Geologic Mapping of a Region in Extreme Northeastern Minnesota: An Initial Characterization

A report submitted by Eric Jerde to the Research and Creative Productions Committee in 2002 on geographic mapping in northern Minnesota

Regulation of Phosphatase Homologue of Tensin Protein Expression by Bone Morphogenetic Proteins in Prostate Epithelial Cells

Phosphatase homologue of tensin (PTEN) is the key endogenous inhibitor of phosphoinositide signaling and is the most commonly mutated gene in human prostate cancer. The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are secreted developmental signaling molecules known to promote differentiation in the prostate. BMP ligands have been shown to inhibit prostate cancer cell line proliferation and tumor growth and expression of BMPs, BMP ligands, receptors and signaling effectors are diminished in prostate cancer. A previous report in the colon led us to investigate the potential mechanistic relationship between PTEN and BMP signaling in prostate epithelial cells. We show here that BPM signaling positively regulates PTEN in normal and malignant prostate cells by increasing mRNA expression and stabilizing PTEN protein. Further, we show that BMP attenuates prostate cell growth at least in part through its effects on PTEN. BMP treatment did not further inhibit the growth of conditional PTEN over-expressing cells, and stable shRNA-PTEN transfectants were refractory to BMP-mediated growth inhibition. Loss-of-function of PTEN in prostate cancer cells may render them insensitive to the normal differentiating and growth-inhibitory effects of BMPs. These data are the first to identify a mechanistic linkage between BMP signaling and PTEN in normal prostate epithelial cells and to suggest coordinate dysregulation in prostate cancer

neoKREEP: A new lunar component at Apollo 17

The Apollo 11 (Mare Tranquillitatis) and Apollo 17 (Mare Serenitatis) landing sites are important as the only sources of high-Ti basalt visited by the Apollo missions. The lunar high-Ti basalts (greater than 6 percent TiO2) have no volumetrically comparable analogs among terrestrial basalts and require the presence of ilmenite in the source region, probably representing cumulates produced late in the crystallization of the lunar magma ocean. Six principal groups of high-Ti basalts are described, three from each of the two sites

Who Do You Think You Are?

After earning his Master\u27s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Iowa State in 1983, Clayton Anderson, Senior Faculty Fellow, got a job that\u27s out of this world: He became an astronaut

The role of prostate inflammation and fibrosis in lower urinary tract symptoms

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in aging men are extremely common. They have historically been attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), enlargement of the prostate, and bladder outlet obstruction. However, recent studies have revealed acute and chronic inflammation to be highly associated with LUTS, correlated with prostatic enlargement, and implicated as a cause of prostatic fibrosis that contributes to bladder outlet obstruction. This review examines the evidence implicating inflammation and fibrosis in BPH/LUTS. It identifies potential mechanisms by which inflammation may drive nociceptive signaling as well as hyperplastic growth and fibrosis and identifies targets for pharmacological intervention. This is a promising area for research and development of novel therapies to prevent or more effectively treat LUTS in aging men

DeltaTick: Applying Calculus to the Real World through Behavioral Modeling

Certainly one of the most powerful and important modeling languages of our time is the Calculus. But research consistently shows that students do not understand how the variables in calculus-based mathematical models relate to aspects of the systems that those models are supposed to represent. Because of this, students never access the true power of calculus: its suitability to model a wide variety of real-world systems across domains. In this paper, we describe the motivation and theoretical foundations for the DeltaTick and HotLink Replay applications, an effort to address these difficulties by a) enabling students to model a wide variety of systems in the world that change over time by defining the behaviors of that system, and b) making explicit how a system\''s behavior relates to the mathematical trends that behavior creates. These applications employ the visualization and codification of behavior rules within the NetLogo agent-based modeling environment (Wilensky, 1999), rather than mathematical symbols, as their primary building blocks. As such, they provide an alternative to traditional mathematical techniques for exploring and solving advanced modeling problems, as well as exploring the major underlying concepts of calculus

Strut of Pride

You’ve seen them walking down the street in the wee hours of the morning with the messy hair, shades on and clearly wearing last night’s outfit. They are the walk-of-shamers. Even though it’s easy to stare and snicker at them, admit it—you can’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy, especially if you are up that early actually being responsible. The good and bad news is that at one point or another, whether guy or girl, you are bound to be one of them. If you have been or ever are, it’s time to put away the shame and take a cue from the Dos Equis man: he doesn’t always do the walk of shame, but when he does it’s the strut of pride. After all, you just got laid or at least had a juicy hookup, amirite? Well, now you can bask in the glow of it

Searching for neuKREEP: An EMP study of Apollo 11 Group A basalts

The Apollo 11 and 17 landing sites are characterized by the presence of high-Ti basalts (TiO2 greater than 6 percent). The Group A basalts of Apollo 11 have elevated K compositions (greater than 2000 ppm); and are enriched in incompatible trace elements relative to the other types of high-Ti basalt found in the region. These unique basalts also are the youngest of all high-Ti basalts, with an age of 3.56 +/- 0.02 Ga. Recent modelling of the Apollo 11 Group A basalts by Jerde et al. has demonstrated that this unique variety of high-Ti basalt may have formed through fractionation of a liquid with the composition of the Apollo 11 orange glass, coupled with assimilation of evolved material (dubbed neuKREEP and having similarities to lunar quartz monzodiorite). Assimilation of this material would impart its REE signature on the liquid, resulting in the elevated REE abundances observed. Minerals such as whitlockite which contain a large portion of the REE budget can be expected to reflect the REE characteristics of the assimilant. To this end, an examination of the whitlockite present in the Apollo 11 Group A basalts was undertaken to search for evidence of the neuKREEP material assimilated