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Dendrochronological Analysis Of The Duncan Tavern, Paris, Kentucky, Usa, Delaney Ballard, Maegen Rochner

Undergraduate Research Events

Duncan Tavern is a historical structure located at 323 High Street in Paris, Kentucky in Bourbon County. The structure currently serves as the headquarters for the Kentucky Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (KSDAR). KSDAR maintains that Duncan Tavern was originally built in the mid-1790s; the land was purchased in 1792 by Joseph Duncan, a civilian armorer in the Revolutionary War. Although Duncan Tavern has been listed on the National Register of Historical Places since 1973, a dendrochronological study of this structure was requested to quantitatively examine the legitimacy of archival and anecdotal claims about the construction history. …

Effects Of Sex, Cadmium, And High-Fat-Diet On Accumulation Of Essential Metals In Mouse Kidneys., Justin Y. Xu, Adam Gaweda, Michelle Barati, Michael Merchant, Jun Cai, Lu Cai, Madhavi Rane

Undergraduate Research Events

Effects of cadmium and obesity on accumulation of essential metals in mouse kidney were evaluated. Starting in utero and continuing until 24 weeks postweaning, male/female mice were exposed to cadmium (0, 0.5, or 5 ppm) and were fed on Normal Diet (ND)/High-Fat Diet (HFD) post weaning. ICP-MS analysis was performed to evaluate cadmium and essential metals absorbed in the kidneys of aforementioned mice. Metals data obtained was analyzed using MANOVA with multiple comparisons (Bonferroni correction with p

Old Vs. New: An Experiment On The Efficacy Of Complexity-Focused Reproductive Biology Lectures For Undergraduate Biology Students, Ive N. Muse, Shraddha Patel, Linda Fuselier

Undergraduate Research Events

Undergraduate reproductive biology courses are traditionally taught in a reductive manner, prioritizing a binary understanding of sex which oversimplifies reproductive behaviors and reproductive system development across diverse taxa. Although this binary approach to lessons on reproduction is intended to benefit students in learning foundational human reproductive concepts, it does not teach the most recent research in reproductive biology, which identifies reproductive variation as the norm. We designed and implemented a lesson on reproductive biology informed by the most current and accurate research and compared it to a traditionally taught biology lecture for first year majors. Students who received the experimental …

Characterizing Leaf Endophyte Composition In The Dune Grass Ammophila Breviligulata, Nabaa Majeed, Sarah Hobbs, Sarah Emery, Connor Morozumi, Natalie Christian

Undergraduate Research Events

Microorganisms living within plants play crucial roles in their health and function, yet these diverse communities that make up the plant microbiome remain poorly understood. The dune grass Ammophila breviligulata. is an ecosystem engineer which helps to build and stabilize dune ecosystems effectively acting as a buffer against storms to coastal communities. It is currently unknown whether the Ammophila microbiome plays a role in this plant species’ ability to transform dune ecosystems.. In this study, we assessed fungal diversity of endophytes—microbes living within plant tissues— in Ammophila leaves collected from Leelanau State Park, MI along the eastern shores of Lake …

Use Of Electronic Ecological Momentary Assessment Methodologies In Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, And Sleep Research In Young Adults: Systematic Review, Kimberly R. Hartson, Luz Huntington-Moskos, Clara G. Sears, Gina Genova, Cara Mathis, Wessly Ford, Ryan E. Rhodes

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Recent technological advances allow for the repeated sampling of real-time data in natural settings using electronic ecological momentary assessment (eEMA). These advances are particularly meaningful for investigating physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep in young adults who are in a critical life stage for the development of healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Objective: This study aims to describe the use of eEMA methodologies in physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep research in young adults.

Methods: The PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, and Web of Science electronic databases were searched through August 2022. Inclusion criteria were use of eEMA; sample of young adults …

Association Of Hypomagnesemia And Liver Injury, Role Of Gut-Barrier Dysfunction And Inflammation: Efficacy Of Abstinence, And 2-Week Medical Management In Alcohol Use Disorder Patients., Evan J. Winrich, Khushboo S. Gala, Abhas Rajhans, Christian D. Rios-Perez, Amor J. Royer, Zarlakhta Zamani, Ranganathan Parthasarathy, Luis S. Marsano-Obando, Ashutosh J. Barve, Melanie L. Schwandt, Vatsalya Vatsalya

Faculty Scholarship

(1) We investigated the involvement of serum magnesium level in early alcoholic liver disease (ALD), gut barrier dysfunction, and inflammation in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients; and lastly, the efficacy of 2-week abstinence and medical management to alleviate hypomagnesemia. (2) Forty-eight heavy drinking AUD patients (34 males (M)/14 females (F)) participated in this study. Patients were grouped by serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level (a marker of liver injury) as group 1 (Group 1 (Gr.1); ALT ≤ 40 U/L, 7M/8F, without any indication of early-stage ALD) and group 2 (Group 2 (Gr.2); ALT > 40 U/L, 27M/6F or early-stage ALD). These patients …

The Intersection Between Toxicology And Aging Research: A Toxic Aging Coin Perspective., John P. Wise Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

We are imminently faced with the challenges of an increasingly aging population and longer lifespans due to improved health care. Concomitantly, we are faced with ubiquitous environmental pollution linked with various health effects and age-related diseases which contribute to increased morbidity with age. Geriatric populations are rarely considered in the development of environmental regulations or in toxicology research. Today, life expectancy is often into one’s 80s or beyond, which means multiple decades living as a geriatric individual. Hence, adverse health effects and late-onset diseases might be due to environmental exposures as a geriatric, and we currently have no way of …

Ecological And Phenotypic Diversification After A Continental Invasion In Neotropical Freshwater Stingrays, Matthew Kolmann, Fernando Pl Marques, James C. Weaver, Mason N. Dean, Joao Pedro Fontenelle, Nathan R. Lovejoy

Faculty Scholarship

Habitat transitions are key potential explanations for why some lineages have diversified and others have not—from Anolis lizards to Darwin's finches. The ecological ramifications of marine-to-freshwater transitions for fishes suggest evolutionary contingency: some lineages maintain their ancestral niches in novel habitats (niche conservatism), whereas others alter their ecological role. However, few studies have considered phenotypic, ecological, and lineage diversification concurrently to explore this issue. Here, we investigated the macroevolutionary history of the taxonomically and ecologically diverse Neotropical freshwater river rays (subfamily Potamotrygoninae), which invaded and diversified in the Amazon and other South American rivers during the late Oligocene to early …

Leafing Through Literature: Late Embryogenesis Abundant Proteins Coming Of Age – Achievements And Perspectives, Itzell E. Hernandez-Sanchez, Israel Maruri Lopez, Coral Martinez-Martinez, Brett Janis, Juan Francisco Jimenez Bremont, Alejandra A. Covarrubias, Michael A. Menze, Steffen P. Graether, Anja Thalhammer

Faculty Scholarship

To deal with increasingly severe periods of dehydration related to global climate change, it becomes increasingly important to understand the complex strategies many organisms have developed to cope with dehydration and desiccation. While it is undisputed that late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins play a key role in the tolerance of plants and many anhydrobiotic organisms to water limitation, the molecular mechanisms are not well understood. In this review we recap the current knowledge of the physiological roles of LEA proteins and discuss their potential molecular functions. As these are ultimately linked to conformational changes in the presence of binding partners, …

Selection On Dispersal Drives Evolution Of Metabolic Capacities For Energy Production In Female Wing-Polymorphic Sand Field Crickets, Gryllus Firmus, Lisa A. Treidel, Gessen S. Quintanilla Ramirez, Dillon J. Chung, Michael Menze, Jose P. Vazquez-Medina, Caroline M. Williams

Faculty Scholarship

Life history and metabolism covary, but the mechanisms and individual traits responsible for these linkages remain unresolved. Dispersal capability is a critical component of life histories that is constrained by metabolic capacities for energy production. Conflicting relationships between metabolism and life histories may be explained by accounting for variation in dispersal and maximal metabolic rates. We used female wing-polymorphic sand field crickets, Gryllus firmus, selected either for long wings (LW) and flight-capability or short wings (SW) and high early lifetime fecundity to test the hypothesis that selection on dispersal capability drives the evolution of metabolic capacities. While resting metabolic …

Functional And Conformational Plasticity Of An Animal Group 1 Lea Protein, Brett Janis, Clinton Belott, Tyler Brockman, Michael Menze

Faculty Scholarship

Group 1 (Dur-19, PF00477, LEA_5) Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins are present in organisms from all three domains of life, Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya. Surprisingly, Artemia is the only genus known to include animals that express group 1 LEA proteins in their desiccation-tolerant life-history stages. Bioinformatics analysis of circular dichroism data indicates that the group 1 LEA protein AfLEA1 is surprisingly ordered in the hydrated state and undergoes during desiccation one of the most pronounced disorder-to-order transitions described for LEA proteins from A. franciscana. The secondary structure in the hydrated state is dominated by random coils (42%) and β-sheets (35%) …

Surveillance Of Rnase P, Pmmov, And Crassphage In Wastewater As Indicators Of Human Fecal Concentration Across Urban Sewer Neighborhoods, Louisville, Kentucky, R. H. Holm, M. Nagarkar, R. A. Yeager, D. Talley, A. C. Chaney, J. P. Rai, A. Mukherjee, S. N. Rai, A. Bhatnagar, T. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Wastewater surveillance has been widely used as a supplemental method to track the community infection levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. A gap exists in standardized reporting for fecal indicator concentrations, which can be used to calibrate the primary outcome concentrations from wastewater monitoring for use in epidemiological models. To address this, measurements of fecal indicator concentration among wastewater samples collected from sewers and treatment centers in four counties of Kentucky (N = 650) were examined. Results from the untransformed wastewater data over 4 months of sampling indicated that the fecal indicator concentration of human ribonuclease P (RNase …

Seasonal Changes In Mitochondrial Bioenergetics And Physiological Performance Of The Bluegill Sunfish, Lepomis Macrochirus, From A Shallow, Midwest River., Derick I. Lamptey, Ryan W. Sparks, Rolando Monte De Oca, Robert Skolik, Michael Menze, Eloy Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

As global temperature shifts due to anthropogenic impacts, the frequency and magnitude of extreme temperatures in shallow aquatic ecosystems are expected to increase. Previous studies performed on fish under fluctuating temperature regimes have reported increased physiological stresses, compared to stable thermal conditions, leading to morphological, behavioral and biochemical adaptations. Moreover, many studies have reported the effects of warmer temperatures on numerous aquatic species, but seasonal temperature changes experienced in aquatic systems are understudied. We surveyed changes in the bioenergetic machinery of a native fish population ( Lepomis macrochirus) in the temperate zone of North America and observed season-dependent thresholds in …

Combining Community Wastewater Genomic Surveillance With State Clinical Surveillance: A Framework For Sars-Cov-2 Public Health Practice, Ted Smith, Rochelle H. Holm, Ray Yeager, Joseph B. Moore Iv, Eric C. Rouchka, Kevin J. Sokoloski, Daymond Talley, Vaneet Arora, Sarah Moyer, Aruni Bhatnagar

Faculty Scholarship

Study objective: To garner a framework for combining community wastewater surveillance with state clinical surveillance that influence confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 variants within the community, and recommend how the flow of such research evidence could be expanded and employed for public health response. Design, setting, and participants: This work involved analyzing wastewater samples collected weekly from 17 geographically resolved locations in Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky from February 10 to November 29, 2021. Genomic surveillance and RT-qPCR platforms were used as screening to identify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, and state clinical surveillance was used for confirmation. Main results: The results demonstrate increased epidemiological value …

Verrucous Carcinoma Of The Vulva: Patterns Of Care And Treatment Outcomes., Sara M. Dryden, Leonid B. Reshko, Jeremy T. Gaskins, Scott R. Silva

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Verrucous vulvar carcinoma (VC) is an uncommon and distinct histologic subtype of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The available literature on VC is currently limited to case reports and small single institution studies. Aims: The goals of this study were to analyze data from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to quantitate the incidence of VC and to investigate the effects of patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment regimens on overall survival (OS) in women with verrucous vulvar carcinoma. Methods and results: Patients diagnosed with vulvar SCC or VC between the years of 2004 and 2016 were identified in the NCDB. …

Public Awareness And Support For Use Of Wastewater For Sars-Cov-2 Monitoring: A Community Survey In Louisville, Kentucky, Rochelle H. Holm, J. Michael Brick, Alok R. Amraotkar, Joy L. Hart, Anish Mukherjee, Jacob Zeigler, Adrienne M. Bushau-Sprinkle, Lauren B. Anderson, Kandi L. Walker, Daymond Talley, Rachel J. Keith, Shesh N. Rai, Kenneth E. Palmer, Aruni Bhatnagar, Ted Smith

Faculty Scholarship

The majority of sewer systems in the United States and other countries, are operated by public utilities. In the absence of any regulation, public perception of monitoring wastewater for population health biomarkers is an important consideration for a public utility commission when allocating resources for this purpose. In August 2021, we conducted a survey as part of an ongoing COVID-19 community prevalence study in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY. The survey comprised of seven questions about awareness of and privacy concerns and was sent to 32,000 households randomly distributed within the county. A total of 1,220 sampled adults participated in the probability …

High-Throughput Sequencing Of Sars-Cov-2 In Wastewater Provides Insights Into Circulating Variants, Rafaela S. Fontenele, Simona Kraberger, James Hadfield, Erin M. Driver, Devin Bowes, La Rinda A. Holland, Temitope O.C. Faleye, Sangeet Adhikari, Rahul Kumar, Rosa Inchausti, Wydale K. Holmes, Stephanie Deitrick, Philip Brown, Darrell Duty, Ted Smith, Aruni Bhatnagar, Ray A. Yeager, Rochelle H. Holm, Natalia Hoogesteijn Von Reitzenstein, Elliott Wheeler, Kevin Dixon, Tim Constantine, Melissa A. Wilson, Efrem S. Lim, Xiaofang Jiang, Rolf U. Halden, Matthew Scotch, Arvind Varsani

Faculty Scholarship

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) likely emerged from a zoonotic spill-over event and has led to a global pandemic. The public health response has been predominantly informed by surveillance of symptomatic individuals and contact tracing, with quarantine, and other preventive measures have then been applied to mitigate further spread. Non-traditional methods of surveillance such as genomic epidemiology and wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) have also been leveraged during this pandemic. Genomic epidemiology uses high-throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes to inform local and international transmission events, as well as the diversity of circulating variants. WBE uses wastewater to analyse community spread, …

The Rapid Assessment Of Aggregated Wastewater Samples For Genomic Surveillance Of Sars-Cov-2 On A City-Wide Scale, Eric C. Rouchka, Julia H. Chariker, Kumar Saurabh, Sabine Waigel, Wolfgang Zacharias, Mei Zhang, Daymond Talley, Ian Santisteban, Madeline Puccio, Sarah Moyer, Rochelle H. Holm, Ray A. Yeager, Kevin J. Sokoloski, Joshua Fuqua, Aruni Bhatnagar, Ted Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Throughout the course of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic there has been a need for approaches that enable rapid monitoring of public health using an unbiased and minimally invasive means. A major way this has been accomplished is through the regular assessment of wastewater samples by qRT-PCR to detect the prevalence of viral nucleic acid with respect to time and location. Further expansion of SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring efforts to include the detection of variants of interest/concern through next-generation sequencing has enhanced the understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. In this report, we detail the results of a collaborative effort between public health …

Standardizing Data Reporting In The Research Community To Enhance The Utility Of Open Data For Sars-Cov-2 Wastewater Surveillance, Jill S. Mcclary-Gutierrez, Zachary T. Aanderud, Mitham Al-Faliti, Claire Duvallet, Raul Gonzalez, Joe Guzman, Rochelle H. Holm, Michael A. Jahne, Rose S. Kantor, Panagis Katsivelis, Katrin Gaardbo Kuhn, Laura M. Langan, Cresten Mansfeldt, Sandra L. Mclellan, Lorelay M. Mendoza Grijalva, Kevin S. Murnane, Colleen C. Naughton, Aaron I. Packman, Sotirios Paraskevopoulos, Tyler S. Radniecki, Fernando A. Roman, Abhilasha Shrestha, Lauren B. Stadler, Joshua A. Steele, Brian M. Swalla, Peter Vikesland, Brian Wartell, Carol J. Wilusz, Judith Chui Ching Wong, Alexandria B. Boehm, Rolf U. Halden, Kyle Bibby, Jeseth Delgado Vela

Faculty Scholarship

SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection in wastewater is being rapidly developed and adopted as a public health monitoring tool worldwide. With wastewater surveillance programs being implemented across many different scales and by many different stakeholders, it is critical that data collected and shared are accompanied by an appropriate minimal amount of meta-information to enable meaningful interpretation and use of this new information source and intercomparison across datasets. While some databases are being developed for specific surveillance programs locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, common globally-adopted data standards have not yet been established within the research community. Establishing such standards will require national and …

