TEMPERATURSUMME UND BLUHBEGINN BEI APFEL ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Este artigo explora as maneiras pelas quais o design influencia as perceções e ações de estudantes e professores em cinco escolas secundárias do Reino Unido. O entendimento das diferentes práticas desenvolvidas nessas escolas vai além das típicas Avaliações Pós Ocupação (Post Occupancy Evaluations) que enfocam aspectos ambientais, como a aústica, a iluminação e a temperatura, usam métodos quantitativos e frequentemente deixam de explorar a forma como os diferentes fatores ambientais interagem com os usuários, ao longo do tempo time (HYGGE, 2003; GALASIU e VEITCH, 2006; SHAUGHNESSY et al., 2006; WINTERBOTTOM e WILKINS, 2009). Também ocorre uma falta de atenção em relação às maneiras como os processos de ocupação podem modelar as experiências em tais espaços (STABLES, LEAROYD-SMITH, DANIELS e TSE, 2014). A investigação envolveu estudos de casos que objetivavam documentar uma série de assuntos chave discutidos pelos professores e estudantes em cada uma dessas escolas. Os achados contribuem para o desenvolvimento de um entendimento mais holístico sobre as formas como o design pode contribuir para o processo de transformação pedagógica. Argumentamos que os espaços que são projetados para formas específicas de abordagem de ensino e aprendizagem podem ser transformados quando tais espaços são usados na prática (DANIELS et al., 2017 no prelo). Temos evidências de que mudanças subsequentes em termos de liderança frequentemente envolvem modificações adicionais dos espaços e das práticas de ensino e aprendizagem. Neste artigo, acrescentamos a ideia de que essas mudanças têm consequências para a experiência cotidiana de escolarização, como foi evidenciado nos comentários e nas ações dos professors e alunos. Esses aspectos são de particular importância neste momento. O Gabinete Nacional de Auditoria (The National Audit Office) (2017) chamou a atenção para o estado lamentável das construções que abrigam as escolas públicas. Apontou três preocupações: a condição dos prédios, a demanda crescente de vagas e os problemas relativos à entrega de projetos capitais. Fica claro que necessitamos aprender com as experiências e os resultados de abordagens recentes relativas ao design e à construção de novas escolas. Como o Departamento reconhece, desafios significativos permanecem. Espera-se que a condição das escolas piore na medida em que construções em estado ruim, mas não o pior possível, se deteriorem ainda mais. O número de estudantes continua a crecer e as demandas por vagas está voltada para as escolas secundárias, onde tais vagas são de provisão mais complexa e dispendiosa. O Departamento, as autoridades locais e as escolas necessitarão attender essas demandas em um momento em que sua capacidade de realizar programas capitais sofre pressão crescente decorrente da escassez de receita orcamentária

Scaling properties of protein family phylogenies

One of the classical questions in evolutionary biology is how evolutionary processes are coupled at the gene and species level. With this motivation, we compare the topological properties (mainly the depth scaling, as a characterization of balance) of a large set of protein phylogenies with a set of species phylogenies. The comparative analysis shows that both sets of phylogenies share remarkably similar scaling behavior, suggesting the universality of branching rules and of the evolutionary processes that drive biological diversification from gene to species level. In order to explain such generality, we propose a simple model which allows us to estimate the proportion of evolvability/robustness needed to approximate the scaling behavior observed in the phylogenies, highlighting the relevance of the robustness of a biological system (species or protein) in the scaling properties of the phylogenetic trees. Thus, the rules that govern the incapability of a biological system to diversify are equally relevant both at the gene and at the species level.Comment: Replaced with final published versio

A novel IgE antibody targeting the prostate-specific antigen as a potential prostate cancer therapy

