EXAMINATION OF CD133 AND CD147 AS CANCER STEM CELL MARKERS

To date, as many as 14,000 patients in the United States per year are diagnosed with glioblastoma, the most common and most malignant primary brain tumor. Glioblastomas are characterized by their ability to evade treatment on many fronts, thus a novel approach to curative therapies is imperative. A population of cells with stem cell-like properties are found within glioblastoma tumors and drive their initiation and progression. Identification of extracellular markers on these tumor stem cells is thus paramount. The cell surface glycoproteins CD133 and CD147 were examined as potential markers of cancer stem cells found in glioblastoma. Here we found evidence which shows that formation of neurospheres with U87MG glioblastoma cells may be driven by increased expression of CD147, correlated with increased CD133 expression. These findings suggest that relative levels of CD147 expression may be used as a determinant to target cancer stem cells in glioblastoma

Economic development as design: Insight and guidance through the PSI framework

Economic development is aimed at improving the lives of people in the developing world, and needs to be carried out with design at its heart, but this has often not been the case. This paper first reviews dominant approaches to economic development including the use of subsidies or the creation of markets and demand and the testing of initiatives using randomized control trials. It then introduces ‘development engineering’ as a representative engineering design approach to engineering and technology in development before presenting the view that successful development needs to involve continual learning through innovation in context. The PSI (problem social institutional) framework is presented as a basis for guiding such development as a design activity, and its application is illustrated using examples from India of the unsuccessful introduction of new cooking stoves and then both successful and unsuccessful approaches to rural electrification. A 2-level approach to PSI is taken, in which the lower level represents daily operation of communities and the 2nd level represents the development project including addressing misalignments between the different PSI spaces and levels

Symmetry of the Charge Ordering Phases in Hole-Doped Cuprates Studied by Resonant X-Ray Absorption and Scattering

In the underdoped cuprates, superconductivity coexists with a rich variety of other electronic orders. Understanding the nature of these orders, how they interact with one another, and the mechanisms that produce them is key to understanding the electronic behaviour of this important class of quantum materials. In this dissertation, we report on the results from three novel experiments that used resonant x-ray spectroscopy to explore the symmetry of the charge density wave (CDW) and other phases in La- and Y-based cuprates. For the uninitiated reader, a brief theoretical description of the experimental methods is also provided. Theoretical proposals have suggested that CDW order in the cuprates may adhere to a d-symmetry form factor, where charge on the O sites surrounding Cu in the CuO2 planes modulates out of phase and produces a quadrupolar local environment. This is supported by STM measurements in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x and Ca2-xNaxCuO2Cl2 and resonant x-ray scattering in YBa2Cu3O6+x (YBCO). We conduct our own resonant scattering measurements on La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 and find evidence for a monopolar CDW, confirmed at both the O and Cu absorption edges where the measurement selectively probes the respective in-plane orbitals. Studying the (0 0.31 L) CDW peak at the Cu edge in YBCO, we again find the same result. Furthermore, using an alternative measurement geometry that is more sensitive to the symmetry of the CDW, we are able to contrast our results against a previous study that was limited by experimental accuracy. Finally, we find a surprisingly different symmetry at the (0.31 0 L) peak in YBCO that indicates the presence of orbital order alongside simple charge order. Model calculations for this data propose a CDW with significant in-plane anisotropy, or perhaps with a modulating orbital orientation. Anisotropy in electronic structure that arises from strong correlations-classified as electronic nematicity-has been observed in multiple cuprates, and whether or not this electronic ordering phase should be suspected as a generic feature of the underdoped phase diagram has become a topic of debate. Exploiting a unique structural distortion in the La-based cuprates, we perform anisotropic tensor scattering (ATS) on resonance in samples with a variety of isovalent and heterovalent dopings to investigate the relationship between structure, CDW order, and electronic nematic order. In four of the five samples, we observe a temperature evolution that is distinct from the structural distortion in the spectra that corresponds to orbitals in the CuO2 plane, indicating the presence of an electronic nematic phase. Like CDW order, this phase often onsets at the same temperature as the structural distortion, or else below the base temperature of our spectrometer. However, the CDW is clearly seen to onset at a moderately lower temperature than the other phases in La1.65Eu0.2Sr0.15CuO4, revealing an enhancement in the electronic nematicity at TCDW. We argue that the extent of the tilt in the structural transition, which varies with the unit cell volume, could provide an underlying connection between the properties of the three phases. In an attempt to observe evidence of an electronic nematic state in YBCO, polarized near-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy is performed at the Cu L and O K edges in three samples that span the material's doping phase diagram: delta = 0.335, delta = 0.5, and delta = 0.999. We argue that electronic nematicity could be observed as a relative change in the temperature evolution of the unoccupied density of states projected along the crystal's a- and b-axes, perhaps as the spontaneous increase of anisotropy below a threshold temperature. We report a modest reduction and broadening of many peaks in the spectra as temperature increases, including at both absorption edges, all dopings, and all polarizations. Alternatively, the peaks associated with the upper Hubbard band and the twin peaks in the c-axis spectra increase. Substantial spectral weight also appears in the region just below the upper Hubbard band. We propose that phonon coupling through a Franck-Condon mechanism could be responsible for the latter effect. The x-ray linear dichroism is calculated between the a- and b-axis spectra, but only subtle changes to the anisotropy are apparent. Ultimately, the presence of an electronic nematic phase cannot be verified, and our results instead provide an upper-limit for the magnitude of any effects from such a phase on the absorption spectra

