Abstract
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) produces a variety of online information resources for biology, including the GenBank® nucleic acid sequence database and the PubMed® ...database of citations and abstracts published in life science journals. NCBI provides search and retrieval operations for most of these data from 35 distinct databases. The E-utilities serve as the programming interface for the most of these databases. Resources receiving significant updates in the past year include PubMed, PMC, Bookshelf, RefSeq, SRA, Virus, dbSNP, dbVar, ClinicalTrials.gov, MMDB, iCn3D and PubChem. These resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Abstract
The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) provides a large suite of online resources for biological information and data, including the GenBank® nucleic acid sequence database ...and the PubMed database of citations and abstracts published in life science journals. The Entrez system provides search and retrieval operations for most of these data from 38 distinct databases. The E-utilities serve as the programming interface for the Entrez system. Augmenting many of the web applications are custom implementations of the BLAST program optimized to search specialized data sets. New resources released in the past year include PubMed Labs and a new sequence database search. Resources that were updated in the past year include PubMed, PMC, Bookshelf, genome data viewer, Assembly, prokaryotic genomes, Genome, BioProject, dbSNP, dbVar, BLAST databases, igBLAST, iCn3D and PubChem. All of these resources can be accessed through the NCBI home page at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
Data that catalogue viral diversity on Earth have been fragmented across sources, disciplines, formats, and various degrees of open sharing, posing challenges for research on macroecology, evolution, ...and public health. Here, we solve this problem by establishing a dynamically maintained database of vertebrate-virus associations, called The Global Virome in One Network (VIRION). The VIRION database has been assembled through both reconciliation of static data sets and integration of dynamically updated databases. These data sources are all harmonized against one taxonomic backbone, including metadata on host and virus taxonomic validity and higher classification; additional metadata on sampling methodology and evidence strength are also available in a harmonized format. In total, the VIRION database is the largest open-source, open-access database of its kind, with roughly half a million unique records that include 9,521 resolved virus "species" (of which 1,661 are ICTV ratified), 3,692 resolved vertebrate host species, and 23,147 unique interactions between taxonomically valid organisms. Together, these data cover roughly a quarter of mammal diversity, a 10th of bird diversity, and ∼6% of the estimated total diversity of vertebrates, and a much larger proportion of their virome than any previous database. We show how these data can be used to test hypotheses about microbiology, ecology, and evolution and make suggestions for best practices that address the unique mix of evidence that coexists in these data.
Animals and their viruses are connected by a sprawling, tangled network of species interactions. Data on the host-virus network are available from several sources, which use different naming conventions and often report metadata in different levels of detail. VIRION is a new database that combines several of these existing data sources, reconciles taxonomy to a single consistent backbone, and reports metadata in a format designed by and for virologists. Researchers can use VIRION to easily answer questions like "Can any fish viruses infect humans?" or "Which bats host coronaviruses?" or to build more advanced predictive models, making it an unprecedented step toward a full inventory of the global virome.
In an interview assessing the impact of her famous essay "Mama's Baby, Papa's Maybe" two decades after its publication, Hortense Spillers comments that the Black Atlantic, the Black Diaspora, ...cosmopolitanism, and similar framings of the transnational tend to obfuscate the complexities of gender and the concerns of women. Here, Ryan takes Spiller's observation as an invitation for reading two texts by women from either side of the Atlantic, Dionne Brand and Chimamanda Adichie, who have located women at the heart of Caribbean and African diasporas. These narratives of migration do not evade gender but rather generate richer representations of what it means to be black and female in the diaspora. As the women in Brand's and Adichie's novels leave home and enter a migratory space--call it the Black Atlantic, the Black Diaspora, or a cosmopolitan space--their experiences demonstrate that these transnational spaces present their own gendered hierarchies and their own threats to women.
Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing technique commonly used in the rapid prototyping of components. The complexity of the SLM microstructure poses a unique challenge to ...deriving effective mechanical properties at different length scales. Representative volume elements (RVEs) are often used to homogenize the material properties of composites. Instead of RVEs, we use statistical volume elements (SVEs) to homogenize the elastic and fracture properties of the material. This relates the inherent variation of a material’s microstructure to the variation in its mechanical properties at different observation scales. The convergence to the RVE limit is examined from two perspectives: the stability of the mean value as the SVE size increases for the mean-based approach, and the tendency of the normalized variation in homogenized properties to zero as the SVE size increases for the variation-based approach. Fracture properties tend to make the RVE limit slower than do elastic properties from both perspectives. There are also differences between vertical (normal to printing plane) and horizontal (in-plane) properties. While the elastic properties tend to make the RVE limit faster for the horizontal direction, i.e., having a smaller variation and more stable mean value, the fracture properties exhibit the opposite effect. We attributed these differences to the geometry of the melt pools.
