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Stereotypical assumptions associating high levels of giftedness and outstanding performance with maladaptive behavioral characteristics and personality traits (cf. disharmony stereotype) are rather prevalent in the school context as well as in the musical domain. Such preconceptions among teachers can influence student assessment and corresponding performance expectations, which might, in turn, impact future lesson planning. In an experiment using a controlled vignette approach, the current study, with N = 211 (prospective) German music school teachers, investigated how background information, combined with a manipulated music recording, affected (prospective) music school teachers' assessment of a fictive student's performance, behavioral characteristics, personality traits, and teachers' consequential lesson planning. Experimental variations included the fictive student's supposed level of giftedness, social interaction, age, and duration of instrumental lessons. Results indicated that music school teachers' preconceptions of students assumed to be musically gifted were a high level of intellectual and musical abilities with behavioral characteristics and personality traits rated at least equivalent to those of students assumed to have average giftedness. Teachers' lesson planning was not influenced by any of the manipulated background information. Taken together, the observed pattern of effects contradicts the disharmony stereotype but tends to align more with the harmony stereotype as music school teachers' prevailing preconceptions about students supposed to be musically gifted.

Advanced digitization and related information overload foster the prevalence of disruptive stimuli that constantly challenge people in learning and working contexts. The high variety of potential distractions increasingly reduces attention and subsequently minimizes capacities for productive study and work habits. Addressing this challenge, intelligent training software can leverage metacognitive feedback to support people with resisting situational temptations and keeping focused on meaningful tasks. While pilot studies indicate benefits to strengthen attention control skills, they also show hesitation towards using such software at all. Hence, the present study investigates users’ acceptance towards an AI-based software to promote attention control in more detail. A sample of 71 volunteers completed a survey based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to identify factors determining people’s willingness to use the software. Results indicate that performance expectancy is an important predictor to consider when introducing the software to potential target groups.

Welcome to Volume 8 of Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare. Reading through each article, I am struck by a conundrum that, in a way, defines qualitative research. Qualitative research generally takes a phenomenological perspective, presenting and analyzing the “lived experience” of participants—a term that I see more and more and chafe against every time I read it. How can we really present the experience of anyone while necessarily imposing a variety of filters required to present that experience to our readers? That includes determining which topics are worthy of studying, what questions we ask, who our participants are, and how and what to analyze. Furthermore, we are constrained by traditions and biases in our various academic disciplines. I would even go so far as to say that even autoethnography is necessarily distanced from experience, if only by the slippage imposed by written language. [...]

Welcome to the third issue, Volume 7, of Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare. As usual, articles demonstrate the immense range of applications for qualitative scholarship in the field of healthcare. Before introducing this issue’s articles, I want to welcome some new folks to QRMH. Dr. Paula Hopeck and Dr. Elizabeth Spradley joined our editorial board. Dr. Hopeck teaches at Commonwealth University in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania where she researches end-of-life issues and trains nursing students as they transition into the nursing profession. Dr. Spradley teaches courses in communication and medical humanities at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacagdoches, Texas. Dr. Spradley has published widely on narrative and identity, instructional communication, and work-from-home issues. Also, we have our first-ever book review editor: Dr. Michelle Walter, teaching specialist and lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. Dr. Walter’s research examines mental illness from the perspective of poststructural feminist theory. Dr. Walter contributed this issue’s book review on mental health in higher education. [...]

July 2023 saw the high point to date of my 25+ years in academe. I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop—“ Strategies for Writing Effective Qualitative Research in Healthcare”—at the 18th annual conference of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (NSSI). Hosted by the Medical University of Vienna, the conference featured dozens of presentations, of which a sizeable minority were qualitative in nature. Qualitative research at the conference addressed such topics as stigma pertaining to NSSI, young adults’ experiences with NSSI in India, healthcare staff views of NSSI behaviors, and reasoning/beliefs among patients who self-injure [...]

Welcome to Volume 7, Number 1 of Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare. As I read through each of the articles in this issue, it occurred to me that they are surprisingly similar in technique, but widely divergent in topic. Indeed, taken together, articles in this issue provide a useful lesson in how to effectively conduct qualitative research. I speak from experience. I am fortunate in being paid to teach a course in research methods to polite, engaged undergraduates who are genuinely eager to learn. In the course, I cover research ethics, journal article structure, deductive vs. inductive approaches, and basic techniques used in quantitative and qualitative research. Not surprisingly, teaching qualitative research is my favorite part of the course, so I save it for the end. [...]

