Workshop talk: False positives and shallow eclipsing binaries in transiting exoplanet services, PLATO Week, Porto, October 2017

Using the population synthesis code BiSEPS, we estimate the likely contamination from background eclipsing binaries in the forthcoming PLATO mission

Transforming Learning: Challenges and Opportunities through School Libraries

Researchers will share papers exploring the SIG theme, Transforming Learning: Challenges and Opportunities through School Libraries. This interactive SIG session includes presentation of each research paper followed by open dialogue and Q&A regarding issues raised by the papers, implications for practice, and future areas for research. The following papers were selected for presentation: Teachers’ Perceptions of Students’ News Literacy (Lesley S. J. Farmer), Lead Like a Librarian (Pamela Harland), Challenges and Opportunities: Transforming Learning through Implementation of the 2018 National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries (Carl A. Harvey II, Jen R. Spisak, Karla B. Collins, and Audrey P. Church), and Discourses of Adolescence/ts and Collection Development (Jenna Spiering and Kate Lechtenberg)

The Mineralogical and Chemical Case for Habitability at Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars

Sediments of the Yellowknife Bay formation (Gale crater) include the Sheepbed member, a mudstone cut by light-toned veins. Two drill samples, John Klein and Cumberland, were collected and analyzed by the CheMin XRD/XRF instrument and the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) evolved gas and isotopic analysis suite of instruments. Drill cuttings were also analyzed by the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) for bulk composition. The CheMin XRD analysis shows that the mudstone contains basaltic minerals (Fe-forsterite, augite, pigeonite, plagioclase), as well as Fe-oxide/hydroxides, Fe-sulfides, amorphous materials, and trioctahedral phyllosilicates. SAM evolved gas analysis of higher-temperature OH matches the CheMin XRD estimate of ~20% clay minerals in the mudstone. The light-toned veins contain Ca-sulfates; anhydrite and bassanite are detected by XRD but gypsum is also indicated from Mastcam spectral mapping. These sulfates appear to be almost entirely restricted to late-diagenetic veins. The sulfate content of the mudstone matrix itself is lower than other sediments analyzed on Mars. The presence of phyllosilicates indicates that the activity of water was high during their formation and/or transport and deposition (should they have been detrital). Lack of chlorite places limits on the maximum temperature of alteration (likely <100 C). The presence of Ca-sulfates rather than Mg- or Fe-sulfates suggests that the pore water pH was near-neutral and of relatively low ionic strength (although x-ray amorphous Mg-and Fe- sulfates could be present and undetectable by CheMin). The presence of Fe and S in both reduced and oxidized states represents chemical disequilibria that could have been utilized by chemolithoautotrophic biota, if present. When compared to the nearby Rocknest sand shadow mineralogy or the normative mineralogy of Martian soil, both John Klein and Cumberland exhibit a near-absence of olivine and a surplus of magnetite (7-9% of the crystalline component). The magnetite is interpreted as an authigenic product formed when olivine was altered to phyllosilicate. Saponitization of olivine (a process analogous to serpentinization) could have produced H2 in situ. Indeed, early diagenetic hollow nodules ("minibowls") present in the Cumberland mudstone are interpreted by some as forming when gas bubbles accumulated in the unconsolidated mudstone. Lastly, all of these early diagenetic features appear to have been preserved with minimal alteration since their formation, as indicated by the ease of drilling (weak lithification, lack of cementing phases), the presence of 20-30% amorphous material, and the late-stage fracturing with emplacement of calcium sulfate veins and minibowl infills, where they were intersected by veins. A rough estimate of the minimum duration of the lacustrine environment is provided by the minimum thickness of the Sheepbed member. Given 1.5 meters, and applying a mean sediment accumulation rate for lacustrine strata of 1 m/1000 yrs yields a duration of 1,500 years. If the aqueous environments represented by overlying strata are considered, such as Gillespie Lake and Shaler, then this duration increases. The Sheepbed mudstone meets all the requirements of a habitable environment: Aqueous deposition at clement conditions of P, T, pH, Eh and ionic strength, plus the availability of sources of chemical energy

