Building Bridges: Opportunities Abound for P-20 Collaborations

PK-12 leaders value opportunities to collaborate with outside entities to improve student achievement and career-readiness. With increasing federal and state student-performance expectations for more than 1.4 million students enrolled in Texas public schools, collaborating with a public or private university, a community college, or a technical or health institute can provide important mutual benefits

Weathering the Storm: Riding the Waves of an Evolving Profession in Turbulent Times

Librarians are no strangers to re-envisioning themselves. From the closed stacks and “guardians of information” era, to the open learning commons and information desk model, we have evolved as needed to better serve the needs of our communities. As we adapt to changes in technology, information needs, and learning models, we aim to remain viable, maintain sustainable practices, and still feel invigorated by our profession. This can be a struggle given the need to continue some traditional aspects of librarianship, while trying to incorporate innovative information literacy practices, dynamic collection development, and cross-campus collaboration.. Non-library faculty and campus administration often have an “ideal library” in mind that doesn’t necessarily fit with the changing professional identity of some academic librarians. Library faculty often feel a sense of double-consciousness as they are asked to support other faculty, but also engage in their own teaching and scholarship. Additionally, as budgets shrink, it can be difficult to remain optimistic about the viability of the library. However, uncertain budgets, and a rapidly evolving environment has given one library a sense of opportunity and a desire to proactively change their identity on campus. This panel focuses on how library faculty at one public liberal arts institution are working toward reframing themselves, their work, and their library. They will discuss the challenges and benefits of reframing information literacy sessions, and creating and teaching in an Information Studies minor. They will highlight the changes in workload as they looked to new ways of working with campus faculty on information literacy, collection development, and liaison work, and became involved in campus initiatives beyond the library. They will address the challenges and opportunities that arise from using students to staff the library’s information desk and teach database demonstrations in place of librarians. Finally, they will discuss how their identity is evolving to incorporate new Framework principles and what they envision for the future of their library. Attendees of this session will leave with an understanding of the benefits and challenges of changing public service models, liaison roles, and instruction and reference work for library faculty

Nuf2 and Hec1 Are Required for Retention of the Checkpoint Proteins Mad1 and Mad2 to Kinetochores

Members of the Ndc80/Nuf2 complex have been shown in several systems to be important in formation of stable kinetochore-microtubule attachments and chromosome alignment in mitosis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. In HeLa cells, we have shown that depletion of Nuf2 by RNA interference (RNAi) results in a strong prometaphase block with an active spindle checkpoint, which correlates with low but detectable Mad2 at kinetochores that have no or few stable kinetochore microtubules [5]. Another RNAi study in HeLa cells reported that Hec1 (the human Ndc80 homolog) is required for Mad1 and Mad2 binding to kinetochores and that kinetochore bound Mad2 does not play a role in generating and maintaining the spindle assembly checkpoint [6]. Here, we show that depletion of either Nuf2 or Hec1 by RNAi in HeLa cells results in reduction of both proteins at kinetochores and in the cytoplasm. Mad1 and Mad2 concentrate at kinetochores in late prophase/early prometaphase but become depleted by 5-fold or more over the course of the prometaphase block, which is Mad2 dependent. The reduction of Mad1 and Mad2 is reversible upon spindle depolymerization. Our observations support a model in which Nuf2 and Hec1 function to prevent microtubule-dependent stripping of Mad1 and Mad2 from kinetochores that have not yet formed stable kinetochore-microtubule attachments

hNuf2 inhibition blocks stable kinetochore–microtubule attachment and induces mitotic cell death in HeLa cells

Identification of proteins that couple kinetochores to spindle microtubules is critical for understanding how accurate chromosome segregation is achieved in mitosis. Here we show that the protein hNuf2 specifically functions at kinetochores for stable microtubule attachment in HeLa cells. When hNuf2 is depleted by RNA interference, spindle formation occurs normally as cells enter mitosis, but kinetochores fail to form their attachments to spindle microtubules and cells block in prometaphase with an active spindle checkpoint. Kinetochores depleted of hNuf2 retain the microtubule motors CENP-E and cytoplasmic dynein, proteins previously implicated in recruiting kinetochore microtubules. Kinetochores also retain detectable levels of the spindle checkpoint proteins Mad2 and BubR1, as expected for activation of the spindle checkpoint by unattached kinetochores. In addition, the cell cycle block produced by hNuf2 depletion induces mitotic cells to undergo cell death. These data highlight a specific role for hNuf2 in kinetochore–microtubule attachment and suggest that hNuf2 is part of a molecular linker between the kinetochore attachment site and tubulin subunits within the lattice of attached plus ends

The Coptic and Greek Papyri of the Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e di Storia Dell'arte

Publication of six Coptic and two Greek papyri in the Istituto Nazionale di Archeologia e di Storia dell’Arte, deriving most probably from the excavations of Gilbert Bagnani at Tebtynis in the Fayum. The more complete of the Coptic texts are identifiable as letters from monastic contexts. The most substantial fragment, p.inasa Copto i, mentions an Apa Georgios «who is among the Saints», perhaps a reference to a well-known archimandrite of Deir el-Hamman; such an identification would indicate an viii/ix-century date for the document. The remaining Coptic papyri can, for the most part, be dated on palaeographic grounds to these same centuries, while the rather fragmentary Greek documents (a letter, possibly, and an account) are earlier

