Illustrating Shakespeare

"Illustrating Shakespeare" celebrates both the 2003 return visit of the Royal Shakespeare Company to the University of Michigan and the McMillan Shakespeare Collection housed at the Special Collections Library. Founded in the 1880s, the Collection now numbers over 6000 volumes, providing a rich and varied resource for documenting the history of how Shakespeare's works were both presented and received. The included items vividly show how the vital emotions that Shakespeare's words stirred in a multitide of artists were then translated into illustrations that in turn evoke those same emotions in others.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120255/1/illustrating_shakespeare_03.pd

Perspectives from deductible plan enrollees: plan knowledge and anticipated care-seeking changes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Consumer directed health care proposes that patients will engage as informed consumers of health care services by sharing in more of their medical costs, often through deductibles. We examined knowledge of deductible plan details among new enrollees, as well as anticipated care-seeking changes in response to the deductible.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a large integrated delivery system with a range of deductible-based health plans which varied in services included or exempted from deductible, we conducted a mixed-method, cross-sectional telephone interview study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among 458 adults newly enrolled in a deductible plan (71% response rate), 51% knew they had a deductible, 26% knew the deductible amount, and 6% knew which medical services were included or exempted from their deductible. After adjusting for respondent characteristics, those with more deductible-applicable services and those with lower self-reported health status were significantly more likely to know they had a deductible. Among those who knew of their deductible, half anticipated that it would cause them to delay or avoid medical care, including avoiding doctor's office visits and medical tests, even services that they believed were medically necessary. Many expressed concern about their costs, anticipating the inability to afford care and expressing the desire to change plans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Early in their experience with a deductible, patients had limited awareness of the deductible and little knowledge of the details. Many who knew of the deductible reported that it would cause them to delay or avoid seeking care and were concerned about their healthcare costs.</p

Inactivation of Chk2 and Mus81 Leads to Impaired Lymphocytes Development, Reduced Genomic Instability, and Suppression of Cancer

Chk2 is an effector kinase important for the activation of cell cycle checkpoints, p53, and apoptosis in response to DNA damage. Mus81 is required for the restart of stalled replication forks and for genomic integrity. Mus81Δex3-4/Δex3-4 mice have increased cancer susceptibility that is exacerbated by p53 inactivation. In this study, we demonstrate that Chk2 inactivation impairs the development of Mus81Δex3-4/Δex3-4 lymphoid cells in a cell-autonomous manner. Importantly, in contrast to its predicted tumor suppressor function, loss of Chk2 promotes mitotic catastrophe and cell death, and it results in suppressed oncogenic transformation and tumor development in Mus81Δex3-4/Δex3-4 background. Thus, our data indicate that an important role for Chk2 is maintaining lymphocyte development and that dual inactivation of Chk2 and Mus81 remarkably inhibits cancer

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

Biological nitrogen fixation: A key input to integrated soil fertility management in the tropics

This paper describes the importance of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) by legumeRhizobium symbiosis to tropical agriculture, the evolution of BNF paradigms, creation of strategic alliances to combat soil fertility degradation, and accomplishments of collaborative BNF-related research at CIAT-TSBFI. It suggests that a holistic-multidisciplinary-systems approach is needed to integrate BNFefficient arid stress adapted legumes into smallholder systems. It proposes a number of research and development priorities for achieving improved BNF contributions through integrated soil fertility management, a holistic approach to soil fertility that includes all driving factors and consequences of soil degradation. Although BNF has not proved a solution for strain selection or breeding of host, modest progress has been registered. The technology is economically viable. The environment is at least as limiting on BNF as is the strain and the host. The benefits of BNF are best expressed in the context of an agronomic management system that addresses other components of the crop, especially P supply, drought stress and frequently, starter N. Selection for BNF capacity under physiological stress has revealed genotypes worth exploiting more fully. Research efforts on BNF in tropical forage legumes indicated that the main constraints to their widespread adoption include a lack of legume persistence, presence of anti-quality factors such as tannins, variable Bradyrhizobium requirements, and a lack of acceptability by farmers. Farmerparticipatory selection of legumes for increased acceptability is needed. Substantial progress was made in creating an organic resource database and using it to construct a decision support system for organic matter management. Analysis of organic resource data indicated a set of critical values of nitrogen, lignin and polyphenol content for predicting the "fertilizer equivalence" of organic inputs. This provides armers with guidelines for appropriate use of organic materials for soil fertility improvement. The paper also suggests key interventions that are needed to achieve greater impact of legume-BNF technologie