Jaeger Family Scrapbook - Accession 211 - M94 (120)

The Jaeger Family Scrapbook titled “The House That Papa Built”, written by Ella Jaeger Smith, contains photographs and history of the family house built by Henry John Jaeger in Florence,SC as well as biographical sketches of various members of the Jaeger family. The scrapbook contains information on Winthrop graduates Janet Lawrence Jaeger (Class of 1907); Lillian Jaeger Spratt (Class of 1910); Mary Jaeger Lewis (attended Winthrop); Blanche Jaeger Patrick (Class of 1917); and Ella Jaeger Smith (Class of 1923).

Naturally Occurring Tuberculosis in White-Tailed Deer

Objective—To determine the distribution of lesions and extent of tissues infected with Mycobacterium bovis in a captive population of white-tailed deer. Design—Cross-sectional study. Animals—116 captive white-tailed deer. Procedure—Deer were euthanatized, and postmortem examinations were performed. Tissues with gross lesions suggestive of tuberculosis were collected for microscopic analysis and bacteriologic culture. Tissues from the head, thorax, and abdomen of deer with no gross lesions were pooled for bacteriologic culture. Tonsillar, nasal, oral, and rectal swab specimens, fecal samples, and samples of hay and pelleted feed, soil around feeding sites, and water from 2 natural ponds were collected for bacteriologic culture. Results—Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from 14 of 116 (12%) deer; however, only 9 of 14 had lesions consistent with tuberculosis. Most commonly affected tissues included the medial retropharyngeal lymph node and lung. Five of 14 tuberculous deer had no gross lesions; however,M bovis was isolated from pooled tissue specimens from the heads of each of these deer. Bacteriologic culture of tonsillar swab specimens from 2 of the infected deer yielded M bovis. Mean (± SEM) age of tuberculous deer was 2.5 ± 0.3 years (range, 0.5 to 6 years). Mycobacterium bovis was not isolated from feed, soil, water, or fecal samples. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Examination of hunter-killed white-tailed deer for tuberculosis commonly includes only the lymph nodes of the head. Results of such examinations may underestimate disease prevalence by as much as 57%. Such discrepancy should be considered when estimating disease prevalence.

Bovine Tuberculosis in Free-Ranging White-Tailed Deer From Michigan

A 4.5 yr-old male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) killed by a hunter during the 1994 firearm hunting season in northeastern Michigan (USA) had lesions suggestive of tuberculosis and was positive on culture for Mycobacterium bovis the causative agent for bovine tuberculosis. Subsequently, a survey of 354 hunter-harvested white-tailed deer for tuberculosis was conducted in this area from 15 November 1995 through 5 January 1996. Heads and/or lungs from deer were examined grossly and microscopically for lesions suggestive of bovine tuberculosis. Gross lesions suggestive of tuberculosis were seen in 15 deer. Tissues from 16 deer had acid-fast bacilli on histological examination and in 12 cases mycobacterial isolates from lymph nodes and/or lungs were identified as M. bovis. In addition, lymph nodes from 12 deer (11 females and 1 male) without gross or microscopic lesions were pooled into 1 sample from which M. bovis was cultured. Although more male (9) than female (3) deer had bovine tuberculosis infections, this difference was not statistically significant. Mycobacterium bovis culture positive deer ranged in age from 1.5 to 5.5 yr with a mean of 2.7 yr (median 2.5 yr) for males and 3.2 yr (median 3.5 yr) for females. This appears to be the first epidemic occurrence of M. bovis in free-ranging cervids in North America. A combination of environmental (high deer density and poor quality habit) and management-related factors (extensive supplemental feeding) may be responsible for this epizootic.

Bovine Tuberculosis in a Free-ranging Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) from Montana

A survey of 41 mule deer (Odocolleus hemionus) and three white-tailed deer (O. virginianus) for bovine tuberculosis was conducted on a Montana (USA) cattle ranch from 2 November 1993 through January 1994. Gross and microscopic lesions typical of tuberculosis were present in tonsil and lymph nodes of the head, thorax, and abdomen of one adult female mule deer. Additionally, a single microgranuloma considered morphologically suggestive of tuberculosis was present in one lymph node of the head of a second mule deer. Mycobacterial isolates from lymph nodes of the head and thorax of the first deer were identified as Mycobacterium bovis.

Comparison of Gross Pathology, Histopathology, and Mycobacterial Culture for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis in Elk (Cervus elaphus)

