Digital Commons Network^™

Optimizing Data Collection For Public Health Decisions: A Data Mining Approach, Susan N. Partington, Vasil Papakroni, Tim Menzies

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Collecting data can be cumbersome and expensive. Lack of relevant, accurate and timely data for research to inform policy may negatively impact public health. The aim of this study was to test if the careful removal of items from two community nutrition surveys guided by a data mining technique called feature selection, can (a) identify a reduced dataset, while (b) not damaging the signal inside that data.

Methods: The Nutrition Environment Measures Surveys for stores (NEMS-S) and restaurants (NEMS-R) were completed on 885 retail food outlets in two counties in West Virginia between May and November of 2011. A …

Regulation And Regulatory Role Of Wnt Signaling In Potentiating Fsh Action During Bovine Dominant Follicle Selection, P S P Gupta, Joseph K. Folger, Sandeep K. Rajput, Lihua Lv, Jianbo Yao, James J. Ireland, George W. Smith

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Follicular development occurs in wave like patterns in monotocous species such as cattle and humans and is regulated by a complex interaction of gonadotropins with local intrafollicular regulatory molecules. To further elucidate potential mechanisms controlling dominant follicle selection, granulosa cell RNA harvested from F1 (largest) and F2 (second largest) follicles isolated at predeviation (PD) and onset of diameter deviation (OD) stages of the first follicular wave was subjected to preliminary RNA transcriptome analysis. Expression of numerous WNT system components was observed. Hence experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that WNT signaling modulates FSH action on granulosa cells during follicular …

Use Of High Frequency Ultrasound To Monitor Cervical Lymph Node Alterations In Mic, Elyse L. Walk, Sarah Mclaughlin, James Coad, Scott A. Weed

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Cervical lymph node evaluation by clinical ultrasound is a non-invasive procedure used in diagnosing nodal status, and when combined with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), provides an effective method to assess nodal pathologies. Development of high-frequency ultrasound (HF US) allows real-time monitoring of lymph node alterations in animal models. While HF US is frequently used in animal models of tumor biology, use of HF US for studying cervical lymph nodes alterations associated with murine models of head and neck cancer, or any other model of lymphadenopathy, is lacking. Here we utilize HF US to monitor cervical lymph nodes changes in mice …

Multiple Mineralocorticoid Response Elements Localized In Different Introns Regulate Intermediate Conductance K+ (Kcnn4) Channel Expression In The Rat Distal Colon, Bryan O'Hara, Diego A. Rosa, Vazhaikkurichi M. Rajendran

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

An elevated plasma aldosterone and an increased expression of the intermediate conductance K+ (IK/Kcnn4) channels are linked in colon. This observation suggests that the expression of Kcnn4 gene is controlled through the action of aldosterone on its cognate receptor (i.e., mineralocorticoid receptor; MR). In order to establish this, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay to identify the MR response elements (MREs) in a region that spanned 20 kb upstream and 10 kb downstream of the presumed transcription start site (TSS) using chromatin from the colonic epithelial cells of normal and aldosterone-treated rats. MREs were immunoprecipitated in an approximately 5 kb …

Pkcε Promotes Hud-Mediated Neprilysin Mrna Stability And Enhances Neprilysin-Induced Aβ Degradation In Brain Neurons, Chol S. Lim, Daniel L. Alkon

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide accumulation in the brain is a pathological hallmark of all forms of Alzheimer’s disease. An imbalance between Aβ production and clearance from the brain may contribute to accumulation of neurotoxic Aβ and subsequent synaptic loss, which is the strongest correlate of the extent of memory loss in AD. The activity of neprilysin (NEP), a potent Aβ-degrading enzyme, is decreased in the AD brain. Expression of HuD, an mRNA-binding protein important for synaptogenesis and neuronal plasticity, is also decreased in the AD brain. HuD is regulated by protein kinase Cε (PKCε), and we previously demonstrated that PKCε activation …

Effect Of Fiber Length On Carbon Nanotube-Induced Fibrogenesis, Amruta Manke, Sudjit Luanpitpong, Chenbo Dong, Liying Wang, Xiaoqing He, Lori Battelli, Raymond Derk, Todd A. Stueckle, Dale W. Porter, Tina Sager, Honglei Gou, Cerasela Z. Dinu, Niaqinag Wu, Robert R. Mercer, Yon Rojanasakul

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Given their extremely small size and light weight, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be readily inhaled by human lungs resulting in increased rates of pulmonary disorders, particularly fibrosis. Although the fibrogenic potential of CNTs is well established, there is a lack of consensus regarding the contribution of physicochemical attributes of CNTs on the underlying fibrotic outcome. We designed an experimentally validated in vitro fibroblast culture model aimed at investigating the effect of fiber length on single-walled CNT (SWCNT)-induced pulmonary fibrosis. The fibrogenic response to short and long SWCNTs was assessed via oxidative stress generation, collagen expression and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) …

Initial Characterization Of The Flge Hook High Molecular Weight Complex Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Kelly A. Miller, Md A. Motaleb, Jun Liu, Bo Hu, Melissa J. Caimano, Michael R. Miller, Nyles W. Charon

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The spirochete periplasmic flagellum has many unique attributes. One unusual characteristic is the flagellar hook. This structure serves as a universal joint coupling rotation of the membrane-bound motor to the flagellar filament. The hook is comprised of about 120 FlgE monomers, and in most bacteria these structures readily dissociate to monomers (∼ 50 kDa) when treated with heat and detergent. However, in spirochetes the FlgE monomers form a large mass of over 250 kDa [referred to as a high molecular weight complex (HMWC)] that is stable to these and other denaturing conditions. In this communication, we examined specific aspects with …

Induction Of Stem-Like Cells With Malignant Properties By Chronic Exposure Of Human Lung Epithelial Cells To Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes, Sudjit Luanpitpong, Liying Wang, Vincent Castranova, Yon Rojanasakul

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) hold great promise to create new and better products for commercial and biomedical applications, but their long-term adverse health effects are a major concern. The objective of this study was to address human lung cancer risks associated with chronic pulmonary exposure to single-walled (SW) CNT through the fundamental understanding of cellular and molecular processes leading to carcinogenesis. We hypothesized that the acquisition of cancer stem cells (CSC), a subpopulation that drive tumor initiation and progression, may contribute to CNT carcinogenesis.

Methods

Non-tumorigenic human lung epithelial cells were chronically exposed to well-dispersed SWCNT for a period of …

Prostasin May Contribute To Chemoresistance, Repress Cancer Cells In Ovarian Cancer, And Is Involved In The Signaling Pathways Of Casp/Pak2-P34/Actin, B-X Yan, J-X Ma, J Zhang, Y Guo, M D. Mueller, S C. Remick, J J. Yu

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of gynecologic cancers, largely due to the development of drug resistance in chemotherapy. Prostasin may have an essential role in the oncogenesis. In this study, we show that prostasin is decreased in an ovarian cancer drug-resistant cell line and in ovarian cancer patients with high levels of excision repair cross-complementing 1, a marker for chemoresistance. Our cell cultural model investigation demonstrates prostasin has important roles in the development of drug resistance and cancer cell survival. Forced overexpression of prostasin in ovarian cancer cells greatly induces cell death (resulting in 99% cell death in a drug-resistant …

Living Microbe Repository, Best Practices, Regulatory Compliance, Reference Material Collection, Shaolei Zang, Na Liu, Hongchun Wang, David N. Wald, Na Shao, Jingru Zhang, Daoxin Ma, Chunyan Ji, William Tse

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

We previously demonstrated that 6-benzylthioinosine (6-BT) could induce the differentiation of a subset of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines and primary AML cells regardless of their cytogenetics. In this study we investigated whether Wnt signaling pathways played roles in 6-BT-induced differentiation of AML cells.

Methods

We induced differentiation of HL-60 leukemic cells and primary AML cells in vitro using 6-BT. Real-time PCR (qPCR), western blot, and luciferase assays were used to examine the molecules’ expression and biological activity in canonical and noncanonical Wnt signaling pathways. AML cell differentiation was measured by the Nitroblue tetrozolium (NBT) reduction assay.

Results …

Angiotensin Ii Evokes Angiogenic Signals Within Skeletal Muscle Through Co-Ordinated Effects On Skeletal Myocytes And Endothelial Cells, Jennifer L. Gorman, Sammy T K Liu, Dara Slopack, Khashayar Shariati, Adam Hasanee, Sara Olenich, I Mark Olfert

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Skeletal muscle overload induces the expression of angiogenic factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, leading to new capillary growth. We found that the overload-induced increase in angiogenesis, as well as increases in VEGF, MMP-2 and MT1-MMP transcripts were abrogated in muscle VEGF KO mice, highlighting the critical role of myocyte-derived VEGF in controlling this process. The upstream mediators that contribute to overload-induced expression of VEGF have yet to be ascertained. We found that muscle overload increased angiotensinogen expression, a precursor of angiotensin (Ang) II, and that Ang II signaling played an important role in …

Involvement Of Sigma-1 Receptors In The Antidepressant-Like Effects Of Dextromethorphan, Linda Nguyen, Matthew J. Robson, Jason R. Healy, Anna L. Scandinaro, Rae R. Matsumoto

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Dextromethorphan is an antitussive with a high margin of safety that has been hypothesized to display rapid-acting antidepressant activity based on pharmacodynamic similarities to the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine. In addition to binding to NMDA receptors, dextromethorphan binds to sigma-1 (σ1) receptors, which are believed to be protein targets for a potential new class of antidepressant medications. The purpose of this study was to determine whether dextromethorphan elicits antidepressant-like effects and the involvement of σ1 receptors in mediating its antidepressant-like actions. The antidepressant-like effects of dextromethorphan were assessed in male, Swiss Webster mice using the forced swim test. Next, …

Inverse Association Of Colorectal Cancer Prevalence To Serum Levels Of Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (Pfos) And Perfluorooctanoate (Pfoa) In A Large Appalachian Population, Kim E. Innes, Jeffrey H. Wimsatt, Stephanie Frisbee, Alan M. Ducatman

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are persistent environmental contaminants that affect metabolic regulation, inflammation, and other factors implicated in the development and progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the link between these compounds and CRC remains unknown. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the association of CRC diagnosis to PFOA and PFOS blood levels in a large Appalachian population.

Methods

Participants were 47,359 adults ≥ 21 years of age and residing in six PFOA-contaminated water districts in the mid-Ohio Valley (N = 47,151 cancer-free adults, 208 cases of primary CRC). All participants completed a comprehensive health survey between …

Genome-Wide Association Study Of Periodontal Health Measured By Probing Depth In Adults Ages 18−49 Years, John R. Shaffer, Deborah E. Polk, Xiaojing Wang, Eleanor Feingold, Daniel E. Weeks, Myoung-Keun Lee, Karen T. Cuenco, Robert J. Weyant, Richard J. Crout, Daniel W. Mcneil, Mary L. Marazita

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The etiology of chronic periodontitis clearly includes a heritable component. Our purpose was to perform a small exploratory genome-wide association study in adults ages 18–49 years to nominate genes associated with periodontal disease−related phenotypes for future consideration. Full-mouth periodontal pocket depth probing was performed on participants (N = 673), with affected status defined as two or more sextants with probing depths of 5.5 mm or greater. Two variations of this phenotype that differed in how missing teeth were treated were used in analysis. More than 1.2 million genetic markers across the genome were genotyped or imputed and tested for genetic …

The Splicing Regulator Ptbp2 Controls A Program Of Embryonic Splicing Required For Neuronal Maturation, Qin Li, Sika Zhaeng, Areum Han, Chia-Ho Lin, Peter Stoilov, Xiang-Dong Fu, Douglas L. Black

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We show that the splicing regulator PTBP2 controls a genetic program essential for neuronal maturation. Depletion of PTBP2 in developing mouse cortex leads to degeneration of these tissues over the first three postnatal weeks, a time when the normal cortex expands and develops mature circuits. Cultured Ptbp2−/−neurons exhibit the same initial viability as wild type, with proper neurite outgrowth and marker expression. However, these mutant cells subsequently fail to mature and die after a week in culture. Transcriptome-wide analyses identify many exons that share a pattern of mis-regulation in the mutant brains, where isoforms normally found in adults …

Induction Of Wnt-Inducible Signaling Protein-1 Correlates With Invasive Breast Cancer Oncogenesis And Reduced Type 1 Cell-Mediated Cytotoxic Immunity: A Retrospective Study, David J. Klinke Ii

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Innate and type 1 cell-mediated cytotoxic immunity function as important extracellular control mechanisms that maintain cellular homeostasis. Interleukin-12 (IL12) is an important cytokine that links innate immunity with type 1 cell-mediated cytotoxic immunity. We recently observed in vitro that tumor-derived Wnt-inducible signaling protein-1 (WISP1) exerts paracrine action to suppress IL12 signaling. The objective of this retrospective study was three fold: 1) to determine whether a gene signature associated with type 1 cell-mediated cytotoxic immunity was correlated with overall survival, 2) to determine whether WISP1 expression is increased in invasive breast cancer, and 3) to determine whether a gene signature consistent …

Military Personnel With Chronic Symptoms Following Blast Traumatic Brain Injury Have Differential Expression Of Neuronal Recovery And Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Genes, Morgan Heinzelmann, Swarnalatha Y. Reddy, Louis M. French, Dan Wang, Hyunhwa Lee, Taura Barr, Tristin Baxter, Vincent Mysliwiec, Jessica Gill

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objective: Approximately one-quarter of military personnel who deployed to combat stations sustained one or more blast-related, closed-head injuries. Blast injuries result from the detonation of an explosive device. The mechanisms associated with blast exposure that give rise to traumatic brain injury (TBI), and place military personnel at high risk for chronic symptoms of post-concussive disorder (PCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression are not elucidated.

Methods: To investigate the mechanisms of persistent blast-related symptoms, we examined expression profiles of transcripts across the genome to determine the role of gene activity in chronic symptoms following blast-TBI. Active duty military personnel with …

Identification Of An Antibody Fragment Specific For Androgen-Dependent Prostate Cancer Cells, Ryan M. Williams, Cyrus J. Hajiran, Sara Nayeem, Letha J. Sooter

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Prostate cancer is the most-diagnosed non-skin cancer among males in the US, and the second leading cause of cancer-related death. Current methods of treatment and diagnosis are not specific for the disease. This work identified an antibody fragment that binds selectively to a molecule on the surface of androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells but not benign prostatic cells.

Results

Antibody fragment identification was achieved using a library screening and enrichment strategy. A library of 109 yeast-displayed human non-immune antibody fragments was enriched for those that bind to androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells, but not to benign prostatic cells or purified prostate-specific …

Antennal Lobe Representations Are Optimized When Olfactory Stimuli Are Periodically Structured To Simulate Natural Wing Beat Effects, Benjamin Houot, Rex Burkland, Shreejoy Tripathy, Kevin C. Daly

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Animals use behaviors to actively sample the environment across a broad spectrum of sensory domains. These behaviors discretize the sensory experience into unique spatiotemporal moments, minimize sensory adaptation, and enhance perception. In olfaction, behaviors such as sniffing, antennal flicking, and wing beating all act to periodically expose olfactory epithelium. In mammals, it is thought that sniffing enhances neural representations; however, the effects of insect wing beating on representations remain unknown. To determine how well the antennal lobe (AL) produces odor dependent representations when wing beating effects are simulated, we used extracellular methods to record neural units and local field potentials …

Web Design Factors That Influence User Behavior, Joann C. Burnett

Division of Applied Sciences Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Pausing Of Children During Signaled And Unsignaled Transitions, Apral P. Foreman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We evaluated effects of signaled and unsignaled transitions between reinforcement schedules on pausing and run rates of academic responding and rate and duration of problem behavior for four children who engaged in chronic and severe problem behavior. Children completed an academic task on a computer program to earn access to brief video clips. Lean (more responses and short videos) and rich (few responses and long videos) reinforcement schedules were alternated within each session, creating four transition types: lean-to-lean, lean-to-rich, rich-to-rich, and rich-to-lean. Pausing was measured as the latency to initiate the first response of a reinforcement schedule. Run rates were …

Evaluation Of Primary Stability In Bovine Ribs Following A Correction In Placement Depth, Matthew Bobbera

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

For an implant to be successfully loaded at the time of placement it must have a certain degree of initial stability. While many factors have been shown to influence primary stability, this study aims to examine the effect of positional change on implant stability. 18 Straumann dental implants (16 Standard plus SLA active 3.3mm RN implants, 1 Standard plus SLA 3.3 mm RN implant, and 1 SLActive 4.1 mm RC bone level implant) were placed into two bovine ribs. Implants were divided into two groups with nine in each group and were either backed out or advanced. The primary stability …

Regulation Of Satellite Cell Function In Sarcopenia, Stephen E. Alway, Matthew J. Myers, Junaith S. Mohamed

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The mechanisms contributing to sarcopenia include reduced satellite cell (myogenic stem cell) function that is impacted by the environment (niche) of these cells. Satellite cell function is affected by oxidative stress, which is elevated in aged muscles, and this along with changes in largely unknown systemic factors, likely contribute to the manner in which satellite cells respond to stressors such as exercise, disuse, or rehabilitation in sarcopenic muscles. Nutritional intervention provides one therapeutic strategy to improve the satellite cell niche and systemic factors, with the goal of improving satellite cell function in aging muscles. Although many elderly persons consume various …

Beef Heifer Growth And Reproductive Performance Following Two Levels Of Pasture Allowance During The Fall Grazing Period1, B. L. Bailey, T. C. Griggs, E. B. Rayburn, K. M. Krause

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An International Survey Of Aquaponics Practitioners, David C. Love, Jillian P. Fry, Laura Genello, Elizabeth S. Hill, J Adam Frederick, Ximin Li, Ken Semmens

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Aquaponics, a combination of fish farming and soilless plant farming, is growing in popularity and gaining attention as an important and potentially more sustainable method of food production. The aim of this study was to document and analyze the production methods, experiences, motivations, and demographics of aquaponics practitioners in the United States (US) and internationally. The survey was distributed online using a chain sampling method that relied on referrals from initial respondents, with 809 respondents meeting the inclusion criteria. The majority of respondents were from the US (80%), male (78%), and had at least a high school degree (91%). The …

The Genome Sequence Of A Widespread Apex Predator, The Golden Eagle (Aquila Chrysaetos), Jacqueline M. Doyle, Todd E. Katzner, Peter H. Bloom, Yanzhu Ji, Bhagya K. Wijayawardena, J Andrew Dewoody

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Biologists routinely use molecular markers to identify conservation units, to quantify genetic connectivity, to estimate population sizes, and to identify targets of selection. Many imperiled eagle populations require such efforts and would benefit from enhanced genomic resources. We sequenced, assembled, and annotated the first eagle genome using DNA from a male golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) captured in western North America. We constructed genomic libraries that were sequenced using Illumina technology and assembled the high-quality data to a depth of ∼40x coverage. The genome assembly includes 2,552 scaffolds >10 Kb and 415 scaffolds >1.2 Mb. We annotated 16,571 genes that are …

Matrix Models For Size-Structured Populations: Unrealistic Fast Growth Or Simply Diffusion?, Nicolas Picard, Jingjing Liang

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Matrix population models are widely used to study population dynamics but have been criticized because their outputs are sensitive to the dimension of the matrix (or, equivalently, to the class width). This sensitivity is concerning for the population growth rate () because this is an intrinsic characteristic of the population that should not depend on the model specification. It has been suggested that the sensitivity of to matrix dimension was linked to the existence of fast pathways (i.e. the fraction of individuals that systematically move up a class), whose proportion increases when class width increases. We showed that for matrix …

Cross-Hauling And Regional Input-Output Tables: The Case Of The Province Of Hubei, China, Yongming Huang, Anthony T. Flegg, Timo Tohmo

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Data for the Chinese province of Hubei are used to assess the performance of Kronenberg’s CHARM, a method that takes explicit account of cross-hauling when constructing regional input−output tables. A key determinant of cross-hauling is held to be the heterogeneity of the products of individual sectors, which is estimated using national data. However, contrary to the authors’ earlier findings for Finland, CHARM does not generate reliable estimates of Hubei’s sectoral exports, imports and volume of trade. It is crucial, therefore, especially in relatively small regions, to make adequate allowance for any known divergence between regional and national technology and heterogeneity.

A Method Of Pricing European Style Equity Options, David Harris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study of option pricing has a very short history, when compared with other elements of economics. Since the publication of a method to price European style equity options by Fischer Black and Myron Scholes in 1973 a vast amount of research on option pricing has occurred. Ultimately, the pricing of equity options depends upon the match of the model and reality. A new method to price option contracts is proposed. It is argued that the distributional assumptions of standard models are uncorrelated with nature. A new model is proposed as a start to a new class of models.

Examining Childbirth-Related Trauma And Its Effect On Maternal Self-Efficacy And Appraisal Of Infant Temperament, Teresa B. Stire

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It is estimated that 3--9% of women will meet full diagnostic criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth, with another 20 to 40% being partially symptomatic for the disorder. While precedents and associated factors leading to childbirth related PTSD have been fairly well researched, the postpartum outcomes such as the mother's perception of herself in the parenting role, and her appraisal of her infant's temperament have been far less studied. Other psychiatric disorders have been linked to lower estimations of parental self efficacy and more negative views of infant temperament. This study examined childbirth related trauma and its effect …