One-Pot Conversion Of Carboxylic Acids To Aldhydes, Hannah Khan, Saurin Sutaria, Michael Nantz Phd

Undergraduate Research Events

There are many different ways to convert a carboxylic acid to an aldehyde.1 A common way to accomplish this transformation is to use multiple steps (e.g., reduction of the carboxylic acid to the corresponding alcohol followed by selective oxidation to the aldehyde). Our success in reducing the diacid muconic acid (1) to muconaldehyde (4) in a relatively mild, one-pot process2 has led us to examine whether the method can be expanded to other carboxylic acids. We report here our findings using benzoic acid as a representative substrate.

Urban Orchard Ecosystem Services In Louisville, Sophie Steppe, Julia Kachanova, Sarah Emery Phd

Undergraduate Research Events

Urban greenspaces are understudied habitats that may provide a variety of ecosystem services not found in other greenspaces.

The aim of this study was to quantify ecosystem services provided by fruit trees in urban orchards in Louisville, KY.

Testing The Effects Of Two Field-To-Fork Programs On The Nutritional Outcomes Of Elementary School Students From Diverse And Lower-Income Communities, Kimberly R. Hartson, Kristi M. King, Carol O'Neal, Aishia Brown, Toluwanimi Olajuyigbe, Shakeyrah Elmore, Angelique Perez

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effects of two farm-to-school programs, specifically the Field-to-Fork Multi-visit Program (N  =  264) and the Field-to-Fork After-school Club (N  =  56), on nutritional outcomes of elementary school students (third to fifth grade) from urban, diverse, and lower-income communities. Data were collected via self-report surveys measuring: (a) knowledge of recommendations for daily fruit and vegetable intake; (b) fruit and vegetable consumption; (c) knowledge of cooking a healthy recipe using vegetables; and (d) desire for farm fresh foods at school. Statistical analyses included McNemar’s and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. The …

Geographic And Occupational Mobility Of Small-Scale Fishers Of Lake Malawi: An Exploratory Study Of Water, Sanitation, And Hygiene Access, Malawi, Rochelle H. Holm, Tikhala Chakalamba, Bwighane Ngasama, Fanuel Kapute

Faculty Scholarship

The livelihood of small-scale fishers on the world’s freshwater lakes cuts across the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which covers water and sanitation, and SDG 8 on economic growth. The aim of this study was to examine the nature and extent of fishers’ mobility patterns and access to improved sanitation facilities, safe drinking water, and handwashing practices while at work and home for two fishing camps in Malawi. The study used key informant interviews, questionnaires, water quality testing, and an observational checklist, followed by interviews on fishers’ occupational migration. Many fishers (85%; 51/60) live and work in fishing camps with …

Wastewater Sample Site Selection To Estimate Geographically Resolved Community Prevalence Of Covid-19: A Sampling Protocol Perspective, R. Yeager, R. H. Holm, K. Saurabh, J. L. Fuqua, D. Talley, A. Bhatnagar, T. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

Wastewater monitoring for virus infections within communities can complement conventional clinical surveillance. Currently, most SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) clinical testing is voluntary and inconsistently available, except for a few occupational and educational settings, and therefore likely underrepresents actual population prevalence. Randomized testing on a regular basis to estimate accurate population-level infection rates is prohibitively costly and is hampered by a range of limitations and barriers associated with participation in clinical research. In comparison, community-level fecal monitoring can be performed through wastewater surveillance to effectively surveil communities. However, epidemiologically defined protocols for wastewater sample site selection are lacking. …

Assessment Of Pathogenic Changes In The Gut-Liver Axis In Plwh With Heavy Alcohol Drinking And Gut Dysbiosis Marked By Decreased Butyrogenic Potential., Smita Ghare, Vaughn Bryant, Richa Singhal, Sabina Gautam, Chanakya Charan Tirumala, Andrea Reyes-Vega, Craig J. Mcclain, Ronald Cohen, Varand Govind, Robert L. Cook, Shirish Barve

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: People living with HIV infection (PLWH) experience increasing risk for non-AIDS diseases including liver dysfunction and injury. Both HIV-infection and heavy alcohol drinking (HAD) are known to cause gut microbial dysbiosis and systemic inflammation that may potentially contribute to altered Gut-Liver axis. However, the specific pathogenic features associated with combinatorial harmful effects of alcohol and HIV infection on gut-liver interactions are not completely understood. This study evaluate the pathogenic changes in the Gut-Liver axis in PLWH with HAD.

