Genomic instability at a polypurine/polypyrimidine repeat sequence

Microsatellite repeat sequences have been shown to induce replication stalling, fork collapse, double-strand breaks (DSBs), and possibly stimulate break-induced replication. In this study we use a dual-fluorescent HeLa model that is designed to monitor recombination at an ectopic site through use of flow cytometry and inverse PCR with a microsatellite in the lagging strand for DNA synthesis. To test the stability of the 78 bp polypurine/pyrimidine repeat from the PDK1 locus, we subjected cells to replication stress drugs designed to induce DSBs and measure break-induced replication (BIR). The study revealed that polypurine repeat cells undergo endogenous stress contributing to instability at the ectopic site as well as slow cell growth. Further, we show that there is an orientation dependency for instability with the (Pu)78 cells being more unstable. Lastly, we present a novel candidate for a protein involved in break-induced replication, COPS2. Preliminary experiments show this protein produces unique recombination patterns when knocked down

Genetic Investigation Into the Diversity and Population Structure of Penstemon harringtonii (Harrington\u27s Beardtongue)

Penstemon harringtonii is an endemic Colorado species that is listed on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) State Director’s Sensitive Species List as well as on the U.S. Forest Service sensitive species list. Penstemon harringtonii is encountering threats from habitat destruction and fragmentation due to oil and gas exploration, livestock grazing and recreational activities. Penstemon harringtonii is scattered across six counties in north central Colorado. The populations split into three general areas, one around Eagle and north to Kremmling, from Glenwood Spring south to Aspen and around the community of Rifle. The disjunct nature of the species has raised questions related to the amount of genetic diversity throughout the range, population structure dynamics and rates of gene flow among populations and regions. Individuals from 20 populations of P. harringtonii and 6 populations of Penstemon osterhoutii were collected from wild populations. Additional samples of P. osterhoutii, P. cyathophorus, P. secundiflorus, and P. angustiflolius were taken from herbarium specimens or live collections in botanic gardens. Microsatellite analysis was completed using 9 variable loci to determine genetic diversity, rates of gene flow and population structure of P. harringtonii. Chloroplast DNA analysis was completed using three intergenic regions to determine haplotype diversity, phylogenetic relationships and patterns of maternal gene flow. These analysis showed that P. harringtonii is distinct from P. osterhoutii. Three distinct genetic groups are present in P. harringtonii: Rifle, Roaring Fork River Valley and East of Glenwood Canyon. High levels genetic diversity are present with exceptional level of gene flow between genetic groups, which is great enough to maintain a cohesive species across the entire range. Inbreeding levels were low, posing minimal concern. Two population of P. harringtonii were found to be quite distinct at the northern and southern extents of the population when compared to the region genetic groups. Conservation and land management agencies now have genetic information that can be utilized to inform decisions about the conservations of P. harringtonii

THE EVOLUTION OF THERMOTOLERANCE A CHARACTERIZATION OF A DIRECTIONALLY EVOLVED CYANOBACTERIUM

Chaperone proteins are essential components in the maintenance and turnover of the proteome. Many chaperones play integral functions in the folding and unfolding of cellular substrates under many conditions, including heat stress. Most chaperones can be characterized into two categories; the typical ATP dependent chaperones and the ATP independent chaperones. One ATP independent chaperone class it the Small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs), which as molecular life vests and are thought to protect misfolding proteins from irreversible aggregation. One such organism, the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, is an excellent model for the study and understanding of these proteins and their functions in vivo. The genome of Synechocystis encodes only one sHSP, Hsp16.6, and it has be shown to be essential for acquired thermotolerance. Two mutant derivatives of Hsp16.6 with single amino acid substitutions in the N-terminal arm (L9P and E25K) have loss-of-function phenotypes similar to knock out strains, but each has very different biochemical properties. The mutant L9P has an inability to interact with putative substrates during heat stress in vivo, while the mutant E25K appears unable to release substrates. Using a directed evolution approach, suppressors have been isolated that recover the lost thermotolerance of their respective parent strains, either L9P (16 suppressors) or E25K (10 suppressors). Illumina sequencing and comparative genomics have been used to identify alterations in the genomes of the suppressor strains in order to define genetic circuits involved in thermotolerance

