Desmosomal Antigens Are Not Recognized by the Majority of Pemphigus Autoimmune Sera

Sera from 7 patient with pemphigus vulgaris and both mouse and rabbit antisera against bovine epidermal desmosomes contained antibodies that bound to cell surface components of the spinous layer of bovine epidermis. The antidesmosomal sera show significant binding to purified desmosomal proteins in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Two of 7 pemphigus sera bound to desmosomal protein-coated microtiter plates at low dilution titers. Two of 6 normal human sera also bound to desmosomal protein-coated microtiter plates at titers comparable to those of the pemphigus sera. Indirect immunofluorescent labeling of frozen sections of monkey esophagus revealed striking differences in the distribution of pemphigus antigens and desmosomal constituents. Pemphigus antisera produced rather uniform fluorescence around the borders of spinous cells of the esophageal epithelium, while anti-desmosomal antibodies bound in a punctate pattern. Anti-desmosomal antibodies labeled cells of the basal layer in a strongly punctate pattern. Only 1 pemphigus serum appreciably labeled basal cells. Two of 3 anti-desmosomal antisera bound avidly in the upper differentiating layers of the epithelium. Pemphigus antibodies did not. Pemphigus sera that reacted with desmosomal proteins in ELISA were absorbed by affinity chromatography on immobilized desmosomal proteins. This treatment did not alter the immunofluorescent labeling patterns produced by these sera. From these results we conclude that the pemphigus autoantibodies studied here bind to epithelial cell surface antigens which are distinguishable from the structural components of desmosomes

Diabetes Care Trends in the MA Patient Centered Medical Home Initiative (MA PCMHI) at Mid-Point

Background: The MA PCMHI is a multi-payer demonstration involving 45 primary care practices. Thirty-one (31) practices receive additional financial support; all receive technical assistance. Objectives: To assess data trends in diabetes quality measures from participating adult practices. Study Design: Quality improvement study utilizing practices’ self-reported data on clinical quality measures. Diabetes measures included blood pressure, LDL cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C control and depression screening. Methods: Monthly quality data from 38 practices reported June 2011 (baseline) through November 2012 were evaluated. Using a general linear mixed model Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), an overall comparison across time and pair-wise comparisons between times were made to identify periods with significant changes. The analysis also identified the effect of each practice’s performance on aggregate performance and practice performance in change over time for each measure, to determine high and low performers. Results: On aggregate, the change over time performance was statistically significant for two measures: hemoglobin A1C \u3e9% and depression screening. Some practices were either high or low performers on most measures. Some practices were high performers on some but low performers on other measures. Practices with and without financial support were equally represented in high and low performer categories. Conclusions: In the first 18 months of the MA PCMHI, participating practices have significantly improved diabetes care by reducing the percentage of patients with poorly controlled diabetes and by more consistently screening patients for depression. Certain sites are excelling – consistently or only in certain measures. Financial support does not appear to be a factor but practice payer mix, size and leadership engagement may be important factors. Analysis of the impact of these factors and a qualitative analysis of best practices implemented by high performing sites, are planned. Policy Impact: Findings will inform the technical assistance provided to practices undergoing transformation to PCMHs

Haploinsufficiency predictions without study bias

Any given human individual carries multiple genetic variants that disrupt protein-coding genes, through structural variation, as well as nucleotide variants and indels. Predicting the phenotypic consequences of a gene disruption remains a significant challenge. Current approaches employ information from a range of biological networks to predict which human genes are haploinsufficient (meaning two copies are required for normal function) or essential (meaning at least one copy is required for viability). Using recently available study gene sets, we show that these approaches are strongly biased towards providing accurate predictions for well-studied genes. By contrast, we derive a haploinsufficiency score from a combination of unbiased large-scale high-throughput datasets, including gene co-expression and genetic variation in over 6000 human exomes. Our approach provides a haploinsufficiency prediction for over twice as many genes currently unassociated with papers listed in Pubmed as three commonly-used approaches, and outperforms these approaches for predicting haploinsufficiency for less-studied genes. We also show that fine-tuning the predictor on a set of well-studied ‘gold standard’ haploinsufficient genes does not improve the prediction for less-studied genes. This new score can readily be used to prioritize gene disruptions resulting from any genetic variant, including copy number variants, indels and single-nucleotide variants

