Latinx on the Rise Mentoring Program’s Impact on Graduating Student’s Professional Integration Past Undergraduate Studies

Mentoring programs are implemented to create a space for skill and information transmission between a mentor and mentee. Mentoring programs are typically implemented in an academic setting with professors or peers acting as a mentor and students as mentees. Based on the under-representation of Latinx students in higher education and further career paths, mentoring with this population could be positively impactful to their student experience. This thesis focuses on the Latinx on the Rise mentoring program and the experience of the mentees with a focus on the Latinx student experience. Implications for implementation of such programs and their impact will be explored as well as a focus on future research needed to address gaps in mentoring research

A Note on Shapleys Convex Measure Games

L. S. Shapley, in his paper Cores of Convex Games, introduces Convex Measure Games, those that are induced by a convex function on R, acting over a measure on the coalitions. But in a note he states that if this function is a function of several variables, then convexity for the function does not imply convexity of the game or even superadditivity. We prove that if the function is directionally convex, the game is convex, and conversely, any convex game can be induced by a directionally convex function acting over measures on the coalitions, with as many measures as players.supermodularity, multilinear extension, convex cooperative games, directional convexity

Insights into the Biology of IRES Elements through Riboproteomic Approaches

Translation initiation is a highly regulated process that exerts a strong influence on the posttranscriptional control of gene expression. Two alternative mechanisms govern translation initiation in eukaryotic mRNAs, the cap-dependent initiation mechanism operating in most mRNAs, and the internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-dependent mechanism, first discovered in picornaviruses. IRES elements are highly structured RNA sequences that, in most instances, require specific proteins for recruitment of the translation machinery. Some of these proteins are eukaryotic initiation factors. In addition, RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play a key role in internal initiation control. RBPs are pivotal regulators of gene expression in response to numerous stresses, including virus infection. This review discusses recent advances on riboproteomic approaches to identify IRES transacting factors (ITAFs) and the relationship between RNA-protein interaction and IRES activity, highlighting the most relevant features on picornavirus and hepatitis C virus IRESs

Deconstructing internal ribosome entry site elements: An update of structural motifs and functional divergences

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Beyond the general cap-dependent translation initiation, eukaryotic organisms use alternative mechanisms to initiate protein synthesis. Internal ribosome entry site (IRES) elements are cis-acting RNA regions that promote internal initiation of translation using a cap-independent mechanism. However, their lack of primary sequence and secondary RNA structure conservation, as well as the diversity of host factor requirement to recruit the ribosomal subunits, suggest distinct types of IRES elements. In spite of this heterogeneity, conserved motifs preserve sequences impacting on RNA structure and RNA - protein interactions important for IRES-driven translation. This conservation brings the question of whether IRES elements could consist of basic building blocks, which upon evolutionary selection result in functional elements with different properties. Although RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) perform a crucial role in the assembly of ribonucleoprotein complexes, the versatility and plasticity of RNA molecules, together with their high flexibility and dynamism, determines formation of macromolecular complexes in response to different signals. These properties rely on the presence of short RNA motifs, which operate as modular entities, and suggest that decomposition of IRES elements in short modules could help to understand the different mechanisms driven by these regulatory elements. Here we will review evidence suggesting that model IRES elements consist of the combination of short modules, providing sites of interaction for ribosome subunits, eIFs and RBPs, with implications for definition of criteria to identify novel IRES-like elements genome wideThis work was supported by MINECO (BFU2017-84492-R) and an Institutional grant from Fundación Ramón Arece