Platinum-Iridium Alloys in Jewelry

One of the most widely used metals on the periodic table is Platinum (Pt). The name is derived from the Spanish Platina, meaning “silver.” This malleable, ductile material is widely used in applications due to its unique chemical properties. A couple of these unique properties include a high melting point and good resistance to corrosion or chemical attack. Platinum materials have alloys that are indispensable in the chemical laboratory for electrodes. This allows for material applications in crucibles and dishes to withstand elevated temperatures. Platinum is used primarily in catalytic converters in vehicles converting emissions from the vehicle’s engine into carbon dioxide and water vapor. White gold is a gold-platinum alloy that is used in the making of jewelry and dentistry. Other applications include computer hard disks, thermocouples, LCDs, turbine blades, spark plugs, dental fillings, etc. In the research, Pt950/Ir 50 will be the specific alloy discussed throughout. Platinum-Iridium (Pt950/Ir 50) is known as the chosen alloy in the manufacturing of jewelry for its soft and fragile gem setting. We chose Platinum 950/Iridium 50 as our metal. It is a platinum alloy used in jewelry applications that is composed of 95% Platinum and 5% Iridium. Iridium is added to elements to increase several material properties such as hardness or chemical/heat resistance. This alloy is usually manufactured or cold rolled to produce jewelry. This motivated our group to dive deeper into the understanding of microstructures within this alloy.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/metallurgy/1040/thumbnail.jp

Prediction of phase noise and jitter in ring oscillators

This thesis presents distinctly different methods of accurately predicting phase noise and absolute jitter in ring oscillators. The phase noise prediction methods are the commercially available SpectreRF and isf_tool, a simulator developed in this work from the Hajimiri and Lee theory of phase noise. Absolute jitter due to deterministic supply and substrate noise is predicted by Spectre time domain simulations and equations developed that can predict the absolute jitter due to a sinusoidal noise source at any frequency. These jitter prediction methods show that ring oscillator circuits respond differently to deterministic noise that is injected symmetrically versus noise that is injected asymmetrically, and a new jitter metric, peak jitter, is developed in this work to characterize absolute jitter caused by deterministic noise sources. These prediction methods are validated with measurements from two test chips with a combined 18 oscillators and 5 distinct architectures, and both are fabricated in the TSMC 0.35μm process. Each prediction method is shown to be consistent with over 2500 phase noise measurements taken from 10 oscillators and 5 architectures and over 1200 absolute jitter measurements due to sinusoidal supply and substrate noise taken from 11 oscillators and 3 architectures

Exploring 'assemblages': A multispecies ethnography of the relationship between plants and people in the gardens and mountains of Klawer in the Matzikama municipal region, South Africa.

Magister Artium - MA (Anthropology/Sociology)The theme of this thesis is to illustrate a perspective of learning with plants and not simply about them. I posit a move towards a kind of 'plantthropology' (Myers, 2016). In Anthropology from the 1960's onwards there has been an increased interest towards multispecies ethnographies also referred to as the ontological turn. This perspective has also gained momentum in other disciplines such as Geography, Environmental Studies, Botany and Philosophy. As a result, inspired by the work of Bruno Latour on the Actor-network theory, I began this thesis by following the trail of medicinal plants through home gardens. My intention was, which is evident throughout this thesis, to explore multispecies relations from the perspective of the plants. The objective to learn with plants and the method of following the trail of medicinal plants led me to a variety of plant spaces such a gardens, onto porches, taxi ranks (where medicinal plants are traded), local nurseries and mountains

On the Stability and Accuracy of the BGK, MRT and RLB Boltzmann Schemes for the Simulation of Turbulent Flows