Continuity of Lithic Practice from the Eighteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries at the Nipmuc Homestead of Sarah Boston, Grafton, Massachusetts

Stone tools have been found at all Nipmuc-related house sites in central Massachusetts dating from the 17th through 20th centuries. This article explores in detail the lithic assemblage recovered from the kitchen midden of the late 18th and early 19th century Sarah Burnee/Sarah Boston farmstead in Grafton, Massachusetts. Quartz and quartzite lithics were found in similar concentrations as historic ceramics within the midden suggesting that these tools were in active use within the household. Ground-stone tools of ancient origin indicate curation and reuse of older materials, and knapped glass and re-worked gunflints suggest knowledge of flintknapping. This article argues that despite colonial rules forbidding traditional Native practices, this and other Nipmuc families continued to practice the production and use of lithics for at least 300 years after the arrival of Europeans

Recontinentalizing Canada : Arctic ice’s liquid modernity and the imagining of a Canadian archipelago

Studying mobile actor networks of moving people, objects, images, and discourses, in conjunction with changing time-spaces, offers a unique opportunity to understand important, and yet relatively neglected, “relational material” dynamics of mobility. A key example of this phenomenon is the recontinentalization of Canada amidst dramatically changing articulations of the meanings and boundaries of the Canadian landice- ocean mass. A notable reason why Canada is being re-articulated in current times is the extensiveness of Arctic thawing. The reconfiguration of space and “motility” options in the Arctic constitutes an example of how “materiality and sociality produce themselves together.” In this paper we examine the possibilities and risks connected to this recontinentalization of Canada’s North. In exploring the past, present, and immediate future of this setting, we advance the paradigmatic view that Canada’s changing Arctic is the key element in a process of transformation of Canada into a peninsular body encompassed within a larger archipelagic entity: a place more intimately attuned to its immense (and growing) coastal and insular routes.peer-reviewe

Precursor T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma with rare presentation in the urinary bladder

We present the 16th reported case of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) with involvement in the bladder. Our patient was a 22 year-old man with T-cell ALL with a mediastinal mass. He received hyperfractionated cyclophos-phamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, dexamethasone (HyperCVAD) with mediastinal radiation. Prior to starting maintenance, he relapsed in the bladder and marrow. He received a nelarabine-based induction regimen and achieved remission. This was followed by an unrelated 11/12 HLA-matched myeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplant. He is in complete remission for the past 409 days

The Long Crisis: Economic Inequality in New York City

City University of New York Law Review hosted this public panel discussion on November 12, 2014 at CUNY School of Law. CUNY Law Review would like to thank the co-sponsors of this event: Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ); Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA); Labor Coalition for Workers’ Rights and Economic Justice; National Lawyers Guild CUNY Law Chapter (NLG); Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP); Student for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and CUNY Law Association of Students for Housing (CLASH)

Interference in dielectrics and pseudo-measurements

Inserting a lossy dielectric into one arm of an interference experiment acts in many ways like a measurement. If two entangled photons are passed through the interferometer, a certain amount of information is gained about which path they took, and the interference pattern in a coincidence count measurement is suppressed. However, by inserting a second dielectric into the other arm of the interferometer, one can restore the interference pattern. Two of these pseudo-measurements can thus cancel each other out. This is somewhat analogous to the proposed quantum eraser experiments.Comment: 7 pages RevTeX 3.0 + 2 figures (postscript). Submitted to Phys. Rev.

The Black River: a comprehensive study of physical and chemical characteristics and their potential management implications.

An analysis of the Black River's biological and physicochemical characteristics was conducted for comparison to the model proposed by the river continuum theory. The theory specifies that the biological fauna, physical characteristics and chemical composition observed, are reflected in river order changes in terms of the presence, absence, or density of producer and consumer communities. The study reflected consistencies between the model and observed physical parameters and chemical attributes, but biological indicators were less corroborating. Physical characteristics such as temperature, depth, width, velocity, discharge, and suspended sediments increased with river mile and trends in the data became apparent. Chemical factors such as nitrates, dissolved oxygen, pH, alkalinity, and hardness, though not as clearly conclusive, show a gradient associated with river order transition. Biological indicators were not as conclusive in supporting the river continuum theory since there was no representation of shredders in the headwaters and predatory species were found at most sites. Management issues of the Black River address the control of soil erosion, species composition, and sedimentation as well as maintaining water temperature.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/54342/1/2778.pd