A study of experimental techniques for prealigning and clamping inertial measurement sensors without major system recalibration

Experimental techniques for prealigning and clamping inertial measurement sensors without major system recalibratio

Development of optimum clamp combinations for strap-down inertial measuring units with field replaceable sensors

Optimum clamp combinations for strap down inertial measuring units with field replaceable sensor

Equine Piroplasmosis: Uncommon Transmissible Disease with International Impact

In the Equine Diseases course, students were tasked to create a slideshow and video project on a disease or condition that is rare or foreign to the United States. Equine Piroplasmosis is a blood disease that is majorly unidentified to the average horse owner. It is a condition where protozoa (single-celled organisms) enter the bloodstream through a tick bite and attach themselves to the horse’s red blood cells. The protozoa develop and reproduce the best in warm, tropical climates. It is not something we see much in the United States, but this equine disease has a human counterpart that is common around the Northeast known as babesiosis. The ticks that carry Piroplasmosis also survive in the United States, however, they do not have access to the protozoa or asymptomatic carriers. As researchers and students, we believe that horse owners and the general public should be informed of this due to the increasing vector (ex. ticks and mosquitos) populations over the past several years

Ornithine Decarboxylase mRNA is Stabilized in an mTORC1-dependent Manner in Ras-transformed Cells

Upon Ras activation, ODC (ornithine decarboxylase) is markedly induced, and numerous studies suggest that ODC expression is controlled by Ras effector pathways. ODC is therefore a potential target in the treatment and prevention of Ras-driven tumours. In the present study we compared ODC mRNA translation profiles and stability in normal and Ras12V-transformed RIE-1 (rat intestinal epithelial) cells. While translation initiation of ODC increased modestly in Ras12V cells, ODC mRNA was stabilized 8-fold. Treatment with the specific mTORC1 [mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complex 1] inhibitor rapamycin or siRNA (small interfering RNA) knockdown of mTOR destabilized the ODC mRNA, but rapamycin had only a minor effect on ODC translation initiation. Inhibition of mTORC1 also reduced the association of the mRNA-binding protein HuR with the ODC transcript. We have shown previously that HuR binding to the ODC 3′UTR (untranslated region) results in significant stabilization of the ODC mRNA, which contains several AU-rich regions within its 3′UTR that may act as regulatory sequences. Analysis of ODC 3′UTR deletion constructs suggests that cis-acting elements between base 1969 and base 2141 of the ODC mRNA act to stabilize the ODC transcript. These experiments thus define a novel mechanism of ODC synthesis control. Regulation of ODC mRNA decay could be an important means of limiting polyamine accumulation and subsequent tumour development

The RNA-Binding Protein KSRP Promotes Decay of β-Catenin mRNA and Is Inactivated by PI3K-AKT Signaling

β-catenin plays an essential role in several biological events including cell fate determination, cell proliferation, and transformation. Here we report that β-catenin is encoded by a labile transcript whose half-life is prolonged by Wnt and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase–AKT signaling. AKT phosphorylates the mRNA decay-promoting factor KSRP at a unique serine residue, induces its association with the multifunctional protein 14-3-3, and prevents KSRP interaction with the exoribonucleolytic complex exosome. This impairs KSRP's ability to promote rapid mRNA decay. Our results uncover an unanticipated level of control of β-catenin expression pointing to KSRP as a required factor to ensure rapid degradation of β-catenin in unstimulated cells. We propose KSRP phosphorylation as a link between phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase–AKT signaling and β-catenin accumulation

Ectopic over-expression of tristetraprolin in human cancer cells promotes biogenesis of let-7 by down-regulation of Lin28

Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a AU-rich element (ARE) binding protein and exhibits suppressive effects on cell growth through down-regulation of ARE-containing oncogenes. The let-7 microRNA has emerged as a significant factor in tumor suppression. Both TTP and let-7 are often repressed in human cancers, thereby promoting oncogenesis by derepressing their target genes. In this work, an unexpected link between TTP and let-7 has been found in human cancer cells. TTP promotes an increase in expression of mature let-7, which leads to the inhibition of let-7 target gene CDC34 expression and suppresses cell growth. This event is associated with TTP-mediated inhibition of Lin28, which has emerged as a negative modulator of let-7. Lin28 mRNA contains ARE within its 3′-UTR and TTP enhances the decay of Lin28 mRNA through binding to its 3′-UTR. This suggests that the TTP-mediated down-regulation of Lin28 plays a key role in let-7 miRNA biogenesis in cancer cells

Electrical and Programmable Logic Controller Design, Construction, and Economic Analysis of a Reusable Plastic Container Dumper

This senior project discusses the electrical and programmable logic controller design, the construction, and an economic analysis of a reusable plastic container dumper. The RPC Dumper will be part of the processing of citrus fruits at Bee Sweet Citrus, Inc. This system will be a mobile and partially automated system to dump these reusable plastic containers full of citrus fruit instead of having them manually dumped. The total bill of materials of the project totaled $11,257.05 and the RPC Dumper was able to dump four RPCs per minute