ARID3B increases ovarian tumor burden and is associated with a cancer stem cell gene signature

Ovarian cancer is the most deadly gynecological malignancy since most patients have metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Therefore, identification of critical pathways that contribute to ovarian cancer progression is necessary to yield novel therapeutic targets. Recently we reported that the DNA binding protein ARID3B is overexpressed in human ovarian tumors. To determine if ARID3B has oncogenic functions in vivo, ovarian cancer cell lines stably expressing ARID3B were injected intraperitoneally into nude mice. Overexpression of ARID3B increased tumor burden and decreased survival. To assess how ARID3B contributes to the increased tumor growth in vivo, we identified ARID3B induced genes in tumor ascites cells. ARID3B induced expression of genes associated with metastasis and cancer stem cells (CD44, LGR5, PROM1 (CD133), and Notch2). Moreover, ARID3B increased the number of CD133+ (a cancer stem cell marker) cells compared to control cells. The increase in CD133+ cells resulting from ARID3B expression was accompanied by enhanced paclitaxel resistance. Our data demonstrate that ARID3B boosts production CD133+ cells and increases ovarian cancer progression in vivo

Several types of types in programming languages

Types are an important part of any modern programming language, but we often forget that the concept of type we understand nowadays is not the same it was perceived in the sixties. Moreover, we conflate the concept of "type" in programming languages with the concept of the same name in mathematical logic, an identification that is only the result of the convergence of two different paths, which started apart with different aims. The paper will present several remarks (some historical, some of more conceptual character) on the subject, as a basis for a further investigation. The thesis we will argue is that there are three different characters at play in programming languages, all of them now called types: the technical concept used in language design to guide implementation; the general abstraction mechanism used as a modelling tool; the classifying tool inherited from mathematical logic. We will suggest three possible dates ad quem for their presence in the programming language literature, suggesting that the emergence of the concept of type in computer science is relatively independent from the logical tradition, until the Curry-Howard isomorphism will make an explicit bridge between them.Comment: History and Philosophy of Computing, HAPOC 2015. To appear in LNC

Interactive effects of locus coeruleus structure and catecholamine synthesis capacity on cognitive function

BackgroundThe locus coeruleus (LC) produces catecholamines (norepinephrine and dopamine) and is implicated in a broad range of cognitive functions including attention and executive function. Recent advancements in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approaches allow for the visualization and quantification of LC structure. Human research focused on the LC has since exploded given the LC’s role in cognition and relevance to current models of psychopathology and neurodegenerative disease. However, it is unclear to what extent LC structure reflects underlying catecholamine function, and how LC structure and neurochemical function are collectively associated with cognitive performance.MethodsA partial least squares correlation (PLSC) analysis was applied to 19 participants’ LC structural MRI measures and catecholamine synthesis capacity measures assessed using [18F]Fluoro-m-tyrosine ([18F]FMT) positron emission tomography (PET).ResultsWe found no direct association between LC-MRI and LC-[18F]FMT measures for rostral, middle, or caudal portions of the LC. We found significant associations between LC neuroimaging measures and neuropsychological performance that were driven by rostral and middle portions of the LC, which is in line with LC cortical projection patterns. Specifically, associations with executive function and processing speed arose from contributions of both LC structure and interactions between LC structure and catecholamine synthesis capacity.ConclusionThese findings leave open the possibility that LC MRI and PET measures contribute unique information and suggest that their conjoint use may increase sensitivity to brain-behavior associations in small samples

Teachers as writers: a systematic review

This paper is a critical literature review of empirical work from 1990-2015 on teachers as writers. It interrogates the evidence on teachers’ attitudes to writing, their sense of themselves as writers and the potential impact of teacher writing on pedagogy or student outcomes in writing. The methodology was carried out in four stages. Firstly, educational databases keyword searches located 438 papers. Secondly, initial screening identified 159 for further scrutiny, 43 of which were found to specifically address teachers’ writing identities and practices. Thirdly, these sources were screened further using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Fourthly, the 22 papers judged to satisfy the criteria were subject to in-depth analysis and synthesis. The findings reveal that the evidence base in relation to teachers as writers is not strong, particularly with regard to the impact of teachers’ writing on student outcomes. The review indicates that teachers have narrow conceptions of what counts as writing and being a writer and that multiple tensions exist, relating to low self-confidence, negative writing histories, and the challenge of composing and enacting teacher and writer positions in school. However, initial training and professional development programmes do appear to afford opportunities for reformulation of attitudes and sense of self as writer

Transport coefficients for inelastic Maxwell mixtures

The Boltzmann equation for inelastic Maxwell models is used to determine the Navier-Stokes transport coefficients of a granular binary mixture in $d$ dimensions. The Chapman-Enskog method is applied to solve the Boltzmann equation for states near the (local) homogeneous cooling state. The mass, heat, and momentum fluxes are obtained to first order in the spatial gradients of the hydrodynamic fields, and the corresponding transport coefficients are identified. There are seven relevant transport coefficients: the mutual diffusion, the pressure diffusion, the thermal diffusion, the shear viscosity, the Dufour coefficient, the pressure energy coefficient, and the thermal conductivity. All these coefficients are {\em exactly} obtained in terms of the coefficients of restitution and the ratios of mass, concentration, and particle sizes. The results are compared with known transport coefficients of inelastic hard spheres obtained analytically in the leading Sonine approximation and by means of Monte Carlo simulations. The comparison shows a reasonably good agreement between both interaction models for not too strong dissipation, especially in the case of the transport coefficients associated with the mass flux.Comment: 9 figures, to be published in J. Stat. Phy

Regulating Assisted Reproduction in Canada, Switzerland, and the USA: Comparing the Judicialization of Policy-making

This article analyses the extent to which courts shape policies for assisted reproduction. While the USA is considered to be the most litigious country, Canada has observed a growing involvement of the courts from the 1980’s onward, and Switzerland is characterized by a modest degree of judicialization. Based on national patterns, we would expect litigation and court impact to vary across these three countries. As this paper demonstrates, policy-process specific variables such as the structure of policy conflicts, the novelty of regulation, self-regulation by key stakeholders, and the policies in place better explain the variation in the judicialization of policy-making

Rhesus Monkeys See Who They Hear: Spontaneous Cross-Modal Memory for Familiar Conspecifics

Rhesus monkeys gather much of their knowledge of the social world through visual input and may preferentially represent this knowledge in the visual modality. Recognition of familiar faces is clearly advantageous, and the flexibility and utility of primate social memory would be greatly enhanced if visual memories could be accessed cross-modally either by visual or auditory stimulation. Such cross-modal access to visual memory would facilitate flexible retrieval of the knowledge necessary for adaptive social behavior. We tested whether rhesus monkeys have cross-modal access to visual memory for familiar conspecifics using a delayed matching-to-sample procedure. Monkeys learned visual matching of video clips of familiar individuals to photographs of those individuals, and generalized performance to novel videos. In crossmodal probe trials, coo-calls were played during the memory interval. The calls were either from the monkey just seen in the sample video clip or from a different familiar monkey. Even though the monkeys were trained exclusively in visual matching, the calls influenced choice by causing an increase in the proportion of errors to the picture of the monkey whose voice was heard on incongruent trials. This result demonstrates spontaneous cross-modal recognition. It also shows that viewing videos of familiar monkeys activates naturally formed memories of real monkeys, validating the use of video stimuli in studies of social cognition in monkeys

Milk for a girl and bananas for a boy:recipes and reasons for sex-preference practices in a British Internet forum

Using postings from an internet forum, this paper explores the ways in which some women try to influence the sex of a future child. The extensive reproductive work involved give an indication of the women’s commitment to being able to choose a particular sex; in this case a preference for girls rather than boys. The findings revealed stereotypical views of masculinity and femininity at the heart of the preference. The presumption of fixed gendered identities helped to frame this desire as ‘natural,’ lessen the threat to maternal identities, and reinforce the logic of ‘choice,’ and support their reproductive work practices