Using the isolation of Mycobacterium bovis as the reference standard, this study evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and kappa statistic of gross pathology (abattoir postmortem inspection), histopathology, and parallel or series combinations of the two for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in 430 elk and red deer. Two histopathology interpretations were evaluated: histopathology I, where the presence of lesions compatible with tuberculosis was considered positive, and histopathology II, where lesions compatible with tuberculosis or a select group of additional possible diagnoses were considered positive. In the 73 animals from which M. bovis was isolated, gross lesions of tuberculosis were most often in the lung (48), the retropharyngeal lymph nodes (36), the mesenteric lymph nodes (35), and the mediastinal lymph nodes (16). Other mycobacterial isolates included: 11 M. paratuberculosis, 11 M. avium, and 28 rapidly growing species or M. terrae complex. The sensitivity estimates of gross pathology and histopathology I were 93% (95% confidence limits [CL] 84,97%) and 88% [CL 77,94%], respectively, and the specificity of both was 89% [CL 85,92%]). The sensitivity and specificity of histopathology II were 89% (CL 79,95%) and 77% (CL 72,81%), respectively. The highest sensitivity estimates (93- 95% [CL 84,98%]) were obtained by interpreting gross pathology and histopathology in parallel (where an animal had to be positive on at least one of the two, to be classified as combination positive). The highest specificity estimates (94-95% [CL 91-97%]) were generated when the two tests were interpreted in series (an animal had to be positive on both tests to be classified as combination positive). The presence of gross or microscopic lesions showed moderate to good agreement with the isolation of M. bovis (Kappa = 65-69%). The results show that post-mortem inspection, histopathology and culture do not necessarily recognize the same infected animals and that the spectra of animals identified by the tests overlaps.

American Lives: A Reader [Preface & Introduction]

Memoirs are as varied as human emotion and experience, and those published in the distinguished American Lives Series run the gamut. Excerpted from this series (called “splendid” by Newsweek) and collected here for the first time, these dispatches from American lives take us from China during the Cultural Revolution to the streets of New York in the sixties to a cabin in the backwoods of Idaho. In prose as diverse as the stories they tell, writers such as Floyd Skloot, Ted Kooser, Peggy Shumaker, and Lee Martin, among many others, open windows to their own ordinary and extraordinary experiences. John Skoyles tells how, for his Uncle Fred, a particular “Hard Luck Suit” imparted misfortune. Brenda Serotte describes a Turkish grandmother who made her living reading palms, interpreting cups, and prescribing poultices for the community. In “Son of Mr. Green Jeans,” Dinty W. Moore views fatherhood through the lens of pop culture. Janet Sternburg’s Phantom Limb muses on the dilemmas of a child caring for a parent. Whether evoking moments of death or disease, in family or marriage, history, politics, religion, or culture, these glimpses into singular American lives come together in a richly textured, colorful patchwork quilt of American life.

Improving Mathematics Problem Solving Through Written Explanations

In this action research study of two classrooms of 7th grade mathematics, I investigated how requiring written explanations of problem solving would affect students ability to problem solve, their ability to write good explanations, and how it would affect their attitudes toward mathematics and problem solving. I studied a regular 7th grade mathematics class and a lower ability 7th grade class to see if there would be any difference in what was gained by each group or any group. I discovered that there were no large gains made in the short time period of my action research. Some gains were made in ability to problem solve by my lower ability students over the 7 weeks that they did a weekly problem solving assignment. Some individual students felt that the writing had helped them in their problem solving because they needed to think and write each step. As a result of this research I plan to continue implementing writing in my classroom over the entire school year requiring a little more from students each time we problem solve and write.

Long-term recovery patterns of arctic tundra after winter seismic exploration

In response to the increasing global demand for energy, oil exploration and development are expanding into frontier areas of the Arctic, where slow-growing tundra vegetation and the underlying permafrost soils are very sensitive to disturbance. The creation of vehicle trails on the tundra from seismic exploration for oil has accelerated in the past decade, and the cumulative impact represents a geographic footprint that covers a greater extent of Alaska’s North Slope tundra than all other direct human impacts combined. Seismic exploration for oil and gas was conducted on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, USA, in the winters of 1984 and 1985. This study documents recovery of vegetation and permafrost soils over a two-decade period after vehicle traffic on snow-covered tundra. Paired permanent vegetation plots (disturbed vs. reference) were monitored six times from 1984 to 2002. Data were collected on percent vegetative cover by plant species and on soil and ground ice characteristics. We developed Bayesian hierarchical models, with temporally and spatially autocorrelated errors, to analyze the effects of vegetation type and initial disturbance levels on recovery patterns of the different plant growth forms as well as soil thaw depth. Plant community composition was altered on the trails by species-specific responses to initial disturbance and subsequent changes in substrate. Long-term changes included increased cover of graminoids and decreased cover of evergreen shrubs and mosses. Trails with low levels of initial disturbance usually improved well over time, whereas those with medium to high levels of initial disturbance recovered slowly. Trails on ice-poor, gravel substrates of riparian areas recovered better than those on ice-rich loamy soils of the uplands, even after severe initial damage. Recovery to pre-disturbance communities was not possible where trail subsidence occurred due to thawing of ground ice. Previous studies of disturbance from winter seismic vehicles in the Arctic predicted short-term and mostly aesthetic impacts, but we found that severe impacts to tundra vegetation persisted for two decades after disturbance under some conditions. We recommend management approaches that should be used to prevent persistent tundra damage.

Subgroup-specific structural variation across 1,000 medulloblastoma genomes

Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant paediatric brain tumour, is currently treated with nonspecific cytotoxic therapies including surgery, whole-brain radiation, and aggressive chemotherapy. As medulloblastoma exhibits marked intertumoural heterogeneity, with at least four distinct molecular variants, previous attempts to identify targets for therapy have been underpowered because of small samples sizes. Here we report somatic copy number aberrations (SCNAs) in 1,087 unique medulloblastomas. SCNAs are common in medulloblastoma, and are predominantly subgroup-enriched. The most common region of focal copy number gain is a tandem duplication of SNCAIP, a gene associated with Parkinson's disease, which is exquisitely restricted to Group 4 alpha. Recurrent translocations of PVT1, including PVT1-MYC and PVT1-NDRG1, that arise through chromothripsis are restricted to Group 3. Numerous targetable SCNAs, including recurrent events targeting TGF-beta signalling in Group 3, and NF-kappa B signalling in Group 4, suggest future avenues for rational, targeted therapy.

Mutations in SRCAP, Encoding SNF2-Related CREBBP Activator Protein, Cause Floating-Harbor Syndrome

Floating-Harbor syndrome (FHS) is a rare condition characterized by short stature, delayed osseous maturation, expressive-language deficits, and a distinctive facial appearance. Occurrence is generally sporadic, although parent-to-child transmission has been reported on occasion. Employing whole-exome sequencing, we identified heterozygous truncating mutations in SRCAP in five unrelated individuals with sporadic MS. Sanger sequencing identified mutations in SRCAP in eight more affected persons. Mutations were de novo in all six instances in which parental DNA was available. SRCAP is an SNF2-related chromatin-remodeling factor that serves as a coactivator for CREB-binding protein (CREBBP, better known as CBP, the major cause of Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome [RTS]). Five SRCAP mutations, two of which are recurrent, were identified; all are tightly clustered within a small (111 codon) region of the final exon. These mutations are predicted to abolish three C-terminal AT-hook DNA-binding motifs while leaving the CBP-binding and ATPase domains intact. Our findings show that SRCAP mutations are the major cause of FHS and offer an explanation for the clinical overlap between FHS and RTS.

Symmetry insights for design of supercomputer network topologies: roots and weights lattices

We present a family of networks whose local interconnection topologies are generated by the root vectors of a semi-simple complex Lie algebra. Cartan classification theorem of those algebras ensures those families of interconnection topologies to be exhaustive. The global arrangement of the network is defined in terms of integer or half-integer weight lattices. The mesh or torus topologies that network millions of processing cores, such as those in the IBM BlueGene series, are the simplest member of that category. The symmetries of the root systems of an algebra, manifested by their Weyl group, lends great convenience for the design and analysis of hardware architecture, algorithms and programs.

Influence of Osmotic Dehydration on Ascorbic Acid Loss in Pickled Dry Peppers (Capsicum chinense)

The objective of this work was (1) to develop a dehydrated pepper with 45% humidity, determining the drying curves for pepper, with and without osmotic pre-treatment and (2) to evaluate the influence of both drying and osmotic treatment on the content ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in fresh pepper and pepper with 45% humidity. The experiments were carried out using the peppers cut in half, with and without osmotic pre-treatment, followed by drying in an oven at 70 degrees C. The results showed that the osmotic pretreatment did not influence the retention of ascorbic acid during the drying of pepper. The sensory analysis regarding the color, flavor, and texture attributes revealed that there was no difference in the acceptability.

A description of the nymph of Anacroneuria ofaye Froehlich (Plecoptera: Perlidae) and a apparatus for rearing Neotropical stonefly species

The Neotropical genus Anacroneuria (Perlidae) is represented by more than 300 species. Among the Brazilian Anacroneuria, only the nymphs of two species have been described. In this paper, we described the nymph of A. ofaye Froehlich and an apparatus for rearing this genus. This is the first record of A. ofaye from Parana State, Brazil.

Developing a provisional definition of flare in patients with established gout

Objective Various nonvalidated criteria for disease flare have been used in studies of gout. Our objective was to develop empirical definitions for a gout flare from patient-reported features. Methods Possible elements for flare criteria were previously reported. Data were collected from 210 gout patients at 8 international sites to evaluate potential gout flare criteria against the gold standard of an expert rheumatologist definition. Flare definitions based on the presence of the number of criteria independently associated with the flare and classification and regression tree approaches were developed. Results The mean +/- SD age of the study participants was 56.2 +/- 15 years, 207 of them (98%) were men, and 54 of them (26%) had flares of gout. The presence of any patient-reported warm joint, any patient-reported swollen joint, patient-reported pain at rest score of >3 (010 scale), and patient-reported flare were independently associated with the study gold standard. The greatest discriminating power was noted for the presence of 3 or more of the above 4 criteria (sensitivity 91% and specificity 82%). Requiring all 4 criteria provided the highest specificity (96%) and positive predictive value (85%). A classification tree identified pain at rest with a score of >3, followed by patient self-reported flare, as the rule associated with the gold standard (sensitivity 83% and specificity 90%). Conclusion We propose definitions for a disease flare based on self-reported items in patients previously diagnosed as having gout. Patient-reported flare, joint pain at rest, warm joints, and swollen joints were most strongly associated with presence of a gout flare. These provisional definitions will next be validated in clinical trials.