Integrated multiplexed capillary electrophoresis system

The present invention provides an integrated multiplexed capillary electrophoresis system for the analysis of sample analytes. The system integrates and automates multiple components, such as chromatographic columns and separation capillaries, and further provides a detector for the detection of analytes eluting from the separation capillaries. The system employs multiplexed freeze/thaw valves to manage fluid flow and sample movement. The system is computer controlled and is capable of processing samples through reaction, purification, denaturation, pre-concentration, injection, separation and detection in parallel fashion. Methods employing the system of the invention are also provide

The effects of data sharing on a perishable goods supply chain

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-68).This research project explores the benefits of retail data sharing in a high-velocity perishable goods supply chain. While this technique has been largely effective in improving supply chain performance in different industries, its benefits are unproven in the perishable goods business. Specifically, due to the short shelf life of produce, it remains to be seen whether data sharing can generate actionable plans for retailers to reduce out-of-stock events and shrinkage due to spoilage. As a result, suppliers and retailers alike have been reluctant to invest in the technology and cultivate the business relationship required to enable data sharing. The findings of this thesis could help companies determine whether a business case can be built for suppliers to invest in the necessary technology, as well as for retailers to share operational data for the greater good of overall supply chain efficiency and profitability. Ultimately, our research indicates that without some fundamental changes to the retailers' ordering process, data sharing does not provide substantial operational benefits for the perishable goods supply chain.by Darren Wilson and Gerald Yeung.M.Eng.in Logistic

On Diversity Climate in Organizations

Diversity climate, the extent to which workers perceive that organizations’ personnel practices are fair and successful in integrating diverse personnel, is of immense interest to both scholars and practitioners in contemporary organizations. In this dissertation, I examine the implications of diversity climate for workers’ psychological contracts (Essay 1) and conduct an investigation of the underlying factor structure of diversity climate (Essay 2). In Essay 1, I explored whether and how diversity climate is incorporated as an ideological commitment in psychological contracts during recruitment and the resulting impacts on workers. In two studies, a three-wave longitudinal field study and an experimental vignette study, fulfilment and breach of diversity climate promises were related to workers’ attitudes and behaviours, but unexpectedly, more weakly so for racial minority compared to majority group individuals. Further, in the field study, more frequent use of diversity recruitment was associated with job-seekers’ perceptions that ideological diversity climate promises were made pre-employment, and subsequent perceptions of breach of these promises has negative effects on worker attitudes and behaviours above and beyond “traditional” psychological contract breach. In Essay 2, I explored the factor structure of diversity climate by investigating workers’ responses to a sample of existing diversity climate measures developed under differing conceptual considerations. In two studies, I find evidence that measures of diversity climate can be decomposed into three dimensions about the workplace environment: 1) fairness, inclusion, and synergy, 2) organizational pro-diversity initiatives, goals, and values, and 3) absence of discrimination, which exhibited differential relationships with a range of attitudinal, socio-emotional, and behavioural criteria. Finally, I present some limited evidence that racial minority status can have differential moderating effects on the relations between each dimension and outcomes

Pride: Implications for Leader Behaviors and Effectiveness

Although scholars have increasingly recognized the role of affect in leadership processes, research to date has mostly focused on generalized affect rather than discrete emotions. In the current study, we focus on the emotion of pride. Specifically, we conduct two field studies to examine leaders’ experiences of authentic and hubristic pride and their relations with leadership behaviors. In Study 1, a field study of leader-follower dyads, leader trait authentic and hubristic pride have positive and negative impacts on leadership effectiveness, respectively, and these effects occur via their use of effective (i.e., consideration, initiating structure) and ineffective (i.e., abusive supervision) leadership behaviors. In Study 2, a daily diary study with organizational leaders, we find that on days when leaders experience more authentic pride than usual, they are also more likely to engage in effective leadership behaviors than usual, and on days when leaders experience more hubristic pride than usual, they are also more likely to engage in abusive behaviors toward their subordinates than usual. We also found some evidence of cross-level moderating effects, such that those higher (vs. lower) on trait pride, generally exhibited stronger within-person relationships between pride and leadership behaviors. Overall, this work highlights the importance of pride for leadership processes and the utility of studies examining discrete emotional experiences within organizational settings

