Cancer Stem Cells in the Screening of Anticancer Drugs for Central Nervous System Tumors

There is a growing need (in the medical field) to design personalized therapy for cancer patients. Decades of cancer research have found no silver bullet that can cure all or even most patients. This study evaluated four patients affected by central nervous system (CNS) tumors (Ependymoma and Glioblastoma), and found that tumors with the same histology had unique responses to treatment. Each sample presented different levels of heterogeneity in expressed biomarkers and responded to drugs at varying levels. Oncologists conventionally treat cancer patients with drugs tested in large clinical trials. However, often patients do not experience positive outcomes following treatments with standardof- care first line drugs and oncologists need to treat them with a different second-line anticancer therapy that is chosen empirically. This study was designed to find a way to better predict patient’s response to chemotherapeutic drugs. The focus of this study was on Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors because of their limited response to anticancer drugs and their low survival rate. The uniqueness of this study revealed that each patient’s tumor had different drug sensitivities and that screening for multiple drugs may increase the chance of finding a drug from which the patient would have the most benefit. More importantly this study evaluated the Cancer Stem-Like Cell (CSLC) population sensitivity to these drugs. This subpopulation is responsible for initiation and maintenance of the tumor and is known to be resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Dr. Claudio’s laboratory developed a test capable of determining the cytotoxic drug to which cancer cells and CSLCs of an individual tumor are most responsive. In the future this procedure may focus the treatment of CNS patients to drugs effective against their particular tumor allowing them to have better outcomes with fewer detrimental side effects

Addressing ocean acidification as part of sustainable ocean development

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2012. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Brill for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ocean Yearbook 27, edited by Aldo Chircop, Scott Coffen-Smout, and Moira McConnell, :29-46. Leiden: Brill (Martinus Nijhoff), 2013. ISBN: 9789004250451.Many of the declarations and outcome documents from prior United Nations international meetings address ocean issues such as fishing, pollution, and climate change, but they do not address ocean acidification. This progressive alteration of seawater chemistry caused by uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is an emerging issue of concern that has potential consequences for marine ecosystems and the humans that depend on them. Addressing ocean acidification will require mitigation of global CO2 emissions at the international level accompanied by regional marine resource use adaptations that reduce the integrated pressure on marine ecosystems while the global community works towards implementing permanent CO2 emissions reductions. Addressing ocean acidification head-on is necessary because it poses a direct challenge to sustainable development targets such as the Millennium Development Goals, and it cannot be addressed adequately with accords or geoengineering plans that do not specifically decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Here, we will briefly review the current state of ocean acidification knowledge and identify several mitigation and adaptation strategies that should be considered along with reductions in CO2 emissions to reduce the near-term impacts of ocean acidification. Our goal is to present potential options while identifying some of their inherent weaknesses to inform decisionmaking discussions, rather than to recommend adoption of specific policies. While the reduction of CO2 emissions should be the number one goal of the international community, it is unlikely that the widespread changes and infrastructure redevelopment necessary to accomplish this will be achieved soon, before ocean acidification’s short-term impacts become significant. Therefore, a multi-faceted approach must be employed to address this growing problem

Erweiterung der Studie «Torf und Torfersatzprodukte im Vergleich» : Eigenschaften, Verfügbarkeit, ökologische Nachhaltigkeit und soziale Auswirkungen

Der Abbau von Torf ist mit relevanten Treibhausgasemissionen verbunden und führt zur Zerstörung sensibler Ökosysteme. Aus diesem Grund bestehen in den Garten- und Gemüsebau-Branchen Bestrebungen, den Torf-verbrauch zu reduzieren. Der Verzicht auf Torf bedingt die Verfügbarkeit von alternativen Substraten, welche den pflanzenbaulichen Anforderungen genügen. Gleichzeitig sollen die Alternativsubstrate auch tatsächlich zu einer Reduktion und nicht zu einer Verlagerung der Umweltbelastung führen. Um Torf und Torfalternativ-produkten umfassend zu beurteilen wurden im Jahr 2015 einer ersten Studie der ZHAW zehn Substratkom-ponenten und sieben Substratmischungen untersucht. Durch die Bestrebungen von Torf als Pflanzensubstrat wegzukommen werden vermehrt auch andere Aus-gangsstoffe relevant. In der vorliegenden Studie wurden deshalb neun weitere Substratkomponenten bezüg-lich ihrer Ökobilanz, pflanzenbaulichen Eigenschaften, sozialen Risiken der Produktion und ihrer zukünftigen Verfügbarkeit untersucht. Die beurteilten Substratkomponenten sind Pflanzenkohle aus Pyrolyse, Pflanzenkohle aus HTC, Pflanzenkohle-Kompost-Mischung, Chinaschilf, Hanffasern, Flachsschäben, Haferspelzen, Schilfrohr und angebautes Torfmoos. Die Ergebnisse der Studie zeigen, dass sämtliche untersuchten neun Substratkomponenten deutlich klima-freundlicher als Torf sind. Besonders umweltfreundlich sind Substratkomponenten aus angebauten, nach-wachsenden, sekundären Reststoffen mit geringer Konkurrenz anderweitiger Nutzung oder Substratkompo-nenten aus Abfallprodukten. Die Umweltbelastung. ist vor allem bei Chinaschilf, Hanffasern, Flachsschäben, Schilfrohr und angebautem Torfmoos tiefer als bei Torf. Bei allen untersuchten Komponenten zeigte sich, dass durch die Produktionsmöglichkeit in der Schweiz keine wesentlichen sozialen Risiken bestehen. Trotz der ökologischen Vorteile ist beim angebauten Torfmoos zurzeit die Verfügbarkeit nicht gewährleistet. Im Vergleich mit den Komponenten aus der Studie von 2015 zeigt sich, dass Holzfasern und Holzhäcksel den anderen Substratkomponenten in der Umweltbelastung und dem Treibhauspotential überlegen sind. Jedoch haben alle neu untersuchten Substratkomponenten deutlich geringere Umweltauswirkungen als Kokosfasern, welche als Alternative für Torf weit verbreitet sind. In geeigneten Mischungen können aus den Komponenten Substrate mit hochwertigen pflanzenbaulichen Ei-genschaften für verschiedene Anwendungen im Gartenbau und der Gemüseproduktion hergestellt werden. Wenn einheimische Substratkomponenten eingesetzt werden, besteht ein grosses Potential zur Reduktion von negativen Umweltauswirkungen und sozialen Risiken im Vergleich zu Produkten aus Torf und Kokosfasern

Mass Media in Society

Panel Chair: Lisa Vazzi Student Presenters: Sarah Mathis, Camila Garcia, Douglas Laman, Amanda Crotzer, and Veronica Nicole Liang Sarah Mathis “The Effects of Media on Women’s Body Image” Camila Garcia “Positive Advantages of Mass Communication” Douglas Laman “Autism, Actually: A Look at Representation of Autism in Pop Culture” Amanda Crotzer “Thruth in Advertising: Targeting Children in and Age of Privatized Media Consumption

A novel, optical, on-line bacteria sensor for monitoring drinking water quality

Today, microbial drinking water quality is monitored through either time-consuming laboratory methods or indirect on-line measurements. Results are thus either delayed or insufficient to support proactive action. A novel, optical, on-line bacteria sensor with a 10-minute time resolution has been developed. The sensor is based on 3D image recognition, and the obtained pictures are analyzed with algorithms considering 59 quantified image parameters. The sensor counts individual suspended particles and classifies them as either bacteria or abiotic particles. The technology is capable of distinguishing and quantifying bacteria and particles in pure and mixed suspensions, and the quantification correlates with total bacterial counts. Several field applications have demonstrated that the technology can monitor changes in the concentration of bacteria, and is thus well suited for rapid detection of critical conditions such as pollution events in drinking water

Monte Carlo Simulations for the Analysis of Non-linear Parameter Confidence Intervals in Optimal Experimental Design

Especially in biomanufacturing, methods to design optimal experiments are a valuable technique to fully exploit the potential of the emerging technical possibilities that are driving experimental miniaturization and parallelization. The general objective is to reduce the experimental effort while maximizing the information content of an experiment, speeding up knowledge gain in R&D. The approach of model-based design of experiments (known as MBDoE) utilizes the information of an underlying mathematical model describing the system of interest. A common method to predict the accuracy of the parameter estimates uses the Fisher information matrix to approximate the 90% confidence intervals of the estimates. However, for highly non-linear models, this method might lead to wrong conclusions. In such cases, Monte Carlo sampling gives a more accurate insight into the parameter's estimate probability distribution and should be exploited to assess the reliability of the approximations made through the Fisher information matrix. We first introduce the model-based optimal experimental design for parameter estimation including parameter identification and validation by means of a simple non-linear Michaelis-Menten kinetic and show why Monte Carlo simulations give a more accurate depiction of the parameter uncertainty. Secondly, we propose a very robust and simple method to find optimal experimental designs using Monte Carlo simulations. Although computational expensive, the method is easy to implement and parallelize. This article focuses on practical examples of bioprocess engineering but is generally applicable in other fields

The African warlord revisited

To date, warlordism in Africa has been viewed solely negatively. This has come about, in part, because of the analytical lenses that have been used. Typically, warlordism has been examined at the state level; and behavioural traits, rather than definitionally necessary components, have been the focus. In effect, ‘warlord’ has been confused with other violent actors. I suggest here a reconceptualisation ‘from below’, which takes into account variation in types of warlordism, and which allows for both positive and negative effects of warlordism on society and the state

Metagenomic analysis of viruses in toilet waste from long distance flights—A new procedure for global infectious disease surveillance

<div><p>Human viral pathogens are a major public health threat. Reliable information that accurately describes and characterizes the global occurrence and transmission of human viruses is essential to support national and global priority setting, public health actions, and treatment decisions. However, large areas of the globe are currently without surveillance due to limited health care infrastructure and lack of international cooperation. We propose a novel surveillance strategy, using metagenomic analysis of toilet material from international air flights as a method for worldwide viral disease surveillance. The aim of this study was to design, implement, and evaluate a method for viral analysis of airplane toilet waste enabling simultaneous detection and quantification of a wide range of human viral pathogens. Toilet waste from 19 international airplanes was analyzed for viral content, using viral capture probes followed by high-throughput sequencing. Numerous human pathogens were detected including enteric and respiratory viruses. Several geographic trends were observed with samples originating from South Asia having significantly higher viral species richness as well as higher abundances of salivirus A, aichivirus A and enterovirus B, compared to samples originating from North Asia and North America. In addition, certain city specific trends were observed, including high numbers of rotaviruses in airplanes departing from Islamabad. Based on this study we believe that central sampling and analysis at international airports could be a useful supplement for global viral surveillance, valuable for outbreak detection and for guiding public health resources.</p></div

Spinning up the Surface: Evidence for Planetary Engulfment or Unexpected Angular Momentum Transport?

In this paper, we report the potential detection of a nonmonotonic radial rotation profile in a low-mass lower-luminosity giant star. For most low- and intermediate-mass stars, the rotation on the main sequence seems to be close to rigid. As these stars evolve into giants, the core contracts and the envelope expands, which should suggest a radial rotation profile with a fast core and a slower envelope and surface. KIC 9267654, however, seems to show a surface rotation rate that is faster than its bulk envelope rotation rate, in conflict with this simple angular momentum conservation argument. We improve the spectroscopic surface constraint, show that the pulsation frequencies are consistent with the previously published core and envelope rotation rates, and demonstrate that the star does not show strong chemical peculiarities. We discuss the evidence against any tidally interacting stellar companion. Finally, we discuss the possible origin of this unusual rotation profile, including the potential ingestion of a giant planet or unusual angular momentum transport by tidal inertial waves triggered by a close substellar companion, and encourage further observational and theoretical efforts.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, submitted to AAS Journal