Digital Commons Network^™

Twist And Snout: Head And Body Morphologies Determine Feeding Kinematics In Substrate-Biting Fishes, Tal Perevolotsky, Jacob M. Brotman-Krass, Yarden Ratner, Yael Avigad, Adam P. Summers, Cassandra M. Donatelli, Roi Holzman

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Synopsis

Across teleosts, feeding by biting substrate-attached prey has evolved multiple times and is associated with convergent morphologies that include a deep body and an elongated, tapered head. However, the functional role of these morphologies in substrate-biting fish is not established. Here, we tested the hypothesis that these morphologies function as control surfaces that affect feeding kinematics during biting. To test this hypothesis, we used simplified physical models of substrate-biting reef fish and examined the role of head, body, and fin morphology in determining feeding kinematics that facilitate the removal of substrate-attached prey. Models simulated the swift lateral movement of …

Perception Of Quality Of Life, Brain Regions, And Cognitive Performance In Hispanic Adults: A Canonical Correlation Approach, Juan C. Lopez-Alvarenga, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Jesus Rivera-Sanchez, Lorena Velazquez-Alvarez, Rosa V. Pirela, John Blangero, Jose E. Cavazos, Michael C. Mahaney, Joseph D. Terwilliger, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications

The quality of life (QoL) perception has been studied in neurological diseases; however, there is limited information linking brain morphological characteristics, QoL, and cognition. Human behavior and perception are associated with specific brain areas that interact through diffuse electrochemical networking. We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to analyze the brain region volume (BRV) correlation with the scores of Rand’s 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) and cognitive domains (memory and dementia status). We analyzed data from 420 adult participants in the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS). Principal component analysis with oblimin axis rotation was used to gather redundant information from brain parcels …

Human Ipsc-Based Breast Cancer Model Identifies S100p-Dependent Cancer Stemness Induced By Brca1 Mutation, Jingxin Liu, Cai Zhao, Jiahao Chen, Pengguihang Zeng, Qingjian Li, Xingqiang Lai, Jianing Chen, Xixi Zhu, Xinyi Liu, Jun Sun, Jia Wang, Peihang Fang, Tengfei Wang, Wenjie Chen, Diana Guallar, Nan Cao, Jianli Zhao, Shicheng Su, Andy Peng Xiang, Yi Arial Zeng, Jie Li, Junchao Cai, Dung-Fang Lee, Jinxin Bei, Yongliang Huo, Hai Hu, Shengbao Suo, Dong-Feng Huang, Jin Bai, Junjun Ding

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in females and remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women worldwide. The cellular and molecular basis of breast tumorigenesis is not completely understood partly due to the lack of human research models which simulate the development of breast cancer. Here, we developed a method for generating functional mammary-like cells (MCs) from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The iPSC-MCs closely resemble human primary MCs at cellular, transcriptional, and functional levels. Using this method, a breast cancer model was generated using patient-derived iPSCs harboring germline

Genetic Control Of Sweetness And Acidity In Blackberry, Carly Godwin, T. Mason Chizk, Carmen John, Lacy Nelson, Renee Threlfall, John R. Clark, Margaret L. Worthington

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction The global blackberry (Rubus subgenus Rubus) industry has experienced rapid growth during the past 20 years. Even so, many industry stakeholders report complaints from consumers and grocers stating that blackberries are often too tart or not sweet enough for their palate. Studies have shown that most consumers prefer sweet blackberries with relatively low acidity, but little research has been conducted to understand the genetic control of these traits in Rubus.Methods The objective of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) related to sweetness and acidity in autotetraploid blackberry using a genome-wide association study (GWAS). A panel consisting …

Evaluation Of Physical, Mental, And Mechanical Aspects Of An Extreme Military Training Event: A Continuous Monitoring Approach, Tirthankar Chatterjee, Debojyoti Bhattacharyya, Roshani Meena

