An Examination of Various Dimensions Associated with Nonprofit Board Member Diversity: The Significance of Organizational Factors

The sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) sequesters Ca2+ into the endoplasmic reticulum of cells to establish a reservoir for Ca2+ signaling. In the heart, the activity of this transporter is tightly controlled via direct interactions with two competing regulatory micropeptides: phospholamban (PLB) and dwarf open reading frame (DWORF). PLB inhibits SERCA, while DWORF activates SERCA. These competing interactions determine cardiac performance by modulating the Ca2+ signals that drive the contraction/relaxation cycle. Previous studies indicated these SERCA-micropeptide interactions are Ca2+-sensitive; SERCA binds PLB more avidly at low cytoplasmic [Ca2+] but binds DWORF better when [Ca2+] is high. Here, FRET-microscopy demonstrated that this opposing Ca2+-sensitivity drives dynamic shifts in SERCA-micropeptide binding during cellular Ca2+ elevations. Evaluating the rates of these equilibrium shifts revealed that PLB monomers freed from SERCA during Ca2+ elevations rapidly oligomerize into PLB pentamers. These stable oligomers unbind slowly, delaying the rebinding of inhibitory PLB monomers to SERCA after Ca2+ elevations. In contrast, DWORF is exchanged rapidly on and off SERCA with respect to the rise and fall of transient Ca2+ signals. Computational modeling revealed that the slow unbinding of PLB pentamers causes PLB monomers to accumulate in these complexes during accelerated cardiac pacing. We propose that this accumulation of PLB pentamers decreases availability of inhibitory PLB monomers to bind SERCA and contributes to an increase in the contractile force of cardiac muscle at faster heart rates. Moreover, we demonstrated that a mutation of PLB, Arginine 14 deletion, which is associated with lethal dilated cardiomyopathy, further stabilizes PLB pentamers and blunts these dynamics adjustments to Ca2+ handling. It was also determined that the reciprocal Ca2+ sensitivity of PLB and DWORF results from their preference for binding different intermediate conformations that SERCA samples during Ca2+ transport. Specifically, PLB had the highest affinity for the ATP-bound state of SERCA, which prevails at low [Ca2+]. This result led us to hypothesize that tight binding of PLB to the ATP-bound state of SERCA may relate to its inhibitory effect on SERCA, decreasing the pump’s apparent Ca2+ affinity. Using a 2-color SERCA biosensor to report changes in SERCA conformation during Ca2+ binding by changes in intramolecular FRET, we tested whether PLB reduces SERCA Ca2+ affinity in the presence and absence of nucleotide. The results suggest that PLB inhibits SERCA through reversing an allosteric activation of the pump by ATP

An Annotated Check-List of the Fishes of the Iowa-Cedar River Drainage Basin in Iowa

The Iowa-Cedar River drainage basin, which finds the larger of the two rivers, the Cedar, as a tributary to the smaller, is second in size of various inland river drainage basins in the state. The combined rivers drain 11,615 square miles or, roughly, one-fifth of the area of the state. The Iowa River, which has its source in Crystal Lake, in Hancock County, flows southeast for a distance of 329 miles and has a 685-foot fall from source to mouth. From its source the river has a gentle slope of 1.5 feet per mile till it reaches Franklin and Hardin Counties, where the gradient increases to 7.5 feet per mile. It levels off sharply below Iowa Falls and nearly returns to its original gradient. The valley of the Iowa is narrow and gives rise to only one important tributary, the English River, which enters the Iowa 30 miles above its junction with the Cedar

Design of a slender tuned ultrasonic needle for bone penetration

This paper reports on an ultrasonic bone biopsy needle, particularly focusing on design guidelines applicable for any slender tuned ultrasonic device component. Ultrasonic surgical devices are routinely used to cut a range of biological tissues, such as bone. However the realisation of an ultrasonic bone biopsy needle is particularly challenging. This is due to the requirement to generate sufficient vibrational amplitude capable of penetrating mineralised tissue, while avoiding flexural vibrational responses, which are known to reduce the performance and reliability of slender ultrasonic devices. This investigation uses finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the vibrational behaviour of a resonant needle which has dimensions that match closely to an 8Gx4inch bone marrow biopsy needle. Features of the needle, including changes in material and repeated changes in diameter, have been included and systematically altered to demonstrate that the location of and geometry of these features can significantly affect the resonant frequency of bending and torsional modes of vibration while having a limited effect on the frequency and shape of the tuned longitudinal mode. Experimental modal analysis was used to identify the modal parameters of the selected needle design, validating the FEA model predictions of the longitudinal mode and the close flexural modes. This verifies that modal coupling can be avoided by judicious small geometry modifications. Finally, the tuned needle assembly was driven under typical operational excitation conditions to demonstrate that an ultrasonic biopsy needle can be designed to operate in a purely longitudinal motion

Ultrasonic needles for bone biopsy

Bone biopsy is an invasive clinical procedure where a bone sample is recovered for analysis during the diagnosis of a medical condition. When the architecture of the bone tissue is required to be preserved, a core-needle biopsy is taken. Although this procedure is performed while the patient is under local anaesthesia, the patient can still experience significant discomfort. Additionally, large haematoma can be induced in the soft tissue surrounding the biopsy site due to the large axial and rotational forces which are applied through the needle to penetrate bone. It is well documented that power ultrasonic surgical devices offer advantages of low cutting force, high accuracy and preservation of soft tissues. This paper reports a study of the design, analysis and test of two novel power ultrasonic needles for bone biopsy that operate using different configurations to penetrate bone. The first utilises micrometric vibrations generated at the distil tip of a full-wavelength resonant ultrasonic device, while the second utilises an ultrasonic-sonic approach where vibrational energy generated by a resonant ultrasonic horn is transferred to a needle via the chaotic motion of a free-mass. It is shown that the dynamic behaviour of the devices identified through experimental techniques closely match the behaviour calculated through numerical and FEA methods, demonstrating that they are effective design tools for these devices. Both devices were able to recover trabecular bone from the metaphysis of an ovine femur, and the biopsy samples were found to be comparable to a sample extracted using a conventional biopsy needle. Furthermore, the resonant needle device was also able to extract a cortical bone sample from the central diaphysis, which is the strongest part of the bone, and the biopsy was found to be superior to the sample recovered by a conventional bone biopsy needle

Enquiry Pull Research: An Ethnomethodological Approach to Lean Construction Research or a Lean Approach to Ethnomethodological Research

This paper assembles some principals from three strands of thought: lean theory; ethnomethodology; and Wittgensteinian philosophy. These are considered with a view to their impact on research design and used here as a basis for an initial exploration of a candidate research topic, in order to illustrate this impact. Principles of Lean Theory are considered, along with those from Wittgensteinian social enquiry and Ethnomethodology, in order to suggest a strategy for Lean Research. These are applied to the intial consideration of a candidate research topic, in order to illustrate the argument

Intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomosis for robotic-assisted and laparoscopic right colectomy: Short-term outcomes of a multi-center prospective trial

