Background

Dysfunction or loss of limbal stem cells can result in limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), a disease that cause corneal opacity, pain, and loss of vision. Cultivated limbal epithelial transplantation (CLET) can be used to restore stem cell niche homeostasis and replenish the progenitor pool. Transplantation has been reported with high success rate, but there is an unmet need of prognostic markers that correlate with clinical outcomes. To date, the progenitor content in the graft is the only parameter that has been retrospectively linked to success.

Methods

In this study, we investigate extracellular micro RNAs (miRNAs) associated with stem/progenitor cells in cultivated limbal epithelial cells (cLECs). Using micro RNA sequencing and linear regression modelling, we identify a miRNA signature in cultures containing high proportion of stem/progenitor cells. We then develop a robust RNA extraction workflow from culture media to confirm a positive miRNA correlation with stem/progenitor cell proportion.

Results

miR-6723-5p is associated with cultures containing high proportion of stem/progenitor cells, and is detected in the basal layer of corneal epithelium.

Conclusions

These results indicate that miR-6723-5p could potentially serve as a stem/progenitor cell marker in cLECs.

This paper provides a progress report on a collaborative program at the Las Campanas and Cerro Tololo Observatories to observe the near-IR light curves of Type Ia supernovae. We discuss how the morphologies of the JHK light curves change as a function of the decline rate. Evidence is presented which indicates that the absolute magnitudes in the H band have little or no dependence on the decline rate, suggesting that SNe Ia may be nearly perfect cosmological standard candles in the near-IR. A preliminary Hubble diagram in the H band is presented and compared with a similar diagram in V for the same objects. Finally, observations of two peculiar supernovae, 1999ac and 2001ay, are briefly discussed.

The original version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the authors J. H. Joly and N. A. Graham, which were incorrectly given as J. Jolly and N. Graham. Additionally, the affiliation of both authors with 'Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089' and N. A. Graham with 'Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089' was inadvertently omitted. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Although numerous therapeutic strategies have attempted to target aerobic glycolysis to inhibit tumor progression, these approaches have not resulted in effective clinical outcomes. Murine squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can be initiated by hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs). HFSCs utilize aerobic glycolysis, and the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (Ldh) is essential for HFSC activation. We sought to determine whether Ldh activity in SCC is critical for tumorigenesis or simply a marker of the cell type of origin. Genetic abrogation or induction of Ldh activity in HFSC-mediated tumorigenesis shows no effect on tumorigenesis as measured by number, time to formation, proliferation, volume, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, gene expression, or immune response. Ldha-null tumors show dramatically reduced levels of glycolytic metabolites by metabolomics, and significantly reduced glucose uptake by FDG-PET live animal imaging. These results suggest that squamous cancer cells of origin do not require increased glycolytic activity to generate cancers.

We report results from beam tests on silicon microstrip detectors using a binary readout system for ATLAS. The data were collected during the H8 beam test at CERN in August/September 1995 and the KEK test in February 1996. The binary modules tested had been assembled from silicon microstrip detectors of different layout and from front-end electronics chips of different architecture. The efficiency, noise occupancy and position resolution were determined as a function of the threshold setting for various bias voltages and angles of incidence for both irradiated and non-irradiated detectors. In particular, the high spatial resolution of the beam telescope allowed the evaluation of the performance as a function of the track location in between detector strips.

We report on the results from a beam test of a binary silicon strip system proposed for ATLAS. The data were collected during the H8 beam test at CERN in 1995 and at a beam test at KEK in 1996. The binary modules tested had been assembled from silicon micro-strip detectors of different layout and from front-end electronics chips of different architecture. The efficiency, noise occupancy, and position resolution were determined as a function of the threshold setting for various bias voltages and angles of incidence. Interstrip effects were also evaluated using a high resolution telescope. The performance of a prototype detector module irradiated to a fluence of 1.2×1014p/cm2 is also characterized.

Results are reported from a beam test of prototype silicon microstrip detectors and front-end electronics developed for use in the LHC detector ATLAS. The detector assemblies ("modules") were 12 cm long and were read out with binary electronics. Both irradiated and unirradiated modules were measured in a 1.56 T magnetic field for efficiency, noise occupancy, and position resolution as a function of bias voltage, binary hit threshold, and detector rotation angle with respect to the beam direction. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The performance of the silicon strip detector prototypes developed for use in ATLAS at the LHC is reported. Baseline detector assemblies ("modules") of 12 cm length were read out with binary electronics at 40 MHz clock speed. For both irradiated and unirradiated modules, the tracking efficiency, noise occupancy, and position resolution were measured as a function of bias voltage, binary hit threshold, and detector rotation angle in a 1.56 T magnetic field. Measurements were also performed at a particle flux comparable to the one expected at the LHC. © 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The ATLAS trigger reduces the rate of interesting events to be recorded for off-line analysis in three successive levels from 40 MHz to ∼ 100 kHz, ∼ 2 kHz and ∼ 200 Hz. The high level triggers and data acquisition system are designed to profit from commodity computing and networking components to achieve the required performance. In this paper, we discuss data flow aspects of the design of the second level trigger (LVL2) and present results of performance measurements.