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Soldiers receive extensive training at extremes of environments and simulated terrains to improve their battle efficiency. A study was designed to evaluate the actual cost of a military physical efficiency test consisting of several physically engaging activities to quantify physiological, mechanical, and subjective demands. Sixteen Indian soldiers participated in a military training session consisting of events such as a 5-km run, 4-m vertical rope climbing, a 2.75-m jump, a 60-m dash, and a 9-m horizontal rope climbing with 6.5 kg of equipment in a hot dry environment. Their physiological status was monitored continuously. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load …

Machine-Learning Driven Strategies For Adapting Immunotherapy In Metastatic Nsclc, Maliazurina B Saad, Qasem Al-Tashi, Lingzhi Hong, Vivek Verma, Wentao Li, Shenduo Li, Carol C Wu, Brett W Carter, Girish S Shroff, Tina Cascone, Xiuning Le, Yasir Y Elamin, Mehmet Altan, Simon Heeke, Ajay Sheshadri, Joe Y Chang, Percy P Lee, Zhongxing Liao, Don L Gibbons, Ara A Vaporciyan, J Jack Lee, Ignacio I Wistuba, Cara Haymaker, Seyedali Mirjalili, David Jaffray, Justin F Gainor, Yanyan Lou, Alessandro Di Federico, Federica Pecci, Mark Awad, Biagio Ricciuti, John V Heymach, Natalie I Vokes, Jianjun Zhang, Jia Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), either as monotherapy (ICI-Mono) or combined with chemotherapy (ICI-Chemo), improves survival in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, prospective guidance for choosing between these options remains limited, and single-feature biomarkers like PD-L1 prove inadequate. We develop a machine learning model using clinicogenomic data from four cohorts (MD Anderson n = 750; Mayo Clinic n = 80; Dana-Farber n = 1077; Stand Up To Cancer n = 393) to predict individual benefit from adding chemotherapy. Benefit scores are calculated using five distinct functions derived from 28 genomic and 6 clinical features. Our integrated model, A-STEP (Attention-based …

Minimal Ablative Margin Quantification Using Hepatic Arterial Versus Portal Venous Phase Ct For Colorectal Metastases Segmentation: A Dual-Center, Retrospective Analysis, Noreen S Siddiqi, Yuan-Mao Lin, Jessica Albuquerque Marques Silva, Gregor Laimer, Peter Schullian, Alexandra M Dunker, Kyle A Jones, Kristy K Brock, Reto Bale, Bruno C Odisio, Iwan Paolucci

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To compare the predictive value of minimal ablative margin (MAM) quantification using tumor segmentation on intraprocedural contrast-enhanced hepatic arterial (HAP) versus portal venous phase (PVP) CT on local outcomes following percutaneous thermal ablation of colorectal liver metastases (CRLM).

Methods: This dual-center retrospective study included patients undergoing thermal ablation of CRLM with intraprocedural preablation and postablation contrast-enhanced CT imaging between 2009 and 2021. Tumors were segmented in both HAP and PVP CT phases using an artificial intelligence-based auto-segmentation model and reviewed by a trained radiologist. The MAM was quantified using a biomechanical deformable image registration process. The area under the …

Sbv_Dps: A Stacking-Bagging-Voting Nested Ensemble Based Diabetes Prediction System Using K-Fold Cross Validation, Sourabh Shastri, Sachin Kumar, Paramjit Kour, Vibhakar Mansotra

Mansoura Engineering Journal

With the advancement of machine learning techniques, the introduction of the most accurate model has become a necessity. In real-world scenarios, every model has some constraints and assimilates errors, so their performance is not always highly efficient; this sparked the development of ensemble learning. The ensemble approach aims to consolidate the strengths of existing approaches and minimize their weaknesses or decision-making risks. The proposed diabetes prediction system encases a resampling filter, applied to balance the dataset and model builder method, i.e., without the SBV ensemble and with the SBV ensemble method. The model is initially built without using the SBV …

