Facilitating Distinctive and Meaningful Change Within U.S. Law Schools (Part 2): Pursuing Successful Plan Implementation Through Better Resource Management

In Part 1 of this series, one of the current authors used institutional theory, behavioral economics, and psychology to explain why U.S. law schools have had difficulty evolving faster and better. The author then used institutional entrepreneurship to propose a seven-step, faculty-led, operational change process designed to overcome institutional isomorphism and to enable each law school to formulate a distinctive, meaningful, strategic plan. In Part 2, the current article addresses the typical implementation challenges to be expected within the context of existing law school governance. The article begins by discussing the Resource Based View of the firm and the role of resource management in achieving competitive advantages. These considerations lay the foundation for the critical role of faculty engagement and law school leadership in successful strategic plan implementation. Next, within this context, the article discusses four questions whose answers may foreshadow implementation problems. Lastly, the article discusses the results of several Monte Carlo Simulations. The simulations provide insight into the likely performance problems caused by faculty misaligned with, or disengaged from, their law school’s strategic goals. The results suggest that even minimal faculty misalignment can have a significant deleterious effect on the ability of a given law school to achieve any distinctive position. All told, the article concludes that U.S. law schools can successfully implement distinctive and meaningful strategic plans within existing shared governance structures. However, success will be difficult to achieve. It requires the full engagement and leadership by both the faculty and the Dean, sustained operational support for strategic change, and the active management of law school resources

Evidence for the intense exchange of MazG in marine cyanophages by horizontal gene transfer

Background: S-PM2 is a phage capable of infecting strains of unicellular cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Synechococcus. S-PM2, like other myoviruses infecting marine cyanobacteria, encodes a number of bacterial-like genes. Amongst these genes is one encoding a MazG homologue that is hypothesized to be involved in the adaption of the infected host for production of progeny phage. Methodology/Principal Findings: This study focuses on establishing the occurrence of mazG homologues in other cyanophages isolated from different oceanic locations. Degenerate PCR primers were designed using the mazG gene of S-PM2. The mazG gene was found to be widely distributed and highly conserved among Synechococcus myoviruses and podoviruses from diverse oceanic provinces. Conclusions/Significance: This study provides evidence of a globally connected cyanophage gene pool, the cyanophage mazG gene having a small effective population size indicative of rapid lateral gene transfer despite being present in a substantial fraction of cyanophage. The Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus phage mazG genes do not cluster with the host mazG gene, suggesting that their primary hosts are not the source of the mazG gene

FGFR2 amplification in colorectal adenocarcinoma

FGFR2 is recurrently amplified in 5% of gastric cancers and 1%–4% of breast cancers; however, this molecular alteration has never been reported in a primary colorectal cancer specimen. Preclinical studies indicate that several FGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as AZD4547, have in vitro activity against the FGFR2-amplified colorectal cell line, NCI-H716. The efficacy of these inhibitors is currently under investigation in clinical trials for breast and gastric cancer. Thus, better characterizing colorectal tumors for FGFR2 amplification could identify a subset of patients who may benefit from FGFR TKI therapies. Here, we describe a novel FGFR2 amplification identified by clinical next-generation sequencing in a primary colorectal cancer. Further characterization of the tumor by immunohistochemistry showed neuroendocrine differentiation, similar to the reported properties of the NCI-H716 cell line. These findings demonstrate that the spectrum of potentially clinically actionable mutations detected by targeted clinical sequencing panels is not limited to only single-nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions but also to copy-number alterations.</jats:p

The automatic recognition and counting of cough

BACKGROUND: Cough recordings have been undertaken for many years but the analysis of cough frequency and the temporal relation to trigger factors have proven problematic. Because cough is episodic, data collection over many hours is required, along with real-time aural analysis which is equally time-consuming. A method has been developed for the automatic recognition and counting of coughs in sound recordings. METHODS: The Hull Automatic Cough Counter (HACC) is a program developed for the analysis of digital audio recordings. HACC uses digital signal processing (DSP) to calculate characteristic spectral coefficients of sound events, which are then classified into cough and non-cough events by the use of a probabilistic neural network (PNN). Parameters such as the total number of coughs and cough frequency as a function of time can be calculated from the results of the audio processing. Thirty three smoking subjects, 20 male and 13 female aged between 20 and 54 with a chronic troublesome cough were studied in the hour after rising using audio recordings. RESULTS: Using the graphical user interface (GUI), counting the number of coughs identified by HACC in an hour long recording, took an average of 1 minute 35 seconds, a 97.5% reduction in counting time. HACC achieved a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 96%. Reproducibility of repeated HACC analysis is 100%. CONCLUSION: An automated system for the analysis of sound files containing coughs and other non-cough events has been developed, with a high robustness and good degree of accuracy towards the number of actual coughs in the audio recording