RNAiFold2T: Constraint Programming design of thermo-IRES switches

Motivation: RNA thermometers (RNATs) are cis-regulatory ele- ments that change secondary structure upon temperature shift. Often involved in the regulation of heat shock, cold shock and virulence genes, RNATs constitute an interesting potential resource in synthetic biology, where engineered RNATs could prove to be useful tools in biosensors and conditional gene regulation. Results: Solving the 2-temperature inverse folding problem is critical for RNAT engineering. Here we introduce RNAiFold2T, the first Constraint Programming (CP) and Large Neighborhood Search (LNS) algorithms to solve this problem. Benchmarking tests of RNAiFold2T against existent programs (adaptive walk and genetic algorithm) inverse folding show that our software generates two orders of magnitude more solutions, thus allow- ing ample exploration of the space of solutions. Subsequently, solutions can be prioritized by computing various measures, including probability of target structure in the ensemble, melting temperature, etc. Using this strategy, we rationally designed two thermosensor internal ribosome entry site (thermo-IRES) elements, whose normalized cap-independent transla- tion efficiency is approximately 50% greater at 42?C than 30?C, when tested in reticulocyte lysates. Translation efficiency is lower than that of the wild-type IRES element, which on the other hand is fully resistant to temperature shift-up. This appears to be the first purely computational design of functional RNA thermoswitches, and certainly the first purely computational design of functional thermo-IRES elements. Availability: RNAiFold2T is publicly available as as part of the new re- lease RNAiFold3.0 at https://github.com/clotelab/RNAiFold and http: //bioinformatics.bc.edu/clotelab/RNAiFold, which latter has a web server as well. The software is written in C++ and uses OR-Tools CP search engine.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology (ISMB 2016), to appear in journal Bioinformatics 201

Desarrollo de un algoritmo de calculo para la determinacion del tamano de particula de orden micrometrico

68 p.La memoria de titulación consiste en la elaboración de un algoritmo de cálculo cuya finalidad es la obtención de la distribución de tamaños de partículas. En la actualidad existen variadas formas de determinar los tamaños de micropartículas, una de ella es la tecnología de absorción de radiaciones electromagnéticas la que cuenta entre ella, con la medición mediante la extinción fotométrica. Esta técnica proyecta la sombra de una partícula al pasar frente a un haz de luz. Para lograr medir un colectivo de partículas se realiza éste análisis mediante la suspensión de las micropartículas en un fluido y se ejerce un campo de fuerza sobre las partículas, el que puede ser de tipo gravitacional o centrífugo.Los pasos que se siguieron para la obtención de las distribuciones de los tamaños de partículas mediante el algoritmo de cálculo, comienzan con la determinación del estado de arte del tema, siguiendo con la formulación del algoritmo y finalmente con las pruebas de consistencia que se realizaron para los datos de extinción obtenidos en el Centro para Técnicas de Partículas y Granumetría del Instituto de Ingeniería de Procesos y Técnicas Medioambientales de la Universidad Técnica de Dresde (Zentrum für Partikeltechnik und Granulometrie, Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Umwelttechnik, Technische Universität Dresden), mediante una analizadora centrifuga Shimadzu SA-CP3. El algoritmo es obtenido, previamente realizado la modelación matemática del comportamiento de los cambios de concentración en la suspensión por la acción de un campo de fuerza centrífuga. Este algoritmo se programó en el software Mathcad, por lo cual, se consiguieron las curvas de distribución de tamaño de las partículas de dióxido de silicio amorfo y fueron comparadas con las curvas de distribución estándar de esta partícula, obteniendo valores muy cercano, lo que da como resultado que el algoritmo matemático sea efectivo. PALABRAS CLAVES: Algoritmo, Integración numérica, Sedimentación./ ABSTRACT: This thesis is the elaboration of an algorithm aimed at obtaining the distribution of particle sizes. Currently there are several ways to determine the size of microparticles, one of them is the technology absorption of electromagnetic radiation it has among her, the photometric measurement by extinction. This technique casts the shadow of a particle when passing a light of beam. To achieve a collective measure of particles is performed this analysis by suspending the microparticles in a fluid and exerts a force field on the particles, which can be gravitational or centrifugal type. The steps followed to obtain the distributions of particle sizes using the algorithm begins with determining the state of the art of the topic, followed by the formulation of the algorithm and finally with the consistency tests were conducted for extinction data obtained at the Center for Particle and Granumetría Technical Institute of Process Engineering and Environmental Technology at the Technical University of Dresden (Partikeltechnik und Zentrum für Grit, Institut für Verfahrenstechnik und Umwelttechnik, Technische Universität Dresden), using a centrifugal analyzer Shimadzu SA-CP3. The algorithm is obtained, previously performed mathematical modeling of the behavior of changes in concentration in the suspension by the action of a centrifugal force field. This algorithm was programmed in Mathcad software, thus, were obtained distribution curves of particle size of amorphous silicon dioxide were compared with the standard distribution curves of the particle, obtaining values very near, the which results in the mathematical algorithm is effective. KEYWORDS: Algorithm, Numerical Integration, Sedimentation

Good Practices of the Lean Startup Methodology: Benefits, challenges and recommendations

