Quantifying human post-mortem movement resultant from decomposition processes.

Background: Post-mortem movement is highly significant in unexplained death investigations, as body position or the position of remains helps to determine cause and manner of death, as well as potentially the circumstances surrounding death. Therefore, understanding post-mortem movement is of forensic relevance in death scene assessments.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to quantify post-mortem movement in anatomical structures of a human donor during decomposition in an Australian environment, an evaluation that has not previously been undertaken.

Evaluating the utility of time-lapse imaging in the estimation of post-mortem interval: An Australian case study.

Estimating post-mortem interval is an important aspect in forensic investigations. The aim of this study was to investigate if time-lapse imaging can be used to improve estimates of post-mortem interval using Megyesi et al.'s [1] method for a human donor decomposing in an Australian environment.

Bayesian statistical models for community annoyance survey data.

This paper demonstrates the use of two Bayesian statistical models to analyze single-event sonic boom exposure and human annoyance data from community response surveys. Each model is fit to data from a NASA pilot study. Unlike many community noise surveys, this study used a panel sample to collect multiple observations per participant instead of a single observation.

The role of cellular contact and TGF-beta signaling in the activation of the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT).

The epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one step in the process through which carcinoma cells metastasize by gaining the cellular mobility associated with mesenchymal cells. This work examines the dual influence of the TGF-β pathway and intercellular contact on the activation of EMT in colon (SW480) and breast (MCF7) carcinoma cells. While the SW480 population revealed an intermediate state between the epithelial and mesenchymal states, the MC7 cells exhibited highly adhesive behavior.

Retention and promotion of women and underrepresented minority faculty in science and engineering at four large land grant institutions.

Results By Gender: In the most recent cohort, 2002-2015, the experiences of men and women differed substantially among STEM disciplines. Female assistant professors were more likely than men to leave the institution and to leave without tenure in engineering, but not in the agricultural, biological and biomedical sciences and natural resources or physical and mathematical sciences. In contrast, the median times to promotion from associate to full professor were similar for women and men in engineering and the physical and mathematical sciences, but one to two years longer for women than men in the agricultural, biological and biomedical sciences and natural resources.

A Theoretical Model of the Wnt Signaling Pathway in the Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition.

Background: Following the formation of a primary carcinoma, neoplastic cells metastasize by undergoing the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is triggered by cues from inflammatory and stromal cells in the microenvironment. EMT allows epithelial cells to lose their highly adhesive nature and instead adopt the spindle-like appearance, as well as the invasive and migratory behavior, of mesenchymal cells. We hypothesize that a bistable switch between the epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypes governs EMT, allowing the cell to maintain its mesenchymal phenotype even after it leaves the primary tumor microenvironment and EMT-inducing extracellular signal.

Incorporating Concomitant Medications into Genome-Wide Analyses for the Study of Complex Disease and Drug Response.

Given the high costs of conducting a drug-response trial, researchers are now aiming to use retrospective analyses to conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify underlying genetic contributions to drug-response variation. To prevent confounding results from a GWAS to investigate drug response, it is necessary to account for concomitant medications, defined as any medication taken concurrently with the primary medication being investigated. We use data from the Action to Control Cardiovascular Disease (ACCORD) trial in order to implement a novel scoring procedure for incorporating concomitant medication information into a linear regression model in preparation for GWAS.

Use of Bayesian Inference in Crystallographic Structure Refinement via Full Diffraction Profile Analysis.

A Bayesian inference method for refining crystallographic structures is presented. The distribution of model parameters is stochastically sampled using Markov chain Monte Carlo. Posterior probability distributions are constructed for all model parameters to properly quantify uncertainty by appropriately modeling the heteroskedasticity and correlation of the error structure.

Scientists urge DHS to improve Bioterrorism Risk Assessment.

In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) completed its first Bioterrorism Risk Assessment (BTRA), intended to be the foundation for DHS's subsequent biennial risk assessments mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 10 (HSPD-10). At the request of DHS, the National Research Council established the Committee on Methodological Improvements to the Department of Homeland Security's Biological Agent Risk Analysis to provide an independent, scientific peer review of the BTRA. The Committee found a number of shortcomings in the BTRA, including a failure to consider terrorists as intelligent adversaries in their models, unnecessary complexity in threat and consequence modeling and simulations, and a lack of focus on risk management.