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This review summarizes the pathway of Mullerian and Wolffian duct development, anomalies that result from disruptions to this pathway, and the characteristics on advanced imaging that identify them.In-office evaluation for reproductive anomalies is usually inadequate for the diagnosis of congenital reproductive anomalies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has usurped invasive diagnostic methods including laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, and vasography as the new gold standard. Because of its superior soft-tissue delineation and the availability of advanced functional sequences, MRI offers a sophisticated method of distinguishing reproductive anomalies from one another, characterizing the degree of defect severity, and evaluating for concomitant urogenital anomalies non-invasively and without radiation exposure to the patient. Congenital anomalies of the Mullerian and Wolffian duct can be incredibly nuanced, requiring prompt and accurate diagnosis for management of infertility. Definitive diagnosis should be made early with MRI.

Background We conducted a cross-sectional study of pregnant women with acute respiratory illness during delivery hospitalizations during influenza season to describe clinical testing for respiratory viruses and infection prevention practices. Methods Women had nasal swabs tested for influenza and other respiratory viruses. Among 91 enrolled women, 22 (24%) had clinical testing for influenza. Results Based on clinical and study testing combined, 41 of 91 (45%) women had samples positive for respiratory viruses. The most common virus was influenza (17 of 91, 19%); 53% (9 of 17) of influenza virus infections were identified through study testing alone. Only 16% of women were on droplet precautions. Conclusions Peripartum respiratory infections may be underrecognized.

At Abilene Christian University, a variety of programs and training sessions in our Center for Teaching and Learning encourage faculty to reconsider academic conventions of pedagogy, to step out of the traditional sage on the stage model and connect with students through practices of hospitality and vulnerability. To truly engage in deep learning, risk is required on the part of both faculty and students, and these practices promote a decentered power structure within the classroom that allows authentic connection with the material and one another. Creating a student-centered classroom space that allows for respectful dialogue about challenging topics is one way to make our classrooms’ places of respect and collaboration, where all voices are an essential part of learning. In this chapter, the authors explore the literature on the benefits of practices of hospitality and vulnerability, share information about some well-established faculty development series that aid faculty in creating classroom environments that promote the practice of hospitality and vulnerability, and provide specific strategies for creating this type of environment. Authors share a variety of resources that readers can use to promote practices of hospitality and vulnerability in their own classrooms.

Despite extensive experimental and theoretical studies, the detailed catalytic mechanism of orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODCase) remains controversial. In particular simulation studies using high level quantum mechanics have failed to reproduce experimental activation free energy. One common feature of many previous simulations is that there is a water molecule in the vicinity of the leaving CO2 group whose presence was only observed in the inhibitor bound complex of ODCase/BMP. Various roles have even been proposed for this water molecule from the perspective of stabilizing the transition state and/or intermediate state. We hypothesize that this water molecule is not present in the active ODCase/OMP complex. Based on QM/MM minimum free energy path simulations with accurate density functional methods, we show here that in the absence of this water molecule the enzyme functions through a simple direct decarboxylation mechanism. Analysis of the interactions in the active site indicates multiple factors contributing to the catalysis, including the fine-tuned electrostatic environment of the active site and multiple hydrogen-bonding interactions. To understand better the interactions between the enzyme and the inhibitor BMP molecule, simulations were also carried out to determine the binding free energy of this special water molecule in the ODCase/BMP complex. The results indicate that the water molecule in the active site plays a significant role in the binding of BMP by contributing approximately -3 kcal/mol to the binding free energy of the complex. Therefore, the complex of BMP plus a water molecule, instead of the BMP molecule alone, better represents the tight binding transition state analogue of ODCase. Our simulation results support the direct decarboxylation mechanism and highlight the importance of proper recognition of protein bound water molecules in the protein-ligand binding and the enzyme catalysis.