Airborne lidar detection and characterization of internal waves in a shallow fjord

A dual-polarization lidar and photography are used to sense internal waves in West Sound, Orcas Island, Washington, from a small aircraft. The airborne lidar detected a thin plankton layer at the bottom of the upper layer of the water, and this signal provides the depth of the upper layer, amplitude of the internal waves, and the propagation speed. The lidar is most effective when the polarization filter on the receiver is orthogonal to the transmitted light, but this does not depend significantly on whether the transmitted light is linearly or circularly polarized. The depolarization is greater with circular polarization, and our results are consistent with a single parameter Mueller scattering matrix. Photographs of the surface manifestation of the internal waves clearly show the propagation direction and width of the phase fronts of the internal waves, even though the contrast is low (2%). Combined with the lidar profile, the total energy of the internal wave packet was estimated to be 9 MJ

The Impact of a Sport-Based Service Learning Course on Participants’ Attitudes, Intentions and Actions Toward Social Change

Framed in the context of a sport-based service learning program that engages in interdepartmental university partnerships (including athletics), the current study focused on addressing the need to analyze the long-term impacts of service learning on students’ intentions and actions toward social change. Service learning courses have been shown to facilitate positive outcomes such as increased cultural competency and future intentions toward civic engagement (Bruening et al., 2010, 2014). Building on this knowledge, the current study used in-depth interviews to investigate the social justice-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of alumni of a college service learning through sport course. Individual interviews (n = 22) with participants who had completed at least one semester in the course indicated that the course was influential in developing their ability to recognize social inequities. Furthermore, participants indicated future intentions and current involvement in initiatives that address social inequities in their given areas of life. Theoretical and managerial implications for effective academic and intercollegiate athletic partnerships, helping to increase impactful civic engagement and learning opportunities for student-athletes and non-student-athletes, are provided

Efficient, high-throughput transfection of human embryonic stem cells

INTRODUCTION: Genetic manipulation of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) has been limited by their general resistance to common methods used to introduce exogenous DNA or RNA. Efficient and high throughput transfection of nucleic acids into hESC would be a valuable experimental tool to manipulate these cells for research and clinical applications. METHODS: We investigated the ability of two commercially available electroporation systems, the Nucleofection(® )96-well Shuttle(® )System from Lonza and the Neon™ Transfection System from Invitrogen to efficiently transfect hESC. Transfection efficiency was measured by flow cytometry for the expression of the green fluorescent protein and the viability of the transfected cells was determined by an ATP catalyzed luciferase reaction. The transfected cells were also analyzed by flow cytometry for common markers of pluripotency. RESULTS: Both systems are capable of transfecting hESC at high efficiencies with little loss of cell viability. However, the reproducibility and the ease of scaling for high throughput applications led us to perform more comprehensive tests on the Nucleofection(® )96-well Shuttle(® )System. We demonstrate that this method yields a large fraction of transiently transfected cells with minimal loss of cell viability and pluripotency, producing protein expression from plasmid vectors in several different hESC lines. The method scales to a 96-well plate with similar transfection efficiencies at the start and end of the plate. We also investigated the efficiency with which stable transfectants can be generated and recovered under antibiotic selection. Finally, we found that this method is effective in the delivery of short synthetic RNA oligonucleotides (siRNA) into hESC for knockdown of translation activity via RNA interference. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that these electroporation methods provide a reliable, efficient, and high-throughput approach to the genetic manipulation of hESC

Noise level correlates with manatee use of foraging habitats

Author Posting. © Acoustical Society of America, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of Acoustical Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 121 (2007): 3011-3020, doi:10.1121/1.2713555.The introduction of anthropogenic sound to coastal waters is a negative side effect of population growth. As noise from boats, marine construction, and coastal dredging increases, environmental and behavioral monitoring is needed to directly assess the effect these phenomena have on marine animals. Acoustic recordings, providing information on ambient noise levels and transient noise sources, were made in two manatee habitats: grassbeds and dredged habitats. Recordings were made over two 6-month periods from April to September in 2003 and 2004. Noise levels were calculated in one-third octave bands at nine center frequencies ranging from 250 Hz to 64 kHz. Manatee habitat usage, as a function of noise level, was examined during four time periods: morning, noon, afternoon, and night. Analysis of sightings data in a variety of grassbeds of equal species composition and density indicate that manatees select grassbeds with lower ambient noise for frequencies below 1 kHz. Additionally, grassbed usage was negatively correlated with concentrated boat presence in the morning hours; no correlation was observed during noon and afternoon hours. This suggests that morning boat presence and its associated noise may affect the use of foraging habitat on a daily time scale.This research was supported by a P.E.O. Scholar Award and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship awarded to Jennifer Miksis

Portland State University Spring Symposium Report

The 2023 Spring Symposium arose in response to a request to PSU administrators in a Faculty Senate Resolution. That resolution noted the high level of interest by the Faculty Senate in both understanding and engaging in the university’s budgeting processes. The Symposium offered an opportunity for all PSU employees to come together to identify priorities and shared purpose regarding the university’s approach to long term financial planning. The recommendations created during the symposium are being shared with incoming president Ann Cudd to inform her thinking as PSU pursues a path toward financial sustainability. Table of Contents 04 Statement from President and Faculty Senate 05 2023 Faculty & Staff Spring Symposium Event Overview 08 Collaborative Governance Overview 10 Report Purpose & Intention 11 Process Recommendations 13 Next Steps 15 Acknowledgements 16 Appendix: Process Recommendation Too

