Toxics source reduction and sewage upgrades eliminated winter flounder liver neoplasia (1984-2017) from Boston Harbor, MA, USA

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 131 (2018) 239-243, doi:10.3354/dao03299.Chemical carcinogen biomarkers can validate public investment in environmental remediation. A major factor driving the clean-up of Boston Harbor, MA, USA, induced by the federal Clean Water Act legislation of 1972, was the high prevalence of petroleum and halogenated aromatic hydrocarbon contaminant-associated liver neoplasia in winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus in the harbor in the 1980s. In the present study, we examined the spatial and temporal relationships between the suspended solids and contaminants in the municipal sewage discharge, and liver neoplasia and histopathology in flounder, from 1987 to 2017. Toxics source reduction, sewage treatment, and sludge removal in the 1990s and outfall relocation offshore in 2000 enabled a decreasing prevalence of persistent toxic chemicals in flounder, effluent, and sediment, and consequent disappearance of liver neoplasia and reduction of neoplasm-associated, hydropically vacuolated biliary epithelial cells to background levels. This supports long-term investment in elimination and treatment of anthropogenic waste streams and the value of federal regulatory mandates to maintain and improve regional environmental quality.This work was supported by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and US Public Health Service (USPHS) grant CA/ES44306

Tumor site immune markers associated with risk for subsequent basal cell carcinomas.

BackgroundBasal cell carcinoma (BCC) tumors are the most common skin cancer and are highly immunogenic.ObjectiveThe goal of this study was to assess how immune-cell related gene expression in an initial BCC tumor biopsy was related to the appearance of subsequent BCC tumors.Materials and methodsLevels of mRNA for CD3ε (a T-cell receptor marker), CD25 (the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor expressed on activated T-cells and B-cells), CD68 (a marker for monocytes/macrophages), the cell surface glycoprotein intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), the cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 were measured in BCC tumor biopsies from 138 patients using real-time PCR.ResultsThe median follow-up was 26.6 months, and 61% of subjects were free of new BCCs two years post-initial biopsy. Patients with low CD3ε CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA levels had significantly shorter times before new tumors were detected (p = 0.03, p = 0.02, p = 0.003, and p = 0.08, respectively). Furthermore, older age diminished the association of mRNA levels with the appearance of subsequent tumors.ConclusionsOur results show that levels of CD3ε, CD25, CD68, and ICAM-1 mRNA in BCC biopsies may predict risk for new BCC tumors

Investing in Teachers’ Leadership Capacity: A Model from STEM Education

Teachers play a key role in the quality of education provided to students. The Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (RiSE Center) at the University of Maine has worked with partners to design, implement, and evaluate several programs in the past eight years to provide professional learning opportunities and support for Maine’s STEM teachers, leading to significant impacts for teachers and students across the state. A strategic investment in developing teacher leadership capacity played a key role in expanding the initial partnership to include teachers and school districts across the state. With support from education researchers and staff at the RiSE Center, STEM teachers have taken on roles as leaders of professional learning opportunities for peers and as decision makers in a statewide professional community for improving STEM education. This article describes the structures that have fostered teacher leadership and how those structures emerged through partnership and collaboration, the ways in which teacher leadership has amplified the resources we have been able to provide to STEM teachers across the state, and the outcomes for Maine students

The Zwicky Transient Facility Observing System

The Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) is a synoptic optical survey for high-cadence time-domain astronomy. Building upon the experience and infrastructure of the highly successful Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) team, ZTF will survey more than an order of magnitude faster than PTF in sky area and volume in order to identify rare, rapidly varying optical sources. These sources will include a trove of supernovae, exotic explosive transients, unusual stellar variables, compact binaries, active galactic nuclei, and asteroids. The single-visit depth of 20.4 mag is well matched to spectroscopic follow-up observations, while the co-added images will provide wide sky coverage 1.5 – 2 mag deeper than SDSS. The ZTF survey will cover the entire Northern Sky and revisit fields on timescales of a few hours, providing hundreds of visits per field each year, an unprecedented cadence, as required to detect fast transients and variability. This high-cadence survey is enabled by an observing system based on a new camera having 47 deg^2 field of view – a factor of 6.5 greater than the existing PTF camera - equipped with fast readout electronics, a large, fast exposure shutter, faster telescope and dome drives, and various measures to optimize delivered image quality. Our project has already received an initial procurement of e2v wafer-scale CCDs and we are currently fabricating the camera cryostat. International partners and the NSF committed funds in June 2014 so construction can proceed as planned to commence engineering commissioning in 2016 and begin operations in 2017. Public release will allow broad utilization of these data by the US astronomical community. ZTF will also promote the development of transient and variable science methods in preparation for the seminal first light of LSST

