The SNARE hypothesis provides an appealing framework for understanding the mechanism of vesicle targeting and fusion in the secretory and endocytic pathways (Rothman, 1994). In this model, vesicles bind specifically to their target membranes via complementary sets of membrane-specific SNARES (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor [NSF] attachment protein [SNAP] receptors). Targeting specifi...

We propose to build a software system that will use probabilistic de Bruijn graphs for reconstruction of viral haplotypes without a reference genome. The haplotypes are assumed to arise through mutation and/or recombination processes. In the software system, when provided with a set of reads, the software developed should determine the number, sequences, and relative frequencies of the haplotypes.

When first described in 2000, NSF was noted to occur predominantly in patients with end-stage chronic kidney disease (CKD), particularly in patients on dialysis. In 2006 several groups noted a strong association between gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) administration in patients with advanced renal disease and the development of NSF [1,2], and it is now generally accepted that GBCA exposu...

This research involves the overlaps of antenna theory, fractal geometry, and numerical calculations. Its goal is to investigate how random or periodic antenna array geometry can be improved through the use of fractals. Using a program we developed in Matlab, we plotted the radiation of linear/planar antenna arrays. We were able to correctly analyze radiation of three two-dimensional arrays. Ano...

The objectives of this research are to improve software productivity, reliability, and performance of complex systems. The approach combines program transformations, sometimes in reflective ways, to turn very high level perspicuous specifications into efficient implementations. These transformations will be implemented in a meta-transformational system, which itself will be transformed from an ...

This work was supported in part by the NSF of China #61661005 and # 61761007 61761006, Guangxi 2018GXNSFAA138079 2017GXNSFAA198276.

I have spent the majority of my biology career located between the macro world and the micro world. While majoring in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I came to appreciate animal life histories and ecological and evolutionary principles. On the other hand, I filled my elective class schedule with courses that most wildlife ecology students would consider obscure, such a...