Genome-wide association studies identify genetic loci for low von Willebrand factor levels.

Low von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels are associated with bleeding symptoms and are a diagnostic criterion for von Willebrand disease, the most common inherited bleeding disorder. To date, it is unclear which genetic loci are associated with reduced VWF levels. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies to identify genetic loci associated with low VWF levels. For this meta-analysis, we included 31 149 participants of European ancestry from 11 community-based studies. From all participants, VWF antigen (VWF:Ag) measurements and genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) scans were available. Each study conducted analyses using logistic regression of SNPs on dichotomized VWF:Ag measures (lowest 5% for blood group O and non-O) with an additive genetic model adjusted for age and sex. An inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis was performed for VWF:Ag levels. A total of 97 SNPs exceeded the genome-wide significance threshold of 5 × 10(-8) and comprised five loci on four different chromosomes: 6q24 (smallest P-value 5.8 × 10(-10)), 9q34 (2.4 × 10(-64)), 12p13 (5.3 × 10(-22)), 12q23 (1.2 × 10(-8)) and 13q13 (2.6 × 10(-8)). All loci were within or close to genes, including STXBP5 (Syntaxin Binding Protein 5) (6q24), STAB5 (stabilin-5) (12q23), ABO (9q34), VWF (12p13) and UFM1 (ubiquitin-fold modifier 1) (13q13). Of these, UFM1 has not been previously associated with VWF:Ag levels. Four genes that were previously associated with VWF levels (VWF, ABO, STXBP5 and STAB2) were also associated with low VWF levels, and, in addition, we identified a new gene, UFM1, that is associated with low VWF levels. These findings point to novel mechanisms for the occurrence of low VWF levels.

Curtains up! Using forum theatre to rehearse the art of communication in healthcare education.

Teaching students to develop high quality communication skills in healthcare education is vitally important if best practice is to be achieved. These skills have often been seen as challenging to successfully develop. Didactic approaches impart knowledge but not necessarily the opportunities to practice communication techniques. This paper shares the experiences of a group of University lecturers introducing the use of an experiential theatrical technique, forum theatre, to support students to develop their communication skills. Forum theatre aims to create a dynamic learning environment enabling students to try out different communication strategies within a safe setting. Academic staff perform short scripted scenes developed using their knowledge from practice along with the experience of carers and service users. The end result is always unsatisfactory for the service user. The scene is then re-run inviting the students to interact with the characters and to change the outcome to a positive one resulting in a collaborative experience.

Ocean Color Inferred from Radiometers on Low-Flying Aircraft.

The color of sunlight reflected from the ocean to orbiting visible radiometers hasprovided a great deal of information about the global ocean, after suitable corrections aremade for atmospheric effects. Similar ocean-color measurements can be made from a lowflyingaircraft to get higher spatial resolution and to obtain measurements under clouds.A different set of corrections is required in this case, and we describe algorithms to correctfor clouds and sea-surface effects. An example is presented and errors in the correctionsdiscussed.

Power spectrum and fractal dimension of laser backscattering from the ocean.

We flew an airborne lidar perpendicular to the coastline along straight-line transects that varied in length between 230 and 280 km. The sample spacing was approximately 3 m, so we sampled almost five decades of spatial scales. Except for the return from right at the surface, the power spectra of backscattered power had a power-law dependence on spatial frequency, with a slope of approximately 1.49. This corresponds to a fractal dimension of 1.76. This implies that the distribution is not as patchy as that of a purely turbulent process.

Airborne lidar imaging of salmon.

Lidar images of adult salmon are presented. The lidar system is built around a pulsed green laser and a gated intensified CCD camera. The camera gating is timed to collect light scattered from the turbid water below the fish to produce shadows in the images. Image processing increases the estimated contrast-to-noise ratio from 3.4 in the original image to 16.4 by means of a matched filter.