Dysglycaemia and South Asian ethnicity: a proteomic discovery and confirmation analysis highlights differences in ZAG

Aims To (1) explore and verify differences in the plasma proteome of white European (WE) and South Asian (SA) adults with normal glycaemic control (NGC) or non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (NDH) and to (2) validate these findings using a separate WE and SA cohort at a high risk of NDH. Methods Mass spectrometry analysis was performed on fasted samples from 72 WE or SA men with NGC or NDH. These results were verified using specific biochemical assays and validated by repeating the analysis in an additional cohort of 30 WE and 30 SA adults. Proteomic results were analysed using independent samples t test and univariate analysis. The targeted assay results were analysed using generalised linear models with adjustment for appropriate covariates including age, BMI, fasting plasma glucose, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides and sex. Results Only zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein (ZAG) significantly differed between both ethnicities and glycaemic control groups. ZAG-specific biochemical assays verified the lower circulating ZAG in SAs (41.09 versus 37.07 (mg L−1); p = 0.014), but not the difference between NGC and NDH groups (p = 0.539). Validation of the ethnicity difference in a separate cohort confirmed that, after adjustment for covariates, ZAG was lower in SAs (p = 0.018). There was no association between ZAG and glycaemic control in the validation cohort. Conclusions Our analyses identified that ZAG is lower in SAs compared to WEs, but its difference between glycaemic control statuses was uncertain. Further research is needed to establish whether lower ZAG in SAs is associated with, or prognostic of, health outcomes, particularly regarding the risk of dysglycaemia

Exploring deliberate practice in medicine: how do physicians learn in the workplace?

Medical professionals need to keep on learning as part of their everyday work to deliver high-quality health care. Although the importance of physicians’ learning is widely recognized, few studies have investigated how they learn in the workplace. Based on insights from deliberate practice research, this study examined the activities physicians engage in during their work that might further their professional development. As deliberate practice requires a focused effort to improve performance, the study also examined the goals underlying this behaviour. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 internal medicine physicians: 19 residents, 18 internists working at a university hospital, and 13 working at a non-university hospital. The results showed that learning in medical practice was very much embedded in clinical work. Most relevant learning activities were directly related to patient care rather than motivated by competence improvement goals. Advice and feedback were sought when necessary to provide this care. Performance standards were tied to patients’ conditions. The patients encountered and the discussions with colleagues about patients were valued most for professional development, while teaching and updating activities were also valued in this respect. In conclusion, physicians’ learning is largely guided by practical experience rather than deliberately sought. When professionals interact in diagnosing and treating patients to achieve high-quality care, their experiences contribute to expertise development. However, much could be gained from managing learning opportunities more explicitly. We offer suggestions for increasing the focus on learning in medical practice and further research

Australia\u27s health 2002 : the eighth biennial report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australia\u27s Health 2002 is the eighth biennial health report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. It is the nation\u27s authoritative source of information on patterns of health and illness, determinants of health, the supply and use of health services, and health service costs and performance. Australia\u27s Health 2002 is an essential reference and information resource for all Australians with an interest in health

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Does trust play a role when it comes to donations? A comparison of Italian and US higher education institutions

Higher education institutions (HEIs) have experienced severe cutbacks in funding over the past few years, with universities examining options for alternative funding streams, such as alumni funding. Identifying the factors influencing their alumni's intentions to invest in their alma mater can be of significant importance when establishing a sustainable revenue stream. Within this context, empirical research on the potential role of trust is scarce. This paper aims to deepen the analysis of the relationship between alumni trust and engagement as well as three outcomes, namely support, commitment, and attitude toward donation. A structural equation model was tested on two samples of US (  = 318) and Italian (  = 314) alumni. Although both countries are affluent and developed countries, the USA has an established tradition of alumni donations, which is not such a developed practice in Italy. For both countries, results confirm that engagement is an antecedent of trust, which in turn leads to the three investigated outcomes (support, commitment, and attitude toward donations). In contrast, the effect of commitment on attitude toward donations is significant only for the USA universities. The paper has interesting theoretical and managerial implications. From a theoretical point of view, the study aims to address a gap concerning the role of trust in the HE context. Managerially, the study has significant implications for universities that want to change alumni attitude toward donations. [Abstract copyright: © Springer Nature B.V. 2020.

