A modified gas-trapping method for high-throughput metabolic experiments in Drosophila melanogaster

Metabolism is often studied in animal models, with the Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly model offering ease of genetic manipulation and high-throughput studies. Fly metabolism is typically studied using end-point assays that are simple but destructive, and do not provide information on the utilization of specific nutrients. To address these limitations, we adapted existing gas-trapping protocols to measure the oxidation of radiolabeled substrates (such as glucose) in multi-well plates. This protocol is cost effective, simple, and offers precise control over experimental diet and measurement time, thus being amenable to high-throughput studies. Furthermore, it is nondestructive, enabling time-course experiments and multiplexing with other parameters. Overall, this protocol is useful for merging fly genetics with metabolic studies to understand whole organism responses to different macronutrients

Student understanding of rotational and rolling motion concepts

We investigated the common difficulties that students have with concepts related to rotational and rolling motion covered in the introductory physics courses. We compared the performance of calculus- and algebra-based introductory physics students with physics juniors who had learned rotational and rolling motion concepts in an intermediate level mechanics course. Interviews were conducted with six physics juniors and ten introductory students using demonstration-based tasks. We also administered free-response and multiple-choice questions to a large number of students enrolled in introductory physics courses, and interviewed six additional introductory students on the test questions (during the test design phase). All students showed similar difficulties regardless of their background, and higher mathematical sophistication did not seem to help acquire a deeper understanding. We found that some difficulties were due to related difficulties with linear motion, while others were tied specifically to the more intricate nature of rotational and rolling motion.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; it includes a multiple-choice test (in Appendix B

The Role of AtMUS81 in Interference-Insensitive Crossovers in A. thaliana

MUS81 is conserved among plants, animals, and fungi and is known to be involved in mitotic DNA damage repair and meiotic recombination. Here we present a functional characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana homolog AtMUS81, which has a role in both mitotic and meiotic cells. The AtMUS81 transcript is produced in all tissues, but is elevated greater than 9-fold in the anthers and its levels are increased in response to gamma radiation and methyl methanesulfonate treatment. An Atmus81 transfer-DNA insertion mutant shows increased sensitivity to a wide range of DNA-damaging agents, confirming its role in mitotically proliferating cells. To examine its role in meiosis, we employed a pollen tetrad–based visual assay. Data from genetic intervals on Chromosomes 1 and 3 show that Atmus81 mutants have a moderate decrease in meiotic recombination. Importantly, measurements of recombination in a pair of adjacent intervals on Chromosome 5 demonstrate that the remaining crossovers in Atmus81 are interference sensitive, and that interference levels in the Atmus81 mutant are significantly greater than those in wild type. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that AtMUS81 is involved in a secondary subset of meiotic crossovers that are interference insensitive

Prognostic Factors in Dedifferentiated Chondrosarcoma: A Retrospective Analysis of a Large Series Treated at a Single Institution.

Background:Dedifferentiated chondrosarcomas (DDCSs) are highly malignant tumors with a dismal prognosis and present a significant challenge in clinical management. Methods:In an IRB approved retrospective protocol, we identified 72 patients with DDCS treated at our institution between 1993 and 2017 and reviewed clinicopathological characteristics, treatment modalities, and outcomes to analyze prognostic factors. Results:Femur (44.4%), pelvis (22.2%), and humerus (12.5%) were most commonly involved sites. Twenty-three patients (31.9%) presented with distant metastasis, and 3 (4.2%) of them also had regional lymph node involvement. The median overall survival (OS) was 13.9 months. On multivariate analysis, pathological fracture, larger tumor size, lymph node involvement, metastasis at diagnosis, extraosseous extension, and undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma component correlated with worse OS, whereas surgical resection and chemotherapy were associated with improved OS. For progression-free survival (PFS), pathological fracture and metastasis at diagnosis showed increased risk, while chemotherapy was associated with decreased risk. Among patients who received chemotherapy, doxorubicin and cisplatin were significantly associated with improved PFS but not OS. Among patients without metastasis at diagnosis, 17 (34.7%) developed local recurrence. Thirty-one (63.3%) developed distant metastases at a median interval of 18.1 months. On multivariate analysis, R1/R2 resection was related with local recurrence, while macroscopic dedifferentiated component was associated with distant metastasis. Conclusions:The prognosis of DDCS is poor. Complete resection remains a significant prognostic factor for local control. Chemotherapy with doxorubicin and cisplatin seems to have better PFS. More prognostic, multicenter trials are warranted to further explore the effectiveness of chemotherapy in selected DDCS patients

Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) for Liver Metastasis: Early Experience with the Cyberknife Robotic Radio-Surgery System

Background: The liver is a common site for malignant metastases. Surgical metastatic resection, ablative therapies, and external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) all have advantages and limitations. Preliminary reports reveal SBRT treats hepatic metastases with limited toxicities. We reviewed our institution’s SBRT experience for the treatment of liver metastases to assess toxicity and outcomes.Methods: Hepatic metastases treated with SBRT were retrospectively reviewed from 2008-2010. Computed tomography (CT) identified tumor volume prior to SBRT, local recurrence and out-of-field progression after SBRT. Study endpoints were local recurrence, toxicity, and overall survival.Results: Thirty-three patients had 37 liver metastases treated with a median SBRT dose of 30Gy. Median follow-up was 8.1 months. Five lesions (13.5%) locally recurred after a median of 10.6 months. Seventeen patients had out-of-field progression (15 liver, 6 systemic) after a median of 5.1 months. Overall 23.5-month survival was 45.5%. Five patients reported nausea and seven reported pain after SBRT. There were no grade 4-5 toxicities or cases of liver failure.Conclusion: SBRT is safe and well tolerated in patients with hepatic metastases. SBRT offers a local therapy with limited toxicities to patients with lesions not amenable to traditional ablative, surgical, or regional therapies

Rayleigh-Ritz Calculation of Effective Potential Far From Equilibrium

We demonstrate the utility of a Rayleigh-Ritz scheme recently proposed to compute the nonequilibrium effective potential nonperturbatively in a strong noise regime far from equilibrium. A simple Kramers model of an ionic conductor is used to illustrate the efficiency of the method.Comment: 4 pages, Latex (Version 2.09), 2 figures (Postscript), tar+gzip+uuencoded. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Merleau-Ponty and neuroaesthetics: Two approaches to performance and technology

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Digital Creativity, 23(3-4), 225 - 238, 2012. Copyright @ 2012 Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14626268.2012.709941.Assisted by the rapid growth of digital technology, which has enhanced its ambitions, performance is an increasingly popular area of artistic practice. This article seeks to contextualise this within two methodologically divergent yet complimentary intellectual tendencies. The first is the work of the philosopher Merleau-Ponty, who recognised that our experience of the world has an inescapably ‘embodied’ quality, not reducible to mental accounts, which can be vicariously extended through specific instrumentation. The second is the developing field of neuroaesthetics; that is, neurological research directed towards the analysis, in brain-functional terms, of our experiences of objects and events which are culturally deemed to be of artistic significance. I will argue that both these contexts offer promising approaches to interpreting developments in contemporary performance, which has achieved critical recognition without much antecedent theoretical support

Classification of TP53 mutations and HPV predict survival in advanced larynx cancer

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134126/1/lary25915-sup-0001-suppinfo.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134126/2/lary25915_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134126/3/lary25915.pd