Cancer arises from a deregulation of both intracellular and intercellular networks that maintain system homeostasis. Identifying the architecture of these networks and how they are changed in cancer is a pre-requisite for designing drugs to restore homeostasis. Since intercellular networks only appear in intact systems, it is difficult to identify how these networks become altered in human cancer using many of the common experimental models. To overcome this, we used the diversity in normal and malignant human tissue samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database of human breast cancer to identify the topology associated with intercellular networks in vivo. To improve the underlying biological signals, we constructed Bayesian networks using metagene constructs, which represented groups of genes that are concomitantly associated with different immune and cancer states. We also used bootstrap resampling to establish the significance associated with the inferred networks. In short, we found opposing relationships between cell proliferation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) with regards to macrophage polarization. These results were consistent across multiple carcinomas in that proliferation was associated with a type 1 cell-mediated anti-tumor immune response and EMT was associated with a pro-tumor anti-inflammatory response. To address the identifiability of these networks from other datasets, we could identify the relationship between EMT and macrophage polarization with fewer samples when the Bayesian network was generated from malignant samples alone. However, the relationship between proliferation and macrophage polarization was identified with fewer samples when the samples were taken from a combination of the normal and malignant samples.

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Anxiety levels in medical students have been reported as higher than the aged-matched general population, yet medical students are less likely to seek care for mental health issues. Medical students carry high levels of self-stigma about their own mental health and fear the negative consequences of seeking care. The purpose of this study was to examine the student population at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (UofSC SOMG) for anxiety levels and determine the self-stigma attitudes this population carries. UofSC SOMG students were surveyed using the GAD7, questions about mental health stigma, and open-ended questions on barriers to mental health care in medical students. Anxiety levels were compared to student responses. 31% of students reported moderate-severe anxiety levels. Stigma was the most frequently listed barrier to care, however, students with moderate-severe anxiety were more likely to report cost as a barrier to care than students with minimal anxiety levels. Despite free and accessible mental health care, medical students at UofSC SOMG still have anxiety at rates higher than the general population. Future work should help to provide interventions to the barriers of care, so medical students can better utilize mental health care resources.

Anxiety levels in medical students have been reported as higher than the aged-matched general population, yet medical students are less likely to seek care for mental health issues. Medical students carry high levels of self-stigma about their own mental health and fear the negative consequences of seeking care. The purpose of this study was to examine the student population at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville (UofSC SOMG) for anxiety levels and determine the self-stigma attitudes this population carries. UofSC SOMG students were surveyed using the GAD7, questions about mental health stigma, and open-ended questions on barriers to mental health care in medical students. Anxiety levels were compared to student responses. 31% of students reported moderate-severe anxiety levels. Stigma was the most frequently listed barrier to care, however, students with moderate-severe anxiety were more likely to report cost as a barrier to care than students with minimal anxiety levels. Despite free and accessible mental health care, medical students at UofSC SOMG still have anxiety at rates higher than the general population. Future work should help to provide interventions to the barriers of care, so medical students can better utilize mental health care resources.

The presence of an incident PDMH condition was associated with increased health care and pharmaceutical utilization and decreased occupational performance as assessed in terms of restricted duty status and participation in physical fitness assessments.