A Tapestry Of Educational Technology Women Leaders In Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

A qualitative study was used to understand the experiences of 12 women, leaders in Education Technology in higher education. Through interviews, women leaders described their environment as well as personal and behavioral aspects of their work. Findings revealed four threads of descriptive concepts including relationships, leadership, persistence, and advice. Relationships were from workplaces and professional networks. Leadership was defined by vision and teamwork. Persistence was addressed as either values-based or relationship-based. The fourth thread in the findings, advice, was divided into three sub-threads: education, family (both personal and work), and managing emotions. A qualitative approach was used to highlight interview responses to demonstrate the experiences of women leaders in Education Technology in Higher Education

Dynamic Properties of an Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate– and Thapsigargin-insensitive Calcium Pool in Mammalian Cell Lines

The functional characteristics of a nonacidic, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate– and thapsigargin-insensitive Ca2+ pool have been characterized in mammalian cells derived from the rat pituitary gland (GH3, GC, and GH3B6), the adrenal tissue (PC12), and mast cells (RBL-1). This Ca2+ pool is released into the cytoplasm by the Ca2+ ionophores ionomycin or A23187 after the discharge of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate–sensitive store with an agonist coupled to phospholipase C activation and/or thapsigargin. The amount of Ca2+ trapped within this pool increased significantly after a prolonged elevation of intracellular Ca2+ concentration elicited by activation of Ca2+ influx. This pool was affected neither by caffeine-ryanodine nor by mitochondrial uncouplers. Probing mitochondrial Ca2+ with recombinant aequorin confirmed that this pool did not coincide with mitochondria, whereas its homogeneous distribution across the cytosol, as revealed by confocal microscopy, and its insensitivity to brefeldin A make localization within the Golgi complex unlikely. A proton gradient as the driving mechanism for Ca2+ uptake was excluded since ionomycin is inefficient in releasing Ca2+ from acidic pools and Ca2+ accumulation/release in/from this store was unaffected by monensin or NH4Cl, drugs known to collapse organelle acidic pH gradients. Ca2+ sequestration inside this pool, thus, may occur through a low-affinity, high-capacity Ca2+–ATPase system, which is, however, distinct from classical endosarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+–ATPases. The cytological nature and functional role of this Ca2+ storage compartment are discussed

Biochemical and NMR analyses of an SF3b155–p14–U2AF-RNA interaction network involved in branch point definition during pre-mRNA splicing

The p14 subunit of the essential splicing factor 3b (SF3b) can be cross-linked to the branch-point adenosine of pre-mRNA introns within the spliceosome. p14 stably interacts with the SF3b subunit SF3b155, which also binds the 65-kDa subunit of U2 auxiliary splicing factor (U2AF65). We combined biochemical and NMR techniques to study the conformation of p14 either alone or complexed with SF3b155 fragments, as well as an interaction network involving p14, SF3b155, U2AF65, and U2 snRNA/pre-mRNA. p14 comprises a canonical RNA recognition motif (RRM) with an additional C-terminal helix (αC) and a β hairpin insertion. SF3b155 binds to the β-sheet surface of p14, thereby occupying the canonical RNA-binding site of the p14 RRM. The minimal region of SF3b155 interacting with p14 (i.e., residues 381–424) consists of four α-helices, which are partially preformed in isolation. Helices α2 and α3 (residues 401–415) constitute the core p14-binding epitope. Regions of SF3b155 binding to p14 and U2AF65 are nonoverlapping. This allows for a simultaneous interaction of SF3b155 with both proteins, which may support the stable association of U2 snRNP with the pre-mRNA. p14–RNA interactions are modulated by SF3b155 and the RNA-binding site of the p14–SF3b155 complex involves the noncanonical β hairpin insertion of the p14 RRM, consistent with the β-sheet surface being occupied by the helical SF3b155 peptide and p14 helix αC. Our data suggest that p14 lacks inherent specificity for recognizing the branch point, but that some specificity may be achieved by scaffolding interactions involving other components of SF3b

Patient-reported outcomes from KATHERINE: A phase 3 study of adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine versus trastuzumab in patients with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The phase 3 KATHERINE trial demonstrated significantly improved invasive disease-free survival with adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) versus trastuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer and residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus HER2-targeted therapy. METHODS: Patients who received taxane- and trastuzumab-containing neoadjuvant therapy (with/without anthracyclines) and had residual invasive disease (breast and/or axillary nodes) at surgery were randomly assigned to 14 cycles of adjuvant T-DM1 (3.6 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks) or trastuzumab (6 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks). The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and breast cancer module (QLQ-BR23) were completed at screening, at day 1 of cycles 5 and 11, within 30 days after study drug completion, and at 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. RESULTS: Of patients who were randomly assigned to T-DM1 (n = 743) and trastuzumab (n = 743), 612 (82%) and 640 (86%), respectively, had valid baseline and ≥1 postbaseline assessments. No clinically meaningful changes (≥10 points) from baseline in mean QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BR23 scores occurred in either arm. More patients receiving T-DM1 reported clinically meaningful deterioration at any assessment point in role functioning (49% vs 41%), appetite loss (38% vs 28%), constipation (47% vs 38%), fatigue (66% vs 60%), nausea/vomiting (39% vs 30%), and systemic therapy side effects (49% vs 36%). These differences were no longer apparent at the 6-month follow-up assessment, except for role functioning (23% vs 16%). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that health-related quality of life was generally maintained in both study arms over the course of treatment

Measurement of the branching ratios for the decays Jψ(3.1)→fωJ\psi (3.1) \to f\omega and Jψ(3.1)→BπJ\psi (3.1) \to B\pi

Decays of the J/ψ (3.1) resonance into final states with four charged and one neutral pion have been investigated. We measured the branching ratios J/ ψ (3.1) → f ω /all = 0.40 ± 0.14)% and J/ ψ (3.1) → (B + π − + B − π + )/all = (0.28 ± 0.07)%