First, performance assessment tests were run in order to prevent data backlog and optimize the way in which DDOTI reduces the data it collects. The results of these tests yielded a general framework regarding how DDOTI should reduce collected images depending on how many computer cores can be used. These tests also indicated that DDOTI’s alignment portion of the reduction code (ddoti_align) should be completed after every image is collected, while the other parts of the reduction software (ddoti_stack, ddoti_phot, ddoti_summary) should be run after every four images are collected.
Second, reductions created by DDOTI were inspected to determine if the telescope’s reduction software was working properly. Reductions were observed and indicated that two reduction related problems needed to be corrected by the research team before DDOTI would be ready for future scientific work. The first identified problem was that DDOTI’s reduction code was not properly correcting optical distortions for one of DDOTI’s two functional cameras. The second problem was that the reduction code was not correcting for atmospheric refraction. As a result, below zenith distances of approximately sixty degrees, ddoti_align was unable to align detected sources to their catalogue equivalents due to their distorted positions.
Third, code manuals were produced in both English and Spanish so that English and Spanish-speaking researchers working on DDOTI could understand how its reductions software reduces images. Functional flow chart diagrams were also produced only in English to graphically describe the flow of information through DDOTI’s reduction software.
These three contributions helped DDOTI to more accurately be able to observe GRBs. DDOTI’s improved reduction abilities were confirmed by a produced report about GRB 190129B after a 10-hour observation, and by the fact that DDOTI could accurately observed asteroid fields. In addition, code manuals and functional flow chart diagrams were all produced by the end of this project.
Chromatin proteins have expanded the mammalian synthetic biology toolbox by enabling control of active and silenced states at endogenous genes. Others have reported synthetic proteins that bind DNA and regulate genes by altering chromatin marks, such as histone modifications. Previously, we reported the first synthetic transcriptional activator, the “Polycomb-based transcription factor” (PcTF) that reads histone modifications through a protein–protein interaction between the polycomb chromodomain motif and trimethylated lysine 27 of histone H3 (H3K27me3). Here, we describe the genome-wide behavior of the polycomb-based transcription factor fusion protein. Transcriptome and chromatin profiling revealed several polycomb-based transcription factor-sensitive promoter regions marked by distal H3K27me3 and proximal fusion protein binding. These results illuminate a mechanism in which polycomb-based transcription factor interactions bridge epigenomic marks with the transcription initiation complex at target genes. In three cancer-derived human cell lines tested here, some target genes encode developmental regulators and tumor suppressors. Thus, the polycomb-based transcription factor represents a powerful new fusion protein-based method for cancer research and treatment where silencing marks are translated into direct gene activation.