Welcome to Issue 3, Volume 6 of Qualitative Research in Medicine in Healthcare. The term “qualitative research” covers a wide range of theories and methodologies, and this issue certainly illustrates that diversity of approaches. As with most articles published in QRMH, authors featured in this issue worked through multiple manuscript iterations prior to acceptance for publication. Many other submitted manuscripts, of course, never make it that far. No doubt the story is the same for any reputable research journal. [...]

It has been more than 30 years since Arthur Kleinman first published The Illness Narratives; Suffering, Healing & the Human Condition.1 In his preface, Kleinman referred to the case of a young burn victim: She taught me a grand lesson in patient care: that it is possible to talk with patients, even those who are most distressed, about the actual experience of illness, and the witnessing and helping to order that experience can be of therapeutic value. (p. xii) [...]

In the previous issue of this journal (Volume 5, Issue 3), I described Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare as a “helping journal.” By that, I meant that QRMH welcomes manuscripts from a range of specializations, and as editor, I am glad to assist writers wherever they are within that range. [...]

As we put the finishing touches on Volume 5, Issue 3 of QRMH, I have much to be thankful for as Editor. First, I will be the first to say that I couldn’t put this journal together without Teresa Carrara, Managing Editor at PAGEPress Journals. Teresa fields initial correspondence with authors, does a lot of the editing, solves problems as they occur with the website, and works with Claudia Castellano on page layout and proofs. Most important, Teresa keeps on my case and doesn’t let me slide on anything. She has a knack for reminding of tasks that need to be done and for saving me from making mistakes. She is also determined to keep QRMH on track and on time. Oh, and she tells me when my perfectionist tendency goes too far. I can’t imagine how I would do my job without Teresa’s formidable contributions in the editorial and production process. [...]

Tl[CB11H12] was prepared with a reaction of Tl2[CO3] with the acid of the monocarba-closo-dodecaborate anion (H3O)[CB11H12] in aqueous solution as prismatic colorless single crystals by isothermal evaporation from the clear brine. It crystallizes in a monoclinic primitive structure with the space group P21/c (a = 685.64(3) pm, b = 1978.21(9) pm, c = 1006.89(5) pm, β = 132.918(3)° for Z = 4), which can be derived from the halite-type arrangement if the closo-carbaborate cages are considered as spheres. Due to the different atoms in the [CB11H12]− anion, Tl[CB11H12] features interesting C–Hδ+ ∙∙∙ δ−H–B interactions near to non-classical hydrogen bridges (“dihydrogen bonds”) and exhibits considerably different luminescence properties compared to regular closo-hydroborates, such as Tl2[B10H10], Tl2[B12H12] and Tl3Cl[B12H12]. Tl[CB11H12] shows strong photoluminescence (PL) at 390 nm, while the excitation bands for this broad band are located at 245 and 280 nm. It is caused by an interconfigurational [Xe]4f145d106s2 (3P1) to [Xe]4f145d106s16p1 (1S0) transition, which is also known as lone-pair luminescence. The quantum yield is rather low (

As the Corona Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 persists, vaccination is one of the key measures to contain the spread. Side effects (SE) from vaccination are one of the reasons for reluctance to vaccinate. We systematically investigated self-reported SE after the first, second, and booster vaccinations. The data were collected during the TüSeRe: exact study (Tübinger Monitoring Studie zur exakten Analyse der Immunantwort nach Vakzinierung). Employees of health and research institutions were invited to participate. Study participants were asked to fill out an online questionnaire and report their SE after each dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. A total of 1046 participants (mean age: 44 ± 12.9 years; female, n = 815 (78%); male, n = 231 (22%)) were included in the analysis. Local and systemic SE were more frequent after receiving the vector-based vaccine ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in the first vaccination. However, local and systemic SE were more common after receiving mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273) in the second vaccination. Compared to the BNT162b2 vaccine, more SE have been observed after receiving the mRNA-1273 vaccine in the booster vaccination. In multivariate analysis, local and systemic side effects were associated with vaccine type, age and gender. Local and systemic SE are common after SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. The frequency of self-reported local and systemic SE differ significantly between mRNA and vector-based vaccines.