Multiple Stressors Effects On The Physiological Performance Of Mytilus Trossulus, M. Christina Vasquez, Alana J. Borer, Claribel Y. Alcantar, Osiris Guinea Zepeda, Camya A. Brazil, Colin Carr, Emma Guerrini Romano, Alexander J. Provenzano, Min Jeon Roh

Biology Faculty Works

Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. trossulus co-occur and hybridize along set biogeographical ranges of temperature and salinity along the Pacific coast, USA. However, the role of physiological traits in mussel distribution remains poorly understood. We investigated metabolic rate, antioxidant activity (superoxide dismutase, catalase), oxidative damage (malondialdehyde content, MDA), and clearance rate of M. trossulus under multiple stressors: 7 days of hyposalinity (20, 28, 34 ppt), followed by an acute heat shock (17, 20, 25 ◦C). We found a significant effect of temperature on metabolic rate, an interaction effect on antioxidant activity, and MDA, and independent temperature and salinity effects on clearance …

The Microtubule-Severing Enzyme Spastin Regulates Spindle Dynamics To Promote Chromosome Segregation In Trypanosoma Brucei, Thiago Souza Onofre, Qing Zhou, Ziyin Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Microtubule-severing enzymes play essential roles in diverse cellular processes, including mitosis and cytokinesis, by modulating microtubule dynamics. In the early branching Trypanosoma brucei, microtubule-severing enzymes are involved in cytokinesis and flagellum length control, but none of them have been found to regulate mitosis. Here we report the characterization of the microtubule-severing enzyme spastin in the procyclic form of T. brucei. We demonstrate that spastin severs microtubule in vitro and overexpression of spastin disrupts spindle microtubules in vivo in trypanosomes, leading to defective chromosome segregation. Knockdown of spastin impairs spindle integrity and disrupts chromosome alignment and segregation. We further show that …

Environmental, Social, And Molecular Regulation Of Foraging Behavior In The Formosan Subterranean Termite, Arjun Khadka

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Foraging is a critical activity in social insects, essential for resource acquisition and colony sustenance. In termites, this behavior is shaped by environmental, social, and genetic factors, yet the underlying regulatory mechanisms remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined how environmental food and moisture availability, and the age of termites affected foraging activities, along with the molecular regulation of foraging in the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, using a combination of behavioral assays, transcriptomics, and molecular biology approaches. First, we demonstrate that food and moisture deprivation (FMD) significantly affects foraging, with termites under deprivation conditions exhibiting increased foraging …

Effects Of Plasma-Activated Water On Wheat: Germination And Seedling Development, Wafaa Abdulrazzaq Abdullah, Hadeel O. Ismael, Duaa A. Uamran, Hammad R. Humud

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The food sector must contend with issues such as pathogen resistance to some of the available chemical agents, environmental pollution, and climate change to provide healthy food for livestock and people. The application of atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) is one potential solution for such problems. Plasma is appropriate for effective surface decontamination regarding food products and seeds, surface decontamination, and achieving improved agricultural production yields. The impact of plasma-activated water (PAW) produced by plasma jet discharge (PJD) system on in vitro-cultivated wheat seeds is examined in this work. For this aim, a plasma jet system was constructed with a …

A Caffeine And Theacrine Combination Improves Cognitive Performance In Tactical Personnel Under Physically Fatiguing Conditions, Blaine S. Lints, Adam T. Harrison, Sten O. Stray-Gundersen, Gianna F. Mastrofini, Riccardo F. Romersi, Noah K. Nakagawa, Mackenzie B. Yonder, Chimaobim E. Martin-Diala, Alexa J. Chandler, R. Davis Moore, Shawn M. Arent Ph.D., Cscs*D, Fissn, Facsm, Fnak

Faculty Publications

Background

Optimizing human performance under stressful physical and cognitive conditions is paramount during high-stakes military operations. As such, interventions to improve warfighter performance by mitigating task-induced cognitive performance deficits are necessary. While caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, common side effects (i.e. anxiousness, micro-saccades, irritability) may be detrimental to warfighter operations. Theacrine, a purine alkaloid similar in structure to caffeine but with a longer half-life, less habituation, and fewer side effects, is proposed as a caffeine-alternative to enhance cognitive resilience.

