Digital Commons Network^™

Inward Rectifier Potassium (Kir) Channels Mediate Salivary Gland Function And Blood Feeding In The Lone Star Tick, Amblyomma Americanum, Zhilin Li, Kevin R. Macaluso, Lane D. Foil, Daniel R. Swale

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Li et al. Background Tick feeding causes extreme morbidity and mortality to humans through transmission of pathogens and causes severe economic losses to the agricultural industry by reducing livestock yield. Salivary gland secretions are essential for tick feeding and thus, reducing or preventing saliva secretions into the vertebrate host is likely to reduce feeding and hinder pathogen life cycles. Unfortunately, the membrane physiology of tick salivary glands is underexplored and this gap in knowledge limits the development of novel therapeutics for inducing cessation of tick feeding. Methodology We studied the influence of inward rectifier potassium (Kir) channel subtypes …

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

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Pu et al. 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 …

Three Discipline Collaborative Radiation Therapy (3dcrt) Special Debate: The United States Should Build Additional Proton Therapy Facilities, Steve Braunstein, Li Wang, Wayne Newhauser, Todd Tenenholz, Yi Rong, Albert Van Der Kogel, Michael Dominello, Michael C. Joiner, Jay Burmeister

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Trpm4 Ion Channels In Pre-Bötzinger Complex Interneurons Are Essential For Breathing Motor Pattern But Not Rhythm, Maria Cristina D. Picardo, Yae K. Sugimura, Kaitlyn E. Dorst, Prajkta S. Kallurkar, Victoria T. Akins, Xingru Ma, Ryoichi Teruyama, Romain Guinamard, Kaiwen Kam, Margaret S. Saha, Christopher A. Del Negro

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Picardo et al. Inspiratory breathing movements depend on pre-Bötzinger complex (preBötC) interneurons that express calcium (Ca 2+ )-activated nonselective cationic current (I CAN ) to generate robust neural bursts. Hypothesized to be rhythmogenic, reducing I CAN is predicted to slow down or stop breathing; its contributions to motor pattern would be reflected in the magnitude of movements (output). We tested the role(s) of I CAN using reverse genetic techniques to diminish its putative ion channels Trpm4 or Trpc3 in preBötC neurons in vivo. Adult mice transduced with Trpm4-targeted short hairpin RNA (shRNA) progressively decreased the tidal volume of …

Combined Linkage And Association Analysis Identifies Rare And Low Frequency Variants For Blood Pressure At 1q31, Heming Wang, Priyanka Nandakumar, Fasil Tekola-Ayele, Bamidele O. Tayo, Erin B. Ware, C. Charles Gu, Yingchang Lu, Jie Yao, Wei Zhao, Jennifer A. Smith, Jacklyn N. Hellwege, Xiuqing Guo, Todd L. Edwards, Ruth J.F. Loos, Donna K. Arnett, Myriam Fornage, Charles Rotimi, Sharon L.R. Kardia, Richard S. Cooper, D. C. Rao, Georg Ehret, Aravinda Chakravarti, Xiaofeng Zhu

Faculty Publications

High blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is more prevalent in African Americans as compared to other US groups. Although large, population-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over 300 common polymorphisms modulating inter-individual BP variation, largely in European ancestry subjects, most of them do not localize to regions previously identified through family-based linkage studies. This discrepancy has remained unexplained despite the statistical power differences between current GWAS and prior linkage studies. To address this issue, we performed genome-wide linkage analysis of BP traits in African-American families from the Family Blood Pressure Program …

Host Sex, Size, And Hemoparasite Infection Influence The Effects Of Ectoparasitic Burdens On Free-Ranging Iguanas, Christine Lattin

Faculty Publications

Investigations focusing on host-ectoparasite interactions in animals have revealed asymptomatic to severe health and fitness consequences suggesting that species mobilize different interspecific response mechanisms. Fewer studies, however, have examined intraspecific responses to ectoparasitic burdens. In this study, we analyzed host health and fitness responses to increasing ectoparasite burdens along with the presence/absence of hemoparasites of free-ranging insular rock iguanas (Cyclura cychlura) in The Bahamas. Using hematology, plasma biochemistry, as well as body condition and growth rate comparisons, we failed to find significant associations of tick burdens with annual growth rate, corticosterone, packed cell volume, total white blood cell, and heterophil, …

Workshop Report: Cryopreservation Of Aquatic Biomedical Models, Mary Hagedorn, Zoltan Varga, Ronald B. Walter, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

The genetic resources of aquatic biomedical model organisms are the products of millions of years of evolution, decades of scientific development, and hundreds of millions of dollars of research funding investment. Genetic resources (e.g., specific alleles, transgenes, or combinations) of each model organism can be considered a form of scientific wealth that can be accumulated and exchanged, typically in the form of live animals or germplasm. Large-scale maintenance of live aquatic organisms that carry these genetic resources is inefficient, costly, and risky. In situ maintenance may be substantially enhanced and backed up by combining cryopreserved germplasm repositories and genetic information …

Distress Tolerance And Cannabis Craving: The Impact Of Laboratory-Induced Distress, Julia D. Buckner, Katherine Walukevich Dienst, Michael J. Zvolensky

Faculty Publications

Low levels of distress tolerance have been identified as an important vulnerability factor for negative cannabis outcomes. The current study is the first known experimental manipulation of state distress to test whether distress tolerance interacts with state distress to predict the urge to use cannabis. Current cannabis users (N = 126; 88.9% with cannabis use disorder; 54.0% non-Hispanic Caucasian) were randomly assigned to a distress task condition or neutral (reading) task condition. Participants in the 2 conditions did not differ on distress tolerance, negative affect (NA), or craving at baseline. The distress tolerance X condition interaction significantly predicted task NA, …

Metal Levels In Whales From The Gulf Of Maine: A One Environmental Health Approach, John Pierce Wise, James T.F. Wise, Catherine F. Wise, Sandra S. Wise, Cairong Zhu, Cynthia L. Browning, Tongzhang Zheng, Christopher Perkins, Christy Gianios, Hong Xie, John Pierce Wise

Faculty Publications

One Environmental Health has emerged as an important area of research that considers the interconnectedness of human, animal and ecosystem health with a focus on toxicology. The great whales in the Gulf of Maine are important species for ecosystem health, for the economies of the Eastern seaboard of the United States, and as sentinels for human health. The Gulf of Maine is an area with heavy coastal development, industry, and marine traffic, all of which contribute chronic exposures to environmental chemicals that can bioaccumulate in tissues and may gradually diminish an individual whale's or a population's fitness. We biopsied whales …

B Cell Homeostasis Is Maintained During Long-Duration Spaceflight, Guillaume Spielmann, Nadia Agha, Hawley Kunz, Richard J. Simpson, Brian Crucian, Satish Mehta, Mitzi Laughlin, John Campbell

Faculty Publications

Long-duration spaceflights reportedly induce immune dysregulation, which is considered a risk to astronaut safety and mission success. Recent studies have examined the impact of spaceflight on markers of adaptive and innate immunity, but no study, to date, has comprehensively evaluated humoral immunity and serological markers of B cell function. The aim of this study was to characterize changes in B cell numbers and phenotypes, along with plasma Igs and polyclonal free light chains (FLCs)—near-“real-time” biomarkers of Ig synthesis—in response to an ~6-mo mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Whole-blood samples were collected before flight, during flight (“Early flight,” “Mid-flight,” …

Politics And Entrepreneurship In The Us, Louis Philippe Beland, Bulent Unel

Faculty Publications

There is a strong belief that Republicans are more pro-business than Democrats. In this paper, we investigate the causal impact of partisan allegiance of governors (Republican or Democratic) on entrepreneurial activity by exploiting random variation in close gubernatorial elections in 50 states over the last three decades in a regression discontinuity design. We find that Republican governors are no different than Democratic governors in their effects on entrepreneurship. Our findings are robust to several sensitivity checks.

Supportive Hand-Holding Attenuates Pupillary Responses To Stress In Adult Couples, Wendy C. Birmingham, Tyler C. Graff, Steven G. Luke

Faculty Publications

Background

Social relationships, particularly marriage, have been shown to ameliorate the potentially pathogenic impact of stressful events but prior research has been mostly aimed at downstream effects, with less research on real-time reactivity. Pupillometry is an innovative procedure that allows us to see the effects of acute stress in real time. The muscles that control pupil size are linked to the autonomic nervous system, so that when stressed, the pupils dilate; this occurs within 200ms. This quick response allows us to see the immediate effects of acute stress on the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and the real-time effects of social …

The Underdeveloped Innate Immunity In Embryonic Stem Cells: The Molecular Basis And Biological Perspectives From Early Embryogenesis, Yan-Lin Guo

Faculty Publications

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have been intensively studied as a promising cell source for regenerative medicine. The rapid advancements in the field have not only proven the feasibility of ESC‐based cell therapy, but also led to a better understanding of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) as a unique cell population at an early stage of embryogenesis. Recent studies have revealed that both human and mouse ESCs have attenuated innate immune responses to infectious agents and inflammatory cytokines. These findings raise interesting questions about the rationale for ESCs, the PSCs experimentally derived from preimplantation stage embryos, to not have an innate defense …

Diagonalization Of 1-D Differential Operators With Piecewise Constant Coefficients Using The Uncertainty Principle, Sarah D. Long, Somayyeh Sheikholeslami, James V. Lambers, Carley Walker

Faculty Publications

A highly accurate and efficient numerical method is presented for computing the solution of a 1-D time-dependent partial differential equation in which the spatial differential operator features a piecewise constant coefficient defined on n" role="presentation"> pieces, in either self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint form, on a finite interval with periodic boundary conditions. The Uncertainty Principle is used to estimate the eigenvalues of the operator. Then, these estimates are used to construct a basis of eigenfunctions for use with a spectral method. The solution is presented as a truncated eigenfunction expansion, where each eigenfunction is a wave function that changes frequencies at the …

The Surprising Reach Of Fda Regulation Of Cannabis, Even After Descheduling, Erika Lietzan, Sean M. O'Connor

Faculty Publications

As more states legalize cannabis, the push to "deschedule" it from the Controlled Substances Act is gaining momentum. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first conventional drug containing a cannabinoid derived from cannabis - cannabidiol (CBD) for two rare seizure disorders. This would all seem to bode well for proponents of full federal legalization of medical cannabis. But some traditional providers are wary of drug companies pulling medical cannabis into the regular small molecule drug development system. The FDA's focus on precise analytical characterization and on individual active and inactive ingredients may be …

Spanish Attempts To Apprehend Lewis And Clark, Jay H. Buckley, Dan Sturdevant

Faculty Publications

American General James Wilkinson–a general who never won a battle or lost a court-martial—served as the ranking military leader of the United States while moonlighting as secret agent #13 on imperial Spain’s payroll. A traitor to his country, the vainglorious general repeatedly revealed American military secrets to the Spanish from the 1790s to the early decades of the nineteenth century in exchange for silver dollars and land grants. Astonishingly, Wilkinson’s full range of espionage did not surface until after his death because Wilkinson instructed his Spanish contacts never to reveal any of his written communications to others.

Knowledge And Awareness Of Human Papillomavirus Among College Students In South Carolina, Salima Kasymova, Sayward Harrison, Caroline Pascal

Faculty Publications

Despite the existence of a safe and effective vaccine, human papillomavirus (HPV) remains prevalent in the United States, with late adolescence and early adulthood being periods of increased risk. Thus, targeting college-aged individuals for HPV prevention and vaccination promotion is critical—particularly in regions such as the Deep South where vaccination rates remain low. This study sought to examine awareness and knowledge of HPV as well as experiences and attitudes regarding HPV vaccination among college students in the Deep South. Specifically, we completed a cross-sectional survey of 256 undergraduate students from a large public university in South Carolina. Although a majority …

Humanizing The Intensive Care Unit, Michael E. Wilson, Sarah Beesley, Amanda Grow, Eileen Rubin, Ramona O. Hopkins, Negin Hajizadeh, Samuel M. Brown

Faculty Publications

In the midst of trying to correct organ failures, clinicians may neglect to carefully consider what the patient is experiencing: to be on the brink of death, be unable to speak, be stripped naked, have strangers enter the room and simultaneously do things to their bodies without explanation, have tubes inserted into multiple orifices, have their arms restrained, hear a cacophony of disorienting bedside alarms whose meaning lies beyond them, and to be poked, and prodded—all while family is torn away. Compounding these facts, patients often have no memory or understanding of how they ended up in this horrifying situation. …

Deep Learning Based Analysis Of Histopathological Images Of Breast Cancer, Juanying Xie, Ran Liu, Joseph Luttrell Iv, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

Breast cancer is associated with the highest morbidity rates for cancer diagnoses in the world and has become a major public health issue. Early diagnosis can increase the chance of successful treatment and survival. However, it is a very challenging and time-consuming task that relies on the experience of pathologists. The automatic diagnosis of breast cancer by analyzing histopathological images plays a significant role for patients and their prognosis. However, traditional feature extraction methods can only extract some low-level features of images, and prior knowledge is necessary to select useful features, which can be greatly affected by humans. Deep learning …

A Learning-Based Automatic Segmentation And Quantification Method On Left Ventricle In Gated Myocardial Perfusion Spect Imaging: A Feasibility Study, Tonghe Wang, Yang Lei, Haipeng Tang, Zhou He, Richard Castillo, Cheng Wang, Dianfu Li, Kristin Higgins, Tian Liu, Walter J. Curran, Walter J. Curran, Weihua Zhou, Xiaofeng Yang

Faculty Publications

Background: The performance of left ventricular (LV) functional assessment using gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) relies on the accuracy of segmentation. Current methods require manual adjustments that are tedious and subjective. We propose a novel machine-learning-based method to automatically segment LV myocardium and measure its volume in gated MPS imaging without human intervention.

Methods: We used an end-to-end fully convolutional neural network to segment LV myocardium by delineating its endocardial and epicardial surface. A novel compound loss function, which encourages similarity and penalizes discrepancy between prediction and training dataset, is utilized in training stage to achieve excellent performance. …

Contributions Of Mainstream Sexual Media Exposure To Sexual Attitudes, Perceived Peer Norms, And Sexual Behavior: A Meta-Analysis, Sarah M. Coyne, L. Monique Ward, Savannah L. Kroff, Emilie J. Davis, Hailey G. Holmgren, Alexander C. Jensen, Sarah E. Erickson, Lee W. Essig

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Decades of research have examined the impact of exposure to nonexplicit portrayals of sexual content in media. There is only one meta-analysis on this topic, which suggests that exposure to “sexy media” has little to no effect on sexual behavior. There are a number of limitations to the existing meta-analysis, and the purpose of this updated meta-analysis was to examine associations between exposure to sexual media and users' attitudes and sexual behavior.

Methods: A thorough literature search was conducted to find relevant articles. Each study was coded for associations between exposure to sexual media and one of six outcomes …

Use Of Flexible Sensor To Characterize Biomechanics Of Canine Skin, Austin Downey, Jin Yan, Eric M. Zellner, Karl H. Kraus, Iris V. Rivero, Simon Laflamme

Faculty Publications

Background Suture materials and techniques are frequently evaluated in ex vivo studies by comparing tensile strengths. However, the direct measurement techniques to obtain the tensile forces in canine skin are not available, and, therefore, the conditions suture lines undergo is unknown. A soft elastomeric capacitor is used to monitor deformation in the skin over time by sensing strain. This sensor was applied to a sample of canine skin to evaluate its capacity to sense strain in the sample while loaded in a dynamic material testing machine. The measured strain of the sensor was compared with the strain measured by the …

Impact Of Donor Milk On Short- And Long-Term Growth Of Very Low Birth Weight Infants, Rebecca Hoban, Michael E. Schoeny, Anita Esquerra-Zwiers, Tanyaporn K. Kaenkumchorn, Gina Casini, Grace Tobin, Alan H. Siegel, Kousiki Patra, Matthew Hamilton, Jennifer Wicks, Paula Meier, Aloka L. Patel

Faculty Publications

Mother’s own milk (MOM) reduces the risk of morbidities in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. When MOM is unavailable, donor breastmilk (DM) is used, with unclear impact on short- and long-term growth. This retrospective analysis compared anthropometric data at six time points from birth to 20–24 months corrected age in VLBW infants who received MOM supplements of preterm formula (n = 160) versus fortified DM (n = 161) during neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) hospitalization. The cohort was 46% female; mean birth weight and gestational age (GA) were 998 g and 27.3 weeks. Multilevel linear growth models assessed changes …

The Brave New World Of Energy And Natural Resources Development, Donald N. Zillman

Faculty Publications

The world of energy and natural resources development has changed a great deal over the past 30 months, perhaps more so than in the preceding 30 years. Beginning with the June 2016 vote in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and continuing through today, there are global signs of increasing emphasis on protecting national sovereignty and less on world efforts to address major environmental and energy issues. Admittedly, the United Nations-based effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions continues to move forward. However, more than a few nations are hinting that they may not live up to their commitments …

