Recent Total Ionizing Dose and Displacement Damage Compendium of Candidate Electronics for NASA Space Systems

Vulnerability of a variety of candidate spacecraft electronics to total ionizing dose and displacement damage is studied. Devices tested include optoelectronics, digital, analog, linear bipolar devices, and hybrid devices

Treatment of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Immunocompromised Adults:A Consensus Statement Regarding Initial Strategies

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) guidelines have improved the treatment and outcomes of patients with CAP, primarily by standardization of initial empirical therapy. But current society-published guidelines exclude immunocompromised patients. Research Question There is no consensus regarding the initial treatment of immunocompromised patients with suspected CAP. Study Design and Methods This consensus document was created by a multidisciplinary panel of 45 physicians with experience in the treatment of CAP in immunocompromised patients. The Delphi survey methodology was used to reach consensus. Results The panel focused on 21 questions addressing initial management strategies. The panel achieved consensus in defining the population, site of care, likely pathogens, microbiologic workup, general principles of empirical therapy, and empirical therapy for specific pathogens. Interpretation This document offers general suggestions for the initial treatment of the immunocompromised patient who arrives at the hospital with pneumonia

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Whole-Genome and RNA Sequencing Reveal Variation and Transcriptomic Coordination in the Developing Human Prefrontal Cortex.

Gene expression levels vary across developmental stage, cell type, and region in the brain. Genomic variants also contribute to the variation in expression, and some neuropsychiatric disorder loci may exert their effects through this mechanism. To investigate these relationships, we present BrainVar, a unique resource of paired whole-genome and bulk tissue RNA sequencing from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of 176 individuals across prenatal and postnatal development. Here we identify common variants that alter gene expression (expression quantitative trait loci [eQTLs]) constantly across development or predominantly during prenatal or postnatal stages. Both "constant" and "temporal-predominant" eQTLs are enriched for loci associated with neuropsychiatric traits and disorders and colocalize with specific variants. Expression levels of more than 12,000 genes rise or fall in a concerted late-fetal transition, with the transitional genes enriched for cell-type-specific genes and neuropsychiatric risk loci, underscoring the importance of cataloging developmental trajectories in understanding cortical physiology and pathology

Animais gordos e a dissolução da fronteira entre as espécies

Animais de estimação gordos costumavam ser, para muitas pessoas, engraçados e adoráveis; para algumas, os animaizinhos gordos (especialmente gatos) ainda o são: os quadrinhos de Garfield, sobre um gato acima do peso e preguiçoso, venderam bem; há sites e livros dedicados a exaltar a beleza e o encanto dos gatos gordos; e crianças anglófonas são socializadas por meio de livros de leitura fonológicos com títulos como Fat cat on a mat, associando o prazer de ler à fofura de animais de estimação rechonchudos. Tudo isto, no entanto, está mudando. Testemunhamos a transformação da obesidade de animais de estimação de fenômeno trivial ou preferência estética idiossincrática em problema social. Este vem mobilizando os meios de comunicação de massa, a opinião pública e ampla variedade de especialistas, além da intervenção de aparatos de Estado, como os tribunais e a polícia. Este artigo discute as maneiras pelas quais a obesidade ultrapassou a fronteira das espécies. Revisa as provas divulgadas para justificar as cada vez mais comuns - e cada vez mais estridentes - alegações de que estamos em meio a uma "epidemia" de obesidade de animais de estimação (algumas das quais afirmando que os animais de estimação acima do peso chegam a 60% do total), discute a fonte e avalia a credibilidade desta informação. Examina como a obesidade animal é apresentada na mídia por organizações de caridade, como Pet Club UK ou a RSPCA. E oferece reflexões sobre o que a preocupação corrente em relação à obesidade dos animais de estimação pode nos dizer a respeito das dimensões sociais, culturais, médicas, históricas, econômicas, emocionais e subjetivas da obesidade de maneira geral.<br>For many people, fat pets used to be cute, funny and adorable, and for some people fat pets (especially fat cats) still are: the Garfield comics, about an overweight, lazy cat, sell well, there are websites and books devoted to extolling the beauty and allure of fat cats, and children are socialized, through phonics readers with titles like Fat Cat on a Mat, to associate the pleasure of reading with the cuteness of round pets. All of this, however, is changing. We are witnessing the transformation of pet obesity from a trivial phenomenon or an idiosyncratic aesthetic preference into a social problem - one that increasingly mobilizes the mass media, public opinion and a wide variety of experts, and the intervention of state apparatuses like the courts and the police. This article discusses the ways in which obesity has crossed the species boundary. It reviews the evidence circulated to justify the increasingly common - and increasingly shrill - claims that we are in the midst of an "epidemic" of pet obesity (some claims assert that as many as 60% of all pets are overweight or obese) and it discusses the source and assesses the reliability of that evidence. It examines how pet obesity is presented in the mass media and by charitable organizations like Pet Club UK or the RSPCA. It also offers some thoughts about what current concerns about pet obesity can tell us about the social, cultural, medical, historical, economic, emotional and subjective dimensions of obesity more generally