Certainty ranges facilitated explicit and transparent judgments regarding evidence credibility

Objectives: The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to rating certainty of evidence includes five domains of reasons for rating down certainty. Only one of these, precision, is easily amenable through the confidence interval to quantitation. The other four (risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, and publication bias) are not. Nevertheless, conceptually, one could consider a quantified "certainty range" within which the true effect lies. The certainty range would be at least as wide as the confidence interval and would expand with each additional reason for uncertainty. Study Design and Setting: We have applied this concept to rating the certainty of evidence in the baseline risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and bleeding in patients undergoing urological surgery. We considered rating up moderate or low quality evidence when the net benefit of VTE prophylaxis was unequivocally positive, that is, when the smallest plausible value of VTE reduction was greater than the largest plausible value of increased bleeding. To establish whether the net benefit was unequivocally positive, we expanded the range of plausible values by 20% for each of the four nonquantitative domains in which there were serious limitations. Results: We present how we applied these methods to examples of open radical cystectomy and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. In high-VTE risk laparoscopic partial nephrectomy patients and high-and medium-VTE risk open radical cystectomy patients, results proved robust to expanded certainty intervals, justifying rating up quality of evidence. In low -risk patients, the results were not robust, and rating up was therefore not appropriate. Conclusion: This work represents the first empirical application in a decision -making context of the previously suggested concept of certainty ranges and should stimulate further exploration of the associated theoretical and practical issues. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Communicating new knowledge on previously reported genetic variants

Genetic tests often identify variants whose significance cannot be determined at the time they are reported. In many situations, it is critical that clinicians be informed when new information emerges on these variants. It is already extremely challenging for laboratories to provide these updates. These challenges will grow rapidly as an increasing number of clinical genetic tests are ordered and as the amount of patient DNA assayed per test expands; the challenges will need to be addressed before whole-genome sequencing is used on a widespread basis. Information technology infrastructure can be useful in this context. We have deployed an infrastructure enabling clinicians to receive knowledge updates when a laboratory changes the classification of a variant. We have gathered statistics from this deployment regarding the frequency of both variant classification changes and the effects of these classification changes on patients. We report on the system's functionality as well as the statistics derived from its use. Genet Med 2012:14(8):713–71

Longitudinal Relations Between Parental Writing Support and Preschoolers' Language and Literacy Skills

