Master of Science

thesisReducing our energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels has become a common social, political and engineering goal. Heating and cooling of buildings account for a large percentage of the energy consumption in the United States. Improving HVAC efficiency in buildings can play a major role in reducing energy use. Small scale geothermal systems that utilize low-grade heat have gained popu-larity as a way to reduce HVAC energy consumption. U-tubes and thermosiphons are two di fferent technologies designed to transfer heat to and from the ground in order to provide building heating and cooling. This thesis presents a short and long term experimental analysis. The short term analysis compares the performance of these technologies. The long term analysis focuses on the U-tubes, looking at the COP of the overall system during the course of a heating season and comparing temperatures for a theoretical air source heat pump system

Lineage-specific interface proteins match up the cell cycle and differentiation in embryo stem cells.

The shortage of molecular information on cell cycle changes along embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation prompts an in silico approach, which may provide a novel way to identify candidate genes or mechanisms acting in coordinating the two programs. We analyzed germ layer specific gene expression changes during the cell cycle and ESC differentiation by combining four human cell cycle transcriptome profiles with thirteen in vitro human ESC differentiation studies. To detect cross-talk mechanisms we then integrated the transcriptome data that displayed differential regulation with protein interaction data. A new class of non-transcriptionally regulated genes was identified, encoding proteins which interact systematically with proteins corresponding to genes regulated during the cell cycle or cell differentiation, and which therefore can be seen as interface proteins coordinating the two programs. Functional analysis gathered insights in fate-specific candidates of interface functionalities. The non-transcriptionally regulated interface proteins were found to be highly regulated by post-translational ubiquitylation modification, which may synchronize the transition between cell proliferation and differentiation in ESCs

Measuring Quality, Cost, and Value of IT Services

Longer version published at 2001 55th Annual Quality Congress, American Society for Quality, Charlotte, NC.Support for all users of computer hardware, software, and networks is crucial for full realization of the value that these digital intelligence amplifiers can offer a scholarly community. Bloated applications, opaque user manuals, infelicitous interactions among peripherals and the computers and networks to which they are attached, and short mean time-to-failure for some pieces of hardware provide challenges for even the most experienced users. Thus even in the beginning of the 21st Century, when it is asserted the technology has “matured,” the value that can be derived from use of IT services is directly proportional to the level of effective IT support that can be provided for the customers of these services. The focus of this narrative is how one maintains and continually improves the quality of that support

Crystal structures of an A-form duplex with single-adenosine bulges and a conformational basis for site-specific RNA self-cleavage

AbstractBackground: Bulged nucleotides are common secondary structural motifs in RNA molecules and are often involved in RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions. RNA is selectively cleaved at bulge sites (when compared to other sites within stems) in the presence of divalent metal cations. The effects of bulge nucleotides on duplex stability and topology have been extensively investigated, but no detailed X-ray structures of bulge-containing RNA fragments have been available.Results: We have crystallized a self-complementary RNA-DNA chimeric 11-nucleotide sequence containing single-adenosine bulges under two different conditions, giving two distinct crystal forms. In both lattices the adenosines are looped out, leaving the stacking interactions in the duplex virtually unaffected. The bulges cause the duplex to kink in both cases. In one of the structures, the conformation of the bulged nucleotide places its modeled 2′-oxygen in line with the adjacent phosphate on the 3′ side, where it is poised for nucleophilic attack.Conclusions: Single adenosine bulges cause a marked opening of the normally narrow RNA major groove in both crystal structures, rendering the bases more accessible to interacting molecules compared with an intact stem. The geometries around the looped-out adenosines are different in the two crystal forms, indicating that bulges can confer considerable local plasticity on the usually rigid RNA double helix. The results provide a conformational basis for the preferential, metal-assisted self-cleavage of RNA at bulged sites

Wind and Solar Energy Projects at the EcoTarium

Through their upcoming solar and wind energy projects, the EcoTarium, a science and discovery center in Worcester, Massachusetts, seeks to help people overcome their uncertainties towards renewable energy. Therefore, the goal of this project was to aid the EcoTarium in the design stages of their wind and solar energy exhibitions. Through these exhibitions, the EcoTarium hopes to promote the understanding, accepting, and adopting of renewable technologies in the Worcester community and beyond and help contribute to a clean energy future

A random set scoring model for prioritization of disease candidate genes using protein complexes and data-mining of GeneRIF, OMIM and PubMed records.

BACKGROUND: Prioritizing genetic variants is a challenge because disease susceptibility loci are often located in genes of unknown function or the relationship with the corresponding phenotype is unclear. A global data-mining exercise on the biomedical literature can establish the phenotypic profile of genes with respect to their connection to disease phenotypes. The importance of protein-protein interaction networks in the genetic heterogeneity of common diseases or complex traits is becoming increasingly recognized. Thus, the development of a network-based approach combined with phenotypic profiling would be useful for disease gene prioritization. RESULTS: We developed a random-set scoring model and implemented it to quantify phenotype relevance in a network-based disease gene-prioritization approach. We validated our approach based on different gene phenotypic profiles, which were generated from PubMed abstracts, OMIM, and GeneRIF records. We also investigated the validity of several vocabulary filters and different likelihood thresholds for predicted protein-protein interactions in terms of their effect on the network-based gene-prioritization approach, which relies on text-mining of the phenotype data. Our method demonstrated good precision and sensitivity compared with those of two alternative complex-based prioritization approaches. We then conducted a global ranking of all human genes according to their relevance to a range of human diseases. The resulting accurate ranking of known causal genes supported the reliability of our approach. Moreover, these data suggest many promising novel candidate genes for human disorders that have a complex mode of inheritance. CONCLUSION: We have implemented and validated a network-based approach to prioritize genes for human diseases based on their phenotypic profile. We have devised a powerful and transparent tool to identify and rank candidate genes. Our global gene prioritization provides a unique resource for the biological interpretation of data from genome-wide association studies, and will help in the understanding of how the associated genetic variants influence disease or quantitative phenotypes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2105-15-315) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Validation and refinement of gene-regulatory pathways on a network of physical interactions

As genome-scale measurements lead to increasingly complex models of gene regulation, systematic approaches are needed to validate and refine these models. Towards this goal, we describe an automated procedure for prioritizing genetic perturbations in order to discriminate optimally between alternative models of a gene-regulatory network. Using this procedure, we evaluate 38 candidate regulatory networks in yeast and perform four high-priority gene knockout experiments. The refined networks support previously unknown regulatory mechanisms downstream of SOK2 and SWI4