The biomechanical role of the chondrocranium and sutures in a lizard cranium

The role of soft tissues in skull biomechanics remains poorly understood. Not least, the chondrocranium, the portion of the braincase which persists as cartilage with varying degrees of mineralization. It also remains commonplace to overlook the biomechanical role of sutures despite evidence that they alter strain distribution. Here, we examine the role of both the sutures and the chondrocranium in the South American tegu lizard Salvator merianae. We use multi-body dynamics analysis (MDA) to provide realistic loading conditions for anterior and posterior unilateral biting and a detailed finite element model to examine strain magnitude and distribution. We find that strains within the chondrocraniumare greatest during anterior biting and are primarily tensile; also that strain within the cranium is not greatly reduced by the presence of the chondrocraniumunless it is given the same material properties as bone. This result contradicts previous suggestions that the anterior portion (the nasal septum) acts as a supporting structure. Inclusion of sutures to the cranium model not only increases overall strain magnitudes but also leads to a more complex distribution of tension and compression rather than that of a beam under sagittal bending

Clostridium difficile ribotype diversity at six health care institutions in the United States

Capillary-based PCR ribotyping was used to quantify the presence/absence and relative abundance of 98 Clostridium difficile ribotypes from clinical cases of disease at health care institutions in six states of the United States. Regionally important ribotypes were identified, and institutions in close proximity did not necessarily share more ribotype diversity than institutions that were farther apart

DNA methylation and body mass index:investigating identified methylation sites at HIF3A in a causal framework

Multiple differentially methylated sites and regions associated with adiposity have now been identified in large-scale cross-sectional studies. We tested for replication of associations between previously identified CpG sites at HIF3A and adiposity in ∼1,000 mother-offspring pairs from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Availability of methylation and adiposity measures at multiple time points, as well as genetic data, allowed us to assess the temporal associations between adiposity and methylation and to make inferences regarding causality and directionality. Overall, our results were discordant with those expected if HIF3A methylation has a causal effect on BMI and provided more evidence for causality in the reverse direction (i.e., an effect of BMI on HIF3A methylation). These results are based on robust evidence from longitudinal analyses and were also partially supported by Mendelian randomization analysis, although this latter analysis was underpowered to detect a causal effect of BMI on HIF3A methylation. Our results also highlight an apparent long-lasting intergenerational influence of maternal BMI on offspring methylation at this locus, which may confound associations between own adiposity and HIF3A methylation. Further work is required to replicate and uncover the mechanisms underlying the direct and intergenerational effect of adiposity on DNA methylation.Rebecca C. Richmond, Gemma C. Sharp, Mary E. Ward, Abigail Fraser, Oliver Lyttleton, Wendy L. McArdle, Susan M. Ring, Tom R. Gaunt, Debbie A. Lawlor, George Davey Smith, and Caroline L. Relto

Student and Instructor Perceptions of Effective Instructional Methods in a University Aviation Human Factors Course

Aviation human factors instructors employed by University Aviation Association (UAA) member institutions and aviation flight students from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC) were asked to rank nine teaching methods according to perceived effectiveness in each of four subject areas: flight physiology, flight psychology, aeronautical decision-making (ADM), and crew resource management (CRM). Responses were compiled into two categories, students and instructors. Analysis using the Spearman\u27s rank correlation coefficient indicated that students and instructors generally agreed on teaching methods they considered appropriate to the four subject areas

Aviation Industry Employment Data Estimates Revisited

A wide variety of estimates of aviation industry employment data exist today. For example, a range of estimates from a low of 750,000 to a high of 2.1 million are reported in various industry publications and journals. This broad range raises questions not onIy about such data but also about the definition used to define the industry and thus used to arrive at employment numbers. In this paper, an overall 1995 aviation industry employment estimate is presented that is based on various secondary sources. The estimate incorporates various components of the civil aviation industry, including aircraft/aerospace manufacturing, airlines, general aviation, government aviation, and miscellaneous aviation industry employment. Active duty military personnel are a significant contributor to aviation employment. Although they are not included in previous assessments of overall civil aviation employment, they have been included in this work. One article (NewMyer, 1985) estimated aviation employment at 2,286,709. This new assessment indicates an industry increase of 62,290 employees to a total population of 2,349,399. Data collection for this new computation was obtained through replication of the methodology producing the 1985 statistics. The primary contributing factor to overall aviation industry employment increases in 1995 is the fact that there were net increases in four of the six components of the aviation industry (aviation/aerospace manufacturing, airlines, general aviation, government aviation, miscellaneous, and active duty military aviation personnel). It is concluded, however, that without the miscellaneous employment category contribution to employment statistics, there is actually a decline in industry employment over the 10-year period. Contributing to this descent have been large personnel reductions in the defense-related aircraft/aerospace manufacturing industry and active duty military aviation components

The practicum as workplace learning: A multi-mode approach in teacher education

This paper has as its focus the portrayal of, and justification for, a multi modal practicum curriculum which is directed to address the needs of qualified teachers. The subject “The Reflective Practitioner in the School” is one which takes the concept of workplace learning most seriously. For too many years teacher education has treated the practicum curriculum as a pre service “practice teaching” subject sequence and has not concerned itself with ways in which in service professional development can be constructed as continuous with the pre service practicum program

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Critical reflection workshops and knowledge exchange:findings from a Scottish project

In 2013, academics from a Scottish university came together with social work managers and practitioners from two local authorities (LAs) in Scotland to run a knowledge exchange (KE) project co-sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council and the LAs. The project's aim was an ambitious one: to contribute to culture change in the children and families' departments in the two partner agencies. The project grew out of an earlier KE venture that had explored ways of engaging better with involuntary service users in social work; it thus both anticipated and reflected wider concerns about services for children that were also demonstrated in Munro's Review of Child Protection. The KE project had three components: training for managers, practitioner research projects and critical reflection workshops. Whether, and to what degree, the KE project changed culture is not the focus of this paper, which is written jointly by academic researchers and practitioners. Instead, one element of the KE project, namely the critical reflection workshops, is discussed. Findings provide strong evidence of the pressures currently experienced by children and families' services in the UK public sector. They also indicate how important good relationships are in building meaningful KE

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN