Digital Commons Network^™

Aerosol-Assisted Synthesis Of Monodisperse Single-Crystalline Α-Cristobalite Nanospheres, Xingmao Jiang, Lihong Bao, Yung-Sung Cheng, Darren R. Dunphy, Xiaodong Li, C. Jeffrey Brinker

Faculty Publications

Monodisperse single-crystalline α-cristobalite nanospheres have been synthesized by hydrocarbon-pyrolysis-induced carbon deposition on amorphous silica aerosol nanoparticles, devitrification of the coated silica at high temperature, and subsequent carbon removal by oxidation. The nanosphere size can be well controlled by tuning the size of the colloidal silica precursor. Uniform, high-purity nanocrystalline α-cristobalite is important for catalysis, nanocomposites, advanced polishing, and understanding silica nanotoxicology.

Protocol For The Modeling The Epidemiologic Transition Study: A Longitudinal Observational Study Of Energy Balance And Change In Body Weight, Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Amy Luke, Pascal Bovet, Terrence E. Forrester, Estelle V. Lambert, Jacob Plange-Rhule, Dale A. Schoeller, Lara R. Dugas, Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu, David Shoham, Richard S. Cooper, Soren Brage, Ulf Ekelund, Nelia P. Steyn

Faculty Publications

Background: The prevalence of obesity has increased in societies of all socio-cultural backgrounds. To date, guidelines set forward to prevent obesity have universally emphasized optimal levels of physical activity. However there are few empirical data to support the assertion that low levels of energy expenditure in activity is a causal factor in the current obesity epidemic are very limited. Methods/Design. The Modeling the Epidemiologic Transition Study (METS) is a cohort study designed to assess the association between physical activity levels and relative weight, weight gain and diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk in five population-based samples at different stages of economic …

Pegylated Phthalocyanines: Synthesis And Spectroscopic Properties, Hairong Li, Frank R. Fronczek, M. Graa H. Vicente

Faculty Publications

The synthesis and spectroscopic properties of Zn(II)-phthalocyanines containing up to eight tri(ethylene glycol) groups are described. These pegylated-phthalocyanines are highly soluble in polar solvents and might find application as fluorescence imaging and/or photosensitizing agents for PDT.

Effects Of Prenatal Food And Micronutrient Supplementation On Child Growth From Birth To 54 Months Of Age: A Randomized Trial In Bangladesh, Ashraful Islam Khan, Iqbal Kabir, Eva-Charlotte Ekström, Kajsa Åsling-Monemi, Dewan Shamsul Alam, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Md Yunus, Shams Arifeen, Lars-Åke Persson

Faculty Publications

Background: There is a lack of information on the optimal timing of food supplementation to malnourished pregnant women and possible combined effects of food and multiple micronutrient supplementations (MMS) on their offspring's growth. We evaluated the effects of prenatal food and micronutrient interventions on postnatal child growth. The hypothesis was that prenatal MMS and early invitation to food supplementation would increase physical growth in the offspring during 0-54 months and a combination of these interventions would further improve these outcomes.

Methods: In the large, randomized MINIMat trial (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab), Bangladesh, 4436 pregnant women were enrolled …

Long-Term Effects Of Changes In Cardiorespiratory Fitness And Body Mass Index On All-Cause And Cardiovascular Disease Mortality In Men: The Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, Duck-Chul Lee, Xuemei Sui, Enrique G. Artero, I-Min Lee, Timothy S. Church, Paul A. Mcauley, Fatima C. Stanford, Harold W. Kohl Iii, Steven N. Blair

Faculty Publications

Background - The combined associations of changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and body mass index (BMI) with mortality remain controversial and uncertain.

Methods and Results - We examined the independent and combined associations of changes in fitness and BMI with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality in 14,345 men (mean age 44 years) with at least 2 medical examinations. Fitness, in metabolic equivalents (METs), was estimated from a maximal treadmill test. BMI was calculated using measured weight and height. Changes in fitness and BMI between the baseline and last examinations over 6.3 years were classified into loss, stable, or gain groups. …

A Deep Insight Into The Sialotranscriptome Of The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum, Shahid Karim, Parul Singh, José M.C. Ribeiro

Faculty Publications

Background

Saliva of blood sucking arthropods contains compounds that antagonize their hosts' hemostasis, which include platelet aggregation, vasoconstriction and blood clotting; saliva of these organisms also has anti-inflammatory and immunomodullatory properties. Perhaps because hosts mount an active immune response against these compounds, the diversity of these compounds is large even among related blood sucking species. Because of these properties, saliva helps blood feeding as well as help the establishment of pathogens that can be transmitted during blood feeding.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We have obtained 1,626,969 reads by pyrosequencing a salivary gland cDNA library from adult females Amblyomma maculatum ticks at different …

Year-End Individual Taxation Report, Annette M. Nellen, E. Cook, K. Fava, E. Gershman, J. Hagy, J. Horn, D. Moore, D. Newman, T. Newman, K. Rubin

Faculty Publications

Several actions by Congress and the IRS aimed to reduce improper claims of the earned income tax credit by increasing preparer penalties and due diligence procedures. * Litigation over restricted stock-based compensation focused on the proper date of the stock's market valuation and the effect of company and SEC restrictions on disposition of the stock. * The Tax Court applied the IRS's recent practice of allowing professional gamblers to deduct ordinary and reasonable nonwagering business expenses over their gambling winnings, overturning a 1951 case holding. * The Tax Court also held that limited partners of a limited partnership who perform …

Social Burden, Social Venture Or Social Responsibility? A Reflection On Csr In China And Csr Strategy Suggestions For Multinational Companies In China, Mantian Wang, Rongming Ren, Guiyi Hu, Hongyong Lu, Ilan Alon

Faculty Publications

Thirty years into its reform and opening, the People’s Republic of China (referred to as China) has become aware of many international practices, including corporate social responsibility (CSR). Yet FOR Chinese enterprises, CSR seems similar to the heavy social burdens of THE state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The “cradle-to-grave” welfare system, notorious but standard in THE planned economy, played a role in the failure of most SOEs to compete with the new, burgeoning private sector. Although laws were promulgated to free the SOEs from their “social burdens,” the new township enterprises set a different example. Some of the latter even profited from …

Transient Receptor Potential Channel M4 And M5 In Magnocellular Cells In Rat Supraoptic And Paraventricular Nuclei, R. Teruyama, M. Sakuraba, H. Kurotaki, W. E. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

The neurohypophysial hormones, vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT), are synthesised by magnocellular cells in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) and the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus. The release of VP into the general circulation from the neurohypophysis increases during hyperosmolality, hypotension and hypovolaemia. VP neurones increase hormone release by increasing their firing rate as a result of adopting a phasic bursting. Depolarising after potentials (DAPs) following a series of action potentials are considered to be involved in the generation of the phasic bursts by summating to plateau potentials. We recently discovered a fast DAP (fDAP) in addition to the slower …

Site-Specific Proteolytic Cleavage Of The Amino Terminus Of Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein K On Virion Particles Inhibits Virus Entry, Nithya Jambunathan, Sona Chowdhury, Ramesh Subramanian, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Jason D. Walker, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) glycoprotein K (gK) is expressed on virions and functions in entry, inasmuch as HSV-1(KOS) virions devoid of gK enter cells substantially slower than is the case for the parental KOS virus (T. P. Foster, G. V. Rybachuk, and K. G. Kousoulas, J. Virol. 75:12431-12438, 2001). Deletion of the amino-terminal 68-amino-acid (aa) portion of gK caused a reduction in efficiency and kinetics of virus entry similar to that of the gK-null virus in comparison to the HSV-1(F) parental virus. The UL20 membrane protein and gK were readily detected on double-gradient-purified virion preparations. Immuno-electron microscopy confirmed the …

Repetitive Elements May Comprise Over Two-Thirds Of The Human Genome, A. P.Jason De Koning, Wanjun Gu, Todd A. Castoe, Mark A. Batzer, David D. Pollock

Faculty Publications

Transposable elements (TEs) are conventionally identified in eukaryotic genomes by alignment to consensus element sequences. Using this approach, about half of the human genome has been previously identified as TEs and low-complexity repeats. We recently developed a highly sensitive alternative de novo strategy, P-clouds, that instead searches for clusters of high-abundance oligonucleotides that are related in sequence space (oligo "clouds"). We show here that P-clouds predicts >840 Mbp of additional repetitive sequences in the human genome, thus suggesting that 66%-69% of the human genome is repetitive or repeat-derived. To investigate this remarkable difference, we conducted detailed analyses of the ability …

Relationship Between Vancomycin Trough Concentrations And Nephrotoxicity: A Prospective Multicenter Trial, John A. Bosso, Jean Nappi, Celeste Rudisill, Marlea Wellein, P Brandon Bookstaver, Jenna Swindler, Patrick D. Mauldin

Faculty Publications

Several single-center studies have suggested that higher doses of vancomycin, aimed at producing trough concentrations of >15 mg/liter, are associated with increased risk of nephrotoxicity. We prospectively assessed the relative incidence of nephrotoxicity in relation to trough concentration in patients with documented methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections at seven hospitals throughout South Carolina. Adult patients receiving vancomycin for at least 72 h with at least one vancomycin trough concentration determined under steady-state conditions were prospectively studied. The relationship between vancomycin trough concentrations of >15 mg/ml and the occurrence of nephrotoxicity was assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses, controlling for age, …

Patterns Of Information Behavior And Prostate Cancer Knowledge Among African-American Men, Levi Ross, Tyra Dark, Heather Orom, Willie Underwood Iii, Charkarra T. Anderson-Lewis, Jarrett Johnson, Deborah O. Erwin

Faculty Publications

The purposes of this study are to explore cancer information acquisition patterns among African-American men and to evaluate relationships between information acquisition patterns and prostate cancer prevention and control knowledge. A random sample of 268 men participated in a statewide interviewer-administered, telephone survey. Men classified as non-seekers, non-medical source seekers, and medical source seekers of prostate cancer information differed on household income, level of education, and beliefs about personal risk for developing prostate cancer. Results from multiple regression analysis indicated that age, education, and information-seeking status were associated with overall levels of prostate cancer knowledge. Results from logistic regression analyses …

Developing A Strawberry Yogurt Fortified With Marine Fish Oil 1, J. D. Estrada, C. Boeneke, P. Bechtel, S. Sathivel

Faculty Publications

Fortified dairy products appeal to a wide variety of consumers and have the potential to increase sales in the yogurt industry and help increase intake of long-chain n-3 fatty acids. The objectives of this study were to develop a strawberry yogurt containing microencapsulated salmon oil (MSO; 2% wt/vol) and evaluate its characteristics during 1 mo of storage. Unpurified salmon oil (USO) was purified (PSO) and both USO and PSO were analyzed for peroxide value (PV), anisidine value (AV), total oxidation, free fatty acids (FFA), and moisture content. A stable emulsion was prepared with 7% PSO, 22% gum arabic, 11% maltodextrin, …

Laboratory Host Range Assessment Of A Predatory Pentatomid, Podisus Maculiventris (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) For Field Release On Guam, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Rosalie Kikuchi

Faculty Publications

Predation by Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) was evaluated with Erionota thrax (L.) (Lepidoptera: Hesperidae), Pericyma cruegeri (Butler) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), Pareuchaetes pseudoinsulata Rego Barros (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae), Papilio polytes (L.) (Lepidoptera: Papilionidae) and Eudocima phalonia (L.) comb. nov. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Both free-choice and no-choice experiments indicated that the P. maculiventris attacked and consumed all the larvae of the 5 species included in the tests. Although the larvae died at different intervals, most of them were dead within 24120 h of the introduction of the predatory species. Since the P. maculiventris is polyphagous in nature and the present findings indicate that these …

Longitudinal Assessment Of Cognitive And Psychosocial Functioning After Hurricanes Katrina And Rita: Exploring Disaster Impact On Middle-Aged, Older, And Oldest-Old Adults, Katie E. Cherry, Jennifer Silva Brown, Loren D. Marks, Sandro Galea, Julia Volaufova, Christina Lefante, L. Joseph Su, David A. Welsh, S. Michal Jazwinski, Meghan B. Allen, Gloria Anderson, Iina E. Antikainen, Arturo M. Arce, Jennifer Arceneaux, Mark A. Batzer, Emily O. Boudreaux, Lauri Byerley, Catherine M. Champagne, Liliana Cosenza, M. Elaine Cress, Jenny Y. Denver, Andy Deutsch, Devon A. Dobrosielski, Rebecca Ellis, Marla J. Erwin, Mark Erwin, Jennifer Fabre, Elizabeth T. Fontham, Madlyn Frisard, Paula Geiselman, Lindsey Goodwin, Tiffany Hall, Scott W. Herke, Jennifer Hayden

