A diamond anvil microassembly for Joule heating and electrical measurements up to 150 GPa and 4000 K

When diamond anvil cell (DAC) sample chambers are outfitted with both thermal insulation and electrodes, two cutting-edge experimental methods are enabled: Joule heating with spectroradiometric temperature measurement, and electrical resistance measurements of samples heated to thousands of kelvin. The accuracy of temperature and resistance measurements, however, often suffers from poor control of the shape and location of the sample, electrodes, and thermal insulation. Here, we present a recipe for the reproducible and precise fabrication of DAC sample, electrodes, and thermal insulation using a three-layer microassembly. The microassembly contains two potassium chloride thermal insulation layers, four electrical leads, a sample, and a buttressing layer made of polycrystalline alumina. The sample, innermost electrodes, and buttress layer are fabricated by focused-ion-beam milling. Three iron samples are presented as proof of concept. Each is successfully compressed and pulsed Joule heated while maintaining a four-point probe configuration. The highest pressure-temperature condition achieved is $\sim 150$ GPa and $\sim 4000$ K.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 2 table

A Community Narration Assessment of Master's Level Psychology Students at Antioch University Los Angeles

Applied Community Psychology (ACP) is a specialty field of study in the Master’s of Arts in Clinical Psychology (MAP) at Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA).  Students participate in classes and workshops that present theory along with opportunities for real life application.  In the Spring 2019 quarter, eight students were enrolled in a Community Narration (CN) approach workshop to learn the theory and practice of facilitating the CN.  The students used CN to discover commonalities and differences in their experiences as students of AULA.  They created a community narrative which expressed the culture of students at AULA.  In addition, the students learned how to conduct CN in the community with application in program evaluation and consultation.  A discussion of the results of the community narrative that emerged is described, and implications for faculty and administrators are presented

A Community Narration Assessment of Master's Level Psychology Students at Antioch University Los Angeles

Applied Community Psychology (ACP) is a specialty field of study in the Master’s of Arts in Clinical Psychology (MAP) at Antioch University Los Angeles (AULA).  Students participate in classes and workshops that present theory along with opportunities for real life application.  In the Spring 2019 quarter, eight students were enrolled in a Community Narration (CN) approach workshop to learn the theory and practice of facilitating the CN.  The students used CN to discover commonalities and differences in their experiences as students of AULA.  They created a community narrative which expressed the culture of students at AULA.  In addition, the students learned how to conduct CN in the community with application in program evaluation and consultation.  A discussion of the results of the community narrative that emerged is described, and implications for faculty and administrators are presented

FABIA: factor analysis for bicluster acquisition

Motivation: Biclustering of transcriptomic data groups genes and samples simultaneously. It is emerging as a standard tool for extracting knowledge from gene expression measurements. We propose a novel generative approach for biclustering called ‘FABIA: Factor Analysis for Bicluster Acquisition’. FABIA is based on a multiplicative model, which accounts for linear dependencies between gene expression and conditions, and also captures heavy-tailed distributions as observed in real-world transcriptomic data. The generative framework allows to utilize well-founded model selection methods and to apply Bayesian techniques

Complement C3 Deficiency Attenuates Chronic Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension in Mice

Background: Evidence suggests a role of both innate and adaptive immunity in the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The complement system is a key sentry of the innate immune system and bridges innate and adaptive immunity. To date there are no studies addressing a role for the complement system in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Methodology/Principal Findings: Immunofluorescent staining revealed significant C3d deposition in lung sections from IPAH patients and C57Bl6/J wild-type mice exposed to three weeks of chronic hypoxia to induce pulmonary hypertension. Right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy were increased in hypoxic vs. normoxic wild-type mice, which were attenuated in C3-/- hypoxic mice. Likewise, pulmonary vascular remodeling was attenuated in the C3-/- mice compared to wild-type mice as determined by the number of muscularized peripheral arterioles and morphometric analysis of vessel wall thickness. The loss of C3 attenuated the increase in interleukin-6 and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 expression in response to chronic hypoxia, but not endothelin-1 levels. In wild-type mice, but not C3-/- mice, chronic hypoxia led to platelet activation as assessed by bleeding time, and flow cytometry of platelets to determine cell surface P-selectin expression. In addition, tissue factor expression and fibrin deposition were increased in the lungs of WT mice in response to chronic hypoxia. These pro-thrombotic effects of hypoxia were abrogated in C3-/- mice. Conclusions: Herein, we provide compelling genetic evidence that the complement system plays a pathophysiologic role in the development of PAH in mice, promoting pulmonary vascular remodeling and a pro-thrombotic phenotype. In addition we demonstrate C3d deposition in IPAH patients suggesting that complement activation plays a role in the development of PAH in humans. © 2011 Bauer et al

Genetic improvement of tomato by targeted control of fruit softening

Controlling the rate of softening to extend shelf life was a key target for researchers engineering genetically modified (GM) tomatoes in the 1990s, but only modest improvements were achieved. Hybrids grown nowadays contain 'non-ripening mutations' that slow ripening and improve shelf life, but adversely affect flavor and color. We report substantial, targeted control of tomato softening, without affecting other aspects of ripening, by silencing a gene encoding a pectate lyase

Bioinformatics tools for cancer metabolomics

It is well known that significant metabolic change take place as cells are transformed from normal to malignant. This review focuses on the use of different bioinformatics tools in cancer metabolomics studies. The article begins by describing different metabolomics technologies and data generation techniques. Overview of the data pre-processing techniques is provided and multivariate data analysis techniques are discussed and illustrated with case studies, including principal component analysis, clustering techniques, self-organizing maps, partial least squares, and discriminant function analysis. Also included is a discussion of available software packages

The genomic substrate for adaptive radiation in African cichlid fish

Cichlid fishes are famous for large, diverse and replicated adaptive radiations in the Great Lakes of East Africa. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying cichlid phenotypic diversity, we sequenced the genomes and transcriptomes of five lineages of African cichlids: the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), an ancestral lineage with low diversity; and four members of the East African lineage: Neolamprologus brichardi/pulcher (older radiation, Lake Tanganyika), Metriaclima zebra (recent radiation, Lake Malawi), Pundamilia nyererei (very recent radiation, Lake Victoria), and Astatotilapia burtoni (riverine species around Lake Tanganyika). We found an excess of gene duplications in the East African lineage compared to tilapia and other teleosts, an abundance of non-coding element divergence, accelerated coding sequence evolution, expression divergence associated with transposable element insertions, and regulation by novel microRNAs. In addition, we analysed sequence data from sixty individuals representing six closely related species from Lake Victoria, and show genome-wide diversifying selection on coding and regulatory variants, some of which were recruited from ancient polymorphisms. We conclude that a number of molecular mechanisms shaped East African cichlid genomes, and that amassing of standing variation during periods of relaxed purifying selection may have been important in facilitating subsequent evolutionary diversification

Future of Science: Detecting Cancer

Using Excel Data Analysis Tools and BigML Machine Learning platform, we tested correlation between biopsy data for breast cancer and created a model which helps to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. Data set of oncology patients were used to analyze links between 10 indicators collected by biopsy non- cancerous and cancerous tumours. Created model can be used as a future medical science tool and can be available to specially trained histology nurses in rural areas. Developed model that can be used to detect cancer on early stages is especially important in the view of the fact that detecting cancer at stage IV give patients of about 22% of survival rate 1