From Hashtag to Hash Value: Using the Hash Value Model to Report Child Sex Abuse Material

In the summer of 2021, Apple announced it would release a Child Safety Feature (CSF) aimed at reducing Child Sex Abuse Materials (CSAM) on its platform. The CSF would scan all images a user uploaded to their iCloud for CSAM, and Apple would report an account with 30 or more flagged images to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Despite Apple’s good intentions, they received intense backlash, with many critics arguing the proposed CSF eroded a user’s privacy. This article explores the technology behind Apple’s CSF and compares it to similar features used by other prominent tech companies. The article further looks at how the Fourth Amendment has grown with technology yet struggles to find a balance between protecting children from online exploitation and privacy rights. Finally, the article proposes three solutions to this balancing issue: Supreme Court action, a uniform circuit test, or Congressional action

The Effect of Interleukin 4 on Protein Kinase Activities Associated With B Lymphocyte Plasma Membranes

A variety of ligands bind to unique cell surface receptors and cause rapid changes in cell metabolism. In many systems this has been acheived by the functional modification of existing proteins, most notably through phosphoiylation. Phosphorylation of proteins has been observed in B lymphocytes on activation with antigen, lipolysaccharide and several lymphokines. Although many of the biological functions of the lymphokine IL-4 are well known, the signals transduced when IL-4 binds to its receptor are poorly understood. In the murine system it has been reported that IL-4 fails to induce the hydrolysis of inositol lipids, mobilisation of intracellular calcium or the activation of protein kinase C. However, the addition of IL-4 to isolated B cell membranes in the presence of gamma-[32P]-ATP leads to the phosphorylation of a 42 kDa protein. In the human system recent experiments suggest that the addition of IL-4 to resting human B cells results in the activation of a complex second messenger cascade involving the hydrolysis of inositol lipids, elevation of intracellular calcium and an increase in the level of cAMP

Missionary of Faith: Uniting and Educating Catholic Youth Under God

Religion, as discussed further in the following research, is clearly not the focus of many people’s lives in our society today. In my opinion, younger generations should be taught Catholicism to develop a solid moral foundation at a young age. For my capstone project, I volunteered to teach a Religious Education (RE) class to 6th-8th graders in my local parish. Through the development of a more robust and engaging curriculum, specifically designed to teach the most profound concepts of the Church, I was able to further the cause of bringing Catholicism to these younger members of society. As a leader and mentor, I determined that through the utilization and understanding of self-awareness and audience awareness, emotional intelligence and creative thinking, I have been able to develop innovative solutions and achieve successful results to help provide these young people examples of positive values with which to follow

Law and Religion in Colonial America

Published in Cambridge History of American Law, Volume 1: Early America (1580-1815), Michael Grossberg & Christopher Tomlins, eds.https://digitalcommons.law.buffalo.edu/book_sections/1406/thumbnail.jp

Spatially heterogeneous argon-isotope systematics and apparent ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages in perlitised obsidian

In situ laser ablation Ar-isotope analyses of variably hydrated and devitrified obsidian from the ~ 27 Ma Cochetopa Dome, San Juan, USA, reveal complex interplay between degassing of initial Ar and absorption of atmospheric Ar. These processes have locally modified the Ar-isotope composition of the obsidian and led to spurious, spatially-heterogeneous Ar-isotope and 40Ar/39Ar age data. Small perlite beads exhibit older apparent Ar-ages at the rims than the cores. This is interpreted as an apparent excess of 40Ar at the rims, produced either by a) diffusion of excess 40Ar into the bead during flushing of the lava with excess 40Ar-bearing volcanic gas, or by b) isotopic fractionation during degassing of initial Ar, causing preferential loss of 36Ar over 40Ar at the bead rims. The second interpretation is favoured by a relative enrichment of 36Ar in the core of a perlite bead along a microlite-free (poorly degassed) flow band, and by a lack of age variation in a larger, fresh, well-degassed perlite bead. These isotopic gradients were later overprinted during glass hydration by absorption of Ar with near-atmospheric composition, resulting in elevated 36Ar and reduced radiogenic 40Ar* yields at the rims of perlite beads. These complex interactions essentially represent the mixing of three distinct Ar reservoirs: initial trapped Ar that may or may not be fractionated, an isotopically atmospheric Ar component introduced during hydration, and radiogenic 40Ar*. Such reservoir mixing is the underlying reason for poor correlations on isotope correlation diagrams and the difficulties in validating the composition of the non-radiogenic Ar component. We thus suggest that high 36Ar yields are a combination of the incomplete degassing of initial (possibly magmatic) Ar and the gain of Ar during interaction between the obsidian and meteoric/atmospheric fluids. Our analyses emphasise the challenging nature of 40Ar/39Ar dating obsidian samples, but also point to possible solutions by careful sample characterisation and selection of highly degassed samples

