Barriers to the Success of 100% Maritime Cargo Container Scanning

The attacks of September 11, 2001 revealed national security vulnerabilities that had previously not received high level priority in the United States, such as insecure transportation and infrastructure networks. In response, airport security—including passenger and baggage scanning—has been improved. Yet seaport security policies have been slow to change. Five years after 9/11, only 5% of the six million cargo containers that arrive at U.S. seaports are scanned for threats

Mathematical model of a telomerase transcriptional regulatory network developed by cell-based screening: analysis of inhibitor effects and telomerase expression mechanisms

Cancer cells depend on transcription of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). Many transcription factors affect TERT, though regulation occurs in context of a broader network. Network effects on telomerase regulation have not been investigated, though deeper understanding of TERT transcription requires a systems view. However, control over individual interactions in complex networks is not easily achievable. Mathematical modelling provides an attractive approach for analysis of complex systems and some models may prove useful in systems pharmacology approaches to drug discovery. In this report, we used transfection screening to test interactions among 14 TERT regulatory transcription factors and their respective promoters in ovarian cancer cells. The results were used to generate a network model of TERT transcription and to implement a dynamic Boolean model whose steady states were analysed. Modelled effects of signal transduction inhibitors successfully predicted TERT repression by Src-family inhibitor SU6656 and lack of repression by ERK inhibitor FR180204, results confirmed by RT-QPCR analysis of endogenous TERT expression in treated cells. Modelled effects of GSK3 inhibitor 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO) predicted unstable TERT repression dependent on noise and expression of JUN, corresponding with observations from a previous study. MYC expression is critical in TERT activation in the model, consistent with its well known function in endogenous TERT regulation. Loss of MYC caused complete TERT suppression in our model, substantially rescued only by co-suppression of AR. Interestingly expression was easily rescued under modelled Ets-factor gain of function, as occurs in TERT promoter mutation. RNAi targeting AR, JUN, MXD1, SP3, or TP53, showed that AR suppression does rescue endogenous TERT expression following MYC knockdown in these cells and SP3 or TP53 siRNA also cause partial recovery. The model therefore successfully predicted several aspects of TERT regulation including previously unknown mechanisms. An extrapolation suggests that a dominant stimulatory system may programme TERT for transcriptional stability

Silicon subsystem mechanical engineering closeout report for the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration

The authors group at Los Alamos National Laboratory was responsible for the mechanical engineering of the silicon tracking system of the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration (SDC) experiment of the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project. The responsibility included the overall design of the system from the mechanical point of view, development and integration of the cooling system, which was required to remove the heat generated by the front-end electronics, assembly of the system to extremely tight tolerances, and verification that the construction and operational stability and alignment tolerances would be met. A detailed description of the concepts they developed and the work they performed can be found in a report titled ``Silicon Subsystem Mechanical Engineering Work for the Solenoidal Detector Collaboration`` which they submitted to the SSC Laboratory. In addition to the mechanical engineering work, they also performed activation, background, and shielding studies for the SSC program. Much of the work they performed was potentially useful for other future high energy physics (HEP) projects. This report describes the closeout work that was performed for the Los Alamos SDC project. Four major tasks were identified for completion: (1) integration of the semi-automated assembly station being developed and construction of a precision part to demonstrate solutions to important general assembly problems (the station was designed to build precision silicon tracker subassemblies); (2) build a state-of-the-art TV holography (TVH) system to use for detector assembly stability tests; (3) design, build, and test a water based cooling system for a full silicon shell prototype; and (4) complete and document the activation, background, and shielding studies, which is covered in a separate report