The Induction of EMT and Activation of Adipose Stem Cells in Correlation with the Secretion of LTBP-1 in Mammary Cells

This work is part of an ongoing study that investigates the upregulation of LTBP-1 in mammary epithelial cells as well as the differentiation of breast adipose stem cells (BASCs) in the presence of TGF-β1. Through immunofluorescence imaging, LTBP-1 is shown to co-localize with fibronectin fibrils in adipose stem cells. Previous work from our lab has shown that blocking fibronectin fibril formation can inhibit Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition. Thus, targeting of fibronectin assembly could be a potent new therapeutic in cancer treatment. In the current work, we focus on the pharmacodynamics of a FN assembly inhibitor derived from the protein Adhesin F1 (refered to as FUD). FN Fibril area was quantified in samples with different FUD dosages to determine the optimal concentration. The optimal dosage for this inhibitor was obtained for both mammary epithelial cells and breast adipose stem cells through image processing. Additionally, toxicity studies were performed using MTT assays. Results suggest that in both the mammary epithelial cells and the breast adipose stem cells, there is a range of dosing for which FN fibril formation is blocked but toxicity is low

CHARACTERIZATION OF AMBIENT NOISE RECORDED IN THE NORWEGIAN SEA

This thesis characterizes mid-frequency (1–9 kHz) ambient noise collected with an acoustic array over a two-week period in the Norwegian Sea. Noise characterization is an important prerequisite for many applications, including department of defense applications, environmental and biological research. The basic methodology consists of calibrating single hydrophone data for power spectral density (PSD) in dB re 1 μPa^2/Hz. We present omni-directional ambient noise statistics over time, including percentiles and standard deviation for a variety of temporal averages, ranging from 1 to 60 min. These results compare well to historic observations. Wenz suggests spectrum level of approximately 45 (dB re 1 μPa^2/Hz) for a sea state 2, while the result from this thesis finds spectrum level of approximately 43 (dB re 1 μPa2/Hz). Furthermore, results are compared to a wind-based ambient noise model. The model prediction tracks with the data presented relatively well with a slight offset. The slight offset is further explored and gives details of the prevailing sea state. As predicted, the model slightly overestimates the PSD level of the data at sea state 2. This misfit is explored for different sea states and wind speeds.Office of Naval Research, 875 Randolph St., Arlington, VA, 22217NPS Naval Research ProgramThis project was funded in part by the NPS Naval Research Program.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Discipleship in the Earbuds: Developing a Podcast Curriculum as a Component of Congregational Equipping

The purpose of this doctoral project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a podcast for the community of First Presbyterian Church Glen Ellyn as a component of disciple equipping, so that the congregation will be able to overcome some of the barriers that preclude participation in traditional ministry formats. An effective congregational podcast will drive its listeners to deeper participation in the life of the Christian community and personal spiritual disciplines. An ineffective congregational podcast will be either ignored by the congregation or will further a consumer mindset where listening to the podcast is a substitute for active participation in the community of Christ. This podcast curriculum was tested in the setting of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Through a literature review of relevant classic and contemporary works, this study makes the case that contextualization is a key component of gospel ministry and that a new kind of ministry contextualization needs to occur in the church in order to adjust to changing cultural realities presented by technological habituation and the growing prevalence of handheld devices as basic parts of daily life. This study outlines the elements of a podcast curriculum that are most fitting to the podcast medium and designed to catalyze participation in personal spiritual disciples, commitment to the Christian community, and transformative understandings of the self, the church, and the journey of discipleship. The conclusions of the study indicate that a podcast can be an extremely effective tool for overcoming some of the barriers of ministry participation present in the congregation of First Presbyterian Church, is able to catalyze further action steps in spiritual disciplines and has significant potential to find a broad listening audience in the congregation

Alleviating a form of electric vehicle range anxiety through On-Demand vehicle access

On-demand vehicle access is a method that can be used to reduce types of range anxiety problems related to planned travel for electric vehicle owners. Using ideas from elementary queueing theory, basic QoS metrics are defined to dimension a shared fleet to ensure high levels of vehicle access. Using mobility data from Ireland, it is argued that the potential cost of such a system is very low

A Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov-type lemma for systems with certain state-dependent constraints

In this note, a result is presented that may be considered an extension of the classical Kalman-Yakubovich-Popov (KYP) lemma. Motivated by problems in the design of switched systems, we wish to infer the existence of a quadratic Lyapunov function (QLF) for a nonlinear system in the case where a matrix defining one system is a rank-1 perturbation of the other and where switching between the systems is orchestrated according to a conic partitioning of the state space IRn. We show that a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a QLF reduces to checking a single constraint on a sum of transfer functions irrespective of problem dimension. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our conditions reduce to the classical KYP lemma when the conic partition of the state space is IRn, with the transfer function condition reducing to the condition of Strict Positive Realness

Breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy dosing in obese patients

