Alien Registration- De Pass, Olymphe T. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/23148/thumbnail.jp

Midcourse maneuver operations program

Midcourse Maneuver Operations Program /MMOP/ computes the required velocity change to correct a spacecraft trajectory. The program establishes the existence of maneuvers which satisfy spacecraft constraints, explores alternate trajectories in the event that some out-of-tolerance condition forces a change in plans, and codes the maneuvers into commands

Fra-1 governs cell migration via modulation of CD44 expression in human mesotheliomas

Silencing of Fra-1, a component of the dimeric transcription factor, activator protein-1 (AP-1), inhibits mRNA expression of c-met and cd44 in rat mesothelioma cells and is causally linked to maintenance of the transformed phenotype. However, the mechanisms of Fra-1 regulation and Fra-1 regulated gene expression in human malignant mesothelioma (MM) are unclear. We first show in a panel of human MM cells that Fra-1 mRNA expression in MM is complex and regulated by extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1, ERK2), Src, and phosphatidyl-inositol-3-kinase (PI3K) pathways in a tumor-specific fashion. Cell lines with PI3K-dependent Fra-1 expression were SV40 positive and expressed the lowest basal Fra-1 levels. Levels of Fra-1 expression correlated with amounts of CD44 expression that were greater in simian virus 40 negative (SV40-) MM cells. Using dominant negative (dn), short hairpin (sh) and small interference (si) RNA constructs, we next demonstrate that expression of CD44, the principal hyaluronic receptor in MMs, correlates with Fra-expression in both simian virus 40 positive (SV40+) and SV40- MMs. Moreover, both Fra-1 and CD44 expression are linked to cell migration in SV40- MM cells. Lastly, in contrast to normal lung tissue, tissue microarrays revealed that Fra-1 was expressed in 33 of 34 human MMs, and that all CD44+ tumors were SV40-. These results suggest that Fra-1 is associated with cell migration in human MMs and that Fra-1 modulation of CD44 may govern migration of selected MMs

Decontamination of a \u3cem\u3eHistoplasma capsulatum\u3c/em\u3e-Infested Blackbird Roost: Use of a Sprinkler System to Apply Formalin

When disturbed, blackbird/starling roost sites can be sources of locally severe outbreaks of histoplasmosis; therefore decontamination with formalin is sometimes prudent. We describe the use of a $5000 sprinkler system for spraying formalin on a Histoplasma capsulatum-infested roost site. This system precludes direct worker involvement in the application of this hazardous chemical to the area. Analysis of soil samples collected and cultured both before and after formalin treatment confirmed the eradication of H. capsulatum from the 1.3 ha site. Cost was approximately$17,000 with sprinkler system provided at no charge

PaLa: A Simple Partially Synchronous Blockchain

Classical-style BFT protocols use two or more rounds of voting to confirm each block, e.g., in PBFT, they are called the “prepare” round and the “commit” round respectively. Recently, an elegant pipelining idea came out of the cryptocurrency community, i.e., if each block required two rounds of voting, why not piggyback the second round on the next block’s voting? We refer to this idea as the pipelined-BFT paradigm. We describe a simple partially synchronous blockchain protocol called PaLa that is inspired by the pipelined-BFT paradigm. In PaLa, a proposer proposes a block extending the freshest notarized chain seen so far. Consensus nodes vote on the proposal if certain conditions are met. When a block gains at least 2n 3 votes it becomes notarized. A block becomes finalized if the next immediate block becomes notarized too. We propose a conceptually simple and provably secure committee rotation algorithm for PaLa. We also describe a generalization called “doubly-pipelined PaLa” that is geared towards settings that require high throughput

Round Complexity of Byzantine Agreement, Revisited

Although Byzantine Agreement (BA) has been studied for three decades, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, there still exist significant gaps in our understanding regarding its round complexity. First, although expected constant-round protocols are known in the honest majority setting, it is unclear whether one has to settle for expected constant-round or whether there exist better protocols that are worst-case constant-round. Second, for the corrupt majority setting, the existence of sublinear-round BA protocols continues to ellude us except for the narrow regime when only sublinearly more than a half are corrupt. In this paper, we make a couple important steps forward in bridging this gap. We show two main results: - No (even randomized) protocol that completes in worst-case $o\left(\log(1/\delta)/\log \log(1/\delta)\right)$ rounds can achieve BA with $1-\delta$ probability, even when only 1% of the nodes are corrupt. In comparison, known expected constant-round, honest-majority protocols complete in $O(\log(1/\delta))$ rounds in the worst-case. Therefore, our lower bound is tight upto a $\log\log$ factor for the honest majority setting. - There exists a corrupt-majority BA protocol that terminates in $O(\log(1/\delta)/\epsilon)$ rounds in the worst case and tolerates $(1-\epsilon)$ fraction of corrupt nodes. Our upper bound is optimal upto a logarithmic factor in light of the elegant $\Omega(1/\epsilon)$ lower bound by Garay et al. (FOCS\u2707)

