Digital Commons Network^™

Relationships Between Self-Reported Smoking, Household Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure And Depressive Symptoms In A Pregnant Minority Population, Sylvia Tan, Lauren P. Courtney, Ayman El-Mohandes, Susan M. Blake, Marie G. Gantz, Jutta Thornberry, M. Nabil El-Khorazaty, David Perry, Michele Kiely

Publications and Research

This study sought to examine relationships between depressive symptoms and prenatal smoking and/or household environmental tobacco smoke exposure (HHETSE) among urban minority women. We analyzed private, audio computer-assisted self interview data from a clinic-based sample of 929 minority pregnant women in Washington, DC. Depressive symptoms were assessed via the Beck Depression Inventory Fast Screen. HH-ETSE, current smoking, and former smoking were assessed via self-report. Depression levels and demographic characteristics were compared: (1) among nonsmokers, for those reporting HH-ETSE versus no HH-ETSE; and (2) among smokers, for those reporting current smoking (in last 7 days) versus former smokers. Measures associated with …

Evidence For A Fence That Impedes The Diffusion Of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate Out Of The Forming Phagosomes Of Macrophages, Urszula Golebiewska, Jason G. Kay, Thomas Masters, Sergio Grinstein, Wonpil Im, Richard W. Pastor, Suzanne Scarlata, Stuart Mclaughlin

Publications and Research

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching measurements on macrophages injected with fluorescent phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) suggest that a barrier impedes the diffusion of plasma membrane PIP2 into and out of forming phagosomes.

Phosphodiesterase-4 Inhibition Alters Gene Expression And Improves Isoniazid – Mediated Clearance Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis In Rabbit Lungs, Selvakumar Subbian, Liana Tsenova, Paul O'Brien, Guibin Yang, Mi-Sun Koo, Blas Peixoto, Dorothy Fallows, Veronique Dartois, George Muller, Gilla Kaplan

Publications and Research

Tuberculosis (TB) treatment is hampered by the long duration of antibiotic therapy required to achieve cure. This indolent response has been partly attributed to the ability of subpopulations of less metabolically active Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) to withstand killing by current anti-TB drugs. We have used immune modulation with a phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) inhibitor, CC-3052, that reduces tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) production by increasing intracellular cAMP in macrophages, to examine the crosstalk between host and pathogen in rabbits with pulmonary TB during treatment with isoniazid (INH). Based on DNA microarray, changes in host gene expression during CC-3052 treatment of Mtb infected …

How Does Socioeconomic Development Affect Copd Mortality? An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis From A Recently Transitioned Population In China, Jing Chen, Mary Schooling, Janice Mary Johnston, Anthony Johnson Hedley, Sarah Morag Mcghee

Publications and Research

Background
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death, particularly in developing countries. Little is known about the effects of economic development on COPD mortality, although economic development may potentially have positive and negative influences over the life course on COPD. We took advantage of a unique population whose rapid and recent economic development is marked by changes at clearly delineated and identifiable time points, and where few women smoke, to examine the effect of macro-level events on COPD mortality.

Methods
We used Poisson regression to decompose sex-specific COPD mortality rates in Hong Kong from 1981 to …

Crossroads: New York's Black Intellectuals And The Role Of Ideology In The Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965, Kristopher B. Burrell

Publications and Research

This dissertation studies the importance of New York City, and the black intellectuals who gathered there, to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Studying key activist-intellectuals from across the ideological spectrum allows for a more complete understanding of the importance of ideas propelling the movement. The dissertation also contributes to the growing literature on the civil rights movement outside of the South.

The Hedgehog Receptor Patched Is Involved In Cholesterol Transport, Michel Bidet, Olivier Joubert, Benoit Lacombe, Marine Ciantar, Rony Nehmé, Patrick Mollat, Lionel Brétillon, Hélène Faure, Robert Bittman, Martial Ruat, Isabelle Mus-Veteau

Publications and Research

Background Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling plays a crucial role in growth and patterning during embryonic development, and also in stem cell maintenance and tissue regeneration in adults. Aberrant Shh pathway activation is involved in the development of many tumors, and one of the most affected Shh signaling steps found in these tumors is the regulation of the signaling receptor Smoothened by the Shh receptor Patched. In the present work, we investigated Patched activity and the mechanism by which Patched inhibits Smoothened. Methodology/Principal Findings Using the well-known Shh-responding cell line of mouse fibroblasts NIH 3T3, we first observed that enhancement of …

Differences Between Trypanosoma Brucei Gambiense Groups 1 And 2 In Their Resistance To Killing By Trypanolytic Factor 1, Paul Capewell, Nicola J. Veitch, C. Michael R. Turner, Jayne Raper, Matthew Berriman, Stephen L. Hajduk, Annette Macleod

Publications and Research

Background: The three sub-species of Trypanosoma brucei are important pathogens of sub-Saharan Africa. T. b. brucei is unable to infect humans due to sensitivity to trypanosome lytic factors (TLF) 1 and 2 found in human serum. T. b. rhodesiense and T. b. gambiense are able to resist lysis by TLF. There are two distinct sub-groups of T. b. gambiense that differ genetically and by human serum resistance phenotypes. Group 1 T. b. gambiense have an invariant phenotype whereas group 2 show variable resistance. Previous data indicated that group 1 T. b. gambiense are resistant to TLF-1 due in-part to reduced …

Resolution, Reinvestment, And Realignment: Three Strategies For Changing Juvenile Justice, Jeffrey A. Butts, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

In recent decades, legislators and administrators have created innovative policies to reduce the demand for expensive state confinement and to supervise as many young offenders as possible in their own communities. This report reviews the history and development of these strategies and portrays their methods as following one of three models: resolution, reinvestment, and realignment.

Review Of The Book Fifty Key Thinkers On The Holocaust And Genocide, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Review of the book Fifty key thinkers on the Holocaust and genocide.

Prudence And Controversy: The New York Public Library Responds To Post-War Anticommunist Pressures, Stephen Francoeur

Publications and Research

As the New York Public Library entered the post-war era in the late 1940s, its operations fell under the zealous scrutiny of self-styled ‘redhunters’ intent upon rooting out library materials and staffers deemed un-American and politically subversive. The high point of attacks upon the New York Public Library came during the years 1947-1954, a period that witnessed the Soviet atomic bomb, the Berlin airlift, and the Korean War. This article charts the narrow and carefully wrought trail blazed by the library’s leadership during that period. Through a reading of materials in the library archives, we see how political pressures were …

In The Name Of Citizenship: The Writing Classroom And The Promise Of Citizenship, Amy J. Wan

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The -Omics Era- Toward A Systems-Level Understanding Of Streptomyces, Zhan Zhou, Jianying Gu, Yi-Ling Du, Yong-Quan Li, Yufeng Wang

Publications and Research

Streptomyces is a group of soil bacteria of medicinal, economic, ecological, and industrial importance. It is renowned for its complex biology in gene regulation, antibiotic production, morphological differentiation, and stress response. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent advances in Streptomyces biology inspired by -omics based high throughput technologies. In this post-genomic era, vast amounts of data have been integrated to provide significant new insights into the fundamental mechanisms of system control and regulation dynamics of Streptomyces.

Proteases In Malaria Parasites - A Phylogenomic Perspective, Hong Cai, Rui Kuang, Jianying Gu, Yufeng Wang

Publications and Research

Malaria continues to be one of the most devastating global health problems due to the high morbidity and mortality it causes in endemic regions. The search for new antimalarial targets is of high priority because of the increasing prevalence of drug resistance in malaria parasites. Malarial proteases constitute a class of promising therapeutic targets as they play important roles in the parasite life cycle and it is possible to design and screen for specific protease inhibitors. In this mini-review, we provide a phylogenomic overview of malarial proteases. An evolutionary perspective on the origin and divergence of these proteases will provide …

Pirates And Librarians: Big Media, Technology And The Role Of Liberal Education, D. Aram Donabedian, John Carey

Publications and Research

The widespread appearance of computers in libraries during the early 1990s elicited a debate among those who welcomed new technologies and those who perceived such changes as a threat to the traditional role of academic libraries and the values of liberal education. At the same time, increasing consolidation of major media channels—including sources of scholarly communication—has allowed a small number of corporations to control distribution and access to the materials libraries offer, through tools such as licensing fees, copyright restrictions, and digital rights management. In response to these barriers, librarians and educators have embraced open access publishing and Creative Commons …

Shamanic Knowledge: The Challenge To Information Science, Jay H. Bernstein

Publications and Research

Shamanism, a form of healing involving soul travel and trance found in many traditional societies the world over, has been studied by anthropologists and scholars of religious studies. Shamanic traditions are characterized by specialized, restricted, and esoteric knowledge domains that are encoded and communicated through condensed and mystified symbols and reproduced in ceremonies. Shamanic knowledge is acquired through direct experience of the numinous, usually in the process of overcoming personal affliction. Information science so far has been silent on shamanic knowledge. This is understandable given the latter discipline's focus on formal documentary information systems and advanced information technologies. But in …

Telling Our Stories: Community-Created Theatre As Intra-Cultural Diplomacy In A Transnational World, Sarah Ann Standing

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Slow Dissociation Of A Charged Ligand: Analysis Of The Primary Quinone Qa Site Of Photosynthetic Bacterial Reaction Centers, Jennifer Madeo, Maja Mihajlovic, Themis Lazaridis, M. R. Gunner

Publications and Research

Reaction centers (RCs) are integral membrane proteins that undergo a series of electron transfer reactions during the process of photosynthesis. In the QA site of RCs from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, ubiquinone-10 is reduced, by a single electron transfer, to its semiquinone. The neutral quinone and anionic semiquinone have similar affinities, which is required for correct in situ reaction thermodynamics. A previous study showed that despite similar affinities, anionic quinones associate and dissociate from the QA site at rates ≈104 times slower than neutral quinones indicating that anionic quinones encounter larger binding barriers (Madeo, J.; Gunner, M. R. Modeling binding kinetics at …

Genomic And Karyotypic Variation In Drosophila Parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Cynipoidea, Figitidae), Vladimir E. Gokhman, J. Spencer Johnston, Chiyedza Small, Roma Rajwani, Shawn J. Hanrahan, Shubha Govind

Publications and Research

Abstract Drosophila melanogaster Meigen, 1830 has served as a model insect for over a century. Sequencing of the 11 additional Drosophila Fallen, 1823 species marks substantial progress in comparative genomics of this genus. By comparison, practically nothing is known about the genome size or genome sequences of parasitic wasps of Drosophila. Here, we present the first comparative analysis of genome size and karyotype structures of Drosophila parasitoids of the Leptopilina Förster, 1869 and Ganaspis Förster, 1869 species. The gametic genome size of Ganaspis xanthopoda (Ashmead, 1896) is larger than those of the three Leptopilina species studied. The genome sizes of …

Age-Related Deficits In Spatial Memory And Hippocampal Spines In Virgin, Female Fischer 344 Rats, Victoria N. Luine, Maureen E. Wallace, Maya Frankfurt

Publications and Research

Effects of aging on memory and brain morphology were examined in aged, 21-month-old, and young, 4-month-old, Fischer 344 female rats. Spatial memory was assessed using the object placement task, and dendritic spine density was determined on pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus following Golgi impregnation. Consistent with previous studies, aged females showed poorer object placement performance than young subjects. Young subjects significantly discriminated the location of objects with a 1.5-hour intertrial delay while aged subjects did not. Spine density of basal dendrites on CA1 pyramidal cells was 16% lower in the aged subjects as compared to the young subjects. No differences …

Insightful Problem Solving In An Asian Elephant, Preston Foerder, Marie Galloway, Tony Barthel, Donald E. Moore Iii, Diana Reiss

Publications and Research

The ‘‘aha’’ moment or the sudden arrival of the solution to a problem is a common human experience. Spontaneous problem solving without evident trial and error behavior in humans and other animals has been referred to as insight. Surprisingly, elephants, thought to be highly intelligent, have failed to exhibit insightful problem solving in previous cognitive studies. We tested whether three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) would use sticks or other objects to obtain food items placed out-of-reach and overhead. Without prior trial and error behavior, a 7-year-old male Asian elephant showed spontaneous problem solving by moving a large plastic cube, on …

The Accuracy Of The Electrocardiogram During Exercise Stress Test Based On Heart Size, Jason C. Siegler, Shafiq Rehman, Geetha P. Bhumireddy, Raushan Abdula, Igor Klem, Sorin J. Brener, Leonard Lee, Christopher C. Dunbar, Barry Saul, Terrence J. Sacchi, John F. Heitner

Publications and Research

Background Multiple studies have shown that the exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) is less accurate for predicting ischemia, especially in women, and there is additional evidence to suggest that heart size may affect its diagnostic accuracy. Hypothesis The purpose of this investigation was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the exercise ECG based on heart size. Methods We evaluated 1,011 consecutive patients who were referred for an exercise nuclear stress test. Patients were divided into two groups: small heart size defined as left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV) <65 mL (Group A) and normal heart size defined as LVEDV ≥65 mL (Group B) and associations between ECG outcome (false positive vs. no false positive) and heart size (small vs. normal) were analyzed using the Chi square test for independence, with a Yates continuity correction. LVEDV calculations were performed via a computer-processing algorithm. SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging was used as the gold standard for the presence of coronary artery disease (CAD). Results Small heart size was found in 142 patients, 123 female and 19 male patients. There was a significant association between ECG outcome and heart size (χ2 = 4.7, p = 0.03), where smaller hearts were associated with a significantly greater number of false positives. Conclusions This study suggests a possible explanation for the poor diagnostic accuracy of exercise stress testing, especially in women, as the overwhelming majority of patients with small heart size were women.

Media Services In North American Academic Libraries, Michael J. Miller

Publications and Research

Ongoing evolution of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal (BRL), Multimedia Commons was initially informed by a report from an internal task force and also by a four-year-long study of North American academic library media services units. A travel grant allowed for visits to the media service units of Barnard College, College of Staten Island - City University of New York, Columbia University, Georgetown University, New York University, University of Maryland - College Park, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, University of Texas – Austin. Visits have subsequently been made to the University of Washington – …

The Genome Of The Green Anole Lizard And A Comparative Analysis With Birds And Mammals, Jessica Alföldi, Federica Di Palma, Manfred Grabherr, Christina Williams, Lesheng Kong, Evan Mauceli, Pamela Russell, Craig B. Lowe, Richard Glor, Jacob D. Jaffe, David A. Ray, Stéphane Boissinot, Andrew M. Shedlock, Christopher Botka, Todd A. Castoe, John K. Colbourne, Matthew K. Fujita, Ricardo Godinez Moreno, Boudewijn F. Ten Hallers, David Haussler, Peter Novick

Publications and Research

The evolution of the amniotic egg was one of the great evolutionary innovations in the history of life, freeing vertebrates from an obligatory connection to water and thus permitting the conquest of terrestrial environments1. Among amniotes, genome sequences are available for mammals2 and birds3–5, but not for non-avian reptiles. Here we report the genome sequence of the North American green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis. We find that A. carolinensis microchromosomes are highly syntenic with chicken microchromosomes, yet do not exhibit the high GC and low repeat content that are characteristic of avian microchromosomes3. Also, A. carolinensis mobile elements are very …

Comparative Genomics Of The Pathogenic Ciliate Ichthyophthirius Multifiliis, Its Free-Living Relatives And A Host Species Provide Insights Into Adoption Of A Parasitic Lifestyle And Prospects For Disease Control, Robert S. Coyne, Linda Hannick, Dhanasekaran Shanmugam, Jessica B. Hostetler, Daniel Brami, Vinita S. Joardar, Justin Johnson, Diana Radune, Irtisha Singh, Jonathan H. Badger, Ujjwal Kumar, Milton Saier, Yufeng Wang, Hong Cai, Jianying Gu, Michael W. Mather, Akhil B. Vaidya, David E. Wilkes, Vidyalakshmi Rajagopalan, David J. Asai, Chad G. Pearson, Robert C. Findly, Harry W. Dickerson, Martin Wu, Cindy Martens, Yves Van De Peer, David S. Roos, Donna M. Cassidy-Hanley, Theodore G. Clark

Publications and Research

Background

Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, commonly known as Ich, is a highly pathogenic ciliate responsible for 'white spot', a disease causing significant economic losses to the global aquaculture industry. Options for disease control are extremely limited, and Ich's obligate parasitic lifestyle makes experimental studies challenging. Unlike most well-studied protozoan parasites, Ich belongs to a phylum composed primarily of free-living members. Indeed, it is closely related to the model organism Tetrahymena thermophila. Genomic studies represent a promising strategy to reduce the impact of this disease and to understand the evolutionary transition to parasitism.

Results

We report the sequencing, assembly and annotation …

Group 11 Metal Compounds With Tripodal Bis(Imidazole) Thioether Ligands. Applications As Catalysts In The Oxidation Of Alkenes And As Antimicrobial Agents, Fangwei Liu, Reema Anis, Eunmi Hwang, Rafael Ovalle, Armando Varela-Ramírez, Renato J. Aguilera, María Contel

Publications and Research

New group 11 metal complexes have been prepared using the previously described tripodal bis(imidazole) thioether ligand (N-methyl-4,5-diphenyl-2- imidazolyl)2C(OMe)C(CH3)2S(tert-Bu) ({BITOMe,StBu}, 2). The pincer ligand offers a N2S donor atom set that can be used to coordinate the group 11 metals in different oxidation states [AuI , AuIII, AgI , CuI and CuII]. Thus the new compounds [Au{BITOMe,StBu}Cl][AuCl4]2 (3), [Au{BITOMe,StBu}Cl] (4), [Ag{BITOMe,StBu}X] (X = OSO2CF3 - 5, PF6 - 6) and [Cu{BITOMe,StBu}Cl2] (7) have been synthesized from reaction of 2 with the appropriate metal precursors, and characterized in solution. While attempting characterization in the solid state of 3, single crystals of the …

Factors Influencing Lysis Time Stochasticity In Bacteriophage L, John J. Dennehy, Ing-Nang Wang

Publications and Research

Background Despite identical genotypes and seemingly uniform environments, stochastic gene expression and other dynamic intracellular processes can produce considerable phenotypic diversity within clonal microbes. One trait that provides a good model to explore the molecular basis of stochastic variation is the timing of host lysis by bacteriophage (phage).

Results Individual lysis events of thermally-inducible l lysogens were observed using a temperature-controlled perfusion chamber mounted on an inverted microscope. Both mean lysis time (MLT) and its associated standard deviation (SD) were estimated. Using the SD as a measure of lysis time stochasticity, we showed that lysogenic cells in controlled environments varied …

Online Instruction For Art History Research, Ching-Jung Chen, Amrita Dhawan

Publications and Research

At the City College of New York (CCNY), the Art and Architecture Visual Resources Librarian (VR Librarian) teamed up with the Information Literacy Librarian to design an online tutorial for conducting library research in Art History. The tutorial is created using Google Sites and is linked to the College’s Blackboard site for ease of access by students.

Bone Morphogenetic Protein Inhibition Promotes Neurological Recovery After Intraventricular Hemorrhage, Krishna Dummula, Govindaiah Vinukonda, Philip Chu, Yiping Xing, Furong Hu, Sabrina Mailk, Anna Csiszar, Caroline Chua, Peter Mouton, Robert J. Kayton, Joshua C. Brumberg, Rashmi Bansal, Praveen Ballabh

Publications and Research

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) results in neural cell death and white matter injury in premature infants. No therapeutic strategy is currently available against this disorder. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling suppresses oligodendrocyte development through basic-helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors and promotes astrocytosis. Therefore, we hypothesized that IVH in premature newborns initiates degeneration and maturation arrest of oligodendrocyte lineage and that BMP inhibition alleviates hypomyelination, gliosis, and motor impairment in the survivors of IVH. To test the hypotheses, a rabbit model of IVH was used in which premature rabbit pups (E29) are treated with intraperitoneal glycerol at 2 hours of age to induce …

Graded Index And Randomly Oriented Core-Shell Silicon Nanowires With Broadband And Wide Angle Antireflection, P. Pignalosa, H. Lee, L. Qiao, M. Tseng, Y. Yi

Publications and Research

Antireflection with broadband and wide angle properties is important for a wide range of applications on photovoltaic cells and display. The SiOx shell layer provides a natural antireflection from air to the Si core absorption layer. In this work, we have demonstrated the random core-shell silicon nanowires with both broadband (from 400nm to 900nm) and wide angle (from normal incidence to 60o) antireflection characteristics within AM1.5 solar spectrum. The graded index structure from the randomly oriented core-shell (Air/SiOx/Si) nanowires may provide a potential avenue to realize a broadband and wide angle antireflection layer

Effectiveness Of A Combined Home Visiting And Group Intervention For Low Income African American Mothers: The Pride In Parenting Program, Kathy S. Katz, Marian H. Jarrett, Ayman El-Mohandes, Susan Schneider, Doris Mcneely-Johnson, Michele Kiely

Publications and Research

Intervention strategies are needed to improve maternal and infant outcomes in minority populations living in poverty. Home visiting by nurses has improved outcomes for mothers and young children, but use of professional staff makes these programs expensive. Pride in Parenting was a randomized controlled trial of paraprofessional home visitation to provide health and developmental intervention for high-risk African American mothers in Washington, DC. This study proposed to test whether paraprofessional visitors drawn from the community could effectively influence health and mothers; parenting behaviors and attitudes. African American mothers with inadequate prenatal care were recruited at delivery and randomized to intervention …