Message in a bottle : a tale of two Triassic temnospondyl (labyrinthodont) femora from Tasmania

In 1997 the senior author, while exploring the antique shops of Hobart, found in Suffolk Park Antiques an intriguing small, nineteenth-century, clear glass bottle. Labelled as "message in a bottle", it did indeed contain a note on a slip, cut from a visiting card, together with a wafer-thin, sub-triangular piece of dark, porous material (pl. 1). The handwritten note read "section shaft humerus labryinthodont, sandstone quarry, Hobart, 1856, Tas Museum".A further annotation, written at right angles to the preceding note, appears to read "Pro R.S.T 1898-9". Pro R.S.T. is an abbreviated reference to the Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1898-99. This issue of the journal included a short note by WH. Twelvetrees and WF. Petterd describing and illustrating two labyrinthodont bones from Tasmania lodged in the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) collection. Here we trace the history of the two temnospondyl (labyrinthodont) bones, review the significance of these specimens and propose an explanation as to how part of one specimen came to be in the Suffolk Park Antiques sho

Zero Field precession and hysteretic threshold currents in spin torque oscillators with tilted polarizer

Using non-linear system theory and numerical simulations we map out the static and dynamic phase diagram in zero applied field of a spin torque oscillator with a tilted polarizer (TP-STO).We find that for sufficiently large currents, even very small tilt angles (beta>1 degree) will lead to steady free layer precession in zero field. Within a rather large range of tilt angles, 1 degree< beta <19 degree, we find coexisting static states and hysteretic switching between these using only current. In a more narrow window (1 degree<beta<5 degree) one of the static states turns into a limit cycle (precession). The coexistence of static and dynamic states in zero magnetic field is unique to the tilted polarizer and leads to large hysteresis in the upper and lower threshold currents for TP-STO operation.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Microflow of fluorescently labelled red blood cells in tumours expressing single isoforms of VEGF and their response to VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibition

In this work we studied the functional differences between the microcirculation of murine tumours that only express single isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF), VEGF120 and VEGF188, and the effect of VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase (VEGF-R TK) inhibition on their functional response to the vascular disrupting agent, combretastatin A-4 phosphate (CA-4-P). We used measurement of fluorescently- labelled red blood cell (RBC) velocities in tumour microvessels to study this functional response. RBC velocity for control VEGF120-expressing tumours was over 50% slower than for control VEGF188- expressing tumours, which may be due to the immature and haemorrhagic vasculature of the VEGF120 tumour. After chronic treatment with a VEGF-R tyrosine kinase inhibitor, SU5416, RBC velocities in VEGF120 tumours were significantly increased compared to control VEGF120 tumours, and similar to velocities in both VEGF188 treatment groups. Control and SU5416 treated VEGF188 tumours were not different from each other. Treatment of VEGF120 tumours with SU5416 reduced their vascular response to CA-4-P to a similar level to the VEGF188 tumours. Differential expression of VEGF isoforms not only affected vascular function in untreated tumours but also impacted on response to a vascular disrupting drug, CA-4-P, alone and in combination with an anti-angiogenic approach involving VEGF-R TK inhibition. Analysis of RBC velocities is a useful tool in measuring functional responses to vascular targeted treatments

Hyperpolarized Long-T1 Silicon Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Silicon nanoparticles are experimentally investigated as a potential hyperpolarized, targetable MRI imaging agent. Nuclear T_1 times at room temperature for a variety of Si nanoparticles are found to be remarkably long (10^2 to 10^4 s) - roughly consistent with predictions of a core-shell diffusion model - allowing them to be transported, administered and imaged on practical time scales without significant loss of polarization. We also report surface functionalization of Si nanoparticles, comparable to approaches used in other biologically targeted nanoparticle systems.Comment: supporting material here: http://marcuslab.harvard.edu/Aptekar_hyper1_sup.pd

The nature of localization in graphene under quantum Hall conditions

Particle localization is an essential ingredient in quantum Hall physics [1,2]. In conventional high mobility two-dimensional electron systems Coulomb interactions were shown to compete with disorder and to play a central role in particle localization [3]. Here we address the nature of localization in graphene where the carrier mobility, quantifying the disorder, is two to four orders of magnitude smaller [4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. We image the electronic density of states and the localized state spectrum of a graphene flake in the quantum Hall regime with a scanning single electron transistor [11]. Our microscopic approach provides direct insight into the nature of localization. Surprisingly, despite strong disorder, our findings indicate that localization in graphene is not dominated by single particle physics, but rather by a competition between the underlying disorder potential and the repulsive Coulomb interaction responsible for screening.Comment: 18 pages, including 5 figure

