An Evolutionary Perspective on Human Cross-sensitivity to Tree Nut and Seed Allergens

Tree nut allergies are some of the most common and serious allergies in the United States. Patients who are sensitive to nuts or to seeds commonly called nuts are advised to avoid consuming a variety of different species, even though these may be distantly related in terms of their evolutionary history. This is because studies in the literature report that patients often display sensitivity to multiple nut species (cross-sensitivity) if they have an existing nut allergy. These reports suggest that cross-sensitivity in patients with nut allergies may be caused by an IgE antibody reacting with epitopes present in the seed proteins of different species (cross-reactivity), for example, if IgE isolated from the serum of a patient were able to bind to both almond and peanut allergens. We hypothesize that allergenic proteins in seeds may have similar amino acid sequences that cause the observed cross-sensitivity. Here, we test the hypothesis that similarity in the protein sequences of allergenic nuts drives cross-sensitivity and cross-reactivity by reconstructing the gene trees of three allergenic seed-storage proteins (vicilin, legumin, and 2S albumin) from species sampled across vascular plants. We generate estimates of their phylogenetic relationships and compare these to the allergen cross-sensitivity and cross-reactivity data that is reported in the literature. In general, evolutionary relationships of the three proteins are congruent with the current understanding of plant species relationships. However, we find little evidence that distantly related nut species reported to be cross-reactive share similar vicilin, legumin, or 2S albumin amino acid sequences. Our data thus suggest that features of the proteins other than their amino acid sequences may be driving the cross-reactivity observed during in vitro tests and skin tests. Our results support current treatment guidelines to limit nut and seed consumption if allergies are present in a patient. More studies are necessary to better understand the characteristics of allergenic proteins and patterns of cross-sensitivity in patients who suffer from nut allergies

Certified Knowledge Compilation with Application to Verified Model Counting

Computing many useful properties of Boolean formulas, such as their weighted or unweighted model count, is intractable on general representations. It can become tractable when formulas are expressed in a special form, such as the decision-decomposable, negation normal form (dec-DNNF) . Knowledge compilation is the process of converting a formula into such a form. Unfortunately existing knowledge compilers provide no guarantee that their output correctly represents the original formula, and therefore they cannot validate a model count, or any other computed value. We present Partitioned-Operation Graphs (POGs), a form that can encode all of the representations used by existing knowledge compilers. We have designed CPOG, a framework that can express proofs of equivalence between a POG and a Boolean formula in conjunctive normal form (CNF). We have developed a program that generates POG representations from dec-DNNF graphs produced by the state-of-the-art knowledge compiler D4, as well as checkable CPOG proofs certifying that the output POGs are equivalent to the input CNF formulas. Our toolchain for generating and verifying POGs scales to all but the largest graphs produced by D4 for formulas from a recent model counting competition. Additionally, we have developed a formally verified CPOG checker and model counter for POGs in the Lean 4 proof assistant. In doing so, we proved the soundness of our proof framework. These programs comprise the first formally verified toolchain for weighted and unweighted model counting

Collecting, Documenting, and Sharing Detroit Arts Culture: In and Around Wayne State, 1960s-1980s

Collecting, Documenting, and Sharing Detroit Arts Culture: In and Around Wayne State, 1960s-1980s In the 1960s, as explosive social and political movements gave rise to the rejection of post-World War II middle-class society, Wayne State University and its nearby environs emerged as a cultural force. A loosely drawn community of artists, poets, musicians and politicos became active participants in this boldly expressive movement, with much activity centered in the Cass Corridor, adjacent to campus. While this mirrored what was going on in other parts of the country, Detroiters had their own source material, inspiration, and tools for expression. This panel will present and discuss this important time in Detroit\u27s cultural history, and a number of projects undertaken to preserve its heritage. Featured will be a video which includes the work of a number of Cass Corridor artists from that time period, and two collaborative oral history projects which document the stories of Detroit\u27s art, poetry, and music communities. The panel will be of interest to artists, art educators, art historians and those interested in Detroit arts history, as well as documentary practices. Conference session summary is available here. Presentations: Sandra Schemske: Video presentation: \u27Time and Place: Art of Detroit\u27s Cass Corridor from the Wayne State University Art Collection\u27 (not available in DigitalCommons@WayneState) Dr. Joseph Turrini: Training Oral Historians for the Cass Corridor Documentation Project (not available in DigitalCommons@WayneState) Dennis Nawrocki: \u27Ménage À Detroit’: Three Generations of Expressionist Art in Detroit 1970-2012 Gilda Snowden: Documenting the local gallery scene on YouTube Monika Berenyi: The Detroit City Poetry Project Diane Sybeldon: From the Library...: Collecting, Documenting and Sharing Detroit Arts Culture In and Around Wayne State, 1960s-1980

Fibre-optic delivery of time and frequency to VLBI station

The quality of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio observations predominantly relies on precise and ultra-stable time and frequency (T&F) standards, usually hydrogen masers (HM), maintained locally at each VLBI station. Here, we present an operational solution in which the VLBI observations are routinely carried out without use of a local HM, but using remote synchronization via a stabilized, long-distance fibre-optic link. The T&F reference signals, traceable to international atomic timescale (TAI), are delivered to the VLBI station from a dedicated timekeeping laboratory. Moreover, we describe a proof-of-concept experiment where the VLBI station is synchronized to a remote strontium optical lattice clock during the observation.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, matches the version published in A&A, section Astronomical instrumentatio