Severe arthritis can limit a driver’s range of motion and increase their crash risk. The high prevalence of arthritis among the US driver population, especially among senior drivers, makes it a public safety concern. In this study, we evaluate the impact of arthritis on driving behavior and crash risk using the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study (SHRP 2 NDS), which collected continuous driving data through data acquisition systems installed on participant’s vehicles. A detailed questionnaire survey was administered on demographic, health conditions, and personality information at the time of recruitment. The dataset includes 3563 participants. Among them, 78 drivers were identified to have severe arthritis, and they contributed to 414 out of 1641 crashes. We systematically evaluated the impact of severe arthritis on crash risk, secondary task engagement, and fitness-to-drive metrics. The results show there is a significant relationship between arthritis and crash risk, with an odds ratio of 1.99 with adjustment for age effects, which indicates that individuals with arthritis are twice as likely to be involved in a crash. There is no statistically significant association between arthritis and secondary task engagement, as well as the sensation-seeking scores, a personality trait.

In her final editorial for Qualitative Research in Medicine and Healthcare, Mariaelena Bartesaghi described how her health condition prevented her from continuing as Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Bartesaghi described herself as a character in the type of stories that we research and report about in this very journal. Like so many people whose stories have been told and reflected upon in QRMH since Dr. Bartesaghi founded the journal in 2017, her story “is one about the burdens of being a patient as well as a human being who suffers” (p. vi). [...]

Abstract Background Adequate pain education of health professionals is fundamental in the management of pain. Although an interprofessional consensus of core competencies for health professional pre-licensure education in pain have been established, the degree of their incorporation into physical therapy curriculum varies greatly. The purpose of this study was to 1. Assess students’ pain knowledge and their attitudes and beliefs in a pre-licensure physical therapy curriculum using a cross sectional comparison, and 2. Using a sub-sample of this population, we evaluated if an elective course on pain based on International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) guidelines had an effect on students’ knowledge and beliefs. Methods The Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (NPQ) and the Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists (PABS-PT) was completed by first semester (n = 72) and final (n = 56) semester doctor of physical therapy (DPT) students. Final semester students completed surveys before and after participation in an elective course of their choosing (pain elective (PE) or other electives (OE)). Results Participation rate was > 90% (n = 128/140). We found mean differences in NPQ scores between final semester (3rd year) students (76.9%) compared to first semester students (64%), p

(1) Background: Anaerobic infections in hepatobiliary surgery have rarely been addressed. Whereas infectious complications during the perioperative phase of liver resections are common, there are very limited data on the prevalence and clinical role of anaerobes in this context. Given the risk of contaminated bile in liver resections, the goal of our study was to investigate the prevalence and outcome of anaerobic infections in major hepatectomies. (2) Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the charts of 245 consecutive major hepatectomies that were performed at the department of General, Visceral, and Transplantation Surgery of the University Hospital of Tuebingen between July 2017 and August 2020. All microbiological cultures were screened for the prevalence of anaerobic bacteria and the patients’ clinical characteristics and outcomes were evaluated. (3) Results: Of the 245 patients, 13 patients suffered from anaerobic infections. Seven had positive cultures from the biliary tract during the primary procedure, while six had positive culture results from samples obtained during the management of complications. Risk factors for anaerobic infections were preoperative biliary stenting (p = 0.002) and bile leaks (p = 0.009). All of these infections had to be treated by intervention and adjunct antibiotic treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics. (4) Conclusions: Anaerobic infections are rare in liver resections. Certain risk factors trigger the antibiotic coverage of anaerobes.

Research in case-based design has demonstrated some capability to retrieve relevant designs and to adapt them automatically to satisfy new design constraints. However, some domains are less amenable to automated adaptation, particularly when the cases are very complex and when relationships among the design components are difficult to express formally. The design of interactive learning environments is one such domain. W e describe a case-based approach to instructional software design which utilizes interactive, model-driven case adaptation. Our model for computer-based instruction is Goal-Based Scenarios. W e describe a tool, Goal-Based Scenario Builder, which supports interactive adaptation of instructional software using the model, and illustrate its use in adapting an example case of a successful instructional software program, Sickle Cell Counselor.

In this paper, we provide a taxonomy of the processes which people use to generate questions for a type of interviewing task. Specifically, we analyze "story acquisition interviews" in which the interviewer is a knowledge engineer who asks questions of a domain expert to acquire material for a conversational hypermedia system. Such interviews have proven to be surprisingly difficult to conduct successfully. W e have identified a number of "local" strategies which successful interviewers use to develop coherent, interesting sequences of questions and we have positioned these strategies within a model which describes the global interviewing process. This descriptive model is an initial step towards a methodology prescribing how to perform these interviews effectively.

This paper describes a memory organization that supports intelligent memory-based argumentation. Our goal is to build a system that can argue opposite sides of an issue by retrieving stories that support or oppose it. Rather than attempting to determine how a story relates to a point on the fly, we explicitly represent the points that the stories support or oppose, as well cis how they support or oppose those points. We have developed a hierarchy of story point types; associated with each type is a set of rhetorical templates, which describe the ways that a story could support or oppose a point of that type. Each template consists of a series of assertion types on which the argument depends. This enables the program to attack intelligently the foundations of the point it is trying to refute. Our approach is being developed within the context of the ILS Story Archive, a large multimedia case base which includes stories from a wide variety of domains.

When solving a complex problem, gathering relevant information to understand the situation and imposing appropriate interpretations on that information are critical to problem solving success. These two tasks are especially difficult in weak-theory domains -- domains in which knowledge is incomplete, uncertain, and contradictory. In such domains, experts may rely on experience for all aspects of problem solving. We have developed a case-based approach to problem elaboration and interpretation in such domains. An experience-based problem-solver should be able to incrementally acquire information and, in the course of that acquisition, be reminded of multiple cases in order to present multiple viewpoints to problems that present multiple faults. We are addressing issues of 1) elaboration and interpretation of complex problem situations; 2) multiple interpretations; and 3) the role of categories as the foci of reasoning in the context of the Organizational Change Advisor (ORCA). Its model of incremental reminding is a plausible mechanism for this sort of expert problem solving behavior, and one that works well in weak theory domains. Because there is an implicit cost associated with retrieving a complex case, O R C A implements a retrieval time similarity function that requires both general expectations and specific situational relevance be considered before a story is told to the user; this increases the chances that a retrieved case will be useful.

The Wnt signalling pathway plays a crucial role in the development of the nervous system. This signalling cascade is initiated upon binding of the secreted Wnt ligand to a member of the family of frizzled receptors. In the present study, we analysed the presence of frizzled-4 in the enteric nervous system of human infants. Frizzled-4 could be identified by immunohistochemistry in a subpopulation of enteric neuronal and glial cells in the small and large intestine. Detection of frizzled-4 in the tunica muscularis by RT-PCR confirmed this receptor’s expression on the mRNA level. Interestingly, we observed distinct cell populations that co-expressed frizzled-4 with the intermediate filament protein nestin and the neurotrophin receptor p75NTR, which have been reported to be expressed in neural progenitor cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that 60% of p75NTR positive cells of the tunica muscularis were positive for frizzled-4. Additionally, in pathological samples of Hirschsprung’s disease, the expression of this Wnt receptor correlated with the number of myenteric ganglion cells and decreased from normoganglionic to aganglionic areas of large intestine. The expression pattern of frizzled-4 indicates that this Wnt receptor could be involved in postnatal development and/or function of the enteric nervous system.

The observed rapid climate warming in the Arctic requires improvements in permafrost and carbon cycle monitoring, accomplished by setting up long-term observation sites with high-quality in-situ measurements of turbulent heat, water and carbon fluxes as well as soil physical parameters in Arctic landscapes. But accurate quantification and well adapted parameterizations of turbulent fluxes in polar environments presents fundamental problems in soil-snow-ice-vegetation-atmosphere interaction studies. One of these problems is the accurate estimation of the surface or aerodynamic temperature T(0) required to force most of the bulk aerodynamic formulae currently used. Results from the Arctic-Turbulence-Experiment (ARCTEX-2006) performed on Svalbard during the winter/spring transition 2006 helped to better understand the physical exchange and transport processes of energy. The existence of an atypical temperature profile close to the surface in the Arctic spring at Svalbard could be proven to be one of the major issues hindering estimation of the appropriate surface temperature. Thus, it is essential to adjust the set-up of measurement systems carefully when applying flux-gradient methods that are commonly used to force atmosphere-ocean/land-ice models. The results of a comparison of different sensible heat-flux parameterizations with direct measurements indicate that the use of a hydrodynamic three-layer temperature-profile model achieves the best fit and reproduces the temporal variability of the surface temperature better than other approaches.