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA), often found at high levels in the serum of PCa patients, has been used as a marker for PCa detection and as a target of immunotherapy. The murine IgG1 monoclonal antibody AR47.47, specific for human PSA, has been shown to enhance antigen presentation by human dendritic cells and induce both CD4 andCD8 T-cell activation when complexed with PSA. In this study, we explored the properties of a novel mouse/human chimeric anti-PSA IgE containing the variable regions of AR47.47 as a potential therapy for PCa. Our goal was to take advantage of the unique properties of IgE in order to trigger immune activation against PCa.Fil: Daniels-Wells, Tracy R. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Helguera, Gustavo Fernando. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquimica. Departamento de Tecnologia Farmaceutica; Argentina; University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Leuchter, Richard K. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Quintero, Rafael. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Kozman, Maggie. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Rodríguez, José A.. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América; University of California. The Molecular Biology Institute; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Ortiz-Sánchez, E. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América; Biomedical Research in Cancer. Basic Research Division. National Institute of Cancerology; Mexico.;Fil: Martínez-Maza, Otonel. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Schultes, Brigit C.. Advanced Immune Therapeutics; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Nicodemus Christopher. Advanced Immune Therapeutics; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Penichet, Manuel. University of California. David Geffen School of Medicine. Department of Surgery. Division of Surgical Oncology; Estados Unidos de América; University of California. The Molecular Biology Institute; Estados Unidos de América

Heterogeneity assessment of functional T cell avidity.

The potency of cellular immune responses strongly depends on T cell avidity to antigen. Yet, functional avidity measurements are rarely performed in patients, mainly due to the technical challenges of characterizing heterogeneous T cells. The mean functional T cell avidity can be determined by the IFN-γ Elispot assay, with titrated amounts of peptide. Using this assay, we developed a method revealing the heterogeneity of functional avidity, represented by the steepness/hillslope of the peptide titration curve, documented by proof of principle experiments and mathematical modeling. Our data show that not only natural polyclonal CD8 T cell populations from cancer patients, but also monoclonal T cells differ strongly in their heterogeneity of functional avidity. Interestingly, clones and polyclonal cells displayed comparable ranges of heterogeneity. We conclude that besides the mean functional avidity, it is feasible and useful to determine its heterogeneity (hillslope) for characterizing T cell responses in basic research and patient investigation

Do nasogastric tubes worsen dysphagia in patients with acute stroke?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early feeding via a nasogastric tube (NGT) is recommended as safe way of supplying nutrition in patients with acute dysphagic stroke. However, preliminary evidence suggests that NGTs themselves may interfere with swallowing physiology. In the present study we therefore investigated the impact of NGTs on swallowing function in acute stroke patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the first part of the study the incidence and consequences of pharyngeal misplacement of NGTs were examined in 100 stroke patients by fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). In the second part, the effect of correctly placed NGTs on swallowing function was evaluated by serially examining 25 individual patients with and without a NGT in place.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A correctly placed NGT did not cause a worsening of stroke-related dysphagia. Except for two cases, in which swallowing material got stuck to the NGT and penetrated into the laryngeal vestibule after the swallow, no changes of the amount of penetration and aspiration were noted with the NGT in place as compared to the no-tube condition. Pharyngeal misplacement of the NGT was identified in 5 of 100 patients. All these patients showed worsening of dysphagia caused by the malpositioned NGT with an increase of pre-, intra-, and postdeglutitive penetration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Based on these findings, there are no principle obstacles to start limited and supervised oral feeding in stroke patients with a NGT in place.</p

Occupancy Classification of Position Weight Matrix-Inferred Transcription Factor Binding Sites

BACKGROUND: Computational prediction of Transcription Factor Binding Sites (TFBS) from sequence data alone is difficult and error-prone. Machine learning techniques utilizing additional environmental information about a predicted binding site (such as distances from the site to particular chromatin features) to determine its occupancy/functionality class show promise as methods to achieve more accurate prediction of true TFBS in silico. We evaluate the Bayesian Network (BN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) machine learning techniques on four distinct TFBS data sets and analyze their performance. We describe the features that are most useful for classification and contrast and compare these feature sets between the factors. RESULTS: Our results demonstrate good performance of classifiers both on TFBS for transcription factors used for initial training and for TFBS for other factors in cross-classification experiments. We find that distances to chromatin modifications (specifically, histone modification islands) as well as distances between such modifications to be effective predictors of TFBS occupancy, though the impact of individual predictors is largely TF specific. In our experiments, Bayesian network classifiers outperform SVM classifiers. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate good performance of machine learning techniques on the problem of occupancy classification, and demonstrate that effective classification can be achieved using distances to chromatin features. We additionally demonstrate that cross-classification of TFBS is possible, suggesting the possibility of constructing a generalizable occupancy classifier capable of handling TFBS for many different transcription factors