This paper presents an analysis of the stability and accuracy of different Lattice Boltzmann schemes when employed for direct numerical simulations of turbulent flows. The Single-Relaxation-Time scheme of Bhatnagar, Gross and Krook (BGK), the Multi-Relaxation-Time scheme (MRT) and the Regularized Lattice Boltzmann scheme (RLB) are considered. The stability and accuracy properties of these schemes are investigated by computing three-dimensional Taylor-Green vortices representing homogeneous isotropic turbulent flows. Varying Reynolds numbers and grid resolutions were considered. As expected, the BGK scheme requires sufficiently high grid resolutions for stable and accurate simulations. Surprisingly, the MRT scheme when used without any turbulencemodel fails to obtain mesh convergence for the type of flow considered here. The RLB scheme allows for stable simulations but exhibits a strong dissipative behavior. A similar behaviorwas foundwhen employing thementioned LBMschemes for numerical simulations of turbulent channel flows at varying Reynolds numbers and resolutions. The obtained insights on accuracy and stability of the considered Lattice Boltzmann methods can become useful especially for the design of effective turbulence models to be used for high Reynolds number flows

The Nature of Gender: work, gender and environment

Gender has long been recognised as important within environmental issues, but exactly how and in what contexts it is relevant has been hotly debated. As feminist theorising around women and gender has changed, so have conceptualisations about gender and environment, leading to a key debate within ecofeminism and related literatures about whether there is an essential or a contingent relationship between women and natural environments. Within geography, most political ecologists work with the assumption that the gender-environment nexus is a contingent relationship, and thus investigate how gender relations are salient in the symbolic and material construction of environmental issues. This paper seeks to build from this work and again raise the question of how gender is conceptualised in relation to environment. I begin by briefly reviewing some of the work that has been done on gender and environment and then draw from post-structural feminism to suggest that gender itself has been under-theorised in work on environment. Once gender is re-conceptualized as a process, the dynamic relationship between gender, environment and other aspects of social and cultural life can be brought into view. What emerges is the need for political ecologists to examine gender beyond the household and community and the need to re-conceptualise the gender-environment nexus. A case study of community forestry in Nepal is used to illustrate the importance of interrogating the processes by which gender relations become salient and are reproduced symbolically and materiall

Kajian kedudukan sosio-ekonomi pekerja-pekerja Ladang Triang, Pahang / Nathen Taiman

Ini adalah satu kajian sosio-ekonomi yang di jalankan bagi melihat taraf kedudukan pekerja-pekerja Ladang Triang. Dalam bab pertama pengkaji menghuraikan kepentingan kajian, skop, kaedah yang digunakan bagi mengumpul maklumat serta masalah yang dihadapi samasa menjalankan kajian luar. Dalam bab kedua pula, dihuraikan latarbelakang serta sejarah, kawasan kajian secara ringkas supaya mendapat satu gambaran umum tentang komuniti serta kawasan kajian yang akan terlibat. Perkara-perkara seperti pekerjaan, perbelanjaan, pendapatan, tabungan, hutang dan harta dibincangkan dalam bab seterusnya. Selain daripada itu, aspek-aspek yang berhubungan dengan pekerjaan seperti pekerjaan sebelumnya, pekerjaan bapa responden, cita-cita menukar pekerjaan dan alasan akan dilihat disamping membincangkan anak-anak pekerja yang berkerja dan membantu ibu bapa dalam melihat struktur dan kegiatan ekonomi. Dalam bab keempat struktur dan kedudukan sosial akan dilihat. Dalam membincangkan ini, bentuk dan struktur keluarga, purata ahli keluarga, bilangan ahli keluarga yang berkerja, taraf pelajaran, anak-anak yang bersekolah dan masalah keciciran akan diberi perhatian. Selain daripada itu, kemudahan-kemudahan rumah, kesihatan infrastruktur sosial serta diberi perhatian disamping melihat tabiat minum arak dikalangan pekerja ladang, kegiatannya didalam pertubuhan serta masalah-masalah yang dihadapi. Dalam bab terakhir, satu kesimpulan dibuat dengan menilai perkara-perkara yang telag dibincangkan dalam bab-bab sebelumnya

Music At Drake University, 1881-1931.

Doctor of Education (EdD)MusicUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/183858/2/6505326.pd