Digital Commons Network^™

Structure–Mutagenicity Relationships And Energies Of 1-, And 2-Nitrotriphenylenes [Abstract], Kefa Karimu Onchoke

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Polyubiquitination Of The Demethylase Jhd2 Controls Histone Methylation And Gene Expression, Douglas P. Mersman, Hai Ning Du, Ian M. Fingerman, Paul F. South, Scott D. Briggs

Faculty Publications

The identification of histone methyltransferases and demethylases has uncovered a dynamic methylation system needed to modulate appropriate levels of gene expression. Gene expression levels of various histone demethylases, such as the JARID1 family, show distinct patterns of embryonic and adult expression and respond to different environmental cues, suggesting that histone demethylase protein levels must be tightly regulated for proper development. In our study, we show that the protein level of the yeast histone H3 Lys 4 (H3 K4) demethylase Jhd2/ Kdm5 is modulated through polyubiquitination by the E3 ubiquitin ligase Not4 and turnover by the proteasome. We determine that polyubiquitin-mediated …

Increased Gene Expression Of A Facilitated Diffusion Urea Transporter In The Skin Of The African Lungfish (Protopterus Annectens) During Massively Elevated Post-Terrestrialization Urea Excretion, Carrie Y.C. Hung, Fernando Galvez, Yuen K. Ip, Chris M. Wood

Faculty Publications

The full-length cDNA sequence of a putative urea transporter (IfUl) of the facilitated diffusion UT-A type has been cloned from the African lungfish Protopterus annectens. The IFUTcDNA is 1990bp in length and its open reading frame encodes a 409 amino acid long protein, with a calculated molecular mass of 44,723 Da. The sequence is closest to those of amphibians (∼65% amino acid homology), followed by mammals and elasmobranchs (∼60%), and then teleosts (∼50%). IfUT was clearly expressed in gill, kidney, liver, skeletal muscle and skin. Upon re-immersion in water after 33days of air exposure ('terrestrialization'), lungfish exhibited a massive rise …

Measurement Of The Top-Quark Mass With Dilepton Events Selected Using Neuroevolution At Cdf, T. Aaltonen, J. Adelman, T. Akimoto, M. G. Albrow, B. Álvarez González, S. Amerio, D. Amidei, A. Anastassov, A. Annovi, J. Antos, G. Apollinari, A. Apresyan, T. Arisawa, A. Artikov, W. Ashmanskas, A. Attal, A. Aurisano, F. Azfar, P. Azzurri, W. Badgett, A. Barbaro-Galtieri, V. E. Barnes, B. A. Barnett, V. Bartsch, G. Bauer, P. H. Beauchemin, F. Bedeschi, P. Bednar

Faculty Publications

We report a measurement of the top-quark mass Mt in the dilepton decay channel tt̄→bl′+νl′b̄l-ν̄l. Events are selected with a neural network which has been directly optimized for statistical precision in top-quark mass using neuroevolution, a technique modeled on biological evolution. The top-quark mass is extracted from per-event probability densities that are formed by the convolution of leading order matrix elements and detector resolution functions. The joint probability is the product of the probability densities from 344 candidate events in 2.0fb-1 of pp̄ collisions collected with the CDF II detector, yielding a measurement of Mt=171.2±2.7(stat)±2.9(syst)GeV/c2. © 2009 The American Physical …

Neutron Production From Beam-Modifying Devices In A Modern Double Scattering Proton Therapy Beam Delivery System, Angélica Pérez-Andjar, Wayne D. Newhauser, Paul M. Deluca

Faculty Publications

In this work the neutron production in a passive beam delivery system was investigated. Secondary particles including neutrons are created as the proton beam interacts with beam shaping devices in the treatment head. Stray neutron exposure to the whole body may increase the risk that the patient develops a radiogenic cancer years or decades after radiotherapy. We simulated a passive proton beam delivery system with double scattering technology to determine the neutron production and energy distribution at 200 MeV proton energy. Specifically, we studied the neutron absorbed dose per therapeutic absorbed dose, the neutron absorbed dose per source particle and …

Nutrient Enrichment Drives Gulf Of Mexico Hypoxia, Donald F. Boesch, Walter R. Boyton, Larry B. Crowder, Robert J. Diaz, Robert W. Howarth, Laurence D. Mee, Scott W. Nixon, Nancy N. Rabalais, Rutger Rosenberg, James G. Sanders, Donald Scavia, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Calculation Of Water Equivalent Thickness Of Materials Of Arbitrary Density, Elemental Composition And Thickness In Proton Beam Irradiation, Rui Zhang, Wayne D. Newhauser

Faculty Publications

In proton therapy, the radiological thickness of a material is commonly expressed in terms of water equivalent thickness (WET) or water equivalent ratio (WER). However, the WET calculations required either iterative numerical methods or approximate methods of unknown accuracy. The objective of this study was to develop a simple deterministic formula to calculate WET values with an accuracy of 1 mm for materials commonly used in proton radiation therapy. Several alternative formulas were derived in which the energy loss was calculated based on the Bragg-Kleeman rule (BK), the Bethe-Bloch equation (BB) or an empirical version of the Bethe-Bloch equation (EBB). …

Controlled Assembly Of Rodlike Viruses With Polymers, Tao Li, Laying Wu, Nisaraporn Suthiwangcharoen, Michael A. Bruckman, Dayton Cash, Joan S. Hudson, Soumitra Ghoshroy, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

A practical method to assemble rodlike tobacco mosaic virus and bacteriophage M13 with polymers was developed, which afforded a 3D core–shell composite with morphological control.

Intact And Top-Down Characterization Of Biomolecules And Direct Analysis Using Infrared Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization Coupled To Ft-Icr Mass Spectrometry, Jason S. Sampson, Kermit K. Murray, David C. Muddiman

Faculty Publications

We report the implementation of an infrared laser onto our previously reported matrix-assisted laser desorption electrospray ionization (MALDESI) source with ESI post-ionization yielding multiply charged peptides and proteins. Infrared (IR)-MALDESI is demonstrated for atmospheric pressure desorption and ionization of biological molecules ranging in molecular weight from 1.2 to 17 kDa. High resolving power, high mass accuracy single-acquisition Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectra were generated from liquid- and solid-state peptide and protein samples by desorption with an infrared laser (2.94 μm) followed by ESI post-ionization. Intact and top-down analysis of equine myoglobin (17 kDa) desorbed from the solid …

Host Specificity Of Ischnodemus Variegatus, An Herbivore Of West Indian Marsh Grass (Hymenachne Amplexicaulis) (Biocontrol Doi: 10.1007/S10526-008-9188- 3), Rodrigo Diaz, William A. Overholt, James P. Cuda, Paul D. Pratt, Alison Fox

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Island Area And Species Diversity In The Southwest Pacific Ocean: Is The Lizard Fauna Of Vanuatu Depauperate?, Alison M. Hamilton, Joseph H. Hartman, Christopher C. Austin

Faculty Publications

One island group suggested to be an exception to the species-area Relationship is the Vanuatu Archipelago, a group of 13 large and 80 small islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean. To test the hypothesis that the lizard fauna of the Vanuatu Archipelago does not meet the predictions of the species-area relationship, and thus is depauperate, we compare diversity among several island groups in the southwest Pacific: Fiji, the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. We found that the lizard diversity of Vanuatu meets the pattern of diversity predicted by the species-area relationship. The Solomon Islands, …

Interdisciplinary, Translational, And Community-Based Participatory Research: Finding A Common Language To Improve Cancer Research, James R. Hébert, Heather M. Brandt, Cheryl A. Armstead, Swann Arp Adams, Susan E. Steck

