Space Shuttle interactive meteorological data system study

Although focused toward the operational meteorological support review and definition of an operational meteorological interactive data display systems (MIDDS) requirements for the Space Meteorology Support Group at NASA/Johnson Space Center, the total operational meteorological support requirements and a systems concept for the MIDDS network integration of NASA and Air Force elements to support the National Space Transportation System are also addressed

A new version of the HBSC Family Affluence Scale - FAS III: Scottish qualitative findings from the International FAS Development Study

A critical review of the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) concluded that FAS II was no longer discriminatory within very rich or very poor countries, where a very high or a very low proportion of children were categorised as high FAS or low FAS respectively (Currie et al. 2008). The review concluded that a new version of FAS - FAS III - should be developed to take into account current trends in family consumption patterns across the European region, the US and Canada. In 2012, the FAS Development and Validation Study was conducted in eight countries - Denmark, Greenland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Scotland. This paper describes the Scottish qualitative findings from this study. The Scottish qualitative fieldwork comprising cognitive interviews and focus groups sampled from 11, 13 and 15 year-old participants from 18 of the most- and least- economically deprived schools. These qualitative results were used to inform the final FAS III recommendations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Surveillance strategies for Classical Swine Fever in wild boar – a comprehensive evaluation study to ensure powerful surveillance

Surveillance of Classical Swine Fever (CSF) should not only focus on livestock, but must also include wild boar. To prevent disease transmission into commercial pig herds, it is therefore vital to have knowledge about the disease status in wild boar. In the present study, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of alternative surveillance strategies for Classical Swine Fever (CSF) in wild boar and compared them with the currently implemented conventional approach. The evaluation protocol was designed using the EVA tool, a decision support tool to help in the development of an economic and epidemiological evaluation protocol for surveillance. To evaluate the effectiveness of the surveillance strategies, we investigated their sensitivity and timeliness. Acceptability was analysed and finally, the cost-effectiveness of the surveillance strategies was determined. We developed 69 surveillance strategies for comparative evaluation between the existing approach and the novel proposed strategies. Sampling only within sub-adults resulted in a better acceptability and timeliness than the currently implemented strategy. Strategies that were completely based on passive surveillance performance did not achieve the desired detection probability of 95%. In conclusion, the results of the study suggest that risk-based approaches can be an option to design more effective CSF surveillance strategies in wild boar

Collagen reorganization at the tumor-stromal interface facilitates local invasion

BACKGROUND: Stromal-epithelial interactions are of particular significance in breast tissue as misregulation of these interactions can promote tumorigenesis and invasion. Moreover, collagen-dense breast tissue increases the risk of breast carcinoma, although the relationship between collagen density and tumorigenesis is not well understood. As little is known about epithelial-stromal interactions in vivo, it is necessary to visualize the stroma surrounding normal epithelium and mammary tumors in intact tissues to better understand how matrix organization, density, and composition affect tumor formation and progression. METHODS: Epithelial-stromal interactions in normal mammary glands, mammary tumors, and tumor explants in three-dimensional culture were studied with histology, electron microscopy, and nonlinear optical imaging methodologies. Imaging of the tumor-stromal interface in live tumor tissue ex vivo was performed with multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy (MPLSM) to generate multiphoton excitation (MPE) of endogenous fluorophores and second harmonic generation (SHG) to image stromal collagen. RESULTS: We used both laser-scanning multiphoton and second harmonic generation microscopy to determine the organization of specific collagen structures around ducts and tumors in intact, unfixed and unsectioned mammary glands. Local alterations in collagen density were clearly seen, allowing us to obtain three-dimensional information regarding the organization of the mammary stroma, such as radiating collagen fibers that could not have been obtained using classical histological techniques. Moreover, we observed and defined three tumor-associated collagen signatures (TACS) that provide novel markers to locate and characterize tumors. In particular, local cell invasion was found predominantly to be oriented along certain aligned collagen fibers, suggesting that radial alignment of collagen fibers relative to tumors facilitates invasion. Consistent with this observation, primary tumor explants cultured in a randomly organized collagen matrix realigned the collagen fibers, allowing individual tumor cells to migrate out along radially aligned fibers. CONCLUSION: The presentation of these tumor-associated collagen signatures allowed us to identify pre-palpable tumors and see cells at the tumor-stromal boundary invading into the stroma along radially aligned collagen fibers. As such, TACS should provide indications that a tumor is, or could become, invasive, and may serve as part of a strategy to help identify and characterize breast tumors in animal and human tissues

