Quick attach and release fluid coupling assembly is self-aligning, self-sealing

Fluid coupling assembly that is self-aligning, self-sealing and contains a bellow ball and socket coupling for quick attach and release is highly reliable and can handle cryogenic fluids where icing is encountered. The fluid coupling assembly is used in many fluid systems but is particularly applicable to cryogenic systems

The Effect of Climate Change on Migration: An Argument for Providing Climate Migrants with Refugee Status

Global temperatures are rising at an exponential rate and, as a result, millions are being displaced by natural disasters and socioeconomic turmoil exacerbated by environmental hardship. Currently, climate change does not qualify as an extenuating circumstance that would grant refugee status to those suffering. Yet, as I argue in this thesis, experiencing substantial hardship (e.g., losing their home) due to climate change should be justification for refugee status and the rights/protection that comes with it. As they are a major contributor to the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, the United States in particular has a moral obligation to provide aid for these migrants

Correlates of Awareness and Use of the Hubway Bike Share Program and the Association with Weight Status

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlates of awareness and use of the Hubway bike share program and assess the relationship between use and rates of overweight or obesity. Methods: Two-hundred, fifty-six students, faculty, and staff from the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMB) participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed an on-line survey during the fall of 2014 that assessed socio-demographics, behavioral and physical activity characteristics, Hubway awareness, and use of Hubway and personal bikes. Multivariable regression models were conducted to evaluate associations between socio-demographic and behavioral factors, and Hubway awareness, use, and the relationship with weight status. Results: Living in a Hubway community, owning a bicycle, and not exclusively commuting to UMB via car had statistically significant positive associations with awareness of the Hubway program. Two variables, living in a Hubway community and bike ownership, had positive associations with bike share use. Finally, Hubway use was associated with a 60% decreased odds of being overweight or obese (OR= .40; 95% CI= .17, .93). Conclusion: Additional promotional efforts may be necessary to address relatively low rates of awareness and bike share use at UMB. Further studies are needed to identify correlates associated with bike share awareness and use and to determine the potential health benefits to users

Assessing Small Streams in the Upper Ocmulgee Watershed Using the Georgia Adopt-a-Stream Macroinvertebrate Monitoring Protocols

Using Georgia Adopt-A-Stream’s (AAS) volunteer macroinvertebrate monitoring protocol, we examined how several streams’ macroinvertebrate communities differed with the land usage surrounding each stream reach. Our study sites included various headwater streams and larger tributaries of the South River within the upper Ocmulgee watershed. We sampled at different locations from January 2007 through June 2007 in a parking lot, in a wetland, several forests, and suburban parks within Clayton, Henry, and Rockdale counties, including Panther Creek, Big Cotton Indian Creek, Bush Creek, Martin Creek, and an unnamed tributary of Alexander’s Lake at Panola Mountain State Park. Sites in parking lots and suburban parks had macroinvertebrate communities which scored in the poor range on the AAS scale, whereas sites in forests and wetlands scored in the range considered fair or good

Interview of Steven J. Stahley

Steven J. Stahley was born in 1951 in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He spent his childhood growing up in the Catholic school system, eventually moving to Cardinal Dougherty in 1965 to attend high school. It was in high school that Mr. Stahley decided he would enter the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. During his first year with the Missionary Servants, a decision was made that all men would attend college and receive the “full college experience.” This brought Mr. Stahley to LaSalle University in 1970. After three years, Mr. Stahley graduated and worked his way through the process of becoming an ordained priest. Mr. Stahley was ordained in 1978, worked as a Missionary Servant in Cleveland, Ohio and after careful deliberation, eventually decided that the priesthood was not for him. Mr. Stahley is now living in Westminster, Maryland with his wife Lisa and their two children Thomas and Sarah. At the time of the interview, Mr. Stahley was working with Dignity USA, an organization for LGBT Catholics

Design exception in-service monitoring program development

When project sites consist of substandard design elements according to standards set by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), design exceptions are implemented. The goal of this thesis is to analyze a sample set of 18 design exceptions taken from a total of 467 design exceptions approved in Georgia from 1995 – 2012. Crash data were obtained at the locations of each of these design exceptions three years before the let date and three years after the construction end date. To compensate for causal factors other than the design exception on the roadway, similar information from a range of control sites were also obtained. These control sites consisted of projects without design exceptions that occurred within the same time constraints as the design exception projects, were of the same work type, and were either located on the same route or within the same district. The potential safety impacts of the design exceptions were evaluated by comparing the before and after crash rates of projects before and after crash rates at these control sites Based on these data, no statistically significant relationship between the existence of a design exception and crash rates was identified. The sample set in this study was too small and the number of crashes found at both projects with design exceptions and control sites without design exceptions was too low to perform a significant Empirical Bayesian (EB) analysis. When additional data is available, an EB before and after analysis is recommended to compensate for any potential regression to the mean bias.M.S

