JUN dependency in distinct early and late BRAF inhibition adaptation states of melanoma.

A prominent mechanism of acquired resistance to BRAF inhibitors in BRAF (V600) -mutant melanoma is associated with the upregulation of receptor tyrosine kinases. Evidences suggested that this resistance mechanism is part of a more complex cellular adaptation process. Using an integrative strategy, we found this mechanism to invoke extensive transcriptomic, (phospho-) proteomic and phenotypic alterations that accompany a cellular transition to a de-differentiated, mesenchymal and invasive state. Even short-term BRAF-inhibitor exposure leads to an early adaptive, differentiation state change-characterized by a slow-cycling, persistent state. The early persistent state is distinct from the late proliferative, resistant state. However, both differentiation states share common signaling alterations including JUN upregulation. Motivated by the similarities, we found that co-targeting of BRAF and JUN is synergistic in killing fully resistant cells; and when used up-front, co-targeting substantially impairs the formation of the persistent subpopulation. We confirmed that JUN upregulation is a common response to BRAF inhibitor treatment in clinically treated patient tumors. Our findings demonstrate that events shared between early- and late-adaptation states provide candidate up-front co-treatment targets

Welfare queens or courageous survivors? strengths of women in poverty

The number of people living in poverty in the United States is staggering and yet to most of us those people are just statistics. A growing body of social science research clearly documents the negative consequences for the physical and mental health of people struggling to meet their basic needs (e.g. Recker Rayburn, 2007). Absent critical analysis of the historical and social factors that contribute to poverty, negative stereotypes and victim blaming arguments flourish – further perpetuating the problem (e.g. Bullock & Lott, 2001). This proposed position paper confronts and discourages this trend by shedding light on one of the largest categories of those struggling with poverty – women

Entrepreneurship in American Higher Education

Presents recommendations by the Kauffman Panel on Entrepreneurship Curriculum in Higher Education on making entrepreneurship a key element in the curriculum, co-curriculum activities, and university management. Includes profiles of innovative programs

Incremental embodied chaotic exploration of self-organized motor behaviors with proprioceptor adaptation

This paper presents a general and fully dynamic embodied artificial neural system, which incrementally explores and learns motor behaviors through an integrated combination of chaotic search and reflex learning. The former uses adaptive bifurcation to exploit the intrinsic chaotic dynamics arising from neuro-body-environment interactions, while the latter is based around proprioceptor adaptation. The overall iterative search process formed from this combination is shown to have a close relationship to evolutionary methods. The architecture developed here allows realtime goal-directed exploration and learning of the possible motor patterns (e.g., for locomotion) of embodied systems of arbitrary morphology. Examples of its successful application to a simple biomechanical model, a simulated swimming robot, and a simulated quadruped robot are given. The tractability of the biomechanical systems allows detailed analysis of the overall dynamics of the search process. This analysis sheds light on the strong parallels with evolutionary search

Chapter 12- Weaving Purposeful Worlds of Discovery: Merging CliftonStrengths® With Habits of Mind for Low-Income, First-Generation Students

Utah State University (USU) Blanding is a non-tribal institution with close to 70% of its student population originating from the Navajo Nation, Dinétah. Located 388 miles southeast of the main campus in Logan, Utah, USU Blanding serves a population of students living in geographically remote areas, including the largest Native American–populated region in the United States. This vast territory—encompassing some 13,300 square miles, which exceeds the combined area of Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and Rhode Island—is classified as “frontier.” With a population density of 2.0 persons per square mile and a poverty rate of 33% (as compared to the Utah average of 8.9%; Utah Department of Workforce Services, 2022), students at the elementary and secondary levels across this region face chronic food insecurity, limited access to transportation, early responsibility for sibling childcare, and limited (or no) access to Internet and running water. When basic needs cannot be met, the difficult yet rewarding work of deep learning is often put on the back burner (McGuire, 2018, p. 6). Add to this a higher-than-average teacher turnover rate, combined with regional school districts’ inclination to advance high school seniors who have for various reasons been underserved since elementary school, and you have future college students unprepared for the academic rigor of a university experience