Evaluating Title VII Exposure in a Manufacturing Setting: A Case Study for Human Resource Management Students

Since Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became an established part of the employment legal framework, human resource management professionals and compliance officers have played a vital role in evaluating their companies’ vulnerability to litigation based on perceived violations of Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the American with Disabilities Act, and other associated equality protection legislation. Factors to be considered include the plaintiff’s burden of proof, legitimate business defenses, and collection and evaluation of reliable data. This case study calls upon human resource management graduate students to evaluate the potential exposure of a defense manufacturer to gender discrimination litigation, and has been presented in an online learning environment

Structural basis for the second step of group II intron splicing

The group II intron and the spliceosome share a common active site architecture and are thought to be evolutionarily related. Here we report the 3.7 Å crystal structure of a eukaryotic group II intron in the lariat-3′ exon form, immediately preceding the second step of splicing, analogous to the spliceosomal P complex. This structure reveals the location of the intact 3′ splice site within the catalytic core of the group II intron. The 3′-OH of the 5′ exon is positioned in close proximity to the 3′ splice site for nucleophilic attack and exon ligation. The active site undergoes conformational rearrangements with the catalytic triplex having dif- ferent configurations before and after the second step of splicing. We describe a complete model for the second step of group II intron splicing that incorporates a dynamic catalytic triplex being responsible for creating the binding pocket for 3′ splice site capture

Effects of Trophic Level and Metamorphosis on Discrimination of Hydrogen Isotopes in a Plant-Herbivore System

The use of stable isotopes in ecological studies requires that we know the magnitude of discrimination factors between consumer and element sources. The causes of variation in discrimination factors for carbon and nitrogen have been relatively well studied. In contrast, the discrimination factors for hydrogen have rarely been measured. We grew cabbage looper caterpillars (Trichoplusia ni) on cabbage (Brassica oleracea) plants irrigated with four treatments of deuterium-enriched water (δD = −131, −88, −48, and −2‰, respectively), allowing some of them to reach adulthood as moths. Tissue δD values of plants, caterpillars, and moths were linearly correlated with the isotopic composition of irrigation water. However, the slope of these relationships was less than 1, and hence, discrimination factors depended on the δD value of irrigation water. We hypothesize that this dependence is an artifact of growing plants in an environment with a common atmospheric δD value. Both caterpillars and moths were significantly enriched in deuterium relative to plants by ∼45‰ and 23‰ respectively, but the moths had lower tissue to plant discrimination factors than did the caterpillars. If the trophic enrichment documented here is universal, δD values must be accounted for in geographic assignment studies. The isotopic value of carbon was transferred more or less faithfully across trophic levels, but δ15N values increased from plants to insects and we observed significant non-trophic 15N enrichment in the metamorphosis from larvae to adult

Transocular Entry of Seasonal Influenza-Attenuated Virus Aerosols and the Efficacy of N95 Respirators, Surgical Masks, and Eye Protection in Humans

Background. The efficacy of barrier precautions to prevent influenza transmission is unknown. Methods. Twenty-eight participants were exposed to monodispersed live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) particles (4.9 lm) in 6 groups: group 1, no precautions; group 2, ocular exposure only; group 3, surgical mask without eye protection; group 4, surgical mask with eye protection; group 5, fit-tested N95 respirator without eye protection; and group 6, fit-tested N95 respirator with eye protection. Influenza was detected by reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and culture in nasal washes. Exact 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Results. Influenza was detected in 4 of 4 participants in group 1 (95% CI, 0-.60), 3 of 4 in group 2 (95% CI, .006-.806]), 5 of 5 in group 3 (95% CI, 0-.522), 5 of 5 in group 4, (95% CI, 0-.522), 3 of 5 in group 5 (95% CI, .053-.853), and 1 of 5 in group 6 (95% CI, .05-.72). RT-PCR revealed significant differences between group 1 and all other groups except group 3. Conclusions. Transocular transmission of LAIV occured in most participants suggesting the necessity of eye protection. An N95 respirator provided the best guard further enhanced by eye protection

Coupling angle variability in healthy and patellofemoral pain runners

Background Patellofemoral pain is hypothesized to result in less joint coordination variability. The ability to relate coordination variability to patellofemoral pain pathology could have many clinical uses; however, evidence to support its clinical application is lacking. The aim was to determine if vector coding's coupling angle variability, as a measure of joint coordination variability, was less for runners with patellofemoral pain than healthy controls as is commonly postulated. Methods Nineteen female recreational runners with patellofemoral pain and eleven healthy controls performed a treadmill acclimation protocol then ran at a self-selected pace for 15 min. 3-D kinematics, force plate kinetics, knee pain and rating of perceived exertion were recorded each minute. Data were selected for the: pain group at the highest pain reached (pain � 3/10) in a non-exerted state (exertion < 14/20), and; non-exerted healthy group from the eleventh minute. Coupling angle variability was calculated over several portions of the stride for six knee-ankle combinations during five non-consecutive strides. Findings 46 of 48 coupling angle variability measures were greater for the pain group, with 7 significantly greater (P <.05). Interpretation These findings oppose the theory that less coupling angle variability is indicative of a pathological coordinate state during running. Greater coupling angle variability may be characteristic of patellofemoral pain in female treadmill running when a larger threshold of pain is reached than previously observed. A predictable and directional response of coupling angle variability measures in relation to knee pathology is not yet clear and requires further investigation prior to considerations for clinical utility. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd

Population-Based Assessment of a Biomarker-Based Screening Pathway to Aid Diagnosis of Monogenic Diabetes in Young-Onset Patients

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Diabetes Association via the DOI in this record.Objective: Monogenic diabetes, a young-onset form of diabetes, is often misdiagnosed as Type 1 diabetes, resulting in unnecessary treatment with insulin. A screening approach for monogenic diabetes is needed to accurately select suitable patients for expensive diagnostic genetic testing. We used C-peptide and islet autoantibodies, highly sensitive and specific biomarkers for discriminating Type 1 from non-Type 1 diabetes, in a biomarker screening pathway for monogenic diabetes. Research Design and Methods: We studied patients diagnosed ≤30y, currently <50y, in two UK regions with existing high detection of monogenic diabetes. The biomarker screening pathway comprised 3 stages: 1) Assessment of endogenous insulin secretion using urinary C-peptide/creatinine ratio (UCPCR); 2) If UCPCR≥0.2nmol/mmol, measurement of GAD and IA2 islet autoantibodies; 3) If negative for both autoantibodies, molecular genetic diagnostic testing for 35 monogenic diabetes subtypes. Results: 1407 patients participated (1365 no known genetic cause, 34 monogenic diabetes, 8 cystic-fibrosis-related diabetes). 386/1365(28%) had UCPCR≥0.2nmol/mmol. 216/386(56%) of these patients were negative for GAD and IA2 and underwent molecular genetic testing. 17 new cases of monogenic diabetes were diagnosed (8 common MODY (Sanger sequencing), 9 rarer causes (next generation sequencing)) in addition to the 34 known cases (estimated prevalence of 3.6% (51/1407) (95%CI: 2.7-4.7%)). The positive predictive value was 20%, suggesting a 1-in-5 detection rate for the pathway. The negative predictive value was 99.9%. Conclusions: The biomarker screening pathway for monogenic diabetes is an effective, cheap, and easily implemented approach to systematically screening all young-onset patients. The minimum prevalence of monogenic diabetes is 3.6% of patients diagnosed ≤30y.This study was funded by the Department of Health and Wellcome Trust Health Innovation Challenge Award (HICF-1009-041; WT-091985). ATH and SE are Wellcome Trust Senior Investigators. ATH is an NIHR Senior Investigator. BS, ATH, MH, SE, and BK are core members of the NIHR Exeter Clinical Research Facility. EP is a Wellcome Trust New Investigator. TM is supported by NIHR CSO Fellowship. JP is partly funded by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for the South West (PenCLAHRC)

Comprehensive identification of essential Staphylococcus aureus genes using Transposon-Mediated Differential Hybridisation (TMDH).

BACKGROUND: In recent years there has been an increasing problem with Staphylococcus aureus strains that are resistant to treatment with existing antibiotics. An important starting point for the development of new antimicrobial drugs is the identification of "essential" genes that are important for bacterial survival and growth. RESULTS: We have developed a robust microarray and PCR-based method, Transposon-Mediated Differential Hybridisation (TMDH), that uses novel bioinformatics to identify transposon inserts in genome-wide libraries. Following a microarray-based screen, genes lacking transposon inserts are re-tested using a PCR and sequencing-based approach. We carried out a TMDH analysis of the S. aureus genome using a large random mariner transposon library of around a million mutants, and identified a total of 351 S. aureus genes important for survival and growth in culture. A comparison with the essential gene list experimentally derived for Bacillus subtilis highlighted interesting differences in both pathways and individual genes. CONCLUSION: We have determined the first comprehensive list of S. aureus essential genes. This should act as a useful starting point for the identification of potential targets for novel antimicrobial compounds. The TMDH methodology we have developed is generic and could be applied to identify essential genes in other bacterial pathogens.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