Teaching Software Engineering to professional master‟s students is a challenging endeavor, and arguably for the past 20 years, Carnegie Mellon University has been quite successful. Although CMU teaches Software Engineering at sites world-wide and uses different pedagogies, the goal of the curriculum -- to produce world-class software engineers -- remains constant. This paper will discuss two of the most mature versions of Carnegie Mellon‟s Software Engineering program -- the main campus program and its "daughter program" at the Silicon Valley Campus. We discuss the programs with respect to the dimensions of curriculum, how students work and learn, how faculty teach, curricular materials, and how students are assessed to provide insight into how Carnegie Mellon continues to keep its programs fresh, to adapt them to local needs, and to meet its goal of excellence after 20 years.

Examines the discursive construction of audience identity at a public radio station in New Mexico by investigating listener letters printed in the radio station's newsletter. Shows how the letters frame the audience in particular ways. Discusses listener letters as an ongoing text, and spatial discourse as metacommunication. (SR)

In early May 2006 a record high air pollution event was observed at Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen. An atypical weather pattern established a pathway for the rapid transport of biomass burning aerosols from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe to the Arctic. Atmospheric stability was such that the smoke was constrained to low levels, within 2 km of the surface during the transport. A description of this smoke event in terms of transport and main aerosol characteristics can be found in Stohl et al. (2007). This study puts emphasis on the radiative effect of the smoke. The aerosol number size distribution was characterised by lognormal parameters as having an accumulation mode centered around 165–185 nm and almost 1.6 for geometric standard deviation of the mode. Nucleation and small Aitken mode particles were almost completely suppressed within the smoke plume measured at Ny-Ålesund. Chemical and microphysical aerosol information obtained at Mt. Zeppelin (474 m a.s.l) was used to derive input parameters for a one-dimensional radiation transfer model to explore the radiative effects of the smoke. The daily mean heating rate calculated on 2 May 2006 for the average size distribution and measured chemical composition reached 0.55 K day−1 at 0.5 km altitude for the assumed external mixture of the aerosols but showing much higher heating rates for an internal mixture (1.7 K day−1). In comparison a case study for March 2000 showed that the local climatic effects due to Arctic haze, using a regional climate model, HIRHAM, amounts to a maximum of 0.3 K day−1 of heating at 2 km altitude (Treffeisen et al., 2005).

Background. Methemoglobin (MetHb) most commonly results from exposure to an oxidizing chemical but may also arise from genetic, dietary, or even idiopathic etiologies. P-chloroaniline (PCA) was one of the first substances described in the context of acquired methemoglobinemia. Case Report. We report the case of a cyanotic chemistry worker who presented to our emergency department (ED) after working with PCA. His peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) measured by pulse oximetry was at 81% and remained on that level despite oxygen administration (100% oxygenation via nonrebreather mask). His MetHb level was measured at 42.8% in arterial blood gas analysis. After treatment with intravenous methylene blue cyanosis resolved and the patient was discharged after 36 hours of observation. Conclusion. Acquired methemoglobinemia is a treatable condition, which may cause significant morbidity and mortality. The knowledge about the most common causes, fast diagnostic, and proper treatment is crucial.

Brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease that remains endemic in many parts of the world. Dissecting the host immune response during this disease provides insight as to why brucellosis is often difficult to resolve. We used a Brucella epitope specific in vivo killing assay to investigate the ability of CD8+ T cells to kill targets treated with purified pathogenic protein. Importantly, we found the pathogenic protein TcpB to be a novel effector of adaptive immune evasion by inhibiting CD8+ T cell killing of Brucella epitope specific target cells in mice. Further, BALB/c mice show active Brucella melitensis infection beyond one year, many with previously unreported focal infection of the urogenital area. A fraction of CD8+ T cells show a CD8+ Tmem phenotype of LFA-1hi, CD127hi, KLRG-1lo during the course of chronic brucellosis, while the CD8+ T cell pool as a whole had a very weak polyfunctional cytokine response with diminished co-expression of IFN-γ with TNFα and/or IL-2, a hallmark of exhaustion. When investigating the expression of these 3 cytokines individually, we observed significant IFN-γ expression at 90 and 180 days post-infection. TNFα expression did not significantly exceed or fall below background levels at any time. IL-2 expression did not significantly exceeded background, but, interestingly, did fall significantly below that of uninfected mice at 180 days post-infection. Brucella melitensis evades and blunts adaptive immunity during acute infection and our findings provide potential mechanisms for the deficit observed in responding CD8+ T cells during chronic brucellosis.

