Digital Commons Network^™

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Fate: Applying Biomaterials For Control Of Stem Cell Behavior, Hilary J. Anderson, Jugal Kishore Sahoo, Rein V. Ulijn, Matthew J. Dalby

Publications and Research

The materials pipeline for biomaterials and tissue engineering applications is under continuous development. Specifically, there is great interest in the use of designed materials in the stem cell arena as materials can be used to manipulate the cells providing control of behavior. This is important as the ability to “engineer” complexity and subsequent in vitro growth of tissues and organs is a key objective for tissue engineers. This review will describe the nature of the materials strategies, both static and dynamic, and their influence specifically on mesenchymal stem cell fate.

An Analysis Of Canine Processing Of Stimulus Compounds Varying In Light And Sound Intensity, Katherine O. Compitus

Theses and Dissertations

A dog was trained to respond deferentially to two light-sound compounds. The dog was then tested with combinations of additional light and sound intensities. The dog appeared to use the information provided by both stimulus dimensions. This research is relevant to the understanding of information processing, specifically categorization and generalization.

Long-Term High Fat Diet Has A Profound Effect On Body Weight, Hormone Levels, And Estrous Cycle In Mice, Tandra R. Chakraborty, Laxminarasimha Donthireddy, Debasis Adhikary, Sanjoy Chakraborty

Publications and Research

Background: Obesity causes several health complications along with disruption of the reproductive system. The aim of the current study was to determine how long-term intake of very high fat diet (VHFD) changes the hormonal milieu, affecting the cellular morphology and reproductive cycle in female mice.

Material/Methods: Mice were fed on normal diet (ND) and VHFD for 2 weeks, 12 weeks, and 25–27 weeks. We assessed changes in body weight, food consumption, energy intake, cellular and tissue morphology, hormonal levels (leptin, insulin, and estradiol), and vaginal smears were performed at various time points to determine the length and cellularity at each …

The Ticker, May 9, 2016

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

P2x7r-Panx1 Complex Impairs Bone Mechanosignaling Under High Glucose Levels Associated With Type-1 Diabetes, Zeynep Seref-Ferlengez, Stephanie Maung, Mitchell B. Schaffler, David C. Spray, Sylvia O. Suadicani, Mia M. Thi

Publications and Research

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) causes a range of skeletal problems, including reduced bone density and increased risk for bone fractures. However, mechanisms underlying skeletal complications in diabetes are still not well understood.We hypothesize that high glucose levels in T1D alters expression and function of purinergic receptors (P2Rs) and pannexin 1 (Panx1) channels, and thereby impairs ATP signaling that is essential for proper bone response to mechanical loading and maintenance of skeletal integrity. We first established a key role for P2X7 receptor-Panx1 in osteocyte mechanosignaling by showing that these proteins are co-expressed to provide a major pathway for flow-induced ATP release. …

Soluble Rage Treatment Delays Progression Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis In Sod1 Mice, Judyta K. Juranek, Gurdip K. Daffu, Matthew S. Geddis, Huilin Li, Rosa Rosario, Benjamin J. Kaplan, Lauren Kelly, Ann Marie Schmidt

Publications and Research

The etiology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal motor neuron disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and spasticity, remains largely unknown. Approximately 5–10% of cases are familial, and of those, 15–20% are associated with mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). Mutations of the SOD1 gene interrupt cellular homeostasis and contribute to cellular toxicity evoked by the presence of altered SOD1, along with other toxic species, such as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs trigger activation of their chief cell surface receptor, RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products), and induce RAGE-dependent cellular stress and inflammation in …

The Many Meanings Of Montgomery V. Louisiana: How The Supreme Court Redefined Retroactivity And Miller V. Alabama, Brandon Buskey

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Direct Mechanism Of Ultrafast Intramolecular Singlet Fission In Pentacene Dimers, Eric G. Fuemmeler, Samuel N. Sanders, Andrew B. Pun, Elango Kumarasamy, Tao Zeng, Kiyoshi Miyata, Michael L. Steigerwald, X.-Y. Zhu, Matthew Y. Sfeir, Luis M. Campos, Nandini Ananth

Publications and Research

Interest in materials that undergo singlet fission (SF) has been catalyzed by the potential to exceed the Shockley–Queisser limit of solar power conversion efficiency. In conventional materials, the mechanism of SF is an intermolecular process (xSF), which is mediated by charge transfer (CT) states and depends sensitively on crystal packing or molecular collisions. In contrast, recently reported covalently coupled pentacenes yield ∼2 triplets per photon absorbed in individual molecules: the hallmark of intramolecular singlet fission (iSF). However, the mechanism of iSF is unclear. Here, using multireference electronic structure calculations and transient absorption spectroscopy, we establish that iSF can occur via …

Disruptive Behavior Disorders In Childhood And Criminal Justice System Involvement In Adolescence And Emerging Adulthood: Pilot Results Among Puerto Rican Youth, Marjorine Castillo

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBD) in childhood and arrest during adolescence and emerging adulthood was explored in a community sample of 162 Puerto Rican children who lived in the South Bronx, NYC when first recruited. Results indicate a significant link between having DBD in childhood and later arrest.

The Influence Of Religion On Science: The Case Of The Idea Of Predestination In Biospeleology., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Evolution has always been considered a battleground between religion and science. Despite that perception, there are some indications that religious beliefs have in uenced and continue to in uence some current interpretations in evolutionary biology. To that end I present evidence on how pervasive the theological idea of predestination, which has been long discussed in the the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, has in uenced some of the elucidations of the nature of biological evolution. I will concentrate on the history of ideas about the evolution of cave organisms to epitomize the strong in uence of religion on some evolutionary …

Epigenetic Profiles Signify Cell Fate Plasticity In Unipotent Spermatogonial Stem And Progenitor Cells, Ying Liu, Eugenia G. Giannopoulou, Duacheng Wen, Ilaria Falciatori, Oliver Elemento, C. David Allis, Shahin Rafii, Marco Seandel

Publications and Research

Spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells (SSCs) generate adult male gametes. During in vitro expansion, these unipotent murine cells spontaneously convert to multipotent adult spermatogonial-derived stem cells (MASCs). Here we investigate this conversion process through integrative transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses. We find in SSCs that promoters essential to maintenance and differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are enriched with histone H3-lysine4 and -lysine 27 trimethylations. These bivalent modifications are maintained at most somatic promoters after conversion, bestowing MASCs an ESC-like promoter chromatin. At enhancers, the core pluripotency circuitry is activated partially in SSCs and completely in MASCs, concomitant with loss of …

Biofluorescence In Catsharks (Scyliorhinidae): Fundamental Description And Relevance For Elasmobranch Visual Ecology, David F. Gruber, Ellis R. Loew, Dimitri D. Deheyn, Derya Akkaynak, Jean P. Gaffney, W. Leo Smith, Matthew P. Davis, Jennifer H. Stern, Vincent A. Pieribone, John S. Sparks

Publications and Research

Biofluorescence has recently been found to be widespread in marine fishes, including sharks. Catsharks, such as the Swell Shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum) from the eastern Pacific and the Chain Catshark (Scyliorhinus retifer) from the western Atlantic, are known to exhibit bright green fluorescence. We examined the spectral sensitivity and visual characteristics of these reclusive sharks, while also considering the fluorescent properties of their skin. Spectral absorbance of the photoreceptor cells in these sharks revealed the presence of a single visual pigment in each species. Cephaloscyllium ventriosum exhibited a maximum absorbance of 484 ± 3 nm and an absorbance range at half …

From Mollusks To Medicine: A Venomics Approach For The Discovery And Characterization Of Therapeutics From Terebridae Peptide Toxins, Aida Verdes, Prachi Anand, Juliette Gorson, Stephen Jannetti, Patrick Kelly, Abba Leffler, Danny Simpson, Girish Ramrattan, Mandë Holford

Publications and Research

Animal venoms comprise a diversity of peptide toxins that manipulate molecular targets such as ion channels and receptors, making venom peptides attractive candidates for the development of therapeutics to benefit human health. However, identifying bioactive venom peptides remains a significant challenge. In this review we describe our particular venomics strategy for the discovery, characterization, and optimization of Terebridae venom peptides, teretoxins. Our strategy reflects the scientific path from mollusks to medicine in an integrative sequential approach with the following steps: (1) delimitation of venomous Terebridae lineages through taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses; (2) identification and classification of putative teretoxins through omics …

The Ticker, April 18, 2016

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

College Senate Minutes May 12, 2016, Bronx Community College Senate

BCC Governance Archives

Minutes for the meeting of the College Senate on May 12, 2016.

Feral And Isolated Children From Herodotus To Akbar To Hesse: Heroes, Thinkers, And Friends Of Wolves, Karl Steel

Publications and Research

"In 1304, a small child of Hesse was taken by wolves, and lived with them for a while, eating well, learning to run on all fours, perhaps joining them in their raids on sheep and humans, until he was taken by hunters and forced to live, unhappily, in human society, compelled to learn to walk upright, and exhibited as a spectacle. This account, almost certainly legendary, belongs to a small set of similar stories of feral children from roughly the same time, which, unlike so many modern accounts of wild children, are not about isolation, deprivation, or a catastrophic separation …

Integrated Systems Biology Analysis Of Transcriptomes Reveals Candidate Genes For Acidity Control In Developing Fruits Of Sweet Orange (Citrus Sinensis L. Osbeck), Dingquang Huang, Yihong Zhao, Minghao Cao, Liang Qiao, Zhi-Liang Zheng

Publications and Research

Organic acids, such as citrate and malate, are important contributors for the sensory traits of fleshy fruits. Although their biosynthesis has been illustrated, regulatory mechanisms of acid accumulation remain to be dissected. To provide transcriptional architecture and identify candidate genes for citrate accumulation in fruits, we have selected for transcriptome analysis four varieties of sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) with varying fruit acidity, Succari (acidless), Bingtang (low acid), and Newhall and Xinhui (normal acid). Fruits of these varieties at 45 days post anthesis (DPA), which corresponds to Stage I (cell division), had similar acidity, but they displayed differential acid …

Effects Of Choline On Dna Methylation And Macronutrient Metabolic Gene Expression In In Vitro Models Of Hyperglycemia, Xinyin Jiang, Esther Greenwald, Chauntelle Jack-Roberts

Publications and Research

Choline is an essential nutrient that plays an important role in lipid metabolism and DNA methylation. Studies in rodents suggest that choline may adversely affect glycemic control, yet studies in humans are lacking. Using the human hepatic and placental cells, HepG2 and BeWo, respectively, we examined the interaction between choline and glucose treatments. In HepG2 cells, choline supplementation (1 mM) increased global DNA methylation and DNA methyltransferase expression in both low-glucose (5 mM) and high-glucose (35 mM) conditions. Choline supplementation increased the expression of peroxisomal acyl-coenzyme A oxidase 1 (ACOX1), which mediates fatty acid β-oxidation, especially in the high-glucose condition. …

Discovery And Characterisation Of A Novel Toxin From Dendroaspis Angusticeps, Named Tx7335, That Activates The Potassium Channel Kcsa, Ivan O. Rivera-Torres, Tony B. Jin, Martine Cadene, Brian T. Chait, Sébastien F. Poget

Publications and Research

Due to their central role in essential physiological processes, potassium channels are common targets for animal toxins. These toxins in turn are of great value as tools for studying channel function and as lead compounds for drug development. Here, we used a direct toxin pull-down assay with immobilised KcsA potassium channel to isolate a novel KcsA-binding toxin (called Tx7335) from eastern green mamba snake (Dendroaspis angusticeps) venom. Sequencing of the toxin by Edman degradation and mass spectrometry revealed a 63 amino acid residue peptide with 4 disulphide bonds that belongs to the three-finger toxin family, but with a unique modification …