The Onset of Synchronization in Systems of Globally Coupled Chaotic and Periodic Oscillators

A general stability analysis is presented for the determination of the transition from incoherent to coherent behavior in an ensemble of globally coupled, heterogeneous, continuous-time dynamical systems. The formalism allows for the simultaneous presence of ensemble members exhibiting chaotic and periodic behavior, and, in a special case, yields the Kuramoto model for globally coupled periodic oscillators described by a phase. Numerical experiments using different types of ensembles of Lorenz equations with a distribution of parameters are presented.Comment: 26 pages and 26 figure

Extreme enrichment in atmospheric 15N15N.

Molecular nitrogen (N2) comprises three-quarters of Earth's atmosphere and significant portions of other planetary atmospheres. We report a 19 per mil (‰) excess of 15N15N in air relative to a random distribution of nitrogen isotopes, an enrichment that is 10 times larger than what isotopic equilibration in the atmosphere allows. Biological experiments show that the main sources and sinks of N2 yield much smaller proportions of 15N15N in N2. Electrical discharge experiments, however, establish 15N15N excesses of up to +23‰. We argue that 15N15N accumulates in the atmosphere because of gas-phase chemistry in the thermosphere (>100 km altitude) on time scales comparable to those of biological cycling. The atmospheric 15N15N excess therefore reflects a planetary-scale balance of biogeochemical and atmospheric nitrogen chemistry, one that may also exist on other planets

Multiplexed capillary electrophoresis system

The use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) has greatly improved DNA sequencing rates compared to conventional slab gel electrophoresis. Part of the improvement in speed, however, has been offset by the loss of the ability (inherent in slab gels) to accommodate multiple lanes in a single run. Highly multiplexed capillary electrophoresis, by making possible hundreds or even thousands of parallel sequencing runs, represents an attractive approach to overcoming the current throughput limitations of existing DNA sequencing instrumentation

Multiplex capillary electrophoresis system

The use of capillary electrophoresis (CE) has greatly improved DNA sequencing rates compared to conventional slab gel electrophoresis. Part of the improvement in speed, however, has been offset by the loss of the ability (inherent in slab gels) to accommodate multiple lanes in a single run. Highly multiplexed capillary electrophoresis, by making possible hundreds or even thousands of parallel sequencing runs, represents an attractive approach to overcoming the current throughput limitations of existing DNA sequencing instrumentation

Antineoplastic effects of an Aurora B kinase inhibitor in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aurora B kinase is an important mitotic kinase involved in chromosome segregation and cytokinesis. It is overexpressed in many cancers and thus may be an important molecular target for chemotherapy. AZD1152 is the prodrug for AZD1152-HQPA, which is a selective inhibitor of Aurora B kinase activity. Preclinical antineoplastic activity of AZD1152 against acute myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer has been reported. However, this compound has not been evaluated in breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The antineoplastic activity of AZD1152-HQPA in six human breast cancer cell lines, three of which overexpress HER2, is demonstrated. AZD1152-HQPA specifically inhibited Aurora B kinase activity in breast cancer cells, thereby causing mitotic catastrophe, polyploidy and apoptosis, which in turn led to apoptotic death. AZD1152 administration efficiently suppressed the tumor growth in a breast cancer cell xenograft model. In addition, AZD1152 also inhibited pulmonary metastatic nodule formation in a metastatic breast cancer model. Notably, it was also found that the protein level of Aurora B kinase declined after inhibition of Aurora B kinase activity by AZD1152-HQPA in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Investigation of the underlying mechanism suggested that AZD1152-HQPA accelerated protein turnover of Aurora B via enhancing its ubiquitination.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was shown that AZD1152 is an effective antineoplastic agent for breast cancer, and our results define a novel mechanism for posttranscriptional regulation of Aurora B after AZD1152 treatment and provide insight into dosing regimen design for this kinase inhibitor in metastatic breast cancer treatment.</p