Individual tree and stand-level carbon and nutrient contents across one rotation of loblolly pine plantations on a reclaimed surface mine

While reclaimed loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations in east Texas, USA have demonstrated similar aboveground productivity levels relative to unmined forests, there is interest in assessing carbon (C) and nutrients in aboveground components of reclaimed trees. Numerous studies have previously documented aboveground biomass, C, and nutrient contents in loblolly pine plantations; however, similar data have not been collected on mined lands. We investigated C, N, P, K, Ca, and Mg aboveground contents for first-rotation loblolly pine growing on reclaimed mined lands in the Gulf Coastal Plain over a 32-year chronosequence and correlated elemental rates to stand age, stem growth, and similar data for unmined lands. At the individual tree level, we evaluated elemental contents in aboveground biomass components using tree size, age, and site index as predictor variables. At the stand-level, we then scaled individual tree C and nutrients and fit a model to determine the sensitivity of aboveground elemental contents to stand age and site index. Our data suggest that aboveground C and nutrients in loblolly pine on mined lands exceed or follow similar trends to data for unmined pine plantations derived from the literature. Diameter and height were the best predictors of individual tree stem C and nutrient contents (R ≥ 0.9473 and 0.9280, respectively) followed by stand age (R ≥ 0.8660). Foliage produced weaker relationships across all predictor variables compared to stem, though still significant (P ≤ 0.05). The model for estimating stand-level C and nutrients using stand age provided a good fit, indicating that contents aggrade over time predictably. Results of this study show successful modelling of reclaimed loblolly pine aboveground C and nutrients, and suggest elemental cycling is comparable to unmined lands, thus providing applicability of our model to related systems

Can computerized clinical decision support systems improve practitioners' diagnostic test ordering behavior? A decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Underuse and overuse of diagnostic tests have important implications for health outcomes and costs. Decision support technology purports to optimize the use of diagnostic tests in clinical practice. The objective of this review was to assess whether computerized clinical decision support systems (CCDSSs) are effective at improving ordering of tests for diagnosis, monitoring of disease, or monitoring of treatment. The outcome of interest was effect on the diagnostic test-ordering behavior of practitioners.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a decision-maker-researcher partnership systematic review. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Ovid's EBM Reviews database, Inspec, and reference lists for eligible articles published up to January 2010. We included randomized controlled trials comparing the use of CCDSSs to usual practice or non-CCDSS controls in clinical care settings. Trials were eligible if at least one component of the CCDSS gave suggestions for ordering or performing a diagnostic procedure. We considered studies 'positive' if they showed a statistically significant improvement in at least 50% of test ordering outcomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-five studies were identified, with significantly higher methodological quality in those published after the year 2000 (<it>p </it>= 0.002). Thirty-three trials reported evaluable data on diagnostic test ordering, and 55% (18/33) of CCDSSs improved testing behavior overall, including 83% (5/6) for diagnosis, 63% (5/8) for treatment monitoring, 35% (6/17) for disease monitoring, and 100% (3/3) for other purposes. Four of the systems explicitly attempted to reduce test ordering rates and all succeeded. Factors of particular interest to decision makers include costs, user satisfaction, and impact on workflow but were rarely investigated or reported.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Some CCDSSs can modify practitioner test-ordering behavior. To better inform development and implementation efforts, studies should describe in more detail potentially important factors such as system design, user interface, local context, implementation strategy, and evaluate impact on user satisfaction and workflow, costs, and unintended consequences.</p