Structural and biochemical characterisation of O-acetylserine sulphydrylase (CysK) from Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative bacteria of the sexually transmitted infection (STI), gonorrhoea. Rapid emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of N. gonorrhoeae has given rise to almost untreatable gonorrhoea over the last few decades. There is an urgent need for development of new antimicrobial treatments for gonorrhoea infection. Synthesis of the amino acid cysteine is a promising new target for the development of new antimicrobials. Cysteine plays a vital role in protein folding and function, and synthesis of glutathione for protection against oxidative stress during infection. The final step of the two-step cysteine biosynthesis pathway is catalysed by the enzyme O-acetylserine sulphydrylase (OASS). Most bacteria have two isoforms of OASS, OASS-A/CysK that utilises sulphide and O-acetylserine for the synthesis of cysteine and OASS-B/CysM that utilises thiosulphate. N. gonorrhoeae has just one OASS isoform (annotated as CysK) in its genome. N. gonorrhoeae displays unique differences in its sulphate acquisition pathway for cysteine biosynthesis, yet little is known about these pathways in N. gonorrhoeae. We propose CysK is a potential antimicrobial target. This thesis biochemically characterises the structure and function of CysK to determine its role in cysteine biosynthesis. Kinetic characterisation demonstrates that CysK has O-acetylserine sulphydrylase activity and displays positive cooperativity with respect to substrates, O-acetylserine and sulphide. Sulphide shows partial allosteric inhibition, and the enzyme does not use thiosulphate as a substrate. The structure of CysK was solved to 2.49 Å by X-ray crystallography and shows CysK belongs to the tryptophan synthase β superfamily and adopts a homodimeric structure consisting of two monomers. The structure supports positive cooperativity as co-factor binding residues are in inactive and active conformations in each monomer of the dimer, respectively. Many CysK enzymes form complexes with the first enzyme in the two-step cysteine synthesis pathway, CysE. It appears CysE and CysK from N. gonorrhoeae are unable to form a complex, indicating an alternate pathway for regulation of sulphur flux and cysteine production. Attempts to investigate the in vivo role of CysK were inconclusive. The research presented in this thesis represents a major leap in our understanding of the uncharacterised cysteine biosynthesis pathway in N. gonorrhoeae. Data presented here is the basis for future work using the kinetics and structure of CysK to guide computational inhibitor design, to identify lead compounds for CysK inhibition, and thereby development of new antimicrobials for treatment of extensively drug resistant gonorrhoea

The polysaccharides of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. and Opuntia aurantiaca Lindl.

The partially acetylated acidic mucilage isolated from the cactus Opuntia ficus-indica consists of a highly branched molecule containing D-galactose, L-arabinose, D-xylose, D-galacturonic acid and L-rhamnose in the ratio 2.9:6.6:3.8:1.3 : 1.0. A partial hydrolysis study led to the isolation of fourteen oligosaccharides and a degraded polysaccharide. Periodate oxidation of the degraded polysaccharide and methylation analysis of the degraded and reduced degraded polysaccharides led to the proposal of a structure for the degraded polysaccharide consisting of a chain of alternating α-l,4-D-galactopyranosyluronic acid and β-1,2-Lrhamnopyranosyl units with branches consisting of short chains of β-1,6-D-galactopyranosyl units Iinked to C-3 of the rhamnose residues. An insight into the nature of the peripheral side-chains was obtained by methylation studies of the oligosaccharides and the native polysaccharide. The majority of the side-chains are terminated by D-xylopyranosyl and L-arabinofuranosyl units while there is a small proportion of D-galactopyranosyl end-groups. The remaining units of the peripheral chains consists of mainly 1,3- and 1,5-1 inked L-arabinofuranosyl units. The acidic polysaccharide isolated from the jointed cactus Opuntia aurantiaca contains D-galactose, L-arabinose, D-xylose, D-galacturonic acid and L-rhamnose in the ratio 5.9:5 .5:3.4: 1. 2:1.0 . A partial hydrolysis study revealed a similar series of galactose containing oligosaccharides as was identified from the mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica. The degraded polysaccharide isolated from the partial hydrolysate was methylated and a possible structure proposed for the repeating unit. Methylation studies of the native polysaccharide indicated a polysaccharide with a more complex structure than that for the mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica