Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Breeding Milestones Correspond With Changes To Wheat Rhizosphere Biogeochemistry That Affect P Acquisition, Rebecca Kay Mcgrail, David A. Van Sanford, David H. Mcnear Jr.

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Breeding wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has resulted in small gains in improved nutrient acquisition and use as numerous traits are involved. In this study, we evaluated the impact of breeding on P-acquisition and identified both plant and soil variables that could be used to inform the selection of germplasm with increased P acquisition efficiency. We previously screened a historic panel of winter wheat cultivars for root system architecture and root tip organic acid content when grown in P-deficient solution/agar and used these characteristics together with breeding history to develop a predicted P extraction potential (PEP). We tested the validity …

A Method For Phenotyping Roots Of Large Plants, Brian Rinehart, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, Daniel Lau, David H. Mcnear

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Linking root traits to plant functions can enable crop improvement for yield and ecosystem functions. However, plant breeding efforts targeting belowground traits are limited by appropriate phenotyping methods for large root systems. While advances have been made allowing for imaging large in situ root systems, many of these methods are inaccessible due to expensive technology requirements. The aim of this work was to develop a plant phenotyping platform and analysis method suitable for assessing root traits of large, intact root systems. With the use of a purpose-built imaging table and automated photo capture system, machine learning-based image segmentation, and off-the-shelf …

Are Soybean Models Ready For Climate Change Food Impact Assessments?, Kritika Kothari, Rafael Battisti, Kenneth J. Boote, Sotirios V. Archontoulis, Adriana Confalone, Julie Constantin, Santiago V. Cuadra, Philippe Debaeke, Babacar Faye, Brian Grant, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Qi Jing, Michael Van Der Laan, Fernando Antônio Macena Da Silva, Fabio R. Marin, Alireza Nehbandani, Claas Nendel, Larry C. Purcell, Budong Qian, Alex C. Ruane, Céline Schoving, Evandro H. F. M. Silva, Ward Smith, Afshin Soltani, Amit Srivastava, Nilson A. Vieira Jr., Stacey Slone, Montserrat Salmerón

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

An accurate estimation of crop yield under climate change scenarios is essential to quantify our ability to feed a growing population and develop agronomic adaptations to meet future food demand. A coordinated evaluation of yield simulations from process-based eco-physiological models for climate change impact assessment is still missing for soybean, the most widely grown grain legume and the main source of protein in our food chain. In this first soybean multi-model study, we used ten prominent models capable of simulating soybean yield under varying temperature and atmospheric CO₂ concentration [CO₂] to quantify the uncertainty in soybean yield …

Long-Term Sustainability Implications Of Diverse Commercial Pollinator Mixtures For The Conservation Reserve Program, Amanda J. Ashworth, Taylor Adams, Alayna Jacobs

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

The persistence of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) seed mixtures following planting is crucial for the long-term support of pollinator habitat; however, the role of disturbance regimes and their interactions in supporting this ecosystem service are largely unknown. This study set out to evaluate how ecological disturbances (prescribed burn, light disking, or fallow control) and commercially available diverse species mixtures (‘Hamilton’, ‘Bamert’, and ‘Holland’) affect pollinator habitat and the flowering period of commonly used CRP species mixtures. Specifically, three pollinator species mixtures were assessed for plant stand dynamics (plant density, yield, and dual-use pollinator-lignocellulosic feedstock potential); the resulting soil properties; and …

Evaluating Split Timing Fertilizer Applications For Improving Bread Baking Quality Of Soft Red Winter Wheat In Kentucky, Ammar Al Zubade, Krista Jacobsen, Tim Phillips, Mark Williams, David Van Sanford

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

There is growing interest among farmers to locally produce high protein and strong gluten wheat that is suitable for bread making and meet the demand of local artisanal bakers in Kentucky. The warm and humid weather in southeast region is ideal for soft red winter wheat (SRW) production which characterized by low protein content. The technique of splitting nitrogen (N) fertilization according to the growth stages has been suggested to improve protein content and its composition. This study evaluated the effect of split N application on yield and baking quality traits of two SRW wheat cultivars grown in the eastern …

Auxin/Cytokinin Antagonistic Control Of The Shoot/Root Growth Ratio And Its Relevance For Adaptation To Drought And Nutrient Deficiency Stresses, Jasmina Kurepa, Jan A. Smalle

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The hormones auxin and cytokinin regulate numerous aspects of plant development and often act as an antagonistic hormone pair. One of the more striking examples of the auxin/cytokinin antagonism involves regulation of the shoot/root growth ratio in which cytokinin promotes shoot and inhibits root growth, whereas auxin does the opposite. Control of the shoot/root growth ratio is essential for the survival of terrestrial plants because it allows growth adaptations to water and mineral nutrient availability in the soil. Because a decrease in shoot growth combined with an increase in root growth leads to survival under drought stress and nutrient limiting …

Using Low-Fix Rate Gps Telemetry To Expand Estimates Of Ungulate Reproductive Success, Nathan D. Hooven, Kathleen E. Williams, John T. Hast, Joseph R. Mcdermott, R. Daniel Crank, Gabe Jenkins, Matthew T. Springer, John J. Cox

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Background

Population parameters such as reproductive success are critical for sustainably managing ungulate populations, however obtaining these data is often difficult, expensive, and invasive. Movement-based methods that leverage Global Positioning System (GPS) relocation data to identify parturition offer an alternative to more invasive techniques such as vaginal implant transmitters, but thus far have only been applied to relocation data with a relatively fine (one fix every  < 8 h) temporal resolution. We employed a machine learning method to classify parturition/calf survival in cow elk in southeastern Kentucky, USA, using 13-h GPS relocation data and three simple movement metrics, training a random forest on cows that successfully reared their calf to a week old.

Results

We developed a decision rule based upon a predicted probability threshold across individual cow time series, accurately classifying 89.5% (51/57) of cows with a known reproductive status. When used to infer status of …

Ppld Is A De-N-Acetylase Of The Cell Wall Linkage Unit Of Streptococcal Rhamnopolysaccharides, Jeffrey S. Rush, Prakash Parajuli, Alessandro Ruda, Jian Li, Amol Arunrao Pohane, Svetlana Zamakhaeva, Mohammad M. Rahman, Jennifer C. Chang, Artemis Gogos, Cameron W. Kenner, Gérard Lambeau, Michael J. Federle, Konstantin V. Korotkov, Göran Widmalm, Natalia Korotkova

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The cell wall of the human bacterial pathogen Group A Streptococcus (GAS) consists of peptidoglycan decorated with the Lancefield group A carbohydrate (GAC). GAC is a promising target for the development of GAS vaccines. In this study, employing chemical, compositional, and NMR methods, we show that GAC is attached to peptidoglycan via glucosamine 1-phosphate. This structural feature makes the GAC-peptidoglycan linkage highly sensitive to cleavage by nitrous acid and resistant to mild acid conditions. Using this characteristic of the GAS cell wall, we identify PplD as a protein required for deacetylation of linkage N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). X-ray structural analysis indicates …

Annals Of Forest Science Promotes Multidisciplinary Research On Forests And Wood In A Changing World And Is Now A Full Open Access Journal, Erwin Dreyer, Jean Michel Leban, Shuguang Léo Liu, Andreas Bolte, John M. Lhotka, Marco Ferretti, Véronique Lesage

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Upregulation Of Cd36, A Fatty Acid Translocase, Promotes Colorectal Cancer Metastasis By Increasing Mmp28 And Decreasing E-Cadherin Expression, James Drury, Piotr G. Rychahou, Courtney O. Kelson, Mariah E. Geisen, Yuanyuan Wu, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Eun Y. Lee, B. Mark Evers, Yekaterina Y. Zaytseva

Surgery Faculty Publications

Altered fatty acid metabolism continues to be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in cancer. We previously found that colorectal cancer (CRC) cells with a higher metastatic potential express a higher level of fatty acid translocase (CD36). However, the role of CD36 in CRC metastasis has not been studied. Here, we demonstrate that high expression of CD36 promotes invasion of CRC cells. Consistently, CD36 promoted lung metastasis in the tail vein model and GI metastasis in the cecum injection model. RNA-Seq analysis of CRC cells with altered expression of CD36 revealed an association between high expression of CD36 and upregulation …

Genetic Contributors Of Incident Stroke In 10,700 African Americans With Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis From The Genetics Of Hypertension Associated Treatments And Reasons For Geographic And Racial Differences In Stroke Studies, Nicole D. Armstrong, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Amit Patki, Rikki M. Tanner, Bertha A. Hidalgo, Hemant K. Tiwari, Nita A. Limdi, Ethan M. Lange, Leslie A. Lange, Donna K. Arnett, Marguerite R. Irvin

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: African Americans (AAs) suffer a higher stroke burden due to hypertension. Identifying genetic contributors to stroke among AAs with hypertension is critical to understanding the genetic basis of the disease, as well as detecting at-risk individuals.

Methods: In a population comprising over 10,700 AAs treated for hypertension from the Genetics of Hypertension Associated Treatments (GenHAT) and Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) studies, we performed an inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis of incident stroke. Additionally, we tested the predictive accuracy of a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from a European ancestral population in both GenHAT and REGARDS AAs …

Finland, A Package Deal: Disciplinary Climate In Science Classes, Science Dispositions And Science Literacy, Larry J. Grabau, Jari Levonen, Kalle Juuti

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Finland’s educational prowess, though tempered by recent international assessments, has remained intact. This report focused on lessons that could be learned regarding secondary-level science education from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015, science-focused assessment. That PISA iteration included not only science literacy but also students’ science dispositions (epistemology, enjoyment, interest, and self-efficacy) and the schools’ science climate measures (disciplinary climate and teaching support). Due to the hierarchical nature of the PISA data, multilevel models were employed in this Finnish study, involving 5582 students from 167 schools. Science dispositions (as outcome measures) were differently associated with teaching support and …

Characterizing Long Covid: Deep Phenotype Of A Complex Condition, Rachel R. Deer, Madeline A. Rock, Nicole Vasilevsky, Leigh Carmody, Halie Rando, Alfred J. Anzalone, Marc D. Basson, Tellen D. Bennett, Timothy Bergquist, Eilis A. Boudreau, Carolyn T. Bramante, James Brian Byrd, Tiffany J. Callahan, Lauren E. Chan, Haitao Chu, Christopher G. Chute, Ben D. Coleman, Hannah E. Davis, Joel Gagnier, Casey S. Greene, Ramakanth Kavuluru

Institute for Biomedical Informatics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Numerous publications describe the clinical manifestations of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC or "long COVID"), but they are difficult to integrate because of heterogeneous methods and the lack of a standard for denoting the many phenotypic manifestations. Patient-led studies are of particular importance for understanding the natural history of COVID-19, but integration is hampered because they often use different terms to describe the same symptom or condition. This significant disparity in patient versus clinical characterization motivated the proposed ontological approach to specifying manifestations, which will improve capture and integration of future long COVID studies.

METHODS: The Human Phenotype Ontology …

Genomics Of Postprandial Lipidomics In The Genetics Of Lipid-Lowering Drugs And Diet Network Study, Marguerite R. Irvin, May E. Montasser, Tobias Kind, Sili Fan, Dinesh K. Barupal, Amit Patki, Rikki M. Tanner, Nicole D. Armstrong, Kathleen A. Ryan, Steven A. Claas, Jeffrey R. O’Connell, Hemant K. Tiwari, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Postprandial lipemia (PPL) is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Inter-individual variation in the dietary response to a meal is known to be influenced by genetic factors, yet genes that dictate variation in postprandial lipids are not completely characterized. Genetic studies of the plasma lipidome can help to better understand postprandial metabolism by isolating lipid molecular species which are more closely related to the genome. We measured the plasma lipidome at fasting and 6 h after a standardized high-fat meal in 668 participants from the Genetics of Lipid-Lowering Drugs and Diet Network study (GOLDN) using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled …

Legacy Effects Of Intercropping And Nitrogen Fertilization On Soil N Cycling, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, And The Soil Microbial Community In Tropical Maize Production, Lucas P. Canisares, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, Eoin L. Brodie, Patrick O. Sorensen, Ulas Karaoz, Daniel M. Villegas, Jacobo Arango, Letusa Momesso, Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol, Heitor Cantarella

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Maize-forage grasses intercropping systems have been increasingly adopted by farmers because of their capacity to recycle nutrients, provide mulch, and add C to soil. However, grasses have been shown to increase nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. Some tropical grasses cause biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) which could mitigate N₂O emissions in the maize cycle but the reactions of the N cycle and the microbial changes that explain the N₂O emissions are little known in such intercropping systems. With this in mind, we explored intercropping of forage grasses (Brachiaria brizantha and Brachiaria humidicola) with distinct …

