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Window Wipers
Get PDFIn this report we will discuss our work on the automated defogger the past academic year. The objective of this product is to create a device that can detect and eliminate condensation on windshields. Condensation is a common inconvenience as shown in the project specific details analysis section. The device designed to solve this issue is comprised of an Arduino micro-controller, an internal temperature sensor, a windshield surface temperature, and an IR sensor to detect visibility. The Arduino handles the processing of the data from the sensors to calculate the dew point. The dew point is the point at which condensation develops and can be calculated as shown in the equations section. The IR and temperature sensors will be used to calculate average dew point percentage across a screen to predict when fog will occur. Once the near the dew point the climate control systems are activated. The device as of now is a standalone prototype that can detect the dew point and activate. The device has not been fully integrated into a car or made a standalone device but can be adapted into one in future iterations
Reference-free discovery of nuclear SNPs permits accurate, sensitive identification of Carya (hickory) species and hybrids
Get PDFPremise: DNA-based species identification is critical when morphological identification is restricted, but DNA-based identification pipelines typically rely on the ability to compare homologous sequence data across species. Because many clades lack robust genomic resources, we present here a bioinformatics pipeline capable of generating genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data while circumventing the need for any reference genome or annotation data. Methods: Using the SISRS bioinformatics pipeline, we generated de novo ortholog data for the genus Carya, isolating sites where genetic variation was restricted to a single Carya species (i.e., species-informative SNPs). We leveraged these SNPs to identify both full-species and hybrid Carya specimens, even at very low sequencing depths. Results: We identified between 46,000 and 476,000 species-identifying SNPs for each of eight diploid Carya species, and all species identifications were concordant with the species of record. For all putative F1 hybrid specimens, both parental species were correctly identified in all cases, and more punctate patterns of introgression were detectable in more cryptic crosses. Discussion: Bioinformatics pipelines that use only short-read sequencing data provide vital new tools enabling rapid expansion of DNA identification assays for model and non-model clades alike
Assessing Media Literacy Competences: Reflections and Recommendations from a Quantitative Study
Get PDFThe assessment of media literacy is a complex task, which might attempt to reconcile a research field traditionally developed within a critical paradigm with the task of evaluating and quantifying media literacy competences through essentially quantitative methods. Despite the non-existence of consensus regarding how to evaluate and measure media literacy, namely on the definition of its levels, this purpose is increasingly discussed and stimulated by political and regulatory stances, as well as studied within the academic world. Based on one of such attempts, a study on the media literacy competences of 679 Portuguese teenagers, this paper presents a review and a reflection on the specific challenges posed by the intent to quantitatively assess media literacy, without neglecting its core critical dimension. It concludes by suggesting methodological convergence and the continuous development of valid and reliable indicators, necessarily context and subject-dependent, as a way to improve this area of research
Degradation of the E. coli antitoxin MqsA by the proteolytic complex ClpXP is regulated by zinc occupancy and oxidation
Get PDFIt is well established that the antitoxins of toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are selectively degraded by bacterial proteases in response to stress. However, how distinct stressors result in the selective degradation of specific antitoxins remain unanswered. MqsRA is a TA system activated by various stresses, including oxidation. Here, we reconstituted the Escherichia coli ClpXP proteolytic machinery in vitro to monitor degradation of MqsRA TA components. We show that the MqsA antitoxin is a ClpXP proteolysis substrate, and that its degradation is regulated by both zinc occupancy in MqsA and MqsR toxin binding. Using NMR chemical shift perturbation mapping, we show that MqsA is targeted directly to ClpXP via the ClpX substrate targeting N-domain, and ClpX mutations that disrupt N-domain binding inhibit ClpXP-mediated degradation in vitro. Finally, we discovered that MqsA contains a cryptic N-domain recognition sequence that is accessible only in the absence of zinc and MqsR toxin, both of which stabilize the MqsA fold. This recognition sequence is transplantable and sufficient to target a fusion protein for degradation in vitro and in vivo. Based on these results, we propose a model in which stress selectively targets nascent and zinc-free MqsA, resulting in exposure of the ClpX recognition motif for ClpXP-mediated degradation