Parental writing support was examined over time and in relation to children's language and literacy skills. Seventy‐seven parents and their preschoolers were videotaped writing an invitation together twice during one year. Parental writing support was coded at the level of the letter to document parents' graphophonemic support (letter–sound correspondence), print support (letter formation), and demand for precision (expectation for correcting writing errors). Parents primarily relied on only a couple print (i.e., parent writing the letter alone) and graphophonemic (i.e., saying the word as a whole, dictating letters as children write) strategies. Graphophonemic and print support in preschool predicted children's decoding skills, and graphophonemic support also predicted children's future phonological awareness. Neither type of support predicted children's vocabulary scores. Demand for precision occurred infrequently and was unrelated to children's outcomes. Findings demonstrate the importance of parental writing support for augmenting children's literacy skills. 本研究以一段长时间考查家长书写支援与儿童的语言和读写技能之关系。七十七名家长与其学前儿童在一年期间两次共同书写一份邀请书;所有书写过程均被录像。家长书写支援的编码,分三个层面进行:在字母层面上家长给予的字形音素支援(字母与发音的相关性),在书写层面上的支援 (字母的构成)和在精确层面上的要求(纠正书写错误的期待)。家长主要依靠几个支援策略:字母书写策略(家长只写出字母)和字形音素策略(即读出整个单字,然后口授字母,让儿童书写其单字)。家长给予学前儿童的字形音素和书写支援能预测儿童的解码技能;字形音素支援也能预测儿童未来的语音意识。这两种支援却不能预测儿童的词汇成绩。精确度的要求很少出现,与儿童的学习成果并无关联。研究结果说明家长书写支援对增强儿童读写能力的重要性。 Se examinó el apoyo de los padres a la escritura a través del tiempo y en relación a las habilidades de lenguaje y alfabetización de los niños. Setenta y siete padres y sus hijos preescolares fueron captados en video escribiendo una invitación juntos en dos ocasiones durante el año. El apoyo de los padres fue codificado al nivel de la letra para documentar el apoyo grafofonémico de los padres (la correspondencia entre la letra y su sonido), el apoyo letral (la formación de la letra), y la exigencia por la precisión (las expectativas en cuanto a la corrección de errores de escritura). Los padres dependían principalmente en sólo un par de estrategias de letra (por ejemplo: el padre escribiendo la letra solamente) y grafofonémicas (por ejemplo, diciendo la palabra completa, dictando letras mientras los niños escribían). El apoyo grafofonémico y letral en los preescolares predecía la habilidad de los niños de descifrar, y el apoyo grafofonémico también predecía la futura conciencia fonológica de los niños. Ninguna de las dos clases de apoyo pudo predecir la nota de los niños en cuanto a vocabulario. La exigencia por la precisión fue infrecuente y no mostró relación con el resultado de los niños. Los resultados demuestran la importancia del apoyo de los padres en la escritura para incrementar las habilidades alfabetizadoras de los niños. لقد تم فحص دعم الكتابة من قبل الوالدين عبر فترة من الزمن وعلاقته بلغة الأولاد ومهاراتهم في معرفة القراءة والكتابة. وقد تم تصوير فيديوهات لسبع وسبعين والداً ووالدةً وأولادهم ما قبل المدرسة وهم يكتبون دعوة معاً مرتين في سنة. وتم ترميز دعم كتابة الوالدين على مستوى الرسالة لتدوين دعم الخط الصوتي (علاقة الحرف بالصوت)، ودعم الخط (تركيب الحروف)، والطلب على الإتقان (توقع تصحيح أخطاء الكتابة). واعتمد الوالدان على إستراتيجيات معدودة للكتابة (أي يكتب الوالد بنفسه) وللخط الصوتي (أي ينطق الكلمة كوحدة واحدة ويملى الحروف والأولاد يكتبونها). وتنبأ دعم الخط الصوتي والكتابة مهارات الأطفال ما قبل المدرسة في تفكيك الخط وكذلك تنبأ دعم الخط الصوتي الوعي الصوتي المستقبلي لدى الأطفال. ومع ذلك، فلم يتنبؤ لا دعم الكتابة ولا الخط الصوتي علامات امتحانات مفردات الأطفال. ونادراً ما حدث الطلب على الإتقان ولم تتم علاقة بينه وبين نتائج الأولاد. وتبين النتائج أهمية دعم الوالدين للكتابة لتعزيز مهارات الأطفال في معرفة القراءة والكتابة. Пoмoщь poдитeлeй пpи cтaнoвлeнии нaчaльныx нaвыкoв пиcьмa y дeтeй в дaльнeйшeм, кaк выяcняeтcя, влияeт нa языкoвыe нaвыки и гpaмoтнocть дeтeй – этим cвязям и пocвящeнo дaннoe иccлeдoвaниe. Ceмьдecят ceмь poдитeлeй и иx дeти дoшкoльнoгo вoзpacтa, вмecтe пиcaвшиe oткpыткy‐пpиглaшeниe, двaжды в тeчeниe гoдa были cняты нa видeo. Пoмoщь poдитeлeй былa зaдoкyмeнтиpoвaнa пo cлeдyющим пapaмeтpaм: гpaфoфoнeмикa (cooтнoшeниe звyк‐бyквa), гpaфo‐мoтopикa (нaпиcaниe бyкв) и тpeбoвaниe тoчнocти (oжидaниe иcпpaвлeния oшибoк). Poдитeли, в ocнoвнoм, пpимeняли двe cтpaтeгии: гpaфичecкyю (пиcaли бyквy caмocтoятeльнo) и гpaфo‐фoнeмaтичecкyю (пpoизнocили cлoвo цeликoм, зaтeм диктoвaли eгo пo бyквaм, a дeти пиcaли). Гpaфoфoнeмикa и пoмoщь в нaпиcaнии бyкв пpeдoпpeдeляют нaвыки дeтeй дoшкoльнoгo вoзpacтa в дeкoдиpoвaнии peчи, a гpaфoфoнeмикa являeтcя eщe и пpeдиктopoм пocлeдyющeгo фoнoлoгичecкoгo paзвития peбeнкa. Hи oдин из пpaктикyeмыx типoв пoмoщи нe вызвaл pacшиpeния cлoвapнoгo зaпaca дeтeй. Tpeбoвaниe иcпpaвить oшибки вcтpeчaлocь нeчacтo и нe пoвлиялo впocлeдcтвии нa yлyчшeниe кaчecтвa дeтcкoгo пиcьмa. Peзyльтaты дeмoнcтpиpyют вaжнocть poдитeльcкoй пoддepжки пpи cтaнoвлeнии нaвыкoв пиcьмa для coвepшeнcтвoвaния нaвыкoв oпepиpoвaния cлoвoм в цeлoм. Nous avons examiné dans la durée et en relation avec les compétences des enfants en matière de langage et de littératie l'aide qu'apportent les parents à l'écriture des enfants. Nous avons enregistré en vidéo à deux reprises au cours d'une année soixante‐dix sept parents et leurs enfants d'âge préscolaire en train d'écrire ensemble une invitation. L'aide apportée par les parents a été codée au niveau de la lettre afin de distinguer l'aide grapho‐phonétique (correspondances lettres‐son), l'aide au graphisme (formation des lettres), et le degré de précision de leurs exigences (attentes relatives à la correction des erreurs d'écriture). Les parents s'intéressent d'abord seulement au graphisme (par exemple, des parents écrivent eux‐mêmes les lettres) et aux stratégies grapho‐phonétiques (par exemple, ils disent le mot entier ou dictent des lettres pendant que l'enfant écrit). L'aide grapho‐phonétique et au graphisme apportée au niveau préscolaire permet de prédire les compétences en décodage des enfants, et l'aide grapho‐phonétique permet aussi de prédire la conscience phonologique ultérieure. Aucun de ces types d'aide n'est prédictif des résultats en vocabulaire. Les exigences en matière de précision ne sont pas fréquentes et ne sont pas liées aux résultats des enfants. Ces résultats mettent en évidence l'importance qu'a l'aide des parents pour l'amélioration des compétences des enfants en littératie.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102675/1/rrq55.pd

