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The Determinants Of Helminth Infection In Baboons, Rita Monfort

Publications and Research

THE DETERMINANTS OF HELMINTH INFECTION IN BABOONS

Summary Paragraph:

Intestinal parasitic helminths are common in wild primate populations [1, 2] and can impose a significant burden on their host’s fitness. Numerous factors can affect the prevalence and diversity of intestinal parasites in natural populations including environmental factors [3, 4], the host’s behavior and genetics [5, 6]. How these different factors interact in natural populations remains unclear. This is in all probability due to the fact that previous studies have seldom looked at the prevalence and diversity of parasitic helminths in the same species but in different habitats over periods longer …

In Support Of A Distinction Between Voluntary And Stimulus-Driven Control: A Review Of The Literature On Proportion Congruent Effects, Julie M. Bugg, Matthew J. C. Crump

Publications and Research

Cognitive control is by now a large umbrella term referring collectively to multiple processes that plan and coordinate actions to meet task goals. A common feature of paradigms that engage cognitive control is the task requirement to select relevant information despite a habitual tendency (or bias) to select goal-irrelevant information. At least since the 1970s, researchers have employed proportion congruent (PC) manipulations to experimentally establish selection biases and evaluate the mechanisms used to control attention. PC manipulations vary the frequency with which irrelevant information conflicts (i.e., is incongruent) with relevant information. The purpose of this review is to summarize the …

What Is The Predictive Power Of The Colobine Protein-To-Fiber Model And Its Conservation Value?, Jan F. Gogarten, Melissa Guzman, Colin A. Chapman, Aerin L. Jacob, Patrick A. Omeja, Jessica Rothman

Publications and Research

Predicting variation in animal abundance across time and space has proven very difficult; however, a model exists to predict the biomass of small folivorous primates that has considerable correlative support. This model suggests that the protein-to-fiber ratio of leaves in a habitat can predict folivore biomass. Here we present an experimental test of this protein-to-fiber model to assess if the number of infant monkeys per female and group size can be predicted based on the leaf chemistry of a habitat. We expected regenerating forest in Kibale National Park, Uganda to have leaves with higher concentrations of crude protein and lower …

Lesula: A New Species Of Cercopithecus Monkey Endemic To The Democratic Republic Of Congo And Implications For Conservation Of Congo’S Central Basin, John A. Hart, Kate M. Detwiler, Christopher C. Gilbert, Andrew S. Burrell, James L. Fuller, Maurice Emetshu, Terese B. Hart, Ashley Vosper, Eric J. Sargis, Anthony J. Tosi

Publications and Research

In June 2007, a previously undescribed monkey known locally as “lesula” was found in the forests of the middle Lomami Basin in central Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We describe this new species as Cercopithecus lomamiensis sp. nov., and provide data on its distribution, morphology, genetics, ecology and behavior. C. lomamiensis is restricted to the lowland rain forests of central DRC between the middle Lomami and the upper Tshuapa Rivers. Morphological and molecular data confirm that C. lomamiensis is distinct from its nearest congener, C. hamlyni, from which it is separated geographically by both the Congo (Lualaba) and the Lomami …

The Communicator, September 11, 2012, Bronx Community College

The Communicator

The Communicator newspaper published on September 11, 2012.

Twentieth-Century Catalogs: The Poetics Of Listing, Enumeration, And Copiousness In Joyce, Schuyler, Mccourt, Pynchon, And Perec, Timothy Krause

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the occurrence of catalogs and lists in the literary works of several twentieth-century authors, including James Joyce, poet James Schuyler, novelist and cultural historian James McCourt, the postmodern fabulist Thomas Pynchon, and the French experimental prose author Georges Perec. The dissertation seeks to trace how each author makes use of catalogs in his work, how catalogs form a central part of his style and subject matter, and how his use of catalogs can be read against the biographical, historical, and social contexts surrounding his life and work. A theoretical introduction situates my work among theorists of epistemology, …

Early Invasion Of Brain Parenchyma By African Trypanosomes, Ute Frevert, Alexandru Movila, Olga V. Nikolskaia, Jayne Raper, Zachary B. Mackey, Maha Abdulla, James Mckerrow, Dennis J. Grab

Publications and Research

Human African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness is a vector-borne parasitic disease that has a major impact on human health and welfare in sub-Saharan countries. Based mostly on data from animal models, it is currently thought that trypanosome entry into the brain occurs by initial infection of the choroid plexus and the circumventricular organs followed days to weeks later by entry into the brain parenchyma. However, Trypanosoma brucei bloodstream forms rapidly cross human brain microvascular endothelial cells in vitro and appear to be able to enter the murine brain without inflicting cerebral injury. Using a murine model and intravital brain imaging, …

Chronic Ketamine Administration Modulates Midbrain Dopamine System In Mice, Sijie Tan, Wai Ping Lam, Maria S. M. Wai, Wan-Hua Amy Yu, David T. Yew

Publications and Research

Ketamine is an anesthetic and a popular abusive drug. As an anesthetic, effects of ketamine on glutamate and GABA transmission have been well documented but little is known about its long-term effects on the dopamine system. In the present study, the effects of ketamine on dopamine were studied in vitro and in vivo. In pheochromocytoma (PC 12) cells and NGF differentiated-PC 12 cells, ketamine decreased the cell viability while increasing dopamine (DA) concentrations in a dose-related manner. However, ketamine did not affect the expression of genes involved in DA synthesis. In the long-term (3 months) ketamine treated mice, significant increases …

The Structural Stability Of The Endothelial Glycocalyx After Enzymatic Removal Of Glycosaminoglycans, Ye Zeng, Eno E. Ebong, Bingmei M. Fu, John M. Tarbell

Publications and Research

Rationale It is widely believed that glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and bound plasma proteins form an interconnected gel-like structure on the surface of endothelial cells (the endothelial glycocalyx layer–EGL) that is stabilized by the interaction of its components. However, the structural organization of GAGs and proteins and the contribution of individual components to the stability of the EGL are largely unknown. Objective To evaluate the hypothesis that the interconnected gel-like glycocalyx would collapse when individual GAG components were almost completely removed by a specific enzyme. Methods and Results Using confocal microscopy, we observed that the coverage and thickness of heparan sulfate (HS), …

Inhibition Of Pokeweed Antiviral Protein (Pap) By Turnip Mosaic Virus Genome-Linked Protein (Vpg), Artem V. Domashevskiy, Hiroshi Miyoshi, Dixie J. Goss

Publications and Research

Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) from Phytolacca americana is a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) and an RNA N-glycosidase that removes specific purine residues from the sarcin/ricin loop of large rRNA, arresting protein synthesis at the translocation step. PAP is also a cap-binding protein and is a potent antiviral agent against many plant, animal, and human viruses. To elucidate the mechanism of RNA depurination, and to understand how PAP recognizes and targets various RNAs, the interactions between PAP and turnip mosaic virus genomelinked protein (VPg) were investigated. VPg can function as a cap analog in cap-independent translation and potentially target PAP to uncapped …

Temporal Changes In Collagen Cross-Links In Spontaneous Articular Cartilage Repair, Masahiko Terajima, Sheela Damle, Madhuri Penmatsa, Paul West, Mathias Bostrom, Chisa Hidaka, Mitsuo Yamauchi, Nancy Pleshko

Publications and Research

Objective: Little is known about how the biochemical properties of collagen change during tissue regeneration following cartilage damage. In the current study, temporal changes in cartilage repair tissue biochemistry were assessed in a rabbit osteochondral defect. Design: Bilateral full-thickness 3-mm osteochondral trochlear groove defects were created in 54 adult male skeletally mature New Zealand white rabbits, and tissue repair was monitored over 16 weeks. Collagen content, cross-links, lysyl hydroxylation, gene expression, histological grading, and Fourier transform infrared analyses were performed at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16 weeks. Results: Defect fill occurred at ~4 weeks postinjury; however, histological grading …

Negrocity: An Interview With Greg Tate, Camille Goodison

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Production Of Mycobacterial Cell Wall Glycopeptidolipids Requires A Member Of The Mbth-Like Protein Family, Elizabeth Tatham, Sivagami Sundaram Chavadi, Poornima Mohandas, Uthamaphani R. Edupuganti, Shiva K. Angala, Delphi Chatterjee, Luis E N Quadri

Publications and Research

Background Glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) are among the major free glycolipid components of the outer membrane of several saprophytic and clinically-relevant Mycobacterium species. The architecture of GPLs is based on a constant tripeptide-amino alcohol core of nonribosomal peptide synthetase origin that is N-acylated with a 3-hydroxy/methoxy acyl chain synthesized by a polyketide synthase and further decorated with variable glycosylation patterns built from methylated and acetylated sugars. GPLs have been implicated in many aspects of mycobacterial biology, thus highlighting the significance of gaining an understanding of their biosynthesis. Our bioinformatics analysis revealed that every GPL biosynthetic gene cluster known to date contains a …

Cannabis-Dependence Risk Relates To Synergism Between Neuroticism And Proenkephalin Snps Associated With Amygdala Gene Expression: Case-Control Study, Didier Jutras-Aswad, Michelle M. Jacobs, Georgia Yiannoulos, Panos Roussos, Panos Bitsios, Yoko Nomura, Xun Liu, Yasmin L. Hurd

Publications and Research

Background Many young people experiment with cannabis, yet only a subgroup progress to dependence suggesting individual differences that could relate to factors such as genetics and behavioral traits. Dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) and proenkephalin (PENK) genes have been implicated in animal studies with cannabis exposure. Whether polymorphisms of these genes are associated with cannabis dependence and related behavioral traits is unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings Healthy young adults (18–27 years) with cannabis dependence and without a dependence diagnosis were studied (N = 50/group) in relation to a priori-determined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the DRD2 and PENK genes. Negative affect, Impulsive Risk …

Trends In Mortality From Septicaemia And Pneumonia With Economic Development: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis, Irene O.L. Wong, Benjamin J. Cowling, Gabriel M. Leung, Mary Schooling

Publications and Research

Background
Hong Kong population has experienced drastic changes in its economic development in the 1940s. Taking advantage of Hong Kong’s unique demographic and socioeconomic history, characterized by massive, punctuated migration waves from Southern China, and recent, rapid transition from a pre-industrialized society to the first ethnic Chinese community reaching ‘‘first world’’ status over the last 60 years (i.e., in two or three generations), we examined the longitudinal trends in infection related mortality including septicemia compared to trends in non-bacterial pneumonia to generate hypotheses for further testing in other recently transitioned economies and to provide generalized aetiological insights on how economic …

Mechanisms For Sweetness123, John D. Fernstrom, Steven D. Munger, Anthony Sclafani, Ivan E. De Araujo, Ashley Roberts, Samuel Molinary

Publications and Research

A remarkable amount of information has emerged in the past decade regarding sweet taste physiology. This article reviews these data, with a particular focus on the elucidation of the sweet taste receptor, its location and actions in taste transduction in the mouth, its nontaste functions in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., in enteroendocrine cells), and the brain circuitry involved in the sensory processing of sweet taste. Complications in the use of rodents to model human sweet taste perception and responses are also considered. In addition, information relating to low-calorie sweeteners (LCS) is discussed in the context of these issues. Particular consideration …

Multi-Locus Phylogeographic And Population Genetic Analysis Of Anolis Carolinensis: Historical Demography Of A Genomic Model Species, Marc Tollis, Gavriel Ausubel, Dhruba Ghimire, Stéphane Boissinot

Publications and Research

The green anole (Anolis carolinensis) has been widely used as an animal model in physiology and neurobiology but has recently emerged as an important genomic model. The recent sequencing of its genome has shed new light on the evolution of vertebrate genomes and on the process that govern species diversification. Surprisingly, the patterns of genetic diversity within natural populations of this widespread and abundant North American lizard remain relatively unknown. In the present study, we use 10 novel nuclear DNA sequence loci (N = 62 to 152) and one mitochondrial locus (N = 226) to delimit green anole populations and …

¡Escriba! ¡Write! Volume 10, June 2012, Hostos Community College Library

¡Escriba!

No abstract provided.

Squalicorax Chips A Tooth: A Consequence Of Feeding-Related Behavior From The Lowermost Navesink Formation (Late Cretaceous: Campanian-Maastrichtian) Of Monmouth County, New Jersey, Usa, Martin A. Becker, John A. Chamberlain Jr.

Publications and Research

Chipped and broken functional teeth are common in modern sharks with serrated tooth shape. Tooth damage consists of splintering, cracking, and flaking near the cusp apex where the enameloid is broken and exposes the osteodentine and orthodentine. Such damage is generally viewed as the result of forces applied during feeding as the cusp apex impacts the skeletal anatomy of prey. Damage seen in serrated functional teeth from sharks Squalicorax kaupi [1] and Squalicorax pristodontus [1] from the late Cretaceous lowermost Navesink Formation of New Jersey resembles that occurring in modern sharks and suggests similar feeding behavior. Tumbling experiments using serrated …

Mapping Populations At Risk: Improving Spatial Demographic Data For Infectious Disease Modeling And Metric Derivation, Andrew J. Tatem, Susana Adamo, Nita Bharti, Clara R. Burgert, Marcia Castro, Audrey Dorelien, Gunter Fink, Catherine Linard, Mendelsohn John, Livia Montana, Mark R. Montgomery, Andrew Nelson, Abdisalan M. Noor, Deepa Pindolia, Greg Yetman, Deborah Balk

Publications and Research

The use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in disease surveys and reporting is becoming increasingly routine, enabling a better understanding of spatial epidemiology and the improvement of surveillance and control strategies. In turn, the greater availability of spatially referenced epidemiological data is driving the rapid expansion of disease mapping and spatial modeling methods, which are becoming increasingly detailed and sophisticated, with rigorous handling of uncertainties. This expansion has, however, not been matched by advancements in the development of spatial datasets of human population distribution that accompany disease maps or spatial models. Where risks are heterogeneous …

Pre-Whaling Genetic Diversity And Population Ecology In Eastern Pacific Gray Whales: Insights From Ancient Dna And Stable Isotopes, S Elizabeth Alter, Seth D. Newsome, Stephen R. Palumbi

Publications and Research

Commercial whaling decimated many whale populations, including the eastern Pacific gray whale, but little is known about how population dynamics or ecology differed prior to these removals. Of particular interest is the possibility of a large population decline prior to whaling, as such a decline could explain the ,5-fold difference between genetic estimates of prior abundance and estimates based on historical records. We analyzed genetic (mitochondrial control region) and isotopic information from modern and prehistoric gray whales using serial coalescent simulations and Bayesian skyline analyses to test for a pre-whaling decline and to examine prehistoric genetic diversity, population dynamics and …

Accumulation And Rapid Decay Of Non-Ltr Retrotransposons In The Genome Of The Three-Spine Stickleback, Eryn Blass, Michael Bell, Stéphane Boissinot

Publications and Research

The diversity and abundance of non–long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons (nLTR-RT) differ drastically among vertebrate genomes. At one extreme, the genome of placental mammals is littered with hundreds of thousands of copies resulting from the activity of a single clade of nLTR-RT, the L1 clade. In contrast, fish genomes contain a much more diverse repertoire of nLTR-RT, represented by numerous active clades and families. Yet, the number of nLTR-RT copies in teleostean fish is two orders of magnitude smaller than in mammals. The vast majority of insertions appear to be very recent, suggesting that nLTR-RT do not accumulate in fish …

The Communicator, April 20, 2012, Bronx Community College

The Communicator

The Communicator newspaper published on April 20, 2012.

The Search For Pan: Difference And Morality In D. H. Lawrence’S St. Mawr And The Woman Who Rode Away, Ria Banerjee

Publications and Research

Both St. Mawr (1925) and The Woman Who Rode Away (1928) were written at the height of Lawrence’s fascination with New Mexico and demonstrate a continuum of thought about the position of the European and the Indian, but what is most interesting about these stories when read in conjunction is their attitude towards difference. Lou Carrington, the protagonist of St. Mawr, holds herself separate from other women of her class, from other men, from her mother and her Indian groom, finally finding a temporary peace in seeking affinity in a landscape; the woman who rides away from home and …

Brain Memoirs, Neuroscience, And The Self: A Review Article, Jason Tougaw

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Transforming Student Engagement Through Documentary And Critical Media Literacy, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

Young people entering college today have grown up in a multimedia environment, yet the classroom they most often encounter reflects nineteenth-century pedagogy. This paper explores the paradigm shift that is making documentaries more widely accessible for use in the classroom; describes a pedagogical strategy for connecting a critical media literacy ‘reading’ of documentaries with more traditional reading of written texts; investigates the effectiveness of this method to engage students through critical media literacy in ways that encourage transformation. Effectiveness was measured in a voluntary, self-reported questionnaire, emailed to students after the semester they took Introductory Sociology. Students in the sample …

Nongenomic Mechanisms Of Pten Regulation, Jimmie E. Fata, Shawon Debnath, Edmund C. Jenkins, Marcia V. Fournier

Publications and Research

A large amount of data supports the view that PTEN is a bona fide tumor suppressor gene. However, recent evidence suggests that derailment of cellular localization and expression levels of functional nonmutated PTEN is a determining force in inducing abnormal cellular and tissue outcomes. As the cellular mechanisms that regulate normal PTEN enzymatic activity resolve, it is evident that deregulation of these mechanisms can alter cellular processes and tissue architecture and ultimately lead to oncogenic transformation. Here we discuss PTEN ubiquitination, PTEN complex formation with components of the adherens junction, PTEN nuclear localization, and microRNA regulation of PTEN as essential …

Integration Of Subthreshold And Suprathreshold Excitatory Barrages Along The Somatodendritic Axis Of Pyramidal Neurons, Hysell V. Oviedo, Alex D. Reyes

Publications and Research

Neurons integrate inputs arriving in different cellular compartments to produce action potentials that are transmitted to other neurons. Because of the voltage- and time-dependent conductances in the dendrites and soma, summation of synaptic inputs is complex. To examine summation of membrane potentials and firing rates, we performed whole-cell recordings from layer 5 cortical pyramidal neurons in acute slices of the rat’s somatosensory cortex. We delivered subthreshold and suprathreshold stimuli at the soma and several sites on the apical dendrite, and injected inputs that mimic synaptic barrages at individual or distributed sites. We found that summation of subthreshold potentials differed from …

The Communicator, March 20, 2012, Bronx Community College

The Communicator

The Communicator newspaper published on March 20, 2012.

Fellow Travellers: A Concordance Of Colonization Patterns Between Mice And Men In The North Atlantic Region, E P. Jones, K Skirnisson, T H. Mcgovern, Mtp Gilbert, E Willerslev, J B. Searle

Publications and Research

Background House mice (Mus musculus) are commensals of humans and therefore their phylogeography can reflect human colonization and settlement patterns. Previous studies have linked the distribution of house mouse mitochondrial (mt) DNA clades to areas formerly occupied by the Norwegian Vikings in Norway and the British Isles. Norwegian Viking activity also extended further westwards in the North Atlantic with the settlement of Iceland, short-lived colonies in Greenland and a fleeting colony in Newfoundland in 1000 AD. Here we investigate whether house mouse mtDNA sequences reflect human history in these other regions as well. Results House mice samples from Iceland, whether …