The Grizzly, April 23, 1982

Recurring Thefts Plague New Men\u27s Dorm • Final Forum Discusses Use of Photography in Space • Too Much Grass on Campus? • Letters to the Editor • Congress Puts Hold on Financial Aid Cuts • Reagan\u27s Change of Style • Vanities Well Received by Community • Hooters Reggae Keeps UC Jumping • UC Baseball Splits With Widener • Men\u27s Tennis Top Widener • Bear Blades Finish Season Strong • Women\u27s Tennis Head to MACs • Women\u27s Track Club Earns First Place • Temple Dumps Women\u27s Lacrosse • Men\u27s Lacrosse is on Trackhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1079/thumbnail.jp

An integrated computational-experimental approach reveals Yersinia pestis genes essential across a narrow or a broad range of environmental conditions

Background The World Health Organization has categorized plague as a re-emerging disease and the potential for Yersinia pestis to also be used as a bioweapon makes the identification of new drug targets against this pathogen a priority. Environmental temperature is a key signal which regulates virulence of the bacterium. The bacterium normally grows outside the human host at 28 °C. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that the bacterium used to adapt to a mammalian host at 37 °C is central to the development of vaccines or drugs for the prevention or treatment of human disease. Results Using a library of over 1 million Y. pestis CO92 random mutants and transposon-directed insertion site sequencing, we identified 530 essential genes when the bacteria were cultured at 28 °C. When the library of mutants was subsequently cultured at 37 °C we identified 19 genes that were essential at 37 °C but not at 28 °C, including genes which encode proteins that play a role in enabling functioning of the type III secretion and in DNA replication and maintenance. Using genome-scale metabolic network reconstruction we showed that growth conditions profoundly influence the physiology of the bacterium, and by combining computational and experimental approaches we were able to identify 54 genes that are essential under a broad range of conditions. Conclusions Using an integrated computational-experimental approach we identify genes which are required for growth at 37 °C and under a broad range of environments may be the best targets for the development of new interventions to prevent or treat plague in humans

An O-Antigen glycoconjugate vaccine produced using protein glycan coupling technology is protective in an inhalational rat model of tularemia

There is a requirement for an efficacious vaccine to protect people against infection from Francisella tularensis, the etiological agent of tularemia. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of F. tularensis is suboptimally protective against a parenteral lethal challenge in mice. To develop a more efficacious subunit vaccine, we have used a novel biosynthetic technique of protein glycan coupling technology (PGCT) that exploits bacterial N-linked glycosylation to recombinantly conjugate F. tularensis O-antigen glycans to the immunogenic carrier protein Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoprotein A (ExoA). Previously, we demonstrated that an ExoA glycoconjugate with two glycosylation sequons was capable of providing significant protection to mice against a challenge with a low-virulence strain of F. tularensis. Here, we have generated a more heavily glycosylated conjugate vaccine and evaluated its efficacy in a Fischer 344 rat model of tularemia. We demonstrate that this glycoconjugate vaccine protected rats against disease and the lethality of an inhalational challenge with F. tularensis Schu S4. Our data highlights the potential of this biosynthetic approach for the creation of next-generation tularemia subunit vaccines

The Grizzly, January 28, 1983

Break-in Over Break: Olevian Burglarized • New Faculty Added • Wilder Play at Ritter • Retention Number Assessed • Soviet Policy Analyzed • News Briefs: Lantern Anniversary; ISC Has a Baby • President\u27s Corner • The New Valley Girl • Back at College • New Ski Club Formed at U.C. • Grizzly Football Banquet a Very Rewarding Night • Despite Tough Performances, Aquabears Fall to Lycoming • Early Breaks Diving Record: Lady Swimmers Stroke to 3-1 Record • Grapplers Dump Mules to Up Record to 3-1-1 • Badminton Tops F&M; Set Back by Temple • Lehigh Comeback Sinks Lady Bears • Men\u27s Hoops Tops Haverford • Christmas not a Good Time for Bearshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1091/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 29, 1983

Three Administrators to Leave: Harris, Layne Retire • Ursinus Makes Inquirer Headlines • Housing Shortage is Imminent • J-Board Changes to be Made • Ursinus Students Win German Awards • Computer Genius is Honored at Myrin • Renninger to go to Scotland • Ursinus Professor Sees Work Published • President\u27s Corner • Letters to the Editor • Bike-A-Thon Proves Successful • Film Reveals Nuclear Horror • Zacharias Ursinus to be Honored in Fall • Award Time • College Choir Turns Comic • Holocaust Survivor Speaks at Commemoration • Women\u27s Tennis Overcomes Adversities; Wins MAC Play-off Berth • Bears\u27 Softball Team Reaches Goal • Women\u27s Lacrosse Turns in Another Strong Season • Ursinus Sluggers Gear Up for Home Stretch • Sports Profile: The Mile Relay Team • Track Teams Close Out Seasons • Men\u27s Tennis Concludes Successful Campaign • Men\u27s Lacrosse Suffers Two Defeatshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1100/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, February 11, 1983

