The Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project relies on geostationary (GEO) imager derived TOA broadband fluxes and cloud properties to account for the regional diurnal fluctuations between the Terra and Aqua CERES and MODIS measurements. Anchoring the GEO visible calibration to the MODIS reference calibration and stability is critical for consistent fluxes and cloud retrieva...

We investigated the function of Clara cells in vivo during exposure to inhaled crystalline silica by examining pulmonary matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 mRNA levels in mice. The Clara cells of male FVB/n mice (8-12 weeks old) were ablated by intraperitoneal administration of naphthalene (300 mg/kg) in a corn oil vehicle. The mice were then exposed to crystalline silica (Min-U-Sil-5 s...

Despite recent progress in research on the Hippo signalling pathway, the structural information available in this area is extremely limited. Intriguingly, the homodimeric and heterodimeric interactions of mammalian sterile 20-like (MST) kinases through the so-called `SARAH' (SAV/RASSF/HPO) domains play a critical role in cellular homeostasis, dictating the fate of the cell regarding cell prolif...

The Ca(2+)/Calmodulin-dependent phosphatase calcineurin is essential for exit from meiotic arrest at metaphases I and II in Drosophila and Xenopus oocytes. We previously found that Sarah, the Drosophila homolog of regulator of calcineurin, acts as a positive regulator of calcineurin and is required to complete anaphase I of female meiosis. Here, we undertook biochemical approaches, including MS...

Gravity data of Ceres returned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Dawn spacecraft is consistent with a lower density crust of variable thickness overlying a higher density mantle. Crustal thickness variations can affect the long-term, postimpact modification of impact craters on Ceres. Here we show that the unusual morphology of the 280 km diameter crater Kerwan may result f...

Volcanic edifices are abundant on rocky bodies of the inner solar system. In the cold outer solar system, volcanism can occur on solid bodies with a water-ice shell, but derived cryovolcanic constructs have proved elusive. We report the discovery, using Dawn Framing Camera images, of a landform on dwarf planet Ceres that we argue represents a viscous cryovolcanic dome. Parent material of the cr...

Designers of software components can use finite-state properties to denote behavioral interface specifications which enforce client-side programming rules that state how the components ought to be used. This allows users of these components to check their client code for compliance with these rules, both statically and at runtime. In this dissertation we explain the design and implementation of...

Highly purified Clara cells (93 +/- 3%) isolated from the lungs of rabbits were used to produce an antiserum against Clara cell secretory proteins. This antiserum was used to identify and study the biosynthesis and secretion of [35S]methionine-labeled proteins from isolated Clara cells. The antiserum recognized one major secretory protein with apparent molecular weight of 6 kDa and reacted weak...

Selective Clara cell injury produced by many bioactivated lung toxicants is thought to result from high levels of activating enzymes found in differentiated Clara cells. A recent study found an elevated susceptibility to the Clara cell toxicant 4-ipomeanol in neonatal rabbits when Clara cell P450 activity is low. To determine whether differentiating Clara cells in another species (mouse) are mo...

In this paper, we propose a StochAstic Recursive grAdient algoritHm (SARAH), as well as its practical variant SARAH+, as a novel approach to the finite-sum minimization problems. Different from the vanilla SGD and other modern stochastic methods such as SVRG, S2GD, SAG and SAGA, SARAH admits a simple recursive framework for updating stochastic gradient estimates; when comparing to SAG/SAGA, SAR...