The role of Nina in Diana Son\u27s Satellites: a production thesis in acting

This thesis explores the role of Nina in Swine Palace’s 2009 production of Diana Son’s Satellites. The play investigates themes dealing with interracial relationships, major life transitions, and parenthood. Included in this study are a character autobiography written from the actor’s interpretation of the role, the actor’s journal, and a detailed account of the in rehearsal and performance process. In addition, this study includes production photos, reviews, a working copy of the script scored for subtext/inner life, objectives, and tactics, and an interview with the playwright

IGF-1 regulates Cyr61 induced breast cancer cell proliferation and invasion.

BackgroundStudies from our laboratory and others have shown that cysteine-rich 61 (Cyr61) may be involved in tumor proliferation and invasion. In earlier studies, we demonstrated increased insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) is associated with breast tumor formation and poor clinical outcomes. In our current study we have investigated IGF-1 regulation of Cyr61 and whether targeting IGF-1 could inhibit Cyr61 induced tumor growth and proliferation.MethodsSeveral ATCC derived normal and breast cancer cell lines were used in this study: MDA-MB231, BT474, MCF-7, and SKBR3. We also tested cells stably transfected in our laboratory with active Akt1 (pAkt; SKBR3/AA and MCF-7/AA) and dominant negative Akt1 (SKBR3/DN and MCF-7/DN). In addition, we used MCF-7 cells transfected with full length Cyr61 (CYA). Monolayer cultures treated with IGF-1 were analyzed for Cyr61 expression by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical staining. Migration assays and MTT based proliferation assays were used to determine invasive characteristics in response to IGF-1/Cyr61 activation.ResultsCells with activated Akt have increased levels of Cyr61. Conversely, cells with inactive Akt have decreased levels of Cyr61. IGF-1 treatment increased Cyr61 expression significantly and cells with high level of Cyr61 demonstrate increased invasiveness and proliferation. Cyr61 overexpression and activation led to decrease in E-cadherin and decrease in FOXO1. Inhibition of the PI3K and MAPK pathways resulted in significant decrease in invasiveness and proliferation, most notably in the PI3K pathway inhibited cells.ConclusionThe findings of this study show that IGF-1 upregulates Cyr61 primarily through activation of the Akt-PI3K pathway. IGF-1 induced MAPK plays a partial role. Increase in Cyr61 leads to increase in breast cancer cell growth and invasion. Hence, targeting Cyr61 and associated pathways may offer an opportunity to inhibit IGF-1 mediated Cyr61 induced breast cancer growth and invasion

Expression and cellular localization of cyclooxygenases and prostaglandin E synthases in the hemorrhagic brain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although cyclooxygenases (COX) and prostaglandin E synthases (PGES) have been implicated in ischemic stroke injury, little is known about their role in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)-induced brain damage. This study examines the expression and cellular localization of COX-1, COX-2, microsomal PGES-1 (mPGES-1), mPGES-2, and cytosolic PGES (cPGES) in mice that have undergone hemorrhagic brain injury.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>ICH was induced in C57BL/6 mice by intrastriatal injection of collagenase. Expression and cellular localization of COX-1, COX-2, mPGES-1, mPGES-2, and cPGES were examined by immunofluorescence staining.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the hemorrhagic brain, COX-1, mPGES-2, and cPGES were expressed constitutively in neurons; COX-1 was also constitutively expressed in microglia. The immunoreactivity of COX-2 was increased in neurons and astrocytes surrounding blood vessels at 5 h and then tended to decrease in neurons and increase in astrocytes at 1 day. At 3 days after ICH, COX-2 was observed primarily in astrocytes but was absent in neurons. Interestingly, the immunoreactivity of mPGES-1 was increased in neurons in the ipsilateral cortex and astrocytes in the ipsilateral striatum at 1 day post-ICH; the immunoreactivity of astrocytic mPGES-1 further increased at 3 days.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data suggest that microglial COX-1, neuronal COX-2, and astrocytic COX-2 and mPGES-1 may work sequentially to affect ICH outcomes. These findings have implications for efforts to develop anti-inflammatory strategies that target COX/PGES pathways to reduce ICH-induced secondary brain damage.</p

Survivor of the Legacy Fall

Cries could be heard around Campustown in Ames at approximately 1:30 a.m. on August 26, 2012 as a body was seen falling 73 feet from a fifth-story ledge at Legacy Towers Apartments. Christian McKee, 19-year-old engineering student, was lying lifeless on the soft dirt at a construction site when EMT\u27s arrived quickly and well-prepared. It was a combination of luck that it had rained that day to make their dirt soft, and how fast the EMT\u27s did their job when they got there that saved my life, McKee says in a perceptibly grateful manner. McKee was quickly transported to Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines by air ambulance

The effects of different versions of a gateway STEM course on student attitudes and beliefs

Background Substantial research has been conducted focusing on student outcomes in mathematics courses in order to better understand the ways in which these outcomes depend on the underlying instructional methodologies found in the courses. From 2009 to 2014, the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) studied Calculus I instruction in United States (US) colleges and universities in the Characteristics of Successful Programs of College Calculus (CSPCC). One aspect of this study attempted to understand the impact of these courses on student experience. Results In this paper, we describe results from an examination of the effect of course structure on students’ attitudes and beliefs across different versions of Calculus I at a large research university in the USA. To do this, we implemented a follow-up study of the national MAA study of calculus programs in part to identify potential relationships between various course structures and changes in attitudes and beliefs during the course. We compare our results both internally across these course structures and to the national data set. Conclusions We find that the statistically significant changes measured in confidence and enjoyment exhibit differences across the different calculus implementations and that these changes are statistically independent of the underlying student academic backgrounds as shown by standardized test scores and high school GPA. This suggests that these observed changes in attitudes and beliefs relate to the experience in our varied course structures and not to the academic characteristics of students as they enter the course. In addition to our findings, we show how this national study can be used locally to study effects of courses on student affective traits

Array-based iterative measurements of SmKS travel times and their constraints on outermost core structure

Vigorous convection in Earth's outer core led to the suggestion that it is chemically homogeneous. However, there is increasing seismic evidence for structural complexities close to the outer core's upper and lower boundaries. Both body waves and normal mode data have been used to estimate a P wave velocity, V_p, at the top of the outer core (the E’ layer), which is lower than that in the Preliminary Reference Earth Model. However, these low V_p models do not agree on the form of this velocity anomaly. One reason for this is the difficulty in retrieving and measuring SmKS arrival times. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach using data from seismic arrays to iteratively measure SmKS-SKKS-differential travel times. This approach extracts individual SmKS signal from mixed waveforms of the SmKS series, allowing us to reliably measure differential travel times. We successfully use this method to measure SmKS time delays from earthquakes in the Fiji‐Tonga and Vanuatu subduction zones. SmKS time delays are measured by waveform cross correlation between SmKS and SKKS, and the cross‐correlation coefficient allows us to access measurement quality. We also apply this iterative scheme to synthetic SmKS seismograms to investigate the 3‐D mantle structure's effects. The mantle structure corrections are not negligible for our data, and neglecting them could bias the V_p estimation of uppermost outer core. After mantle structure corrections, we can still see substantial time delays of S3KS, S4KS, and S5KS, supporting a low V_p at the top of Earth's outer core