Farmer Perceptions Of Adopting Novel Legumes In Traditional Maize-Based Farming Systems In The Yucatan Peninsula, Jacques Fils Pierre, Luis Latournerie-Moreno, René Garruña-Hernández, Krista L. Jacobsen, Carrie A. M. Laboski, Lucila De Lourdes Salazar-Barrientos, Esaú Ruiz-Sánchez

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Intercropping constitutes the traditional farming system practice used in various forms for maize production in the Yucatan peninsula. Although practiced for centuries, problems persist with competition for water, nutrients and light between crop species in traditional farming systems. Furthermore, little is known about farmers’ perceptions regarding changes to traditional maize-legume intercropping systems and their interest in novel crop adoption to increase yields in the system while maintaining the practice. The objective of this study was to investigate the maize-based traditional cropping system by assessing the underlying motives and concepts of farmers to practice intercropping in the Yucatan Peninsula and to …

Bone Quality And Fractures In Women With Osteoporosis Treated With Bisphosphonates For 1 To 14 Years, Hartmut H. Malluche, Jin Chen, Florence Lima, Lucas J. Liu, Marie-Claude Monier-Faugere, David A. Pienkowski

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Oral bisphosphonates are the primary medication for osteoporosis, but concerns exist regarding potential bone-quality changes or low-energy fractures. This cross-sectional study used artificial intelligence methods to analyze relationships among bisphosphonate treatment duration, a wide variety of bone-quality parameters, and low-energy fractures. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and histomorphometry quantified bone-quality parameters in 67 osteoporotic women treated with oral bisphosphonates for 1 to 14 years. Artificial intelligence methods established two models relating bisphosphonate treatment duration to bone-quality changes and to low-energy clinical fractures. The model relating bisphosphonate treatment duration to bone quality demonstrated optimal performance when treatment durations of 1 to 8 …

Impact Of Nitrogen Rate In Conventional And Organic Production Systems On Yield And Bread Baking Quality Of Soft Red Winter Wheat, Ammar Al-Zubade, Timothy D. Phillips, Mark A. Williams, Krista L. Jacobsen, David Van Sanford

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Soft red winter wheat (SRW) is characterized by high yield and relatively low protein content. In Kentucky, there is growing demand from local artisan bread bakers for regionally produced flour, requiring production of grain with increased protein content and/or strength. The objective of this two-year field experiment was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N) management on five cultivars of winter wheat on yield and bread baking quality traits of modern and landrace SRW cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.). All five cultivars were evaluated using two N application rates in conventional and organic production systems. All traits measured were significantly …

Nitrogen And Rainfall Effects On Crop Growth—Experimental Results And Scenario Analyses, Saadi Sattar Shahadha, Ole O. Wendroth, Dianyuan Ding

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is critical for crop growth; however, its effect on crop growth and evapotranspiration (ETc) behaviors under different amounts of rainfall is not well understood. As such, there is a need for studying the impact of nitrogen application rates and rainfall amounts on crop growth and ETc components. Agricultural system models help to fill this knowledge gap, e.g., the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2), which integrates crop growth-related processes. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of the nitrogen application rate on crop growth, soil water dynamics, and ETc behavior under different rainfall amounts …

Telomere Roles In Fungal Genome Evolution And Adaptation, Mostafa Rahnama, Baohua Wang, Jane Dostart, Olga Novikova, Daniel Yackzan, Andrew T. Yackzan, Haley Bruss, Maray Baker, Haven Jacob, Xiaofei Zhang, April Lamb, Alex Stewart, Melanie Heist, Joey Hoover, Patrick Calie, Li Chen, Jinze Liu, Mark L. Farman

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Telomeres form the ends of linear chromosomes and usually comprise protein complexes that bind to simple repeated sequence motifs that are added to the 3′ ends of DNA by the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT). One of the primary functions attributed to telomeres is to solve the “end-replication problem” which, if left unaddressed, would cause gradual, inexorable attrition of sequences from the chromosome ends and, eventually, loss of viability. Telomere-binding proteins also protect the chromosome from 5′ to 3′ exonuclease action, and disguise the chromosome ends from the double-strand break repair machinery whose illegitimate action potentially generates catastrophic chromosome aberrations. Telomeres …

Diminishing Opportunities For Sustainability Of Coastal Cities In The Anthropocene: A Review, John W. Day, Joel D. Gunn, Joseph Robert Burger