Pioglitazone Treatment Increases Survival and Prevents Body Weight Loss in Tumor-Bearing Animals: Possible Anti-Cachectic Effect

Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterized by profound involuntary weight loss, fat depletion, skeletal muscle wasting, and asthenia; all symptoms are not entirely attributable to inadequate nutritional intake. Adipose tissue and skeletal muscle loss during cancer cachexia development has been described systematically. the former was proposed to precede and be more rapid than the latter, which presents a means for the early detection of cachexia in cancer patients. Recently, pioglitazone (PGZ) was proposed to exhibit anticancer properties, including a reduction in insulin resistance and adipose tissue loss; nevertheless, few studies have evaluated its effect on survival. for greater insight into a potential anti-cachectic effect due to PGZ, 8-week-old male Wistar rats were subcutaneously inoculated with 1 mL (2x10(7)) of Walker 256 tumor cells. the animals were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: TC (tumor + saline-control) and TP5 (tumor + PGZ/5 mg). Body weight, food ingestion and tumor growth were measured at baseline and after removal of tumor on days 7, 14 and 26. Samples from different visceral adipose tissue (AT) depots were collected on days 7 and 14 and stored at -80oC (5 to 7 animals per day/group). the PGZ treatment showed an increase in the survival average of 27.3%(P<0.01) when compared to TC. It was also associated with enhanced body mass preservation (40.7 and 56.3%, p<0.01) on day 14 and 26 compared with the TC group. the treatment also reduced the final tumor mass (53.4%, p<0.05) and anorexia compared with the TC group during late-stage cachexia. the retroperitoneal AT (RPAT) mass was preserved on day 7 compared with the TC group during the same experimental period. Such effect also demonstrates inverse relationship with tumor growth, on day 14. Gene expression of PPAR-gamma, adiponectin, LPL and C/EBP-alpha from cachectic rats was upregulated after PGZ. Glucose uptake from adipocyte cells (RPAT) was entirely re-established due to PGZ treatment. Taken together, the results demonstrate beneficial effects of PGZ treatment at both the early and final stages of cachexia.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Univ Mogi das Cruzes, Integrated Grp Biotechnol, Lab Adipose Tissue Biol, Mogi Das Cruzes, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Canc Metab Res Grp, São Paulo, BrazilUniv São Paulo, Inst Biomed Sci, Physiol Lab, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Estadual Maringa, Dept Physiol Sci, Maringa, Parana, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biomed Engn, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilBoston Sch Med, Dept Biochem, Boston, MA USAUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Biomed Engn, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilFAPESP: 2010/51078-1FAPESP: 2008/54091-9FAPESP: 2012/51094-1Web of Scienc

Discovery and development of novel DNA-PK inhibitors by targeting the unique Ku–DNA interaction

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) plays a critical role in the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair pathway and the DNA damage response (DDR). DNA-PK has therefore been pursued for the development of anti-cancer therapeutics in combination with ionizing radiation (IR). We report the discovery of a new class of DNA-PK inhibitors that act via a novel mechanism of action, inhibition of the Ku-DNA interaction. We have developed a series of highly potent and specific Ku-DNA binding inhibitors (Ku-DBi's) that block the Ku-DNA interaction and inhibit DNA-PK kinase activity. Ku-DBi's directly interact with the Ku and inhibit in vitro NHEJ, cellular NHEJ, and potentiate the cellular activity of radiomimetic agents and IR. Analysis of Ku-null cells demonstrates that Ku-DBi's cellular activity is a direct result of Ku inhibition, as Ku-null cells are insensitive to Ku-DBi's. The utility of Ku-DBi's was also revealed in a CRISPR gene-editing model where we demonstrate that the efficiency of gene insertion events was increased in cells pre-treated with Ku-DBi's, consistent with inhibition of NHEJ and activation of homologous recombination to facilitate gene insertion. These data demonstrate the discovery and application of new series of compounds that modulate DNA repair pathways via a unique mechanism of action

Southeastern Association of Law Libraries Annual Meeting

The 2009 SEAALL Annual Meeting was held in Athens Georgia, April 16-18, 2009