Interview with Helen Youngblood and Lora McKinley, 1987

THE INSTITUTE OF TEXAN CULTURES ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM INTERVIEW WITH: Helen Youngblood and Lora MCKinley DATE: 15 May 1987 PLACE: pearsall, Texas INTERVIEWERS: Janie and Walter Sargeant Vera Barnhardt JS: Helen, have you lived in this area all your life? Y: I was born here, here in Pearsall. JS: Do you mind saying when? Y: April 26, 1897. JS: You'll be 90 years old this year then. Y: I had a real birthday not long ago. JS: Have your folks lived here? ~~ - Y: Yes, my daddy moved to Pearsall from San Migue l just about a year before I was born. JS: And what was he in, ranching? Y: No, he was a carpenter and well-driller. JS: Did you live out of town? Y: We lived here in town; the house is still there. JS: Right in Pearsall. And that's where you went to school, of course. Y: Uh huh. I started here and finished here; 1915, I finished. JS: How many children were in you family? Y: Nine. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 2 JS: Your brothers and sisters. Y: There were ten of them but they just raised eight. My daddy did. My mother died when I was seven. JS: You had to help with the other chilren? Y: left four little girls and my oldest (sister) raised us: Mrs. Bennett. JS: How old were you when you started to school? Y: I was past seven. JS: That's about the age that they started? Y: ... they used to. WS: Didn't have any what they call kindergarten then, did you? Y: No . WS: Did you go through 11 years of school or 12? Y: There weren't but ten when I JS: When you finished up. About how many were in the school at that time? Y: I don't know. There were 8 in our graduation class, when we graduated in 1915. I don't remember how many children were in school. JS: It wasn't a one-room school? Y: Oh no. It was a big building and had all ten grades in it. All went to the same school. JS: That is kind of unusual back in those days, wasn't it? You hear so much of one-room schools. M: Was that the school that was over where the garage is? Y: Yeah, that old school, where the garage thing is. Had YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 3 Y: a big cistern at the back of it. We all drank out of a dipper. JS: Did you have a lot of colds in the winter time? Did diseases go around? Y: No, there weren't diseases then like there are now. Each room had a stove in it to keep it warm. WS: How many rooms were there did you have some grades together or were they all separate grades? Y: Every grade was separate, I think. Unless there was a first and second together. I don't remember that. That school was two-story and it had lots of rooms. JS: What was the school day then? What hours did you go? Do you remember? Y: 9 to 4. JS: That's a long school day isn't it? Can you think of any thing particularly in your school years that you'd like to tell about? Anything that stands out in your memory? Y: No. WS: Were you an honor student? Y: NO. (laughter) I was just an average •.• I was good in math is all. JS: You didn't know what was going on, you had your head in the What was the social life for young people? Y: Well, they used to have theaters in Pearsall. We used to go to those. And the picture shows. Picture show up on YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 4 Y: top of a building downtown; on top of what is A and C Hardware Store now. JS: What's the difference between a picture show and a theater? Was the theater live actors? Y: No. I don't know what the difference is. JS: I've heard .•• did they have opera companies come in? Y: Yes, we had operas at times. Chautauqua. WS: We stopped in Waxahachie where they have a Chautauqua something; it originated there I believe. I may be wrong. Y: I remember something about 'em. School, we had the theater and Chautauqua, and things like that, upstairs of that new school. The school, you know where it was? M: Yeah, I went to school there. Y: I moved over there when I was in the 6th grade. M: Didn't they have an opera house up over the Nath Arnold store? (same as A & C Hardware in 1987) Y: Well, that was the picture show. I think we had the opera house there at one time. And then when we built the Annex - you know we built it for a place to have •.. M: When the Chautauquas come to town, they usually brought a tent. JS: They were mostly in tents, \qeren't they? Let's see, I guess the two of you were the ones that had the relation that helped start what is now the Travis Methodist Church. Y: My grandfather. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 5 M: Her grandfather and my great grandfather. Y: Circuit rider they called him. And I think it was 400 miles, his full tour, whenever he made it. He built the Oak Island Church ... you know where that is •.. it's about 15 miles kind of east of San Antonio. We have two celebrations every year there. The 30th of May and the 11th of November or the closest Sunday to it. All the relatives meet there. My daddy built the church. My daddy built the pews. And they're still in there. WS: Oak Island, did you say? Y: Oak Island. WS: Where is it, toward Seguin? Y: NO, it's closer to Poteet, isn't it? Toward Poteet. It's down that way. M: 16 miles out of San Antonio. M: Grandpa helped start Westmoreland School; it's Trinity now. And the school in Georgetown ••. what's the name of it? Y: Southwestern . M: Southwestern. I think he had some kind of a rock quarry. JS: Was he originally from Pearsall? M: Where did they come from? Oak Island is where they lived but I don't know where he came •.. Y: They came from Ohio didn't they? M: Ohio. JS: Now you said his circuit was 400 miles. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 6 M: He rode a horse, rain or shine. That's one thing that killed him was his church to church. He'd get wet and just keep a-goin'. WS: Did he stay a week or two or just a M: I don't know how long it took him. WS: I wonder if he'd go like Pearsall for a week and then go somewhere else. M: No. He'd preach one day and go on. Keep a-goin' around I think. Grandma had to raise all the children. JS: I was going to ask you if she went with him. M: No. No. She stayed home with eight kids. JS: Can you remember any stories that he told? M: Grandpa. I never heard him, he died long before I was born. I knew Grandma. I was ten when she died. They used to plant tomatoes. That's one thing that gets me. When Aunt Priscilla would tell about it, plant in' tomatoes for the beauty of them. Like we do flowers. They didn't know to eat them. JS: Didn't eat them. M: Uh uh. JS: I wonder if they had the problems raising them like we have now. M: I don't know. But I've heard her tell about them. That they finally learned to eat tomatoes. WS: I read somewhere that initially tomatoes were thought to be poison. M: I imagine they did ••• They are pretty, if you look at YOUNGBLOOD I MCKINLEY 7 N: 'em. I have two growing in pots now. They make a real pretty vine. JS: What about Pearsall that has changed so much? Has much been changed? M: Oh, yes. There were just three houses between our house and town, when we first ... I guess when I was big enough to go to town. There was just one meat market. WS: How far out of town were you then? At that time.? M: I guess about a half a mile. We had to walk down there. Nobody had cars except .•• first car I ever rode in, I was ten years old. I went to spend the day, my sister and I, went to spend the day with Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. They were our cousins and that's when they were building the Beaver home out there then. JS: Quite an experience, wasn't it? M: Yes, it was. And we were expecting a big dinner; we were riding in a car, went 10 miles an hour; didn't even have a top on it. We were expecting a big lunch and had sweet potatoes and roast. And we were so disappointed we didn't know what to do. I don't know what we thought they was going to have. JS: That would sound pretty good nowadays. WS: Did you have a flat tire on the way? M: No. WS: I remember the first car my father got, we had ... if we tried to go over ten miles, we had ••. Y: That's true. At home, my daddy had a lot at the end of , YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 8 Y: where we lived and he told my sister, Bess, and I, said, "If you-all sell that lot, I'll buy you a car. Sell it for $500, I'll buy you a car .•. " the rest of the money he would donate. Well, it didn't take us but a week to sell it. We sold it to Mr. and Mrs. Orin Smith. So he bought us the car and I want to tell you, the tires were no count; we had a flat every time we turned around. They were about paper thin. JS: What kind of car was it? Y: Ford. Tires about that big around. And had to crank it. WS: Did you crank it? Y: Sure. We all cranked it. JS: Sometimes it would take all of you, too, wouldn't it? Y: Seems like they weren't hard to crank then. They were built so thin anyway. It had some curtains slide •.