A Preliminary Approach to Select an Origami Source Pattern for Deployable Space Arrays

This paper presents a systematic approach for selecting an origami pattern for deployable space array applications. A wide variety of origami patterns exist, thereby introducing a daunting task to decide on which pattern is most suitable for the application at hand. Similarly, different space missions present varying requirements. The focus of this paper is to provide aerospace engineers and designers with a framework for identifying optimal origami source models for space array applications

Specific Learning Disabilities: Response to Intervention

The content included in the current chapter centers around the screening and identification of students who experience learning challenges in an educational setting in the United States of America. The specific learning challenges discussed will focus on students who may have a specific learning disability (SLD). Legislation that brought about concepts such as response to intervention (RTI) is discussed in detail. The various levels of intensity of interventions, or tiers, provided to students are explained by more than one discipline. The new regulations guiding access to special education services are based on the identification, intervention, and close monitoring of student progress. The overarching goal of RTI is to provide support to students who may be experiencing difficulty, before they experience failure by falling too far behind their peers

High resolution HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies in the Costa Rica Central Valley population

The Costa Rica Central Valley population (CCVP) is the major population in this country, accounting for over 60% of the Costa Rican inhabitants concentrated since colonial times in a 2,500 km2 intermontane region. Interesting historic, demographic and genetic characteristics of this hybrid population have attracted researchers interested in testing genetic associations for various diseases. However, no study describing Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) frequencies by molecular methods had been performed. We have recently described low resolution HLA allele group and haplotype frequencies in a sample of this population. In this report, we extend our study to high resolution by sequence-based typing of exons 2, 3 and 4 for class I, and exon 2 for HLA-DRB1. DNA was extracted from blood or saliva samples from a cohort of 205 non-related healthy donors recruited as part of the University of Costa Rica’s Centre for Research in Hematology and Related Disorders (CIHATA) DNA bank. All participants were born in the CCVP and gave informed consent. A total of 37 HLA-A, 61 HLA-B, 24 HLA-C and 38 HLA-DRB1 alleles were seen in this sample. The five most frequent alleles for these genes are HLA-A*02:01:01, HLA-A*24:02:01, HLA-A*03:01:01, HLA-A*01:01:01, HLA-A*68:01:02, HLA-B*07:02:01, HLA-B*40:02:01, HLA-B*35:01:01, HLA-B*44:02:01, HLA-B*14:02:01, HLA-C*04:01:01, HLA-C*07:02:01, HLA-C*03:05, HLA-C*06:02:01, HLA-C*07:01:01, HLA-DRB1*13:01:01G, HLA-DRB1*04:07:01G, HLA-DRB1*15:01:01G, HLA-DRB1*03:01:01G, and HLA-DRB1*07:01:01G. Preliminary haplotype estimation results show, as a proxy for admixture proportions, that 68% of the extended haplotypes are Caucasian, while 23% are Amerindian in origin and 9% are clearly Sub-Saharan African. Principal coordinates analysis based on HLA-A and –B allele group frequencies reveals that this population clusters among other admixed groups with strong Caucasian component that lie closely to Iberian populations

The Biomolecules Journal Club: Highlights on Recent Papers 1

We are glad to share with you our first Journal Club and to highlight some of the most interesting papers published recently. We hope we will tease your curiosity and encourage you to read full papers outside of your research area, which you may not have read otherwise. The Biomolecules Scientific Board wishes you an exciting read

Miniature Sensor Node with Conformal Phased Array

This paper reports on the design and fabrication of a fully integrated antenna beam steering concept for wireless sensor nodes. The conformal array circumcises four cube faces with a silicon core mounted on each face. Every silicon core represents a 2 by 1 antenna array with an antenna element consisting of a dipole antenna, a balun, and a distributed MEMS phase shifter. All these components are based on a single wafer process and designed to work at 17.2 GHz. Simulations of the entire system and first results of individual devices are reported

BubR1 kinase: protection against aneuploidy and premature aging

The multidomain protein kinase BubR1 is a central component of the mitotic spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC), an essential self-monitoring system of the eukaryotic cell cycle that ensures the high fidelity of chromosome segregation by delaying the onset of anaphase until all chromosomes are properly bi-oriented on the mitotic spindle. We discuss the roles of BubR1 in the SAC and the implications of BubR1-mediated interactions that protect against aneuploidy. We also describe the emerging roles of BubR1 in cellular processes that extend beyond the SAC, discuss how mice models have revealed unanticipated functions for BubR1 in the regulation of normal aging, and the potential role of BubR1 as therapeutic target for the development of innovative anticancer therapie

Analog IC test and product engineering curriculum for Malaysia microelectronics industry

Production test is a significant driver of semiconductor manufacturing cost. Parallel with the advances of semiconductor fabrication, the need for a pool of talented product and test engineers is significantly increasing. This paper describes the academia-industries collaboration effort in developing an analogue electronic test and product engineering to boost-up technical competencies of electronic engineering graduates particularly in microelectronic major. The program has been successfully conducted at Universiti Putra Malaysia with strong support from Texas Instruments and Teradyne

Nuclear WRAP53 promotes neuronal survival and functional recovery after stroke

Failure of neurons to efficiently repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) contributes to cerebral damage after stroke. However, the molecular machinery that regulates DNA repair in this neurological disorder is unknown. Here, we found that DSBs in oxygen/glucose-deprived (OGD) neurons spatiotemporally correlated with the up-regulation of WRAP53 (WD40-encoding p53-antisense RNA), which translocated to the nucleus to activate the DSB repair response. Mechanistically, OGD triggered a burst in reactive oxygen species that induced both DSBs and translocation of WRAP53 to the nucleus to promote DNA repair, a pathway that was confirmed in an in vivo mouse model of stroke. Noticeably, nuclear translocation of WRAP53 occurred faster in OGD neurons expressing the Wrap53 human nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs2287499 (c.202C>G). Patients carrying this SNP showed less infarct volume and better functional outcome after stroke. These results indicate that WRAP53 fosters DNA repair and neuronal survival to promote functional recovery after stroke

The dynamic protein Knl1 - a kinetochore rendezvous

Knl1 (also known as CASC5, UniProt Q8NG31) is an evolutionarily conserved scaffolding protein that is required for proper kinetochore assembly, spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) function and chromosome congression. A number of recent reports have confirmed the prominence of Knl1 in these processes and provided molecular details and structural features that dictate Knl1 functions in higher organisms. Knl1 recruits SAC components to the kinetochore and is the substrate of certain protein kinases and phosphatases, the interplay of which ensures the exquisite regulation of the aforementioned processes. In this Commentary, we discuss the overall domain organization of Knl1 and the roles of this protein as a versatile docking platform. We present emerging roles of the protein interaction motifs present in Knl1, including the RVSF, SILK, MELT and KI motifs, and their role in the recruitment and regulation of the SAC proteins Bub1, BubR1, Bub3 and Aurora B. Finally, we explore how the regions of low structural complexity that characterize Knl1 are implicated in the cooperative interactions that mediate binding partner recognition and scaffolding activity by Knl1