Integrating K12 Outreach with Undergraduate & Graduate Student Research through BalloonSAT: High Altitude Balloons

The Arkansas BalloonSAT team has successfully launched and recovered 37 BalloonSAT’s dating back to the first flight on December 16, 2006. Numerous instruments measuring such things as atmospheric temperature, humidity, radiation, and light intensity have recorded data from different locations over the State of Arkansas. The initial focus of this project was outreach with the k-12 schools, and still involves outreach; however atmospheric research has become a significant component for this endeavor. This ongoing collaborative projection has involved a number of faculty and students from different academic backgrounds, including physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy among different ASGC schools who have contributed to this effort. Members of the team have presented at state, regional, national, as well as international conferences. The outreach work with k-12 teachers/students was highlighted in an article Students at the Edge of Space published in the journal The Science Teacher produced by the National Science Teachers Association (January 2008). A photograph taken from a camera mounted in one of the payload boxes flown on Arkansas BalloonSAT 6 made the cover of this journal. Tethered Blimps are a new additional to this program. The investigators have form an initial network of five Arkansas middle & high schools to observe weather trends across the state and engage midlevel & secondary teachers and students in a collaborative research project. These teachers will receive training, equipment, and 13 foot tethered blimps in June 2015. The project aims include but are not limited to identifying urban heat island effects by comparing schools from rural areas and urban areas, and daily variations in relative humidity. A number of these schools are located in rural farming areas where CH4 and CO2 levels will be measured from just above the surface with the blimps to the lower stratosphere via balloons

Balloon-borne methane and radiation measurements

The BalloonSAT program is a high altitude research and education outreach program at Arkansas State University. Weather balloons carried a Geiger counter that measured X-ray, β, and γ radiation profiles together and a methane sensor (Arduino and MQ-6 detector) in payload boxes to 30 km (90,000 ft) over the past five years. Payload boxes were foam containers for water resistant and floating abilities in possible water landings, no modifications beyond securing sensors to the payload box were made. Methane and radiation measurements are not directly related, but collected independently and flown on many flights together and therefore presented together. A radiation peak related to decreasing cosmic radiation and increased secondary radiation, or Pfotzer maximum at 10-15 km was found. Lower tropopause temperatures were related to higher radiation counts at the Pfotzer maximum. Methane is 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. A linear calibration curve was made with known concentrations of methane at various temperatures to convert voltage readings into concentrations. The low temperatures and pressure were not found to significantly impact concentration measurements. Methane concentration was found to decrease with altitude similar to satellite and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) measurements. BalloonSAT does not collect data that can replace satellites, but proves to be an effective instrument in identifying radiation and methane profiles in the troposphere and lower stratosphere comparable to other balloon-borne, UAV and satellite studies

Long Term Tropospheric and Stratospheric Measurements Using High Altitude Balloons

The Arkansas BalloonSAT program is an educational outreach and research program at Arkansas State University. A variety of instruments including HOBO data loggers, Anasonde, and Arduino methane sensors have been flown on flights in the past five years. Measurements using BalloonSAT provides a cost effective option, while also matching measurements made with satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. This includes identifying water vapor, pressure, background radiation, methane, carbon dioxide and temperature profiles over seasons and years. Water vapor trends were observed to vary with seasons, with water vapor lowest in the summer and greatest in the spring at stratospheric altitudes. Methane and carbon dioxide were observed to decrease with higher altitudes because of the greater distance from emission sources. Temperature measurements followed typical atmospheric profile measurements with an inversion at the stratosphere

Strategies for the use of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in cancer therapy

Treatments with Poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have offered patients carrying cancers with mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes a new and in many cases effective option for disease control. There is potentially a large patient population that may also benefit from PARP inhibitor treatment, either in monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy. Here, we describe the multifaceted role of PARP inhibitors and discuss which treatment options could potentially be useful to gain disease control without potentiating side effects

DNA Repair in Prostate Cancer: Biology and Clinical Implications

CONTEXT: For more precise, personalized care in prostate cancer (PC), a new classification based on molecular features relevant for prognostication and treatment stratification is needed. Genomic aberrations in the DNA damage repair pathway are common in PC, particularly in late-stage disease, and may be relevant for treatment stratification. OBJECTIVE: To review current knowledge on the prevalence and clinical significance of aberrations in DNA repair genes in PC, particularly in metastatic disease. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A literature search up to July 2016 was conducted, including clinical trials and preclinical basic research studies. Keywords included DNA repair, BRCA, ATM, CRPC, prostate cancer, PARP, platinum, predictive biomarkers, and hereditary cancer. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: We review how the DNA repair pathway is relevant to prostate carcinogenesis and progression. Data on how this may be relevant to hereditary cancer and genetic counseling are included, as well as data from clinical trials of PARP inhibitors and platinum therapeutics in PC. CONCLUSIONS: Relevant studies have identified genomic defects in DNA repair in PCs in 20-30% of advanced castration-resistant PC cases, a proportion of which are germline aberrations and heritable. Phase 1/2 clinical trial data, and other supporting clinical data, support the development of PARP inhibitors and DNA-damaging agents in this molecularly defined subgroup of PC following success in other cancer types. These studies may be an opportunity to improve patient care with personalized therapeutic strategies. PATIENT SUMMARY: Key literature on how genomic defects in the DNA damage repair pathway are relevant for prostate cancer biology and clinical management is reviewed. Potential implications for future changes in patient care are discussed

