Life Sciences Commons^™

Individual Characteristics And Their Effect On Predicting Mu Rhythm Modulation, Adriane Randolph, Melody Jackson, Saurav Karmakar

Adriane B. Randolph

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) offer users with severe motor disabilities a nonmuscular input channel for communication and control but require that users achieve a level of literacy and be able to harness their appropriate electrophysiological responses for effective use of the interface. There is currently no formalized process for determining a user's aptitude for control of various BCIs without testing on an actual system. This study presents how basic information captured about users may be used to predict modulation of mu rhythms, electrical variations in the motor cortex region of the brain that may be used for control of a BCI. …

Characterization Of A Recently Purified Thermophilic Dnase From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

A Magnetic Compass Aids Monarch Butterfly Migration, Robert Gegear, Patrick Guerra, Steven Reppert

Robert J. Gegear

Convincing evidence that migrant monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use a magnetic compass to aid their fall migration has been lacking from the spectacular navigational capabilities of this species. Here we use flight simulator studies to show that migrants indeed possess an inclination magnetic compass to help direct their flight equatorward in the fall. The use of this inclination compass is light-dependent utilizing ultraviolet-A/blue light between 380 and 420 nm. Notably, the significance of light <420 nm for inclination compass function was not considered in previous monarch studies. The antennae are important for the inclination compass because they appear to contain light-sensitive magnetosensors. For migratory monarchs, the inclination compass may serve as an important orientation mechanism when directional daylight cues are unavailable and may also augment time-compensated sun compass orientation for appropriate directionality throughout the migration.

Hits-Clip And Integrative Modeling Define The Rbfox Splicing-Regulatory Network Linked To Brain Development And Autism, Natalie Farny, Sebastien Weyn-Vanhentenryck, Aldo Mele, Qinghong Yan, Shuying Sun, Zuo Zhang, Chenghai Xue, Margaret Herre, Pamela Silver, Michael Zhang, Adrian Krainer, Robert Darnell, Chaolin Zhang

Natalie G. Farny

The RNA binding proteins Rbfox1/2/3 regulate alternative splicing in the nervous system, and disruption of Rbfox1 has been implicated in autism. However, comprehensive identification of functional Rbfox targets has been challenging. Here, we perform HITS-CLIP for all three Rbfox family members in order to globally map, at a single-nucleotide resolution, their in vivo RNA interaction sites in the mouse brain. We find that the two guanines in the Rbfox binding motif UGCAUG are critical for protein-RNA interactions and crosslinking. Using integrative modeling, these interaction sites, combined with additional datasets, define 1,059 direct Rbfox target alternative splicing events. Over half of …

Development Of A Novel Affinity Membrane Purification System For Deoxyribonuclease, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

Purification Of An Inducible Dnase From A Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Andrea Vu, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry

Purification And Characterization Of Iso-Ribonucleases From A Novel Thermophilic Fungus, Kyle Landry, Robert Levin

Kyle S Landry