Most companies strive to capitalize on new business opportunities to innovate and develop new business models. The recent popularity of Lean Startup methodology in the startup scene suggests its potential applicability for the creation of new businesses in a corporate context. Therefore, this thesis identifies how to apply Lean Startup practices in software companies. The research was conducted as a literature review and a qualitative study, including semi-structured interviews from three Finnish software companies. Furthermore, the study provides a within-case and cross-case analysis of the positive and negative effects and recommendations for applying Lean Startup practices in software companies. The results indicate that there is resistance to change towards a more innovative company culture, insufficient knowledge and understanding of the Lean Startup, and its practices require time to be learnt. Moreover, the lack of proper communication of the Lean Startup benefits creates rejection from external teams. Nevertheless, the results reveal that the top management commitment to communicate and demonstrate early on what the Lean Startup is can help software companies and customers accept more readily the methodology and shift the company culture mindset towards a more innovative mindset. Furthermore, the results confirm that the Lean Startup application adds customer validation to the product development process, enabling faster product/market fits and data-driven decision-making that improves the process accuracy and speed. Moreover, the innovation accounting practice supports the learning about customer behavior. In contrast, the results show that teams not working together in the same location, customers rigidness and low or high volume of feedback can reduce the product development process speed. Consequently, software companies should communicate and demonstrate very early on the benefits of the Lean Startup methodology to employees and customers to help them understand, learn and adopt its practices while embracing a more innovative culture

Planetary nebulae abundances and stellar evolution II

Context: In recent years mid- and far infrared spectra of planetary nebulae have been analysed and lead to more accurate abundances. It may be expected that these better abundances lead to a better understanding of the evolution of these objects. Aims: The observed abundances in planetary nebulae are compared to those predicted by the models of Karakas (2003) in order to predict the progenitor masses of the various PNe used. The morphology of the PNe is included in the comparison. Since the central stars play an important role in the evolution, it is expected that this comparison will yield additional information about them. Methods: First the nitrogen/oxygen ratio is discussed with relation to the helium/hydrogen ratio. The progenitor mass for each PNe can be found by a comparison with the models of Karakas. Then the present luminosity of the central stars is determined in two ways: first by computing the central star effective temperature and radius, and second by computing the nebular luminosity from the hydrogen and helium lines. This luminosity is also a function of the initial mass so that these two values of initial mass can be compared. Results: Six of the seven bipolar nebulae can be identified as descendants of high mass stars (4Msun - 6Msun) while the seventh is ambiguous. Most of the elliptical PNe have central stars which descend from low initial mass stars, although there are a few caveats which are discussed. There is no observational evidence for a higher mass for central stars which have a high carbon/oxygen ratio. The evidence provided by the abundance comparison with the models of Karakas is consistent with the HR diagram to which it is compared. In the course of this discussion it is shown how `optically thin' nebulae can be separated from those which are 'optically thick'.Comment: 12 pages, 4 tables, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Vitamin Supplementation and Dementia: A Systematic Review

Background: Dementia is a syndrome characterized by progressive cognitive impairment that interferes with independent function in daily activities. Symptoms of dementia depend on its cause and vary greatly between individuals. There is extensive evidence supporting a relationship between diet and cognitive functions. This systematic review studies the efficacy of using vitamin supplements in the diet as a solution to nutritional deficiencies and the prevention of dementia and mild cognitive impairment. Methods: An intensive search of different databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane CENTRAL) was performed. Articles that were published between 2011 and November 2021 were retrieved using the mentioned search strategy. This systematic review has been conducted according to the PRISMA statement. Results: Folic acid supplementation proved to have better outcomes on cognitive tests than their respective control groups. The combined supplementation of folic acid and vitamin B12 showed some discrepancies between studies. Thiamine as supplementation did not only prove to have a positive impact on cognitive performance when given alone but also when given in combination with folic acid. Regarding vitamin D supplementation, the results observed were not so encouraging. A concomitant supplementation of low-dose vitamin E and vitamin C was also not associated with an improvement of cognitive function. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review suggest that supplementation of B Complex vitamins, especially folic acid, may have a positive effect on delaying and preventing the risk of cognitive decline. Ascorbic acid and a high dose of vitamin E, when given separately, also showed positive effects on cognitive performance, but there is not sufficient evidence to support their use. The results of vitamin D supplementation trials are not conclusive in assessing the potential benefits that vitamin D might have on cognition