The Gospel of Colonization: The U.S. Colonization of Puerto Rico as a Protestant Missionary Projec

One year after the Spanish-American War, representatives from nine major Protestant denominations* met in New York City to discuss the “new mission field” of Puerto Rico. While they were eager to “evangelize” these “un-churched” Puerto Ricans, Protestant leaders shared concern about “stepping on each-others toes” in this new religious marketplace. As a result, representatives established a Committee Agreement that carved the island and set parameters on where each particular denomination could evangelize and establish institutions. Presbyterians took the West, Disciples the Mid-North, Baptists parts of the island’s center, etc. Their mission was clear: “to inaugurate a work that assures the Americanization of the island” (translated from the United Brethren Church of Christ’s Official Report, found in Samuel Cruz, Masked Africanisms, 23)

GOES observations of solar protons during ground level enhancements

Since 1974, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has observed solar proton fluxes from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). These observations frequently have served as measurements of the primary component of ground level enhancements (GLEs). Until March 2020, when GOES-14 and -15 were turned off, solar proton measurements were made by the Energetic Particle Sensor (EPS) and the High-Energy Proton and Alpha Detector (HEPAD). EPS had poor energy resolution above 100 MeV, and NOAA derived a >100 MeV integral flux from the EPS channels to support alerts issued by the Space Weather Forecast Office. HEPAD provided some energy resolution in the 330-700 MeV range and a >700 MeV integral channel. Starting with GOES-16, a new instrument called the Solar and Galactic Proton Sensor (SGPS) has replaced EPS and HEPAD. SGPS uses three solid-state telescopes to observe solar proton fluxes between 1 and 500 MeV with a >500 MeV integral channel. The >100 MeV integral flux is now derived from SGPS observations and includes the >500 MeV flux in its derivation. In this paper, we describe the older EPS and HEPAD observations and the new SGPS solar proton observations. We also compare methods for detecting solar proton event onsets currently used with GOES and neutron monitor observations and recommend some innovations

Extreme relativistic electron fluxes at geosynchronous orbit: Analysis of GOES E > 2 MeV electrons

Relativistic electrons (E > 1 MeV) cause internal charging on satellites and are an important space weather hazard. A key requirement in space weather research concerns extreme events and knowledge of the largest flux expected to be encountered over the lifetime of a satellite mission. This is interesting both from a scientific and practical point of view since satellite operators, engineers and the insurance industry need this information to better evaluate the effects of extreme events on their spacecraft. Here we conduct an extreme value analysis of daily averaged E > 2 MeV electron fluxes from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) during the 19.5 year period from 1 January 1995 to 30 June 2014. We find that the daily averaged flux measured at GOES West is typically a factor of ~2.5 higher than that measured at GOES East and we conduct independent analyses for these two locations. The 1 in 10, 1 in 50 and 1 in 100 year daily averaged E > 2 MeVelectron fluxes at GOES West are 1.84×105, 5.00×105 and 7.68×105 cm−2s−1sr−1 respectively. The corresponding fluxes at GOES East are 6.53×104, 1.98×105 and 3.25×105 cm−2s−1sr−1 respectively. The largest fluxes seen during the 19.5 year period on 29 July 2004 were particularly extreme and were seen by satellites at GOES West and GOES East. The extreme value analysis suggests that this event was a 1 in 50 year event

September 2017's geoeffective space weather and impacts to Caribbean radio communications during Hurricane response

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Space Weather 16 (2018): 1190-1201, doi:10.1029/2018SW001897.Between 4 and 10 September 2017, multiple solar eruptions occurred from active region AR12673. NOAA's and NASA's well‐instrumented spacecraft observed the evolution of these geoeffective events from their solar origins, through the interplanetary medium, to their geospace impacts. The 6 September X9.3 flare was the largest to date for the nearly concluded solar cycle 24 and, in fact, the brightest recorded since an X17 flare in September 2005, which occurred during the declining phase of solar cycle 23. Rapid ionization of the sunlit upper atmosphere occurred, disrupting high‐frequency communications in the Caribbean region while emergency managers were scrambling to provide critical recovery services caused by the region's devastating hurricanes. The 10 September west limb eruption resulted in the first solar energetic particle event since 2012 with sufficient flux and energy to yield a ground level enhancement. Spacecraft at L1, including DSCOVR, sampled the associated interplanetary coronal mass ejections minutes before their collision with Earth's magnetosphere. Strong compression and erosion of the dayside magnetosphere occurred, placing geosynchronous satellites in the magnetosheath. Subsequent geomagnetic storms produced magnificent auroral displays and elevated hazards to power systems. Through the lens of NOAA's space weather R‐S‐G storm scales, this event period increased hazards for systems susceptible to elevated “radio blackout” (R3‐strong), “solar radiation storm” (S3‐strong), and “geomagnetic storm” (G4‐severe) conditions. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the September 2017 space weather event, and a summary of its consequences, including forecaster, post‐event analyst, and communication operator perspectives

The p75NTR-interacting protein SC1 inhibits cell cycle progression by transcriptional repression of cyclin E

Schwann cell factor 1 (SC1), a p75 neurotrophin receptor–interacting protein, is a member of the positive regulatory/suppressor of variegation, enhancer of zeste, trithorax (PR/SET) domain-containing zinc finger protein family, and it has been shown to be regulated by serum and neurotrophins. SC1 shows a differential cytoplasmic and nuclear distribution, and its presence in the nucleus correlates strongly with the absence of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in these nuclei. Here, we investigated potential transcriptional activities of SC1 and analyzed the function of its various domains. We show that SC1 acts as a transcriptional repressor when it is tethered to Gal4 DNA-binding domain. The repressive activity requires a trichostatin A–sensitive histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity, and SC1 is found in a complex with HDACs 1, 2, and 3. Transcriptional repression exerted by SC1 requires the presence of its zinc finger domains and the PR domain. Additionally, these two domains are involved in the efficient block of BrdU incorporation by SC1. The zinc finger domains are also necessary to direct SC1's nuclear localization. Lastly, SC1 represses the promoter of a promitotic gene, cyclin E, suggesting a mechanism for how growth arrest is regulated by SC1

p27Kip1 V109G as a biomarker for CDK4/6 inhibitors indication in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer

Biomarker; Hormone receptor-positive; Breast cancerBiomarcador; Cáncer de mama; Receptor hormonal positivoBiomarcador; Càncer de mama; Receptor hormonal positiuCDK4/6 inhibitors benefit a minority of patients who receive them in the breast cancer adjuvant setting. p27Kip1 is a protein that inhibits CDK/Cyclin complexes. We hypothesized that single-nucleotide polymorphisms that impaired p27Kip1 function could render patients refractory to endocrine therapy but responsive to CDK4/6 inhibitors, narrowing the patient subpopulation that requires CDK4/6 inhibitors. We found that the p27Kip1 V109G single-nucleotide polymorphism is homozygous in approximately 15% of hormone-positive breast cancer patients. Polymorphic patients experience rapid failure in response to endocrine monotherapy compared with wild-type or heterozygous patients in the first-line metastatic setting (progression-free survival: 92 vs 485 days, P < .001); when CDK4/6 inhibitors are added, the differences disappear (progression-free survival: 658 vs 761 days, P = .92). As opposed to wild-type p27Kip1, p27Kip1 V109G is unable to suppress the kinase activity of CDK4 in the presence of endocrine inhibitors; however, palbociclib blocks CDK4 kinase activity regardless of the p27Kip1 status. p27Kip1 genotyping could constitute a tool for treatment selection.MM is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RTI2018-095582-B-100; PLEC2021-007892 and RED2018-102723-T), AES (DTS21/00132) and Comunidad de Madrid (B2017/BMD-3884 and Y2020/BIO-6519). MQF is a recipient of the following grants: AES—PI 19/00454 funded by the ISCIII and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and B2017/BMD3733 (Immunothercan-CM) – Call for Coordinated Research Groups from the Madrid Region—Madrid Regional Government—ERDF funds. This study was also funded by a donation from CRIS Contra El Cancer Foundation

Invasive alien species in Macaronesia

"[…]. As a consequence of all the geographic conditions and of historical events, the Canaries show the richest biodiversity. As an example, regarding endemic taxa, the Canaries have 524 vascular plants and 2768 arthropods (Martín Esquivel et al. 2005) while the Azores have 72 and 267, respectively (Borges et al. 2005) and the archipelagos of Madeira and Selvagens altogether have 154 and 979 (Borges et al. 2008a) respectively. It is well known that there are several plant genera in the Canaries with high numbers of species (Aeonium, Echium, Argyranthemum, Sonchus, etc.), which probably resulted from adaptive radiation, while in the Azores endemic plant species are found at a rate of one, and more rarely two or three species per genus. An intermediate situation is found in Madeira where genera Argyranthemum (Asteraceae) and Sinapidendron (Brassicaceae) show six endemic taxa (Jardim & Sequeira 2008). There are also other significant differences among the archipelagos. For instance, regarding vertebrate taxa, in the Azores there are no native species of reptiles and there are only two native mammal species, two bats, one of which endemic (Nyctalus azoreum), while there are several species in those groups both in the Canaries and in Madeira, namely the small lizard from Madeira (Teira dugesii, with four subspecies) or the giant lizards from La Gomera (Gallotia bravoana), El Hierro (G. simonyi), Tenerife (G. intermedia) and Gran Canaria (G. stehlini), among others. Thus, although there are similarities among the different regions, important geographic differences dictated that the native flora and fauna would show striking differences among the archipelagos. This is of considerable importance in order to understand what happened in each region, regarding the introduction of alien species. For instance, it is usually accepted that several species of Mediterranean distribution are considered as native in Madeira or in the Canaries, while the same species are considered as alien in the Azores.

Cryptic genetic structure in an Argentinian population of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera: Tephritidae) evidenced by SSR markers and quantitative traits

In some regions of Argentina and Brazil, the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wied.) (Diptera: Tephritidae) causes significant damage to crops. An efficient integrated management program requires knowledge of pest population dynamics, dispersion patterns, sexual and oviposition behaviour, and adaptive landscape. The present study combined simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers and morphometric datasets in order to analyse the population structure and infer the oviposition resource use strategy of the females. Infested guava fruits were collected from nine wild trees in Tucumán, Argentina, and a total of 140 adult A. fraterculus were recovered. These were then measured for six morphometric traits and 89 of them were genotyped for eight SSR loci. Genetic variability estimates were high (expected heterozygosity = 0.71, allelic richness = 12.5), with 8 to 20 alleles per locus. According to Wright's F-statistics estimates, the highest proportion (83%) of genetic variation occurred within individuals while variance between and within fruits were similar (≈ 8.5%). Analysis of the cryptic genetic structure based on SSR using different approaches, namely discriminant analysis of principal components (DAPC) and sparse non-negative matrix factorization (SNMF), yielded results consistent with the occurrence of two clusters with virtually no admixture. Average kinship between individuals which had emerged from the same fruit (0.07) was lower than that expected for full-sib families. Univariate and multivariate analyses of phenotypic data showed 54-66% of variance among individuals within fruits and 34-46% among fruits. The comparison between phenotypic (PST) and molecular (FST) differentiation identified wing width and length as possible target of positive selection. The average kinship and high genetic variation within fruits, together with the highly significant genetic differentiation among fruits, supports the hypothesis that each fruit was colonised by about three ovipositing females. The results also indicate that females were able to disperse widely from the emergence site before mating and starting oviposition activity.Instituto de GenéticaFil: Rodriguez, Angeles I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Ferreyra, Laura Ines. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Lanzavecchia, Silvia Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética. Laboratorio de Genética de Insectos de Importancia Económica; ArgentinaFil: Gomez Cendra, Paula V. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vilardi, Juan Cesar. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

A Diagnostic Accuracy Study of Targeted and Systematic Biopsies to Detect Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer, including a Model for the Partial Omission of Systematic Biopsies

Prostate biopsy concordance; Systematic biopsy; Targeted biopsyConcordancia de biopsia de próstata; Biopsia sistemática; Biopsia dirigidaConcordança de biòpsia de pròstata; Biòpsia sistemàtica; Biòpsia dirigidaThe primary objective of this study was to analyse the current accuracy of targeted and systematic prostate biopsies in detecting csPCa. A secondary objective was to determine whether there are factors predicting the finding of csPCa in targeted biopsies and, if so, to explore the utility of a predictive model for csPCa detection only in targeted biopsies. We analysed 2122 men with suspected PCa, serum PSA > 3 ng/mL, and/or a suspicious digital rectal examination (DRE), who underwent targeted and systematic biopsies between 2021 and 2022. CsPCa (grade group 2 or higher) was detected in 1026 men (48.4%). Discrepancies in csPCa detection in targeted and systematic biopsies were observed in 49.6%, with 13.9% of csPCa cases being detected only in systematic biopsies and 35.7% only in targeted biopsies. A predictive model for csPCa detection only in targeted biopsies was developed from the independent predictors age (years), prostate volume (mL), PI-RADS score (3 to 5), mpMRI Tesla (1.5 vs. 3.0), TRUS-MRI fusion image technique (cognitive vs. software), and prostate biopsy route (transrectal vs. transperineal). The csPCa discrimination ability of targeted biopsies showed an AUC of 0.741 (95% CI 0.721–0.762). The avoidance rate of systematic prostate biopsies went from 0.5% without missing csPCa to 18.3% missing 4.6% of csPCa cases. We conclude that the csPCa diagnostic accuracy of targeted biopsies is higher than that of systematic biopsies. However, a significant rate of csPCa remains detected only in systematic biopsies. A predictive model for the partial omission of systematic biopsies was developed.This research was funded by the Instituto de Salut Carlos III (SP) and the European Union, grant number PI20/01666

Beam modelling and hardware design of an imaging heavy ion beam probe for ASDEX Upgrade

The imaging heavy ion beam probe (i-HIBP) developed at the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak is a new diagnostic concept for investigations at the edge of high temperature plasmas. By means of a heavy alkali beam injector, a neutral primary beam of an energy of 70 keV is injected into the fusion plasma, where it is ionized generating a fan of secondary beams. These are deflected by the magnetic field of the tokamak and intersect a scintillator plate in the limiter shadow of the tokamak. The light pattern on the scintillator detected with a high speed camera contains radial information on the density, electrostatic potential and the magnetic field in the edge region of the plasma. For the design of the i-HIBP, a detailed beam model including the 3D tokamak magnetic field and beam attenuation effects for cesium and rubidium atoms is developed in order to find the optimum injection scheme within the limited space of the tokamak environment for maximum signal intensities. Based on the optimized injection, the arrangement of the injector outside the vacuum-vessel and the detailed design of the optical in-vessel system is determined.Helmholtz Association grant no. VH-NG-135