Collagen density promotes mammary tumor initiation and progression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mammographically dense breast tissue is one of the greatest risk factors for developing breast carcinoma. Despite the strong clinical correlation, breast density has not been causally linked to tumorigenesis, largely because no animal model has existed for studying breast tissue density. Importantly, regions of high breast density are associated with increased stromal collagen. Thus, the influence of the extracellular matrix on breast carcinoma development and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not understood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To study the effects of collagen density on mammary tumor formation and progression, we utilized a bi-transgenic tumor model with increased stromal collagen in mouse mammary tissue. Imaging of the tumors and tumor-stromal interface in live tumor tissue was performed with multiphoton laser-scanning microscopy to generate multiphoton excitation and spectrally resolved fluorescent lifetimes of endogenous fluorophores. Second harmonic generation was utilized to image stromal collagen.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Herein we demonstrate that increased stromal collagen in mouse mammary tissue significantly increases tumor formation approximately three-fold (<it>p </it>< 0.00001) and results in a significantly more invasive phenotype with approximately three times more lung metastasis (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Furthermore, the increased invasive phenotype of tumor cells that arose within collagen-dense mammary tissues remains after tumor explants are cultured within reconstituted three-dimensional collagen gels. To better understand this behavior we imaged live tumors using nonlinear optical imaging approaches to demonstrate that local invasion is facilitated by stromal collagen re-organization and that this behavior is significantly increased in collagen-dense tissues. In addition, using multiphoton fluorescence and spectral lifetime imaging we identify a metabolic signature for flavin adenine dinucleotide, with increased fluorescent intensity and lifetime, in invading metastatic cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides the first data causally linking increased stromal collagen to mammary tumor formation and metastasis, and demonstrates that fundamental differences arise and persist in epithelial tumor cells that progressed within collagen-dense microenvironments. Furthermore, the imaging techniques and signature identified in this work may provide useful diagnostic tools to rapidly assess fresh tissue biopsies.</p

Live cell dynamics of production, explosive release and killing activity of phage tail-like weapons for Pseudomonas kin exclusion.

Interference competition among bacteria requires a highly specialized, narrow-spectrum weaponry when targeting closely-related competitors while sparing individuals from the same clonal population. Here we investigated mechanisms by which environmentally important Pseudomonas bacteria with plant-beneficial activity perform kin interference competition. We show that killing between phylogenetically closely-related strains involves contractile phage tail-like devices called R-tailocins that puncture target cell membranes. Using live-cell imaging, we evidence that R-tailocins are produced at the cell center, transported to the cell poles and ejected by explosive cell lysis. This enables their dispersal over several tens of micrometers to reach targeted cells. We visualize R-tailocin-mediated competition dynamics between closely-related Pseudomonas strains at the single-cell level, both in non-induced condition and upon artificial induction. We document the fatal impact of cellular self-sacrifice coupled to deployment of phage tail-like weaponry in the microenvironment of kin bacterial competitors, emphasizing the necessity for microscale assessment of microbial competitions

Biomechanics and the thermotolerance of development

Successful completion of development requires coordination of patterning events with morphogenetic movements. Environmental variability challenges this coordination. For example, developing organisms encounter varying environmental temperatures that can strongly influence developmental rates. We hypothesized that the mechanics of morphogenesis would have to be finely adjusted to allow for normal morphogenesis across a wide range of developmental rates. We formulated our hypothesis as a simple model incorporating time-dependent application of force to a viscoelastic tissue. This model suggested that the capacity to maintain normal morphogenesis across a range of temperatures would depend on how both tissue viscoelasticity and the forces that drive deformation vary with temperature. To test this model we investigated how the mechanical behavior of embryonic tissue (Xenopus laevis) changed with temperature; we used a combination of micropipette aspiration to measure viscoelasticity, electrically induced contractions to measure cellular force generation, and confocal microscopy to measure endogenous contractility. Contrary to expectations, the viscoelasticity of the tissues and peak contractile tension proved invariant with temperature even as rates of force generation and gastrulation movements varied three-fold. Furthermore, the relative rates of different gastrulation movements varied with temperature: the speed of blastopore closure increased more slowly with temperature than the speed of the dorsal-to-ventral progression of involution. The changes in the relative rates of different tissue movements can be explained by the viscoelastic deformation model given observed viscoelastic properties, but only if morphogenetic forces increase slowly rather than all at once. © 2014 von Dassow et al

Y-chromosome descent clusters and male differential reproductive success: young lineage expansions dominate Asian pastoral nomadic populations

International audienceHigh-frequency microsatellite haplotypes of the male-specific Y-chromosome can signal past episodes of high reproductive success of particular men and their patrilineal descendants. Previously, two examples of such successful Y-lineages have been described in Asia, both associated with Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic societies, and putatively linked to dynasties descending, respectively, from Genghis Khan and Giocangga. Here we surveyed a total of 5321 Y-chromosomes from 127 Asian populations, including novel Y-SNP and microsatellite data on 461 Central Asian males, to ask whether additional lineage expansions could be identified. Based on the most frequent eight-microsatellite haplotypes, we objectively defined 11 descent clusters (DCs), each within a specific haplogroup, that represent likely past instances of high male reproductive success, including the two previously identified cases. Analysis of the geographical patterns and ages of these DCs and their associated cultural characteristics showed that the most successful lineages are found both among sedentary agriculturalists and pastoral nomads, and expanded between 2100 BCE and 1100 CE. However, those with recent origins in the historical period are almost exclusively found in Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic populations, which may reflect a shift in political organisation in pastoralist economies and a greater ease of transmission of Y-chromosomes through time and space facilitated by the use of horses