Notes--Experiences at the James Iredell Papers

I would like to give you a little background on how I came to be in documentary editing. I\u27ve loved history ever since fifth grade. Then in the summer after eighth grade my father and I took a genealogy class. I decided to research my great-great-grandfather, who served as a captain in the Civil War. For the research I went to the State Archives. Once there, I was enamored with it all. On my sixteenth birthday all I wanted to do was to spend the day researching at the Archives in Raleigh. I declared that I\u27m gonna work there some day. Sure enough, after getting my undergraduate degree at Wake Forest University and working at the Archives during the summer and on Saturdays, I was lucky enough to become a full time archivist in 1984. Shortly thereafter, I became a certified archivist. I then decided to obtain an MA in Public History at North Carolina State University. As part of that program I took a documentary editing class, taught by Jeff Crow. I decided then and there that that was really what I wanted to do. It was the perfect blend of research, writing, and working with original records. I graduated from the program in 1988 and tried three times to get a job with the Historical Publications Section, to no avail. Finally, in 1996, I was hired as the editor of the Iredell Papers. In 1998 I became a certified public manager, which essentially served as a death knell to my hands-on editing. In 2001 I was promoted to administrator of the section where we publish North Carolina history, just like university presses. I am in a unique situation in that I have the luxury of editing, being paid by the state to do what I love, and I also decide what Archives and History will publish, with help of course. I am extremely fortunate to be a history major and actually working in my chosen field

A radiological assessment of nuclear power and propulsion operations near Space Station Freedom

Scenarios were identified which involve the use of nuclear power systems in the vicinity of Space Station Freedom (SSF) and their radiological impact on the SSF crew was quantified. Several of the developed scenarios relate to the use of SSF as an evolutionary transportation node for lunar and Mars missions. In particular, radiation doses delivered to SSF crew were calculated for both the launch and subsequent return of a Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) cargo vehicle and a Nuclear Thermal Rocket (NTR) personnel vehicle to low earth orbit. The use of nuclear power on co-orbiting platforms and the storage and handling issues associated with radioisotope power systems were also explored as they relate to SSF. A central philosophy in these analyses was the utilization of a radiation dose budget, defined as the difference between recommended dose limits from all radiation sources and estimated doses received by crew members from natural space radiations. Consequently, for each scenario examined, the dose budget concept was used to identify and quantify constraints on operational parameters such as launch separation distances, returned vehicle parking distances, and reactor shutdown times prior to vehicle approach. The results indicate that realistic scenarios do not exist which would preclude the use of nuclear power sources in the vicinity of SSF. The radiation dose to the SSF crew can be maintained at safe levels solely by implementing proper and reasonable operating procedures

Bridging the Gaps: Building a University Link Tank

This project proposed a University Link Tank as a mechanism by which to build bridges between employees via a network of small groups. Participation in the Link Tank would be voluntary and open to all VCU and Health System employees. The program would be modeled similarly to the Faculty Learning Community (FLC) program, which is administered by the Center for Teaching Excellence, but it would concentrate on issues that are not specifically related to teaching. Topics will be proposed annually. The program would also concentrate on effectively utilizing existing VCU resources to resolve issues

VarSight: prioritizing clinically reported variants with binary classification algorithms.

BackgroundWhen applying genomic medicine to a rare disease patient, the primary goal is to identify one or more genomic variants that may explain the patient's phenotypes. Typically, this is done through annotation, filtering, and then prioritization of variants for manual curation. However, prioritization of variants in rare disease patients remains a challenging task due to the high degree of variability in phenotype presentation and molecular source of disease. Thus, methods that can identify and/or prioritize variants to be clinically reported in the presence of such variability are of critical importance.MethodsWe tested the application of classification algorithms that ingest variant annotations along with phenotype information for predicting whether a variant will ultimately be clinically reported and returned to a patient. To test the classifiers, we performed a retrospective study on variants that were clinically reported to 237 patients in the Undiagnosed Diseases Network.ResultsWe treated the classifiers as variant prioritization systems and compared them to four variant prioritization algorithms and two single-measure controls. We showed that the trained classifiers outperformed all other tested methods with the best classifiers ranking 72% of all reported variants and 94% of reported pathogenic variants in the top 20.ConclusionsWe demonstrated how freely available binary classification algorithms can be used to prioritize variants even in the presence of real-world variability. Furthermore, these classifiers outperformed all other tested methods, suggesting that they may be well suited for working with real rare disease patient datasets

An Intervention for Sensory Difficulties in Children with Autism: A Randomized Trial.

This study evaluated a manualized intervention for sensory difficulties for children with autism, ages 4-8 years, using a randomized trial design. Diagnosis of autism was confirmed using gold standard measures. Results show that the children in the treatment group (n = 17) who received 30 sessions of the occupational therapy intervention scored significantly higher (p = 0.003, d = 1.2) on Goal Attainment Scales (primary outcome), and also scored significantly better on measures of caregiver assistance in self-care (p = 0.008 d = 0.9) and socialization (p = 0.04, d = 0.7) than the Usual Care control group (n = 15). The study shows high rigor in its measurement of treatment fidelity and use of a manualized protocol, and provides support for the use of this intervention for children with autism. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for practice and future research

Soluble ADAM33 initiates airway remodeling to promote susceptibility for allergic asthma in early life

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory airways disease that usually begins in early life and involves gene-environment interactions. Although most asthma exhibits allergic inflammation, many allergic individuals do not have asthma. Here, we report how the asthma gene A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease (ADAM)33, acts as local tissue susceptibility gene that promotes allergic asthma. We show that enzymatically active soluble (s)ADAM33 is increased in asthmatic airways and plays a role in airway remodeling, independent of inflammation. Furthermore, remodeling and inflammation are both suppressed in Adam33 null mice after allergen challenge. When induced in utero or added ex vivo, sADAM33 causes structural remodeling of the airways, which enhances post-natal airway eosinophilia and bronchial hyperresponsiveness following sub-threshold challenge with an aeroallergen. This substantial gene-environment interaction helps to explain the end-organ expression of allergic asthma in genetically susceptible individuals. Finally, we show that sADAM33-induced airway remodeling is reversible, highlighting the therapeutic potential of targeting ADAM33 in asthma

The Fibroid Growth Study: Determinants of Therapeutic Intervention

The demographics, ethnicity, symptoms, lifestyle characteristics, and treatment outcomes are analyzed in participants of a study designed to evaluate uterine leiomyoma growth and correlate symptoms and outcomes in a clinically relevant population of women (Fibroid Growth Study)

2017 ACC/AHA/HFSA/ISHLT/ACP Advanced Training Statement on Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology (Revision of the ACCF/AHA/ACP/HFSA/ISHLT 2010 Clinical Competence Statement on Management of Patients With Advanced Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant)

Since the 1995 publication of its Core Cardiovascular Training Statement (COCATS),1 the American College of Cardiology (ACC) has played a central role in defining the knowledge, experiences, skills, and behaviors expected of all clinical cardiologists upon completion of training. Subsequent updates have incorporated major advances and revisions—both in content and structure—including, most recently,