Breast cancer risk with aromatase inhibition and phytoestrogen-free diet

In this thesis a mouse model was used to examine the effect of pubertal estrogen inhibition and a phytoestrogen-free diet on the development of mammary glands. The study question was does treatment with aromatase inhibitor during puberty increase susceptibility to breast cancer among cohorts that consumed a diet free of phytoestrogens. The study design consisted of a cohort of mice treated with aromatase inhibitor, letrozole, during puberty and a vehicular group that was used as a control. Both groups were fed a diet free of phytoestrogens from the time of weaning until sacrifice during adulthood. The study aimed to assess mammary gland development in terms of breast cancer risk. The methods employed in this research included morphological and histological analysis of mammary glands, as well as estradiol, RNA and protein analysis. The main finding of the study was that mice exposed to aromatase inhibitor during puberty developed mammary glands with specific characteristics suggestive of vulnerability to oncogenesis such as increased lateral branching, increased number of glands, increase ductal hyperplasia, and diminished expression of TGFβ and p27 protein levels. The conclusions suggest that puberty is a critical period in which the mammary gland is susceptible to environmental threats that may result in deleterious epigenetic effects leading to an increased breast cancer risk in adulthood. This study has several public health implications; the most significant is that environmental threats during puberty may result in adverse mammary gland development and that phytoestrogen sources in the diet are necessary for normal maturation of the mammary glands.^

Planktonic and benthic stables Isotopes, age model and carbon analysis of HUD91/039 from the northernmost Baffin Bay

A multiproxy study of palaeoceanographic and climatic changes in northernmost Baffin Bay shows that major environmental changes have occurred since the deglaciation of the area at about 12 500 cal. yr BP. The interpretation is based on sedimentology, benthic and planktonic foraminifera and their isotopic composition, as well as diatom assemblages in the sedimentary records at two core sites, one located in the deeper central part of northernmost Baffin Bay and one in a separate trough closer to the Greenland coast. A revised chronology for the two records is established on the basis of 15 previously published AMS 14C age determinations. A basal diamicton is overlain by laminated, fossil-free sediments. Our data from the early part of the fossiliferous record (12 300 - 11 300 cal. yr BP), which is also initially laminated, indicate extensive seasonal sea-ice cover and brine release. There is indication of a cooling event between 11 300 and 10 900 cal. yr BP, and maximum Atlantic Water influence occurred between 10 900 and 8200 cal. yr BP (no sediment recovery between 8200 and 7300 cal. yr BP). A gradual, but fluctuating, increase in sea-ice cover is seen after 7300 cal. yr BP. Sea-ice diatoms were particularly abundant in the central part of northernmost Baffin Bay, presumably due to the inflow of Polar waters from the Arctic Ocean, and less sea ice occurred at the near-coastal site, which was under continuous influence of the West Greenland Current. Our data from the deep, central part show a fluctuating degree of upwelling after c. 7300 cal. yr BP, culminating between 4000 and 3050 cal. yr BP. There was a gradual increase in the influence of cold bottom waters from the Arctic Ocean after about 3050 cal. yr BP, when agglutinated foraminifera became abundant. A superimposed short-term change in the sea-surface proxies is correlated with the Little Ice Age cooling.

Phosphorylation levels of JAK2 after addition of increasing Epo-concentrations: model approach (Figure 5a)

The present dataset contain source data for Figure 5a from Schilling et al., 2009. Cell fate decisions are regulated by the coordinated activation of signalling pathways such as the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascade, but contributions of individual kinase isoforms are mostly unknown. The authors combined quantitative data from erythropoietin-induced pathway activation in primary erythroid progenitor (colony-forming unit erythroid stage, CFU-E) cells with mathematical modelling, in order to predict and experimentally confirmed a distributive ERK phosphorylation mechanism in CFU-E cells. The authors found evidences that double-phosphorylated ERK1 attenuates proliferation beyond a certain activation level, whereas activated ERK2 enhances proliferation with saturation kinetics. Phosphorylation levels of JAK2 at 7 min after stimulation for Epo concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1000 U/ml were simulated.

Age model and sediment description of DSDP Hole 90-594, Chatham Ridge east of New Zealand

Detailed sedimentological investigations were performed on sediments from DSDP-Site 594 (Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand) in order to reconstruct the evolution of paleoclimate and paleoceanographic conditions in the Southwest Pacific during the last 6 million years. The results can be summarized as follows: (1) High accumulation rates of biogenic opal and carbonate and the dominance of smectites in the clay fraction suggest increased oceanic productivity and an equable dominantly humid climate during the late Miocene. (2) During Pliocene times, decreasing contents of smectites and increasing feldspar/quartz ratios point to an aridification in the source area of the terrigenous sediments, culmunating near 2.5 Ma. At that time, accumulation rates of terrigenous components distinctly increased probably caused by increased sediment supply due to intensified atmospheric and oceanic circulation, lowered sea level, and decreased vegetation cover. (3) A hiatus (1.45 to 0.73 Ma) suggests intensified intermediate-water circulation. (4) Major glacial/interglacial cycles characterize the upper 0.73 Ma. During glacial times, oceanic productivity and terrigenous sediment supply was distinctly increased because of intensified atmospheric and oceanic circulations and lowered sea level, whereas during interglacials productivity and terrigenous sediment supply were reduced. (5) An increased content of amphibols in the sediments of Site 594 indicates increased volcanic activities during the last 4.25 Ma.

Clay mineralogical assemblages, Sm-Nd concentrations, Sm and Nd isotopic ratios and oxygen isotope ratios, OIS number and the age model of ODP Site 105-646

We present 40 Sm-Nd isotope measurements of the clay-size (<2 µm) fractions of sediments from the Southern Greenland rise (ODP-646) that span the last 365 kyr. These data track changes in the relative supply of fine particles carried into the deep Labrador Sea by the Western Boundary Under Current (WBUC) back to the fourth glacial-interglacial cycles. Earlier studies revealed three general sources of particles to the core site: (i) Precambrian crustal material from Canada, Greenland, and/or Scandinavia (North American Shield - NAS), (ii) Palaeozoic or younger crustal material from East Greenland, NW Europe, and/or western Scandinavia (Young Crust - YC) and (iii) volcanic material from Iceland and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). Clay-size fractions from glacial sediments have the lowest Nd isotopic ratios. Supplies of young crustal particles were similar during glacial oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 2, 6, and 10. In contrast the mean volcanic contributions decreased relative to old craton material from OIS 10 to OIS 6 and then from OIS 6 to OIS 2. The glacial OIS 8 interval displays a mean Sm/Nd ratio similar to those of interglacials OIS 1, 5, and 9. Compared with other interglacials, OIS 7 was marked by a higher YC contribution but a similar ~30% MAR supply. The overall NAS contribution dropped by a factor of 2 during each glacial/interglacial transition, with the MAR contribution broadly replacing it during interglacials. To decipher between higher supplies and/or dilution, particle fluxes from each end member were estimated. Glacial NAS fluxes were systematically higher than interglacial fluxes. During the time interval examined, fine particle supplies to the Labrador Sea were strongly controlled by proximal ice-margin erosion and thus echoed the glacial stage intensity. In contrast, the WBUC-carried MAR supplies from the eastern basins did not change significantly throughout the last 365 kyr, except for a marked increase in surface-sediments that suggests unique modern conditions. Distal WBUC-controlled inputs from the Northern and NE North Atlantic seem to have been less variable than proximal supplies linked with glacial erosion rate.

Topographic model of Greenland (elevation lines in PanMap and ASCII format)

In this paper, a new high-resolution elevation model of Greenland, including the ice sheet as well as the ice free regions, is presented. It is the first published full coverage model, computed with an average resolution of 2 km and providing an unprecedented degree of detail. The topography is modeled from a wide selection of data sources, including satellite radar altimetry from Geosat and ERS 1, airborne radar altimetry and airborne laser altimetry over the ice sheet, and photogrammetric and manual map scannings in the ice free region. The ice sheet model accuracy is evaluated by omitting airborne laser data from the analysis and treating them as ground truth observations. The mean accuracy of the ice sheet elevations is estimated to be 12-13 m, and it is found that on surfaces of a slope between 0.2° and 0.8°, corresponding to approximately 50% of the ice sheet, the model presents a 40% improvement over models based on satellite altimetry alone. On coastal bedrock, the model is compared with stereo triangulated reference points, and it is found that the model accuracy is of the order of 25-35 m in areas covered by stereo photogrammetry scannings and between 200 and 250 m elsewhere.

Land Surface Temperature continuous time series from SSM/I passive microwave radiometers, over northern latitudes (Latitudes > 45°N), during summer snow free period (2000-2011), with links to NetCDF files

Remote sensing instruments are key players to map land surface temperature (LST) at large temporal and spatial scales. In this paper, we present how we combine passive microwave and thermal infrared data to estimate LST during summer snow-free periods over northern high latitudes. The methodology is based on the SSM/I-SSMIS 37 GHz measurements at both vertical and horizontal polarizations on a 25 km × 25 km grid size. LST is retrieved from brightness temperatures introducing an empirical linear relationship between emissivities at both polarizations as described in Royer and Poirier (2010). This relationship is calibrated at pixel scale, using cloud-free independent LST data from MODIS instruments. The SSM/I-SSMIS and MODIS data are synchronized by fitting a diurnal cycle model built on skin temperature reanalysis provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). The resulting temperature dataset is provided at 25 km scale and at an hourly time step during the ten-year analysis period (2000-2011). This new product was locally evaluated at five experimental sites of the EU-PAGE21 project against air temperature measurements and meteorological model reanalysis, and compared to the MODIS LST product at both local and circumpolar scale. The results giving a mean RMSE of the order of 2.2 K demonstrate the usefulness of the microwave product, which is unaffected by clouds as opposed to thermal infrared products and offers a better resolution compared to model reanalysis.

Is It Worthwhile for Indonesia to Rush into a Free Trade Deal with Japan?

This report represents a preliminary attempt to refine some basic ideas on the potential impact Indonesia might experience from a free trade arrangement with Japan, using a forward-looking, multi-regional, multi-sectoral applied general equilibrium model of global trade to capture growth effects through capital accumulation paying attention to the changes in the patterns of interregional capital flows that might happen even before the policy change occurs. The simulation results revealed that the welfare gains of rushing into trade liberalization with Japan are not so large. This makes out that taking time over negotiations might be the best choice for Indonesia if the government places priority on convincing the Indonesian people that a free trade deal with Japan will definitely bring positive effects, while proceeding rapidly might be the answer if the country is serious about recovering the welfare levels that might be lowered by free trade arrangements among Malaysia, the Philippines, and Japan.

Is FTA/EPA effective for a developing country to attract FDI? : simulation analysis based on an extended knowledge-capital model

To prepare an answer to the question of how a developing country can attract FDI, this paper explored the factors and policies that may help bring FDI into a developing country by utilizing an extended version of the knowledge-capital model. With a special focus on the effects of FTAs/EPAs between market countries and developing countries, simulations with the model revealed the following: (1) Although FTA/EPA generally ends to increase FDI to a developing country, the possibility of improving welfare through increased demand for skilled and unskilled labor becomes higher as the size of the country declines; (2) Because the additional implementation of cost-saving policies to reduce firm-type/trade-link specific fixed costs ends to depreciate the price of skilled labor by saving its input, a developing country, which is extremely scarce in skilled labor, is better off avoiding the additional option; (3) If a country hopes to enjoy larger welfare gains with EPA, efforts to increase skilled labor in the country, such as investing in education, may be beneficial.

A mathematical model of a criminal-prone society

Criminals are common to all societies. To fight against them the community takes different security measures as, for example, to bring about a police. Thus, crime causes a depletion of the common wealth not only by criminal acts but also because the cost of hiring a police force. In this paper, we present a mathematical model of a criminal-prone self-protected society that is divided into socio-economical classes. We study the effect of a non-null crime rate on a free-of-criminals society which is taken as a reference system. As a consequence, we define a criminal-prone society as one whose free-of-criminals steady state is unstable under small perturbations of a certain socio-economical context. Finally, we compare two alternative strategies to control crime: (i) enhancing police efficiency, either by enlarging its size or by updating its technology, against (ii) either reducing criminal appealing or promoting social classes at risk

A three-dimensional dynamical model of Amundsenisen icefield, Svalbard.

Amundsenisen is an ice field, 80 km2 in area, located in Southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Radio-echo sounding measurements at 20 MHz show high intensity returns from a nearly flat basal reflector at four zones, all of them with ice thickness larger than 500m. These reflections suggest possible subglacial lakes. To determine whether basal liquid water is compatible with current pressure and temperature conditions, we aim at applying a thermo mechanical model with a free boundary at the bed defined as solution of a Stefan problem for the interface ice-subglaciallake. The complexity of the problem suggests the use of a bi-dimensional model, but this requires that well-defined flowlines across the zones with suspected subglacial lakes are available. We define these flow lines from the solution of a three-dimensional dynamical model, and this is the main goal of the present contribution. We apply a three-dimensional full-Stokes model of glacier dynamics to Amundsenisen icefield. We are mostly interested in the plateau zone of the icefield, so we introduce artificial vertical boundaries at the heads of the main outlet glaciers draining Amundsenisen. At these boundaries we set velocity boundary conditions. Velocities near the centres of the heads of the outlets are known from experimental measurements. The velocities at depth are calculated according to a SIA velocity-depth profile, and those at the rest of the transverse section are computed following Nye’s (1952) model. We select as southeastern boundary of the model domain an ice divide, where we set boundary conditions of zero horizontal velocities and zero vertical shear stresses. The upper boundary is a traction-free boundary. For the basal boundary conditions, on the zones of suspected subglacial lakes we set free-slip boundary conditions, while for the rest of the basal boundary we use a friction law linking the sliding velocity to the basal shear stress,in such a way that, contrary to the shallow ice approximation, the basal shear stress is not equal to the basal driving stress but rather part of the solution.

Repeatability and Two-Dimensionality of Model Scale Sloshing Impacts

Canonical test cases for sloshing wave impact problems are pre-sented and discussed. In these cases the experimental setup has been simpli?ed seeking the highest feasible repeatability; a rectangular tank subjected to harmonic roll motion has been the tested con?guration. Both lateral and roof impacts have been studied, since both cases are relevant in sloshing assessment and show speci?c dynamics. An analysis of the impact pressure of the ?rst four impact events is provided in all cases. It has been found that not in all cases a Gaussian ?tting of each individual peak is feasible. The tests have been conducted with both water and oil in order to obtain high and moderate Reynolds number data; the latter may be useful as simpler test cases to assess the capabilities of CFD codes in simulating sloshing impacts. The re-peatability of impact pressure values increases dramatically when using oil. In addition, a study of the two-dimensionality of the problem using a tank con?guration that can be adjusted to 4 di?erent thicknesses has been carried out. Though the kinemat-ics of the free surface does not change signi cantly in some of the cases, the impact pressure values of the ?rst impact events changes substantially from the small to the large aspect ratios thus meaning that attention has to be paid to this issue when reference data is used for validation of 2D and 3D CFD codes.

Estimation of the solubility parameters of model plant surfaces and agrochemicals: a valuable tool for understanding plant surface interactions

Background Most aerial plant parts are covered with a hydrophobic lipid-rich cuticle, which is the interface between the plant organs and the surrounding environment. Plant surfaces may have a high degree of hydrophobicity because of the combined effects of surface chemistry and roughness. The physical and chemical complexity of the plant cuticle limits the development of models that explain its internal structure and interactions with surface-applied agrochemicals. In this article we introduce a thermodynamic method for estimating the solubilities of model plant surface constituents and relating them to the effects of agrochemicals. Results Following the van Krevelen and Hoftyzer method, we calculated the solubility parameters of three model plant species and eight compounds that differ in hydrophobicity and polarity. In addition, intact tissues were examined by scanning electron microscopy and the surface free energy, polarity, solubility parameter and work of adhesion of each were calculated from contact angle measurements of three liquids with different polarities. By comparing the affinities between plant surface constituents and agrochemicals derived from (a) theoretical calculations and (b) contact angle measurements we were able to distinguish the physical effect of surface roughness from the effect of the chemical nature of the epicuticular waxes. A solubility parameter model for plant surfaces is proposed on the basis of an increasing gradient from the cuticular surface towards the underlying cell wall. Conclusions The procedure enabled us to predict the interactions among agrochemicals, plant surfaces, and cuticular and cell wall components, and promises to be a useful tool for improving our understanding of biological surface interactions.