Do mayors run for higher office? New evidence on progressive ambition

The mayor’s office potentially offers a launchpad for statewide and national political ambitions. We know relatively little, however, about how frequently mayors actually run for higher office, and which mayors choose to do so. This article combines longitudinal data on the career paths of the mayors of 200 big cities with new survey and interview data to investigate these questions. While we find that individual and city traits—especially gender—have some predictive power, the overwhelming story is that relatively few mayors—just under one-fifth—ever seek higher office. We suggest that ideological, institutional, and electoral factors all help to explain why so few mayors exhibit progressive ambition

Locally Advanced Spiroadenocarcinoma in the Regional Axilla of a Breast Cancer Patient: Hallmarks of Definitive Diagnosis and Management.

Eccrine spiroadenocarcinoma is an extremely rare malignant eccrine gland tumor which may masquerade as other more common malignancies such as poorly differentiated squamous carcinoma or metastatic breast cancer. We report a case of an ulcerated axillary skin lesion with bulky adenopathy in a 77 year-old female with a prior history of ipsilateral triple negative breast carcinoma. The clear transition of benign spiradenoma to malignant carcinoma was essential to establishing a definitive diagnosis and treatment plan

Comment on "Plasma ionization by annularly bounded helicon waves" [Phys . Plasmas 13, 063501 (2006)]

The neoclassical calculation of the helicon wave theory contains a fundamental flaw. Use is made of a proportional relationship between the magnetic field and its curl to derive the Helmholtz equation describing helicon wave propagation; however, by the fundamental theorem of Stokes, the curl of the magnetic field must be perpendicular to that portion of the field contributing to the local curl. Reexamination of the equations of motion indicates that only electromagnetic waves propagate through a stationary region of constant pressure in a fully ionized, neutral medium.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Plasmas, http://link.aip.org/link/?PHPAEN/16/054701/

Evaluation of the Long-Lasting Insecticidal Net Interceptor LN: Laboratory and Experimental Hut Studies against Anopheline and Culicine Mosquitoes in Northeastern Tanzania

Long lasting insecticidal nets (LN) are a primary method of malaria prevention. Before new types of LN are approved they need to meet quality and efficacy standards set by the WHO Pesticide Evaluation Scheme. The process of evaluation has three phases. In Phase I the candidate LN must meet threshold bioassay criteria after 20 standardized washes. In Phase II washed and unwashed LNs are evaluated in experimental huts against wild, free flying anopheline mosquitoes. In Phase III the LN are distributed to households in malaria endemic areas, sampled over three years of use and tested for continuing insecticidal efficacy. Interceptor® LN (BASF Corporation, Germany) is made of polyester netting coated with a wash resistant formulation of alpha-cypermethrin. Interceptor LN was subjected to bioassay evaluation and then to experimental hut trial against pyrethroid-susceptible Anopheles gambiae and An. funestus and resistant Culex quinquefasciatus. Mosquito mortality, blood feeding inhibition and personal protection were compared between untreated nets, conventional alpha-cypermethrin treated nets (CTN) washed 20 times and LNs washed 0, 20 and 30 times. In Phase I Interceptor LN demonstrated superior wash resistance and efficacy to the CTN. In the Phase II hut trial the LN killed 92% of female An. gambiae when unwashed and 76% when washed 20 times; the CTN washed 20 times killed 44%. The LN out-performed the CTN in personal protection and blood-feeding inhibition. The trend for An. funestus was similar to An. gambiae for all outcomes. Few pyrethroid-resistant Cx. quinquefasciatus were killed and yet the level of personal protection (75-90%) against Culex was similar to that of susceptible An. gambiae (76-80%) even after 20 washes. This protection is relevant because Cx. quinquefasciatus is a vector of lymphatic filariasis in East Africa. After 20 washes and 60 nights’ use the LN retained 27% of its initial insecticide dose. Interceptor LN meets the approval criteria set by WHO and is recommended for use in disease control against East African vectors of malaria and filariasis. Some constraints associated with the phase II evaluation criteria, in particular the washing procedure, are critically reviewed

The PAS domain-containing histidine kinase RpfS is a second sensor for the diffusible signal factor of <em>Xanthomonas campestris</em>

Summary: A cell-cell signalling system mediated by the fatty acid signal DSF controls the virulence of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) to plants. The synthesis and recognition of the DSF signal depends upon different Rpf proteins. DSF signal generation requires RpfF whereas signal perception and transduction depends upon the sensor RpfC and regulator RpfG. Detailed analyses of the regulatory roles of different Rpf proteins have suggested the occurrence of further sensors for DSF. Here we have used a mutagenesis approach coupled with high-resolution transcriptional analysis to identify XC_2579 (RpfS) as a second sensor for DSF in Xcc. RpfS is a complex sensor kinase predicted to have multiple Per/Arnt/Sim (PAS) domains, a histidine kinase domain and a C-terminal receiver (REC) domain. Isothermal calorimetry showed that DSF bound to the isolated N-terminal PAS domain with a Kd of 1.4μM. RpfS controlled expression of a sub-set of genes distinct from those controlled by RpfC to include genes involved in type IV secretion and chemotaxis. Mutation of XC_2579 was associated with a reduction in virulence of Xcc to Chinese Radish when assayed by leaf spraying but not by leaf inoculation, suggesting a role for RpfS-controlled factors in the epiphytic phase of the disease cycle.</p

