Digital Commons Network^™

Electromagnetic Wave Propagation In Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals, Oleg L. Berman, Vladimir S. Boyko, Roman Ya. Kezerashvili, Yurii E. Lozovik

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Undergraduate Neuroscience Education In The U.S.: An Analysis Using Data From The National Center For Education Statistics, Raddy L. Ramos, Georgia J. Fokas, Ankur Bhambri, Phoebe T. Smith, Brian H. Hallas, Joshua C. Brumberg

Publications and Research

Despite an apparent increase in undergraduate neuroscience programs offered by colleges and universities, there has been little effort to document this growth. In the present report we describe our analysis of the expansion of undergraduate neuroscience programs of study over more than 20 years and detail a number of institutional characteristics of colleges and universities that offer undergraduate neuroscience programs. These data reveal more than 100 institutions with undergraduate neuroscience programs as well as over 2000 college graduates that majored in neuroscience in 2008–2009. Understanding the current number as well as growth trends of undergraduate neuroscience programs found in U.S. …

Clean Image Synthesis And Target Numerical Marching For Optical Imaging With Backscattering Light, Min Xu, Yang Pu, Wubao Wang

Publications and Research

Scanning backscattering imaging and independent component analysis (ICA) are used to probe targets hidden in the subsurface of a turbid medium. A new correction procedure is proposed and used to synthesize a “clean” image of a homogeneous host medium numerically from a set of raster-scanned “dirty” backscattering images of the medium with embedded targets. The independent intensity distributions on the surface of the medium corresponding to individual targets are then unmixed using ICA of the difference between the set of dirty images and the clean image. The target positions are localized by a novel analytical method, which marches the target …

A Collection Of Poems On Personal Life Stories, Michelle Wang

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Bmp-12 Treatment Of Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells In Vitro Augments Tendon-Like Tissue Formation And Defect Repair In Vivo, Jonathan Y. Lee, Zuping Zhou, Peter J. Taub, Melissa Ramcharan, Yonghui Li, Takintope Akinbiyi, Edward R. Maharam, Daniel J. Leong, Damien M. Laudier, Takuya Ruike, Phillip J. Torina, Mone Zaidi, Robert Majeska, Mitchell B. Schaffler, Evan L. Flatow, Hui B. Sun

Publications and Research

We characterized the differentiation of rat bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) into tenocyte-like cells in response to bone morphogenetic protein-12 (BMP-12). BM-MSCs were prepared from Sprague-Dawley rats and cultured as monolayers. Recombinant BMP-12 treatment (10 ng/ml) of BM-MSCs for 12 hours in vitro markedly increased expression of the tenocyte lineage markers scleraxis (Scx) and tenomodulin (Tnmd) over 14 days. Treatment with BMP-12 for a further 12-hour period had no additional effect. Colony formation assays revealed that ∼80% of treated cells and their progeny were Scx- and Tnmd-positive. BM-MSCs seeded in collagen scaffolds and similarly treated with a single dose …

Screening For Otologic Functional Impairments In The Elderly: Whose Job Is It Anyway?, B.E. Weinstein

Publications and Research

Among the most prevalent of chronic conditions affecting older adults globally, hearing loss prevalence is increasing and its impact on society growing. Untreated hearing loss diminishes ones ability to communicate and its strong association with depression and cognitive decline adds further to the burden of hearing loss. Hearing health care is rarely included in the traditional medical exam for older adults, it is typically not considered a risk factor for cognitive decline or falls, and it is not a condition for which routine screening has been recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Yet in older adults, disability typically …

A Role For Amyloid In Cell Aggregation And Biofilm Formation, Melissa C. Garcia, Janis T. Lee, Caleen B. Ramsook, David Alsteens, Yves F. Dufrêne, Peter N. Lipke

Publications and Research

Cell adhesion molecules in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida albicans contain amyloid-forming sequences that are highly conserved. We have now used site-specific mutagenesis and specific peptide perturbants to explore amyloid-dependent activity in the Candida albicans adhesin Als5p. A V326N substitution in the amyloid-forming region conserved secondary structure and ligand binding, but abrogated formation of amyloid fibrils in soluble Als5p and reduced cell surface thioflavin T fluorescence. When displayed on the cell surface, Als5p with this substitution prevented formation of adhesion nanodomains and formation of large cellular aggregates and model biofilms. In addition, amyloid nanodomains were regulated by exogenous peptides. An amyloid-forming …

Methamphetamine Induces Striatal Cell Death Followed By The Generation Of New Cells And A Second Round Of Cell Death In Mice, I. K. Tulloch, L Afanador, J Zhu, J. A. Angulo