• cloth curtains. But the one that I first rode in, it didn't have any top even. It had four seats in it. You just sit up there. JS: Where did you buy it from? Was there someone in town that sold them? Y: I think it was the Ford Company. I don't reemember. My dad had to put$250 more with it, it cost $750. JS: He must have built a lot of houses in town. M: He built lots of 'em. Churches, too. He built the Christian Church. He didn't help on the Methodist Church because he didn't like the cement blocks they were building YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 9 M: it out of. And sure enough, it didn't last. He said he knew they weren't any account. My daddy would never contract anything. He worked by the day. He thought it was wrong to contract anything. A very religious man. JS: What religion was he? M: Methodist. JS: Did you have a Methodist church here then? M: Yes. The first church I joined, the first church we had, when I was seven years old. JS: Was it the first Methodist Church they had here? M: Uh huh. Just a little bitty one-room outfit. Have a picture of it. ?: Where was it? M: Well, where was it? About along there, it wasn't where this ?: Not where this church is; more where the Annex is ? M: Seems like it's on another block. But it burned down and then they built one on this block where we have it now. We've had about four or five different churches. The one before this one was built in 1907. JS: Was your grandfather pastor of that church? M: Un uh. He started, I guess, in Oak Island, didn't he? Where did he start, grandpa, where did he start? Y: He was a circuit rider and he was preaching allover the country. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 10 M: I know, but where was the family living •.. San Miguel ? Y: I imagine they started at Oak Island. JS: HOW many members did you have in that little Methodist church? M: HOW many members then? I don't know. There weren't too many. JS: Couldn't have been with just one room. M: No, there weren't too many. WS: What did you have,you have a Catholic church and a •. ? M: Yeah. We have a Catholic church. WS: Did you back then, too? M: Well, I don't know whether they did or not. Catholics were all across the railroad in those days. There wasn't any .•• well, the Catholic church is still across the railroad, in the Mexican town ••. WS: How about other churches? What other churches did you have? M: Well, we had the Episcopalean, now they don't have Episcopalean, and they have the presbyterian; presbyterian is the oldest church now. And the Methodists and Baptists. Y: Church of Christ. M: I don't ••• Y: Well, they used to have a Campbellite church. I know it was pretty close to the school there. Just a big room. ?: That's the Christian church. They called it Campbellite then. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 11 Y: My daddy built the Christian church that's here now. JS: You said your grandfather helped to start the Trinity Methodist Church or the Trinity Baptist? Y: NO, the Westermoreland College. VB: westmoreland College. Y: I don't think it was westmoreland then, I think it was something else. It was the San Antonio Female College. Then they changed it to Westmoreland and now it's Trinity University. JS: I didn't realize that. Was he a teacher there, too? Y: My grandpa? NO, I don't think he was a teacher; he didn't have time. (refers back to church) And the members at first, they were Mexicans, negroes and white people. Had a bell; hung it up in a tree. Bought a lot. Something happened in the lot. Y: It didn't have a proper deed. I think he bought three lots and lost 'em. M: Lost two of 'em I know; I don't know about the third one. JS: Before they could get a church established? M: That's around where LaVillita is. WS: I was wondering about the fire companies. A lady this morning said something about •.• initially they had the old hand pump. DO you remember those at all? M: Fire trucks? I don't remember. Didn't have much of a fire truck at first. If you caught on fire, you better try YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 12 M: and get it out yourself. JS: After you left home, you married a man who lived here? He was native of this area? Y: Uh huh. He was born in San Miguel. JS: What sort of work was he in? Y: My husband? He was ••. his daddy died when he was 13 years old and he had to stop and go to work to make a living for his mother. They moved to Laredo first and he delivered telegrams on a bicycle for several years. Then Mr. E.A. Lilly, merchant here in town, had bought a store out from Mr. Cowley and he gave Earnest a job; 17 years old. And Earnest worked as manager of that job until they closed it out, when Mr. Lilly died. And I kept books. And that's where we did our courtship. Y: Then he was '" went into the bee business. M: Yeah. JS: What hours did you work? Y: From nine to nine. Nine until six. And I mean Saturday you worked 'til late. WS: I was going to ask you what was the big night. Saturday night was, wasn't it? Y: Oh, it was a big night. Yes. You had to get ready for it. You had to get ready all week. And now you go downtown on Saturday and very few are there. JS: probably had their big sales then. Y: Well, they didn't have too many sales in those days. I