Impact Of Sampling Depth On Pathogen Detection In Pit Latrines, Drew Capone, Petros Chigwechokha, Francis L. De Los Reyes, Rochelle H. Holm, Benjamin B. Risk, Elizabeth Tilley, Joe Brown

Faculty Scholarship

Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) is increasingly used to provide decision makers with actionable data about community health. WBE efforts to date have primarily focused on sewer-transported wastewater in high-income countries, but at least 1.8 billion people in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) use onsite sanitation systems such as pit latrines and septic tanks. Like wastewater, fecal sludges from such systems offer similar advantages in community pathogen monitoring and other epidemiological applications. To evaluate the distribution of enteric pathogens inside pit latrines–which could inform sampling methods for WBE in LMIC settings unserved by sewers–we collected fecal sludges from the surface, mid-point, and …

A Qualitative Study Of Nimbyism For Waste In Smaller Urban Areas Of A Low-Income Country, Mzuzu, Malawi, Rochelle H. Holm, Brighton A. Chunga, Adrian Mallory, Paul Hutchings, Alison Parker

Faculty Scholarship

When waste management infrastructure is built, there can be resistance from the local affected populations, often termed the Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) phenomenon. This study aims to understand the forms of resistance that may develop in such contexts, focusing on 2 solid waste and 1 liquid waste management site within Mzuzu City, Malawi. At the newest solid waste site, community resistance had grown to the extent that the site was reportedly destroyed by the local community. Interviews and observations of the sites are complemented by examining historic and recent satellite images. It was found that, at the new solid …

Epigenetic Mechanisms Underlying Hiv-Infection Induced Susceptibility Of Cd4+ T Cells To Enhanced Activation-Induced Fasl Expression And Cell Death., Smita Ghare, Paula M. Chilton, Aakarsha V. Rao, Swati Joshi-Barve, Paula Peyrani, Andrea Reyes-Vega, Craig J. Mcclain, Kendall Bryant, Robert L. Cook, Mathew Freiberg, Shirish Barve

Faculty Scholarship

Background:

Chronic immune activation and CD4⁺ T cell depletion are significant pathogenic features of HIV infection. Expression of Fas ligand (FasL), a key mediator of activation-induced cell death in T cells, is elevated in people living with HIV-1 infection (PLWH). However, the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the enhanced induction of FasL expression in CD4⁺ T lymphocytes in PLWH are not completely elucidated. Hence, the current work examined the effect of HIV infection on FasL promoter-associated histone modifications and transcriptional regulation in CD4⁺ T lymphocytes in PLWH.

Method:

Flow cytometric analysis was performed to examine the Fas-FasL expression on …

A Review Of The Financial Value Of Faecal Sludge Reuse In Low-Income Countries, Adrian Mallory, Rochelle Holm, Alison Parker

Faculty Scholarship

Faecal sludge reuse could promote responsible waste management and alleviate resource shortages. However, for this reuse to be carried out at scale, it needs to be financially viable. This paper reviews the financial values of resource recovery from 112 data points from 43 publications from academic and grey literature. The results found 65% of the existing literature is projected rather than being based on observed data from products in practice, with limited studies providing actual experiences of revenue in practice. Some of the estimates of the potential value were ten times those observed in data from operating businesses. Reasons for …

3d Bioprinted Sustained-Release Platform For Intravaginal Delivery Of Probiotics, Priyadarshini Chandrashekhar, Jill M. Steinbach-Rankins

Undergraduate Research Events

• Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) is the most prevalent vaginal infection, affecting 30% of reproductive age women in the United States and worldwide.

• BV is characterized by a shift in the vaginal microbiome from a dominance of Lactobacilli to the overgrowth of vaginal pathogens (specifically Gardnerella vaginalis).

• Some common complications include adverse pregnancy outcomes and increased risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

• Current treatment primarily involves antibiotics, but this is ineffective due to high antibiotic resistance and BV recurrence rates of 50%. Thus, a more permanent cure is sought.

• Lactobacilli probiotics are a promising alternative to antibiotics. They …