Development of 'synthetic lethal' strategies to target BRCA1-deficient breast cancer

Recent clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for the treatment of BRCA1-deficient breast cancer have provided support for the 'synthetic lethal' concept of targeted cancer therapeutics. A new study provides further preclinical validation of this concept by demonstrating that BRCA1-deficient mouse mammary tumor cells are selectively sensitive to an inhibitor of the polycomb gene EZH2. The development of polycomb gene inhibitors may provide a novel approach to selectively exploit the molecular alterations in BRCA1-deficient breast tumors

Physical activity for cancer survivors: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

Objective To systematically evaluate the effects of physical activity in adult patients after completion of main treatment related to cancer

IBIS (Inferred Biomolecular Interaction Server) reports, predicts and integrates multiple types of conserved interactions for proteins

We have recently developed the Inferred Biomolecular Interaction Server (IBIS) and database, which reports, predicts and integrates different types of interaction partners and locations of binding sites in proteins based on the analysis of homologous structural complexes. Here, we highlight several new IBIS features and options. The server's webpage is now redesigned to allow users easier access to data for different interaction types. An entry page is added to give a quick summary of available results and to now accept protein sequence accessions. To elucidate the formation of protein complexes, not just binary interactions, IBIS currently presents an expandable interaction network. Previously, IBIS provided annotations for four different types of binding partners: proteins, small molecules, nucleic acids and peptides; in the current version a new protein–ion interaction type has been added. Several options provide easy downloads of IBIS data for all Protein Data Bank (PDB) protein chains and the results for each query. In this study, we show that about one-third of all RefSeq sequences can be annotated with IBIS interaction partners and binding sites. The IBIS server is available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/ibis/ibis.cgi and updated biweekly

Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia – Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Background: Little is known about changes of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in potentially disadvantaged groups. We investigated changes in anxiety and depression symptoms during the first year of the pandemic in six European countries and Australia by prior mental disorders and migration status. Methods: Overall, 4674 adults answered a web-based survey in May-June 2020 and were followed by three repeated surveys up to February 2021. Information on psychosocial, financial and demographic, living conditions, prior mental disorders, depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic and migration status was collected. Weighted general estimation equations modelling was used to investigate the association between prior mental disorders, migration status, and symptoms over time. Results: Most participants were <40 years old (48%), women (78%) and highly educated (62%). The baseline prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms ranged between 19%-45% and 13%-35%, respectively. In most countries, prevalence rates remained unchanged throughout the pandemic and were higher among people with prior mental disorders than without even after adjustment for several factors. We observed interactions between previous mental disorders and symptoms of anxiety or depression over time in two countries. No difference by migration status was noted. Limitations: Convenience sampling limits generalizability. Self-assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety might involve some misclassification. Conclusions: Depression and anxiety symptoms were worse among individuals with prior mental disorders than without, but there was no clear trend of worsening mental health in the observed groups during the observed period

Symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in six European countries and Australia - Differences by prior mental disorders and migration status

Background: Little is known about changes of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in potentially disadvantaged groups. We investigated changes in anxiety and depression symptoms during the first year of the pandemic in six European countries and Australia by prior mental disorders and migration status. Methods: Overall, 4674 adults answered a web-based survey in May-June 2020 and were followed by three repeated surveys up to February 2021. Information on psychosocial, financial and demographic, living conditions, prior mental disorders, depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic and migration status was collected. Weighted general estimation equations modelling was used to investigate the association between prior mental disorders, migration status, and symptoms over time. Results: Most participants were &lt;40 years old (48%), women (78%) and highly educated (62%). The baseline prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms ranged between 19%-45% and 13%-35%, respectively. In most countries, prevalence rates remained unchanged throughout the pandemic and were higher among people with prior mental disorders than without even after adjustment for several factors. We observed interactions between previous mental disorders and symptoms of anxiety or depression over time in two countries. No difference by migration status was noted. Limitations: Convenience sampling limits generalizability. Self-assessed symptoms of depression and anxiety might involve some misclassification. Conclusions: Depression and anxiety symptoms were worse among individuals with prior mental disorders than without, but there was no clear trend of worsening mental health in the observed groups during the observed period