Beauty and the Flirt: Male Physical Attractiveness and Approaches to Relationship Initiation

This multi-study investigation explored how women evaluate men’s approach strategies. In Study 1, 330 participants generated 546 verbal strategies used in courtship initiation. Strategies were rated on three dimensions that define relationships: affiliation, dominance, and explicitness. Affiliation and explicitness were related to strategy flirtatiousness. In Study 2, 361 females participated in an experiment that explored the effects of four approach strategies used by an attractive or unattractive man on conversation continuance and future interaction. Attractive men using inviting, playful, and less annoying messages were most successful. Study 3 (N = 398) replicated Study 2 using different approach strategies, and also demonstrated male attractiveness, affiliation and explicitness inform message flirtatiousness and influence courtship outcomes. Results suggest approach strategy, but not male attractiveness, influence perceived first date goals

The Microbial Rosetta Stone Database: A compilation of global and emerging infectious microorganisms and bioterrorist threat agents

BACKGROUND: Thousands of different microorganisms affect the health, safety, and economic stability of populations. Many different medical and governmental organizations have created lists of the pathogenic microorganisms relevant to their missions; however, the nomenclature for biological agents on these lists and pathogens described in the literature is inexact. This ambiguity can be a significant block to effective communication among the diverse communities that must deal with epidemics or bioterrorist attacks. RESULTS: We have developed a database known as the Microbial Rosetta Stone. The database relates microorganism names, taxonomic classifications, diseases, specific detection and treatment protocols, and relevant literature. The database structure facilitates linkage to public genomic databases. This paper focuses on the information in the database for pathogens that impact global public health, emerging infectious organisms, and bioterrorist threat agents. CONCLUSION: The Microbial Rosetta Stone is available at . The database provides public access to up-to-date taxonomic classifications of organisms that cause human diseases, improves the consistency of nomenclature in disease reporting, and provides useful links between different public genomic and public health databases

IQN path ASBL report from the first European cfDNA consensus meeting:expert opinion on the minimal requirements for clinical ctDNA testing

Liquid biopsy testing is a new laboratory-based method that detects tumour mutations in circulating free DNA (cfDNA) derived from minimally invasive blood sampling techniques. Recognising the significance for clinical testing, in 2017, IQN Path provided external quality assessment for liquid biopsy testing. Representatives of those participating laboratories were invited to attend a workshop to discuss the findings and how to achieve quality implementation of cfDNA testing in the clinical setting, the discussion and outcomes of this consensus meeting are described below. Predictive molecular profiling using tumour tissue in order to select cancer patients eligible for targeted therapy is now routine in diagnostic pathology. If insufficient tumour tissue material is available, in some circumstances, recent European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidance recommends mutation testing with plasma cfDNA. Clinical applications of cfDNA include treatment selection based on clinically relevant mutations derived from pre-treatment samples and the detection of resistant mutations upon progression of the disease. In order to identify tumour-related mutations in amongst other nucleic acid material found in plasma samples, highly sensitive laboratory methods are needed. In the workshop, we discussed the variable approaches taken with regard to cfDNA extraction methods, the tests, and considered the impact of false-negative test results. We explored the lack of standardisation of complex testing procedures ranging from plasma collection, transport, processing and storage, cfDNA extraction, and mutation analysis, to interpretation and reporting of results. We will also address the current status of clinical validation and clinical utility, and its use in current diagnosis. This workshop revealed a need for guidelines on with standardised procedures for clinical cfDNA testing and reporting, and a requirement for cfDNA-based external quality assessment programs

Decoding the Persistence and Engagement Patterns of Doctoral Students Who Finish

Doctoral attrition rates are alarmingly high, causing concern to university leaders and students alike. These constituents seek solutions to address the troubling phenomenon of doctoral students dropping out of their programs of study. This article discusses persistence patterns of doctoral students who finish. The authors matriculated in a hybrid Ph.D. cohort program consisting of a residency requirement, coupled with online coursework. Cohort engagement, collaboration, vertical teaming, academic productivity, and networking are among the strategies discussed as effective in persistence to program completion.https://openriver.winona.edu/educationeddfacultyworks/1010/thumbnail.jp

