Filling the Empty Niches

A niche, in ecology, is all that a species needs to function: the right food, climate, protection from predators, nesting sites, migration routes, and so forth. An empty niche is a proven niche going unused – say, that of the late Stephen Jay Gould. I argue that the popularization successes in an adjacent field, evolutionary biology, suggest that a similar niche is there for popularizing cognitive neuro. The scientist contemplating writing for a wider audience will often assume that others in the field will be critical, that such a writer will constantly have to justify simplifications or omissions. Or that others will be suspicious that the writer is seeking fame via bypassing the long hard grind of academic publication. While such comment surely happens on occasion, the writer is more likely to be nearly invisible within their own field, even if moderately-well-known outside the field. The reason for this invisibility is simple. Scientists are also general readers. They only have so much time to read, and so they mostly read outside their own field until a new grad student suggests your book for a reading list

The Great Use-It or Lose-It Intelligence Test

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Single-cell transcriptomes reveal the mechanism for a breast cancer prognostic gene panel.

The clinical benefits of the MammaPrint® signature for breast cancer is well documented; however, how these genes are related to cell cycle perturbation have not been well determined. Our single-cell transcriptome mapping (algorithm) provides details into the fine perturbation of all individual genes during a cell cycle, providing a view of the cell-cycle-phase specific landscape of any given human genes. Specifically, we identified that 38 out of the 70 (54%) MammaPrint® signature genes are perturbated to a specific phase of the cell cycle. The MammaPrint® signature panel derived its clinical prognosis power from measuring the cell cycle activity of specific breast cancer samples. Such cell cycle phase index of the MammaPrint® signature suggested that measurement of the cell cycle index from tumors could be developed into a prognosis tool for various types of cancer beyond breast cancer, potentially improving therapy through targeting a specific phase of the cell cycle of cancer cells

Thermal Testing of a Stacked Core Mirror for UV Applications

The ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey stated that an advanced large-aperture ultraviolet, optical, near-infrared (UVOIR) telescope is required to enable the next generation of compelling astrophysics and exoplanet science; and, that present technology is not mature enough to affordably build and launch any potential UVOIR mission concept. Under Science and Technology funding, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and ITT Exelis have developed a more cost effective process to make 4m monolithic spaceflight UV quality, low areal density, thermally and dynamically stable primary mirrors. A proof of concept mirror was built and tested down to 250K which would allow imaging out to 2.5 microns. This mirror was thermally tested at the Marshall Spaceflight Center to understand the thermal changes between the processing temperature of 293K and the potential low end of the operational temperature of 250K. Isothermal testing results and front plate gradient results have been evaluated and compared to analysis predictions. Measurement of gravity effects on surface figure will be compared to analytical predictions. Future testing of a larger Pathfinder mirror will also be discussed

Organic Geochemical Studies. Ii. The Distribution of Aliphatichydrocarbons in Algae, Bacteria, and in a Recent Lake Sediment: Apreliminary Report

The theory that algal oozes could give rise to oil shales is not a recent one. Evidence for this theory rests on the finding that algae have less cellulose and a correspondingly greater proportion of lipids than most plant material. In addition, the contemporary alga Botyrococcus is present in microscopic remains in some organic oozes. Since the algal ooze precursor theory rests primarily on geological and paleobotanical evidence, they have sought to complement this evidence by making a study of the constitutents of various genera of algae at the molecular level and comparing them with the organic constituents isolated and identified in the algal ooze from a Florida lake. They have analyzed the hydrocarbon constituents of four species of algae: the blue-greens, Nostoc and Anacystis, the green algae, Spirogyra and Chlorella