Human Patient-Derived Brain Tumor Models to Recapitulate Ependymoma Tumor Vasculature.

Despite in vivo malignancy, ependymoma lacks cell culture models, thus limiting therapy development. Here, we used a tunable three-dimensional (3D) culture system to approximate the ependymoma microenvironment for recapitulating a patient's tumor in vitro. Our data showed that the inclusion of VEGF in serum-free, mixed neural and endothelial cell culture media supported the in vitro growth of all four ependymoma patient samples.

FusorSV: an algorithm for optimally combining data from multiple structural variation detection methods.

Comprehensive and accurate identification of structural variations (SVs) from next generation sequencing data remains a major challenge. We develop FusorSV, which uses a data mining approach to assess performance and merge callsets from an ensemble of SV-calling algorithms. It includes a fusion model built using analysis of 27 deep-coverage human genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project.

Disclosure predicaments arising during the course of patient care: nurses' privacy management.

At times, nurses receive patient disclosures that have the potential to create challenges resulting in needs for strategies to manage patient information and expectations. This study examines disclosure predicaments nurses experience in critical care and emergency units at a large urban hospital. Utilizing the constant comparative method to identify disclosure themes guided by the principles of communication privacy management (CPM), the findings show that nurses regulate patient privacy in the role of stakeholder confidants.

Human affection exchange: VI. Further tests of reproductive probability as a predictor of men's affection with their adult sons.

The authors examined the communication of affection in men's relationships with their fathers. Drawing from Affection Exchange Theory, the authors advanced four predictions: (a) heterosexual men receive more affection from their own fathers than do homosexual or bisexual men, (b) fathers communicate affection to their sons more through supportive activities than through direct verbal statements or nonverbal gestures, (c) affectionate communication between fathers and sons is linearly related to closeness and interpersonal involvement between them, and (d) fathers' awareness of their sons' sexual orientation is associated with the amount of affection that the fathers communicate to them. Participants were 170 adult men who completed questionnaires regarding affectionate communication in their relationships with their fathers.