Digital Commons Network^™

Lignin-Graft-Poly(Lactic- Co-Glycolic) Acid Biopolymers For Polymeric Nanoparticle Synthesis, Carlos E. Astete, Judith U. De Mel, Sudipta Gupta, Ye Rim Noh, Markus Bleuel, Gerald J. Schneider, Cristina M. Sabliov

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. A lignin-graft-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) biopolymer was synthesized with two types of lignin (LGN), alkaline lignin (ALGN) and sodium lignosulfonate (SLGN), at different (A/S)LGN/PLGA ratios (1:2, 1:4, and 1:6 w/w). 1H NMR and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) confirmed the conjugation of PLGA to LGN. The (A/S)LGN-graft-PLGA biopolymers were used to form nanodelivery systems suitable for entrapment and delivery of drugs for disease treatment. The LGN-graft-PLGA NPs were generally small (100-200 nm), increased in size with the amount of PLGA added, monodisperse, and negatively charged (-48 to -60 mV). Small-angle scattering data showed that particles feature …

Rejuvenation Of Neutrophil Functions In Association With Reduced Diabetes Risk Following Ten Weeks Of Low-Volume High Intensity Interval Walking In Older Adults With Prediabetes – A Pilot Study, David B. Bartlett, Cris A. Slentz, Leslie H. Willis, Andrew Hoselton, Janet L. Huebner, Virginia B. Kraus, Jennifer Moss, Michael J. Muehlbauer, Guillaume Spielmann, Deborah M. Muoio, Timothy R. Koves, Helena Wu, Kim M. Huffman, Janet M. Lord, William E. Kraus

Faculty Publications

Neutrophil dysfunction is a common feature of aging, and is associated with the pathogenesis of many age-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although exercise training improves metabolic health, decreases risk of T2DM, and is associated with improving neutrophil functions, involvement in regular physical activity declines with age. The aim of this study was to determine if neutrophil functions could be improved in association with changes in fitness and metabolic parameters in older adults at risk for T2DM using 10-weeks of low volume high-intensity interval exercise training (HIIT). Ten older (71 ± 5 years) sedentary adults with prediabetes (HbA1c: …

Assessing Old And New Individual Study Desks, Holt Zaugg, C. Jeffrey Belliston

Faculty Publications

Purpose – This paper examines student perceptions of new individual study desks (ISDs) and how they improved the students’ learning experience.

Design/methodology/approach – The study describes the process for developing new ISDs. When about half of the old ISDs were replaced with new ISDs, two parallel surveys were used to understand why students used the ISDs, what their experiences were and any suggested improvements.

Findings – Results indicate that the new ISDs were used by students for significantly longer periods of time. They enjoyed the ambiance and amenities of the new desks, including a whiteboard used by over 90% of …

Hereditary Cancer Syndrome Recognition And Testing: Beyond Brca, Deborah O. Himes, Hanford B. Shuman

Faculty Publications

Hereditary cancer syndromes, resulting from mutations of tumor suppressor genes, can significantly increase the risk for breast cancer. Although hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndrome caused by BRCA1/2mutations is well-known, less well-known hereditary cancer syndromes also exist. This article focuses on 3 other syndromes, including Li-Fraumeni, Cowden, and Peutz-Jeghers. This article will help prepare nurse practitioners to recognize key clinical features of these syndromes and understand testing criteria. Additionally, this article discusses barriers to diagnosing hereditary cancer syndromes and the role of primary care nurse practitioners in ordering genetic tests and making genetic referrals for optimal patient care.

A Qualitative Investigation Of Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Appropriate Instructional Practices In Physical Education, David C. Barney

Faculty Publications

For many middle school (MS) students they have been exposed to many inappropriate instructional practices in physical education (PE). This involvement and exposure to these inappropriate instructional practices become common occurrences, thus in their mind this is what is supposed to happen in their PE class. The purpose of this study was to better understand MS student’s perceptions and attitudes to appropriate instructional practices (AIP) in their PE classes. It was generally found from student interviews that dodge ball is appropriate to play in PE class, wearing prescribed clothing (school shirt) will earn and easy ‘A’ in PE class, and …

Innovation In Sport For Development And Peace, Per G. Svensson, Adam Cohen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Image Processing Method For Extraction Of The Stresswave Reflection Period, Panpan Gong, Mingzhang Luo, Luoyu Zhou, Liming Jiang, Xuemin Chen

Faculty Publications

The stress wave reflection method is widely used in the detection of structure size and integrity due to its advantages of low environmental impact and convenience. The detection accuracy depends on the accurate extraction of the stress wave reflection period. The traditional peak-peak method (PPM) measures the time interval between the first two peaks of the reflected waves to extract the reflection period. However, human interpretation is not avoidable for identifying the weak peak due to signal energy leaks into the surrounding environment. This paper proposes an algorithm for automatic extraction of the stress wave reflection period based on image …

State-Community System Of Care Development: An Exploratory Longitudinal Review, Isaac Karikari, Betty Walton, Christine Marie Bishop, Stephanie Moynihan, Pinkie Evans

Faculty Publications

The system of care (SOC) philosophy evolved into a framework to support access to effective behavioral health services for children. This study explored the use of the System of Care Implementation Survey (SOCIS) to monitor SOC development during one Midwestern state’s federal planning and expansion grants. Utilizing a translational framework, results showed that despite fluctuations in SOC factor implementation over time, state and local SOCs had mid-level development. Further, inferential analysis of select factors indicated that outreach and access to services and the skilled provider network were significantly worse over time. Significant improvement in the treatment quality was documented but …

Disturbance Legacies Increase And Synchronize Nutrient Concentrations And Bacterial Productivity In Coastal Ecosystems, John S. Kominoski, Evelyn E. Gaiser, Edward Castañeda-Moya, Stephen E. Davis, Shimelis B. Dessu, Paul Julian, Dong Yoon Lee, Luca Marazzi, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, Andres Sola, Ulrich Stingl, Sandro Stumpf, Donatto Surratt, Rafael Travieso, Tiffany G. Troxler

Faculty Publications

Long-term ecological research can resolve effects of disturbance on ecosystem dynamics by capturing the scale of disturbance and interactions with environmental changes. To quantify how disturbances interact with long-term directional changes (sea-level rise, freshwater restoration), we studied 17 yr of monthly dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), and phosphorus (TP) concentrations and bacterioplankton productivity across freshwater-to-marine estuary gradients exposed to multiple disturbance events (e.g., droughts, fire, hurricanes, and low-temperature anomalies) and long-term increases in water levels. By studying two neighboring drainages that differ in hydrologic connectivity, we additionally tested how disturbance legacies are shaped by hydrologic connectivity. We predicted …

Measuring "Access To Justice" In The Rush To Digitize, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Access to Justice (A2J) is the hot topic of the day, energizing Twitter and judges alike. Meanwhile, professors and policymakers join in song, singing the praises of online dispute resolution (ODR) as means for expanding A21. This is because ODR uses technology to allow for online claim diagnosis, negotiation, and mediation without the time, money, and stress of traditional court processes. Indeed, courts are now moving traffic ticket, condominium, landlord/tenant, personal injury, debt collection, and even divorce claims online. The hope is that online triage and dispute resolution systems will provide means for obtaining remedies for self-represented litigants (SRLs) and …

Missouri's Residency Restrictions For Medical Marijuana Use, Royce De R. Barondes

Faculty Publications

Missouri's adoption of a constitutional amendment decriminalizing medical marijuana for state law purposes has presented numerous interstitial issues. This article examines one that Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services ("DHSS") has attempted to address by regulation: residency requirements for qualifying patients. The current regulations add detail to the constitutional requirement that a qualifying patient be a "Missouri resident". They require that a patient must "reside [] in Missouri and not claim resident privileges in another state or country". This article concludes this aspect of the regulations is of dubious tenability.

Structure, Function, And Regulation Of The Essential Virulence Factor Capsular Polysaccharide Of Vibrio Vulnificus, Gregg S. Pettis, Aheli S. Mukerji

Faculty Publications

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Vibrio vulnificus populates coastal waters around the world, where it exists freely or becomes concentrated in filter feeding mollusks. It also causes rapid and life-threatening sepsis and wound infections in humans. Of its many virulence factors, it is the V. vulnificus capsule, composed of capsular polysaccharide (CPS), that plays a critical role in evasion of the host innate immune system by conferring antiphagocytic ability and resistance to complement-mediated killing. CPS may also provoke a portion of the host inflammatory cytokine response to this bacterium. CPS production is biochemically and genetically diverse …

Emerging Investigator Series: Carbon Electrodes Are Effective For The Detection And Reduction Of Hexavalent Chromium In Water, Callie M. Stern, Darius W. Hayes, Lebogang O. Kgoadi, Noémie Elgrishi

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Electrochemical methods are an attractive option for the detection and reduction of toxic Cr(vi) to benign Cr(iii) in drinking water. Here a method is reported for the reproducible detection and reduction of hexavalent chromium in water on glassy carbon electrodes, over a wide range of pH. This study allows for unmodified inexpensive carbon electrodes to join gold and gold modified electrodes as substrates for Cr(vi) removal from water.

Bionoinet: Ligand-Binding Site Classification With Off-The-Shelf Deep Neural Network, Wentao Shi, Jeffrey M. Lemoine, Abd El Monsif A. Shawky, Manali Singha, Limeng Pu, Shuangyan Yang, J. Ramanujam, Michal Brylinski

Faculty Publications

© The 2020 Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Motivation: Fast and accurate classification of ligand-binding sites in proteins with respect to the class of binding molecules is invaluable not only to the automatic functional annotation of large datasets of protein structures but also to projects in protein evolution, protein engineering and drug development. Deep learning techniques, which have already been successfully applied to address challenging problems across various fields, are inherently suitable to classify ligand-binding pockets. Our goal is to demonstrate that off-the-shelf deep learning models can be employed with minimum development effort to recognize nucleotide-and …

The Origins And Future Of Global Health Law: Regulation, Security, And Pluralism, Sam F. Halabi

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a global health crisis unlike any seen in the seventy-five years since the United Nations and the World Health Organization were formed - one that is killing people, spreading human suffering, and upending people's lives. But this is much more than a health crisis. It is a human crisis. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is attacking societies at their core. It is therefore a crucial point around which to focus the capability of national and global institutions to address this essential threat to human health and life.

The purposes of this Article are to revisit and …

Targeting Egfr Overexpression At The Surface Of Colorectal Cancer Cells By Exploiting Amidated Bodipy-Peptide Conjugates, Tyrslai M. Williams, Zehua Zhou, Sitanshu S. Singh, Martha Sibrian-Vazquez, Seetharama D. Jois, Maria Da Graça Henriques Vicente

Faculty Publications

© 2020 American Society for Photobiology Three BODIPY-peptide conjugates designed to target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) at the extracellular domain were synthesized, and their specificity for binding to EGFR was investigated. Peptide sequences containing seven amino acids, GLARLLT (2) and KLARLLT (4), and 13 amino acids, GYHWYGYTPQNVI (3), were conjugated to carboxyl BODIPY dye (1) by amide bond formation in up to 73% yields. The BODIPY-peptide conjugates and their “parent” peptides were determined to bind to EGFR experimentally using SPR analysis and were further investigated using computational methods (AutoDock). Results of SPR, competitive binding and docking studies propose …

Promoter-Proximal Chromatin Domain Insulator Protein Beaf Mediates Local And Long-Range Communication With A Transcription Factor And Directly Activates A Housekeeping Promoter In Drosophila, Yuankai Dong, S. V. Satya Prakash Avva, Mukesh Maharjan, Janice Jacobi, Craig M. Hart

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2020 by the Genetics Society of America BEAF (Boundary Element-Associated Factor) was originally identified as a Drosophila melanogaster chromatin domain insulator-binding protein, suggesting a role in gene regulation through chromatin organization and dynamics. Genome-wide mapping found that BEAF usually binds near transcription start sites, often of housekeeping genes, suggesting a role in promoter function. This would be a nontraditional role for an insulator-binding protein. To gain insight into molecular mechanisms of BEAF function, we identified interacting proteins using yeast two-hybrid assays. Here, we focus on the transcription factor Serendipity d (Sry-d). Interactions were confirmed in pull-down experiments using …

Direct Measurement Of Sweetpotato Surface Area And Volume Using A Low-Cost 3d Scanner For Identification Of Shape Features Related To Processing Product Recovery, Arthur Villordon, Jeffrey C. Gregorie, Don Labonte

Faculty Publications

The growing demand for sweetpotato French fry and other processed products has increased the need for producing storage roots of desired shape profile (i.e., blocky and less tapered). Length-width ratio (LW) is the current de facto standard for characterizing sweetpotato shape. AlthoughLWis sensitive and descriptive of some types of shape variability, this index may be inadequate to measure taper and other subtle shape variations. Prior work has shown that surface area (SA) and volume (VOL) are important shape descriptors but current direct measurement methods are tedious, inconsistent, and often destructive. A low-cost three-dimensional (3D) scanner was used to acquire digital …

Conserved And Variable Responses Of The Gut Microbiome To Resistant Starch Type 2, Zachary A. Bendiks, Knud E.B. Knudsen, Michael J. Keenan, Maria L. Marco

Faculty Publications

Resistant starch type 2 (RS2), a dietary fiber comprised solely of glucose, has been extensively studied in clinical trials and animal models for its capacity to improve metabolic and systemic health. Because the health modulatory effects of RS2 and other dietary fibers are thought to occur through modification of the gut microbiome, those studies frequently include assessments of RS2-mediated changes to intestinal microbial composition and function. In this review, we identify the conserved responses of the gut microbiome among 13 human and 35 animal RS2 intervention studies. Consistent outcomes of RS2 interventions include reductions in bacterial α-diversity; increased production of …

Established Adulthood: A New Conception Of Ages 30 To 45, Clare M. Mehta, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Carlie G. Palmer, Larry J. Nelson

Faculty Publications

In developed countries, the years from Age 30 to 45 are, for many, the most intense, demanding, and rewarding years of adult life. During this period of the life span most adults must negotiate the intersecting demands of progressing in a chosen career, maintaining an intimate partnership, and caring for children. Successes or difficulties in meeting these simultaneous demands have the potential to profoundly influence the direction of a person's adult life. As such, we believe that it is of critical importance to better understand this developmental period that we call established adulthood. This article provides a new theoretical …

Love, Liberty And Worship In The Time Of Coronavirus, Nicholas P. Miller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Get Out And The Remediation Of Othello's Sunken Place: Beholding White Supremacy's Coagula, Vanessa I. Corredera

Faculty Publications

As a result of director and writer Jordan Peele's remediation of the horror genre to create a racially polemic film, breakout horror-thriller Get Out (2017) has achieved critical and commercial success while substantially affecting how Americans think about and approach race. As stories about a black man amidst an all-white community who ultimately strangles his white female lover, Get Out and Shakespeare's Othello share obvious narrative overlaps. Othello, however, maintains a more tenuous status regarding race and its function within the storyline than does Get Out. Othello remains a play mired in questions about how or even whether …

Effectiveness Of China's Plug-In Electric Vehicle Subsidy, Tamara L. Sheldon, Rubal Dua

Faculty Publications

Subsidies for promoting plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) adoption are a key component of China's overall plan for reducing local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the light-duty vehicle sector. In this paper, we explore the impact and cost-effectiveness of the Chinese PEV subsidy program. In particular, a vehicle choice model is estimated using a large random sample of individual level, model year 2017 Chinese new vehicle purchases. The choice model is then used to predict PEV market share under alternative policies. Simulation results suggest that the 2.5% PEV market share of Chinese new vehicle sales in 2017 resulted in …

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Signaling May Contribute To Chronic West Nile Virus Post-Infectious Proinflammatory State, A. Arturo Leis, Marie F. Grill, Brent P. Goodman, Syed B. Sadiq, David J. Sinclair, Parminder J.S. Vig, Fengwei Bai

Faculty Publications

Background: West Nile virus (WNV) causes a spectrum of human disease ranging from a febrile illness (WNV fever) to severe neuroinvasive disease (meningitis, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis). Since WNV gained entry into North America in 1999, clinicians caring for WNV survivors have observed persistent neurological symptoms occurring long-after the production of neutralizing antibodies and clearance of the virus. Accordingly, alternative pathogeneses other than direct viral invasion have been hypothesized to explain these post-infectious symptoms. The dominant hypothesis is that antiviral inflammatory responses triggered initially to clear WNV may persist to promote a post-infectious proinflammatory state.

Methods: In 4 serologically-confirmed …

A Game-Theoretic Approach To Deciphering The Dynamics Of Amyloid-Beta Aggregation Along Competing Pathways, Preetam Ghosh, Pratip Rana, Vijayaraghavan Rangachari, Jhinuk Saha, Edward Steen, Ashwin Vaidya

Faculty Publications

Aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides is a significant event that underpins Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aβ aggregates, especially the low-molecular weight oligomers, are the primary toxic agents in AD pathogenesis. Therefore, there is increasing interest in understanding their formation and behaviour. In this paper, we use our previously established results on heterotypic interactions between Aβ and fatty acids (FAs) to investigate off-pathway aggregation under the control of FA concentrations to develop a mathematical framework that captures the mechanism. Our framework to define and simulate the competing on- and off-pathways of Aβ aggregation is based on the principles of game theory. Together …