Estimating The Probability Of Vegetation To Be Groundwater Dependent Based On The Evaluation Of Tree Models, Isabel C. Pérez Hoyos, Nir Y. Krakauer, Reza Khanbilvardi

Publications and Research

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) are increasingly threatened by humans’ rising demand for water resources. Consequently, it is imperative to identify the location of GDEs to protect them. This paper develops a methodology to identify the probability of an ecosystem to be groundwater dependent. Probabilities are obtained by modeling the relationship between the known locations of GDEs and factors influencing groundwater dependence, namely water table depth and climatic aridity index. Probabilities are derived for the state of Nevada, USA, using modeled water table depth and aridity index values obtained from the Global Aridity database. The model selected results from the performance …

Exploring Creative Information Literacy Practices Via Divergent Thinking, Joseph Hartnett

Publications and Research

Encouraged by the ACRL Framework’s call for librarians to adopt more engaging methods to teach students, as well as for students to assume more active, creative, and reflective roles in relation to the information landscape, the author questioned whether methods put forward by creativity training proponent Edward de Bono for fostering creativity might have any potential value for of helping students to engage in divergent thinking related to developing a research strategy, or as the framework would have it “Searching as a Strategic Exploration.” In order to answer this question, the author investigated the work of Edward de Bono and …

Shakespeare's Blush, Or "The Animal" In Othello, Steven Swarbrick

Publications and Research

This essay examines how the rhetoric of animalization in Shakespeare’s Othello compels us to think early modern categories of race in connection with early modern discourses of “human” versus “animal.” Beginning with Shakespeare’s representation of Iago, I suggest that it is the potential for sameness conditioned by Iago’s counterfactual statement (“Were I the Moor, I would not by Iago”) that is most significant about his relation to Othello. From there I consider the overlap between the play’s representations of animality and black skin. Read in the context of Jacques Derrida’s reflections on animals, I consider the deconstructive value of linking …

Advocate, Spring 2016, Vol. 27, No. 1, Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editor’s Note. Dadland Maye (p. 3)

CUNY News:

- Locked in Battle: The PSC, CUNY, and the Governor. Andrew Caringi (p. 6)

Debate:

- PSC Refuses to Bargain on Behalf of Adjuncts (p. 9)

Conversations:

- CUNY’s Largest Crisis in Forty Years. Conor Tomás Reed (p. 11)

Features:

- History at the Altar of Nationalism: The Stakes of the Student Resistance in India. Bhargav Rani (p. 16)

- The Signs They Should be Changing: Bringing All-Gender Bathrooms to The Graduate Center. Paul L. Hebert (p. 28)

- When Outsiders Are Not Outsiders: Enforcing Standards of Education in …

Techne Issue 03, Ting Chin, Michael Duddy, Jason Montgomery

TECHNE

The third issue of TECHNE, an annual publication of student work from the Department of Architecture at the New York City College of Technology. Edited by faculty members Ting Chin, Michael Duddy, and Jason Montgomery, this issue includes contributions from Ramsey Dabby, Ramis Rawnak, Ken Grace, Carlos Villella, Shi Long Yang, Percia Gomez, Jill Bouratoglou, Lia Dikigoropoulou, Francisco Morales, Farhana Rahman, Jianfeng Yao, Ana Perez, Peter Zaharatos, Jenne Li, Janil Castillo, Glenny Desena, Elizabeth Parks, Eileen Gray, Mohamed Yakoob, Mario Estrada, Isaias Garcia, Erjan Kadrakunov, Farhana Rahmancenter, Alfonso Severino, Loukia Tsafoulia, Mimu Sakuma, Asli N. Oney, Tatiana Zh, Esteban Beita, …

Wsq: Survival Editor's Note, Cynthia Chris, Matt Brim

Publications and Research

This Editor's Note introduces the WSQ issue "Survival," co-edited by Taylor Black, Elena Glasberg, and Frances Bartkowski, which explores affirmative acts of survival in the face of illness, occupation, violence, and environmental crises.

Diversity-Dependent Cladogenesis Throughout Western Mexico: Evolutionary Biogeography Of Rattlesnakes (Viperidae: Crotalinae: Crotalus And Sistrurus), Christopher Blair, Santiago Sánchez-Ramírez

Publications and Research

Rattlesnakes (Crotalus and Sistrurus) represent a radiation of approximately 42 species distributed throughout the New World from southern Canada to Argentina. Interest in this enigmatic group of snakes continues to accrue due, in part, to their ecomorphological diversity, contributions to global envenomations, and potential medicinal importance. Although the group has garnered substantial attention from systematists and evolutionary biologists for decades, little is still known regarding patterns of lineage diversification. In addition, few studies have statistically quantified broad-scale biogeographic patterns in rattlesnakes to ascertain how dispersal occurred throughout the New World, particularly among the different major biomes of the …

Polarity-Dependent Misperception Of Subjective Visual Vertical During And After Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs), Taiza E. G. Santos-Pontelli, Brunna P. Rimoli, Diandra B. Favoretto, Suleimy C. Mazin, Dennis Q. Truong, Joao P. Leite, Octavio M. Pontes-Neto, Suzanne R. Babyar, Michael Reding, Marom Bikson, Dylan J. Edwards

Publications and Research

Pathologic tilt of subjective visual vertical (SVV) frequently has adverse functional consequences for patients with stroke and vestibular disorders. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the supramarginal gyrus can produce a transitory tilt on SVV in healthy subjects. However, the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on SVV has never been systematically studied. We investigated whether bilateral tDCS over the temporal- parietal region could result in both online and offline SVV misperception in healthy subjects. In a randomized, sham-controlled, single-blind crossover pilot study, thirteen healthy subjects performed tests of SVV before, during and after the tDCS applied over the …

A Model Of Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, And Vaso-Vagal Responses Produced By Vestibulo-Sympathetic Activation, Theodore Raphan, Bernard Cohen, Yongqing Xiang, Sergei B. Yakushin

Publications and Research

Blood Pressure (BP), comprised of recurrent systoles and diastoles, is controlled by central mechanisms to maintain blood flow. Periodic behavior of BP was modeled to study how peak amplitudes and frequencies of the systoles are modulated by vestibular activation. The model was implemented as a relaxation oscillator, driven by a central signal related to Desired BP. Relaxation oscillations were maintained by a second order system comprising two integrators and a threshold element in the feedback loop. The output signal related to BP was generated as a nonlinear function of the derivative of the first state variable, which is a summation …

A Review Of Advances In The Identification And Characterization Of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems Using Geospatial Technologies, Isabel C. Pérez Hoyos, Nir Y. Krakauer, Reza Khanbilvardi, Roy A. Armstrong

Publications and Research

Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem (GDE) protection is increasingly being recognized as essential for the sustainable management and allocation of water resources. GDE services are crucial for human well-being and for a variety of flora and fauna. However, the conservation of GDEs is only possible if knowledge about their location and extent is available. Several studies have focused on the identification of GDEs at specific locations using ground-based measurements. However, recent progress in remote sensing technologies and their integration with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has provided alternative ways to map GDEs at a much larger spatial extent. This paper presents a review …

Electric Car-Sharing: Is It Possible In New York City?, Tomas Lopez-Pumarejo

Publications and Research

This paper examines the possibility of establishing an electric car-sharing program in New York, of the type that the French firm Bolloré articulated in France (Autolib) and in Indianapolis (Blue-Indy). It examines the current role of electric vehicles (EVs) in the global automobile industry. It explores how New York State and City policies could work in favor or against the establishment of a car-sharing program. It presents the opinions of energy and sustainability experts on electricity supply. Finally, this paper considers how an electric car-sharing system could fit into the ongoing reconfiguration of New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.