UBVRI Light Curves of 44 Type Ia Supernovae

We present UBVRI photometry of 44 type-Ia supernovae (SN Ia) observed from 1997 to 2001 as part of a continuing monitoring campaign at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The data set comprises 2190 observations and is the largest homogeneously observed and reduced sample of SN Ia to date, nearly doubling the number of well-observed, nearby SN Ia with published multicolor CCD light curves. The large sample of U-band photometry is a unique addition, with important connections to SN Ia observed at high redshift. The decline rate of SN Ia U-band light curves correlates well with the decline rate in other bands, as does the U-B color at maximum light. However, the U-band peak magnitudes show an increased dispersion relative to other bands even after accounting for extinction and decline rate, amounting to an additional ~40% intrinsic scatter compared to B-band.Comment: 84 authors, 71 pages, 51 tables, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal. Version with high-res figures and electronic data at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~saurabh/cfa2snIa

Estimated prevalence of exposure to occupational carcinogens in Australia (2011-2012)

Background and objectives: Although past studies of workplace exposures have contributed greatly to our understanding of carcinogens, significant knowledge gaps still exist with regard to the actual extent of exposure among current workers, with no routinely collected population-based data being available in most countries. This study, the Australian Work Exposures Study (AWES), aimed to investigate the current prevalence of occupational exposure to carcinogens. Methods: A random sample of men and women aged between 18 and 65, who were currently in paid employment, were invited to participate in a telephone interview collecting information about their current job and various demographic factors. Interviews were conducted using a web-based application (OccIDEAS). OccIDEAS uses the expert exposure method in which participants are asked about their job tasks and predefined algorithms are used to automatically assign exposures. Responses were obtained from 5023 eligible Australian residents, resulting in an overall response rate of 53%. Results: 1879 respondents (37.6%) were assessed as being exposed to at least one occupational carcinogen in their current job. Extrapolation of these figures to the Australian working population suggested 3.6 million (40.3%) current workers could be exposed to carcinogens in their workplace. Exposure prevalence was highest among farmers, drivers, miners and transport workers, as well as men and those residing in regional areas. Conclusions: This study demonstrates a practical, web-based approach to collecting population information on occupational exposure to carcinogens and documents the high prevalence of current exposure to occupational carcinogens in the general population

Persistent near real-time passive acoustic monitoring for baleen whales from a moored buoy: System description and evaluation

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Baumgartner, M. F., Bonnell, J., Van Parijs, S. M., Corkeron, P. J., Hotchkin, C., Ball, K., Pelletier, L., Partan, J., Peters, D., Kemp, J., Pietro, J., Newhall, K., Stokes, A., Cole, T. V. N., Quintana, E., & Kraus, S. D. Persistent near real-time passive acoustic monitoring for baleen whales from a moored buoy: System description and evaluation. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10(9), (2019): 1476-1489, doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.13244.1. Managing interactions between human activities and marine mammals often relies on an understanding of the real‐time distribution or occurrence of animals. Visual surveys typically cannot provide persistent monitoring because of expense and weather limitations, and while passive acoustic recorders can monitor continuously, the data they collect are often not accessible until the recorder is recovered. 2. We have developed a moored passive acoustic monitoring system that provides near real‐time occurrence estimates for humpback, sei, fin and North Atlantic right whales from a single site for a year, and makes those occurrence estimates available via a publicly accessible website, email and text messages, a smartphone/tablet app and the U.S. Coast Guard's maritime domain awareness software. We evaluated this system using a buoy deployed off the coast of Massachusetts during 2015–2016 and redeployed again during 2016–2017. Near real‐time estimates of whale occurrence were compared to simultaneously collected archived audio as well as whale sightings collected near the buoy by aerial surveys. 3. False detection rates for right, humpback and sei whales were 0% and nearly 0% for fin whales, whereas missed detection rates at daily time scales were modest (12%–42%). Missed detections were significantly associated with low calling rates for all species. We observed strong associations between right whale visual sightings and near real‐time acoustic detections over a monitoring range 30–40 km and temporal scales of 24–48 hr, suggesting that silent animals were not especially problematic for estimating occurrence of right whales in the study area. There was no association between acoustic detections and visual sightings of humpback whales. 4. The moored buoy has been used to reduce the risk of ship strikes for right whales in a U.S. Coast Guard gunnery range, and can be applied to other mitigation applications.We thank Annamaria Izzi, Danielle Cholewiak and Genevieve Davis of the NOAA NEFSC for assistance in developing the analyst protocol. We are grateful to the NOAA NEFSC aerial survey observers (Leah Crowe, Pete Duley, Jen Gatzke, Allison Henry, Christin Khan and Karen Vale) and the NEAq aerial survey observers (Angela Bostwick, Marianna Hagbloom and Paul Nagelkirk). Danielle Cholewiak and three anonymous reviewers provided constructive criticism on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Funding for this project was provided by the NOAA NEFSC, NOAA Advanced Sampling Technology Work Group, Environmental Security Technology Certification Program of the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Navy's Living Marine Resources Program, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Funding from NOAA was facilitated by the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR) under Cooperative Agreement NA14OAR4320158