Digital Commons Network^™

Deep-Ultraviolet Laser Ablation Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry, Remilekun O. Lawal, Fabrizio Donnarumma, Kermit K. Murray

Faculty Publications

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. A 193-nm wavelength deep ultraviolet laser was used for ambient laser ablation electrospray ionization mass spectrometry of biological samples. A pulsed ArF excimer laser was used to ablate solid samples, and the resulting plume of the desorbed material merged with charged electrospray droplets to form ions that were detected with a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Solutions containing peptide and protein standards up to 66-kDa molecular weight were deposited on a metal target, dried, and analyzed. No fragmentation was observed from peptides and proteins as well as from the more easily fragmented vitamin B …

Apoptosis Signal-Regulating Kinase-1 Promotes Inflammasome Priming In Macrophages, Camille N. Immanuel, Bin Teng, Brittany Dong, Elizabeth M. Gordon, Joseph A. Kennedy, Charlean Luellen, Andreas Schwingshackl, Stephania A. Cormier, Elizabeth A. Fitzpatrick, Christopher M. Waters

Faculty Publications

© 2019 the American Physiological Society. previously showed that mice deficient in apo-ptosis signal-regulating kinase-1 (ASK1) were partially protected against ventilator-induced lung injury. Because ASK1 can promote both cell death and inflammation, we hypothesized that ASK1 activation regulates inflammasome-mediated inflammation. Mice deficient in ASK1 expression (ASK1 +/+ ) exhibited significantly less inflammation and lung injury (as measured by neutrophil infiltration, IL-6, and IL-1β) in response to treatment with inhaled lipopolysaccharide (LPS) compared with wild-type (WT) mice. To determine whether this proinflammatory response was mediated by ASK1, we investigated inflammasome-mediated responses to LPS in primary macrophages and bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) …

Milk And Kefir Maintain Aspects Of Health During Doxorubicin Treatment In Rats, L. K. Stewart, P. Smoak, D. S. Hydock, R. Hayward, K. O'Brien, J. K. Lisano, C. Boeneke, M. Christensen, A. Mathias

Faculty Publications

Doxorubicin (DOX), a powerful anthracycline antibiotic commonly used to treat a wide variety of cancers, is associated with the production of reactive oxygen species that cause oxidative damage, resulting in cardiac dysfunction. Components of dairy may have protective effects against DOX-induced cardiac damage. Kefir is a naturally fermented milk product containing antioxidants, probiotic bacteria, and yeast in addition to the protective components of dairy. We explored the effects of dietary milk and kefir on DOX-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. We used singly housed, 10-wk-old male Sprague Dawley rats assigned to 1 of 3 isocaloric diets, control (CON n = 24), milk …

Impact Of The S.T.R.I.P.E.S. Leadership And Extended Orientation Program On Philanthropic Giving, Beverly Brooks Thompson, Michael F. Burnett

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the impact participating in S.T.R.I.P.E.S., a leadership and extended orientation program, had on philanthropic giving of recent alumni of Louisiana State University. The goal was to determine if leadership development, loyalty, and engagement taught through leadership and extended orientation programs influence donations of recent graduates. S.T.R.I.P.E.S. participants had a higher percentage of donors who are female, although males gave a greater cumulative amount of money, gave more frequently, and made larger average donations. Black/African Americans and Hispanics gave greater cumulative amounts than Whites. Findings of the study revealed that participation in S.T.R.I.P.E.S. has a positive influence on …

Natural Language Processing And Machine Learning To Identify Alcohol Misuse From The Electronic Health Record In Trauma Patients: Development And Internal Validation, Majid Afshar, Andrew Phillips, Niranjan Karnik, Jeanne Mueller, Daniel To, Richard Gonzalez, Ron Price, Richard Cooper, Cara Joyce, Dmitriy Dligach

Faculty Publications

Objective: Alcohol misuse is present in over a quarter of trauma patients. Information in the clinical notes of the electronic health record of trauma patients may be used for phenotyping tasks with natural language processing (NLP) and supervised machine learning. The objective of this study is to train and validate an NLP classifier for identifying patients with alcohol misuse. Materials and Methods: An observational cohort of 1422 adult patients admitted to a trauma center between April 2013 and November 2016. Linguistic processing of clinical notes was performed using the clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System. The primary analysis was …

The Spatial Distribution Of Poverty And The Long Reach Of The Industrial Makeup Of Places: New Evidence On Spatial And Temporal Regimes, Katherine J. Curtis, Junho Lee, Heather A. O'Connell, Jun Zhu

Faculty Publications

A wealth of research identifies industrial structure as a central correlate of place-level poverty and suggests that changes in and the clustering of industry contribute to the spatial clustering of poverty over time. However, few studies have investigated the spatial and temporal dimensions simultaneously, and none have effectively examined spatiotemporal interactions. Consequently, a core tenet of theory on poverty in place has not been adequately examined. To address this limitation, we explicitly test hypotheses about systematic variation in the poverty-industry relationship over time and across space using a new method to quantify dynamic associations by simultaneously accounting for spatial and …

Application Of Steam Explosion In Oil Extraction Of Camellia Seed (Camellia Oleifera Abel.) And Evaluation Of Its Physicochemical Properties, Fatty Acid, And Antioxidant Activities, Shanying Zhang, Yong Gui Pan, Lili Zheng, Yang Yang, Xiaoyan Zheng, Binling Ai, Zhimin Xu, Zhanwu Sheng

Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the physicochemical properties of oils extracted from steam-exploded camellia seed (Camellia oleifera Abel.). Steam pressure, resident time, fatty acid composition, total phenolics, tocopherol, squalene, and sterol contents, and volatile compounds were determined. 1 H NMR and FTIR spectra were performed for the structure of camellia seed oil. This study has found the highest yield of oil was 86.56% and was obtained when steam explosion pretreatment was at 1.6 MPa 30 s. Oil extracted by steam explosion pretreatment exhibited favorable physicochemical properties and stronger antioxidant activities compared to untreated oil. The compositions of fatty acid were similar between …

This Is A Disaster! Ethically Planning For The Worst Case Scenario, Neil Fulton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Chinese College Students' Health Information Seeking Behavior: Implications For Academic Libraries, Yanxia Shi, Lili Luo

Faculty Publications

In 2016, Zexi Wei, a 21-year old Chinese college student died after receiving experimental treatment for synovial sarcoma at the Second Hospital of the Beijing Armed Police Corps. He learned about this treatment from a promoted result on the Chinese search engine Baidu (the equivalent of Google in China), and ultimately discovered that the hospital had misled patients by providing fraudulent information about the treatment's success rate. Wei's death prompted Chinese regulators to investigate Baidu's advertising practices, and drew widespread attention from the public about the ill-regulated practices of online dissemination of health information. As academic librarians, this tragic incident …

Academic Prioritization Or Killing The Liberal Arts?, Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt

Faculty Publications

Dr. Reshmi Dutt-Ballerstadt, professor of English at Linfield College, laments the downsizing of liberal arts and humanities programs and departments by college administrators bent on promoting more "job-oriented" disciplines.

This essay originally appeared as part of Conditionally Accepted, a career advice blog for Inside Higher Ed providing news, information, personal stories, and resources for scholars who are, at best, conditionally accepted in academe. Conditionally Accepted is an anti-racist, pro-feminist, pro-queer, anti-transphobic, anti-fatphobic, anti-ableist, anti-ageist, anti-classist, and anti-xenophobic online community.

Immunological And Virologic Outcomes Of People Living With Hiv In Guangxi, China: 2012-2017, Xueying Yang, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Shan Qiao Ph.D., Zhiyong Shen, Yuejiao Zhou

Faculty Publications

Background Limited data are available on clinical outcomes of people living with HIV (PLWH) in China, especially after the implementation of the 2016 national treatment guideline. The objective of the current study is to examine the treatment patterns, clinical outcomes and their associated factors among PLWH in Guangxi, China before and after this new guideline.

Methods Data from three community-based projects conducted at different time points over a period of six years (2012–2017) in Guangxi were analyzed in our study. The interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Measures of clinical outcomes were retrieved from the patients’ medical records. Descriptive …

An Atheist Confirms Ellen White’S Counsel, Joann Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding Farm Households' Participation In Nong Jia Le In China, Tie Wang, Wei Wang, Zhongjun Wu, Ching-Hui Su, Ming-Hsiang Chen

Faculty Publications

As the dominant form of rural tourism (RT) in China, Nong Jia Le (NJL) has made it possible for local farm households to benefit. In this article, a four-step strategy based on binary logistic regression was introduced to identify the most important factors influencing the participation of farm households in NJL. Next, a comparative study based on data from two NJL communities was conducted to test the approach and identify the most important influential factors as well as the differences. The results showed that the approach could identify the optimal model and the most influential factors in different rural communities. …

The Type Of Dietary Fat In An Isocaloric Breakfast Meal Does Not Modify Postprandial Metabolism In Overweight/Obese Pregnant Women, Mary Lesser, Kasuen Mauldin, Lisa Sawrey-Kubicek, Virginia Gildengorin, Janet King

Faculty Publications

Almonds provide a satiating, healthy source of fat and fiber. The postprandial metabolic and satiety response to 2 ounces of nuts or dairy was assessed in 18 overweight/obese women during late pregnancy. Serum glucose, triglycerides, insulin, c-peptide, leptin, ghrelin, and lipoprotein particles were measured prior to and during a 5-h postprandial period following the consumption of an isocaloric breakfast meal with equivalent amounts of fat from either nuts or dairy on two separate mornings. Satiety was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) questionnaires and ad libitum food intake at the end of the study. At 33 weeks gestation, the women …

Falling From Grace: Hprt Is Not Suitable As An Endogenous Control For Cancer-Related Studies, Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zac E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison

Faculty Publications

HPRT is a housekeeping enzyme involved in recycling guanine and inosine in the purine salvage pathway. As a housekeeping gene, HPRT has been widely used as an endogenous control for molecular studies evaluating changes in gene expression. Yet, recent evidence has shown that HPRT exhibits high variability within malignant samples. We designed this study to determine whether this observed upregulation is consistently found, therefore rendering hprt an unsuitable normalization control in cancer. Utilizing protein and RNA-seq expression, we found that malignant and normal patient samples vary significantly both within the same tissue type and across organ sites. Upon staining for …

Toxoplasma Gondii Igg Associations With Sleepwake Problems, Sleep Duration And Timing, Celine C. Corona, Ma Zhang, Abhishek Wadhawan, Melanie L. Daue, Maureen W. Groer, Aline Dagang, Christopher A. Lowry, Kathleen A. Ryan, Andrew J. Hoisington, John W. Stiller, Dietmar Fuchs, Braxton D. Mitchell, Teodor T. Postolache

Faculty Publications

Background: Evidence links Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), a neurotropic parasite, with schizophrenia, mood disorders and suicidal behavior, all of which are associated and exacerbated by disrupted sleep. Moreover, low-grade immune activation and dopaminergic overstimulation, which are consequences of T. gondii infection, could alter sleep patterns and duration. Methods: Sleep data on 833 Amish participants [mean age (SD) = 44.28 (16.99) years; 59.06% women] were obtained via self-reported questionnaires that assessed sleep problems, duration and timing. T. gondii IgG was measured with ELISA. Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regressions and linear mixed models, with adjustment for age, sex and family …

A Qualitative Study Of Ramadan: A Month Of Fasting, Family, And Faith, Zahra Alghafli, Trevan Hatch, Andrew H. Rose, Mona M. Abo-Zena, Loren Dean Marks

Faculty Publications

Islam is a major world religion and the Muslim population is one of the fastest growing religious populations in the Western world, including in the United States. However, few research studies have examined the lived religious experience of U.S. Muslim families. Much of the attention on Islam among researchers and the media tends to be on controversial aspects of the religion. The purpose of this paper is to examine the unique religious practice of the month-long fast of Ramadan, especially its perceived role on marital and familial relationships from an insider’s perspective. Content analysis of in-depth, qualitative interviews of twenty …

Existential Interventions For Adolescent Suicidality: Practical Interventions To Target The Root Causes Of Adolescent Distress, Ragan Lybbert, Samuel Ryland, Roy A. Bean

Faculty Publications

In this work we discuss common forms of treatment for suicidality and suicidality among adolescents. Vastly pervasive, crisis intervention-based treatment is found throughout nearly all suicidality treatments regardless of client age or intervention site. Crisis intervention-based approaches often overlook many crucial elements of suicidality in adolescents. We therefore explore elements of existential therapy and their potential merit in treatment for suicide among adolescents. These include existential angst and despair, meaninglessness and isolation. These elements are strong predictors of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents. While the common crisis-based treatment appropriately addresses immediate safety needs, it can neglect and even exacerbate …

Persistent Hydrological Consequences Of Hurricane Maria In Puerto Rico, P. W. Miller, A. Kumar, T. L. Mote, F. D. S. Moraes, D. R. Mishra

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond Religious Rigidities: Religious Firmness And Religious Flexibility As Complementary Loyalties In Faith Transmission, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks, Kate P. Babcock, Betsy H. Barrow, Andrew H. Rose

Faculty Publications

Research has found that intergenerational transmission of religiosity results in higher family functioning and improved family relationships. Yet the Pew Research Center found that 44% of Americans reported that they had left the religious affiliation of their childhood. And 78% of the expanding group of those who identify as religiously unaffiliated (“Nones”) reported that they were raised in “highly religious families.” We suggest that this may be, in part, associated with religious parents exercising excessive firmness with inadequate flexibility (rigidity). We used a multiphase, systematic, team-based process to code 8000+ pages of in-depth interviews from 198 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim …

Multiple Mediation Analysis With Survival Outcomes: With An Application To Explore Racial Disparity In Breast Cancer Survival, Qingzhao Yu, Xiaocheng Wu, Bin Li, Richard A. Scribner

Faculty Publications

Mediation analysis allows the examination of effects of a third variable in the pathway between an exposure and an outcome. The general multiple mediation analysis method, proposed by Yu et al, improves traditional methods (eg, estimation of natural and controlled direct effects) to enable consideration of multiple mediators/confounders simultaneously and the use of linear and nonlinear predictive models for estimating mediation/confounding effects. In this paper, we extend the method for time-to-event outcomes and apply the method to explore the racial disparity in breast cancer survivals. Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death …

High Medicaid Nursing Homes: Organizational And Market Factors Associated With Financial Performance, Robert Weech-Maldonado, Justin Lord, Rohit Pradhan, Ganisher Davlyatov, Neeraj Dayama, Shivani Gupta, Larry Hearld

Faculty Publications

High Medicaid nursing homes (85% and higher of Medicaid residents) operate in resource-constrained environments. High Medicaid nursing homes (on average) have lower quality and poorer financial performance. However, there is significant variation in performance among high Medicaid nursing homes. The purpose of this study is to examine the organizational and market factors that may be associated with better financial performance among high Medicaid nursing homes. Data sources included Long-Term Care Focus (LTCFocus), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare Cost Reports, CMS Nursing Home Compare, and the Area Health Resource File (AHRF) for 2009-2015. There were approximately 1108 facilities …

Nursing Home Quality And Financial Performance: Is There A Business Case For Quality?, Robert Weech-Maldonado, Rohit Pradhan, Neeraj Dayama, Justin Lord, Shivani Gupta

Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship between nursing home quality and financial performance to assess whether there is a business case for quality. Secondary data sources included the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR), Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reporting (CASPER), Medicare Cost Reports, Minimum Data Set (MDS 2.0), Area Resource File (ARF), and LTCFocus for all free-standing, nongovernment nursing homes for 2000 to 2014. Data were analyzed using panel data linear regression with facility and year fixed effects. The dependent variable, financial performance, consisted of the operating margin. The independent variables comprised nursing home quality measures that capture the three …

Utility Of Combination Antimicrobial Therapy In Adults With Bloodstream Infections Due To Enterobacteriaceae And Non-Fermenting Gram-Negative Bacilli Based On In Vitro Analysis At Two Community Hospitals, Rachel Foster, Casey Troficanto, P. Brandon Bookstaver, Joseph Kohn, Julie Ann Justo, Majdi Al-Hasan

Faculty Publications

This study examined the utility of combination therapy for bloodstream isolates of Enterobacteriaceae and non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli (NFGN) from adults at two community hospitals from January 2010 through to June 2015. Changes to in vitro antimicrobial susceptibilities by adding ciprofloxacin or gentamicin to third-generation cephalosporins (3GC) were examined overall and in patients with risk factors for 3GC resistance. Overall ceftriaxone susceptibility among Enterobacteriaceae was 996/1063 (94%) and 247/295 (84%) in patients with 3GC resistance risk factors. Susceptibilities increased marginally by adding ciprofloxacin or gentamicin (mean difference 2.4% (95% CI 1.5, 3.4) and 3.0% (95% CI 2.0, 4.0), respectively, overall and …

Exposure Characterization Of Haloacetic Acids In Humans For Exposure And Risk Assessment Applications: An Exploratory Study, Shahid Parvez, Jeffrey L. Ashby, Susana Y. Kimura, Susan D. Richardson

Faculty Publications

Disinfected water is the major source of haloacetic acids (HAAs) in humans, but their inter- and intra-individual variability for exposure and risk assessment applications is under-researched. Thus, we measured HAAs in cross-sectional and longitudinal urine and water specimens from 17 individuals. Five regulated HAAs—mono-, di-, and trichloroacetic acid (MCAA, DCAA, and TCAA) and mono- and dibromoacetic acid (MBAA and DBAA)—and one unregulated HAA—bromochloroacetic acid (BCAA)—were measured. Urinary DCAA, MBAA, DBAA, and BCAA levels were always below the limits of detection (LOD). Measured levels and interindividual variability of urinary MCAA were higher than urinary TCAA. Longitudinal urinary specimens showed MCAA levels …

Simultaneous Lc–Ms/Ms Analysis Of Simvastatin, Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin And Their Active Metabolites For Plasma Samples Of Obese Patients Underwent Gastric Bypass Surgery, Asma El-Zailik, Lily K. Cheung, Yang Wang, Vadim Sherman, Diana S.L. Chow

Faculty Publications

Statins, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, are considered the first line treatment of hyperlipidemia to reduce the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. The prevalence of hyperlipidemia and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases are higher in obese patients. Published methods for the quantification of statins and their active metabolites did not test for matrix effect of or validate the method in hyperlipidemic plasma. A sensitive, specific, accurate, and reliable LC–MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of simvastatin (SMV), active metabolite of simvastatin acid (SMV-A), atorvastatin (ATV), active metabolites of 2-hydroxy atorvastatin (2-OH-ATV), 4-hydroxy atorvastatin (4-OH-ATV), and rosuvastatin (RSV) was developed and validated …

Trajectories Of Body Mass Index Among Active-Duty U.S. Army Soldiers, Julianna M. Jayne, Christine E. Blake, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Angela D. Liese, Bo Cai, D. Alan Nelson, Lianne M. Kurina, Leslee Funderburk

Faculty Publications

Establishing the shape and determinants of trajectories of body mass index (BMI) among Soldiers is critical given the importance of weight management to military service requirements. To establish the shape and determinants of BMI trajectories among Soldiers, we aimed to (1) model the overall BMI trajectory of Soldiers, (2) find the most common trajectory groups among Soldiers, (3) investigate the relationship between BMI trajectories and sociodemographic and military-specific characteristics, and (4) determine if there were Soldiers with large fluctuations in BMI. The study population included all US Army Soldiers on active-duty between 2011 and 2014 who were age 17–62 (n …

Virus-Specific Memory T Cells Populate Tumors And Can Be Repurposed For Tumor Immunotherapy, Pamela C. Rosato, Sathi Wijeyesinghe, J Michael Stolley, Christine E. Nelson, Rachel Davis, Luke S. Manlove, Christopher A. Pennell, Bruce R. Blazar, Clark C. Chen, Melissa A. Geller, Vaiva Vezys, David Masopust

Faculty Publications

The immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment limits the success of current immunotherapies. The host retains memory T cells specific for previous infections throughout the entire body that are capable of executing potent and immediate immunostimulatory functions. Here we show that virus-specific memory T cells extend their surveillance to mouse and human tumors. Reactivating these antiviral T cells can arrest growth of checkpoint blockade-resistant and poorly immunogenic tumors in mice after injecting adjuvant-free non-replicating viral peptides into tumors. Peptide mimics a viral reinfection event to memory CD8+ T cells, triggering antigen presentation and cytotoxic pathways within the tumor, activating dendritic cells and natural …

Determining Best Practices For Management Of Bacteriuria In Spinal Cord Injury: Protocol For A Mixed-Methods Study, Felicia Skelton, Lindsey Ann Martin, Charlesnika T. Evans, Jennifer Kramer, Larissa Grigoryan, Peter Richardson, Mark E. Kunik, Ivy Oiyee Poon, S. Ann Holmes, Barbara W. Trautner

Faculty Publications

Background: Bacteriuria, either asymptomatic (ASB) or symptomatic, urinary tract infection (UTI), is common in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Current Veterans Health Administration (VHA) guidelines recommend a screening urinalysis and urine culture for every veteran with SCI during annual evaluation, even when asymptomatic, which is contrary to other national guidelines. Our preliminary data suggest that a positive urine culture (even without signs or symptoms of infection) drives antibiotic use. Objective: Through a series of innovative studies utilizing mixed methods, administrative databases, and focus groups, we will gain further knowledge about the attitudes driving current urine testing practices during the …

Deepdrug3d: Classification Of Ligand-Binding Pockets In Proteins With A Convolutional Neural Network, Michal Brylinski, Limeng Pu, Rajiv Gandhi Govindaraj, Jeffrey Mitchell Lemoine

Faculty Publications

Comprehensive characterization of ligand-binding sites is invaluable to infer molecular functions of hypothetical proteins, trace evolutionary relationships between proteins, engineer enzymes to achieve a desired substrate specificity, and develop drugs with improved selectivity profiles. These research efforts pose significant challenges owing to the fact that similar pockets are commonly observed across different folds, leading to the high degree of promiscuity of ligand-protein interactions at the system-level. On that account, novel algorithms to accurately classify binding sites are needed. Deep learning is attracting a significant attention due to its successful applications in a wide range of disciplines. In this communication, we …