more complex, ecologically valid measures, and consider the relationship between task performance and everyday social functioning.

Alemtuzumab based reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation for myelofibrosis.

We report the results of 11 patients myelofibrosis, who have received a uniform alemtuzumab-based RIC HSCT. The median recipient age was 51 years. Stem cells were obtained from 8 full HLA-matched and 3 HLA-mismatched donors. The 2-year OS and TRM at 2-years was 46% and 54% with no disease relapse observed. For patients with a full HLA-matched donor, the 2-year TRM and OS was 37.5% and 62.5%. All 4 JAK2 V617F mutant positive patients achieved molecular remission after a median of 90 days post-transplant, and the median time to regression of bone marrow fibrosis was 180 days.

Allogeneic haematopoietic SCT for chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia: a single-centre experience.

Haematopoietic SCT (HSCT) offers the only potentially curative option in chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia (CMML). In this study, we report on single-centre results of 18 patients with CMML who have undergone allogeneic HSCT. The median age of patients was 54 years. Seven patients had AML, which had transformed from CMML. Overall, 11 patients received stem cells from an unrelated donor. A total of 15 patients received a T-cell-depleted fludarabine/BU-based reduced-intensity conditioning HSCT. The actuarial 3-year OS, non-relapse mortality (NRM) and relapse incidence for the cohort was 31±11%, 31±14% and 47±13%, respectively. Patients with favourable cytogenetics had a 3-year disease-free survival of 65±17%, whereas none of the seven patients with intermediate or poor risk cytogenetics survived beyond 2 years (P<0.01). No patients with favourable risk cytogenetics died from NRM causes, while the 2-year NRM for the intermediate/poor risk cytogenetics subgroup was 71±22% (P<0.02). In terms of disease status at transplantation, patients who had <5% BM blasts had a 3-year disease-free survival of 46.9±19% compared with those with >5% blasts at the time of transplantation (that is, 20.0±13%). Recipient age, type of conditioning regimen or stem cell dose did not have a significant impact on overall outcomes. Our data support existing evidence that allogeneic HSCT is a feasible therapeutic option for CMML, with the ability to attain long-term remission among patient subgroups.

Impact of pretransplant comorbidities on alemtuzumab-based reduced-intensity conditioning allogeneic hematopoietic SCT for patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and AML.

We report a retrospective analysis of 128 consecutive patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and AML who received an alemtuzumab-based reduced-intensity conditioning hematopoietic SCT (RIC HSCT). The median recipient age was 53 years (range 21-72 years). A total of 49 (38%) recipients had a sibling donor and 79 (62%) had a volunteer-unrelated donor. The hematopoietic cell transplantation-specific comorbidity index (HCT-CI) was assigned to all patients with a score of 0 in 40 (31%), of 1-2 in 45 (35%) and >or=3 in 43 (34%) patients. The 3-year non-relapse mortality (NRM) was 31%, disease-free survival (DFS) was 41% and overall survival (OS) was 46%. The 3-year NRM for patients with a HCT-CI score of 0, 1-2 or >or=3 was 16, 24 and 42%, respectively. The 3-year DFS and OS by HCT-CI was 58 and 69% (score 0), 39 and 39% (score 1-2) and 24 and 32% (score >or=3), respectively. On multivariate analysis, HCT-CI was an independent variable affecting 3-year NRM, DFS and OS (P-value=0.04, 0.01 and <0.01, respectively). Although the disease stage at the time of transplant was an additional independent predictive variable on transplant outcomes, recipient age (>or<50 years) did not have a significant predictive impact. In MDS or AML patients with advanced disease receiving alemtuzumab-based RIC HSCT, the HCT-CI provides an important means of stratifying patients with a high risk of inferior transplant outcomes.

Impact of pre-transplant serum ferritin on outcomes of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes or secondary acute myeloid leukaemia receiving reduced intensity conditioning allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

We report on a retrospective analysis examining the influence of pre-transplant serum ferritin on transplant outcomes of 99 MDS patients receiving reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) HSCT. The median pre-transplant ferritin value was 1992 ng/ml (range: 6-9580 ng/ml). No patients received iron chelation therapy preceding transplantation. On univariate analysis, there was a strong correlation between a higher pre-transplant serum ferritin (>1500 ng/ml) and a significantly inferior 3-year OS (64.6+/-7.5% vs 39.6+/-7.3%, p=0.01). However, pre-transplant serum ferritin did not influence 3-year TRM (20.2+/-7% vs 27.4+/-7%, p=0.24). There was no difference in infection-related mortality, and incidence of acute or chronic GvHD between cohorts. On multivariate analysis, a raised serum ferritin (HR: 2.00, 95% CI: 0.97-3.57, p=0.03), and the presence of >5% bone marrow blasts at time of transplantation (HR: 2.14, 95% CI: 0.84-4.58, p=0.06) were independent predictors of an inferior overall survival. However, pre-transplant serum ferritin was not a significant predictor of disease-free survival, relapse or TRM. When compared with myeloablative regimens, RIC regimens may attenuate the impact of iron overload related end-organ toxicity. Prospective studies incorporating alternative biomarkers of iron metabolism alongside serum ferritin levels are needed to improve our understanding of the significance of iron overload in MDS patients undergoing allogeneic transplantation.