Biology Faculty Publications

The world is urbanizing most rapidly in tropical to sub-temperate areas and in coastal zones. Climate change along with other global change forcings will diminish the opportunities for sustainability of cities, especially in coastal areas in low-income countries. Climate forcings include global temperature and heatwave increases that are expanding the equatorial tropical belt, sea-level rise, an increase in the frequency of the most intense tropical cyclones, both increases and decreases in freshwater inputs to coastal zones, and increasingly severe extreme precipitation events, droughts, freshwater shortages, heat waves, and wildfires. Current climate impacts are already strongly influencing natural and human systems. …

Awegnn: Auto-Parametrized Weighted Element-Specific Graph Neural Networks For Molecules., Timothy Szocinski, Duc Duy Nguyen, Guo-Wei Wei

Mathematics Faculty Publications

While automated feature extraction has had tremendous success in many deep learning algorithms for image analysis and natural language processing, it does not work well for data involving complex internal structures, such as molecules. Data representations via advanced mathematics, including algebraic topology, differential geometry, and graph theory, have demonstrated superiority in a variety of biomolecular applications, however, their performance is often dependent on manual parametrization. This work introduces the auto-parametrized weighted element-specific graph neural network, dubbed AweGNN, to overcome the obstacle of this tedious parametrization process while also being a suitable technique for automated feature extraction on these internally complex …

Algebraic Graph-Assisted Bidirectional Transformers For Molecular Property Prediction, Dong Chen, Kaifu Gao, Duc Duy Nguyen, Xin Chen, Yi Jiang, Guo-Wei Wei, Feng Pan

Mathematics Faculty Publications

The ability of molecular property prediction is of great significance to drug discovery, human health, and environmental protection. Despite considerable efforts, quantitative prediction of various molecular properties remains a challenge. Although some machine learning models, such as bidirectional encoder from transformer, can incorporate massive unlabeled molecular data into molecular representations via a self-supervised learning strategy, it neglects three-dimensional (3D) stereochemical information. Algebraic graph, specifically, element-specific multiscale weighted colored algebraic graph, embeds complementary 3D molecular information into graph invariants. We propose an algebraic graph-assisted bidirectional transformer (AGBT) framework by fusing representations generated by algebraic graph and bidirectional transformer, as well as …

Epigenome-Wide Association Study Of Kidney Function Identifies Trans-Ethnic And Ethnic-Specific Loci, Charles E. Breeze, Anna Batorsky, Mi Kyeong Lee, Mindy D. Szeto, Xiaoguang Xu, Daniel L. Mccartney, Rong Jiang, Amit Patki, Holly J. Kramer, James M. Eales, Laura Raffield, Leslie Lange, Ethan Lange, Peter Durda, Yongmei Liu, Russ P. Tracy, David Van Den Berg, Nhlbi Trans-Omics For Precision Medicine (Topmed) Consortium, Topmed Mesa Multi-Omics Working Group, Kathryn L. Evans, William E. Kraus, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation (DNAm) is associated with gene regulation and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function. Decreased eGFR is more common among US Hispanics and African Americans. The causes for this are poorly understood. We aimed to identify trans-ethnic and ethnic-specific differentially methylated positions (DMPs) associated with eGFR using an agnostic, genome-wide approach.

METHODS: The study included up to 5428 participants from multi-ethnic studies for discovery and 8109 participants for replication. We tested the associations between whole blood DNAm and eGFR using beta values from Illumina 450K or EPIC arrays. Ethnicity-stratified analyses were performed using linear …

An Ensemble Of The Icluster Method To Analyze Longitudinal Lncrna Expression Data For Psoriasis Patients, Suyan Tian, Chi Wang

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is an immune-mediated, inflammatory disorder of the skin with chronic inflammation and hyper-proliferation of the epidermis. Since psoriasis has genetic components and the diseased tissue of psoriasis is very easily accessible, it is natural to use high-throughput technologies to characterize psoriasis and thus seek targeted therapies. Transcriptional profiles change correspondingly after an intervention. Unlike cross-sectional gene expression data, longitudinal gene expression data can capture the dynamic changes and thus facilitate causal inference.

