Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) is a cause of
Johne's disease (JD) in cattle and other ruminants. MAP infection in the bovine
host is not well characterized. It is assumed that crossing the bovine intestinal
mucosa is important for MAP to establish infection. MAP's ability to infect
bovine epithelial cells...
Intracellular delivery of mRNA holds great potential for vaccine and therapeutic discovery and development. This is realized by the preeminent role mRNA is playing in the record-breaking pace of SARS-CoV-19 vaccine development. Recent advances in chemical modifications of mRNA have enabled high-efficiency gene expression with superior spatiotemporal control while eliminating...
Mycobacterium avium is a ubiquitous environmental organism found in both water and soil. It can cause disease in patients with previous pulmonary conditions, as well as immunosupressed patients, with the most prevalent being AIDS patients. Studies have indicated that passage through amoeba, a common environmental protozoa, increases virulence of M....
Mycobacterium avium is a ubiquitous environmental organism found in water and soil. It can cause disease in patients with pre-existing pulmonary conditions, immunocompromised patients with the most prevalent being AIDS patients, as well as apparently healthy people. Studies have indicated that, upon macrophage uptake, Al. avium prevents phagosome-lysosome fusion, thus...
Active tectonics of a deformation front constrains the kinematic evolution and structural interaction between the fold-thrust belt and the most-recently accreted foreland basin. At the Himalayan deformation front, the thrust front is blind, characterized by a broad fold (the Suruin-Mastgarh anticline (SMA)), and displays no emergent faults cutting the southern...
Programming is integrated across the workflow of multiple domains where end-user programmers, those who need to program as a means to an end, regularly need to code. In the modern setting of collaborative development, end-user programmers have to interpret the intentions behind existing code to contribute and build solutions to...
Molecular genetic and enzymological techniques have been employed to study secondary metabolite biosynthesis. These investigations have focused on two projects: the cloning and heterologous expression of biosynthetic gene clusters from unculturable marine organisms and the characterization of individual enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the antifungal agent blasticidin S. The...
Private matching (PM) is a key cryptographic primitive in secure computation that allows several parties to jointly compute some functions depending on their private inputs. Indeed, this primitive has many practical applications. For instance, in online advertising, two companies may wish to find their common customers for a joint marketing...
Private set intersection (PSI) allows two parties, who each hold a set of items, to compute the intersection of those sets without revealing anything about other items. Recent advances in PSI have significantly improved its performance for the case of semi-honest security, making semi-honest PSI a practical alternative to insecure...
This thesis describes the development of a new enantioselective synthetic method employing chiral cis-2,5-diaminobicyclo[2.2.2]octane-based organometallic catalysts. The significance of this new method to organic synthesis is illustrated with preparation of enantioenriched products that are transformed to important pharmaceutical agents. Chapter 1 provides a brief historical overview of asymmetric catalysis, especially...