A Feasibility Study for Using Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Hardware for Meeting NASA’s Need for a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) to the International Space Station - [COTS]\u3csup\u3e2\u3c/sup\u3e

The space vehicle system concept (i.e. resupply vehicle) described is based on the new direction that President George W. Bush announced on January 14, 2004 for NASA’s Human Exploration, which has the space shuttle retiring in 2011 following the completion of the International Space Station (ISS). This leads to a problem for the ISS community regarding the capability of meeting a sixty metric-ton cargo shortfall in resupply and the ability of returning large payloads, experiment racks and any other items too large to fit into a crew only type spacecraft like the Orion or Soyuz. NASA and the ISS partners have realized these future problems and started developing various systems for resupply to ISS, but none offer the capability for large up or down mass close to that of the shuttle. Without this capability, the primary purpose behind the ISS science mission is defeated and the ability to keep the station functioning properly is at risk with limited payload delivery (i.e. replacement hardware size and mass). There is a solution to this problem and a majority of the solution has already been designed, built, and flight tested. Another portion has been studied heavily by a team at NASA for use in a slightly different mission. Following the retirement of the space shuttle fleet and the loss of heavy up and down mass capability, the only solution to the problem is to design a new spacecraft. However, the budget and new direction for NASA will not allow for a costly new payload carrying spacecraft. The solution is to use existing commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware to minimize the costs of developing a totally new system. This paper will discuss the technical feasibility of this conceptual configuration

Involvement of Noradrenergic Neurotransmission in the Stress- but not Cocaine-Induced Reinstatement of Extinguished Cocaine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Mice: Role for β-2 Adrenergic Receptors

The responsiveness of central noradrenergic systems to stressors and cocaine poses norepinephrine as a potential common mechanism through which drug re-exposure and stressful stimuli promote relapse. This study investigated the role of noradrenergic systems in the reinstatement of extinguished cocaine-induced conditioned place preference by cocaine and stress in male C57BL/6 mice. Cocaine- (15 mg/kg, i.p.) induced conditioned place preference was extinguished by repeated exposure to the apparatus in the absence of drug and reestablished by a cocaine challenge (15 mg/kg), exposure to a stressor (6-min forced swim (FS); 20–25°C water), or administration of the α-2 adrenergic receptor (AR) antagonists yohimbine (2 mg/kg, i.p.) or BRL44408 (5, 10 mg/kg, i.p.). To investigate the role of ARs, mice were administered the nonselective β-AR antagonist, propranolol (5, 10 mg/kg, i.p.), the α-1 AR antagonist, prazosin (1, 2 mg/kg, i.p.), or the α-2 AR agonist, clonidine (0.03, 0.3 mg/kg, i.p.) before reinstatement testing. Clonidine, prazosin, and propranolol failed to block cocaine-induced reinstatement. The low (0.03 mg/kg) but not high (0.3 mg/kg) clonidine dose fully blocked FS-induced reinstatement but not reinstatement by yohimbine. Propranolol, but not prazosin, blocked reinstatement by both yohimbine and FS, suggesting the involvement of β-ARs. The β-2 AR antagonist ICI-118551 (1 mg/kg, i.p.), but not the β-1 AR antagonist betaxolol (10 mg/kg, i.p.), also blocked FS-induced reinstatement. These findings suggest that stress-induced reinstatement requires noradrenergic signaling through β-2 ARs and that cocaine-induced reinstatement does not require AR activation, even though stimulation of central noradrenergic neurotransmission is sufficient to reinstate

Miscellany

Art Writinghttps://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/miscell/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Crop Updates 2009 - Farming Systems