The Great White Fleet Sails Today? Twenty-First-Century Logistics Lessons from the 1907–1909 Voyage of the Great White Fleet

The logistics backstory of the fleet’s voyage demonstrates the critical importance of strategic sealift and the ultimate vulnerability of any force that is dependent on logistics ships for fuel, stores, and ammunition—including the U.S. Navy today

The U.S. Merchant Marine: Back to the Future?

The epigraphs that open this article are but three of a vast number of quotes from U.S. presidents, members of Congress, and military leaders calling for support of a U.S.-flag merchant marine.1 Throughout American history, dozens of laws have been proposed and passed that have, in varying degrees, supported the operation of U.S.-flag ships in both coastal and international trade; no law ever passed has called for a reduction in or the elimination of U.S.-flag ships. And yet, despite periods of great growth at various times in U.S. history, the U.S. Merchant Marine, once again, is in serious decline today

Maritime Trade Warfare

Maritime trade warfare, also called commerce warfare, is a naval/military strategy that has been followed since ancient times. 1 The idea of maritime trade warfare is to attack or neutralize the commercial shipping of one’s enemy in an effort to disrupt the enemy’s economy, make it more difficult for the enemy to continue waging war by disrupting the enemy’s military supply chain that uses the sea, or both

The Middle Kingdom Returns to the Sea, While America Turns Its Back—How China Came to Dominate the Global Maritime Industry, and the Implications for the World

China soon virtually will control the global seagoing supply chain, with staggering consequences for the United States, its allies, and the world. As a nation dependent on maritime transportation for its economy and the movement of its military forces, the United States must take immediate, decisive steps to promote the reestablishment of a healthy and competitive U.S. maritime industry

From Power Over Creation to the Power of Creation: Cornelius Castoriadis on Democratic Cultural Creation and the Case of Hollywood

This article is a critical investigation and application of the aesthetic theory of Cornelius Castoriadis, one of the most important 20th-century theorists of radical democracy. We outline Castoriadis’s thoughts on autonomy, the social-historical nature of Being, and creation -- key elements that inform his model of democratic culture. We then develop a Castoriadian critique of culture produced by capitalist institutions. By also drawing on the political economic thought of Thorstein Veblen, Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, our critique focuses on one sector of contemporary culture: Hollywood film. We show how Hollywood, as a business enterprise, uses techniques of sabotage and capitalization to control and occult the social-historical nature of creation. Lastly, by way of conclusion, we gesture toward a mode of artistic production that is able to affirm the democratic values that organize Castoriadis’s thought

From Power Over Creation to the Power of Creation: Cornelius Castoriadis on Democratic Cultural Creation and the Case of Hollywood

Cornelius Castoriadis Hollywood film industry mass culture democracy cultural creation aesthetic theory capitalismThis article is a critical investigation and application of the aesthetic theory of Cornelius Castoriadis, one of the most important 20th-century theorists of radical democracy. We outline Castoriadis’s thoughts on autonomy, the social-historical nature of Being, and creation -- key elements that inform his model of democratic culture. We then develop a Castoriadian critique of culture produced by capitalist institutions. By also drawing on the political economic thought of Thorstein Veblen, Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, our critique focuses on one sector of contemporary culture: Hollywood film. We show how Hollywood, as a business enterprise, uses techniques of sabotage and capitalization to control and occult the social-historical nature of creation. Lastly, by way of conclusion, we gesture toward a mode of artistic production that is able to affirm the democratic values that organize Castoriadis’s thought