Comparisons of the North Polar Cap of Mars and the Earth's Northern Hemisphere snow cover

The boundaries of the polar caps of Mars have been measured on more than 3000 photographs since 1905 from the plate collection at the Lowell Observatory. For the Earth the polar caps have been accurately mapped only since the mid 1960's when satellites were first available to synoptically view the polar regions. The polar caps of both planets wax and wane in response to changes in the seasons, and interannual differences in polar cap behavior on Mars as well as Earth are intimately linked to global energy balance. In this study data on the year to year variations in the extent of the polar caps of Mars and Earth were assembled and analyzed together with data on annual variations in solar activity to determine if associations exist between these data. It was found that virtually no correlation exists between measurements of Mars north polar cap and solar variability. An inverse relationship was found between variations in the size of the north polar caps of Mars and Earth, although only 6 years of concurrent data were available for comparison

Malignant pheochromocytoma in a pig

Abstract. Endocrine tumors are rarely observed in pigs, and pheochromocytomas have been only punctually described. The current report describes a white and firm, 15-cm in diameter, neoplastic mass located in the adrenal gland with metastasis to regional lymph nodes in a 2.5-year-old sow. The masses had marked desmoplasia that supported a population of polygonal-tospindle– shaped neoplastic cells arranged into cords and packets within a delicate fibrovascular stroma. Immunohistochemical staining of the tumor was positive for chromogranin and negative for neurofilament protein in adrenal and lymph node masses, which was characteristic of a malignant pheochromocytoma

Quantifying the challenges of detecting unseen planetary companions with transit timing variations

Both ground and space-based transit observatories are poised to significantly increase the number of known transiting planets and the number of precisely measured transit times. The variation in a planet's transit times may be used to infer the presence of additional planets. Deducing the masses and orbital parameters of such planets from transit time variations (TTVs) alone is a rich and increasingly relevant dynamical problem. In this work, we evaluate the extent of the degeneracies in this process, systematically explore the dependence of TTV signals on several parameters and provide phase space plots that could aid observers in planning future observations. Our explorations are focused on a likely-to-be prevalent situation: a known transiting short-period Neptune or Jupiter-sized planet and a suspected external low-mass perturber on a nearly-coplanar orbit. Through approximately 10^7 N-body simulations, we demonstrate how TTV signal amplitudes may vary by orders of magnitude due to slight variations in any one orbital parameter (0.001 AU in semimajor axis, 0.005 in eccentricity, or a few degrees in orbital angles), and quantify the number of consecutive transit observations necessary in order to obtain a reasonable opportunity to characterize the unseen planet (approximately greater or equal to 50 observations). Planets in or near period commensurabilities of the form p:q, where p < 21 and q < 4, produce distinct TTV signatures, regardless of whether the planets are actually locked in a mean motion resonance. We distinguish these systems from the secular systems in our explorations. Additionally, we find that computing the autocorrelation function of a TTV signal can provide a useful diagnostic for identifying possible orbits for additional planets and suggest that this method could aid integration of TTV signals in future studies of particular exosystems.Comment: 53 pages total, including 18 figures, 1 table, and 1 appendix. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Better resolution plots will appear in online journa

MSX versus IRAS Two-Color Diagrams and the CSE-Sequence of Oxygen-Rich Late-Type Stars

We present MSX two-color diagrams that can be used to characterize circumstellar environments of sources with good quality MSX colors in terms of IRAS color regions for oxygen-rich stars. With these diagrams we aim to provide a new tool that can be used to study circumstellar environments and to improve detection rates for targeted surveys for circumstellar maser emission similar to the IRAS two-color diagram. This new tool is especially useful for regions in the sky where IRAS was confused, in particular in the Galactic plane and bulge region. Unfortunately, using MSX colors alone does not allow to distinguish between carbon-rich and oxygen-rich objects. An application of this tool on 86 GHz SiO masers shows that for this type of masers an instantaneous detection rate of 60% to 80% can be achieved if target sources are selected according to MSX color (region). Our investigations may have revealed an error in the MSX point source catalog version 2.3. That is, the photometry of the 21.3 $\mu$m (MSX E filter) band for most weak 8.28 $\mu$m (or MSX A filter) band sources seems off by about a factor two (0.5--1 magnitude too bright).Comment: accepted to Astrophysical Journal, 11 pages, 11 figs of which 1 in colo

PI3K activation is associated with intracellular sodium/iodide symporter protein expression in breast cancer

Background: The sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) is a membrane glycoprotein mediating active iodide uptake in the thyroid gland and is the molecular basis for radioiodide imaging and therapeutic ablation of thyroid carcinomas. NIS is expressed in the lactating mammary gland and in many human breast tumors, raising interest in similar use for diagnosis and treatment. However, few human breast tumors have clinically evident iodide uptake ability. We previously identified PI3K signaling as important in NIS upregulation in transgenic mouse models of breast cancer, and the PI3K pathway is commonly activated in human breast cancer. Methods: NIS expression, subcellular localization, and function were analyzed in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and MCF-7 cells stably or transiently expressing PI3K p110alpha subunit using Western blot of whole cell lysate, cell surface biotinylation Western blot and immunofluorescence, and radioiodide uptake assay, respectively. NIS localization was determined in a human breast cancer tissue microarray using immunohistochemical staining (IHC) and was correlated with preexisting pAkt IHC data. Statistical analysis consisted of Student's t-test (in vitro studies) or Fisher's Exact Test (in vivo correlational studies). Results: In this study, we demonstrate that PI3K activation in MCF-7 human mammary carcinoma cells leads to expression of underglycosylated NIS lacking cell surface trafficking necessary for iodide uptake ability. PI3K activation also appears to interfere with cell surface trafficking of exogenous NIS as well as all-trans retinoic acid-induced endogenous NIS. A correlation between NIS expression and upregulation of PI3K signaling was found in a human breast cancer tissue microarray. Conclusion: Thus, the PI3K pathway likely plays a major role in the discordance between NIS expression and iodide uptake in breast cancer patients. Further study is warranted to realize the application of NIS-mediated radioiodide ablation in breast cancer

Multilingual assessment of early child development: Analyses from repeated observations of children in Kenya.

In many low- and middle-income countries, young children learn a mother tongue or indigenous language at home before entering the formal education system where they will need to understand and speak a countrys official language(s). Thus, assessments of children before school age, conducted in a nations official language, may not fully reflect a childs development, underscoring the importance of test translation and adaptation. To examine differences in vocabulary development by language of assessment, we adapted and validated instruments to measure developmental outcomes, including expressive and receptive vocabulary. We assessed 505 2-to-6-year-old children in rural communities in Western Kenya with comparable vocabulary tests in three languages: Luo (the local language or mother tongue), Swahili, and English (official languages) at two time points, 5-6&nbsp;weeks apart, between September 2015 and October 2016. Younger children responded to the expressive vocabulary measure exclusively in Luo (44%-59% of 2-to-4-year-olds) much more frequently than did older children (20%-21% of 5-to-6-year-olds). Baseline receptive vocabulary scores in Luo (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.26, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;0.001) and Swahili (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.10, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.032) were strongly associated with receptive vocabulary in English at follow-up, even after controlling for English vocabulary at baseline. Parental Luo literacy at baseline (β&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.11, SE&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.05, p&nbsp;=&nbsp;0.045) was associated with child English vocabulary at follow-up, while parental English literacy at baseline was not. Our findings suggest that multilingual testing is essential to understanding the developmental environment and cognitive growth of multilingual children

The Context of Teacher Professionalism: A Case Study of Teacher Perceptions of Professionalism at the University Laboratory School.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Alien Registration- Capen, Edna V. (Rumford, Oxford County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/13468/thumbnail.jp