Publications and Research

Our laboratory has been investigating the impact of a neurotoxic exposure to methamphetamine (METH) on cellular components of the striatum post-synaptic to the dopaminergic terminals. A systemic bolus injection of METH (30 mg/kg, ip) induces the production of new cells in the striatum during a period lasting from 24-48 hours after METH. The newly generated cells arise from dormant striatal progenitors and not from the subventricular zone. The newly generated cells display glial phenotypes and begin to die 24 hours after birth, or 2.5 days post-METH. The protracted phase of cell death lasts for at least three months post-METH at …

1967 Convocation Charter, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Faculty, administrators, and students signed a charter at the opening convocation of York College in 1967.

The Online "Supplemental" Workshop: Course Enrichment To Support Novice Teachers' Analysis Of Classroom Video, Laura H. Baecher, Shiao-Chuan Kung

Publications and Research

As online learning and video technology become more consistent components of teacher education, the opportunities to blend the affordances of both was piloted in a specially designed online workshop. This workshop was designed to help teacher candidates become more sophisticated in their ability to recognize and describe specific teaching behaviors in videoed lessons. Using QuickTime Pro, iMovie, and Blackboard, a self-paced, asynchronous workshop to introduce techniques for observing and analyzing teachers and classes on video was created. Through a series of video tutorials and activities, teacher candidates were guided through the process of viewing the same video clip through different …

Critical Collaborations: An Information Literacy Across The Curriculum Project, Sheila Beck, Devin Mckay

Publications and Research

The article focuses on a collaborative project aimed at investigating the effect of integrating four classroom assignments from different disciplines with critical thinking skills. Entitled "Collaboration and Information: Critical Thinking Skills Across Curriculum," the different goals of the project include having the students understand what information is, the type of information needed and its appropriateness, and the application of research skills using critical thinking. In this study, it has been demonstrated that the greater the breadth and depth of responses to the scenario, the greater the research process skills.

The Impact Of Bisphenol A And Triclosan On Immune Parameters In The U.S. Population, Nhanes 2003–2006, Erin M. Rees Clayton, Megan Todd, Jennifer B. Dowd, Allison E. Aiello

Publications and Research

Background: Exposure to environmental toxicants is associated with numerous disease outcomes, many of which involve underlying immune and inflammatory dysfunction.

Objectives: To address the gap between environmental exposures and immune dysfunction, we investigated the association of two endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) with markers of immune function.

Methods: Using data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we compared urinary bisphenol A (BPA) and triclosan levels with serum cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody levels and diagnosis of allergies or hay fever in U.S. adults and children ≥ 6 years of age. We used multivariate ordinary least squares linear regression models to examine …

Trust, Privacy, And Frame Problems In Social And Business E-Networks, Part 1, Jeff Buechner

Publications and Research

Privacy issues in social and business e-networks are daunting in complexity— private information about oneself might be routed through countless artificial agents. For each such agent, in that context, two questions about trust are raised: Where an agent must access (or store) personal information, can one trust that artificial agent with that information and, where an agent does not need to either access or store personal information, can one trust that agent not to either access or store that information? It would be an infeasible task for any human being to explicitly determine, for each artificial agent, whether it can …

The History Of Evaluation Through Regulatory Impact Analysis: A Path From Accounting To Accountability, Daniele Capone, Dan Williams

Publications and Research

Evaluation of public policy is an important element of intervention by government in the economy and society. This paper analyzes the path of evaluation in the U.S. system through development in related scientific fields and through the use, by different administrations, of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA). The history of evaluation shows that over time there has been a bipartisan acknowledgement of the importance of these tools and an interesting change in the approach and use of them. At the beginning, RIA and evaluation were conceived as control and accounting instruments with a strong use of economic analysis, but afterwards, they …

Reviving Democracy Through New And Traditional Media, Maria J. D'Agostino

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Coupled Folding And Specific Binding: Fishing For Amphiphilicity, Vikas P. Jain, Raymond S. Tu

Publications and Research

Proteins are uniquely capable of identifying targets with unparalleled selectivity, but, in addition to the precision of the binding phenomenon, nature has the ability to find its targets exceptionally quickly. Transcription factors for instance can bind to a specific sequence of nucleic acids from a soup of similar, but not identical DNA strands, on a timescale of seconds. This is only possible with the enhanced kinetics provided for by a natively disordered structure, where protein folding and binding are cooperative processes. The secondary structures of many proteins are disordered under physiological conditions. Subsequently, the disordered structures fold into ordered structures …

Seropositivity To Cytomegalovirus, Inflammation, All-Cause And Cardiovascular Disease-Related Mortality In The United States, Amanda M. Simanek, Jennifer Beam Dowd, Graham Pawelec, David Melzer, Ambarish Dutta, Allison E. Aiello

Publications and Research

Background: Studies have suggested that CMV infection may influence cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality. However, there have been no large-scale examinations of these relationships among demographically diverse populations. The inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is also linked with CVD outcomes and mortality and may play an important role in the pathway between CMV and mortality. We utilized a U.S. nationally representative study to examine whether CMV infection is associated with all-cause and CVD-related mortality. We also assessed whether CRP level mediated or modified these relationships.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Data come from subjects $25 years of age who were tested for …

Circular Single-Stranded Synthetic Dna Delivery Vectors For Microrna, Christine I. Seidl, Kevin Ryan

Publications and Research

Single-stranded (ss) circular oligodeoxynucleotides were previously found to undergo rolling circle transcription (RCT) by phage and bacterial RNA polymerases (RNAPs) into tandemly repetitive RNA multimers. Here, we redesign them to encode minimal primary miRNA mimics, with the long term aim of intracellular transcription followed by RNA processing and maturation via endogenous pathways. We describe an improved method for circularizing ss synthetic DNA for RCT by using a recently described thermostable RNA ligase, which does not require a splint oligonucleotide to juxtapose the ligating ends. In vitro transcription of four templates demonstrates that the secondary structure inherent in miRNA-encoding vectors does …

Micropropagation And Medium-Term Conservation Of Rosa Pulverulenta, Somayeh Kavand, Maryam Jafarkhani Kermani, Ali Haghnazari, Pegah Khosravi, Mohamad Reza Azimi

Publications and Research

In Iran, a large number of Rosa species have been exposed to extinction and therefore preservation techniques are necessary to safeguard their future. In the present investigation, the objectives were to optimize the micropropagation and medium-term conservation of one of these wild species, Rosa pulverulenta. At proliferation stage, the maximum number of new leaves (9.6) were produced on the medium containing 4 µM BAP + 0 µM GA₃, whereas the maximum number of axillary shoots (4.1) were observed in the medium containing 4 µM BAP + 3 µM GA₃. The results for rooting experiments suggested …

Linkage Disequilibrium Based Genotype Calling From Low-Coverage Shotgun Sequencing Reads, Jorge Duitama, Justin Kennedy, Sanjiv Dinakar, Yözen Hernández, Yufeng Wu, Ion I. Măndoiu

Publications and Research

Background Recent technology advances have enabled sequencing of individual genomes, promising to revolutionize biomedical research. However, deep sequencing remains more expensive than microarrays for performing whole-genome SNP genotyping. Results In this paper we introduce a new multi-locus statistical model and computationally efficient genotype calling algorithms that integrate shotgun sequencing data with linkage disequilibrium (LD) information extracted from reference population panels such as Hapmap or the 1000 genomes project. Experiments on publicly available 454, Illumina, and ABI SOLiD sequencing datasets suggest that integration of LD information results in genotype calling accuracy comparable to that of microarray platforms from sequencing data of …

Information Is Social: Information Literacy In Context, Jen Hoyer

Publications and Research

This paper aims to discuss traditional conceptions of information literacy as created within an academic context to address information needs within this context. It seeks to present alternative realities of information use outside the academic sector, and to suggest that information literacy instruction within academia does not go far enough in preparing students for the information society beyond university. The aim is then to follow this by discussion of appropriate information literacy models to prepare young people for information use in a variety of workplace environments.

Assessing Syndromic Surveillance Of Cardiovascular Outcomes From Emergency Department Chief Complaint Data In New York City, Robert W. Mathes, Kazuhiko Ito, Thomas Matte

Publications and Research

Background Prospective syndromic surveillance of emergency department visits has been used for near-real time tracking of communicable diseases to detect outbreaks or other unexpected disease clusters. The utility of syndromic surveillance for tracking cardiovascular events, which may be influenced by environmental factors and influenza, has not been evaluated. We developed and evaluated a method for tracking cardiovascular events using emergency department free-text chief complaints. Methodology/Principal Findings There were three phases to our analysis. First we applied text processing algorithms based on sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value to chief complaint data reported by 11 New York City emergency departments for …

