My Daddy: Song

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5038/thumbnail.jp

Automethylation of G9a and its implication in wider substrate specificity and HP1 binding.

Methylation of lysine residues on histones participates in transcriptional gene regulation. Lysine 9 methylation of histone H3 is a transcriptional repression signal, mediated by a family of SET domain containing AdoMet-dependent enzymes. G9a methyltransferase is a euchromatic histone H3 lysine 9 methyltransferase. Here, G9a is shown to methylate other cellular proteins, apart from histone H3, including automethylation of K239 residue. Automethylation of G9a did not impair or activate the enzymatic activity in vitro. The automethylation motif of G9a flanking target K239 (ARKT) has similarity with histone H3 lysine 9 regions (ARKS), and is identical to amino acids residues in EuHMT (ARKT) and mAM (ARKT). Under steady-state kinetic assay conditions, full-length G9a methylates peptides representing ARKS/T motif of H3, G9a, mAM and EuHMT efficiently. Automethylation of G9a at ARKT motif creates a binding site for HP1 class of protein and mutation of lysine in the motif impairs this binding. In COS-7 cells GFP fusion of the wild-type G9a co-localized with HP1alpha and HP1gamma isoforms whereas the G9a mutant with K239A displayed poor co-localization. Thus, apart from transcriptional repression and regulatory roles of lysine methylation, the non-histone protein methylation may create binding sites for cellular protein-protein interactions

Final Project Report: Wine Suitcase

The Wine Suitcase Project was proposed by Dr. Becker to address the problem of a lack of safe and secure transportation of wine during worldwide travel. Currently, there are some solutions, like wine bottle diapers (a special bag to put a wine bottle in and catch the liquid if the bottle breaks) and an expensive wine suitcase, but a protective, insulated and cost-effective wine travel suitcase would be of great help to the wine community. This past year, our team has worked to design and produce said suitcase. The major objectives of this design are that the suitcase has to keep the bottles below the critical temperature of 70°F and safe from breaking during travel and baggage handling. Specifically, the suitcase should be able to pass the International Safe Transit Association’s (ISTA) Test Procedure 2A for Packaged-Products 150 pounds or less and keep the wine below a temperature of 70 °F for up to 36 hours [1]. The bottles should be placed in the bag at a maximum of 65 °F initially. In order for the user to know if his/her wine has been above the 70 °F mark, the design should also include a notification system or temperature tracker. Finally, the suitcase should hold up to 12 bottles of 750 mL wine and come in at a total cost of less than $350 to be competitive against current suitcase designs. The suitcase also needs to be able to hold at least one case of wine (12 bottles) of various sizes. According to these objectives and requirements, a wine suitcase was designed and fabricated using a hard-shell suitcase, foam, insulation and a temperature sensor. Specifically, the hard-shell suitcase and the foam padding satisfied the safety requirement for the bottles and for the temperature stability requirement, the insulation was added as a layer between the foam and suitcase shell. Additionally, in order to communicate to the user what the temperature of the wine is inside the suitcase, the team added a handheld sensor device with Bluetooth capabilities. After fabrication, 7 tests were performed to evaluate the success of the design against the requirements: bottle physical protection test, bottle quantity test, bottle thermal protection test, weight of suitcase test, size of suitcase test, ThermoplusTM temperature sensor test and a heat transfer simulation test. The team was unable to perform the thermal protection test due to the displacement from San Antonio from COVID-19. Each of the other 6 tests were performed and resulted in a success and satisfied their appropriate requirement. The heat transfer simulation test was added after the displacement from COVID-19 to offset the inability to perform the thermal test in person. The thermal simulation test was run to focus on the most critical 15-minute time-frame of the travel journey where the suitcase may be held in direct sunlight. At all other times, the suitcase will be in the cargo hold or inside the air-conditioned airport. While the simulation is not the same as an in-person test, we can still use it as a good measure of the thermal protection capabilities of our design and were satisfied with the passing results. Overall, once the temperature sensor has been installed, we assert that the Wine Suitcase that was fabricated before displacement will be a fully functioning device that can safely transport wine due to the successes of our testing

Adding Student Voice to the Mix: Perception Surveys and State Accountability Systems

For the past two decades, student perception surveys have become standard tools in data collection efforts. At the state level, however, “student voice” is still used sparingly. In this study, we examine the ways in which including student survey results might alter state accountability determinations. Reconstructing the accountability system in Massachusetts, we draw on a unique set of student survey data, which we add to the state’s formula at a maximally feasible dosage in order to determine new school ratings. As we find, student survey data shift school accountability ratings in small but meaningful ways and appear to enhance functional validity. Student survey results introduce information about school quality that is not captured by typical accountability metrics, correlate moderately with test score growth, and are not predicted by student demographic variables

Optimal control of Raman pulse sequences for atom interferometry

We present the theoretical design and experimental implementation of mirror and beamsplitter pulses that improve the fidelity of atom interferometry and increase its tolerance of systematic inhomogeneities. These pulses are designed using the GRAPE optimal control algorithm and demonstrated experimentally with a cold thermal sample of 85Rb atoms. We first show a stimulated Raman inversion pulse design that achieves a ground hyperfine state transfer efficiency of 99.8(3)%, compared with a conventional π pulse efficiency of 75(3)%. This inversion pulse is robust to variations in laser intensity and detuning, maintaining a transfer efficiency of 90% at detunings for which the π pulse fidelity is below 20%, and is thus suitable for large momentum transfer interferometers using thermal atoms or operating in non-ideal environments. We then extend our optimization to all components of a Mach-Zehnder atom interferometer sequence and show that with a highly inhomogeneous atomic sample the fringe visibility is increased threefold over that using conventional π and π/2 pulses

A module-agnostic reference software development process for different levels of higher-education study

Several software development methodologies and practices are taught in computer science and software engineering higher education degrees. This happens through individual modules and capstone projects and sometimes with participation from real clients. Different from industry, where processes are usually prescribed, students encounter company-agnostic artefacts and practises, often having to choose between the available options. Feedback from tutors, students and clients indicates this to be a challenge, with students often confused trying to mix-and-match different practices without the proper consideration of how they would work together. This paper introduces the SHU Development Process, covering all software development stages, that is instantiated into different levels of detail for students as they progress through their degree studies. The SHU Dev Process provides structured guidance to software development practices that can be followed through their chosen process flow or cherry-picked by students as needed. It has been created through a student-led project over multiple years. First applied during the academic year 2021/2 and iterated upon for 2022/3 in a capstone project module at Sheffield Hallam University, the process was evaluated annually by surveying students across different courses and levels of study. In initial surveys, students responded positively, and our experience provides valuable insight that other practitioners may draw upon to implement and evaluate a similar resource in the future