miR-196b target screen reveals mechanisms maintaining leukemia stemness with therapeutic potential.

We have shown that antagomiR inhibition of miRNA miR-21 and miR-196b activity is sufficient to ablate MLL-AF9 leukemia stem cells (LSC) in vivo. Here, we used an shRNA screening approach to mimic miRNA activity on experimentally verified miR-196b targets to identify functionally important and therapeutically relevant pathways downstream of oncogenic miRNA in MLL-r AML. We found Cdkn1b (p27Kip1) is a direct miR-196b target whose repression enhanced an embryonic stem cell–like signature associated with decreased leukemia latency and increased numbers of leukemia stem cells in vivo. Conversely, elevation of p27Kip1 significantly reduced MLL-r leukemia self-renewal, promoted monocytic differentiation of leukemic blasts, and induced cell death. Antagonism of miR-196b activity or pharmacologic inhibition of the Cks1-Skp2–containing SCF E3-ubiquitin ligase complex increased p27Kip1 and inhibited human AML growth. This work illustrates that understanding oncogenic miRNA target pathways can identify actionable targets in leukemia

Comparing G-Force Measurement Between a Smartphone App and an In-Vehicle Accelerometer

Due to their widespread adoption, smartphone applications (apps) could allow for a simple, low-cost assessment of driving behavior on a population scale. A number of existing apps are capable of measuring g-forces while driving, but few evaluations have been conducted to determine their accuracy. The goal of this study was to compare the measurement of g-forces between two devices: a custom-built smartphone app and an in-vehicle device that is currently used for research purposes (DAS). The test occurred under experimental conditions on a test track, where a vehicle, equipped with both the DAS and a smartphone with the app installed, performed a number of different acceleration events (e.g. hard-braking, sharp turning, etc.) under controlled conditions. We found that the app captured data that followed the same overall pattern of the DAS, but had a lower amplitude of measurement and a lower signal-to-noise ratio in the data. In general, the strength of the association between the app and DAS improved as the velocity of the events increased (though this was not true for all maneuvers). The correlations between the app and DAS were weaker for other maneuvers, and this may be due to delays in registering the maneuver. These findings indicate that a smartphone application did not register driving maneuvers in the same way that a dedicated in-vehicle device recorded them. Smartphones are ubiquitous and could represent a valuable driving research tool, however steps such as validation and testing are required, before they can be deployed in field trials

Validation of Streetlight Insight® 2021 Vehicle Volume Metrics in Maine

Streetlight Insight® provides calibrated estimates of traffic volume for all roads across the United States and Canada, using large and anonymous location-based services collected from cellphone apps.1 The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) has a license to use these metrics for traffic planning and engineering studies, as well as for the operation and maintenance of road infrastructure. The University of Maine’s Margaret Chase Smith Policy center undertook a validation effort on behalf of MaineDOT to better understand the accuracy of StreetLight Insight’s vehicle volume metrics for monthly, daily and hourly time periods

Carbon nanospheres fabricated by pyrolysis of micelles formed in pectin gels

Formation of carbon nanospheres is typically relegated to two costly methods. Chemical vapor deposition produces uniform spheres safely anchored to a substrate but at the cost of being slow and expensive to run. Arc discharge of a carbon target produces soot containing a low density of random spheres that must be laboriously sorted. An alternative approach is to fabricate carbon nanospheres through the pyrolysis of organic feedstock. This paper presents the findings from an investigation into using pectin as a pre-cursor material for pyrolysis. The pectin is combined with different saccharides - sucrose, dextrose, and fructose and processed in aqueous solution until a gel set. The gel is then thermally processed in a nitrogen environment at 500°C. The resultant carbon material is examined under SEM. Images confirm the formation of nanospheres and other microscale and nanoscale structures. The pectin, a naturally derived product from plant materials, is a renewable source of materials which can be used to form nanotechnologies for many energy-related applications. © 2010 Materials Research Society