METHODS: Using the iCluster method as a building block, an ensemble method was proposed and applied to a longitudinal gene expression dataset for psoriasis, with the …

Development Of Mine Soils In A Chronosequence Of Forestry-Reclaimed Sites In Eastern Kentucky, Kenton L. Sena, Kevin M. Yeager, Christopher D. Barton, John M. Lhotka, William E. Bond, Kimberly J. Schindler

Lewis Honors College Faculty Publications

Surface mining for coal has contributed to widespread deforestation and soil loss in coal mining regions around the world, and particularly in Appalachia, USA. Mined land reforestation is of interest in this and other regions where forests are the dominant pre-mining land use. This study evaluated mine soil development on surface-mined sites reforested according to the Forestry Reclamation Approach, representing a chronosequence of time ranging from 0 to 19 years after reclamation. Soils were sampled in depth increments to 50 cm and analyzed for a suite of soil physical and chemical characteristics. Overall, soil fines (silt + clay) tended to …

Chromosome Xq23 Is Associated With Lower Atherogenic Lipid Concentrations And Favorable Cardiometabolic Indices, Pradeep Natarajan, Akhil Pampana, Sarah E. Graham, Sanni E. Ruotsalainen, James A. Perry, Paul S. De Vries, Jai G. Broome, James P. Pirruccello, Michael C. Honigberg, Krishna Aragam, Brooke Wolford, Jennifer A. Brody, Lucinda Antonacci-Fulton, Moscati Arden, Stella Aslibekyan, Themistocles L. Assimes, Christie M. Ballantyne, Lawrence F. Bielak, Joshua C. Bis, Brian E. Cade, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Autosomal genetic analyses of blood lipids have yielded key insights for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, X chromosome genetic variation is understudied for blood lipids in large sample sizes. We now analyze genetic and blood lipid data in a high-coverage whole X chromosome sequencing study of 65,322 multi-ancestry participants and perform replication among 456,893 European participants. Common alleles on chromosome Xq23 are strongly associated with reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides (min P = 8.5 × 10⁻⁷²), with similar effects for males and females. Chromosome Xq23 lipid-lowering alleles are associated with reduced odds for CHD among 42,545 …

Usgs 104b Grant Program: Kentucky’S Annual Report Fy 2019, Emily Koyagi, Steve Evans, Lindell Ormsbee

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute (KWRRI) is one of 54 Water Resource Research Institutes or Centers located throughout the United States and its territories. The state water resources research institutes are authorized by the Water Resources Research Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-379 codified at 42 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) through the Water Resources Research Institutes Program administered by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and organized as the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR). NIWR cooperates with the US Geological Survey (USGS) to support, coordinate and facilitate research.

The KWRRI administers several state-level USGS grant programs for water research …

Real World Clinicopathologic Observations Of Patients With Metastatic Solid Tumors Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: Analysis From Kentucky Cancer Registry, Aasems Jacob, Jianrong Wu, Jill M. Kolesar, Eric B. Durbin, Aju Mathew, Susanne Arnold, Aman Chauhan

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

The state of Kentucky has the highest cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. High‐risk populations such as this are often underrepresented in clinical trials. The study aims to do a comprehensive analysis of molecular landscape of metastatic cancers among these patients with detailed evaluation of factors affecting response and outcomes to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. We performed a retrospective analysis of metastatic solid tumor patients who received ICI and underwent molecular profiling at our institution.

Sixty nine patients with metastatic solid tumors who received ICI were included in the study. Prevalence of smoking and secondhand tobacco exposure …

Whole-Exome Sequencing And Hipsc Cardiomyocyte Models Identify Myrip, Trappc11, And Slc27a6 Of Potential Importance To Left Ventricular Hypertrophy In An African Ancestry Population, Marguerite R. Irvin, Praful Aggarwal, Steven A. Claas, Lisa De Las Fuentes, Anh N. Do, C. Charles Gu, Andrea Matter, Benjamin S. Olson, Amit Patki, Karen Schwander, Joshua D. Smith, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Hemant K. Tiwari, Amy J. Turner, Deborah A. Nickerson, Dabeeru C. Rao, Ulrich Broeckel, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Indices of left ventricular (LV) structure and geometry represent useful intermediate phenotypes related to LV hypertrophy (LVH), a predictor of cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD) outcomes.

Methods and Results: We conducted an exome-wide association study of LV mass (LVM) adjusted to height^2.7, LV internal diastolic dimension (LVIDD), and relative wall thickness (RWT) among 1,364 participants of African ancestry (AAs) in the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network (HyperGEN). Both single-variant and gene-based sequence kernel association tests were performed to examine whether common and rare coding variants contribute to variation in echocardiographic traits in AAs. We then used a data-driven …