BACKGROUND: Studies to date show contrasting conclusions when comparing intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomoses for minimally invasive right colectomy. Large multi-center prospective studies comparing perioperative outcomes between these two techniques are needed. The purpose of this study was to compare intracorporeal and extracorporeal anastomoses outcomes for robotic assisted and laparoscopic right colectomy. METHODS: Multi-center, prospective, observational study of patients with malignant or benign disease scheduled for laparoscopic or robotic-assisted right colectomy. Outcomes included conversion rate, gastrointestinal recovery, and complication rates. RESULTS: There were 280 patients: 156 in the robotic assisted and laparoscopic intracorporeal anastomosis (IA) group and 124 in the robotic assisted and laparoscopic extracorporeal anastomosis (EA) group. The EA group was older (mean age 67 vs. 65 years, p = 0.05) and had fewer white (81% vs. 90%, p = 0.05) and Hispanic (2% vs. 12%, p = 0.003) patients. The EA group had more patients with comorbidities (82% vs. 72%, p = 0.04) while there was no significant difference in individual comorbidities between groups. IA was associated with fewer conversions to open and hand-assisted laparoscopic approaches (p = 0.007), shorter extraction site incision length (4.9 vs. 6.2 cm; p ≤ 0.0001), and longer operative time (156.9 vs. 118.2 min). Postoperatively, patients with IA had shorter time to first flatus, (1.5 vs. 1.8 days; p ≤ 0.0001), time to first bowel movement (1.6 vs. 2.0 days; p = 0.0005), time to resume soft/regular diet (29.0 vs. 37.5 h; p = 0.0014), and shorter length of hospital stay (median, 3 vs. 4 days; p ≤ 0.0001). Postoperative complication rates were comparable between groups. CONCLUSION: In this prospective, multi-center study of minimally invasive right colectomy across 20 institutions, IA was associated with significant improvements in conversion rates, return of bowel function, and shorter hospital stay, as well as significantly longer operative times compared to EA. These data validate current efforts to increase training and adoption of the IA technique for minimally invasive right colectomy

The Ku Klux Klan and their Influence on the Education of Mexicans in Kansas City, Kansas, 1922-1925.

The post-World War I rise of the Ku Klux Klan developed differently in the Midwest of the 1920s than that of its post-Reconstruction origins. Its members in Kansas City, Kansas, came from professional and trades people who shared the common values of Americanism, anti-Catholicism, and white supremacy, and were invariably Protestant Republicans. The Klan’s interests in directing many aspects of civil life reacted to the growing Mexican community in three adjacent neighborhoods. Beginning in 1922, they successfully influenced education policy to create a segregated school, as well as separate facilities in all three neighborhoods. Resistance to segregated education by Mexican parents beginning in 1924 through the Mexican Consulate attracted attention from state and federal officials, who noted that segregation of Mexican students was not allowed by Kansas law. In 1926, the decline of the Klan corresponded with the eventual agreement that Mexican students could attend high school with Anglo students. Students in grades 1-8 did not achieve integration until the Flood of 1951 destroyed the Mexican-only Clara Barton School

An Annotated Check-List of Fishes of the Wapsipinicon River Drainage System in Iowa

The Wapsipinicon rises in the southeast corner of Mower County, Minnesota, at an elevation of 1250 feet above mean sea level and flows 255 miles in a southeasterly direction to enter the Mississippi River some five miles above Princeton, Iowa. In its course across northeast Iowa it falls approximately 685 feet, maintaining a rather gradual slope, the average seldom, if ever, exceeding 2.5 feet per mile. The major portion of the Wapsie basin lies within the area of the Iowan drift, and the topography for the major portion is a constructional type of the youthful stage. The Wapsie Valley is narrow (10 miles in width) and gives rise to no important major tributaries. Buffalo Creek, Little Wapsie, Otter and Plum Creek are the largest of the tributaries. The flat, narrow valley of the main river probably contains more overflow areas and backwater ponds than any other river in the state. This feature, besides enhancing fishing prospects, attracts numerous waterfowl and gives the river the reputation of being the best duck-hunting inland river of the state

Suicidality as a Discourse of Safety in the Queer Youth Movement

In November 1991, a group of queer teenagers gathered to rally at the Massachusetts State House in Boston. Two years later, the state passed the first law in the nation adding sexual orientation to the list of protected classes in the state\u27s schools. The November rally was the first public expression of what became the safe schools movement, which went on over the following decade to transform the landscape in public education for LGBTQ students. A notable feature of the rally was the staging by the youth of a mass performative act of queer suicide. This paper uses Foucauldian concepts of discourse to place the events of that day, along with the movement it kindled, within the context of broader narratives of safety in LGBTQ community organizing and identity. I argue the success of the strategy taken by the queer youth movement of the early- to mid-1990s is ultimately a result of the reversal of the discourses of pathology historically attending homosexuality