CRISPR RNA-guided activation of endogenous human genes

Catalytically inactive CRISPR-associated 9 nuclease (dCas9) can be directed by short guide RNAs (gRNAs) to repress endogenous genes in bacteria and human cells. Here we show that a dCas9-VP64 transcriptional activation domain fusion protein can be directed by single or multiple gRNAs to increase expression of specific endogenous human genes. These results provide an important proof-of-principle that CRISPR-Cas systems can be used to target heterologous effector domains in human cells

Visitor Attitudes Toward Little Penguins (Eudyptula minor) at Two Australian Zoos

This study identified and compared the attitudes of visitors toward zoo-housed little penguins, their enclosure and visitor experience that may influence the way visitors behave toward little penguins at two Australian zoos. Visitor attitudes were assessed using an anonymous questionnaire, targeting visitor beliefs, and experiences, where visitors were randomly approached at the penguin exhibit after they had finished viewing the penguins. Visitors were given two options to complete the questionnaire, on an iPad during their zoo visit or online (URL sent via email) after their zoo visit. A total of 638 participants (495 at Melbourne Zoo and 143 at Taronga Zoo) completed the questionnaire, 42% were completed onsite during their zoo visit and 58% were completed online after their zoo visit. Most participants were living in Australia, non-zoo members, female, previously or currently owned a pet, aged between 26 and 35 years and had a University degree. Results showed that the attitude dimensions of visitors were consistent between the two zoos which indicates that these measures of attitudes were stable over time and location. Overall, visitors at both zoos had positive attitudes toward little penguins, penguin welfare, the enclosure, and visitor experience. However, whether these positive attitudes and positive visitor experience influenced the way visitors behaved toward the penguins remains unclear. There were some differences in visitor attitudes toward the perceived "aggressiveness" and "timidness" of little penguins, "negative penguin welfare", "experience with the penguins", "learning", "visual barriers" and the way visitors rated their overall experience at the penguin enclosure. While the reasons for the differences in visitor attitudes and visitor experience between the zoos were not clear, some factors such as penguin behavior and enclosure design, may have been attributable to these differences. Also, a relationship was found between visitor attitudes and how visitors rated the welfare of penguins, the enclosure and visitor experience at the enclosure; more positive visitor attitudes were associated with higher ratings of penguin welfare, the enclosure and visitor experience. The practical implications of these results for zoos is unclear because the differences in visitor attitudes were numerically small. This requires further comparisons between zoos or enclosures that are more markedly different than the penguin enclosures in the present study and further research on how visitors assess zoo animals, enclosures and visitor experience