Application of active learning modalities to achieve medical genetics competencies and their learning outcome assessments

Nobuko Hagiwara Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA Abstract: The steadily falling costs of genome sequencing, coupled with the growing number of genetic tests with proven clinical validity, have made the use of genetic testing more common in clinical practice. This development has necessitated nongeneticist physicians, especially primary care physicians, to become more responsible for assessing genetic risks for their patients. Providing undergraduate medical students a solid foundation in genomic medicine, therefore, has become all the more important to ensure the readiness of future physicians in applying genomic medicine to their patient care. In order to further enhance the effectiveness of instructing practical skills in medical genetics, the emphasis of active learning modules in genetics curriculum at medical schools has increased in recent years. This is because of the general acceptance of a better efficacy of active learner-centered pedagogy over passive lecturer-centered pedagogy. However, an objective standard to evaluate students’ skill levels in genomic medicine achieved by active learning is currently missing. Recently, entrustable professional activities (EPAs) in genomic medicine have been proposed as a framework for developing physician competencies in genomic medicine. EPAs in genomic medicine provide a convenient guideline for not only developing genomic medicine curriculum but also assessing students’ competency levels in practicing genomic medicine. In this review, the efficacy of different types of active learning modules reported for medical genetics curricula is discussed using EPAs in genomic medicine as a common evaluation standard for modules’ learning outcomes. The utility of the EPAs in genomic medicine for designing active learning modules in undergraduate medical genetics curricula is also discussed. Keywords: undergraduate medical genetics education, genomic medicine competencies, active learning modules, entrustable professional activities, learning outcome assessmen

Calculation of HELAS amplitudes for QCD processes using graphics processing unit (GPU)

We use a graphics processing unit (GPU) for fast calculations of helicity amplitudes of quark and gluon scattering processes in massless QCD. New HEGET ({\bf H}ELAS {\bf E}valuation with {\bf G}PU {\bf E}nhanced {\bf T}echnology) codes for gluon self-interactions are introduced, and a C++ program to convert the MadGraph generated FORTRAN codes into HEGET codes in CUDA (a C-platform for general purpose computing on GPU) is created. Because of the proliferation of the number of Feynman diagrams and the number of independent color amplitudes, the maximum number of final state jets we can evaluate on a GPU is limited to 4 for pure gluon processes ($gg\to 4g$), or 5 for processes with one or more quark lines such as $q\bar{q}\to 5g$ and $qq\to qq+3g$. Compared with the usual CPU-based programs, we obtain 60-100 times better performance on the GPU, except for 5-jet production processes and the $gg\to 4g$ processes for which the GPU gain over the CPU is about 20

Fast computation of MadGraph amplitudes on graphics processing unit (GPU)

Continuing our previous studies on QED and QCD processes, we use the graphics processing unit (GPU) for fast calculations of helicity amplitudes for general Standard Model (SM) processes. Additional HEGET codes to handle all SM interactions are introduced, as well assthe program MG2CUDA that converts arbitrary MadGraph generated HELAS amplitudess(FORTRAN) into HEGET codes in CUDA. We test all the codes by comparing amplitudes and cross sections for multi-jet srocesses at the LHC associated with production of single and double weak bosonss a top-quark pair, Higgs boson plus a weak boson or a top-quark pair, and multisle Higgs bosons via weak-boson fusion, where all the heavy particles are allowes to decay into light quarks and leptons with full spin correlations. All the helicity amplitudes computed by HEGET are found to agree with those comsuted by HELAS within the expected numerical accuracy, and the cross sections obsained by gBASES, a GPU version of the Monte Carlo integration program, agree wish those obtained by BASES (FORTRAN), as well as those obtained by MadGraph. The performance of GPU was over a factor of 10 faster than CPU for all processes except those with the highest number of jets.Comment: 37 pages, 12 figure

Phase diagram of a frustrated mixed-spin ladder with diagonal exchange bonds

Using exact numerical diagonalization and the conformal field theory approach, we study the effect of magnetic frustrations due to diagonal exchange bonds in a system of two coupled mixed-spin $(1,{1/2})$ Heisenberg chains. It is established that relatively moderate frustrations are able to destroy the ferrimagnetic state and to stabilize the critical spin-liquid phase typical for half-integer-spin antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains. Both phases are separated by a narrow but finite region occupied by a critical partially-polarized ferromagnetic phase.Comment: 5 PRB pages, 7 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Origin of the second coherent peak in the dynamical structure factor of an asymmetric spin-ladder

Appearance of the second coherent peak in the dynamical structure factor of an asymmetric spin ladder is suggested. The general arguments are confirmed by the first order (with respect to the asymmetry) calculation for a spin ladder with singlet-rung ground state. Basing on this result a new interpretation is proposed for the inelastic neutron scattering data in the spin gap compound CuHpCl.Comment: 11 page

VLBI study of water maser emission in the Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC5793. I: Imaging blueshifted emission and the parsec-scale jet

We present the first result of VLBI observations of the blueshifted water maser emission from the type 2 Seyfert galaxy NGC5793, which we combine with new and previous VLBI observations of continuum emission at 1.7, 5.0, 8.4, 15, and 22 GHz. Maser emission was detected earlier in single-dish observations and found to have both red- and blueshifted features relative to the systemic velocity. We could image only the blueshifted emission, which is located 3.6 pc southwest of the 22 GHz continuum peak. The blueshifted emission was found to originate in two clusters that are separated by 0.7 milliarcsecond (0.16 pc). No compact continuum emission was found within 3.6 pc of the maser spot. A compact continuum source showing a marginally inverted spectrum between 1.7 and 5.0 GHz was found 4.2 pc southwest of the maser position. The spectral turnover might be due to synchrotron self-absorption caused by a shock in the jet owing to collision with dense gas, or it might be due to free-free absorption in an ionized screen possibly the inner part of a disk, foreground to the jet. The water maser may be part of a maser disk. If so, it would be rotating in the opposite sense to the highly inclined galactic disk observed in CO emission. We estimate a binding mass within 1 pc of the presumed nucleus to be on the order of 10^7 Msun. Alternatively, the maser emission could result from the amplification of a radio jet by foreground circumnuclear molecular gas. In this case, the high blueshift of the maser emission might mean that the masing region is moving outward away from the molecular gas surrounding an active nucleus.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, to appear in ApJ, Oct. 200

What can the L3 γγll\gamma\gamma ll events be?

We consider the 4 $\gamma\gamma ll$ ($l=\mu,\ e$) events reported by the L3 collaboration, and go through the logical possibilities which could explain the events. If they are not coincidental bremsstrahlung events, we find that the physics which they could point to is extremely limited. One possibility would be to have a new 60 GeV scalar (or pseudoscalar) particle $X^0$ with an off-diagonal coupling to a $Z$ and $Z'$ which is non-perturbative ($\alpha > 1$), where the $Z'$ couplings to $\nu\bar\nu$ are suppressed. One could also construct a model involving $X^0$, and a second scalar $X'^0$ with a large $X'll$ coupling. We do not promote either of these models, but hope they would prove to be useful guidelines, should the L3 events turn out to be new physics.Comment: 7 pp (3 fig avail. on request), LATEX, TRI-PP-92-12