Identification, validation and clinical implementation of cancer biomarkers: Translational strategies of the EORTC PathoBiology Group

AbstractThe increasing demand for personalized cancer therapy requires a strong, intense, and continuous collaboration between pre-clinical and clinical investigators. As a part of the EORTC Translational Research Divison, the EORTC PathoBiology Group (EORTC PBG), focuses on discovery and validation of cancer biomarkers, providing both scientific evidence as well as quality assurance. The clinically relevant target-identification and validation studies carried out in the last decades within the EORTC PBG represent a paradigm for EORTC studies in which laboratory investigations on human biologic material are used to support the development of drugs directed to defined target molecules. The experience acquired within the EORTC PBG with respect to standardization of cancer biomarker test kits and reagents, quality assessment/assurance of cancer biomarker determinations, development of standard operating procedures for assessment of these markers as well as instruction of methodologies and teaching of ethical issues represent a valuable contribution of the EORTC PBG to the onco-translational strategies of the EORTC

International pilot external quality assessment scheme for analysis and reporting of circulating tumour DNA

Background Molecular analysis of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) is becoming increasingly important in clinical treatment decisions. A pilot External Quality Assessment (EQA) scheme for ctDNA analysis was organized by four European EQA providers under the umbrella organization IQN Path, in order to investigate the feasibility of delivering an EQA to assess the detection of clinically relevant variants in plasma circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and to analyze reporting formats. Methods Thirty-two experienced laboratories received 5 samples for EGFR mutation analysis and/or 5 samples for KRAS and NRAS mutation analysis. Samples were artificially manufactured to contain 3 mL of human plasma with 20 ng/mL of fragmented ctDNA and variants at allelic frequencies of 1 and 5%. Results The scheme error rate was 20.1%. Higher error rates were observed for RAS testing when compared to EGFR analysis, for allelic frequencies of 1% compared to 5%, and for cases including 2 different variants. The reports over-interpreted wild-type results and frequently failed to comment on the amount of cfDNA extracted. Conclusions The pilot scheme demonstrated the feasibility of delivering a ctDNA EQA scheme and the need for such a scheme due to high error rates in detecting low frequency clinically relevant variants. Recommendations to improve reporting of cfDNA are provided

3D T2w fetal body MRI:automated organ volumetry, growth charts and population-averaged atlas

Structural fetal body MRI provides true 3D information required for volumetry of fetal organs. However, current clinical and research practice primarily relies on manual slice-wise segmentation of raw T2-weighted stacks, which is time consuming, subject to inter- and intra-observer bias and affected by motion-corruption. Furthermore, there are no existing standard guidelines defining a universal approach to parcellation of fetal organs. This work produces the first parcellation protocol of the fetal body organs for motion-corrected 3D fetal body MRI. It includes 10 organ ROIs relevant to fetal quantitative volumetry studies. We also introduce the first population-averaged T2w MRI atlas of the fetal body. The protocol was used as a basis for training of a neural network for automated organ segmentation. It showed robust performance for different gestational ages. This solution minimises the need for manual editing and significantly reduces time. The general feasibility of the proposed pipeline was also assessed by analysis of organ growth charts created from automated parcellations of 91 normal control 3T MRI datasets that showed expected increase in volumetry during 22-38 weeks gestational age range. In addition, the results of comparison between 60 normal and 12 fetal growth restriction datasets revealed significant differences in organ volumes.</p

Antigenic Characterization of H3 Subtypes of Avian Influenza A Viruses from North America