Faculty Publications

The authors examined the effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on cognitive and psychosocial functioning in a lifespan sample of adults 6-14 months after the storms. Participants were recruited from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study. Most were assessed during the immediate impact period and retested for this study. Analyses of pre- and post-disaster cognitive data confirmed that storm-related decrements in working memory for middle-aged and older adults observed in the immediate impact period had returned to pre-hurricane levels in the post-disaster recovery period. Middle-aged adults reported more storm-related stressors and greater levels of stress than the two older groups at …

Production Of F 1 Offspring With Vitrified Sperm From A Live-Bearing Fish, The Green Swordtail Xiphophorus Hellerii, Rafael Cuevas-Uribe, Huiping Yang, Jonathan Daly, Markita G. Savage, Ronald B. Walter, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

This study reports the first production of offspring with vitrified sperm from a live-bearing fish Xiphophorus hellerii. The overall goal of this study was to develop streamlined protocols for integration into a standardized approach for vitrification of aquatic species germplasm. The objectives were to (1) estimate acute toxicity of cryoprotectants, (2) evaluate vitrification solutions, (3) compare different thawing methods, (4) evaluate membrane integrity of post-thaw sperm vitrified in different cryoprotectants, and (5) evaluate the fertility of vitrified sperm. Nine cryoprotectants and two commercial vitrification additives were tested for acute toxicity and glass forming ability, alone and in combination. Two vitrification …

A Review Of The Toxicity Of Chemical Dispersants, James Wise, John Pierce Wise

Faculty Publications

Chemical dispersants are a mixture of various surfactants and solvents. Most dispersants are proprietary, and the complete composition is not often public knowledge. Chemical dispersants used for the cleanup and containment of crude oil toxicity became a major concern after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. During the crisis, millions of liters of chemical dispersants (Corexit 9527 and 9500) were used - the largest known application of dispersants in the field. As of February 2011, 38 peer-reviewed articles were available on the toxicity of 35 different chemical dispersants. Nalco, BP, Shell, and Total Special Fluids …

State Space Model With Hidden Variables For Reconstruction Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Xi Wu, Peng Li, Nan Wang, Ping Gong, Edward J. Perkins, Youping Deng, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

Background: State Space Model (SSM) is a relatively new approach to inferring gene regulatory networks. It requires less computational time than Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBN). There are two types of variables in the linear SSM, observed variables and hidden variables. SSM uses an iterative method, namely Expectation-Maximization, to infer regulatory relationships from microarray datasets. The hidden variables cannot be directly observed from experiments. How to determine the number of hidden variables has a significant impact on the accuracy of network inference. In this study, we used SSM to infer Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from synthetic time series datasets, investigated …

Securing Sovereign State Standing, Katherine Mims Crocker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

College Student Reactions To Health Warning Labels: Sociodemographic And Psychosocial Factors Related To Perceived Effectiveness Of Different Approaches, Carla J. Berg, James F. Thrasher, J. Lee Westmaas, Taneisha Buchanan, Erika A. Pinsker, Jasjit S. Ahluwalia

Faculty Publications

Objective. To examine factors associated with perceiving different types of pictorial cigarette health warning labels as most effective in motivating smokers to quit or preventing smoking initiation among college students.

Method. We administered an online survey to 24,055 students attending six Southeast colleges in Fall, 2010. We obtained complete data for the current analysis from 2600.

Results. Current smoking prevalence was 23.5%. The largest majority (78.6%) consistently rated gruesome images as most effective, 19.5% rated testimonial images as most effective, and only a small proportion rated either standard (1.6%) or human suffering images (0.3%) as most effective. Subsequent analyses focused …

Affording Emerging Adulthood: Parental Financial Assistance Of Their College-Aged Children, Laura M. Padilla-Walker, Larry J. Nelson, Jason S. Carroll

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to examine parents’ attitudes about and patterns of providing financial assistance to their children during college, and how varying levels of parental financial support were related to children’s beliefs (e.g., perceptions of adulthood), behaviors (e.g., work hours, drinking, and drug use), and identity development. The sample consisted of 402 undergraduate students (62% women) recruited from four college sites across the United States (M age = 19.89), and one of their parents (310 mothers and 92 fathers). Using cluster analysis, results suggested four distinct approaches to parental financial involvement and found that emerging adults’ …

Associations Between Physical Activity And Submaximal Cardiorespiratory And Pulmonary Responses In Men, John C. Sieverdes, Xuemei Sui, Steven N. Blair

Faculty Publications

Background: Habitual physical activity (PA) is associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness values, but additional information is needed on the contributions of specific types and amounts of PA. Therefore the main aim of this study was to analyze the heart and lung function of a large cohort of men and compare these outcomes with various modes and volumes of PA.

Methods: We used data from 30,594 men from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study who were categorized into sedentary, swimmer, walker, and runner groups using self-report PA data collected during 1970-2005. Additional PA categories using MET-minutes/week were used to group men into …

New Mothers And Media Use: Associations Between Blogging, Social Networking, And Maternal Well-Being, Brandon T. Mcdaniel, Sarah M. Coyne, Erin K. Holmes

Faculty Publications

Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory and prior empirical research, the current study examines the way that blogging and social networking may impact feelings of connection and social support, which in turn could impact maternal well-being (e.g., marital functioning, parenting stress, and depression). One hundred and fifty-seven new mothers reported on their media use and various well-being variables. On average, mothers were 27 years old (SD = 5.15) and infants were 7.90 months old (SD = 5.21). All mothers had access to the Internet in their home. New mothers spent approximately 3 hours on the computer each day, with most of …

Positive Cooperative Mechanistic Binding Of Proteins At Low Concentrations: A Comparison Of Poly (Sodium N-Undecanoyl Sulfate) And Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate, Susmita Das, Monica R. Sylvain, Vivian E. Fernand, Jack N. Losso, Bilal El-Zahab, Isiah M. Warner

Faculty Publications

The interactions of the negatively charged achiral molecular micelle, poly (sodium N-undecanoyl sulfate) (poly-SUS), with four different proteins using intrinsic and extrinsic fluorescence spectroscopic probes, are studied. A comparison of poly-SUS with the conventional surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and the monomeric species, SUS, is also reported. In this work, we observed that poly-SUS preferentially binds to acidic proteins, exhibiting positive cooperativity at concentrations less than 1. mM for all proteins studied. Moreover, it appears that the hydrophobic microdomain formed through polymerization of the terminal vinyl group of the monomer, SUS, is largely responsible for the superior binding capacity of …

Colonoscopy Screening Rates Among Patients Of Colonoscopy-Trained African American Primary Care Physicians, Sudha Xirasagar, Thomas G. Hurley, James B. Burch, Ali Mansaray, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

Background - When performed competently, colonoscopy screening can reduce colorectal cancer rates, especially in high-risk groups such as African Americans (AAs). Training primary care physicians (PCPs) to perform colonoscopy may improve screening rates among underserved high-risk populations.

Methods - We compared colonoscopy screening rates and computed adjusted odds ratios for colonoscopy-eligible patients of trained AA PCPs (study group) vs. untrained PCPs (comparison group), before and since initiating colonoscopy training. All colonoscopies were performed at a licensed ambulatory surgery center with specialist standby support. Retrospective chart review was conducted on 200 consecutive, established outpatients aged ≥50 years at each of 12 …

More Than Enough To Share, Hyveth Williams

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Competencies: A Cure For Pre-Med Curriculum, Winston A. Anderson, Richard M. Amasino, Manuel Ares, Utpal Banerjee, Bonnie Bartel, Victor G. Corces, Catherine L. Drennan, Sarah C.R. Elgin, Irving R. Epstein, Ellen Fanning, Louis J. Guillette, J. O. Handelsman, Graham F. Hatfull, Ronald Raymond Hoy, Darcy Kelley, Leslie A. Leinwand, Richard Losick, Yi Lu, David G. Lynn, Claudia Neuhauser, Diane K. O'Dowd, Toto Olivera, Pavel Pevzner, Rebecca R. Richards-Kortum, Jasper Rine, Robert L. Sah, Scott A. Strobel, Graham C. Walker, David R. Walt, Isiah M. Warner, Sue Wessler, Huntington F. Willard, Richard N. Zare

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Getting Started In Evaluation Consulting: Questions To Ask And Answer Along The Way, Judah J. Viola,

Faculty Publications

This PowerPoint presentation includes a four phase approach to considering the main questions you'll need to ask and answer before taking the leap needed to begin working as an independent evaluation consultant.

Computer-Assisted, Video-Enhanced Srt For Teaching Novel Procedures To Persons With Dementia, Nidhi Mahendra

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.