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Dustin Friedman’s book is a gently impassioned intervention in our understanding of a few different intellectual scenes: the context in which nineteenth-century British aesthetes were writing; the ...

BACKGROUND: Although P1 and Xg(a) are known to be associated with the A4GALT and XG genes respectively, the genetic basis of antigen expression has been elusive. Recent reports link both P1 and Xg(a) expression with nucleotide changes in the promotor regions and with antigen negative phenotypes due to disruption of transcription factor binding. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Whole genome sequencing was performed on 113 individuals as part of the MedSeq Project with serologic RBC antigen typing for P1 (n=77) and Xg(a) (n=15). Genomic data were analyzed by two approaches, nucleotide frequency correlation or serologic correlation, to find A4GALT and XG changes associated with P1 and Xg(a) expression. RESULTS: For P1, the frequency approach identified 29 possible associated nucleotide changes, and the serologic approach revealed four among them correlating with the P1+/P1− phenotype: chr22:43,115,523_43,115,520AAAG/delAAAG (rs66781836); chr 22:43,114,551C/T (rs8138197); chr22:43,114,020T/G (rs2143918); and chr22:43,113,793G/T (rs5751348). For Xg(a), the frequency approach identified 82 possible associated nucleotide changes, and among these the serologic approach revealed one correlating with the Xg(a+)/Xg(a–) phenotype: chrX:2,666,384G/C (rs311103). CONCLUSION: A bioinformatics analysis pipeline was created to identify genetic changes responsible for RBC antigen expression. This study, in progress prior to the recently published reports, independently confirms the basis for P1 and Xg(a). Although, this enabled molecular typing of these antigens, the Y chromosome PAR1 region interfered with Xg(a) typing in males. This approach could be used to identify and confirm the genetic basis of antigens, potentially replacing the historical approach using family pedigrees as genomic sequencing becomes common place.

Alfred Tennyson disliked the engraving of ‘The Lady of Shalott’ produced by William Holman Hunt for the 1857 Moxon edition of Tennyson’s Poems, accusing the artist of taking too many liberties in depicting the Lady’s hair and the threads of her weaving as ‘wildly tossing’ around her. This essay traces the histories of both Hunt’s image and Tennyson’s text, arguing that the poet’s objection is grounded in the fact the engraving reproduces the fierce agency that characterizes the Lady in Tennyson’s 1832 original but not his 1842 revision. That pattern of revision, I suggest, reflects the poet’s distress over the 1833 death of his beloved friend Arthur Hallam and is motivated by his new ways of thinking, in the wake of that catastrophe, about the crisis of desire and the perpetual trauma of communication between the living and the dead.

Aim ABO typing of recipients and donors is important for optimal transplant outcomes. ABO typing by serology requires a fresh blood sample, whereas living donor evaluations as well as collection of samples for the donor registry often involve a buccal swab for DNA isolation. ASHI and CAP have recently released guidelines that allow DNA-based genetic ABO determination as a screening tool for initial donor evaluation or for listing donors on the registry. We sought to develop a targeted ABO next generation sequencing (NGS) assay, along with companion interpretive software, for automated data processing and ABO prediction. Methods To develop a target approach, a series of PCR primer combinations spanning the ABO gene were evaluated on blood and buccal swab isolated DNA. The DNA products were run on agarose gel and Agilent bioanalyzer to determine product size and quality. PCR products underwent Illumina TruSight NGS library preparation and sequencing using Illumina MiSeq. A curated ABO allele table was created, and customize software developed to detect and phase ABO alleles from NGS data. Results PCR primer evaluation showed reproducible PCR products spanning exons 6–7 of the ABO gene, which yielded good quality NGS data. These exons encode the major ABO specificities and variations. To verify the ABO NGS assay, a combination of 50 blood and buccal swab samples were tested and found to be 100% concordant with serologic ABO typing which included 19 Group A, 18 Group O, 12 Group B, and 1 Group AB. Conclusions A targeted ABO NGS based assay was developed and optimized for blood and buccal swab isolated DNA. Companion interpretive software, which automates NGS ABO analysis, was developed and correctly determined the ABO type when compared with serology. This assay and software interpretation provides a screening tool for prediction of ABO blood type when no blood sample is available.

Charles Worth, founder of the modern couture system of fashion production, scandalized his contemporaries with his incursion into the sphere of women's dress. The satirical, hostile journalistic accounts of Worth, from his rise to fame in the 1860s through his death in 1895, suggest that "the great man-milliner" escalated Victorian anxieties about gender and value. Simultaneously, the memoirs of Worth's fans reveal the genesis of a species of cross-gender relationship between designer and clients that is chaste but enamored, controlling but also collaborative. Reading across these opposing perspectives, I argue that Worth embodies a queer Victorian masculinity based not in sexual preference or effeminacy but in social and material relations to women, and that the opulence of his work transcends the boundary between fashion and art.