Nanolaminate Membranes as Cylindrical Telescope Reflectors

A document discusses a proposal to use axially stretched metal nanolaminate membranes as lightweight parabolic cylindrical reflectors in the Dual Anamorphic Reflector Telescope (DART) - a planned spaceborne telescope in which the cylindrical reflectors would be arranged to obtain a point focus. The discussion brings together a combination of concepts reported separately in several prior NASA Tech Briefs articles, the most relevant being "Nanolaminate Mirrors With Integral Figure-Control Actuators" NPO -30221, Vol. 26, No. 5 (May 2002), page 90; and "Reflectors Made From Membranes Stretched Between Beams" NPO -30571, Vol. 33, No. 10 (October 2009), page 11a. The engineering issues receiving the greatest emphasis in the instant document are (1) the change in curvature associated with the Poisson contraction of a stretched nanolaminate reflector membrane and (2) the feasibility of using patches of poly(vinylidene fluoride) on the rear membrane surface as piezoelectric actuators to correct the surface figure for the effect of Poisson contraction and other shape errors

Simultaneous release of a hydroxy-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor and a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonist from a thermoresponsive NiPAAm/NtBAAm copolymer system.

While deployment of intracoronary stents has been shown to reduce restenosis, stenting can also damage the endothelial was eluted during this period. Xemilofiban release was measured in terms of its ability to inhibit platelet adhesion, using a microfluidic system. To investigate the influence of location and hydrophobicity on elution of bioactivity, three separate systems were employed. While elution of anti-adhesive activity from the system containing xemilofiban-loaded matrices was more dramatic in the short term, a more sustained level of inhibition was achieved when xemilofiban had been incorporated into microgels. All samples investigated for anti-adhesive activity also decreased human coronary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation. Therefore xemilofiban has potential as an agent for preventing in-stent thrombosis. Our study has demonstrated the feasibility of using this novel matrix/microgel system to regulate simultaneous release of both agents in bioactive concentratio

Effect of fixed-dose subcutaneous reslizumab on asthma exacerbations in patients with severe uncontrolled asthma and corticosteroid sparing in patients with oral corticosteroid-dependent asthma : results from two phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials

BACKGROUND: Reslizumab 3 mg/kg administered intravenously is approved for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma. We assessed the safety and efficacy of subcutaneous reslizumab 110 mg in two trials in patients with uncontrolled severe asthma and increased blood eosinophils. The aim was to establish whether subcutaneous reslizumab 110 mg can reduce exacerbation rates in these patients (study 1) or reduce maintenance oral corticosteroid dose in patients with corticosteroid-dependent asthma (study 2). METHODS: Both studies were randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 studies. Entry criteria for study 1 were uncontrolled severe asthma, two or more asthma exacerbations in the previous year, a blood eosinophil count of 300 cells per μL or more (including no more than 30% patients with an eosinophil count <400 cells/μL), and at least a medium dose of inhaled corticosteroids with one or more additional asthma controllers. Patients in study 2 had severe asthma, a blood eosinophil count of 300 cells per μL or more, daily maintenance oral corticosteroid (prednisone 5-40 mg, or equivalent), and high-dose inhaled corticosteroids plus another controller. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to subcutaneous reslizumab (110 mg) or placebo once every 4 weeks for 52 weeks in study 1 and 24 weeks in study 2. Patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. Primary efficacy outcomes were frequency of exacerbations during 52 weeks in study 1 and categorised percentage reduction in daily oral corticosteroid dose from baseline to weeks 20-24 in study 2. Primary efficacy analyses were by intention to treat, and safety analyses included all patients who received at least one dose of study treatment. These studies are registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02452190 (study 1) and NCT02501629 (study 2). FINDINGS: Between Aug 12, 2015, and Jan 31, 2018, 468 patients in study 1 were randomly assigned to placebo (n=232) or subcutaneous reslizumab (n=236), and 177 in study 2 to placebo (n=89) or subcutaneous reslizumab (n=88). In study 1, we found no significant difference in the exacerbation rate between reslizumab and placebo in the intention-to-treat population (rate ratio 0·79, 95% CI 0·56-1·12; p=0·19). Subcutaneous reslizumab reduced exacerbation frequency compared with placebo in the subgroup of patients with blood eosinophil counts of 400 cells per μL or more (0·64, 95% CI 0·43-0·95). Greater reductions in annual exacerbation risk (p=0·0035) and longer time to first exacerbation were observed for patients with higher trough serum reslizumab concentrations. In study 2, we found no difference between placebo and fixed-dose subcutaneous reslizumab in categorised percentage reduction in daily oral corticosteroid dose (odds ratio for a lower category of oral corticosteroid use in the reslizumab group vs the placebo group, 1·23, 95% CI 0·70-2·16; p=0·47). The frequency of adverse events and serious adverse events with reslizumab were similar to those with placebo in both studies. INTERPRETATION: Fixed-dose (110 mg) subcutaneous reslizumab was not effective in reducing exacerbation frequency in patients with uncontrolled asthma and increased blood eosinophils (≥300 cells/μL), or in reducing the daily maintenance oral corticosteroid dose in patients with oral corticosteroid-dependent severe eosinophilic asthma. Higher exposures than those observed with 110 mg subcutaneous reslizumab are required to achieve maximal efficacy. FUNDING: Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D