Bitter Legacy: Polish-American Relations in the Wake of World War II

In this most timely book, Richard C. Lukas offers the historical perspective that any reader, scholar, or layman needs to grasp the political turmoil in Poland in the decades after World War II. Bitter Legacy is the first major analysis of Polish-American relations from the Potsdam Conference through the Polish elections of 1947, the critical period during which Poland became a satellite in the Russian sphere. Drawing on an impressive array of primary and secondary sources, a number of which have never been used by scholars before, Lukas shows in detail why and how American policy was never able to reverse the process, begun at the Yalta Conference, that transformed Poland into a communist state. In a clear and unambiguous style, he deftly combines two traditions in the writing of diplomatic history—one that stresses intergovernmental relations and one that emphasizes domestic concerns and pressures. The result is a revealing book that adds significantly to our understanding of Polish-American relations and of domestic history in Poland and the United States during this important Cold War phase. It will appeal not only to scholars but also to all those with an interest in Poland’s history. Bitter Legacy is a sequel to Lukas’s earlier volume, The Strange Allies, which has been acclaimed as the best treatment in English of United States-Polish relations during World War II. If offers the same impeccable scholarship and balanced interpretation that characterized Lukas’s earlier study. Richard C. Lukas has authored, co-authored, or edited nine books including Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust and The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1944. Until his retirement, he was adjunct professor of history at the University of South Florida. A solid and informative history of what happened in those years, especially on the lesser known questions of relief and rehabilitation, repatriation of Polish nationals, and economic aid. —Foreign Affairs A thorough overview of the period written in a lively and engaging style and illustrated with delightful anecdotes drawn from the personal letters of some of the principal Polish and American actors. —Slavic Reviewhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_international_relations/1007/thumbnail.jp

On implicit racial prejudice against infants

Because of the innocence and dependence of children, it would be reassuring to believe that implicit racial prejudice against out-group children is lower than implicit prejudice against out-group adults. Yet, prior research has not directly tested whether or not adults exhibit less spontaneous prejudice toward child targets than adult targets. Three studies addressed this issue, contrasting adults with very young child targets. Studies 1A and B revealed that participants belonging to an ethnic majority group (White Europeans) showed greater spontaneous favorability toward their ethnic in-group than toward an ethnic out-group (South Asians), and this prejudice emerged equally for infant and adult targets. Study 2 found that this pattern occurred even when race was not a salient dimension of categorization in the implicit measure. Thus, there was a robust preference for in-group children over out-group children, and there was no evidence that this prejudice is weaker than that exhibited toward adults

Reaction Sintering of Ca3Co4O9 with BiCuSeO Nanosheets for High-Temperature Thermoelectric Composites

Ceramic composites composed of oxide materials have been synthesized by reaction sintering of Ca3Co4O9 with BiCuSeO nanosheets. In situ x-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analyses of the compound powders were conducted to understand the phase transformations during heating up to 1173 K. Further thermogravimetric analyses investigated the thermal stability of the composites and the completion of reaction sintering. The microstructure of the formed phases after reaction sintering and the composition of the composites were investigated for varying mixtures. Depending on the amount of BiCuSeO used, the phases present and their composition differed, having a significant impact on the thermoelectric properties. The increase of the electrical conductivity at a simultaneously high Seebeck coefficient resulted in a large power factor of 5.4 μW cm−1 K−2, more than twice that of pristine Ca3Co4O9

Disease map-based biomarker selection and pre-validation for bladder cancer diagnostic

YesContext: Urinary biomarkers are promising as simple alternatives to cystoscopy for the diagnosis of de novo and recurrent bladder cancer. Objective: To identify a highly sensitive and specific biomarker candidate set with potential clinical utility in bladder cancer. Materials and methods: Urinary biomarkers concentrations were determined by ELISA. The performance of individual markers and marker combinations was assessed using ROC analysis. Results: A 5-biomarker panel (IL8, MMP9, VEGFA, PTGS2 and EN2) was defined from the candidate set. Discussion and conclusion: This panel showed a better overall performance than the best individual marker. Further validation studies are needed to evaluate its clinical utility in bladder cancer.This work has been supported in part by the European Commission Program DIPROMON - HEALTH-F5-2012-306157-2: Development of an integrated protein- and cell-based device for non-invasive diagnostics in the urogenital tract

Silicon quantum dot devices with a self-aligned second gate layer

We implement silicon quantum dot devices with two layers of gate electrodes using a self-alignment technique, which allows for ultra-small gate lengths and intrinsically perfect layer-to-layer alignment. In a double quantum dot system, we investigate hole transport and observe current rectification due to Pauli spin blockade. Magnetic field measurements indicate that hole spin relaxation is dominated by spin-orbit interaction, and enable us to determine the effective hole $g$-factor $\simeq1.6$. From an avoided singlet-triplet crossing, occurring at high magnetic field, the spin-orbit coupling strength $\simeq0.27$meV is obtained, promising fast and all-electrical spin control

A neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human medial temporal lobe