BACKGROUND Substantial variation in adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy dosing in obese women suggests that there is uncertainty about optimal practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate variations in dose determinations in clinical trial protocols and publications over the last 3 decades as potential sources of this uncertainty. METHODS The National Cancer Institute database was used to identify protocols of breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy conducted by cooperative groups between 1970–2000, and these protocols were then obtained directly from the cooperative groups. Dose determinations were categorized in each protocol and in published reports from each clinical trial. Fisher exact tests were used to compare the proportions of protocols that used full weight-based doses over time. RESULTS Protocol-specified chemotherapy dosing was obtained for all of 44 eligible trials. A significant increase was identified in the use of full weight-based doses in the later time period compared with the earlier ( P = .004; 2-sided Fisher exact test). A notable exception was 1 cooperative group that continues to require dose limitations for doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide in patients with a body surface area of more than 2.0 m 2 . Regardless of publication date, published reports of clinical trials rarely provide information on use of full or limited weight-based doses. CONCLUSIONS Variations in dose determinations among clinical trial protocols and lack of information on use of full weight-based doses in most publications are 2 likely sources of variation in chemotherapy dosing in obese women. Developing consensus and disseminating information on optimal chemotherapy dosing will likely reduce such variation and may improve survival among obese patients with breast cancer. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58590/1/23416_ftp.pd

Exposure to Hurricanes Eta and Iota in Farming Communities in Northern and Central Nicaragua

Within just two weeks, Central America endured two late-season Category 4 hurricanes. On November 3rd, 2020, Hurricane Eta made landfall along Nicaragua’s northern Caribbean coast. On the 17th of the same month, Hurricane Iota brought further devastation, landing a mere 15 miles further south than Eta. Persistent rainfall and heavy winds resulted in flash floods, river floods, landslides, and extensive agricultural, institutional, and residential infrastructure damage. Overall, the storms affected about 7.5 million people across Central America and the Caribbean region. The rapid succession of the two storms made separating damages difficult, but it is estimated that Eta was directly responsible for at least 165 deaths and $6.8 billion worth of damage. Iota directly contributed to an additional 67 deaths and$1.4 billion worth of damage, nearly half of which comprised damage in Nicaragua alone. Many fatal events occurred in the Jinotega Department of Nicaragua, where one mudslide buried at least 30 people. Loss of power, water, food, shelter, and telephone service was widespread throughout the region. This poster presents a spatial analysis of the intensity and movement of both hurricanes across Nicaragua. We will share a preliminary analysis of vulnerability and impacts focusing on crop devastation and landslides in northern and central Nicaragua. Finally, we will share an initial assessment of institutional and community response in smallholder farming communities, together with plans for follow-up field research. Future evaluation of survey data collected from smallholder farms will better our understanding of long-term impacts and the success of different hazard responses

Quadratic Lyapunov Functions for Systems with State-Dependent Switching

In this paper, we consider the existence of quadratic Lyapunov functions for certain types of switched linear systems. Given a partition of the state-space, a set of matrices (linear dynamics), and a matrix-valued function A(x) constructed by associating these matrices with regions of the state-space in a manner governed by the partition, we ask whether there exists a positive definite symmetric matrix P such that A(x)T P +PA(x) is negative definite for all x(t). For planar systems, necessary and sufficient conditions are given. Extensions for higher order systems are also presented

Learning resilience: Household and institutional responses to multiple livelihood threats in the context of Hurricanes Iota and Eta in northern Nicaragua

Despite converging agendas identifying the importance of farm and livelihood diversification as a key strategy to help reduce disaster risk, conserve biodiversity, reduce climate emissions, improve food security, and build resilience in agriculture and food systems (Kremen and Merenlender 2018; Hufnagel et al., 2020), contentious debates continue about how to accelerate broader food system transformations, who should lead them, and where they are going (e.g., the 2021 UN Food Summit). The influential 2016 report of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems, which analyzed obstacles and opportunities for moving from either traditional subsistence agriculture or industrialized monoculture towards diversified agroecological farming (IPES-Food 2016), helped shift the policy agenda toward an alternative approach to food systems transformation (Gliessman & Ferguson, 2020). However, several assumptions about farmers’ initial starting conditions oversimplified how smallholder farmers begin potential transitions. In practice, many smallholders are neither purely subsistence producers nor entirely specialized commodity farmers; instead they combine subsistence and commercial agriculture to try to make a living, feed themselves, shape their cultures, and achieve their self-defined goals (Burnett & Murphy, 2014). Despite recent studies addressing several of these issues (Kerr et al., 2019), research gaps remain, including the absence of broad-based empirical evidence on which diversification strategies are most likely to contribute to farmers’ dietary diversity, food sovereignty, food security, women’s empowerment, and resilience, and under what circumstances; how smallholders learn about these practices and why they adopt or avoid them; and how cooperatives or other institutions promote (or may retard) them. We seek to fill these gaps using a mixed-methods, place-based study