Effects of Freezing on Soil Temperature, Freezing Front Propagation and Moisture Redistribution in Peat: Laboratory Investigations

There are not many studies that report water movement in freezing peat. Soil column studies under controlled laboratory settings can help isolate and understand the effects of different factors controlling freezing of the active layer in organic covered permafrost terrain. In this study, four peat Mesocosms were subjected to temperature gradients by bringing the Mesocosm tops in contact with subzero air temperature while maintaining a continuously frozen layer at the bottom (proxy permafrost). Soil water movement towards the freezing front (from warmer to colder regions) was inferred from soil freezing curves, liquid water content time series and from the total water content of frozen core samples collected at the end of freezing cycle. A substantial amount of water, enough to raise the upper surface of frozen saturated soil within 15 cm of the soil surface at the end of freezing period appeared to have moved upwards during freezing. Diffusion under moisture gradients and effects of temperature on soil matric potential, at least in the initial period, appear to drive such movement as seen from analysis of freezing curves. Freezing front (separation front between soil zones containing and free of ice) propagation is controlled by latent heat for a long time during freezing. A simple conceptual model describing freezing of an organic active layer initially resembling a variable moisture landscape is proposed based upon the results of this study. The results of this study will help in understanding, and ultimately forecasting, the hydrologic response of wetland-dominated terrain underlain by discontinuous permafrost

Dramatic expansion of the black widow toxin arsenal uncovered by multi-tissue transcriptomics and venom proteomics.

BackgroundAnimal venoms attract enormous interest given their potential for pharmacological discovery and understanding the evolution of natural chemistries. Next-generation transcriptomics and proteomics provide unparalleled, but underexploited, capabilities for venom characterization. We combined multi-tissue RNA-Seq with mass spectrometry and bioinformatic analyses to determine venom gland specific transcripts and venom proteins from the Western black widow spider (Latrodectus hesperus) and investigated their evolution.ResultsWe estimated expression of 97,217 L. hesperus transcripts in venom glands relative to silk and cephalothorax tissues. We identified 695 venom gland specific transcripts (VSTs), many of which BLAST and GO term analyses indicate may function as toxins or their delivery agents. ~38% of VSTs had BLAST hits, including latrotoxins, inhibitor cystine knot toxins, CRISPs, hyaluronidases, chitinase, and proteases, and 59% of VSTs had predicted protein domains. Latrotoxins are venom toxins that cause massive neurotransmitter release from vertebrate or invertebrate neurons. We discovered ≥ 20 divergent latrotoxin paralogs expressed in L. hesperus venom glands, significantly increasing this biomedically important family. Mass spectrometry of L. hesperus venom identified 49 proteins from VSTs, 24 of which BLAST to toxins. Phylogenetic analyses showed venom gland specific gene family expansions and shifts in tissue expression.ConclusionsQuantitative expression analyses comparing multiple tissues are necessary to identify venom gland specific transcripts. We present a black widow venom specific exome that uncovers a trove of diverse toxins and associated proteins, suggesting a dynamic evolutionary history. This justifies a reevaluation of the functional activities of black widow venom in light of its emerging complexity

Comparison of total body irradiation versus non-total body irradiation containing regimens for de novo acute myeloid leukemia in children

With limited data comparing hematopoietic cell transplant outcomes between myeloablative total body irradiation (TBI) containing and non-TBI regimens in children with de novo acute myeloid leukemia, the aim of this study was to compare transplant-outcomes between these regimens. Cox regression models were used to compare transplant-outcomes after TBI and non-TBI regimens in 624 children transplanted between 2008 and 2016. Thirty two percent (n=199) received TBI regimens whereas 68% (n=425) received non-TBI regimens. Five-year non-relapse mortality was higher with TBI regimens (22% vs. 11%, p\u3c0.0001) but relapse was lower (23% vs. 37%, p\u3c0.0001) compared to non-TBI regimens. Consequently, overall (62% vs. 60%, p=1.00) and leukemia-free survival (55% vs. 52%, p=0.42) did not differ between treatment groups. Grade II-IV acute GVHD was higher with TBI regimens (56% vs. 27%, p\u3c0.0001) but not chronic GVHD. The 3-year incidence of gonadal or growth hormone deficiency was higher with TBI regimens (24% vs. 8%, p\u3c0.001) but there were no differences in late pulmonary, cardiac or renal impairment. In the absence of a survival advantage, the choice of TBI or non-TBI regimen merits careful consideration with the data favoring non-TBI regimens to limit the burden of morbidity associated with endocrine dysfunction

A generalization of Schur-Weyl duality with applications in quantum estimation

Schur-Weyl duality is a powerful tool in representation theory which has many applications to quantum information theory. We provide a generalization of this duality and demonstrate some of its applications. In particular, we use it to develop a general framework for the study of a family of quantum estimation problems wherein one is given n copies of an unknown quantum state according to some prior and the goal is to estimate certain parameters of the given state. In particular, we are interested to know whether collective measurements are useful and if so to find an upper bound on the amount of entanglement which is required to achieve the optimal estimation. In the case of pure states, we show that commutativity of the set of observables that define the estimation problem implies the sufficiency of unentangled measurements.Comment: The published version, Typos corrected, 40 pages, 2 figure

Evaluating Fault Management Operations Concepts for Next-Generation Spacecraft: What Eye Movements Tell Us

Performance enhancements associated with selected forms of automation were quantified in a recent human-in-the-loop evaluation of two candidate operational concepts for fault management on next-generation spacecraft. The baseline concept, called Elsie, featured a full-suite of "soft" fault management interfaces. However, operators were forced to diagnose malfunctions with minimal assistance from the standalone caution and warning system. The other concept, called Besi, incorporated a more capable C&W system with an automated fault diagnosis capability. Results from analyses of participants' eye movements indicate that the greatest empirical benefit of the automation stemmed from eliminating the need for text processing on cluttered, text-rich displays

Tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R prevents experimental human breast cancer bone metastasis in nude mice.

Bone metastasis is a lethal and morbid late stage of breast cancer that is currently treatment resistant. More effective mouse models and treatment are necessary. High bone-metastatic variants of human breast cancer cells were selected in nude mice by cardiac injection. After cardiac injection of a high bone-metastatic variant of breast cancer, all untreated mice had bone metastases compared to only 20% with parental cells. Treatment with tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R completely prevented the appearance of bone metastasis of the high metastatic variant in nude mice (P < 0.001). After injection of the highly bone-metastatic breast cancer variant to the tibia of nude mice, S. typhimurium A1-R treatment significantly reduced tumor growth in the bone (P < 0.001). These data indicated that S. typhimurium A1-R is useful to prevent and inhibit breast cancer bone metastasis and should be of future clinical use for breast cancer in the adjuvant setting