Propuesta de plan de negocios para la venta de Pasuchaca

El desarrollo del emprendimiento se basa en una estrategia diferenciaci?n de segmento para comercializar producto Pasuchaca a poblaci?n diab?tica de 25 a?os a m?s en Lima metropolitana, ofreciendo una propuesta de valor basada en la calidad mayores beneficios y minimiza efectos secundarios de tratamiento convencional que representar? la ventaja competitiva en el Mercado, desplegando acciones de sensibilizaci?n inicial a trav?s de campa?as de marketing para atraer al p?blico, la distribuci?n en farmacias, centros naturistas, supermercados para mantener exposici?n y disponibilidad, puntos de distribuci?n preferidos seg?n el estudio, y retenci?n a partir de actividades preventivo promocionales orientadas a mejorar la calidad de vida como charlas nutricionales, maratones, entre otros, que persigue la fidelizaci?n del segmento. El despliegue del plan de marketing, a trav?s medios de comunicaci?n masiva aprovecha las debilidades y oportunidades del entorno y desarrolla la estrategia en tres etapas: Etapa de Prelanzamiento con el objetivo es educar e informar al p?blico objetivo sobre las propiedades curativas de la Pasuchaca, en l etapa de Lanzamiento con la finalidad de concientizar al p?blico objetivo sobre las propiedades curativas de la Pasuchaca; y en la tapa de Consolidaci?n: La estrategia de lanzamiento ser? ?retener e incrementar? al p?blico objetivo

Systemic ablation of MMP9 triggers invasive growth and metastasis of pancreatic cancer via deregulation of IL-6 expression in the bone marrow

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9/Gelatinase B) is overexpressed in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and plays a central role in tumor cell invasion and metastasis. Here we complemented mechanistic insights in the cancer biology of MMP9 and investigated the effects of specific long-term loss-of-function, by genetic ablation, of MMP9 on PDAC initiation and progression in the well-established KPC mouse model of spontaneous PDAC. Tumor growth and progression were analyzed by histopathology and immunohistochemistry. Invasive growth of PDAC cells was analyzed by both in vitro (proliferation, survival, migration, invasion assays) and in vivo (experimental metastasis assays) methods. Retroviral shRNAi was used to knockdown target genes (MMP9, IL6R). Gene expression was analyzed by qRT-PCR, immunoblot, ELISA, in situ hybridization and zymography. PDAC tumors from MMP9-deficient mice were dramatically larger, more invasive and contained more stroma. Yet, ablation of MMP9 in PDAC cells did not directly promote invasive growth. Interestingly, systemic ablation of MMP9 led to increased IL-6 levels resulting from abrogation of MMP9-dependent SCF-signaling in the bone marrow (BM). IL-6 levels in MMP9-/- mice were sufficient to induce invasive growth and STAT3 activation in PDAC cells via IL-6 receptor (IL6R). Interference with IL6R blocked the increased invasion and metastasis of PDAC cells in MMP9-deficient hosts. In conclusion, ablation of systemic MMP9 initiated fatal communication between maintenance of physiological functions of MMP9 in the BM and invasive growth of PDAC via the IL-6/IL6R/STAT3 axis. Implications: Thus, the beneficial effects of host MMP9 on PDAC are an important caveat for the use of systemic MMP9 inhibitors in cancer

Celtic censure: representing Wales in eighteenth-century Germany

Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's notion of regionalist discourse as the performative legitimation of specific frontiers, this article examines how the English traveller Samuel Jackson Pratt mediated a picture of the Welsh to late eighteenth-century readers in his Gleanings Through Wales, Holland and Westphalia (1795). This process of mediation was further complicated by the translation of this work into German as the Aehrenlese auf einer Reise durch Wallis, which appeared with the Leipzig publisher Lincke in 1798. While this work made an important contribution to German Celtophilia in the Romantic period, the German translator was careful to omit its more Sternean passages, in favour of factual narrative. Pratt's account of his travel through Wales, mediated in turn to a German audience through its Leipzig translator, therefore embodies several layers of cultural transfer that generate a complex and multifaceted image of Wales at the close of the eighteenth century

Modulation of dendritic spine development and plasticity by BDNF and vesicular trafficking: fundamental roles in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation and autism

The process of axonal and dendritic development establishes the synaptic circuitry of the central nervous system (CNS) and is the result of interactions between intrinsic molecular factors and the external environment. One growth factor that has a compelling function in neuronal development is the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF participates in axonal and dendritic differentiation during embryonic stages of neuronal development, as well as in the formation and maturation of dendritic spines during postnatal development. Recent studies have also implicated vesicular trafficking of BDNF via secretory vesicles, and both secretory and endosomal trafficking of vesicles containing synaptic proteins, such as neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptors, in the regulation of axonal and dendritic differentiation, and in dendritic spine morphogenesis. Several genes that are either mutated or deregulated in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation have now been identified, and several mouse models of these disorders have been generated and characterized. Interestingly, abnormalities in dendritic and synaptic structure are consistently observed in human neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation, and in mouse models of these disorders as well. Abnormalities in dendritic and synaptic differentiation are thought to underlie altered synaptic function and network connectivity, thus contributing to the clinical outcome. Here, we review the roles of BDNF and vesicular trafficking in axonal and dendritic differentiation in the context of dendritic and axonal morphological impairments commonly observed in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation