The Slate all metal airship

The development of the Slate all metal airship City of Glendale built and completed in 1930 is presented. The airship facilities are discussed. Pertinent data which led to other engineering accomplishments for aviation are shown. The SMD-100 concept is presented along with a brief commentary on the costs and problems involved in such an airship design and the application of the hoisting and elevator facilities to airship development

The influence of nonrandom extra-pair paternity on heritability estimates derived from wild pedigrees

Quantitative genetic analysis is often fundamental for understanding evolutionary processes in wild populations. Avian populations provide a model system due to the relative ease of inferring relatedness among individuals through observation. However, extra-pair paternity (EPP) creates erroneous links within the social pedigree. Previous work has suggested this causes minor underestimation of heritability if paternal misassignment is random and hence not influenced by the trait being studied. Nevertheless, much literature suggests numerous traits are associated with EPP and the accuracy of heritability estimates for such traits remains unexplored. We show analytically how nonrandom pedigree errors can influence heritability estimates. Then, combining empirical data from a large great tit (Parus major) pedigree with simulations, we assess how heritability estimates derived from social pedigrees change depending on the mode of the relationship between EPP and the focal trait. We show that the magnitude of the underestimation is typically small (<15%). Hence, our analyses suggest that quantitative genetic inference from pedigrees derived from observations of social relationships is relatively robust; our approach also provides a widely applicable method for assessing the consequences of nonrandom EPP

Next generation sequencing with copy number variant detection expands the phenotypic spectrum of HSD17B4-deficiency

Background: D-bifunctional protein deficiency, caused by recessive mutations in HSD17B4, is a severe, infantile-onset disorder of peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation. Few affected patients survive past two years of age. Compound heterozygous mutations in HSD17B4 have also been reported in two sisters diagnosed with Perrault syndrome (MIM # 233400), who presented in adolescence with ovarian dysgenesis, hearing loss, and ataxia. Case presentation: An adult male presented with cerebellar ataxia, peripheral neuropathy, hearing loss, and azoospermia. The clinical presentation, in combination with biochemical findings in serum, urine, and muscle biopsy, suggested a mitochondrial disorder. Commercial genetic testing of 18 ataxia and mitochondrial disease genes was negative. Targeted exome sequencing followed by analysis of single nucleotide variants and small insertions/deletions failed to reveal a genetic basis of disease. Application of a computational algorithm to infer copy number variants (CNVs) from exome data revealed a heterozygous 12 kb deletion of exons 10–13 of HSD17B4 that was compounded with a rare missense variant (p.A196V) at a highly conserved residue. Retrospective review of patient records revealed mildly elevated ratios of pristanic:phytanic acid and arachidonic:docosahexaenoic acid, consistent with dysfunctional peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation. Conclusion: Our case expands the phenotypic spectrum of HSD17B4-deficiency, representing the first male case reported with infertility. Furthermore, it points to crosstalk between mitochondria and peroxisomes in HSD17B4-deficiency and Perrault syndrome

Associations of ATR and CHEK1 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Breast Cancer

DNA damage and replication checkpoints mediated by the ATR-CHEK1 pathway are key to the maintenance of genome stability, and both ATR and CHEK1 have been proposed as potential breast cancer susceptibility genes. Many novel variants recently identified by the large resequencing projects have not yet been thoroughly tested in genome-wide association studies for breast cancer susceptibility. We therefore used a tagging SNP (tagSNP) approach based on recent SNP data available from the 1000 genomes projects, to investigate the roles of ATR and CHEK1 in breast cancer risk and survival. ATR and CHEK1 tagSNPs were genotyped in the Sheffield Breast Cancer Study (SBCS; 1011 cases and 1024 controls) using Illumina GoldenGate assays. Untyped SNPs were imputed using IMPUTE2, and associations between genotype and breast cancer risk and survival were evaluated using logistic and Cox proportional hazard regression models respectively on a per allele basis. Significant associations were further examined in a meta-analysis of published data or confirmed in the Utah Breast Cancer Study (UBCS). The most significant associations for breast cancer risk in SBCS came from rs6805118 in ATR (p=7.6x10-5) and rs2155388 in CHEK1 (p=3.1x10-6), but neither remained significant after meta-analysis with other studies. However, meta-analysis of published data revealed a weak association between the ATR SNP rs1802904 (minor allele frequency is 12%) and breast cancer risk, with a summary odds ratio (confidence interval) of 0.90 (0.83-0.98) [p=0.0185] for the minor allele. Further replication of this SNP in larger studies is warranted since it is located in the target region of 2 microRNAs. No evidence of any survival effects of ATR or CHEK1 SNPs were identified. We conclude that common alleles of ATR and CHEK1 are not implicated in breast cancer risk or survival, but we cannot exclude effects of rare alleles and of common alleles with very small effect sizes

Reading inequities by the economic status of Texas grade 3 english language learners: A Texas, multiyear analysis

Analyzed in this investigation were the current Texas state-mandated assessments in reading and the extent to which test scores differed among English Language Learners who were Not Poor (i.e., did not qualify for the reduced or free lunch program), English Language Learners who were Moderately Poor (i.e., qualified for the reduced lunch program), and English Language Learners who were Extremely Poor (i.e., qualified for the free lunch program). In all cases, reading achievement was lowest for English Language Learners who were Very Poor, followed by English Language Learners who were Moderately Poor. English Language Learners who were Not Poor had the highest reading performance in all four school years. Implications for policy and practice, as well as recommendations for future research, are provided

Gender Differences in the Reading Performance of Texas Grade 3 English Language Learners: A Multiyear, Statewide Investigation

Analyzed in this investigation were the current Texas state-mandated assessments in reading and the extent to which test scores differed between English Language Learner boys and English Language Learner girls. Data were obtained on the reading performance of all Grade 3 English Language Learner boys and girls for three school years.&nbsp; Inferential statistical analyses revealed that English Language Learner girls had statistically significantly better reading performance than English Language Learner boys in all three school years. Implications for policy and practice, as well as recommendations for future research, are provided

Teaching Intelligence Testing in APA-Accredited Programs: A National Survey

We surveyed instructors at APA-accredited clinical and school psychology programs across the United States and Canada to determine typical teaching practices in individual intelligence testing courses. The most recent versions of the Wechsler scales (Wechsler, 1989, 1991, 1997) and the Stanford-Binet (Thorndike, Hagan & Sattler, 1986) remain the primary tests taught in this course. Course instructors emphasized having students administer intelligence tests; however, relatively few instructors reported assessing students' final level of competence with regard to their test administration skills. The intelligence testing course appears quite time-intensive for instructors, and many teach the course with the aid of a teaching assistant. When compared with previous findings, current results suggest a good measure of stability over time regarding the core issues addressed and skills taught in the intelligence testing course.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

The Roles and Benefits of Using Undergraduate Student Leaders to Support the Work of SUMMIT-P

The article by Poole, Turner, and Maher-Boulis (2020) describes one way in which undergraduates have been used to support the SUMMIT-P goal of investigating examples of how mathematics and statistics are applied in partner discipline courses. Two other universities in the SUMMIT-P consortium, San Diego State University and Oregon State University, also use undergraduates in different ways to support the work of integrating science applications into math classes. In this article, we compare and contrast these three uses to further highlight this somewhat untapped resource