This session covers nineteen papers from different authors: Decision support technology 1. The use of high resolution imagery in broad acre cropping, Derk Bakker and Grey Poulish, Department of Agriculture and Food 2. Spraywise decisions – online spray applicatiors planning tool, Steve Lacy, Nufarm Australia Ltd 3. Testing for redlegged earthmite resistance in Western Australia, Svetlana Micic, Peter Mangano, Tony Dore and Alan Lord, Department of Agriculture and Food 4. Screening cereal, canola and pasture cultivars for Root Lesion Nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus), Vivien Vanstone, Helen Hunter and Sean Kelly,Department of Agriculture and Food Farming Systems Research 5. Lessons from five years of cropping systems research, WK Anderson, Department of Agriculture and Food 6. Facey Group rotations for profit: Five years on and where to next? Gary Lang and David McCarthy, Facey Group, Wickepin, WA Mixed Farming 7. Saline groundwater use by Lucerne and its biomass production in relation to groundwater salinity, Ruhi Ferdowsian, Ian Roseand Andrew Van Burgel, Department of Agriculture and Food 8. Autumn cleaning yellow serradella pastures with broad spectrum herbicides – a novel weed control strategy that exploits delayed germination, Dr David Ferris, Department of Agriculture and Food 9. Decimating weed seed banks within non-crop phases for the benefit of subsequent crops, Dr David Ferris, Department of Agriculture and Food 10. Making seasonal variability easier to deal with in a mixed farming enterprise! Rob Grima,Department of Agriculture and Food 11. How widely have new annual legume pastures been adopted in the low to medium rainfall zones of Western Australia? Natalie Hogg, Department of Agriculture and Food, John Davis, Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University 12. Economic evaluation of dual purpose cereal in the Central wheatbelt of Western Australia, Jarrad Martin, Pippa Michael and Robert Belford, School of Agriculture and Environment, CurtinUniversity of Technology, Muresk Campus 13. A system for improving the fit of annual pasture legumes under Western Australian farming systems, Kawsar P Salam1,2, Roy Murray-Prior1, David Bowran2and Moin U. Salam2, 1Curtin University of Technology; 2Department of Agriculture and Food 14. Perception versus reality: why we should measure our pasture, Tim Scanlon, Department of Agriculture and Food, Len Wade, Charles Sturt University, Megan Ryan, University of Western Australia Modelling 15. Potential impact of climate changes on the profitability of cropping systems in the medium and high rainfall areas of the northern wheatbelt, Megan Abrahams, Chad Reynolds, Caroline Peek, Dennis van Gool, Kari-Lee Falconer and Daniel Gardiner, Department of Agriculture and Food 16. Prediction of wheat grain yield using Yield Prophet®, Geoff Anderson and Siva Sivapalan, Department of Agriculture and Food 17. Using Yield Prophet® to determine the likely impacts of climate change on wheat production, Tim McClelland1, James Hunt1, Zvi Hochman2, Bill Long3, Dean Holzworth4, Anthony Whitbread5, Stephen van Rees1and Peter DeVoil6 1 Birchip Cropping Group, Birchip, Vic, 2Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU), CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Climate Adaptation Flagship, Qld, 3 AgConsulting, SA 4 Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU), CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Toowoomba Qld, 5 CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, SA, 6 Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU), Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland 18. Simple methods to predict yield potential: Improvements to the French and Schultz formula to account for soil type and within-season rainfall, Yvette Oliver, Michael Robertson and Peter Stone, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems 19. Ability of various yield forecasting models to estimate soil water at the start of the growing season, Siva Sivapalan, Kari-Lee Falconer and Geoff Anderson, Department of Agriculture and Foo

High-Resolution Description of Antibody Heavy-Chain Repertoires in Humans

Antibodies' protective, pathological, and therapeutic properties result from their considerable diversity. This diversity is almost limitless in potential, but actual diversity is still poorly understood. Here we use deep sequencing to characterize the diversity of the heavy-chain CDR3 region, the most important contributor to antibody binding specificity, and the constituent V, D, and J segments that comprise it. We find that, during the stepwise D-J and then V-DJ recombination events, the choice of D and J segments exert some bias on each other; however, we find the choice of the V segment is essentially independent of both. V, D, and J segments are utilized with different frequencies, resulting in a highly skewed representation of VDJ combinations in the repertoire. Nevertheless, the pattern of segment usage was almost identical between two different individuals. The pattern of V, D, and J segment usage and recombination was insufficient to explain overlap that was observed between the two individuals' CDR3 repertoires. Finally, we find that while there are a near-infinite number of heavy-chain CDR3s in principle, there are about 3–9 million in the blood of an adult human being