Saints and Orphans

Postcard from Brooke Carstensen, during the Linfield College January Term Program in Indi

Effect of charged lipids on the ionization behavior of glutamic acid containing transmembrane helices

Transmembrane proteins make up critical components of living cells. Protein function can be greatly impacted by the charged state of its respective components, the side chains of amino acid residues. Thus far, in the lipid membrane, little is known about the properties of residues such as glutamic acid. To explore these properties, I have included glutamic acid in a suitable model peptide-lipid system for fundamental biophysical experiments. Within the system, I have placed a glutamic acid residue instead of leucine in the L14 position of the helical hydrophobic peptide GWALP23 (acetyl-GGALWLALALALAL14ALALWLAGA-amide). Substitutions of glutamine and aspartic acid serve as controls for the properties of the peptide helix in lipid bilayer membranes. The GWALP23 peptide derivatives are placed in various lipid bilayer environments. Specifically, I investigated the impact of glutamic acid (position E14) when differently charged lipids are present in the bilayer. The underlying importance is to understand the charged or neutral state behavior of glutamic acid under conditions where it is important for the functioning of several types of membrane proteins, such as ion channels, drug transporters and others. For the experimental plan, core alanine resides of GWALP23 were labeled with deuterium to enable detection of helix characteristics by solid-state 2H NMR spectroscopy. The peptide-lipid samples included primarily the neutral lipid DMPC, 1,2-dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine, (with 14-carbon acyl chains), along with 10% of a charged lipid. For each membrane system, I confirmed lipid bilayer formation for the particular peptide-lipid mixture by solid-state 31P NMR. The charged lipids consisted of the negatively charged lipid DMPG, 1,2-dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol, and the positively charged lipid DMTAP, 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane. These charged lipids were found to influence the properties of the GWALP23 helix when E14 was present. DMTAP, in particular, improves the 2H NMR spectra and the prospects for characterizing helix dynamics when a glutamic acid residue is present. While some experiments were cut short due to a global emergency, the results show promise for characterizing glutamic acid in model helices and actual membrane proteins

Designer ideals with high Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity

The purpose of this paper is to give a simple geometric construction of ideals whose Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity is large compared to the generating degree. Moreover, our ideals have the property that the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity is revealed as late in the resolution as desired.Comment: 8 pages. To appear in Math. Res. Let

Open Source Integrated Library Systems in Public Libraries

One of the most fundamental decisions a library makes is choosing an integrated library system, or ILS. A public library can remove unwanted outside influence and save money by switching their ILS to free and open source software, or FOSS. This article is an examination of the progress made by FOSS ILSs to become not only contenders against proprietary systems, but also an appropriate choice for financial, functional, and philosophical reasons. Included is a timeline of published evaluations, the milestone of 14% adoption, a summary of the current landscape, and example implementation cases. A functional analysis shows why a public library can now safely make the switch. A philosophical analysis shows why they should do so. Finally, a proposal is made to “Buy Back America’s Libraries, and return ownership of the keystone of our public information infrastructure to the people

Black, Gold, and Green: Food Waste Management at Bryant University

The basis of this project is to examine the food waste management system at Bryant University, and to make feasible, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions for improving the system. An effective, sustainable food waste management system is an important achievement for the university in particular as Rhode Island’s landfill is quickly reaching its capacity. The study focuses on analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the university’s current solution of sending the waste to a local pig farmer versus alternative options such as composting the waste. Research methods include surveying local food recycling and composting experts and key stakeholders, a numeric ranking system to analyze different options for Bryant, as well as benchmarking with comparable colleges and universities that have launched successful food waste management solutions

Suffix Quiz

One characteristic of the English language is its extensive use of affixes, and of suffixes in particular. Indeed, a dictionary count shows that some 45 per cent of the words listed are suffixed, including 2 per cent that are double-suffixed (nothingness, particularize, etc.)

Safe Routes to School Increases Physical Activity and Improves Health

This report indicates how Safe Routes to School is being institutionalized at select schools, and providing a mechanism to improve student and school health. It provides local case studies from Benton County, OR; Eau Claire, WI; Flagstaff, AZ; and Garfield, NJ that detail how SRTS can lead to improved public health

Vowel Symmetry

Arrange the letters of the alphabet in columns of two

Safe Routes to School Leads to Greater Collaboration with Public Health and School Officials

This report demonstrates how Safe Routes to School is a collaborative effort involving multiple organizations, including state Departments of Education and state Departments of Public Health. Additionally, the report addresses how school siting decisions at the state and local levels affect opportunities to walk and bicycle to schools, which in turn affects opportunities for physical activity. The four case studies showcase examples of collaboration between public health and school officials at the state level through Safe Routes to School Advisory Committees, school siting guidelines, state standards for physical activity or wellness policies and more. California, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Oklahoma are featured