Changing Health Care Business Models and Costs

Changing the health care system has universal support in principal, but has proven contentious in practice. This paper draws upon the theories and publications of three leading business thinkers, and the frameworks they developed for applying business practices to the health care industry: Drs. Clayton Christensen, Robert Kaplan, and Michael Porter of Harvard University. It reviews the disruption theories of Christensen as he has applied them to the health care industry, and connects them with medical costing recommendations of Kaplan and Porter. Two possible disruption possibilities for clinical care and venue are presented

Microsoft or Google Web 2.0 Tools for Course Management

While Web 2.0 has no universal definition, it always refers to online interactions in which user groups both provide and receive content with the aim of collective intelligence. Since 2005, online software has provided Web 2.0 collaboration technologies, for little or no charge, that were formerly available only to wealthy organizations. Academic institutions at all levels are experimenting with these technologies to improve student learning experiences, and prepare them for a world in which work can be effectively accomplished through collaboration over the Internet, and geographic and time differences become increasingly irrelevant in sharing knowledge. Web 2.0 technologies are not limited to enriching course content. They can also be incorporated into the management and the delivery of college courses as well as the coordination of virtual teams. Detailed comparisons of the two most popular Web 2.0 office technologies from Google and Microsoft are provided in this teaching tip with examples of ways that Google online applications are used in support of managing a large college-wide computing introductory course

Dissonance Reduction Strategies in Ride-Sharing Apps- A Case of Uber

Ride-sharing apps have both positive and negative impact in our daily lives. To study the negative impacts especially personal safety issues, this study explores the reaction of ride-sharing app users to such safety issues. We contextualize our study using a scenario-based survey. We found empirical support to all the hypotheses by surveying 421 individuals. This study contributes to the information systems literature in providing ways to apply dissonance reduction techniques that are a strong predictor of satisfaction. In addition, this study also addresses the safety issues faced by riders using ride-sharing apps and how co- creation would help address these issues

HESX1 mutations in patients with congenital hypopituitarism: variable phenotypes with the same genotype

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134248/1/cen13067.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134248/2/cen13067_am.pd

Smooth-Muscle BMAL1 Participates in Blood Pressure Circadian Rhythm Regulation

As the central pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) has long been considered the primary regulator of blood pressure circadian rhythm; however, this dogma has been challenged by the discovery that each of the clock genes present in the SCN is also expressed and functions in peripheral tissues. The involvement and contribution of these peripheral clock genes in the circadian rhythm of blood pressure remains uncertain. Here, we demonstrate that selective deletion of the circadian clock transcriptional activator aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator-like (Bmal1) from smooth muscle, but not from cardiomyocytes, compromised blood pressure circadian rhythm and decreased blood pressure without affecting SCN-controlled locomotor activity in murine models. In mesenteric arteries, BMAL1 bound to the promoter of and activated the transcription of Rho-kinase 2 (Rock2), and Bmal1 deletion abolished the time-of-day variations in response to agonist-induced vasoconstriction, myosin phosphorylation, and ROCK2 activation. Together, these data indicate that peripheral inputs contribute to the daily control of vasoconstriction and blood pressure and suggest that clock gene expression outside of the SCN should be further evaluated to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms of diseases involving blood pressure circadian rhythm disruption

Subthalamic nucleus beta and gamma activity is modulated depending on the level of imagined grip force.

Motor imagery involves cortical networks similar to those activated by real movements, but the extent to which the basal ganglia are recruited is not yet clear. Gamma and beta oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) vary with the effort of sustained muscle activity. We recorded local field potentials in Parkinson's disease patients and investigated if similar changes can be observed during imagined gripping at three different 'forces'. We found that beta activity decreased significantly only for imagined grips at the two stronger force levels. Additionally, gamma power significantly scaled with increasing imagined force. Thus, in combination, these two spectral features can provide information about the intended force of an imaginary grip even in the absence of sensory feedback. Modulations in the two frequency bands during imaginary movement may explain the rehabilitating benefit of motor imagery to improve motor performance. The results also suggest that STN LFPs may provide useful information for brain-machine interfaces

Germination response of common annual and perennial forbs to heat shock and smoke treatments in the Chaco Serrano, central Argentina

Fire is a key ecological factor affecting plant dynamics. In the last few decades, fire occurrence in the Chaco region has increased noticeably, challenging the adaptive capacity of plants to regenerate after a fire. Broad-leaved forb species have been much less studied than woody and graminoids, although they are an important component of fire dynamics. Here we analysed the germination response to heat shock of 70 and 110°C, smoke and their combination in 10 broad-leaved herbaceous species frequently occurring in the Chaco Serrano of Córdoba province, central Argentina, including five annual (Bidens subalternans, Conyza bonariensis, Schkuhria pinnata, Tagetes minuta and Zinnia peruviana) and five perennial species (Borreria eryngioides, Sida rhombifolia, Solidago chilensis, Taraxacum officinale and Verbena litoralis). We also compared the response of annual versus perennial species. Six species had highest germination when treated with heat and smoke combined, whereas two had lowest germination under this treatment, indicating synergistic and antagonistic interaction of these factors respectively. Most of the species tolerated heat shock (i.e. germination was similar to that in control treatment), whereas others had higher germination in response to heat shock, especially under the moderate 70°C treatment. Germination was higher than control (i.e. no heat and no smoke) after smoke treatment in four species. Perennial species showed higher average germination than annuals in both heat treatments and in the control. Annual species had higher average germination for all treatments involving smoke. The high variability observed at the species level, and the limited number of species studied calls for precaution in interpreting and extrapolating results. Nevertheless, our study shows a general positive response of both perennial and annual species to fire cues, suggesting an advantage of these species for colonizing post-fire environments, and being favoured under scenarios of increasingly frequent low-to-medium intensity fires.Fil: Arcamone, Julieta Rocío. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Departamento de Diversidad Biológica y Ecológica. Cátedra de Ecología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Jaureguiberry, Pedro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin