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Determination of Aptamer Binding Affinity to Fallopian Tube Biomarkers Using Fluorescence Anisotropy
No full textThis poster was presented at ACS- Midwest Regional Meeting on 10/14/2024.High grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) has been discovered to originate from Fallopian tube (FT) epithelium. Fallopian tube biomarkers are therefore a promising new class of targets that may enable development of a novel screening tool for the early detection of HGSOC, which is not accessible with currently available ovarian-derived biomarkers. Integrin β3 (ITGB3) is one of the FT biomarkers that have been identified. A DNA aptamer (s10hy2) recognizing ITGB3 has been reported, but binding of this aptamer to its intended target and possible off-target proteins has not been thoroughly characterized in the sample environments relevant to clinical applications, specifically blood products (serum and plasma). In this study we have validated the binding of Texas Red-labeled s10yh2 to ITGB3 using fluorescence anisotropy and found that the affinity of this interaction is in the low nanomolar range (Kd = 50 ± 27 nM). The assay was performed by preparing replicate samples each containing 75 nM aptamer and varied ITGB3, with concentration ranging from 0 to 440 nM. The binding affinity of the aptamer with the heterodimer αIIbβ3 was also investigated. The Kd values were consistent, indicating that the presence of the αIIb subunit did not affect the binding of the aptamer with the β3 subunit. The binding affinity experiments were done in the absence of bovine serum albumin (BSA), which is often used to prevent nonspecific binding in fluorescence anisotropy experiments. BSA was found to interfere with the binding between the aptamer and the integrin since the aptamer also binds to BSA with a Kd of 371 ± 94 nM. Human serum has a Kd of 47 ± 32 nM with the aptamer, which could be attributed to binding between albumin in human serum with the aptamer. Further experiments are being carried out to characterize the binding between human serum albumin and the aptamer since this could be an interference when employing the aptamer as an ovarian cancer screening tool
Introduction: Druze Studies Journal, Issue 1, 2024
No full textThe inaugural issue of the Druze Studies Journal (DSJ) represents a pivotal moment for advancing interdisciplinary research on the Druze. Despite longstanding scholarly interest, studies on the Druze have often been fragmented across disciplines and lacked a dedicated platform. DSJ seeks to fill this gap by fostering a global and collaborative scholarly community. This open-access journal highlights diverse perspectives on Druze history, religion, politics, identity, and linguistics, featuring contributions from leading academics and emerging researchers. The first issue covers a wide range of topics, including Druze sociopolitical dynamics, linguistic practices, and religious beliefs, while also providing forums on seminal works in Druze Studies. Launched during a 2023 symposium, DSJ aims to overcome challenges faced by non-native English speakers and promote accessible, high-quality scholarship. Future initiatives include a 2025 interdisciplinary conference, further solidifying DSJ's commitment to advancing knowledge and fostering critical engagement within the field of Druze Studies
Can temporary signs remind who should yield at uncontrolled intersections? – A driving simulator study
No full textThese are the slides from a presentation given at Road Safety & Simulation Conference - RSS 2024 on 10/29/2024.Background: A generic right of way (ROW) rule at uncontrolled intersections is to yield to the vehicle from the right, if not stated otherwise in the right-hand side driving countries such as the US. However, this rule is greatly neglected in practice, resulting in unsafe situations. This study investigated the effectiveness of using two proposed temporary yield signs: “Yield to Traffic on right” (Sign1_YT) and “Yield to Person on right” (Sign2_YP), to remind the drivers of ROW rule at uncontrolled intersections. Method: A driving simulator experiment was conducted with 20 drivers (aged 18-65 years), 50% males, recording observations for 198 unsignalized intersections (UIs) with speed limit varying between 30mph to 40mph. The yielding response (speed reductions) and glances were compared between intersections with Stop signs, Sign1_YT, Sign2_YP, and uncontrolled intersections. Results: The yielding response was relatively higher at signed UIs, especially when another vehicle from the right approached. ANOVA comparisons confirmed that drivers glanced at the two proposed signs significantly longer than the Stop sign. A panel logistic regression model of yielding response at intersections (n=152) showed that the likelihood of appropriate yielding increased 1.72 times with Sign 1_YT and 1.14 times with Sign 2_YP compared to the uncontrolled intersections. Driver gender, experience, and speed limit also significantly affected the yielding behavior. The drivers rated Sign1_YT higher at ease of comprehension and clarity. Conclusions: A post-drive test revealed drivers’ confusion about practicing ROW rules at UIs. Overall, the subjective opinions and driving metrics both supported the installation of temporary yield signs to resolve the confusion about ROW conflicts
The Invisible Polyjuice Potion: an Effective Physical Adversarial Attack against Face Recognition
No full textThese are the slides from a presentation given at CCS '24: Proceedings of the 2024 on ACM SIGSAC Conference on Computer and Communications Security on 10/17/2024.Face recognition systems have been targeted by recent physical adversarial machine learning attacks, which attach or project visible patterns on adversaries' faces to trick backend FR models. While these attacks have demonstrated effectiveness in the literature, they often rely on visibly suspicious patterns, are susceptible to environmental noise, or exhibit limited success rates in practice. In this paper, we propose a novel physical adversarial attack against deep face recognition systems, namely Agile (Adversarial Glasses with Infrared LasEr). It generates adjustable, invisible laser perturbations and emits them into the camera CMOS to launch dodging and impersonation attacks against facial biometrics systems. To do so, we first theoretically model physical adversarial perturbations and convert them to the digital domain. The generated synthesized attack signals are utilized to guide real-world laser settings. Our experiments with real-world attackers and a benchmark face database show that Agile is highly effective in DoS, dodging, and impersonation attacks. More importantly, the candidate impersonation target and optimal attack settings identified by Agile's attack synthesis approach are highly consistent with real-world physical attack results. The grey-box and black-box evaluation against commercial FR models also confirms the effectiveness of the Agile attack
Statistical Analysis of the Thickness of Deepwater Sedimentary Deposits from IODP Expedition 354꞉ Climatic Insights Gained Using a Data‑Driven Approach
No full textThis poster was presented at Annual Conference of Geological Society of America on 09/23/2024.The deep-sea Bengal Fan and linked Ganges-Brahmaputra River system forms Earth’s largest source-to-sink sediment-dispersal system, offering a unique opportunity to examine large-scale sediment transfer from the Himalaya to the Indian Ocean. International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 354 (2015) drilled a seven-site transect at 8oN in the Lower Bengal Fan, recovering abundant Pleistocene-aged sands. Medium to coarse sands at such a distal point (~1400 km from the shelf edge) raises questions about the drivers and processes that transported these sands. To investigate these deepwater depositional mechanisms, we did centimeter-scale lithological descriptions of cores from all seven IODP 354 sites, focusing on grain size and sedimentary structures to identify the preserved thickness of individual events. We noted sedimentary structures indicative of sediment gravity flows (SGFs), including normal grading, dewatering and load structures, and convolute bedding suggestive of syn-depositional seismic events. The thickness distribution of the observed beds ( 2 m, mean + 2 std), although outliers, account for 47% of the total thickness of all clastic deposits in the seven cores as a whole. There is a strong correlation between grain size and increasing bed thickness for sandy deposits. However, silty beds exhibit an inconsistent trend, possibly due to the rework by bottom currents. Further facies analysis is required to fully understand the complexity of these finer-grained beds. The lognormal distribution of sandy SGFs in Bengal Fan cores may be linked to the frequency and magnitude of floods from the terrestrial source area, with outsized SGFs likely resulting from very infrequent, high-magnitude floods generated in the Himalaya. This data-driven approach employs grain size and thickness statistics for depositional facies analysis, providing insights into the forces that transporting clastic sediments recovered during IODP 354 to the deepwater sink. These results quantify the preservation of rare but substantial events in the stratigraphic architecture and explore signal propagation from the Himalaya to the distal Bengal Fan
Friend-Shoring without Decoupling: How Japanese Multinational Corporations Adapt to Political Risk in China
No full textThese are the slides from a presentation given at 120th APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition on 09/05/2024.How are multinational firms (MNCs) and the global supply chains that link them to China adjusting to the heightened political risks in the era of decoupling? Since the U.S.-China Trade War and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Western governments have increased efforts to encourage MNCs to divert investment from an increasingly authoritarian China toward politically reliable allies and partners. Using subsidiary-level panel data on the global operations of Japanese MNCs from 2012-2022, we reconcile conflicting expectations offered by "business as usual" and "follow the flag" scholars about the degree to which these firms are decoupling or friend-shoring in response to political risks in China. We find that aggregate Japanese investment in China has continued to grow over the past decade despite heightened political risks and a slight decline in the overall share of global subsidiaries based in China, suggesting that the pace and extent of decoupling are quite limited. However, we also find a positive relationship between investment size and the strength of host country security ties at the subsidiary level. This lends support to the idea that alignment of security interests promotes greater investment and that friend-shoring is happening on the margins
Environmental suitability throughout the late quaternary explains population genetic diversity
No full textA grant from the One-University Open Access Fund at the University of Kansas was used to defray the author's publication fees in this Open Access journal. The Open Access Fund, administered by librarians from the KU, KU Law, and KUMC libraries, is made possible by contributions from the offices of KU Provost, KU Vice Chancellor for Research & Graduate Studies, and KUMC Vice Chancellor for Research. For more information about the Open Access Fund, please see http://library.kumc.edu/authors-fund.xml.Genetic variation among populations is reflected in biogeographic patterns for many species, but general rules of spatial genetic variation have not been established. In this paper, we establish a theoretical framework based on projecting environmental Grinellian niches back through time to relate the present geographic distribution of population genetic structure to a given species' historical evolutionary context. Thanks to advances in next-generation sequencing technologies, as well as more accurate climate models and the amassing of information stored in biological collections, it is possible to implement this theoretical framework directly. We develop a case study of the tassel-eared squirrel Sciurus aberti to jointly analyze spatial, environmental, and genetic data to predict the historical endemic area of this species. Our results reveal that in cases of genetic isolation by geographic distance, the prevalence of environmental suitability over time corresponds to the genetic fixation index (Fst) of populations with respect to a source population. Populations closer to the historical endemic area show higher genetic diversity and a lower Fst value. This empirical example relates back to the theoretical framework, allowing two further advances: 1) a layer of biogeographic explanation for the results obtained from population genomic methods; and 2) predictive maps of this genetic structure to support biodiversity conservation efforts. Overall, this work advances a perspective that integrates population genetics with historical patterns of species distribution. The limitations posed in the theoretical framework should be considered before implementing the suitability prevalence area (SPA) in a general way over different taxa. Otherwise, the predictability of the genetic diversity of populations as a product of environmental stability over time may not be adequate
Effects of the Flying Start on Estimated Short Sprint Profiles Using Timing Gates
No full textShort sprints are predominantly assessed using timing gates and analyzed through parameters of the mono-exponential equation, including estimated maximal sprinting speed (MSS) and relative acceleration (TAU), derived maximum acceleration (MAC), and relative propulsive maximal power (PMAX), further referred to as the No Correction model. However, the frequently recommended flying start technique introduces a bias during parameter estimation. To correct this, two additional models (Estimated TC and Estimated FD) were proposed. To estimate model precision and sensitivity to detect the change, 31 basketball players executed multiple 30 m sprints. Athlete performance was simultaneously measured by a laser gun and timing gates positioned at 5, 10, 20, and 30 m. Short sprint parameters were estimated using a laser gun, representing the criterion measure, and five different timing gate models, representing the practical measures. Only the MSS parameter demonstrated a high agreement between the laser gun and timing gate models, using the percent mean absolute difference (%MAD) estimator (%MAD < 10%). The MSS parameter also showed the highest sensitivity, using the minimum detectable change estimator (%MDC95), with an estimated %MDC95 < 17%. Interestingly, sensitivity was the highest for the No Correction model (%MDC95 < 7%). All other parameters and models demonstrated an unsatisfying level of sensitivity. Thus, sports practitioners should be cautious when using timing gates to estimate maximum acceleration indices and changes in their respective levels
N6-methyladenosine modification of a parvovirus-encoded small noncoding RNA facilitates viral DNA replication through recruiting Y-family DNA polymerases
No full textHuman bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is a human parvovirus that causes lower respiratory tract infections in young children. It contains a single-stranded (ss) DNA genome of ~5.5 kb that encodes a small noncoding RNA of 140 nucleotides known as bocavirus-encoded small RNA (BocaSR), in addition to viral proteins. Here, we determined the secondary structure of BocaSR in vivo by using DMS-MaPseq. Our findings reveal that BocaSR undergoes N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification at multiple sites, which is critical for viral DNA replication in both dividing HEK293 cells and nondividing cells of the human airway epithelium. Mechanistically, we found that m6A-modified BocaSR serves as a mediator for recruiting Y-family DNA repair DNA polymerase (Pol) η and Pol κ likely through a direct interaction between BocaSR and the viral DNA replication origin at the right terminus of the viral genome. Thus, this report represents direct involvement of a viral small noncoding RNA in viral DNA replication through m6A modification