National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank: A standard based biospecimen and clinical data resource to enhance translational research

Background: Advances in translational research have led to the need for well characterized biospecimens for research. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is an initiative which collects annotated datasets relevant to human mesothelioma to develop an enterprising biospecimen resource to fulfill researchers' need. Methods: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank architecture is based on three major components: (a) common data elements (based on College of American Pathologists protocol and National North American Association of Central Cancer Registries standards), (b) clinical and epidemiologic data annotation, and (c) data query tools. These tools work interoperably to standardize the entire process of annotation. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank tool is based upon the caTISSUE Clinical Annotation Engine, developed by the University of Pittsburgh in cooperation with the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid™ (caBIG™, see http://cabig.nci.nih.gov). This application provides a web-based system for annotating, importing and searching mesothelioma cases. The underlying information model is constructed utilizing Unified Modeling Language class diagrams, hierarchical relationships and Enterprise Architect software. Result: The database provides researchers real-time access to richly annotated specimens and integral information related to mesothelioma. The data disclosed is tightly regulated depending upon users' authorization and depending on the participating institute that is amenable to the local Institutional Review Board and regulation committee reviews. Conclusion: The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank currently has over 600 annotated cases available for researchers that include paraffin embedded tissues, tissue microarrays, serum and genomic DNA. The National Mesothelioma Virtual Bank is a virtual biospecimen registry with robust translational biomedical informatics support to facilitate basic science, clinical, and translational research. Furthermore, it protects patient privacy by disclosing only de-identified datasets to assure that biospecimens can be made accessible to researchers. © 2008 Amin et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Implementation of routine outcome measurement in child and adolescent mental health services in the United Kingdom: a critical perspective

The aim of this commentary is to provide an overview of clinical outcome measures that are currently recommended for use in UK Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), focusing on measures that are applicable across a wide range of conditions with established validity and reliability, or innovative in their design. We also provide an overview of the barriers and drivers to the use of Routine Outcome Measurement (ROM) in clinical practice

CARP-1 Functional Mimetics Are a Novel Class of Small Molecule Inhibitors of Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma Cells

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an asbestos-related thoracic malignancy that is characterized by late metastases, and resistance to therapeutic modalities. The toxic side-effects of MPM therapies often limit their clinical effectiveness, thus necessitating development of new agents to effectively treat and manage this disease in clinic. CARP-1 functional mimetics (CFMs) are a novel class of compounds that inhibit growth of diverse cancer cell types. Here we investigated MPM cell growth suppression by the CFMs and the molecular mechanisms involved. CFM-1, -4, and -5 inhibited MPM cell growth, in vitro, in part by stimulating apoptosis. Apoptosis by CFM-4 involved activation of pro-apoptotic stress-activated protein kinases (SAPKs) p38 and JNK, elevated CARP-1 expression, cleavage of PARP1, and loss of the oncogene c-myc as well as mitotic cyclin B1. Treatments of MPM cells with CFM-4 resulted in depletion of NF-κB signaling inhibitor ABIN1 and Inhibitory κB (IκB)α and β, while increasing expression of pro-apoptotic death receptor (DR) 4 protein. CFM-4 enhanced expression of serine-phosphorylated podoplanin and cleavage of vimetin. CFMs also attenuated biological properties of the MPM cells by blocking their abilities to migrate, form colonies in suspension, and invade through the matrix-coated membranes. Both podoplanin and vimentin regulate processes of cell motility and invasion, and their expression often correlates with metastatic disease, and poor prognosis. The fact that phosphorylation of serines in the cytoplasmic domain of podoplanin interferes with processes of cellular motility, CFM-4-dependent elevated phosphorylated podoplanin and cleavage of vimentin underscore a metastasis inhibitory property of these compounds, and suggest that CFMs and/or their future analogs have potential as anti-MPM agents