Localized Intravascular Coagulopathy of Venous Malformation Involving the Labia as a Mimic of Child Sexual Abuse: A Case Report

Given location and relative rarity, ano-genital injuries in children often prompt concern for maltreatment. We present a case of localized intravascular coagulopathy as a complication of venous malformation, which mimicked abusive trauma leading to an evaluation for maltreatment. Comprehensive assessment identified the underlying medical cause. This case represents an example of the importance of objective assessment in unusual case presentations to ensure diagnostic accuracy, and appropriate direction of medical and child protection resources

Criteria and Indicators to Define Priority Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Vietnam

Balancing biodiversity conservation with land use for agricultural production is a major societal challenge. Conservation activities must be prioritized since funds and resources for conservation are insufficient in the context of current threats, and conservation competes with other societal priorities. In order to contribute to conservation priority-setting literature, we applied an environmental model, Pressure–State–Response (PSR), to develop a set of criteria for identifying priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Vietnam. Our empirical data have been compiled from 185 respondents and categorized into three groups: Governmental Administration and Organizations, Universities and Research Institutions, and Protected Areas. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) theory was used to identify the weight of all criteria. Our results show that the priority levels for biodiversity conservation identified by these three factors are 41% for “Pressure”, 26% for “State”, and 33% for “Response”. Based on these three factors, seven criteria and seventeen indicators were developed to determine priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Besides, our study also reveals that the groups of Governmental Administration and organizations and Protected Areas put a focus on the “Pressure” factor, while the group of Universities and Research Institutions emphasized the importance of the “Response” factor in the evaluation process. We suggest that these criteria and indicators be used to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Vietnam

A Radio Spectral Line Study of the 2-Jy IRAS-NVSS Sample: Part I

We present results from an on-going survey for the HI 21 cm line and the OH 18 cm lines in IR galaxies with the Arecibo 305 m Radio Telescope. The observations of 85 galaxies extracted from the 2 Jy IRAS-NVSS sample in the R.A. (B1950) range 20 h-00 h are reported in this paper. We detected the HI 21 cm line in 82 of these galaxies, with 18 being new detections, and the OH 18 cm lines in 7 galaxies, with 4 being new detections. In some cases, the HI spectra show the classic double-horned or single-peaked emission profiles. However, the majority exhibit distorted HI spectral features indicating that the galaxies are in interacting and/or merging systems. From these HI and OH observations, various properties of the sample are derived and reported.Comment: 38 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables. Accepted for publication in A

Gene prioritization by compressive data fusion and chaining

Data integration procedures combine heterogeneous data sets into predictive models, but they are limited to data explicitly related to the target object type, such as genes. Collage is a new data fusion approach to gene prioritization. It considers data sets of various association levels with the prediction task, utilizes collective matrix factorization to compress the data, and chaining to relate different object types contained in a data compendium. Collage prioritizes genes based on their similarity to several seed genes. We tested Collage by prioritizing bacterial response genes in Dictyostelium as a novel model system for prokaryote-eukaryote interactions. Using 4 seed genes and 14 data sets, only one of which was directly related to the bacterial response, Collage proposed 8 candidate genes that were readily validated as necessary for the response of Dictyostelium to Gram-negative bacteria. These findings establish Collage as a method for inferring biological knowledge from the integration of heterogeneous and coarsely related data sets

New components of the Dictyostelium PKA pathway revealed by Bayesian analysis of expression data

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Identifying candidate genes in genetic networks is important for understanding regulation and biological function. Large gene expression datasets contain relevant information about genetic networks, but mining the data is not a trivial task. Algorithms that infer Bayesian networks from expression data are powerful tools for learning complex genetic networks, since they can incorporate prior knowledge and uncover higher-order dependencies among genes. However, these algorithms are computationally demanding, so novel techniques that allow targeted exploration for discovering new members of known pathways are essential.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here we describe a Bayesian network approach that addresses a specific network within a large dataset to discover new components. Our algorithm draws individual genes from a large gene-expression repository, and ranks them as potential members of a known pathway. We apply this method to discover new components of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) pathway, a central regulator of <it>Dictyostelium discoideum </it>development. The PKA network is well studied in <it>D. discoideum </it>but the transcriptional networks that regulate PKA activity and the transcriptional outcomes of PKA function are largely unknown. Most of the genes highly ranked by our method encode either known components of the PKA pathway or are good candidates. We tested 5 uncharacterized highly ranked genes by creating mutant strains and identified a candidate cAMP-response element-binding protein, yet undiscovered in <it>D. discoideum</it>, and a histidine kinase, a candidate upstream regulator of PKA activity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The single-gene expansion method is useful in identifying new components of known pathways. The method takes advantage of the Bayesian framework to incorporate prior biological knowledge and discovers higher-order dependencies among genes while greatly reducing the computational resources required to process high-throughput datasets.</p

Changes in lipid distribution in E. coli strains in response to norfloxacin

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has become an increasing threat, requiring not only the development of new targets in drug discovery, but more importantly, a better understanding of cellular response. In the current study, three closely related Escherichia coli strains, a wild type (MG1655), and an isogenic pair derived from the wild type (DPB635 and DPB636) are studied following exposure to sub lethal concentrations of antibiotic (norfloxacin) over time. In particular, genotype similarities between the three strains were assessed based on the lipid regulation response (e.g., presence/absence and up/down regulation). Lipid identification was performed using direct surface probe analysis (Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, MALDI), coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry, FT-ICR MS) followed by statistical analysis of variability and reproducibility across batches using internal standards. Inspection of the lipid profile showed that for the MG1655, DPB635 and DPB636 E. coli strains, a similar distribution of the altered lipids were observed after exposure to norfloxacin antibiotic (e.g., fatty acids and glycerol phospholipids are up and down regulated, respectively). Additionally, variations in the lipid distribution resemble the extent to which each strain can combat the antibiotic exposure. That is, the topA66 topoisomerase I mutation of DPB636 translates into diminished response related to antibiotic sensitivity when compared to MG1655 and the DPB635 strains

Vägen mot uppsatta mål – Hur kan motivation och identifiering förbättra prestation i organisationen. En fallstudie på Region Skånes universitetssjukhus.

Sammanfattning Examensarbetets titel: Vägen mot uppsatta mål – Hur kan motivation och identifiering förbättra prestation i organisationen Seminariedatum: 16 januari 2015 Ämne/Kurs: FEKH19, Examensarbete kandidatnivå i strategic management, 15 högskolepoäng Författare: Melinda Dinh, Aneta Karman, Christopher Ogesjö Handledare: Anna Thomasson Fem nyckelord: Principal-agentteorin, motivation, identifiering, organisation, mål Syfte: Syftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur en organisation kan motivera sina anställda till att jobba mot organisationens mål genom att hitta samband mellan vad som motiverar de anställda och hur de identifierar sig med organisationen. Metod: En kvalitativ fallstudie med fokus på intervjuer genomfördes för att kunna se på djupet i hur motivation fungerar i en organisation. Genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer fick respondenterna uttala sig fritt om sina åsikter kring ämnet. Teoretiska perspektiv: Principal-agentteorin är grundteorin i en arbetsgivares och arbetstagares relationer (Besanko, et al, 2013). Motivationsteorierna består av tvåfaktorsteorins motivationsfaktorer (Herzberg et al., 1959), och Teori Z (Ouchi, 1982), där vi har tagit fram nio motivationsfaktorer till vårt analysverktyg. I konstruktionen av analysverktyget användes även identifieringsteorier från Brewer och Gardner (1989). Empiri: Vid insamlingen av data intervjuades tre sjuksköterskor, fyra läkare, en enhetschef och en områdeschef på Skånes universitetssjukhus i Malmö, Sverige. Resultat: Analysverktyget som vi tog fram revideras, tre motivationsfaktorer (kontinuitet, deltagande i styrningsprocesser och kollegial stämning) lades till. Kopplingar mellan motivationsfaktorerna drogs till tre identiteter. Personlig identitet visade sig vara den som mest påverkar identifiering med organisationen. Dock måste även identitet kopplad till grupp och identitet kopplad till en specifik person tillgodoses för att anställda ska prestera bättre på arbetsplatsen. Faktorn uppnå mål flyttades som ett resultat av ökad prestation, snarare än dess anledning. Motivationsfaktorn ansvar ändrades till kontinuerlig ansvarsfördelning. Förtroende till chefer är en motivationsfaktor som alltid ska vara uppfylld på en organisation, tillsammans med motivationsfaktorer från de två andra identiteterna.Summary Title: The way towards goals – How can Motivation and Identification Improve Performance in an Organisation. Seminar date: 16 January 2015 Course: FEKH19, Degree Project Undergraduate level, Business Administration, 15 University Credit Points (UPC) or ECTS-credits Authors: Melinda Dinh, Aneta Karman, Christopher Ogesjö Advisors: Anna Thomasson Keywords: Principal agency theory, motivation, identification, organisation, goals Purpose: The purpose with this project is to investigate how an organisation can motivate their employees to work towards goals by finding the relation between what motivates employees and how they identify with the organisation. Methodology: A qualitative case study with focus on interviews was conducted in order to see the depth of how motivation works in an organisation. Through semi-structured interviews, the respondents could speak freely about their opinions on the subject. Theoretical perspectives: Principal agency theory is the basic theory of employers and ’the workers’ relationships. Motivation theories consist of Herzberg's two-factor theory of motivation (Herzberg et al., 1959), and Theory Z (Ouchi, 1982), which we used to produce nine motivation factors for our analysis. In the structure of the analysis tool we also used identification theories from Brewer and Gardner (1989). Empirical foundation: During the data collection we interviewed three nurses, four doctors, a unit manager and an area manager at Skånes University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden. Conclusions: The analysis tool that we created was revised, three motivational factors (continuity, participation in governance processes and collegial atmosphere) were added. Links between motivational factors was drawn to three identities. Personal identity proved to be the most significant identity affecting identification with the organisation. However, one must also have identity linked to a group and identity linked to a specific person, in order for employers to perform better. The motivation factor ”Fulfil goals” was moved to become a result of increased performance rather than its cause. The motivation factor “responsibility” was changed to “continuous responsibility distribution”. “Confidence in managers” is a motivation factor that should always be met in an organisation, together with motivational factors from the other two identitie

Functional plasticity of antibacterial EndoU toxins.

Bacteria use several different secretion systems to deliver toxic EndoU ribonucleases into neighboring cells. Here, we present the first structure of a prokaryotic EndoU toxin in complex with its cognate immunity protein. The contact-dependent growth inhibition toxin CdiA-CTSTECO31 from Escherichia coli STEC_O31 adopts the eukaryotic EndoU fold and shares greatest structural homology with the nuclease domain of coronavirus Nsp15. The toxin contains a canonical His-His-Lys catalytic triad in the same arrangement as eukaryotic EndoU domains, but lacks the uridylate-specific ribonuclease activity that characterizes the superfamily. Comparative sequence analysis indicates that bacterial EndoU domains segregate into at least three major clades based on structural variations in the N-terminal subdomain. Representative EndoU nucleases from clades I and II degrade tRNA molecules with little specificity. In contrast, CdiA-CTSTECO31 and other clade III toxins are specific anticodon nucleases that cleave tRNAGlu between nucleotides C37 and m2 A38. These findings suggest that the EndoU fold is a versatile scaffold for the evolution of novel substrate specificities. Such functional plasticity may account for the widespread use of EndoU effectors by diverse inter-bacterial toxin delivery systems

Internet-based Intervention to Improve Dietary Habits in Women of Color: SAving Lives Staying Active (SALSA)

Background: The Internet is an inexpensive method to distribute information that spans large distances. With 2/3 of the country currently overweight or obese, the Internet is the obvious choice to delivering health information to those that need it most. Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an Internet-based intervention to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) and decrease fat consumption in women of color. Method: Women (N=50) were middle-aged (M=41.2 years, SD=9.6), overweight (M=29.6 kg/m2, SD=5.3) and well educated (74% were college graduates). Participants completed measures of FV and fat consumption at 4 time points (spaced 4 weeks apart). All were randomized to a (1) 4-week web-based dietary education or (2) bi-weekly Latin dance group. After 4 weeks of intervention, women switched groups to ensure that everyone received both treatments. Women logged onto the SALSA website, where information on improving dietary habits, tools and activities were posted weekly. A total number of visits was logged for each participant and coded as visited less than once a week or one or more times per week for analyses. Results: Women were not meeting FV (M=4.2 servings, SD=5.2) or fat (M=30.9% kcal from fat, SD=3.1) consumption recommendations at baseline, with no differences between groups. Women who visited the site at least once per week increased FV consumption over time (F (3,93)=.587, p=.019) compared to women who did not visit the site at least once a week, regardless of intervention order. Women who visited the website as the first intervention saw greater decreases in fat consumption (p=.046). Conclusion: Greater access and awareness of dietary habits information online increased FV consumption and decreased fat consumption. Internet-based interventions may be used in at least some groups of women of color to change dietary habits. Future studies are needed to determine which website features are most important for behavior change