Methods

Tactically trained participants (n = 20; F = 5; M = 16; age …

An Alternative Neural Basis Underlying Leptin Resistance, Hongli Li, Cunjin Su, Yuanzhong Xu, Mette Q Ludwig, Jon Davis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Overconsumption of a palatable Western diet, a condition linked to central leptin resistance, contributes extensively to the current obesity epidemic. In this context, intensive efforts have focused on detailing the molecular mechanisms underlying leptin resistance. Here, we demonstrate that chronic inhibition of hypothalamic arcuate GABAergic neurons (ArcGABA) effectively reduced diet-induced obesity (DIO). Interestingly, palatable food exposure increased the activity level of ArcGABA neurons, which do not express the leptin receptor (non-LepR neurons; nonresponsive to leptin). Chronic activation of ArcGABA non-LepR neurons led to massive obesity, which was associated with normal leptin-induced pSTAT3 signaling but phenotypic leptin resistance; i.e., high leptin …

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part Xli. Pandinops Sahil Sp. N. From Somaliland (Scorpionidae), František Kovařík

Euscorpius

Pandinops sahil sp. n. from Somaliland is described and compared with other species of the genus, fully complemented with color photos of specimens of both sexes of the new species, as well as of their habitat. Pandinops bambii Rossi, 2017 is synonymyzed with Pandinops turieli Kovařík, 2016, syn. n. A key for the species of Pandinops and a map of the distribution of the genus are provided.

Ethical Implications Of Being A Holobiont, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

Developmental plasticity and holobiont theory have undermined the normative concepts of biological individuality. However, such traditional ideas of biological individuality have helped define and support Western ethical views into the 21st century. Guided by some of the ethical formulae of Simone Weil, Hans Jonas, and Alastair MacIntyre, this essay attempts to outline some possible trajectories for an ethics that is bounded by these new biological paradigms of environmental agency. Specifically, the ecological developmental biology concepts of plasticity and holobiont theory permit the “ethics of attention” to focus on the partnerships of living beings. Highlighting environmentally integrated life cycles and their …

A Deep-Learning-Based Dehazing Framework For Non-Homogenous Scenes, Shimaa Mohammed Abd Elghany, Doaa A. Altantawy, Hossam El-Din Moustafa Moustafa

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The advancement of single-image dehazing techniques has been rapid in recent years. Several existing algorithms that are based on deep learning have shown remarkable efficiency for dealing with homogeneous hazing-free issues, but convolutional neural networks (CNNS) frequently fail on non-homogeneous dehazing datasets. Meanwhile, dehaze results from dense haze regions are often blurry because the information of these regions is typically unknown and difficult to estimate. To address these issues, an efficient image enhancement dehazing algorithm that utilizes deep learning techniques, and a non-uniform atmospheric scattering model had been proposed. Unlike the majority of existing dehazing methods, the medium transmission function …

The Effect Of Transformer Based Pre-Trained Language Models On Biomedical Relation Extractions, Eman Saad, Sherif Kishk, Amr Ali-Eldin, Ahmed I. Saleh

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Biomedical relation extraction represents a critical advancement in healthcare research. As the volume of biomedical publications continues to grow exponentially, efficient extraction of entity relationships has become essential for accelerating knowledge discovery, drug development, and precision medicine initiatives. The field has evolved from focusing on simple binary relations, such as Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI), which are fundamental to understanding cellular processes and therapeutic development, to addressing more complex multi-class classification challenges like Drug-Drug Interactions (DDI) and Chemical-Protein Interactions (CPI).Pre-trained language models have become the cornerstone of modern approaches of extracting biomedical relations. Models like BioBERT, PubMedBERT, and SciBERT, along with general-purpose …