Exile Vol. XXXV No. 2

Peter Goes Groovy, by Carolyn Bern (cover) I Hate Poetry by Craig Bagno 1 Truancy by Richard Latimer 2 I ate a Star Last Night by Rory Herbster 3 Delivery by Amy Judge 4 Untitled by Sue McLain 5 Road Signs by Richard Latimer 7-8 Haiku for Me to Possess by Shannon J. Salser 9 Patches by Michael Payne 10 Untitled by Laura Johnson 11 He by Kent Lambert 13 At the Corner Grill by Lynn Pendleton 14-15 Black Licorice by Richard Latimer 16-17 Blue Shirt by Michael Payne 18 ...Loves a Clown by Margaret Dawson 21-24 The Surreal Sonnet by Shannon J. Salser 26 Untitled by Mat Benson 27 Swimming Lessons by Richard Latimer 29 Communion by Amy Judge 30 Beth\u27s Last Funny Joke by Ted Gould 31-35 Hope for a Peaceful Coming Around by Shannon J. Salser 36 Untitled by Laura Johnson 37 A Child\u27s Moment by Peter Witonsky 39 Observation by Rosemary Walsh 40 Untitled by Carolyn Burns 41 To My Sister by Amy B. Judge 43 Ideas In Bloom by Randy Casden 44 Untitled by Deb Tily 45 A Child of Mind by Charles Riedinger 47 Ars Poetica by Rory Herbster 48 Untitled by Mat Benson 49 REPRINTS Dancer by Bradford Cover 52 Skin Deep by Eric Whitney 53-55 Sunset by Chris Rynd 56 Editorial decision is shared equally among the Editorial Board Members -cover page The editors of Exile would like to formally apologize to those contributors whose works were misprinted in the Fall issue. We have reprinted a few of the pieces that contained the most errors. -51 NOTE: An uncredited and untitled piece of artwork appears on page 19. NOTE: Carolyn Bern (cover) Burns (41) and Berns (contributor notes) all appear to refer to the same artist

Enumerating pelvic recurrence following radical cystectomy for bladder cancer: A canadian multi-institutional study

Introduction: We aimed to enumerate the rate of pelvic recurrence following radical cystectomy at university-affiliated hospitals in Canada. Methods: Canadian, university-affiliated hospitals were invited to participate. They were asked to identify the first 10 consecutive patients undergoing radical cystectomy starting January 1, 2005, who had urothelial carcinoma stages pT3/T4 N0-2 M0. The first 10 consecutive cases starting January 1, 2005 who met these criteria were the patients submitted by that institution with information regarding tumour stage, age, number of nodes removed, and last known clinical status in regard to recurrence and patterns of failure. Results: Of the 111 patients, 80% had pT3 and 20% pT4 disease, with 62% being node-negative, 14% pN1, and 27% pN2; 57% had 10 or more nodes removed. Cumulative incidence of pelvic relapse was 40% among the entire group Conclusions: This review demonstrates a high rate of pelvic tumour recurrence following radical cystectomy for pT3/T4 urothelial cancer

Exile Vol. XXXV No. 1

ARTWORK Untitled by Eric Whitney (cover) Untitled by Rory Herbster 7 Little Boy by Eric Whitney 45 FICTION Through the Window Pane by Jennifer Read 4 to whom i may concern by Chris Campi 19 For Lack of Sleep by Amy Judge 26 Jonathan by Jim Cox 39 Skin Deep by Eric Whitney 51 NON-FICTION A Theopoetic by Robert Marshall 11 POETRY Clay Pot by Christopher Collette 1 Ars Poetica by Mans Agantyr 2 Bible Thumber by Chris Rynd 6 Play by Amy Judge 9 Satellites by Andrew C. Carinston 10 Music - Love? by Shammon J. Salser 15 Allusion by Rosemary Walsh 17 Self Portrait by Margaret Dawson 18 On Our Way by Lynn Pendleton 21 They called her Mitzi... by Jen Miller 22 Storms of Illusion by Kevin Merriman 23 Beauty by Andrew C. Carington 24 Thoughts of a Husband by Kent Lambert 25 The Music of the Sum by Zach Smith 31 Don\u27t Think by Mary Forsythe 32 Aspiration by Tim Emrick 33 Where We Go Together by Man Angantyr 35 Sunset by Chris Byrd 36 The Child of my Fatalism by Jennifer Peterson 37 Untitled by Kent Lambert 38 Terribly close to being... by Michael Payne 44 Anne Frank\u27s House by Mary Forsythe 47 Invitation by Kevin Merriman 48 Height Protest by Jen Miller 49 Dancer by Bradford Cover 50 Ars Poetica by Amy Judge 55 Editorial decision is shared equally among the Editorial Board members -title page NOTE: The author of the poem Satellites is listed as Andrew C. Carinston in the published table of contents. This is likely a misspelling as there are four instances of an Andrew C. Carington elsewhere in this edition, including the attribution on the page where Satellites is published. NOTE: The author of the poem Where We Go Together is listed as Man Angantyr in the published table of contents. This is likely a misspelling as there are four instances of an Mans Angantyr elsewhere in this edition, including the attribution on the pages where Where We Go Together is published. NOTE: Chris Byrd is listed as the author of the poem Sunset in the published version. However a note in the received version indicates that the author is actually Chris Rynd, whose poem Bible Thumper is also published in this issue. No Chris Byrd is listed among the contributors to this issue. NOTE: The author of the poem Music = Love? is listed as Shammon J. Salser in the published table of contents. This is likely a misspelling. Where Music = Love? appears the author is listed as Shannon J. Salser. The same is true of the contributors section. NOTE: Though the published table of contents is followed here, the poem by Zach Smith that is published on page 31 is listed as The Music of the Sun on page 31