tell you, the stores gave credit; they ran people for years YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 13 Y: so many of them. Mr. Lilly ... people . The store had everything in it. Everything you could think of. MY: General merchandise. Y: General merchandise. Sold everything. Even bought cotton. Some days he'd buy a hundred bales of cotton. Quite a bit of bookkeeping. JS: I bet it was. What did he do with the cotton? Sell it to ... ? Y: Ship it to different companies. There were a lot of people in the cotton business here. JS: He just did that as a side business from his mercantile ? Y: Well, it all went in together some way or other. He was treasurer of the Methodist church for a long time. That went in, too. JS: You had to keep track of that, too? Y: Uh huh. JS: You did have a lot to do. Y: I was treasurer for a while, not too long, just from the time he died until we had a conference. WS: HOW about credit back in those days? Did a lot of people have •.. ? Y: Oh, they did lots of credit. Yeah, they run 'em you see and then when the cotton came in and was sold, then they'd pay their accounts off. If they had any money left, they got it; if they didn't, carried it 'til next year. Kep' 'em on another year. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY JS: Isn't that something. Cotton was a big thing then. The crop that grew around here. Y: Yes. Big thing. And they had quite a few watermelons. JS: How about ranching: cattle? Y: Well, they had cattle, too. I never was associated with the cattle business much. 14 JS: That's sort of different. Were there other stores in town? Y: Oh, yes. Sanders was right across the street from us. Then the Mercantile over on this side, that is about a block from it. And then we had some other little stores around. M: Meat market. Y: Yes, one meat market. My daddy loved meat and lots of times we'd run downtown before breakfast and buy meat for breakfast. I was raised on meat and potatoes. WS: Did you raise your own potatoes? Y: Not much. WS: Bought them at the store. Y: Uh huh. Very few people had gardens in that day. WS: Is that right? Y: One thing, they didn't have the water. You see, you depended on the windmill. JS: This was before they had town wells. Y: Oh, yes. Cattle just run everywhere. The town well was drilled over there where they have some kind of a club now. What do they call that club where they dance? That's where the water well was drilled. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 15 VB: A pavilion? Y: No. Some kind of club; don't know what they call it. VB: Is that where the ice plant is? Y: Yeah. They used to make ice in big tubs like; I mean long places. You remember that, don't you? MY: Oh, yes. Every Sunday everybody went over there to get ice to make ice cream. Y: I can remember when you couldn't buy a bit of ice unless you were sick. JS: Is that right? It was so scarce? Y: It was so scarce. They didn't keep it except the meat market. And if you were sick, you might be able to get a piece of ice. Otherwise, you couldn't. JS: It must have been hard to keep things like milk. Y: Yes, it was. Then they had a man that delivered it every morning. You had an ice box, you know, and put it in the ice box. JS: And your butter ..• Y: Well, the butter was in ••• what do you call those things where they put cloth up here - bucket of water and cloth all around it and it come down and caught at the bottom and you kept the milk on the inside there on the shelves? ~ee drawin~ JS: It kept it cool. Y: Made good butter, too. WS: Somebody must have had a dairy farm around close by then. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY Y: Everybody had their own cow. WS: Your own cow, eh? JS: You mean in town? Y: You used to let 'em loose; let 'em run wild. JS: Would they come up when they wanted to milk them? U: Yes, they'd come up at night to get the feed. JS: That's true. 16 WS: We were talking to somebody over in Nederland and they'd say, "You'd better go down to the movie house to get the cows out of the lawn in front of it" and I guess some of them went right in, half way in to the movie house. Y: Most people around here that farmed had a fence around it. I know my brothers farmed, watermelons, and they had a fence around the place to keep the cows out. JS: They'd have to. Can you remember back - any disasters that came to Pearsall? Y: Oh, there's lots of 'em. The worst one, it always seemed to me, was the time the three boys got killed. They were out riding and three young boys, about 16 to 18, weren't they? Something like that. They all three got killed at one time. JS: It was an automobile accident? Y: Uh huh. JS: I was thinking like a tornado or something like that. Y: Once in a while, I