Novel Tools And Datamining Techniques To Visualize And Interpret Historical Sugarcane Datasets, Zachary A. Taylor

LSU Master's Theses

Heritable genetic variation is an essential raw ingredient of variety development programs. This variation is acted upon via selection by identifying elite progeny that can be utilized agronomically or exploited as parents. Sugarcane breeders are tasked with creating optimal genetic variation through crossing. Prior knowledge of pedigree and parental performance allows breeders to discern which crosses to prioritize, since the time to make crossing decisions and the space to evaluate tens and thousands of progenies are both limited resources in sugarcane variety development programs. In this project, we have updated and validated the U.S. sugarcane pedigree …

Parthenocarpic Cucumber Cultivar Susceptibility Varies Among Common High Tunnel Insect And Mite Pests, Leslie Aviles, Elizabeth Maynard, Wenjing Guan, Laura Ingwell

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

High tunnels (HTs) are a protected agriculture tool used by specialty crop farmers. Cucumbers (Cucumis sativa L.) are well suited for HT production because of their vertical growth habit, allowing for space optimization, and repeated flowering, providing multiple harvest opportunities. However, twospotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch; TSSM), striped cucumber beetles (Acalymma vittatum Fabricius), and melon aphids (Aphis gossypii Glover) are common pests of cucumbers in HT systems, limiting production. The unique environment of HTs lacks regulation of temperatures, which can reach high levels during summer, facilitating the rapid development of pests. Here, we present results …

A Glyoxal-Specific Aldehyde Signaling Axis In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa That Influences Quorum Sensing And Infection, Christopher J. Corcoran, Bonnie J. Cuthbert, David G. Glanville, Mailyn Terrado, Diana Valverde Mendez, Benjamin P. Bratton, Daniel E. Schemenauer, Valerie L. Tokars, Thomas G. Martin, Lawrence W. Rasmussen, Matthew C. Madison, Andrew F. Maule, Joshua W. Shaevitz, Boo Shan Tseng, Julian P. Whitelegge, Catherine Putonti, Amit Gaggar, Jordan R. Beach, Jonathan A. Kirk, Alfonso Mondragón, Abby R. Kroken, Jonathan P. Allen, Celia W. Goulding, Andrew T. Ulijasz

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The universally conserved α-oxoaldehydes glyoxal (GO) and methylglyoxal (MGO) are toxic metabolic byproducts whose accumulation can lead to cell death. In the absence of a known, natural inducer of the GO-specific response in prokaryotes, we exploited RNA-seq to define a GO response in the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The highest upregulated operon consisted of the known glyoxalase (gloA2) and an antibiotic monooxygenase (ABM) domain of unknown function - renamed here Aldehyde responsive quorum-sensing Inhibitor (ArqI). The arqI-gloA2 operon is highly specific to GO induction and ArqI protein responds by migrating to the flagellar pole. An ArqI atomic structure revealed several …

Truncated Ntrk2 Is Induced In Cap1 Endothelial Cells During Mouse Lung Injury-Repair, Celine Shuet Lin Kong, Mitheera V, Jezreel Pantaleón-García, Scott E Evans, Jichao Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pulmonary capillary endothelial cells (ECs) consist of two populations, CAP1 and CAP2; how each population reacts to diverse tissue injury is incompletely understood. Using single-cell multiome and mouse genetics, we characterize the induction and function of a truncated isoform of Ntrk2, Ntrk2-T1, in multiple lung injury models. Upon Sendai parainfluenza infection, Ntrk2-T1 is broadly induced in CAP1s after the initial interferon response, associated with increased intronic chromatin accessibility, and persists for weeks. Ntrk2-T1 ECs arise from CAP1s but not CAP2s-traced by

Investigating The Capacity Of Tdp-43 Low Complexity Domain To Target Protein Aggregates In Yeast, Nicholas J. Grahame

Biology Summer Fellows

Utilizing protein TDP-43 and fluorescent proteins to:

Investigate TDP-43’s LCD region in protein aggregates. Use fluorescent protein tagging to visualize co-localization and aggregation. Leverage yeast as a model system for studying LLPS and aggregation.

Can we target chaperone proteins to TDP-43 LCD region?

Predicting Sleep And Sleep Stage In Children Using Actigraphy And Heartrate Via A Long Short-Term Memory Deep Learning Algorithm: A Performance Evaluation, Robert Weaver Med, Phd, James White, Olivia Finnegan, Hongpeng Yang, Zifei Zhong, Keagan Kiely, Catherine Jones, Yan Tong, Srihari Nelakuditi, Rahul Ghosal, David E. Brown, Russell R. Pate Ph.D., Gregory J. Welk, Massimiliano De Zambotti, Yuan Wang, Sarah Burkart, Elizabeth L. Adams Phd, Bridget Armstrong, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd

Faculty Publications

Children's ambulatory sleep is commonly measured via actigraphy. However, traditional actigraphy measured sleep (e.g., Sadeh algorithm) struggles to predict wake (i.e., specificity, values typically < 70) and cannot predict sleep stages. Long short-term memory (LSTM) is a machine learning algorithm that may address these deficiencies. This study evaluated the agreement of LSTM sleep estimates from actigraphy and heartrate (HR) data with polysomnography (PSG). Children (N = 238, 5–12 years,52.8% male, 50% Black 31.9% White) participated in an overnight laboratory polysomnography. Participants were referred be-cause of suspected sleep disruptions. Children wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer and two of three consumer wearables(i.e., Apple Watch Series 7, Fitbit Sense, Garmin Vivoactive 4) on their non-dominant wrist during the polysomnogram. LSTM estimated sleep versus wake and sleep stage (wake, not-REM, REM) using raw actigraphy and HR data for each 30-s epoch. Logistic regression and random forest were also estimated as a benchmark for performance with which to compare the LSTM results. A 10-fold cross-validation technique was employed, and confusion matrices were constructed. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the agreement between research-grade and consumer wearables with the criterion polysomnography. For sleep versus wake classification, LSTM outperformed logistic regression and random forest with accuracy ranging from 94.1to 95.1, sensitivity ranging from 94.9 to 95.9 across different devices, and specificity ranging from 84.5 to 89.6. The addition of HR improved the prediction of sleep stages but not binary sleep versus wake. LSTM is promising for predicting sleep and sleep staging from actigraphy data, and HR may improve sleep stage prediction.

Comparative Mitogenomics Of Clitellata Reveals Mitogenome Organization Can Affect The Mode Of Phylogeny, Deni̇z Mercan, Austin Horenkamp, Merve Nur Aydemi̇r, Habeş Bi̇lal Aydemi̇r, Kurt Neubig, Nai̇me Arslan, Frank E. Anderson

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Clitellata is a major clade of Annelida that includes almost all freshwater and terrestrial annelids as well as many marine species. Aquatic oligochaetes include the union of the two multispecies families: Naididae and Tubificidae. There has been much debate regarding the phylogeny and classification of the cosmopolitan and diverse Naididae. In this study, the total mitogenome sequences of Potamothrix hammoniensis (Naididae: Tubificinae), Stylaria fossularis, Stylaria lacustris, Chaetogaster diaphanus, Chaetogaster diaphanus sp. B, and Slavina appendiculata (Naididae: Naidinae) were sequenced and characterized and can be accessed from NCBI under accession numbers OQ654101, PP909790, PP909791, PP909792, PP909793, and PP893275, respectively. For comparative …

Human Development, Inequality, And Their Associations With Brain Structure Across 29 Countries, Vicente Medel, Luz M. Alliende, Richard Bethlehem, Jakob Seidlitz, Grace Ringlein, Celso Arango, Aurina Arnatkevičiūtė, Laila Asmal, Mark Bellgrove, Anderson M. Winkler