Bookstore Explains Pricing Policy • Scottish Scholarships Offered to Sophomores • Weekend Alcohol Policy: Campus is Dry • Ursinus Gets Bucks From Sears Roebuck • President\u27s Corner • Visser Fills Exhibits in Corson • Letters to the Editor: Professor Laments Social Conditions at UC; I.F.C. President Irate; President\u27s Response; Bitter About Policy • Varying Viewpoints • Stravinsky to End Winterfest • U.C. Flu Flattens Students • Reaganomics Forum • Key Shooting Aids Lady Hoopsters\u27 Record • Basketball Laments Second Half Loss • Swimmers Glide to Third Straight Victory • Grapplers Deemed Tough • Basketball: End of an Era?? • Swimmers Stroke for Two Wins • Gymnasts Win by 0.75https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1093/thumbnail.jp

Targeting LIF-mediated paracrine interaction for pancreatic cancer therapy and monitoring.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has a dismal prognosis largely owing to inefficient diagnosis and tenacious drug resistance. Activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) and consequent development of dense stroma are prominent features accounting for this aggressive biology1,2. The reciprocal interplay between PSCs and pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs) not only enhances tumour progression and metastasis but also sustains their own activation, facilitating a vicious cycle to exacerbate tumorigenesis and drug resistance3-7. Furthermore, PSC activation occurs very early during PDAC tumorigenesis8-10, and activated PSCs comprise a substantial fraction of the tumour mass, providing a rich source of readily detectable factors. Therefore, we hypothesized that the communication between PSCs and PCCs could be an exploitable target to develop effective strategies for PDAC therapy and diagnosis. Here, starting with a systematic proteomic investigation of secreted disease mediators and underlying molecular mechanisms, we reveal that leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a key paracrine factor from activated PSCs acting on cancer cells. Both pharmacologic LIF blockade and genetic Lifr deletion markedly slow tumour progression and augment the efficacy of chemotherapy to prolong survival of PDAC mouse models, mainly by modulating cancer cell differentiation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition status. Moreover, in both mouse models and human PDAC, aberrant production of LIF in the pancreas is restricted to pathological conditions and correlates with PDAC pathogenesis, and changes in the levels of circulating LIF correlate well with tumour response to therapy. Collectively, these findings reveal a function of LIF in PDAC tumorigenesis, and suggest its translational potential as an attractive therapeutic target and circulating marker. Our studies underscore how a better understanding of cell-cell communication within the tumour microenvironment can suggest novel strategies for cancer therapy

The Grizzly, February 25, 1983

USGA Plans Communication Revision • Foley, D\u27Alesio First Place Winners at Talent Show • College Union Holds Tenth Anniversary • Ritter Production Opens: Skin of Our Teeth • Mass is Popular: Newman Society Links U.C. • Small Heads Alcohol Committee • SPC Seeks Editors • Union Calendar • Grizzly Looks For New Business Manager • Winterfest 1983: International Desserts Festival Tonight • Winterfest Schedule • Letters to the Editor: Admissions Dean Corrects Errors; Hoop Club President Responds; Student Reacts Negatively • Social Life at Ursinus Should be Improved • In the Gates • Registrar Announces Pre-Registration • President\u27s Corner • Roving Reporter: Do You Think the New Alcohol Policy Proposed by the Administration was the Correct Way to Handle the Situations That Occurred on Campus? • Bears Drown Monarchs • Women\u27s Swimming Ends 10-1 • MAC Competition: Wrestlers Take Seventh • Gymnasts Move up a Rank • Lady Hoopsters Finish With Victoryhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1095/thumbnail.jp

Genome Resequencing of Laboratory Stocks of Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243.

We have resequenced the genomes of four Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 laboratory cultures and compared them to the reported genome sequence that was published in 2004. Compared with the reference genome, these laboratory cultures harbored up to 42 single-nucleotide variants and up to 11 indels, including a 31.7-kb deletion in one culture

Polarization squeezing and continuous-variable polarization entanglement

The Stokes-parameter operators and the associated Poincare sphere, which describe the quantum-optical polarization properties of light, are defined and their basic properties are reviewed. The general features of the Stokes operators are illustrated by evaluation of their means and variances for a range of simple polarization states. Some of the examples show polarization squeezing, in which the variances of one or more Stokes parameters are smaller than the coherent-state value. The main object of the paper is the application of these concepts to bright squeezed light. It is shown that a light beam formed by interference of two orthogonally-polarized quadrature-squeezed beams exhibits squeezing in some of the Stokes parameters. Passage of such a primary polarization-squeezed beam through suitable optical components generates a pair of polarization-entangled light beams with the nature of a two-mode squeezed state. The use of pairs of primary polarization-squeezed light beams leads to substantially increased entanglement and to the generation of EPR-entangled light beams. The important advantage of these nonclassical polarization states for quantum communication is the possibility of experimentally determining all of the relevant conjugate variables of both squeezed and entangled fields using only linear optical elements followed by direct detection.Comment: 27 pages, including 10 figure