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Unl Emeriti And Retirees Association Newsletter, Spring 2016

UNL Emeriti and Retirees Association: Newsletters and Other Materials

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti and Retirees Association Newsletter, Spring 2016

Amp Expression In Energetic Hybrid D. Melanogaster Infected With P. Rettgeri, Cassandra K. Treu, Justin Buchanan, Kristi Montooth

UCARE: Research Products

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate immune function and energy metabolism, particularly the levels of antimicrobial peptides produced in Drosophila energetically compromised genotypes. This will provide the ability to investigate energetics of immunity without changing diet. Flies were infected with the bacteria P. rettgeri and the resulting immune response was investigated. Females did not mount as effective an immune response as males. All flies exhibited decreased survivorship from infection. Control flies survived at higher levels and showed no mitochondrial:nuclear interaction.

Identification And Characterization Of Ion Channel Activity Of The M2 Protein From Influenza Virus D (Dm2), Jianing Liu

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Viral ion channels are membrane proteins of influenza viruses that play essential roles in the replication cycle, which enables them to be targeted by antiviral drugs. M2 of influenza type A virus, BM2 of influenza type B virus, and CM2 from influenza type C virus have been characterized as ion channel proteins and antiviral drug amantadine was developed to control influenza type A virus. However, few studies have been conducted to clarify the properties of the M2 protein (DM2) of influenza type D virus, a novel influenza virus genus identified in 2014. To identify the ion channel activity of DM2, …

The Military And Infectious Disease: Rickettsial Disease, Isa Hakima

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Since the founding of the United States Army on the fourteenth day of June in the year 1775, the United States Military has had millions of noncombat-related casualties due to preventable illnesses and diseases transmitted through an arthropod vector. U.S. Military operations have been affected from the effects of the smallpox and malaria outbreaks as early as the Continental Army around 1775, as well as the Civil War period in the mid-1860s. In 1898, the U.S. Military was devastated with outbreaks of typhoid fever, yellow fever, and dengue fever during the months of the Spanish-American War (Artenstein et al., 2005). …

Studies Of Debaryomyces Hansenii Killer Toxin And Its Effect On Pathogenic Bloodstream Candida Isolates, Rhaisa A. Crespo Ramírez

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Candida species are normal commensal organisms found in the skin, mouth, and gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts of humans. Candida albicans is a normal component of the gut flora, and the oral and genital cavities. However, this organism is an opportunistic pathogen and it is one of the most frequently isolated species from patients with nosocomial fungal infections. Candida infections have grown in recent years due to antimycotics resistance and the extensive use of antibiotics. This has pushed scientists to look for alternative therapeutic agents to treat fungal infections.

Yeasts can produce toxic proteins called “mycocins” or “killer toxins” that can …

Remanded Decision In Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, & Sage Publications Vs. Georgia State University Et Al., Orinda D. Evans

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Defendants' Motion to Strike Portions of Plaintiffs' Remand Brief and to Disregard Declaration [Doc. 502] is GRANTED. This case is currently before the Court for fair use analysis with respect to 48 infringement claims. Plaintiffs are entitled to prevail on the claims involving 7 works in Georgia State classes. With respect to the other infringement claims, Defendants are entitled to prevail.

Defendants are the prevailing side and are entitled to an award of costs and attorneys' fees.

Αβ-Peptide Mimics Of Z-Domain Peptides, Samuel H. Gellman, James W. Checco

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

Described are αβ-peptide mimics of Z-domain scaffold pep tides, methods of making them, and methods of using them. The αβ-peptide mimics include B-amino acid residues and, optionally, disulfide bonds to stabilize the conformation of the mimics. The compounds may be truncated as compared to conventional Z-domain scaffold peptides and are resistant to proteolytic degradation due to the presence off-amino acid residues. The mimics can be made so as to bind selectively to a desired target.

Most Frequently Downloaded Items In February 2016, Unl Digital Commons, Paul Royster

Institutional Repository Information

Taking advantage of a 29th day this leap year, the UNL Digital Commons supplied 580,677 downloads for the month. The 250 most frequently downloaded are listed below.

Overall, the repository supplied 123,646 downloads of those 250 items, plus another 457,031 downloads of 46,975 other items not among the top 250. There were 23,017 items that were not downloaded during the month. This represents an average of 8.3 downloads per available item; and 67.5% of available items were downloaded at least once.

February's total was an increase of 15.9% over February 2015 and a 26.2% increase over February 2014 (helped in …

Profiles Of Low Complexity Regions In Apicomplexa, Fabia U. Battistuzzi, Kristan A. Schneider, Matthew K. Spencer, David Fisher, Sophia Chadhry, Ananias A. Escalante

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Background: Low complexity regions (LCRs) are a ubiquitous feature in genomes and yet their evolutionary history and functional roles are unclear. Previous studies have shown contrasting evidence in favor of both neutral and selective mechanisms of evolution for different sets of LCRs suggesting that modes of identification of these regions may play a role in our ability to discern their evolutionary history. To further investigate this issue, we used a multiple threshold approach to identify species-specific profiles of proteome complexity and, by comparing properties of these sets, determine the influence that starting parameters have on evolutionary inferences.

Results: …

Laelapine Mite (Acari: Laelapidae) Morphometric Analysis Reflects Taxonomic And Geographic Clusters Of South American Oryzomyines (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae), Donald Gettinger, Robert D. Owen

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Ongoing efforts to survey and inventory nonvolant small mammals across the Neotropics are beginning to reveal a highly structured and diverse fauna of rodents and marsupials. By increasing the foundation of specimens in museums around the world, it has become possible, for the first time, to evaluate and quantify the similarities and differences among small mammals collected from a broad range of geographic locali­ties, ecoregions, and habitats. Because ectoparasites were sampled in the process of collecting mammalian voucher specimens, we are able to study the laelapine mites (Acari: Laelapidae) associated with well-iden­tified and verifiable host specimens. Here, we evaluate morphometric …

Dna Barcoding And Taxonomy: Dark Taxa And Dark Texts, Roderic D. M. Page

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Both classical taxonomy and DNA barcoding are engaged in the task of digitizing the living world.Much of the taxonomic literature remains undigitized. The rise of open access publishing this century and the freeing of older literature from the shackles of copyright have greatly increased the online availability of taxonomic descriptions, but much of the literature of the mid- to late- twentieth century remains offline (‘dark texts’). DNA barcoding is generating a wealth of computable data that in many ways are much easier to work with than classical taxonomic descriptions, but many of the sequences are not identified to species level. …

Structural And Evolutionary Analyses Show Unique Stabilization Strategies In The Type Iv Pili Of Clostridium Difficile, Kurt H. Piepenbrink, Grace A. Maldarelli, Claudia F. Martinez De La Pena, Tanis C. Dingle, George L. Mulvey, Amanda Lee, Erik Von Rosenvinge, Glen D. Armstrong, Michael S. Donnenberg, Eric J. Sundberg

Food for Health: Publications

Type IV pili are produced by many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and are important for processes as diverse as twitching motility, biofilm formation, cellular adhesion and horizontal gene transfer. However, many Gram-positive species, including C. difficile, also produce Type IV pili. Here, we identify the major subunit of the Type IV pili of C. difficile, PilA1, and describe multiple three-dimensional structures of PilA1, demonstrating the diversity found in three strains of C. difficile. We also model the incorporation of both PilA1 and a minor pilin, PilJ, into the pilus fiber. Although PilA1 contains no cysteine residues, and therefore cannot form the …

The Pseudorabies Virus Protein, Pul56, Enhances Virus Dissemination And Virulence But Is Dispensable For Axonal Transport, Gina R. Daniel, Patricia J. Sollars, Gary E. Pickard, Gregory A. Smith

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Neurotropic herpesviruses exit the peripheral nervous system and return to exposed body surfaces following reactivation from latency. The pUS9 protein is a critical viral effector of the anterograde axonal transport that underlies this process. We recently reported that while pUS9 increases the frequency of sorting of newly assembled pseudorabies virus particles to axons from the neural soma during egress, subsequent axonal transport of individual virus particles occurs with wild-type kinetics in the absence of the protein. Here, we examine the role of a related pseudorabies virus protein, pUL56, during neuronal infection. The findings indicate that pUL56 is a virulence factor …

Research And Creative Activity, July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016: Major Sponsored Programs And Faculty Awards For Research And Creative Activity, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Office Of Research And Economic Development, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Office of Research and Economic Development: Publications

Foreword by Steve Goddard, Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development

This “Major Sponsored Programs and Faculty Awards for Research and Creative Activity” booklet highlights the successes of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty during the fiscal year July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016. It lists funding sources, projects and investigators on major grants and sponsored program awards received during the year; fellowships and other recognitions and honors bestowed on our faculty; books published by faculty; performances, exhibitions and other creative activity in which our faculty have engaged; and intellectual property licenses and patents issued for the products of UNL research. …

Noninvasive Assessment Of Cardiac Abnormalities In Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis By Magnetic Resonance Microscopy Imaging In The Mouse, Chandirasegaran Massilamany, Vahid Khalilzad-Sharghi, Arunakumar Gangaplara, David Steffen, Shadi F. Othman, Jay Reddy

Jay Reddy Publications

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the myocardium, but only ~10% of those affected show clinical manifestations of the disease. To study the immune events of myocardial injuries, various mouse models of myocarditis have been widely used. This study involved experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) induced with cardiac myosin heavy chain (Myhc)-α 334-352 in A/J mice; the affected animals develop lymphocytic myocarditis but with no apparent clinical signs. In this model, the utility of magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) as a non-invasive modality to determine the cardiac structural and functional changes in animals immunized with Myhc-α 334-352 is shown. EAM and healthy mice …

2016 Annual Campus Security And Fire Safety Report, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Police, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University Police

2016 Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Safety and security information for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, including crime and fire statistics for the 2015 calendar year, and the information required by the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1989. All data are submitted to the United States Department of Education according to law.

Evaluation Of Xpert Mtb/Rif Versus Afb Smear And Culture To Identify Pulmonary Tuberculosis In Patients With Suspected Tuberculosis From Low And Higher Prevalence Settings, Anne F. Luetkemeyer, Cynthia Fimhaber, Michelle A. Kendall, Xingye Wu, Gerald H. Mazurek, Debra A. Benator, Roberto Arduino, Michel Femandez, Elizabeth Guy, Pamela Johnson, Beverly Metchock, Fred Sattler, Edward Telzak, Yun F. Wang, Marc Weiner, Susan Swindells, Ian M. Sanne, Diane V. Havlir, Beatriz Grinsztejn, David Alland

United States Department of Veterans Affairs: Publications

Background. The Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) assay is a rapid nucleic acid amplification test widely used in settings of high tuberculosis prevalence to detect tuberculosis as well as rpoB mutations associated with rifampin resistance. Data are needed on the diagnostic performance of Xpert in lower-prevalence settings to inform appropriate use for both tuberculosis detection and the need for respiratory isolation.

Methods. Xpert was compared to 2 sputum samples, each evaluated with acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear and mycobacterial culture using liquid and solid culture media, from participants with suspected pulmonary tuberculosis from the United States, Brazil, and South Africa.

Results. Of 992 …

Lineage-Specific Differences In The Gp120 Inner Domain Layer 3 Of Human And Simian Immunodeficiency Viruses, Shilei Ding, Halima Medjahed, Jérémie Prévost, Mathieu Coutu, Shi-Hua Xiang, Andrés Finzi

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Binding of HIV-1 and SIV gp120 exterior envelope glycoprotein to CD4 triggers conformational changes in gp120 that promote its interaction with one of the chemokine receptors, usually CCR5, ultimately leading to gp41-mediated virus-cell membrane fusion and entry. We previously described that topological Layers (Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3) in the gp120 inner domain contribute to gp120-trimer association in the unliganded state but also help secure CD4 binding. Relative to Layer 1 of HIV-1 gp120, the SIVmac239 gp120 Layer 1 plays a more prominent role in maintaining gp120-trimer association but is minimally involved in promoting CD4 binding, which could …

An Update On Mortality Of Fledged Whooping Cranes In The Aransas/Wood Buffalo Population, Thomas V. Stehn, Carey L. Haralson-Strobel

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

From winter 1950 through spring 2011, 6,364 whooping cranes (Grus americana) overwintered at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, or rarely, elsewhere. Documented winter losses amounted to 105 birds dead or disappeared. About 20% of total losses occurred in the wintering area, where birds spend 5 to 6 months of the year including a few birds that over-summer. Losses of white-plumaged whooping cranes on the summering area in Canada appear to be low with only 3 instances documented. The most significant losses seem to occur in migration and may comprise over 80% of the annual mortality. Migration involves only 17-20% of the …

Proceedings Of The Thirteenth North American Crane Workshop, Abstracts, David A. Aborn, Richard P. Urbanek

Proceedings of the North American Crane Workshop

AGE-SPECIFIC SURVIVAL OF GREATER SANDHILL CRANE COLTS IN NEVADA. Chad August, Jim Sedinger, and Chris Nicolai 111

WHOOPING CRANE DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT USE: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE? Jane Austin, Matthew Hayes, and Jeb Barzen 111

BEHAVIORAL MOVEMENTS OF ARANSAS-WOOD BUFFALO WHOOPING CRANES: ANOMALIES OR INDICATIONS OF WAYS TO FURTHER ENHANCE SPECIES RECOVERY. David Baasch, Mark Bidwell, Wade Harrell, Kris Metzger, Aaron Pearse, and Mary Harner 112

INFLUENCES ON NEST SUCCESS IN A REINTRODUCED POPULATION OF WHOOPING CRANES. Jeb Barzen, Sarah Converse, Peter Adler, Elmer Gray, Anne Lacy, Eva Szyszkoski, and Andrew Gossens 113

DETERMINING DIET COMPOSITION AND INGESTION RATE OF …

Coastal Development And Precipitation Drive Pathogen Flow From Land To Sea: Evidence From A Toxoplasma Gondii And Felid Host System, Elizabeth Vanwormer, Tim E. Carpenter, Purnendu Singh, Karen Shapiro, Wesley W. Wallender, Patricia A. Conrad, John L. Largier, Marco P. Maneta, Jonna A. K. Mazet

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Rapidly developing coastal regions face consequences of land use and climate change including flooding and increased sediment, nutrient, and chemical runoff, but these forces may also enhance pathogen runoff, which threatens human, animal, and ecosystem health. Using the zoonotic parasite Toxoplasma gondii in California, USA as a model for coastal pathogen pollution, we examine the spatial distribution of parasite runoff and the impacts of precipitation and development on projected pathogen delivery to the ocean. Oocysts, the extremely hardy free-living environmental stage of T. gondii shed in faeces of domestic and wild felids, are carried to the ocean by freshwater runoff. …

Live, Attenuated Vaccines And Methods Of Making And Using, Jiantao Guo, Qingsheng Li, Wei Niu, Yue Li, Nanxi Wang

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

A live, attenuated HIV vaccine is provided, and methods of making a atenuated HIV vaccine are provided.

Reimagining Long-Term Antibiotics In Persons Who Inject Drugs: Time To Shift The Status Quo?, Jesse Theisen-Toupal, Elana S. Rosenthal, Christopher F. Rowley

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

In the United States, there are an estimated 744,000 individuals who have engaged in recent injection drug use (IDU) and 6.6 million individuals who have ever injected a drug.1 The practice of IDU predisposes individuals to serious bacterial and fungal infections that often require long-term intravenous antibiotics. In individuals without IDU, these serious infections are often treated with outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT). However, a different standard exists for many persons who inject drugs (PWID)—the mandated completion of antibiotics in an inpatient setting.

Though mandating inpatient antibiotic therapy for PWID is a widely adopted standard, this practice is not evidence …

A Urinary Metabolic Signature For Multiple Sclerosis And Neuromyelitis Optica, Teklab Gebregiworgis, Helle H. Nielsen, Chandirasegara Massilamany, Arunakumar Gangaplara, Jay Reddy, Zsolt Illes, Robert Powers

Jay Reddy Publications

Urine is a metabolite-rich biofluid that reflects the body’s effort to maintain chemical and osmotic homeostasis. Clinical diagnosis routinely relies on urine samples because the collection process is easy and noninvasive. Despite these advantages, urine is an under-investigated source of biomarkers for multiple sclerosis (MS). Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) has become a common approach for analyzing urinary metabolites for disease diagnosis and biomarker discovery. For illustration of the potential of urinary metabolites for diagnosing and treating MS patients, and for differentiating between MS and other illnesses, 38 urine samples were collected from healthy controls, MS patients, and neuromyelitis optica-spectrum …

Paying The Pipers: Mitigating The Impact Of Anticoagulant Rodenticides On Predators And Scavengers, John E. Elliott, Barnett A. Rattner, Richard F. Shore, Nico W. Van Den Brink

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Anticoagulant rodenticides, mainly second-generation forms, or SGARs, dominate the global market for rodent control. Introduced in the 1970s to counter genetic resistance in rodent populations to first-generation compounds such as warfarin, SGARs are extremely toxic and highly effective killers. However, their tendency to persist and accumulate in the body has led to the widespread contamination of terrestrial predators and scavengers. Commercial chemicals that are classified by regulators as persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic (PBT) chemicals and that are widely used with potential environmental release, such as dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have been removed from commerce. However, despite consistently failing …

Immunoglobulin Detection Inwild Birds: Effectiveness Of Three Secondary Anti-Avian Igy Antibodies In Direct Elisas In 41 Avian Species, Carol A. Fassbinder-Orth, Travis E. Wilcoxen, Tiffany Tran, Raoul K. Boughton, Jeanne M. Fair, Erik K. Hofmeister, Jennifer L. Grindstaff, Jen C. Owen

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

1.Immunological reagents for wild, non-model species are limited or often non-existent for many species.

2. In this study, we compare the reactivity of a newanti-passerine IgY secondary antibody with existing secondary antibodies developed for use with birds. Samples from 41 species from the following six avian orders were analysed: Anseriformes (1 family, 1 species), Columbiformes (1 family, 2 species), Galliformes (1 family, 1 species), Passeriformes (16 families, 34 species), Piciformes (1 family, 2 species) and Suliformes (1 family, 1 species). Direct ELISAs were performed to detect total IgY using goat anti-passerine IgY, goat anti-chicken IgY or goat anti-bird IgY secondary …

Drought And Health In The Context Of Public Engagement, Nicole Wall, Michael Hayes

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Droughts have profoundly affected societies around the world from the earliest beginnings. A recent estimate from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) claims that more than 1 billion people have been affected by drought during the twenty-year period between 1994 and 2013. Because of the characteristics of drought, drought impacts are often difficult to identify and quantify, and this is especially true with public health-oriented drought consequences, including those resulting from low water quantities, poor water quality, mental health and stress, dust and windblown agents, and wildlife intrusion. However, when officials emphasize adopting a proactive risk …

Design And Methods Of A Social Network Isolation Study For Reducing Respiratory Infection Transmission: The Ex-Flucluster Randomized Trial, Allison E. Aiello, Amanda M. Simanek, Marisa C. Eisenberg, Alison R. Walsh, Brian Davis, Eric Volz, Caroline Cheng, Jeanette J. Rainey, Amra Uzicanin, Hongjiang Gao, Nathaniel Osgood, Dylan Knowles, Kevin Stanley, Kara Tarter, Arnold S. Monto

United States Public Health Resources

Background: Social networks are increasingly recognized as important points of intervention, yet relatively few intervention studies of respiratory infection transmission have utilized a network design. Here we describe the design, methods, and social network structure of a randomized intervention for isolating respiratory infection cases in a university setting over a 10-week period.

Methodology/principal findings: 590 students in six residence halls enrolled in the eX-FLU study during a chain-referral recruitment process from September 2012–January 2013. Of these, 262 joined as “seed”participants, who nominated their social contacts to join the study, of which 328 “nominees” enrolled.Participants were cluster-randomized by 117 residence halls. …

Epidemiology Of Human Leptospirosis In Malaysia, 2004–2012, Douadi Benacer, Kwai Lin Thong, Ng Choung Min, Khebir Bin Verasahib, Renee L. Galloway, Rudy A. Hartskeerl, Marc Souris, Siti Nursheena Mohd Zain

United States Public Health Resources

Leptospirosis is an emerging disease, especially in countries with a tropical climate such as Malaysia. A dramatic increase in the number of cases has been reported over the last decade; however, information on the epidemiological trends of this disease is lacking. The objective of this study is to provide an epidemiological description of human leptospirosis cases over a 9-year period (2004–2012) and disease relationship with meteorological, geographical, and demographical information.A retrospective study was undertaken to describe the patterns of human leptospirosis cases and their association with intrinsic (sex, age, and ethnicity) and extrinsic (location, rainfall, and temperature)factors. Data was grouped …

Complete Influenza Vaccination Trends For Children Six To Twenty-Three Months, Tammy A. Santibanez, Lisa A. Grohskopf, Yusheng Zhai, Katherine E. Kahn

United States Public Health Resources

OBJECTIVE: Prevention of influenza among infants and young children is a public health abstract priority because of their high risk for influenza-related complications. Depending on a child’s age and previous influenza vaccination history, they are recommended to receive either 1 dose or 2 doses of influenza vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated against influenza for the season. We compared estimates of full (complete) influenza vaccination coverage of children 6 to 23 months across 10 consecutive influenza seasons (2002–2012), by race/ethnicity, age group, and by number of doses required to be fully vaccinated given child’s vaccination history.

METHODS: National Immunization Survey …