scholarly journals Celebrating the 75th birthday of Professor Wladek Minor, one of the most accomplished Polish-American structural biologists

Author(s):  
Mariusz Jaskolski ◽  
Alexander Wlodawer ◽  
Zbigniew Dauter ◽  
Ivan Shabalin ◽  
Maksymilian Chruszcz

This paper describes the scientific career and accomplishments of Professor Wladek Minor, who holds an endowed chair at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, USA. Prof. Minor is a coauthor of data processing software used by macromolecular crystallographers world-wide, as well as of structural biology servers and of a repository for raw diffraction data. He made major contributions to the validation of biostructural data, with special focus on drug design targets and reproducibility in biomedical research. He is among the most highly cited molecular biologists ever.

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Alkire ◽  
F. J. Rotella ◽  
N. E. C. Duke ◽  
Zbyszek Otwinowski ◽  
Dominika Borek

At the Structural Biology Center beamline 19BM, located at the Advanced Photon Source, the operational characteristics of the equipment are routinely checked to ensure they are in proper working order. After performing a partial flat-field calibration for the ADSC Quantum 210r CCD detector, it was confirmed that the detector operates within specifications. However, as a secondary check it was decided to scan a single reflection across one-half of a detector module to validate the accuracy of the calibration. The intensities from this single reflection varied by more than 30% from the module center to the corner of the module. Redistribution of light within bent fibers of the fiber-optic taper was identified to be a source of this variation. The degree to which the diffraction intensities are corrected to account for characteristics of the fiber-optic tapers depends primarily upon the experimental strategy of data collection, approximations made by the data processing software during scaling, and crystal symmetry.


Author(s):  
John W. Coleman

The injector to be described is a component in the Electron Injector-Linear Accelerator—Condenser Module for illumination used on the variable 100-500kV electron microscope being built at the Radio Corporation of America for the University of Virginia.The injector is an independently powered, autonomous unit, operating at a constant 6kV positive with respect to accelerator potential, thereby making beam current independent of accelerator potential. The injector provides for on-axis ion trapping to prolong filament lifetime, and incorporates a derived Einzel lens for optical integration into the overall illumination system for microscopy. Electrostatic beam deflectors for alignment are an integral part of the apparatus. The entire injector unit is cantilevered off a door for side loading, and is topped with a 4-filament turret released electrically but driven by a self-contained Negator spring motor.


1995 ◽  
Vol 34 (01/02) ◽  
pp. 75-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Appel ◽  
O. Golaz ◽  
Ch. Pasquali ◽  
J.-C. Sanchez ◽  
A. Bairoch ◽  
...  

Abstract:The sharing of knowledge worldwide using hypermedia facilities and fast communication protocols (i.e., Mosaic and World Wide Web) provides a growth capacity with tremendous versatility and efficacy. The example of ExPASy, a molecular biology server developed at the University Hospital of Geneva, is striking. ExPASy provides hypermedia facilities to browse through several up-to-date biological and medical databases around the world and to link information from protein maps to genome information and diseases. Its extensive access is open through World Wide Web. Its concept could be extended to patient data including texts, laboratory data, relevant literature findings, sounds, images and movies. A new hypermedia culture is spreading very rapidly where the international fast transmission of documents is the central element. It is part of the emerging new “information society”.


Diagnosis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumner Abraham ◽  
Andrew Parsons ◽  
Brian Uthlaut ◽  
Peggy Plews-Ogan

AbstractDespite the breadth of patient safety initiatives, physicians talking about their mistakes to other physicians is a difficult thing to do. This difficulty may be exacerbated by a limited exposure to how to analyze and discuss mistakes and respond in a productive way. At the University of Virginia, we recognized the importance of understanding cognitive biases for residents in both their clinical and personal professional development. We re-designed our resident led morbidity and mortality (M&M) conference using a model that integrates dual-process theory and metacognition to promote informed reflection and analysis of cognitive diagnostic errors. We believe that structuring M&M in this way builds a culture that encourages reflection together to learn our most difficult diagnostic errors and to engage in where our thought processes went wrong. In slowly building this culture, we hope to inoculate residents with the habits of mind that can best protect them from harmful biases in their clinical reasoning while instilling a culture of self-reflection.


2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-104
Author(s):  
Sasha Newell

AbstractIn this article Newell uses two case studies to explore one of the central threads of Mbembe’s Abiola lecture, the idea that there is a relationship between the plasticity of digital technology and African cosmologies of the deuxième monde. One case concerns the viral YouTube video #sciencemustfall, in which students at the University of Cape Town criticize “Western” science and demand that African forms of knowledge such as witchcraft be incorporated into the meaning of science. The second case considers fieldwork among the brouteurs of Côte d’Ivoire, internet scammers who build intimate relationships on false premises using social media. They acquire shocking amounts of wealth in this way which they display on their own social media accounts. However, they are said to use occult means to seduce and persuade their virtual lovers, trapping their prey in the sticky allure of the world wide web. Newell uses both examples to highlight the overlaps between the transformational efficacies embedded in both occult ontologies and digital worldings, calling for the possibility of using African cosmologies of the second world to produce a ‘theory from the south’ of virtual sociality.


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