A preliminary checklist of the caddisflies : (Insecta: Trichoptera) of Oklahoma

One hundred forty-five species of caddisflies representing 15 families and 46 genera are reported from Oklahoma. Thirty-nine species are new state records. Families having the greatest species richness were Hydroptilidae (44 species), Leptoceridae (31 species), Hydropsychidae (26 species), and Polycentropodidae (13 species)

Fast Mapping of Terahertz Bursting Thresholds and Characteristics at Synchrotron Light Sources

Dedicated optics with extremely short electron bunches enable synchrotron light sources to generate intense coherent THz radiation. The high degree of spatial compression in this so-called low-alpha optics entails a complex longitudinal dynamics of the electron bunches, which can be probed studying the fluctuations in the emitted terahertz radiation caused by the micro-bunching instability ("bursting"). This article presents a "quasi-instantaneous" method for measuring the bursting characteristics by simultaneously collecting and evaluating the information from all bunches in a multi-bunch fill, reducing the measurement time from hours to seconds. This speed-up allows systematic studies of the bursting characteristics for various accelerator settings within a single fill of the machine, enabling a comprehensive comparison of the measured bursting thresholds with theoretical predictions by the bunched-beam theory. This paper introduces the method and presents first results obtained at the ANKA synchrotron radiation facility.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Physical Review Accelerators and Beam

Dendritic cell based PSMA immunotherapy for prostate cancer using a CD40-targeted adenovirus vector

Human prostate tumor vaccine and gene therapy trials using ex vivo methods to prime dendritic cells (DCs) with prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) have been somewhat successful, but to date the lengthy ex vivo manipulation of DCs has limited the widespread clinical utility of this approach. Our goal was to improve upon cancer vaccination with tumor antigens by delivering PSMA via a CD40-targeted adenovirus vector directly to DCs as an efficient means for activation and antigen presentation to T-cells. To test this approach, we developed a mouse model of prostate cancer by generating clonal derivatives of the mouse RM-1 prostate cancer cell line expressing human PSMA (RM-1-PSMA cells). To maximize antigen presentation in target cells, both MHC class I and TAP protein expression was induced in RM-1 cells by transduction with an Ad vector expressing interferon-gamma (Ad5-IFNγ). Administering DCs infected ex vivo with CD40-targeted Ad5-huPSMA, as well as direct intraperitoneal injection of the vector, resulted in high levels of tumor-specific CTL responses against RM-1-PSMA cells pretreated with Ad5-IFNγ as target cells. CD40 targeting significantly improved the therapeutic antitumor efficacy of Ad5-huPSMA encoding PSMA when combined with Ad5-IFNγ in the RM-1-PSMA model. These results suggest that a CD-targeted adenovirus delivering PSMA may be effective clinically for prostate cancer immunotherapy

Dust accretion and destruction in galaxy groups and clusters

We examine the dust distribution around a sample of 70,000 low redshift galaxy groups and clusters derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. By correlating spectroscopically identified background quasars with the galaxy groups we obtain the relative colour excess due to dust reddening. We present a significant detection of dust out to a clustercentric distance of 30 Mpc/h in all four independent SDSS colours, consistent with the expectations of weak lensing masses of similar mass halos and excess galaxy counts. The wavelength dependence of this colour excess is consistent with the expectations of a Milky Way dust law with R_V=3.1. Further, we find that the halo mass dependence of the dust content is much smaller than would be expected by a simple scaling, implying that the dust-to-gas ratio of the most massive clusters (~10E14 Msun/h) is ~3% of the local ISM value, while in small groups (~10E12.7 Msun/h) it is ~55% of the local ISM value. We also find that the dust must have a covering fraction on the order of 10% to explain the observed color differences, which means the dust is not just confined to the most massive galaxies. Comparing the dust profile with the excess galaxy profile, we find that the implied dust-to-galaxy ratio falls significantly towards the group or cluster center. This has a significant halo mass dependence, such that the more massive groups and clusters show a stronger reduction. This suggests that either dust is destroyed by thermal sputtering of the dust grains by the hot, dense gas or the intrinsic dust production is reduced in these galaxies.Comment: 10 pages, MNRAS, in pres

