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 Many Lives of Victorian Fiction

Can Victorian literature speak to non-academic publics of the twenty-first century as it did to “common readers” of the past? This essay discusses several experiments in which faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduates find creative means to engage local as well as university communities in the study of Victorian and Edwardian texts. In particular, the essay considers the power of public performance—in this case of Elizabeth Robins’s suffrage play, The Convert—to inspire collective “reading,” interpretation, and reflection on the future as well as the past

The Many Lives of Victorian Fiction

Can Victorian literature speak to non-academic publics of the twenty-first century as it did to “common readers” of the past? This essay discusses several experiments in which faculty members, graduate students, and undergraduates find creative means to engage local as well as university communities in the study of Victorian and Edwardian texts. In particular, the essay considers the power of public performance—in this case of Elizabeth Robins’s suffrage play, The Convert—to inspire collective “reading,” interpretation, and reflection on the future as well as the past

Feminist fiction and fictional feminism: Sarah Grand and the new woman novel

This dissertation is a study of the novels of Sarah Grand (1854-1943), a British novelist and feminist activist. Between 1880 and 1920 changes in laws affecting women and in social and scientific beliefs about gender difference led Grand to deromanticize and politicize the most traditional form of the novel, the marriage plot. The first chapter provides an historical and cultural context for the study of the New Woman fiction. Later chapters explore Grand's interruptions of the marriage plot with narratives of female psychology and desire, with challenges to masculinist narrative authority, with multiple plots, with feminist reworkings of other traditional plots like the bildungsroman and the kunstlerroman, and with deliberate deviation from literary plots into social narratives from the worlds of medicine and eugenics.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio

Development of a neonatal adverse event severity scale through a Delphi consensus approach

BACKGROUND: Assessment of the seriousness, expectedness and causality are necessary for any adverse event (AE) in a clinical trial. In addition, assessing AE severity helps determine the importance of the AE in the clinical setting. Standardisation of AE severity criteria could make safety information more reliable and comparable across trials. Although standardised AE severity scales have been developed in other research fields, they are not suitable for use in neonates. The development of an AE severity scale to facilitate the conduct and interpretation of neonatal clinical trials is therefore urgently needed. METHODS: A stepwise consensus process was undertaken within the International Neonatal Consortium (INC) with input from all relevant stakeholders. The consensus process included several rounds of surveys (based on a Delphi approach), face-to-face meetings and a pilot validation. RESULTS: Neonatal AE severity was classified by five grades (mild, moderate, severe, life threatening or death). AE severity in neonates was defined by the effect of the AE on age appropriate behaviour, basal physiological functions and care changes in response to the AE. Pilot validation of the generic criteria revealed κ=0.23 and guided further refinement. This generic scale was applied to 35 typical and common neonatal AEs resulting in the INC neonatal AE severity scale (NAESS) V.1.0, which is now publicly available. DISCUSSION: The INC NAESS is an ongoing effort that will be continuously updated. Future perspectives include further validation and the development of a training module for users.status: publishe