Evaluating Patterns of a White-Band Disease (WBD) Outbreak in Acropora palmata Using Spatial Analysis: A Comparison of Transect and Colony Clustering

. Likewise, there is little known about the spatiality of outbreaks. We examined the spatial patterns of WBD during a 2004 outbreak at Buck Island Reef National Monument in the US Virgin Islands. colonies with and without WBD.As the search for causation continues, surveillance and proper documentation of the spatial patterns may inform etiology, and at the same time assist reef managers in allocating resources to tracking the disease. Our results indicate that the spatial scale of data collected can drastically affect the calculation of prevalence and spatial distribution of WBD outbreaks. Specifically, we illustrate that higher resolution sampling resulted in more realistic disease estimates. This should assist in selecting appropriate sampling designs for future outbreak investigations. The spatial techniques used here can be used to facilitate other coral disease studies, as well as, improve reef conservation and management

Precision medicine driven by cancer systems biology

Molecular insights from genome and systems biology are influencing how cancer is diagnosed and treated. We critically evaluate big data challenges in precision medicine. The melanoma research community has identified distinct subtypes involving chronic sun-induced damage and the mitogen-activated protein kinase driver pathway. In addition, despite low mutation burden, non-genomic mitogen-activated protein kinase melanoma drivers are found in membrane receptors, metabolism, or epigenetic signaling with the ability to bypass central mitogen-activated protein kinase molecules and activating a similar program of mitogenic effectors. Mutation hotspots, structural modeling, UV signature, and genomic as well as non-genomic mechanisms of disease initiation and progression are taken into consideration to identify resistance mutations and novel drug targets. A comprehensive precision medicine profile of a malignant melanoma patient illustrates future rational drug targeting strategies. Network analysis emphasizes an important role of epigenetic and metabolic master regulators in oncogenesis. Co-occurrence of driver mutations in signaling, metabolic, and epigenetic factors highlights how cumulative alterations of our genomes and epigenomes progressively lead to uncontrolled cell proliferation. Precision insights have the ability to identify independent molecular pathways suitable for drug targeting. Synergistic treatment combinations of orthogonal modalities including immunotherapy, mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors, epigenetic inhibitors, and metabolic inhibitors have the potential to overcome immune evasion, side effects, and drug resistance

Limits on Anomalous WWγWW\gamma Couplings from ppˉ→Wγ+Xp\bar{p} \to W \gamma + X Events at s=1.8\sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We have measured the $WW\gamma$ gauge boson coupling parameters using $p\bar{p}\to \ell\nu\gamma+X$ ($\ell=e,\mu$) events at $\sqrt{s}=1.8$ TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 89.1 pb^{-1}, were collected using the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The measured cross section times branching ratio for $p\bar{p} \to W\gamma+X$ with $p_T^\gamma$ > 10 GeV/c and $R_{\ell\gamma} > 0.7$ is ${11.8}^{+1.7}_{-1.6} \pm 2.0$ pb, in agreement with the Standard Model prediction. The one degree of freedom 95% confidence level limits on individual CP-conserving parameters are $-0.98<\Delta\kappa<1.01$ and $-0.33<\lambda<0.31$. Similar limits are set on the CP}violating coupling parameters.Comment: 10 pages, including two figures. Paper submitted to Phys. Rev. Let