GLIMPSE: I. A SIRTF Legacy Project to Map the Inner Galaxy

GLIMPSE (Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire), a SIRTF Legacy Science Program, will be a fully sampled, confusion-limited infrared survey of the inner two-thirds of the Galactic disk with a pixel resolution of \~1.2" using the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 microns. The survey will cover Galactic latitudes |b| <1 degree and longitudes |l|=10 to 65 degrees (both sides of the Galactic center). The survey area contains the outer ends of the Galactic bar, the Galactic molecular ring, and the inner spiral arms. The GLIMPSE team will process these data to produce a point source catalog, a point source data archive, and a set of mosaicked images. We summarize our observing strategy, give details of our data products, and summarize some of the principal science questions that will be addressed using GLIMPSE data. Up-to-date documentation, survey progress, and information on complementary datasets are available on the GLIMPSE web site: www.astro.wisc.edu/glimpse.Comment: Description of GLIMPSE, a SIRTF Legacy project (Aug 2003 PASP, in press). Paper with full res.color figures at http://www.astro.wisc.edu/glimpse/glimpsepubs.htm

Fast mapping of terahertz bursting thresholds and characteristics at synchrotron light sources

Dedicated optics with extremely short electron bunches enable synchrotron light sources to generate intense coherent THz radiation. The high degree of spatial compression in this so-called low-α$_{c}$ optics entails a complex longitudinal dynamics of the electron bunches, which can be probed studying the fluctuations in the emitted terahertz radiation caused by the microbunching instability (“bursting”). This article presents a “quasi-instantaneous” method for measuring the bursting characteristics by simultaneously collecting and evaluating the information from all bunches in a multibunch fill, reducing the measurement time from hours to seconds. This speed-up allows systematic studies of the bursting characteristics for various accelerator settings within a single fill of the machine, enabling a comprehensive comparison of the measured bursting thresholds with theoretical predictions by the bunched-beam theory. This paper introduces the method and presents first results obtained at the ANKA synchrotron radiation facility

Fast fluorescence microscopy for imaging the dynamics of embryonic development

Live imaging has gained a pivotal role in developmental biology since it increasingly allows real-time observation of cell behavior in intact organisms. Microscopes that can capture the dynamics of ever-faster biological events, fluorescent markers optimal for in vivo imaging, and, finally, adapted reconstruction and analysis programs to complete data flow all contribute to this success. Focusing on temporal resolution, we discuss how fast imaging can be achieved with minimal prejudice to spatial resolution, photon count, or to reliably and automatically analyze images. In particular, we show how integrated approaches to imaging that combine bright fluorescent probes, fast microscopes, and custom post-processing techniques can address the kinetics of biological systems at multiple scales. Finally, we discuss remaining challenges and opportunities for further advances in this field

Construction of a computable cell proliferation network focused on non-diseased lung cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Critical to advancing the systems-level evaluation of complex biological processes is the development of comprehensive networks and computational methods to apply to the analysis of systems biology data (transcriptomics, proteomics/phosphoproteomics, metabolomics, etc.). Ideally, these networks will be specifically designed to capture the normal, non-diseased biology of the tissue or cell types under investigation, and can be used with experimentally generated systems biology data to assess the biological impact of perturbations like xenobiotics and other cellular stresses. Lung cell proliferation is a key biological process to capture in such a network model, given the pivotal role that proliferation plays in lung diseases including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and fibrosis. Unfortunately, no such network has been available prior to this work.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To further a systems-level assessment of the biological impact of perturbations on non-diseased mammalian lung cells, we constructed a lung-focused network for cell proliferation. The network encompasses diverse biological areas that lead to the regulation of normal lung cell proliferation (Cell Cycle, Growth Factors, Cell Interaction, Intra- and Extracellular Signaling, and Epigenetics), and contains a total of 848 nodes (biological entities) and 1597 edges (relationships between biological entities). The network was verified using four published gene expression profiling data sets associated with measured cell proliferation endpoints in lung and lung-related cell types. Predicted changes in the activity of core machinery involved in cell cycle regulation (RB1, CDKN1A, and MYC/MYCN) are statistically supported across multiple data sets, underscoring the general applicability of this approach for a network-wide biological impact assessment using systems biology data.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, this lung-focused Cell Proliferation Network provides the most comprehensive connectivity map in existence of the molecular mechanisms regulating cell proliferation in the lung. The network is based on fully referenced causal relationships obtained from extensive evaluation of the literature. The computable structure of the network enables its application to the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of cell proliferation using systems biology data sets. The network is available for public use.</p

An improved measurement of muon antineutrino disappearance in MINOS

We report an improved measurement of muon anti-neutrino disappearance over a distance of 735km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a muon anti-neutrino enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95e20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of the anti-neutrino "atmospheric" delta-m squared = 2.62 +0.31/-0.28 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) and constrain the anti-neutrino atmospheric mixing angle >0.75 (90%CL). These values are in agreement with those measured for muon neutrinos, removing the tension reported previously.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. In submission to Phys.Rev.Let