Geomorphic approach to predicting degradation of streams in western Iowa

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/736197

Central Energy System Modernization at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

An evaluation of technology options was conducted for the central energy systems at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. There were two objectives in conducting this study. From a broader viewpoint, the Army would like to develop a systematic approach to management of its central energy systems and selected Fort Jackson for this ''pilot'' study for a prospective Central Energy System Modernization Program. From a site-specific perspective, the objective was to identify the lowest life-cycle cost energy supply option(s) at Fort Jackson for buildings currently served by central boilers and chillers. This study was co-funded by the Army's Southeast Region and the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program

The Place of Scripture in the Trajectories of a Distinct Religious Identity among Ravidassias in Britain: Guru Granth Sahib or Amritbani Guru Ravidass

This article highlights narratives, collected as informant testimonies, relating to trajectories of a distinct religious identity among the Ravidassia community in Britain. Current tensions surround the replacement of the Guru Granth Sahib with the Amritbani Guru Ravidass in Ravidassia places of worship. This is primarily in response to cartographies of the Ravidassia identity as distinct from Sikh identity. The opinions of Ravidassia individuals, from a varied age range, expressed in interviews conducted at various periods during 2010–2012, are considered in relation to dominant discourses emphasising the importance of one hegemonic ‘Ravidassia’ scripture. The interview data highlight three main positions among the followers of Guru Ravidass: (1) Ravidassias seeking a distinct identity but preferring to retain the Guru Granth Sahib in Ravidassia places of worship, (2) Ravidassias demanding a distinct identity by installing the Amritbani Guru Ravidass, (3) Ravidassias wanting to maintain their link with the Panth as Sikhs or as Ravidassi Sikhs

A thermodynamic approach to PCR primer design

We developed a primer design method, Pythia, in which state of the art DNA binding affinity computations are directly integrated into the primer design process. We use chemical reaction equilibrium analysis to integrate multiple binding energy calculations into a conservative measure of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) efficiency, and a precomputed index on genomic sequences to evaluate primer specificity. We show that Pythia can design primers with success rates comparable with those of current methods, but yields much higher coverage in difficult genomic regions. For example, in RepeatMasked sequences in the human genome, Pythia achieved a median coverage of 89% as compared with a median coverage of 51% for Primer3. For parameter settings yielding sensitivities of 81%, our method has a recall of 97%, compared with the Primer3 recall of 48%. Because our primer design approach is based on the chemistry of DNA interactions, it has fewer and more physically meaningful parameters than current methods, and is therefore easier to adjust to specific experimental requirements. Our software is freely available at http://pythia.sourceforge.net

Engineering Genetic Predisposition in Human Neuroepithelial Stem Cells Recapitulates Medulloblastoma Tumorigenesis.

Human neural stem cell cultures provide progenitor cells that are potential cells of origin for brain cancers. However, the extent to which genetic predisposition to tumor formation can be faithfully captured in stem cell lines is uncertain. Here, we evaluated neuroepithelial stem (NES) cells, representative of cerebellar progenitors. We transduced NES cells with MYCN, observing medulloblastoma upon orthotopic implantation in mice. Significantly, transcriptomes and patterns of DNA methylation from xenograft tumors were globally more representative of human medulloblastoma compared to a MYCN-driven genetically engineered mouse model. Orthotopic transplantation of NES cells generated from Gorlin syndrome patients, who are predisposed to medulloblastoma due to germline-mutated PTCH1, also generated medulloblastoma. We engineered candidate cooperating mutations in Gorlin NES cells, with mutation of DDX3X or loss of GSE1 both accelerating tumorigenesis. These findings demonstrate that human NES cells provide a potent experimental resource for dissecting genetic causation in medulloblastoma

Phytozome: a comparative platform for green plant genomics

The number of sequenced plant genomes and associated genomic resources is growing rapidly with the advent of both an increased focus on plant genomics from funding agencies, and the application of inexpensive next generation sequencing. To interact with this increasing body of data, we have developed Phytozome (http://www.phytozome.net), a comparative hub for plant genome and gene family data and analysis. Phytozome provides a view of the evolutionary history of every plant gene at the level of sequence, gene structure, gene family and genome organization, while at the same time providing access to the sequences and functional annotations of a growing number (currently 25) of complete plant genomes, including all the land plants and selected algae sequenced at the Joint Genome Institute, as well as selected species sequenced elsewhere. Through a comprehensive plant genome database and web portal, these data and analyses are available to the broader plant science research community, providing powerful comparative genomics tools that help to link model systems with other plants of economic and ecological importance

CNS-PNETs with C19MC amplification and/or LIN28 expression comprise a distinct histogenetic diagnostic and therapeutic entity

Amplification of the C19MC oncogenic miRNA cluster and high LIN28 expression has been linked to a distinctly aggressive group of cerebral CNS-PNETs (group 1 CNS-PNETs) arising in young children. In this study, we sought to evaluate the diagnostic specificity of C19MC and LIN28, and the clinical and biological spectra of C19MC amplified and/or LIN28+ CNS-PNETs. We interrogated 450 pediatric brain tumors using FISH and IHC analyses and demonstrate that C19MC alteration is restricted to a sub-group of CNS-PNETs with high LIN28 expression; however, LIN28 immunopositivity was not exclusive to CNS-PNETs but was also detected in a proportion of other malignant pediatric brain tumors including rhabdoid brain tumors and malignant gliomas. C19MC amplified/LIN28+ group 1 CNS-PNETs arose predominantly in children <4 years old; a majority arose in the cerebrum but 24 % (13/54) of tumors had extra-cerebral origins. Notably, group 1 CNS-PNETs encompassed several histologic classes including embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR), medulloepithelioma, ependymoblastoma and CNS-PNETs with variable differentiation. Strikingly, gene expression and methylation profiling analyses revealed a common molecular signature enriched for primitive neural features, high LIN28/LIN28B and DNMT3B expression for all group 1 CNS-PNETs regardless of location or tumor histology. Our collective findings suggest that current known histologic categories of CNS-PNETs which include ETANTRs, medulloepitheliomas, ependymoblastomas in various CNS locations, comprise a common molecular and diagnostic entity and identify inhibitors of the LIN28/let7/PI3K/mTOR axis and DNMT3B as promising therapeutics for this distinct histogenetic entity. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00401-014-1291-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A GATA4-regulated tumor suppressor network represses formation of malignant human astrocytomas

GATA4 loss as a result of promoter hypermethylation or somatic mutation promotes growth and chemotherapy resistance of human astrocytomas