Polycationic Glycosides, Robert Engel, Ishrat Ghani, Diego Montenegro, Marie Thomas, Barbara Klaritch-Vrana, Alejandra Castaño, Laura Friedman, Jay Leb, Leah Rothman, Heidi Lee, Craig Capodiferro, Daniel Ambinder, Eve Cere, Christopher Awad, Faiza Sheikh, Jaimelee Rizzo, Lisa-Marie Nisbett, Erika Testani, Karin Melkonian

Publications and Research

Cationic lipids have long been known to serve as antibacterial and antifungal agents. Prior efforts with attachment of cationic lipids to carbohydrate-based surfaces have suggested the possibility that carbohydrate-attached cationic lipids might serve as antibacterial and antifungal pharmaceutical agents. Toward the understanding of this possibility, we have synthesized several series of cationic lipids attached to a variety of glycosides with the intent of generating antimicrobial agents that would meet the requirement for serving as a pharmaceutical agent, specifically that the agent be effective at a very low concentration as well as being biodegradable within the organism being treated. The initial …

Cognitive Control In Majority Search: A Computational Modeling Approach, Hongbin Wang, Xun Liu, Jin Fan

Publications and Research

Despite the importance of cognitive control in many cognitive tasks involving uncertainty, the computational mechanisms of cognitive control in response to uncertainty remain unclear. In this study, we develop biologically realistic neural network models to investigate the instantiation of cognitive control in a majority function task, where one determines the category to which the majority of items in a group belong. Two models are constructed, both of which include the same set of modules representing task-relevant brain functions and share the same model structure. However, with a critical change of a model parameter setting, the two models implement two different …

Rethinking Prison Education In The Era Of Mass Incarceration. President Travis' Speech On Rethinking Prison Education, At The Cuny Graduate Center On 2/4/11., Jeremy Travis

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Opportunity/Threat Spirals In The U.S. Women's Suffrage And German Anti-Immigration Movements, Roger Karapin

Publications and Research

Many have noted that protesters sometimes expand political opportunities for later protests, but there has been little analysis of how this occurs. The problem can be addressed by analyzing opportunity/threat spirals, which involve positive feedback among: actions by challengers (bold protests and the formation of alliances between challenger groups); opportunity-increasing actions by authorities and elites (elite divisions and support, procedural reforms, substantive concessions, and police inaction); and threat-increasing actions by authorities and elites (new grievance production and excessive repression). Interactions among these eight mechanisms are demonstrated in two cases of social movement growth, the U.S. women's suffrage movement of the …

Estimating The Effects Of Immigration Status On Mental Health Care Utilizations In The United States, Jie Chen, Arturo Vargas-Bustamante

Publications and Research

Immigration status is a likely deterrent of mental health care utilization in the United States. Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and National Health Interview survey from 2002 to 2006, multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate the effects of immigration status on mental health care utilization among patients with depression or anxiety disorders. Multivariate regressions showed that immigrants were significantly less likely to take any prescription drugs, but not significantly less likely to have any physician visits compared to US-born citizens. Results also showed that improving immigrants’ health care access and health insurance coverage could potentially reduce disparities between …

Two-Loop Leading Color Corrections To Heavy-Quark Pair Production In The Gluon Fusion Channel, R. Bonciani, Andrea Ferroglia, T. Gehrmann, A. Von Manteuffel, C. Studerus

Publications and Research

We evaluate the two-loop QCD diagrams contributing to the leading color coefficient of the heavy-quark pair production cross section in the gluon fusion channel. We obtain an analytic expression, which is valid for any value of the Mandelstam invariants s and t and of the heavy-quark mass m. Our findings agree with previous analytic results in the small-mass limit and with recent results for the coefficients of the IR poles.

Cusha, Edgar Nkosi White

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Correcting Mortality For Loss To Follow-Up: A Nomogram Applied To Antiretroviral Treatment Programmes In Sub-Saharan Africa, Matthias Egger, Ben D. Spycher, John Sidle, Ralf Weigel, Elvin H. Geng, Matthew P. Fox, Patrick Macphail, Gilles Van Custem, Eugene Messou, Robin Wood, Denis Nash, Margaret Pascoe, Diana Dickinson

Publications and Research

Background

The World Health Organization estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa about 4 million HIV-infected patients had started antiretroviral therapy (ART) by the end of 2008. Loss of patients to follow-up and care is an important problem for treatment programmes in this region. As mortality is high in these patients compared to patients remaining in care, ART programmes with high rates of loss to follow-up may substantially underestimate mortality of all patients starting ART.

Methods and Findings

We developed a nomogram to correct mortality estimates for loss to follow-up, based on the fact that mortality of all patients starting ART in …