Genomic sequencing of clinical samples to identify emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 has been a key public health tool for curbing the spread of the virus. As a result, an unprecedented number of ...SARS-CoV-2 genomes were sequenced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed for rapid identification of genetic variants, enabling the timely design and testing of therapies and deployment of new vaccine formulations to combat the new variants. However, despite the technological advances of deep sequencing, the analysis of the raw sequence data generated globally is neither standardized nor consistent, leading to vastly disparate sequences that may impact identification of variants. Here, we show that for both Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequencing platforms, downstream bioinformatic protocols used by industry, government, and academic groups resulted in different virus sequences from same sample. These bioinformatic workflows produced consensus genomes with differences in single nucleotide polymorphisms, inclusion and exclusion of insertions, and/or deletions, despite using the same raw sequence as input datasets. Here, we compared and characterized such discrepancies and propose a specific suite of parameters and protocols that should be adopted across the field. Consistent results from bioinformatic workflows are fundamental to SARS-CoV-2 and future pathogen surveillance efforts, including pandemic preparation, to allow for a data-driven and timely public health response.
Recent experimentation by Nollywood producers has encouraged increasing differentiation of film practices as a strategy for contending with a demanding video market. “New Nollywood” refers to a ...select group of aesthetically sophisticated films intended for a new tiered distribution method, beginning with theatrical release and ending with DVD release. Nigeria’s upscale multiplex cinemas are therefore a starting point for examining what is new—and not so new—in Nollywood. This article argues that New Nollywood films and the cinemas in which they appear appeal directly to spectators’ senses by promising not only a movie and shopping, but also an affective experience closely bound up with global consumerism. The films exhibit a metropolitan vantage point that emphasizes subjects such as airline travel, trendy technology, consumer culture, global pop culture, lifestyle brands, high fashion, and luxury goods. These films advertise their “modernity,” which is not presented as a consolidated order of knowledge and values, but rather as an assemblage of signifiers of city life. Whereas mainstream Nollywood continues to produce strong narratives that resonate with its intended audience, New Nollywood—with its emphasis on images and style—is a direct expression of the cultural and economic forces shaping life in Lagos today. L’expérimentation récente par les producteurs de Nollywood a encouragé la différenciation croissante de pratiques de cinéma en tant que stratégie permettant de soutenir un marché de la vidéo en constante évolution. “Nouveau Nollywood” fait référence à un groupe restreint de films esthétiquement sophistiqués destinés à une nouvelle méthode de distribution à plusieurs étapes, en commençant par la sortie en salles et en se terminant avec la sortie en DVD. Les cinémas multiplexes haut de gamme du Nigeria sont donc un point de départ pour examiner ce qui est nouveau—et pas si nouveau—dans Nollywood. Cet article affirme que les films de Nouveau Nollywood et les cinémas dans lesquels ils sortent font appel à la sensibilité des spectateurs en mettant l’accent sur les thèmes de connectivité, mobilité et contemporanéité et en reliant ces thèmes avec le consumérisme mondial. Les films présentent un point de vue métropolitain qui met l’accent sur des sujets tels que les voyages en avion, la technologie à la mode, la culture de consommation, la culture pop mondiale, les marques vestimentaires, la haute couture et les produits de luxe. Ces films annoncent leur “modernité,” qui n’est pas présentée comme un ordre consolidé des connaissances et des valeurs, mais plutôt comme un ensemble de signifiants de la vie en ville. Alors que le Nollywood traditionnel a maintenu une connexion avec l’imaginaire populaire de son public cible, le Nouveau-Nollywood avec son accent sur les images et le style est une expression directe des aspirations culturelles et économiques qui façonnent la vie à Lagos aujourd’hui.
Redo Autograft Operations After the Ross Procedure Brinkman, William T., MD; Herbert, Morley A., PhD; Prince, Syma L., RN ...
The Annals of thoracic surgery,
05/2012, Letnik:
93, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Background Autograft dilatation after the Ross procedure is the most common cause of late autograft failure. We looked at results after reoperation for autograft dysfunction using autograft sparing ...and composite root replacement techniques. Methods Data were abstracted from our prospectively collected Ross registry for 160 consecutive patients who underwent a Ross procedure by a single surgeon between 1994 and 2008. Follow-up records were obtained, and the last echocardiographic report after reoperation was analyzed. Results Autograft reoperation was necessary in 17 patients, at a median interval of 6.9 years after the original procedure. Indications for reoperation were insufficiency with autograft dilatation in 16 patients, and without dilatation in 1 patient. Surgical procedures used at reoperation included autograft reimplantation in 6 patients (35.3%), autograft remodeling procedure in 1 patient (5.9%), composite root replacement with mechanical valved conduit in 5 patients (29.4%), composite root replacement with biologic valved conduit in 3 patients (17.6%), and mechanical aortic valve replacement in 2 patients (11.8%). At a median follow-up of 5.0 years after reoperation, freedom from greater than 2+ aortic insufficiency was 100% (17 of 17 patients) in both reimplantation and replacement groups. There was 1 death after reoperation (at >14 years) related to complications from systemic lupus erythematosus. There have been no strokes after autograft reimplantation. Conclusions Autograft valve reimplantation and composite aortic root replacement are effective treatments for aortic root dilatation and aortic insufficiency after the Ross procedure. Echocardiographic follow-up demonstrates reasonable short-term function after autograft preservation procedures.
This interview, conducted in September 2018 with Jamaican filmmaker Storm Saulter, took place several months before the theatrical release of his most recent feature film, Sprinter (2019). The ...conversation touches on topics of migration, masculinity, political violence, and Rastafari, before delving into a discussion of the films production and distribution, the regional implications of media globalization, and the politics of creative control.
PDF