Lifeworld Inc. : and what to do about it

Can we detect changes in the way that the world turns up as they turn up? This paper makes such an attempt. The first part of the paper argues that a wide-ranging change is occurring in the ontological preconditions of Euro-American cultures, based in reworking what and how an event is produced. Driven by the security – entertainment complex, the aim is to mass produce phenomenological encounter: Lifeworld Inc as I call it. Swimming in a sea of data, such an aim requires the construction of just enough authenticity over and over again. In the second part of the paper, I go on to argue that this new world requires a different kind of social science, one that is experimental in its orientation—just as Lifeworld Inc is—but with a mission to provoke awareness in untoward ways in order to produce new means of association. Only thus, or so I argue, can social science add to the world we are now beginning to live in

Differentiation of mammary tumors and reduction in metastasis upon Malat1 lncRNA loss

Genome-wide analyses have identified thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs). Malat1 (metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1) is among the most abundant lncRNAs whose expression is altered in numerous cancers. Here we report that genetic loss or systemic knockdown of Malat1 using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) in the MMTV (mouse mammary tumor virus)-PyMT mouse mammary carcinoma model results in slower tumor growth accompanied by significant differentiation into cystic tumors and a reduction in metastasis. Furthermore, Malat1 loss results in a reduction of branching morphogenesis in MMTV-PyMT- and Her2/neu-amplified tumor organoids, increased cell adhesion, and loss of migration. At the molecular level, Malat1 knockdown results in alterations in gene expression and changes in splicing patterns of genes involved in differentiation and protumorigenic signaling pathways. Together, these data demonstrate for the first time a functional role of Malat1 in regulating critical processes in mammary cancer pathogenesis. Thus, Malat1 represents an exciting therapeutic target, and Malat1 ASOs represent a potential therapy for inhibiting breast cancer progression

Gas Accretion via Lyman Limit Systems

In cosmological simulations, a large fraction of the partial Lyman limit systems (pLLSs; 16<log N(HI)<17.2) and LLSs (17.2log N(HI)<19) probes large-scale flows in and out of galaxies through their circumgalactic medium (CGM). The overall low metallicity of the cold gaseous streams feeding galaxies seen in these simulations is the key to differentiating them from metal rich gas that is either outflowing or being recycled. In recent years, several groups have empirically determined an entirely new wealth of information on the pLLSs and LLSs over a wide range of redshifts. A major focus of the recent research has been to empirically determine the metallicity distribution of the gas probed by pLLSs and LLSs in sizable and representative samples at both low (z2) redshifts. Here I discuss unambiguous evidence for metal-poor gas at all z probed by the pLLSs and LLSs. At z<1, all the pLLSs and LLSs so far studied are located in the CGM of galaxies with projected distances <100-200 kpc. Regardless of the exact origin of the low-metallicity pLLSs/LLSs, there is a significant mass of cool, dense, low-metallicity gas in the CGM that may be available as fuel for continuing star formation in galaxies over cosmic time. As such, the metal-poor pLLSs and LLSs are currently among the best observational evidence of cold, metal-poor gas accretion onto galaxies.Comment: Invited review to appear in Gas Accretion onto Galaxies, Astrophysics and Space Science Library, eds. A. J. Fox & R. Dav\'e, to be published by Springe

Influence of Gamma-Ray Emission on the Isotopic Composition of Clouds in the Interstellar Medium

We investigate one mechanism of the change in the isotopic composition of cosmologically distant clouds of interstellar gas whose matter was subjected only slightly to star formation processes. According to the standard cosmological model, the isotopic composition of the gas in such clouds was formed at the epoch of Big Bang nucleosynthesis and is determined only by the baryon density in the Universe. The dispersion in the available cloud composition observations exceeds the errors of individual measurements. This may indicate that there are mechanisms of the change in the composition of matter in the Universe after the completion of Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We have calculated the destruction and production rates of light isotopes (D, 3He, 4He) under the influence of photonuclear reactions triggered by the gamma-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We investigate the destruction and production of light elements depending on the spectral characteristics of the gamma-ray emission. We show that in comparison with previous works, taking into account the influence of spectral hardness on the photonuclear reaction rates can increase the characteristic radii of influence of the gamma-ray emission from AGNs by a factor of 2-8. The high gamma-ray luminosities of AGNs observed in recent years increase the previous estimates of the characteristic radii by two orders of magnitude. This may suggest that the influence of the emission from AGNs on the change in the composition of the medium in the immediate neighborhood (the host galaxy) has been underestimated.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, 3 table