remember a few people getting struck by lightning. But killed by tornadoes, Lora and them had a big tornado. She can tell you about that. I wasn't there. YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 17 Y: My husband died the day - two days after they had the tornado. WS: Who is she talking about? JS: Lora MCKinley. M: Well, it happened in about, I think was it '73? Yeah, 1973. And it was Palm Sunday in the afternoon. And it was cloudy, a little raining maybe. I don't remember just now. I was up at my house by myself. I lived four miles out in the country. And all of a sudden I heard this funny noise and although I live on the railroad track, and trucks coming by all the time, and airplanes landing ••• we have an airport right there by the house •.• And so I heard lots of noise but anyway, this was something different. And I ran out and looked, the weather was lookin' terrible. I had just talked to my grandson down there, so all of a sudden before I could say "scat," it hit the house. And it was so bad, I just ran and got into .•• I have a hall in the center of the house and a walk-in closet there •.• and I'd run in that closet, then I couldn't stand it and I'd run out and look. I couldn't see a thing. It was just solid dirt and debris and stuff. I guess it lasted five minutes but it seemed like it was hours. When finally it went over, I looked out and my grandson's house ••• I'd just talked to him on the phone ••. just laying down; it was those cement blocks. And he and his wife were in there; I knew it. Well, I tell, you, I was scared to death. There was a boat under my garage and the boat had flown YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 18 M: in through my dining room windows •• the two windows across the sofa in my dining room. but luckily, the rack that this boat was on had kept the garage up off of my car. And I ran out and jumped in my car and started to go down to see about my grandson and about that time, the preacher from our church came running up the road from down at my son's house and they had gone by going to Cotulla and everything was fine. And as they came back, they saw the telephone lines allover and this terrible devastation. It was about a half a mile wide and 16 miles long where it hit the ground. A Japanese man came along and he said, "I've seen lots of tornadoes and I've never seen one that wide and that long That stayed on the ground that long." And Murray , my grandson, was in a car and I was crying and he was crying. I said "Where is Diane?", his wife. He said, "She's all right; she's all right." I couldn't believe she was all right because that house was down. He said, "I got her in the bathroom under the lavatory and got over her. And every bit of that house fell except that one little bathroom in the center. And he looked back and this wall was comin' down and said, "I just moved my leg in time." That wall would have hit his leg and broken it. And so they came down and there were two fliers. They were out dusting. And if they had gone into the office, garage, they'd have been perfectly safe. But they thought they'd outrun the tornado. They got in their pick-up and ran down the field and got out and laid down in the ditch YOUNGBLOOD / MCKINLEY 19 M: and that hail came down 'til it looked like, they was just completely pocked, it looked just like they had chicken pox or something from the hail and one of 'em had 17 ribs broken in 17 places. And they were br

Methylation of GPLs in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium

Several species of mycobacteria express abundant glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) on the surfaces of their cells. The GPLs are glycolipids that contain modified sugars including acetylated 6-deoxy-talose and methylated rhamnose. Four methyltransferases have been implicated in the synthesis of the GPLs of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium avium. A rhamnosyl 3-O-methytransferase and a fatty acid methyltransferase of M. smegmatis have been previously characterized. In this paper, we characterize the methyltransferases that are responsible for modifying the hydroxyl groups at positions 2 and 4 of rhamnose and propose the biosynthetic sequence of GPL trimethylrhamnose formation. The analysis of M. avium genes through the creation of specific mutants is technically difficult; therefore, an alternative approach to determine the function of putative methyltransferases of M. avium was undertaken. Complementation of M. smegmatis methyltransferase mutants with M. avium genes revealed that MtfC and MtfB of the latter species have 4-O-methyltransferase activity and that MtfD is a 3-O-methyltransferase which can modify rhamnose of GPLs in M. smegmatis