Torsion Does Not Affect Early Vein Graft Patency in the Rat Femoral Artery Model

BACKGROUND: Torsion of vein grafts is a commonly cited reason for graft failure in clinical setting. Many microsurgery training courses have incorporated vein graft procedures in their curricula, and vein graft torsion is a common technical error made by the surgeons in these courses. To improve our understanding of the clinical reproducibility of practicing vein graft procedures in microsurgery training courses, this study aims to determine if torsion can lead to early vein graft failure in nonsurvival surgery rat models. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five cohorts with five rats per cohort for a total of 25 rats. Cohorts were labeled based on degree of vein graft torsion (0, 45, 90, 135, and 180 degrees). Torsion was created in the vein grafts at the distal arterial end by mismatching sutures placed between the proximal end of the vein graft and the distal arterial end. Vein graft patency was then verified 2 and 24 hours postoperation. RESULTS: All vein grafts were patent 2 and 24 hours postoperation. At 2 hours, the average blood flow rate measurements for 0, 45, 90, 135, and 180 degrees of torsion were 0.37 ± 0.02, 0.38 ± 0.04, 0.34 ± 0.01, 0.33 ± 0.01, and 0.29 ± 0.02 mL/min, respectively. At 24 hours, they were 0.94 ± 0.07, 1.03 ± 0.15, 1.26 ± 0.22, 1.41 ± 0.11, and 0.89 ± 0.15 mL/min, respectively. CONCLUSION: Torsion of up to 180 degrees does not affect early vein graft patency in rat models. To improve the clinical reproducibility of practicing vein graft procedures in rat models, we suggest that microsurgery instructors assess vein graft torsion prior to clamp release, as vessel torsion does not seem to affect graft patency once the clamps are removed

Few big-city mayors see running for higher office as appealing

Former mayors are not unknown in Congress and in governors' mansions - but does running a big city act as a springboard for higher office? To answer this question, Katherine Levine Einstein, David M. Glick, Maxwell Palmer and Robert J. Pressel collected data from nearly 200 large US cities and interviewed 94 mayors. They find that mayors are not likely to seek higher office, and tend to have little interest in doing so – especially if they are women or black

Fibronectin and Cyclic Strain Improve Cardiac Progenitor Cell Regenerative Potential In Vitro.

Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have rapidly advanced to clinical trials, yet little is known regarding their interaction with the microenvironment. Signaling cues present in the microenvironment change with development and disease. This work aims to assess the influence of two distinct signaling moieties on CPCs: cyclic biaxial strain and extracellular matrix. We evaluate four endpoints for improving CPC therapy: paracrine signaling, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (about 900 pg/mL) was secreted by CPCs cultured on fibronectin and collagen I. The application of mechanical strain increased vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion 2-4-fold for CPCs cultured on poly-L-lysine, laminin, or a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. CPC proliferation was at least 25% higher on fibronectin than that on other matrices, especially for lower strain magnitudes. At 5% strain, connexin43 expression was highest on fibronectin. With increasing strain magnitude, connexin43 expression decreased by as much as 60% in CPCs cultured on collagen I and a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. Cyclic mechanical strain induced the strongest CPC alignment when cultured on fibronectin or collagen I. This study demonstrates that culturing CPCs on fibronectin with 5% strain magnitude is optimal for their vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment

Revised astrometric calibration of the Gemini Planet Imager

We present a revision to the astrometric calibration of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), an instrument designed to achieve the high contrast at small angular separations necessary to image substellar and planetary-mass companions around nearby, young stars. We identified several issues with the GPI data reduction pipeline (DRP) that significantly affected the determination of the angle of north in reduced GPI images. As well as introducing a small error in position angle measurements for targets observed at small zenith distances, this error led to a significant error in the previous astrometric calibration that has affected all subsequent astrometric measurements. We present a detailed description of these issues and how they were corrected. We reduced GPI observations of calibration binaries taken periodically since the instrument was commissioned in 2014 using an updated version of the DRP. These measurements were compared to observations obtained with the NIRC2 instrument on Keck II, an instrument with an excellent astrometric calibration, allowing us to derive an updated plate scale and north offset angle for GPI. This revised astrometric calibration should be used to calibrate all measurements obtained with GPI for the purposes of precision astrometry