Does High-Quality Preschool Benefit Children? What The Research Shows, Hani Morgan

Faculty Publications

Despite research showing that high-quality early education can be extremely beneficial, a large percentage of American children do not attend preschool. In addition, children from low-income families are less likely to enroll in preschool and more likely to attend low-quality early education programs. One reason for this outcome involves low spending on early education. In comparison with many industrialized nations, the United States spends little on preschool education, allowing other countries to be ahead in this area. This paper summarizes the findings of research on preschool education. It also offers a few ideas on improving early education programs and reasons …

Dietary Intake Reporting Accuracy Of The Bridge2u Mobile Application Food Log Compared To Control Meal And Dietary Recall Methods, Jennifer Lemacks, Kristen Adams, Ashley Lovetere

Faculty Publications

Mobile technology introduces opportunity for new methods of dietary assessment. The purpose of this study was to compare the reporting accuracy of a mobile food log application and 24 h recall method to a controlled meal among a convenience sample of adults (18 years of age or older). Participants were recruited from a community/university convenience sample. Participants consumed a pre-portioned control meal, completed mobile food log entry (mfood log), and participated in a dietary recall administered by a registered dietitian (24R). Height, weight, and application use survey data were collected. Sign test, Pearson’s correlation, and descriptive analyses were conducted to …

Role Of Transcription-Regulating Kinase Cdk8 In Colon Cancer Metastasis, Jiaxin Liang, Mengqian Chen, Eugenia Broude, Igor Roninson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Recent Advances In Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors For Structural Health Monitoring Applications, Hanfei Mei, Mohammad Faisal Haider, Roshan Prakash Joseph, Asaad Migot, Victor Giurgiutiu

Faculty Publications

In this paper, some recent piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) progress achieved in our laboratory for active materials and smart structures (LAMSS) at the University of South Carolina: http: //www.me.sc.edu/research/lamss/ group is presented. First, the characterization of the PWAS materials shows that no significant change in the microstructure after exposure to high temperature and nuclear radiation, and the PWAS transducer can be used in harsh environments for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. Next, PWAS active sensing of various damage types in aluminum and composite structures are explored. PWAS transducers can successfully detect the simulated crack and corrosion damage in aluminum …

Longitudinal Effects Of Maternal Love Withdrawal And Guilt Induction On Chinese American Preschoolers’ Bullying Aggressive Behavior, Jing Yu, Charissa S.L. Cheah, Craig H. Hart, Chongming Yang, Joseph A. Olsen

Faculty Publications

Bullying has been understudied among preschool children, especially those from Chinese American families. Previous research has also neglected the dimensional effects of psychological control on child bullying development. This study examined two psychological control dimensions, love withdrawal and guilt induction, and their effects on children’s bullying aggressive behavior using a longitudinal design. Participants were first generation Chinese American mothers (N = 133;mean age [Mage] = 37.82) and their preschool children (Mage = 4.48). Chinese immigrant mothers reported their psychologically controlling parenting and teachers rated children’s bullying aggressive behaviors in the school setting. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the …

Development And Validation Protocol For An Instrument To Measure Household Water Insecurity Across Cultures And Ecologies The Household Water Insecurity Experiences (Hwise) Scale, Sera L. Young, Shalean M. Collins, Godfred O. Boateng, Torsten B. Neilands, Zeina Jamaluddine, Joshua D. Miller, Alexandra A. Brewis, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Wendy E. Jepson, Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez, Roseanne C. Schuster, Justin B. Stoler, Amber Wutich, Jonathan Maupin, Monet Niesluchowski, Asiki Gershim, Divya Krishnakumar

Faculty Publications

Introduction A wide range of water-related problems contribute to the global burden of disease. Despite the many plausible consequences for health and well-being, there is no validated tool to measure individual- or household-level water insecurity equivalently across varying cultural and ecological settings. Accordingly, we are developing the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale to measure household-level water insecurity in multiple contexts.

Methods and analysis After domain specification and item development, items were assessed for both content and face validity. Retained items are being asked in surveys in 28 sites globally in which waterrelated problems have been reported (eg, shortages, excess …