Host Induced Gene Silencing Targeting Aspergillus Flavus Aflm Reduced Aflatoxin Contamination In Transgenic Maize Under Field Conditions, Yenjit Raruang, Olanike Omolehin, Dongfang Hu, Qijian Wei, Zhu Qiang Han, Kanniah Rajasekaran, Jeffrey W. Cary, Kan Wang, Zhi Yuan Chen

Faculty Publications

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the major crops susceptible to Aspergillus flavus infection and subsequent contamination with aflatoxins, the most potent naturally produced carcinogenic secondary metabolites. This pathogen can pose serious health concerns and cause severe economic losses due to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations on permissible levels of aflatoxins in food and feed. Although biocontrol has yielded some successes in managing aflatoxin contamination, enhancing crop resistance is still the preferred choice of management for long-term sustainability. Hence, host induced gene silencing (HIGS) strategy was explored in this study. The A. flavus gene aflM encoding versicolorin …

Escherichia Coli Antimicrobial Resistance Variability In Water Runoff And Soil From A Remnant Native Prairie, And Improved Pasture, And A Cultivated Agricultural Watershed, Maitreyee Mukherjee, Terry Gentry, Heidi Mjelde, John P. Brooks, Daren Harmel, Lucas Gregory, Kevin Wagner

Faculty Publications

Although many previous studies have examined patterns of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR) from domestic animals and farm environments, comparatively little is known about the environmental sources and natural reservoirs of AMR and MDR. In this study, we collected stormwater runoff and soil samples from three watersheds in Texas. Escherichia coli (E. coli) were enumerated, isolated, and analyzed for resistance patterns. E. coli from all sites, irrespective of land use, displayed the presence of AMR/MDR. Higher levels of AMR/MDR were observed in water compared to soil. More isolates were resistant to cephalothin than other antibiotics. For …

The Relation Between Linguistic Awareness Skills And Spelling In Adults: A Comparison Among Scoring Procedures, Victoria S. Henbest, Lisa A. Fitton Ph.D., Krystal L. Werfel, Kenn Apel

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Spelling is a skill that relies on an individual’s linguistic awareness, the ability to overtly manipulate language. The ability to accurately spell is important for academic and career success into adulthood. The spelling skills of adults have received some attention in the literature, but there is limited information regarding which approach for analyzing adults’ spelling is optimal for guiding instruction or intervention for those who struggle. Thus, we aimed to examine the concurrent validity of four different scoring methods for measuring adults’ spellings (a dichotomous scoring method and three continuous methods) and to determine whether adults’ linguistic awareness skills …

Pharmacist-Driven Culture And Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing Follow-Up Program In The Emergency Department, Stephanie C. Shealy, Christine Alexander, Tina Grof Hardison, Joseph Magagnoli, Julie Ann Justo, Caroline Derrick, Joseph Kohn, Hana Rac Winders, Troy Privette, Majdi N. Al-Hasan, P. Brandon Bookstaver

Faculty Publications

Expanding pharmacist-driven antimicrobial stewardship efforts in the emergency department (ED) can improve antibiotic management for both admitted and discharged patients. We piloted a pharmacist-driven culture and rapid diagnostic technology (RDT) follow-up program in patients discharged from the ED. This was a single-center, pre- and post-implementation, cohort study examining the impact of a pharmacist-driven culture/RDT follow-up program in the ED. Adult patients discharged from the ED with subsequent positive cultures and/or RDT during the pre- (21 August 2018–18 November 2018) and post-implementation (19 November 2018–15 February 2019) periods were screened for inclusion. The primary endpoints were time from ED discharge to …

On-Site And External Energy Harvesting In Underground Wireless, Usman Raza, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

Energy efficiency is vital for uninterrupted long-term operation of wireless underground communication nodes in the field of decision agriculture. In this paper, energy harvesting and wireless power transfer techniques are discussed with applications in underground wireless communications (UWC). Various external wireless power transfer techniques are explored. Moreover, key energy harvesting technologies are presented that utilize available energy sources in the field such as vibration, solar, and wind. In this regard, the Electromagnetic(EM)- and Magnetic Induction(MI)-based approaches are explained. Furthermore, the vibration-based energy harvesting models are reviewed as well. These energy harvesting approaches lead to design of an efficient wireless underground …