Background Conventionally, mesenchymal stem cells are functionally isolated from primary tissue based on their capacity to adhere to a plastic surface. This isolation procedure is hampered by the unpredictable influence of co-cultured hematopoietic and/or other unrelated cells and/or by the elimination of a late adhering mesenchymal stem cells subset during removal of undesired cells. To circumvent these limitations, several antibodies have been developed to facilitate the prospective isolation of mesenchymal stem cells. Recently, we described a panel of monoclonal antibodies with superior selectivity for mesenchymal stem cells, including the monoclonal antibodies W8B2 against human mesenchymal stem cell antigen-1 (MSCA-1) and 39D5 against a CD56 epitope, which is not expressed on natural killer cells.Design and Methods Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells from healthy donors were analyzed and isolated by flow cytometry using a large panel of antibodies against surface antigens including CD271, MSCA-1, and CD56. The growth of mesenchymal stem cells was monitored by colony formation unit fibroblast (CFU-F) assays. The differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into defined lineages was induced by culture in appropriate media and verified by immunostaining.Results Multicolor cell sorting and CFU-F assays showed that mesenchymal stem cells were ~90-fold enriched in the MSCA-1+CD56− fraction and ~180-fold in the MSCA-1+CD56+ fraction. Phenotype analysis revealed that the expression of CD10, CD26, CD106, and CD146 was restricted to the MSCA-1+CD56− mesenchymal stem cells subset and CD166 to MSCA-1+CD56± mesenchymal stem cells. Further differentiation of these subsets showed that chondrocytes and pancreatic-like islets were predominantly derived from MSCA-1+CD56± cells whereas adipocytes emerged exclusively from MSCA-1+CD56− cells. The culture of single sorted MSCA-1+CD56+ cells resulted in the appearance of phenotypically heterogeneous clones with distinct proliferation and differentiation capacities.Conclusions Novel mesenchymal stem cells subsets with distinct phenotypic and functional properties were identified. Our data suggest that the MSCA-1+CD56+ subset is an attractive starting population for autologous chondrocyte transplantation.

Abstract Background The SRY-related HMG-box family of transcription factors member SOX2 has been mainly studied in embryonic stem cells as well as early foregut and neural development. More recently, SOX2 was shown to participate in reprogramming of adult somatic cells to a pluripotent stem cell state and implicated in tumorigenesis in various organs. In breast cancer, SOX2 expression was reported as a feature of basal-like tumors. In this study, we assessed SOX2 expression in 95 primary tumors of postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Methods Samples from 95 patients diagnosed and treated at the University of Tuebingen Institute of Pathology and Women's Hospital were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for SOX2 expression in the primary tumor samples and in corresponding lymph node metastasis, where present. Furthermore, SOX2 amplification status was assessed by FISH in representative samples. In addition, eighteen fresh frozen samples were analyzed for SOX2, NANOG and OCT4 gene expression by real-time PCR. Results SOX2 expression was detected in 28% of invasive breast carcinoma as well as in 44% of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions. A score of SOX2 expression (score 0 to 3) was defined in order to distinguish SOX2 negative (score 0) from SOX2 positive samples (score 1-3) and among latter the subgroup of SOX2 high expressors (score 3 > 50% positive cells). Overall, the incidence of SOX2 expression (score 1-3) was higher than previously reported in a cohort of lymph node negative patients (28% versus 16.7%). SOX2 expression was detected across different breast cancer subtypes and did not correlate with tumor grading. However, high SOX2 expression (score 3) was associated with larger tumor size (p = 0.047) and positive lymph node status (0.018). Corresponding metastatic lymph nodes showed higher SOX2 expression and were significantly more often SOX2 positive than primary tumors (p = 0.0432). Conclusions In this report, we show that the embryonic stem cell factor SOX2 is expressed in a variety of early stage postmenopausal breast carcinomas and metastatic lymph nodes. Our data suggest that SOX2 plays an early role in breast carcinogenesis and high expression may promote metastatic potential. Further studies are needed to explore whether SOX2 can predict metastatic potential at an early tumor stage.