Human Genetics Publications

Background: The macro-social and environmental conditions in which people live, such as the level of a country’s development or inequality, are associated with brain-related disorders. However, the relationship between these systemic environmental factors and the brain remains unclear. We here aimed to determine the association between the level of development and inequality of a country and the brain structure of healthy adults.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study pooling brain imaging (T1-based) data from 145 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies in 7,962 healthy adults (4,110 women) in 29 different countries. We used a meta-regression approach to relate the brain structure …

Maternal Hyperleptinemia Alters Placental Transcriptome And Progesterone Regulation Without Affecting Early Equine Fetal Growth, Lucinda L. Thorburn

LSU Master's Theses

While consequences of equine obesity are well defined, the extent to which persistent hyperleptinemia and accompanying leptin (Lep) resistance affect the fetal-maternal environment warrants further exploration. This study compared endocrine, fetal, placental, and uterine parameters during early pregnancy (through day 70) in mares with elevated leptin versus normal leptin (NL) concentrations. Fourteen mares were classified as either NL (n = 6; Lep 0.9 ± 0.3 ng/mL), moderate leptin (ML; n = 4; Lep 3.0 ± 0.3 ng/mL), or high leptin (HL; n = 4; Lep 5.8 ± 0.7 ng/mL) based on annual plasma leptin. Mares were artificially inseminated and induced …

Examining Weight Bias Attitude Changes After Exposure To A Brief Photovoice Assignment, Gretchen L. George, Hillary L. Roberts, Kristin Rose, Madison Clemens, Kate G. Burt

Journal of Dietetic Education

Weight bias is present among pre-health professional students (e.g., nutrition, dietetics, nursing, physical therapy, medicine). Educators need support and guidelines about how to enhance learning through engaging assignments while also meeting accreditation requirements. This pilot study examined the impact of an innovative weight bias assignment using photovoice and reflection within existing nutrition education courses, measured through pre-post assessments from the Fat Attitudes Assessment Toolkit. While not all subscales showed significant change, improvements in the Fat Acceptance and Attribution Complexity Composites suggest these methods may be effective in shifting attitudes about fatness. Further research is needed to assess the long-term impact …

Development Of Dietetics Students’ Skills And Self-Efficacy In The Nutrition Care Process, Kristen Heitman, Marcia Nahikian-Nelms, Holly Estes-Doetsch, Kristen M. Roberts, Jennifer A. Garner, Julie Kennel, Christopher A. Taylor

Journal of Dietetic Education

The Nutrition Care Process (NCP) is a systematic framework for providing nutrition care and a cornerstone of dietetics practice. Dietetics education relies on development of skills to achieve competence and demonstrate readiness for practice. The relationship between development of fundamental skills and self-efficacy among dietetics students preparing for clinical practice remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to examine the development of dietetics students’ skills in NCP documentation and their self-efficacy in performing the skills over one academic year. Student nutrition notes (n = 120 notes, n = 30 students) from standardized patient encounters were evaluated for quality using …

Integrated Advanced Education Supports Future Registered Dietitian Nutritionists’ Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy In Practice, Crystal C. Douglas, Simone Camel

Journal of Dietetic Education

Objective: Evaluate the effectiveness of graduate-level breastfeeding and lactation management education that includes didactive and active learning components on future RDNs’ knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Design: A pre-and post-test design, utilizing a 41-item pre-intervention survey, learning modules, and a 35-item post-intervention survey. Setting: Three U.S. public universities located in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Participants: Graduate-level dietetic internship students. Intervention: Four advanced education modules (2 didactive; 2 active learning) developed by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists. Main outcome measures: Gains in breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy to assist with breastfeeding education and problem-solving using validated and newly developed survey items. Analysis: Descriptive statistics, …