Spatial navigation and memory rely on neural systems that encode places, distances, and directions in relation to the external world or relative to the navigating organism. Place, grid, and head-direction cells form key units of world-referenced, allocentric cognitive maps, but the neural basis of self-centered, egocentric representations remains poorly understood. Here, we used human single-neuron recordings during virtual spatial navigation tasks to identify neurons providing a neural code for egocentric spatial maps in the human brain. Consistent with previous observations in rodents, these neurons represented egocentric bearings toward reference points positioned throughout the environment. Egocentric bearing cells were abundant in the parahippocampal cortex and supported vectorial representations of egocentric space by also encoding distances toward reference points. Beyond navigation, the observed neurons showed activity increases during spatial and episodic memory recall, suggesting that egocentric bearing cells are not only relevant for navigation but also play a role in human memory

Vacuum fluctuations in axion-dilaton cosmologies

We study axion-dilaton cosmologies derived from the low-energy string effective action. We present the classical homogeneous Friedmann-Robertson-Walker solutions and derive the semi-classical perturbation spectra in the dilaton, axion and moduli fields in the pre-Big Bang scenario. By constructing the unique S-duality invariant field perturbations for the axion and dilaton fields we derive S-duality invariant solutions, valid when the axion field is time-dependent as well as in a dilaton-vacuum cosmology. Whereas the dilaton and moduli fields have steep blue perturbation spectra (with spectral index n=4) we find that the axion spectrum depends upon the expansion rate of the internal dimensions (0.54<n<4) which allows scale-invariant (n=1) spectra. We note that for n<1 the metric is non-singular in the conformal frame in which the axion is minimally coupled.Comment: LaTeX, 23 pages plus 6 figures, minor typos corrected and references updated. To appear in Phys Rev

An Automated High-throughput Array Microscope for Cancer Cell Mechanics

Changes in cellular mechanical properties correlate with the progression of metastatic cancer along the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Few high-throughput methodologies exist that measure cell compliance, which can be used to understand the impact of genetic alterations or to screen the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents. We have developed a novel array high-throughput microscope (AHTM) system that combines the convenience of the standard 96-well plate with the ability to image cultured cells and membrane-bound microbeads in twelve independently-focusing channels simultaneously, visiting all wells in eight steps. We use the AHTM and passive bead rheology techniques to determine the relative compliance of human pancreatic ductal epithelial (HPDE) cells, h-TERT transformed HPDE cells (HPNE), and four gain-of-function constructs related to EMT. The AHTM found HPNE, H-ras, Myr-AKT, and Bcl2 transfected cells more compliant relative to controls, consistent with parallel tests using atomic force microscopy and invasion assays, proving the AHTM capable of screening for changes in mechanical phenotype

TGF- regulates LARG and GEF-H1 during EMT to affect stiffening response to force and cell invasion

Recent studies implicate a role for cell mechanics in cancer progression. Transforming growth factor β–induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition results in decreased stiffness and loss of the normal stiffening response to force applied on integrins.Recent studies implicate a role for cell mechanics in cancer progression. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) regulates the detachment of cancer cells from the epithelium and facilitates their invasion into stromal tissue. Although classic EMT hallmarks include loss of cell–cell adhesions, morphology changes, and increased invasion capacity, little is known about the associated mechanical changes. Previously, force application on integrins has been shown to initiate cytoskeletal rearrangements that result in increased cell stiffness and a stiffening response. Here we demonstrate that transforming growth factor β (TGF-β)–induced EMT results in decreased stiffness and loss of the normal stiffening response to force applied on integrins. We find that suppression of the RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) LARG and GEF-H1 through TGF-β/ALK5–enhanced proteasomal degradation mediates these changes in cell mechanics and affects EMT-associated invasion. Taken together, our results reveal a functional connection between attenuated stiffness and stiffening response and the increased invasion capacity acquired after TGF-β–induced EMT

The RhoA Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor, LARG, Mediates ICAM-1-Dependent Mechanotransduction in Endothelial Cells To Stimulate Transendothelial Migration

RhoA-mediated cytoskeletal rearrangements in endothelial cells (ECs) play an active role in leukocyte transendothelial cell migration (TEM), a normal physiological process in which leukocytes cross the endothelium to enter the underlying tissue. Although much has been learned about RhoA signaling pathways downstream from ICAM-1 in ECs, little is known about the consequences of the tractional forces that leukocytes generate on ECs as they migrate over the surface before TEM. We have found that after applying mechanical forces to ICAM-1 clusters, there is an increase in cellular stiffening and enhanced RhoA signaling compared with ICAM-1 clustering alone. We have identified that leukemia-associated Rho guanine nucleotide exchange factor (LARG), also known as Rho GEF 12 (ARHGEF12) acts downstream of clustered ICAM-1 to increase RhoA activity, and that this pathway is further enhanced by mechanical force on ICAM-1. Depletion of LARG decreases leukocyte crawling and inhibits TEM. To our knowledge, this is the first report of endothelial LARG regulating leukocyte behavior and EC stiffening in response to tractional forces generated by leukocytes