Faculty Publications

Preventing cancer, downstaging disease at diagnosis, and reducing mortality require that relevant research findings be translated across scientific disciplines and into clinical and public health practice. Interdisciplinary research focuses on using the languages of different scientific disciplines to share techniques and philosophical perspectives to enhance discovery and development of innovations; (i.e., from the “left end” of the research continuum). Community-based participatory research (CBPR), whose relevance often is relegated to the “right end” (i.e., delivery and dissemination) of the research continuum, represents an important means for understanding how many cancers are caused as well as for ensuring that basic science research …

Adult And Child Semantic Neighbors Of The Kroll And Potter (1984) Nonobjects, Holly L. Storkel, Suzanne M. Adlof

Faculty Publications

Purpose - The purpose was to determine the number of semantic neighbors, namely semantic set size, for 88 nonobjects (J. F. Kroll & M. C. Potter, 1984) and determine how semantic set size related to other measures and age.

Method - Data were collected from 82 adults and 92 preschool children in a discrete association task. The nonobjects were presented via computer, and participants reported the first word that came to mind that was meaningfully related to the nonobject. Words reported by two or more participants were considered semantic neighbors. The strength of each neighbor was computed as the …

Soil Zinc Content, Groundwater Usage, And Prostate Cancer Incidence In South Carolina, Sara E. Wagner, James B. Burch, Jim Hussey, Tom Temples, Susan Bolick-Aldrich, Catishia Mosley-Broughton, Yuan Liu, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

Background

Prostate cancer (PrCA) incidence in South Carolina (SC) exceeds the national average, particularly among African Americans (AAs). Though data are limited, low environmental zinc exposures and down-regulation of prostatic zinc transporter proteins among AAs may explain, in part, the racial PrCA disparity.

Methods

Age-adjusted PrCA rates were calculated by census tract. Demographic data were obtained from the 1990 census. Hazardous waste site locations and soil zinc concentrations were obtained from existing federal and state databases. A geographic information system and Poisson regression were used to test the hypothesis that census tracts with reduced soil zinc concentrations, elevated groundwater use, …

Gst Polymorphism And Excretion Of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amine And Isothiocyanate Metabolites After Brassica Consumption, Susan E. Steck, James R. Hébert

Faculty Publications

Brassica vegetable intake has been associated with decreased risk and well-done meat intake has been associated with increased risk of cancers at multiple organ sites in epidemiologic studies. Experimental studies suggest a role of modulation of phase I and phase II metabolizing enzymes as one mechanism for these associations. Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are carcinogens formed in meat that has been cooked to well-done and at high temperatures. Phase I metabolizing enzymes catalyze the activation of HAAs, and phase II metabolizing enzymes serve to detoxify the active carcinogens. The glutathione S-transferase (GSTs) are a family of phase II metabolizing enzymes …

Pah-Dna Adducts, Cigarette Smoking, Gst Polymorphisms, And Breast Cancer Risk, Kathleen M. Mccarty, Regina M. Santella, Susan E. Steck, Rebecca J. Cleveland, Jiyoung Ahn, Christine B. Ambrosone, Kari North, Sharon K. Sagiv, Sybil M. Eng, Susan L. Teitelbaum, Alfred I. Neugut, Marilie D. Gammon

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs) may increase breast cancer risk, and the association may be modified by inherited differences in deactivation of PAH intermediates by glutathione S-transferases (GSTs). Few breast cancer studies have investigated the joint effects of multiple GSTs and a PAH biomarker.

OBJECTIVE: We estimated the breast cancer risk associated with multiple polymorphisms in the GST gene (GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1) and the interaction with PAH-DNA adducts and cigarette smoke.

