Rad51 Nucleoprotein Filament Disassembly Captured Using Fluorescent \u3cem\u3ePlasmodium falciparum\u3c/em\u3e SSB as a Reporter for Single-Stranded DNA

Single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) proteins coordinate DNA replication, repair, and recombination and are critical for maintaining genomic integrity. SSB binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) rapidly and with very high affinity making it a useful molecular tool to detect free ssDNA in solution. We have labeled SSB from Plasmodium falciparum (Pf-SSB) with the MDCC (7-diethylamino-3-((((2-maleimidyl)ethyl)amino)-carbonyl)coumarin) fluorophore which yields a four-fold increase in fluorescence upon binding to ssDNA. Pf-SSBMDCC binding to DNA is unaffected by NaCl or Mg2+ concentration and does not display salt-dependent changes in DNA binding modes or cooperative binding on long DNA substrates. These features are unique to Pf-SSB, making it an ideal tool to probe the presence of free ssDNA in any biochemical reaction. Using this Pf-SSBMDCC probe as a sensor for free ssDNA, we have investigated the clearing of preformed yeast Rad51 nucleoprotein filaments by the Srs2 helicase during HR. Our studies provide a rate for the disassembly of the Rad51 filament by full length Srs2 on long ssDNA substrates. Mutations in the conserved 2B domain in the homologous bacterial UvrD, Rep and PcrA helicases show an enhancement of DNA unwinding activity, but similar mutations in Srs2 do not affect its DNA unwinding or Rad51 clearing properties. These studies showcase the utility of the Pf-SSB probe in mechanistic investigation of enzymes that function in DNA metabolism

Examining the Personal and Institutional Determinants of Research Productivity in Hospitality and Tourism Management

The transition toward a post-capitalist knowledge-oriented economy has resulted in an increasingly competitive academic environment, where the success of faculty is dependent on their research productivity. This study examines the personal and institutional determinants of the quantity and quality of the research productivity of hospitality and tourism management faculty in US institutions. A survey of 98 faculty found that a different set of determinants impact the quantity and quality aspects of research productivity. Also, institutional determinants were found to play a larger role, indicating the need for administrators to strive for a culture that is supportive of and an infrastructure that is conducive to their faculty’s research success. The authors use the field of hospitality and tourism management as a case study to develop a holistic and cohesive framework for knowledge worker productivity that can guide the evaluation, hiring, and development of researchers

A study of galvanic skin responses in junior high school girls

Thesis (Ed. M.)--Boston University, 195

Advanced water iodinating system

Potable water stores aboard manned spacecraft must remain sterile. Suitable sterilization techniques are needed to prevent microbial growth. The development of an advanced water iodinating system for possible application to the shuttle orbiter and other advanced spacecraft, is considered. The AWIS provides a means of automatically dispensing iodine and controlling iodination levels in potable water stores. In a recirculation mode test, simulating application of the AWIS to a water management system of a long term six man capacity space mission, noniodinated feed water flowing at 32.2 cu cm min was iodinated to 5 + or - ppm concentrations after it was mixed with previously iodinated water recirculating through a potable water storage tank. Also, the AWIS was used to successfully demonstrate its capability to maintain potable water at a desired I2 concentration level while circulating through the water storage tank, but without the addition of noniodinated water

Detailed design specification for the Yield Estimation Subsystem Data Management System (YESDAMS)

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Pharmaceutical Notes

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Nitrification-denitrification in WSP: a mechanism for permanent nitrogen removal in maturation ponds

A pilot-scale primary maturation pond was spiked with 15N-labelled ammonia (15NH4Cl) and 15N labelled nitrite (Na15NO2), in order to improve current understanding of the dynamics of inorganic nitrogen transformations and removal in WSP systems. Stable isotope analysis of δ15N showed that nitrification could be considered as an intermediate step in WSP, which is masked by simultaneous denitrification, under conditions of low algal activity. Molecular microbiology analysis showed that denitrification can be considered a feasible mechanism for permanent nitrogen removal in WSP, which may be supported either by ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) or by methanotrophs, in addition to nitrite-oxidising bacteria (NOB). However, the relative supremacy of the denitrification process over other nitrogen removal mechanisms (e.g., biological uptake) depends upon phytoplanktonic activity

Evaluation and characterization of the methane-carbon dioxide decomposition reaction

A program was conducted to evaluate and characterize the carbon dioxide-methane (CO2-CH4) decomposition reaction, i.e., CO2 + CH4 = 2C + 2H2O. The primary objective was to determine the feasibility of applying this reaction at low temperatures as a technique for recovering the oxygen (O2) remaining in the CO2 which exits mixed with CH4 from a Sabatier CO2 reduction subsystem (as part of an air revitalization system of a manned spacecraft). A test unit was designed, fabricated, and assembled for characterizing the performance of various catalysts for the reaction and ultraviolet activation of the CH4 and CO2. The reactor included in the test unit was designed to have sufficient capacity to evaluate catalyst charges of up to 76 g (0.17 lb). The test stand contained the necessary instrumentation and controls to obtain the data required to characterize the performance of the catalysts and sensitizers tested: flow control and measurement, temperature control and measurement, product and inlet gas analysis, and pressure measurement. A product assurance program was performed implementing the concepts of quality control and safety into the program effort

A Universal Machine for Biform Theory Graphs

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of semantics-aware assistant systems for mathematics: proof assistants express the semantic in logic and emphasize deduction, and computer algebra systems express the semantics in programming languages and emphasize computation. Combining the complementary strengths of both approaches while mending their complementary weaknesses has been an important goal of the mechanized mathematics community for some time. We pick up on the idea of biform theories and interpret it in the MMTt/OMDoc framework which introduced the foundations-as-theories approach, and can thus represent both logics and programming languages as theories. This yields a formal, modular framework of biform theory graphs which mixes specifications and implementations sharing the module system and typing information. We present automated knowledge management work flows that interface to existing specification/programming tools and enable an OpenMath Machine, that operationalizes biform theories, evaluating expressions by exhaustively applying the implementations of the respective operators. We evaluate the new biform framework by adding implementations to the OpenMath standard content dictionaries.Comment: Conferences on Intelligent Computer Mathematics, CICM 2013 The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com

How to Avoid Being Tyrannized by Readability Formulas

We offer a real-life case study of how one teacher approached an aspect of this issue--selection of the most appropriate reading text for her students. By using most of the ten suggestions that follow the case study, this teacher did manage to avoid being tyrannized by readability formulas