Besides humans, H3 subtypes of influenza A viruses (IAVs) can infect various animal hosts, including avian, swine, equine, canine, and sea mammal species. These H3 viruses are both antigenically and genetically diverse. Here, we characterized the antigenic diversity of contemporary H3 avian IAVs recovered from migratory birds in North America. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays were performed on 37 H3 isolates of avian IAVs recovered from 2007 to 2011 using generated reference chicken sera. These isolates were recovered from samples taken in the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific waterfowl migration flyways. Antisera to all the tested H3 isolates cross-reacted with each other and, to a lesser extent, with those to H3 canine and H3 equine IAVs. Antigenic cartography showed that the largest antigenic distance among the 37 avian IAVs is about four units, and each unit corresponds to a 2 log 2 difference in the HI titer. However, none of the tested H3 IAVs cross-reacted with ferret sera derived from contemporary swine and human IAVs. Our results showed that the H3 avian IAVs we tested lacked significant antigenic diversity, and these viruses were antigenically different from those circulating in swine and human populations. This suggests that H3 avian IAVs in North American waterfowl are antigenically relatively stable. Además de infectar a los seres humanos, los subtipos H3 del virus de la influenza A (IAVs) pueden infectar a varios huéspedes animales, incluyendo aves, porcinos, equinos, caninos, y especies de mamíferos marinos. Estos virus H3 son tanto antigénica y genéticamente diversos. En este estudio, se caracterizó la diversidad antigénica de virus H3 contemporáneos recuperados de aves migratorias en América del Norte. Se realizaron pruebas de inhibición de la hemaglutinación (HI) en 37 H3 aislamientos de origen aviar recuperados de 2007 a 2011 usando sueros de pollo de referencia. Estos aislamientos fueron recuperados de las muestras tomadas de las rutas migratorias de aves acuáticas del Atlántico, Mississippi, Centro y del Pacífico. Los antisueros de todos los aislamientos H3 analizados mostraron reacciones cruzadas entre sí y en menor medida, con aquellos virus H3 de origen canino y equino. La cartografía antigénica demostró que la mayor distancia antigénica entre los 37 virus de este tipo de aves es de aproximadamente cuatro unidades, y cada unidad corresponde a una diferencia de dos logaritmos en el título de inhibición de la hemaglutinación. Sin embargo, ninguno de los virus H3 de este tipo mostró reacción cruzada con sueros de hurón específicos para virus de cerdos y humanos contemporáneos. Estos resultados mostraron que los virus H3 de origen aviar que se analizaron carecían de diversidad antigénica significativa y estos virus fueron antigénicamente diferentes de las que circulan en poblaciones de cerdos y de humanos. Esto sugiere que los virus H3 de aves acuáticas de América del Norte son relativamente estables antigénicamente

Results of the UK NEQAS for Molecular Genetics reference sample analysis

Aims: In addition to providing external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, United Kingdom National External Quality Assessment service (UK NEQAS) for Molecular Genetics also supports the education of laboratories. As an enhancement to the Molecular Pathology EQA scheme, a human cell-line reference sample, manufactured by Thermo Fisher Scientific (AcroMetrix), was provided for analysis. This contained many variants, present at frequencies between 1% and 17.9%. Methods: One hundred and one laboratories submitted results, with a total of 2889 test results on 53 genes being reported. Known polymorphisms, 46/2889 (1.59%) results, were excluded. Variants detected in the seven most commonly reported (and clinically relevant) genes, KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, EGFR, PIK3CA, KIT and PDGFRA, are reported here, as these genes fall within the scope of UK NEQAS EQA schemes. Results: Next generation sequencing (NGS) was the most commonly performed testing platform. There were between 5 and 27 validated variants in the seven genes reported here. Eight laboratories correctly reported all five NRAS variants, and two correctly reported all eight BRAF variants. The validated mean variant frequency was lower than that determined by participating laboratories, with single-gene testing methodologies showing less variation in estimated frequencies than NGS platforms. Laboratories were more likely to correctly identify clinically relevant variants. Conclusions: Over 100 laboratories took the opportunity to test the ‘educational reference sample’, showing a willingness to further validate their testing platforms. While it was encouraging to see that the most widely reported variants were those which should be included in routine testing panels, reporting of variants was potentially open to interpretation, thus clarity is still required on whether laboratories selectively reported variants, by either clinical relevance or variant frequency