METHODS: We conducted unconditional logistic regression using data from a population-based sample of women (cases/controls, respectively): GST polymorphisms were genotyped using …

A Human Capital Approach To Reduce Health Disparities, Saundra H. Glover, Sudha Xirasagar, Yunho Jeon, Keith T. Elder, Crystal N. Piper, Harris Pastides

Faculty Publications

Objective: To introduce a human capital approach to reduce health disparities in South Carolina by increasing the number and quality of trained minority professionals in public health practice and research.

Methods: The conceptual basis and elements of Project EXPORT in South Carolina are described. Project EXPORT is a community based participatory research (CBPR) translational project designed to build human capital in public health practice and research. This project involves Claflin University (CU), a Historically Black College University (HBCU) and the African American community of Orangeburg, South Carolina to reduce health disparities, utilizing resources from the University of South Carolina (USC), …

Cardiorespiratory Fitness And Digestive Cancer Mortality: Findings From The Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (Acls), J. Brent Peel, Xuemei Sui, Charles E. Matthews, Swann Arp Adams, James R. Hébert, James W. Hardin, Timothy S. Church, Steven N. Blair

Faculty Publications

Although higher levels of physical activity are inversely associated with risk of colon cancer, few prospective studies have evaluated overall digestive system cancer mortality in relation to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). The authors examined this association among 38,801 men aged 20−88 years and who performed a maximal treadmill exercise test at baseline in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (Dallas, Texas) during 1974−2003. Mortality was assessed over 29 years of follow-up (1974−2003). 283 digestive system cancer deaths occurred during a mean 17-year of observation. Age-adjusted mortality rates per 10,000 person-yrs according to low, moderate, and high CRF groups were 6.8, 4.0, and …

A Functional Type I Topoisomerase From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Teesta Jain, Benjamin J. Roper, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a putative topoisomerase with sequence similarity to the eukaryotic type IB topoisomerase from Vaccinia virus. Residues in the active site are conserved, notably Tyr292 which would be predicted to form the transient covalent bond to DNA. Results: The gene encoding the P. aeruginosa topoisomerase I was cloned and expressed in E. coli. The enzyme relaxes supercoiled DNA, while a mutant containing a Tyr292 to Phe substitution at the active site was found to be catalytically inert. This is consistent with the role of Tyr in forming the covalent intermediate. Like Vaccinia topoisomerase, the P. aeruginosa topoisomerase …

Mammaglobin As A Potential Molecular Target For Breast Cancer Drug Delivery, Lian Zuo, Ly Li, Qian Wang, Timothy P. Fleming, Shaojin You

Faculty Publications

Background Mammaglobin (MAM) has been used as a specific molecular marker for breast cancer diagnosis. Recently, several groups of researchers proposed a number of therapeutic strategies targeting this molecule. Some of the strategies are based upon an essential but not demonstrated hypothesis - mammaglobin is associated with the surface of breast cancer cells, which strongly disputes the therapeutic strategies. Results We conducted a computer-based predictive analysis and identified a small fragment at the N-end of MAM as a potential transmembrane domain. We provided several evidences to demonstrate the presence of the membrane-associated MAM. We isolated the membrane protein components from …

Tobacco Mosaic Virus Templated Synthesis Of One Dimensional Inorganic–Polymer Hybrid Fibres, Jianhua Rong, Fiona Oberbeck, Xinnan Wang, Xiaodong Li, Jerry Oxsher, Zhongwei Niu, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

Inorganic–polymer hybrid nanofibres were prepared by using a rod-like tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) as a template. With tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor, long silica-coated TMVfibres were formed via a head-to-tail assembly, which showed a substantial increase of the elastic modulus. Furthermore, homogenous titania–TMV hybrid fibres could be prepared using polyaniline-coated TMV fibres as a template, which were used to form a composite film that was able to sense liquefied petroleum gases.

Faculty Should Consider Peer Review As A Means Of Improving Students' Scientific Reasoning Skill, Briana Eileen Timmerman, Denise Strickland

Faculty Publications

The following article provides highlights of a larger body of work on the impact of peer review on undergraduate biology students’ scientific reasoning, scientific writing and attitudes. Results suggest that undergraduates, even freshman can be effective peer reviewers and that peer review improves scientific writing, content knowledge, and scientific reasoning skills. Students report peer review to be a beneficial experience both within the course and in terms of helping them to develop as aspiring scientists. Science faculty are therefore encouraged to consider incorporating peer review as a regular part of instruction.

A Genome Wide Survey Of Snp Variation Reveals The Genetic Structure Of Sheep Breeds, James W. Kijas, David Townley, Brian P. Dalrymple, Michael P. Heaton, Jillian F. Maddox, Annette Mcgrath, Peter Wilson, Roxann G. Ingersoll, Russell Mcculloch, Sean Mcwilliam, Dave Tang, John Mcewan, Noelle Cockett, V. Hutton Oddy, Frank W. Nicholas, Herman Raadsma, Wes Barris, Steve C. Bishop, David Coltman, Allan Crawford, André Eggen, Georg Erhardt, Robert Forage, Olivier Hanotte, Peter Hunt, Han Jianlin, Kui Li, Paolo Ajmone Marsan, James E. Miller, Josephine Pemberton, Laurent Schibler

Faculty Publications

The genetic structure of sheep reflects their domestication and subsequent formation into discrete breeds. Understanding genetic structure is essential for achieving genetic improvement through genome-wide association studies, genomic selection and the dissection of quantitative traits. After identifying the first genome-wide set of SNP for sheep, we report on levels of genetic variability both within and between a diverse sample of ovine populations. Then, using cluster analysis and the partitioning of genetic variation, we demonstrate sheep are characterised by weak phylogeographic structure, overlapping genetic similarity and generally low differentiation which is consistent with their short evolutionary history. The degree of population …

Sharing And Fusing Landmark Information In A Team Of Autonomous Robots, Damian M. Lyons

Faculty Publications

A team of robots working to explore and map a space may need to share information about landmarks so as register local maps and to plan effective exploration strategies. In this paper we investigate the use of spatial histograms (spatiograms) as a common representation for exchanging landmark information between robots. Each robot can use sonar, stereo, laser and image information to identify potential landmarks. The sonar, laser and stereo information provide the spatial dimension of the spatiogram in a landmark-centered coordinate frame while video provides the image information. We call the result a terrain spatiogram. This representation can be shared …

Supplemental Irrigation Increases Seedling Performance And Diversity In A Tropical Forest, C. E.Timothy Paine, Kyle E. Harms, Jess Ramos

Faculty Publications

Diversity is positively correlated with water availability at global, continental and regional scales. With the objective of better understanding the mechanisms that drive these relationships, we investigated the degree to which variation in water availability affects the performance (recruitment, growth and survival) of juvenile trees. Precipitation was supplemented throughout two dry seasons in a seasonal moist forest in south-eastern Peru. Supplementing precipitation by 160 mm mo1, we increased soil moisture by 17%. To generate seedling communities of known species composition, we sowed 3840 seeds of 12 species. We monitored the fates of the 554 seedlings recruited from the sown seeds, …

Growth-Regulated Expression Of A Bacteriocin, Produced By The Sweet Potato Pathogen Streptomyces Ipomoeae, That Exhibits Interstrain Inhibition, Jing Wang, Kevin L. Schultyp, Gregg S. Pettis

Faculty Publications

Certain strains of the bacterial sweet potato pathogen Streptomyces ipomoeae produce the bacteriocin ipomicin, which inhibits other sensitive strains of the same species. Within the signal-sequence-encoding portion of the ipomicin structural gene ipoA exists a single rare TTA codon, which is recognized in Streptomyces bacteria by the temporally accumulating bldA leucyl tRNA. In this study, ipomicin was shown to stably accumulate in culture supernatants of 5. ipomoeae in a growth-regulated manner that did not coincide with the pattern of ipoA expression. Similar growth-regulated production of ipomicin in Streptomyces coelicolor containing the cloned ipoA gene was found to be directly dependent …

An Alternative Pathway For Alu Retrotransposition Suggests A Role In Dna Double-Strand Break Repair, Deepa Srikanta, Shurjo K. Sen, Charles T. Huang, Erin M. Conlin, Ryan M. Rhodes, Mark A. Batzer

Faculty Publications

The Alu family is a highly successful group of non-LTR retrotransposons ubiquitously found in primate genomes. Similar to the L1 retrotransposon family, Alu elements integrate primarily through an endonuclease-dependent mechanism termed target site-primed reverse transcription (TPRT). Recent studies have suggested that, in addition to TPRT, L1 elements occasionally utilize an alternative endonuclease-independent pathway for genomic integration. To determine whether an analogous mechanism exists for Alu elements, we have analyzed three publicly available primate genomes (human, chimpanzee and rhesus macaque) for endonuclease-independent recently integrated or lineage specific Alu insertions. We recovered twenty-three examples of such insertions and show that these insertions …

Microarray Analysis Of Femaleand Larval-Specific Gene Expression In The Horn Fly (Diptera: Muscidae), Felix D. Guerrero, Scot E. Dowd, Yan Sun, Leonel Saldivar, Graham B. Wiley, Simone L. Macmil, Fares Najar, Bruce A. Roe, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

The horn My, Haematobia irritans L., is an obligate blood-feeding parasite of cattle, and control of this pest is a continuing problem because the fly is becoming resistant to pesticides. Dominant conditional lethal gene systems are being studied as population control technologies against agricultural pests. One of the components of these systems is a female-specific gene promoter that drives expression of a lethality-inducing gene. To identify candidate genes to supply this promoter, microarrays were designed from a horn fly expressed sequence tag (EST) database and probed to identify female-specific and larval-specific gene expression. Analysis of dye swap experiments found 432 …

Reduced Adipose Tissue Oxygenation In Human Obesity Evidence For Rarefaction, Macrophage Chemotaxis, And Inflammation Without An Angiogenic Response, Magdalena Pasarica, Olga R. Sereda, Leanne M. Redman, Diana C. Albarado, David T. Hymel, Laura E. Roan, Jennifer C. Rood, David H. Burk, Steven R. Smith

Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE-Based on rodent studies, we examined the hypothesis that increased adipose tissue (AT) mass in obesity without an adequate support of vascularization might lead to hypoxia, macrophage infiltration, and inflammation. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS-Oxygen partial pressure (AT pO 2) and AT temperature in abdominal AT (9 lean and 12 overweight/obese men and women) was measured by direct insertion of a polarographic Clark electrode. Body composition was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and insulin sensitivity was measured by hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp. Abdominal subcutaneous tissue was used for staining, quantitative RT-PCR, and chemokine secretion assay. RESULTS-AT pO 2 was lower in overweight/obese subjects …

Breeding And Non-Breeding Survival Of Lesser Prairie-Chickens Tympanuchus Pallidicinctus In Texas, Usa, Eddie K. Lyons, Bret A. Collier, Nova J. Silvy, Roel R. Lopez, Benjamin E. Toole, Ryan S. Jones, Stephen J. Demaso

Faculty Publications

Lesser prairie-chickens Tympanuchus pallidicinctus have declined throughout their range because of loss or fragmen-tation of habitat from conversion of native prairie to agricultural cropland, exacerbated by overgrazing and drought. We used data from radio-marked lesser prairie-chickens to determine whether differences in survival ex-isted between populations occurring in two areas dominated by different vegetation types (sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia vs shinnery oak Quercus havardii) in the Texas Panhandle from 2001 through 2005. We used a model-selec-tion approach to evaluate potential generalities in lesser prairie-chicken survival. Our results indicated that survival of lesser prairie-chickens differed between breeding and non-breeding periods, and between …