Engineering 2’O-mRNA methyltransferases for industrial biocatalysis

Eukaryotic messenger RNA (mRNA) are universally modified at their 5’ end into a cap 0 structure consisting of an N7-methylguanosine and an inverted 5’-5’ triphosphate bridge linking the penultimate nucleoside. Multicellular eukaryotes possess the capacity to further modify this cap by 2’O-methylating the ribose of the penultimate nucleotide producing a so-called cap 1 structure1. This methylation seems to be a molecular signature for the discrimination between self and non-self mRNA2. In order to escape the innate immune system of the infected cell, some viruses have also evolved the ability to methylate their cap structures1. By analogy, therapeutic mRNAs must be non-immunogenic in order to restore or supplement the function of altered genes by mRNA-based therapy3. In this context, we propose to exploit the capacity of Vaccinia virus to produce non-immunogenic mRNAs. More specifically, VP39 is a 39 kDa-enzyme directly involved in the mRNAs’ post-transcriptional modifications. It catalyses the 2’O-methylation in the 5’ cap structure producing the cap 1 mRNA and acts by heterodimerisation as a processivity factor with the poly(A) RNA polymerase4. However, the low expression level of VP39 in Escherichia coli (E. coli) as well as its low in vitro catalytic efficiency have so far limited its use for industrial biocatalysis. Here, the two above-mentioned limitations are tackled by complementary approaches: i) we use a Split-GFP5 strategy coupled with ultrahigh throughput screening to select for higher soluble expression in E. coli and ii) we design smart libraries seeking to directly improve the catalytic turnover of the enzyme. 1. Leung, D. W. & Amarasinghe, G. K. When your cap matters: structural insights into self vs non-self recognition of 5’ RNA by immunomodulatory host proteins. Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 36, 133–141 (2016). 2. Zust, R. et al. Ribose 2’-O-methylation provides a molecular signature for the distinction of self and non-self mRNA dependent on the RNA sensor Mda5. Nat Immunol 12, 137–143 (2011). 3. Sahin, U., Kariko, K. & Tureci, O. mRNA-based therapeutics - developing a new class of drugs. Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 13, 759–780 (2014). 4. Hodel, A. E., Gershon, P. D., Shi, X. & Quiocho, F. A. The 1.85 A structure of vaccinia protein VP39: A bifunctional enzyme that participates in the modification of both mRNA ends. Cell 85, 247–256 (1996). 5. Cabantous, S. & Waldo, G. S. In vivo and in vitro protein solubility assays using split GFP. Nat. Methods 3, 845–854 (2006)

2019-2020 Philharmonia No. 4

Concert Date & Time: February 22, 2020 at 7:30 pm and February 23, 2020 at 4:00 pm Program Short Ride in a Fast Machine / John Adams Lincoln Portrait / Aaron Copland Jon Robertson, narrator Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 / Ludwig van Beethoven Sherezade Panthaki, soprano Rebecca Robinson, mezzo-soprano Robert Stahley, tenor Adrian Smith, baritone The Master Chorale of South Florida Brett Karlin, artistic directorhttps://spiral.lynn.edu/conservatory_philharmonia/1150/thumbnail.jp

Targeting Cell Membrane Lipid Rafts by Stoichiometric Functionalization of Gold Nanoparticles with a Sphingolipid‐Binding Domain Peptide

A non-membrane protein-based nanoparticle agent for the tracking of lipid rafts on live cells is produced by stoichiometric functionalization of gold nanoparticles with a previously characterized sphingolipid- and cell membrane microdomain-binding domain peptide (SBD). The SBD peptide is inserted in a self-assembled monolayer of peptidol and alkane thiol ethylene glycol, on gold nanoparticles surface. The stoichiometric functionalization of nanoparticles with the SBD peptide, essential for single molecule tracking, is achieved by means of non-affinity nanoparticle purification. The SBD-nanoparticles have remarkable long-term resistance to electrolyte-induced aggregation and ligand-exchange and have no detectable non-specific binding to live cells. Binding and diffusion of SBD-nanoparticles bound to the membrane of live cells is measured by real-time photothermal microscopy and shows the dynamics of sphingolipid-enriched microdomains on cells membrane, with evidence for clustering, splitting, and diffusion over time of the SBD-nanoparticle labeled membrane domains. The monofunctionalized SBD-nanoparticle is a promising targeting agent for the tracking of lipid rafts independently of their protein composition and the labelling requires no prior modification of the cells. This approach has potential for further functionalization of the particles to manipulate the organization of, or targeting to microdomains that control signaling events and thereby lead to novel diagnostics and therapeutics