Digital Commons Network^™

Conjunctional Concepts: The Conceptual Teaching Technique In Biology Classes, Igor V. Zaitsev

Publications and Research

Conceptual teaching relies on concepts in conjunction with a bigger conceptual category (or categories). Revealing and using conceptual conjunctions in the science classroom means teaching conceptually. To make conceptual teaching more accessible to biology instructors, a three-concept model was described to be used during a lecture. This model has allowed the author to develop a relatively simple method that starts with an active concept or concepts, then introduces conjunctional and supporting concepts to relate the content to other concepts and relevant real-world applications. This method is intended to help instructors in preparing to teach biological concepts conceptually, in order to …

Crowd Salience Heightens Tolerance To Healthy Facial Features, Mitch Brown, Ryan E. Tracy, Steven G. Young, Donald F. Sacco

Publications and Research

Objective: Recent findings suggest crowd salience heightens pathogen-avoidant motives, serving to reduce individuals’ infection risk through interpersonal contact. Such experiences may similarly facilitate the identification, and avoidance, of diseased conspecifics. The current experiment sought to replicate and extend previous crowding research.

Methods: In this experiment, we primed participants at two universities with either a crowding or control experience before having them evaluate faces manipulated to appear healthy or diseased by indicating the degree to which they would want to interact with them.

Results: Crowding-primed participants reported a more heightened preferences for healthy faces than control-primed participants. Additionally, crowd salience reduced …

Editorial: Pathogens, Pathobionts, And Autoimmunity, Linda A. Spatz, Gregg J. Silverman, Judith A. James

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Health-Related Quality Of Life And Mental Well-Being Of Healthy And Diseased Persons In 8 Countries: Does Stringency Of Government Response Against Early Covid-19 Matter?, Di Long, Juanita A. Haagsma, Mathieu F. Janssen, John N. Yfantopoulos, Erica I. Lubetkin, Gouke J. Bonsel

Publications and Research

Objectives

Our study aimed to (1) assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental well-being of healthy and diseased persons in the general population during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) examine the relationship between HRQoL and mental well-being and individual characteristics and government response against COVID-19, as measured by the stringency index.

Methods

A web-based survey was administered to a cohort of persons from the general population of eight countries: Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US) from April 22 to May 5 and …

No Ordinary Proteins: Adsorption And Molecular Orientation Of Monoclonal Antibodies, Ankit D. Kanthe, Andrew Ilott, Mary Krause, Songyan Zheng, Jinjiang Li, Wei Bu, Mrinal K. Bera, Binhua Lin, Charles Maldarelli, Raymond S. Tu

Publications and Research

The interaction of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with air/water interfaces plays a crucial role in their overall stability in solution. We aim to understand this behavior using pendant bubble measurements to track the dynamic tension reduction and x-ray reflectivity to obtain the electron density profiles (EDPs) at the surface. Native immunoglobulin G mAb is a rigid molecule with a flat, “Y” shape, and simulated EDPs are obtained by rotating a homology construct at the surface. Comparing simulations with experimental EDPs, we obtain surface orientation probability maps showing mAbs transition from flat-on Y-shape configurations to side-on or end-on configurations with increasing concentration. …

Covid‑19, Race/Ethnicity, And Age: The Role Of Telemedicine To Close The Gaps On Health Disparities, Andreas Kakolyris, Juan J. Delacruz, Christos I. Giannikos

Publications and Research

The novel COVID-19 outbreak is a major public health challenge that quickly turned into an economic recession of great proportions. This pandemic poses a trade-off between health and the economy where social distancing, quarantines, and isolation shut down demand and supply chains across the USA. This paper analyzes the impact of COVID-19 on illness and death among older adults and communities of color with low socioeconomic status in New York City. To achieve this goal, fractional logit models are used to capture changes in the novel virus’ morbidity and mortality rates at the neighborhood level. Median income, race/ethnicity, age, household …

Bcr Affinity Influences T-B Interactions And B Cell Development In Secondary Lymphoid Organs, Alec J. Wishnie, Tzippora Chwat-Edelstein, Mary Attaway, Bao Q. Vuong

Publications and Research

B cells produce high-affinity immunoglobulins (Igs), or antibodies, to eliminate foreign pathogens. Mature, naïve B cells expressing an antigen-specific cell surface Ig, or B cell receptor (BCR), are directed toward either an extrafollicular (EF) or germinal center (GC) response upon antigen binding. B cell interactions with CD4+ pre-T follicular helper (pre- Tfh) cells at the T-B border and effector Tfh cells in the B cell follicle and GC control B cell development in response to antigen. Here, we review recent studies demonstrating the role of B cell receptor (BCR) affinity in modulating T-B interactions and the subsequent differentiation of B …

"Divide, Divert, & Conquer” Deconstructing The Presidential Framing Of White Supremacy In The Covid-19 Era, Vivian Louie, Anahi Viladrich

Publications and Research

Based on the analysis of President Donald J. Trump’s social media, along with excerpts from his speeches and press releases, this study sheds light on the framing of white supremacy during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Our findings reveal that the triad of divide, divert, and conquer was crucial to Trump’s communications strategy. We argue that racist nativism—or racialized national threats to American security—is key to comprehending the external divisiveness in this strategy. When Trump bitterly cast China as the cause of America’s pandemic fallout and Mexico as the source of other key American …

Oral Manifestations Of Tuberculosis, Diana V. Macri, Sandra Castellanos, Elvir Dincer

Publications and Research

This article will update the reader on tuberculosis and its oral manifestations.

After decades of decreasing incidence, tuberculosis resurgence is being seen in some global regions due to factors that include the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic, increased immigration from countries with endemic tuberculosis, transmission of tuberculosis in crowded or unsanitary environments, and poor healthcare infrastructure. Additionally, this review is especially prescient considering the increasing prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Examining Inequities In Rates Of Undiagnosed Hiv And Rectal Stis In A Large Nationwide Cohort Study Of Sexual Minority Men, H Jonathon Rendina, Ali Talan, K Marie Sizemore, Nicola F. Tavella, Brian Salfas, Ore Shalhav, Drew Westmoreland, Brian Mustanski, Carlos E. Rodríguez- Díaz

Publications and Research

Objective Sexual minority men (SMM) of colour are disproportionately impacted by HIV and bacterial STIs (bSTIs). To better understand within-group heterogeneity and differential risk factors by race and ethnicity, we sought to examine rates of undiagnosed HIV and rectal bSTI at the intersection of racial and ethnic identity with other sociodemographic factors.

Methods We examined data from 8105 SMM conducting home-based self-testing at enrollment in a nationwide cohort study collected from November 2017 to August 2018. We conducted analyses stratified by racial and ethnic groups to examine within- group (ie, subgroup) unadjusted rates of HIV and rectal bSTI infection across …

Draft Genome Sequences Of 13 Vibrio Cholerae Strains From The Rio Grande Delta, Jeffrey W. Turner, Jorge Duran-Gonzalez, David A. Laughlin, Daniel Unterweger, David Silva, Boris Ermolinsky, Stefan Pukatzki, Daniele Provenzano

Publications and Research

Vibrio cholerae is the etiologic agent of cholera, an acute and often fatal diarrheal disease that affects millions globally. We report the draft genome sequences of 13 non-O1/O139 V. cholerae strains isolated from the Rio Grande Delta in Texas. These genomes will aid future analyses of environmental serovars.

Analysis Of Gaps In Feline Ectoparasiticide Purchases From Veterinary Clinics In The United States, Robert Lavan, Dorothy Normile, Imran Husain, Amita Singh, Kathleen Heaney

Publications and Research

Background: The study objective was to examine cat owner ectoparasiticide purchases in the United States and estimate the impact of purchase gaps on timely ectoparasite protection administration. These purchase gaps lead to periods of time when cats are unprotected from ectoparasites.

Methods: Ectoparasiticide purchase transactions for individual cats from 671 U.S. veterinary clinics from January 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019 were evaluated to determine time “gaps” between doses of ectoparasiticides purchased in a defined 12-month period. Ectoparasiticides examined were topically applied products that contained fluralaner, fipronil/(S)-methoprene/pyriproxyfen, imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen or selamectin as active ingredients. The duration of protection following administration of …

Sexuality And Borders In Right Wing Times: A Conversation, Alyosxa Tudor, Miriam Ticktin

Publications and Research

We respond to prompts about the relationships between race, migration, and sexuality, as these intersecting differences have been forced into the same frame by the violent practices of right-wing regimes, and brought into relief by Covid19. Even as we have long known that sexual politics are a way to govern bodies, and to distribute uneven states of vulnerability, we are seeing new incarnations of government. What we aim to point out is how people who are seen as “different” are being attacked, maimed, dispossessed and murdered. But perhaps more importantly, we insist on the specific nature of right-wing times because …

Slowing The Spread Of Covid-19: Review Of “Social Distancing” Interventions Deployed By Public Transit In The United States And Canada, Camille Kamga, Penny Eickemeyer

Publications and Research

This paper presents a review of social distancing measures deployed by transit agencies in the United States and Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses how specific operators across the two countries have implemented changes. Challenges and impacts on their operations are also provided.

Social distancing is one of the community mitigation measures traditionally implemented during influenza pandemics and the novel coronavirus pandemic. Research has shown that social distancing is effective in containing the spread of disease. This is applicable to the current situation with the novel coronavirus, given the lack of effective vaccines and treatments in the United States …

Pirnas As Modulators Of Disease Pathogenesis, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Jelonia T. Rumph, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Fernando Villalta, Maria F. Lima, Siddharth Pratap, Smita Misra, Pius N. Nde

Publications and Research

Advances in understanding disease pathogenesis correlates to modifications in gene expression within different tissues and organ systems. In depth knowledge about the dysregulation of gene expression profiles is fundamental to fully uncover mechanisms in disease development and changes in host homeostasis. The body of knowledge surrounding mammalian regulatory elements, specifically regulators of chromatin structure, transcriptional and translational activation, has considerably surged within the past decade. A set of key regulators whose function still needs to be fully elucidated are small non-coding RNAs (sncRNAs). Due to their broad range of unfolding functions in the regulation of gene expression during transcription and …

Special Issue On Professor John M. Tarbell’S Contribution To Cardiovascular Engineering, Hanjoong Jo, Keefe Manning, John M. Tarbell

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Are Covid-19 Vaccine Boosters Needed? The Science Behind Boosters, Rachel M. Burckhardt, John J. Dennehy, Leo L. M. Poon, Linda J. Saif, Lynn W. Enquist

Publications and Research

Waning vaccine-induced immunity coupled with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has led to increases in breakthrough infections, prompting consideration for vaccine booster doses. Boosters have been reported to be safe and increase SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralizing antibody levels, but how these doses impact the trajectory of the global pandemic and herd immunity is unknown. Information on immunology, epidemiology and equitable vaccine distribution should be considered when deciding the timing and eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine boosters.

Adult Education Amidst Dual Pandemics: Community College Survival, Wendy Nicholson, Tameka S. Battle

Publications and Research

This article examines how adult educators at an urban community college, cope with and persist in the face of dual pandemics: COVID-19 and systemic racism. It delves into the requirements they faced turning in-person instruction to distance learning platforms at a moment’s notice, how they dealt with claims of racial disparity in doing so, and how the resurgence of racial unrest across the country challenged not only their own values and beliefs but how these events impacted their ability to teach and interact with their diverse students. The article also examines the instructors' ability to maintain their own wellbeing amidst …

A Review Of Sars-Cov-2, Responsible For Covid-19: History, Biology, Infection Mechanism, Antigenic Vaccines, Their Risks And How An Alternate Rbd Vaccine Is Safer?, Zmg Sarwar Jahangir, Arleta Helena Marnik

Publications and Research

The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)-CoV (Coronavirus)-2 S(spike)-protein mRNA/cDNA currently being used as vaccines are antigenic but not antigens against SARS-CoV-2, that causes COVID (Coronavirus Disease) -19. Furthermore, the mRNA and cDNA antigenic vaccines also have potentials for homologous as well as heterologous recombination, primarily into the somatic cell DNA of the vaccine recipients. On the contrary, a SARS-CoV-2 RBD-protein antigen, a part of the S-protein, will directly stimulate antibody production against SARS-CoV-2. Hence, a vaccine composed of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-protein as a safer, fast acting, and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 and thus against COVID-19. This is also useful for some …

Why Do Antibiotics Exist?, Fabrizio Spagnolo, Monica Trujillo, John J. Dennehy

Publications and Research

In the struggle with antibiotic resistance, we are losing. There is now a serious threat of moving into a postantibiotic world. High levels of resistance, in terms of both frequency and strength, have evolved against all clinically approved antibiotics worldwide. The usable life span of new clinically approved antibiotics is typically less than a decade before resistance reaches frequencies so high as to require only guarded usage. However, microbes have produced antibiotics for millennia without resistance becoming an existential issue. If resistance is the inevitable consequence of antibiotic usage, as has been the human experience, why has it not become …

Feminist Abolitionist Nursing, Martha Paynter, Keisha Jefferies, Leah Carrier, Lorie Goshin

Publications and Research

The converging crises of COVID-19 and racist state violence in 2020 shifted public discourse about marginalization, public health, and racism in unprecedented ways. Nursing responded to the pandemic with heroic commitment and new politicization. But public engagement with systemic racism is forcing a reckoning in nursing. The profession has its own history of racism and of alliance with systems of state control with which to contend. In this article, we argue nursing must adopt an ethics of abolitionism to realize its goals for health and justice. Abolitionism theorizes that policing and prison systems, originating from systems of enslavement and colonial …

Framing Inclusion: The Media Treatment Of Irregular Immigrants' Right To Health Care In Spain, Alisa Petroff, Anahí Viladrich, Sònia Parella

Publications and Research

With the passing of Royal Decree-Law 16/2012, Spain’s national health system switched from a model defined by universal and free health care principles, to a private insurance system that excluded large population groups. Based on a qualitative research design, this paper examines the media treatment of undocumented immigrants’ prerogatives to public health care in Spain (2012–2018). The analysis of 234 articles, drawn from three major Spanish newspapers, reveals three frames that underscore the media’s "rhetorics of inclusion," which argue for the extension of free medical services to irregular immigrants a topic traditionally underestimated by the literature. The moralist frame, supported …

Feasibility Of Continuous Fever Monitoring Using Wearable Devices, Benjamin L. Smarr, Kirstin Aschbacher, Sarah M. Fisher, Anoushka Chowdhary, Stephan Dilchert, Karena Puldon, Adam Rao, Frederick M. Hecht, Ashley E. Mason

Publications and Research

Elevated core temperature constitutes an important biomarker for COVID-19 infection; however, no standards currently exist to monitor fever using wearable peripheral temperature sensors. Evidence that sensors could be used to develop fever monitoring capabilities would enable large-scale health-monitoring research and provide high-temporal resolution data on fever responses across heterogeneous populations. We launched the TemPredict study in March of 2020 to capture continuous physiological data, including peripheral temperature, from a commercially available wearable device during the novel coronavirus pandemic. We coupled these data with symptom reports and COVID-19 diagnosis data. Here we report findings from the first 50 subjects who reported …

Trypanosoma Cruzi Modulates Piwi-Interacting Rna Expression In Primary Human Cardiac Myocytes During The Early Phase Of Infection, Kayla J. Rayford, Ayorinde Cooley, Ashutosh Arun, Girish Rachakonda, Yulia Kleschenko, Fernando Villalta, Siddharth Pratap, Maria F. Lima, Pius N. Nde

Publications and Research

Trypanosoma cruzi dysregulates the gene expression profile of primary human cardiomyocytes (PHCM) during the early phase of infection through a mechanism which remains to be elucidated. The role that small non-coding RNAs (sncRNA) including PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) play in regulating gene expression during the early phase of infection is unknown. To understand how T. cruzi dysregulate gene expression in the heart, we challenged PHCM with T. cruzi trypomastigotes and analyzed sncRNA, especially piRNA, by RNA-sequencing. The parasite induced significant differential expression of host piRNAs, which can target and regulate the genes which are important during the early infection phase. An …

Understanding Of Aerosol Transmission Of Covid 19 In Indoor Environments, Adama Barro, Cathal O'Toole, Jacob S. Lopez, Matthew Quinones, Sherene Moore

Publications and Research

Our reason for discussing severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or 2019 novel corona virus (Covid-19), is to understand its aerosol transmission characteristics in indoor spaces and to mitigate further spread of this disease by designing a new HVAC system. The problem that we are tackling is the spread of covid-19 droplets through aerosol transmission by looking at potential engineering solutions to the existing HVAC systems. The purpose is to eradicate the spread of the COVID-19 by testing indoor spaces in an effort to understand the effectiveness of ventilation controls. We believe that scientists and engineers have not …

Invisible Inequalities: Persistent Health Threats In The Urban Built Environment, Kara M. Schlichting, Melanie A. Kiechle

Publications and Research

A city’s materiality creates health and illness. We both write about air – its movement and its temperature – as it affects human bodies. We offer two topics as case studies, heat and ventilation, and how they exacerbate the effects of each other, to illustrate the long history of seemingly new challenges posed by the novel coronavirus. The environmental inequalities of heat exposure and access to fresh air underscore that cities can only be considered ‘low impact’ on the environment from a top-down, large-scale approach. In writing about air and heat, we direct attention to the feel and the bodily …

Reopening America's Schools During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Protecting Asian Students From Stigma And Discrimination, Daisuke Akiba

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a rise in stigma and discrimination against people of Asian descent in many areas in the world, including the United States1. Anti-Asian hate incidents, which have ranged from verbal attacks, refusal of service to physical assault, continue to transpire in the U.S., and they put psychological and physical well-being of Asian children at increased risk. Discussions toward reopening of U.S. schools thus far, however, seem to have exclusively included the infection-related concerns and pedagogical consequences of continued disruptions in face-to-face instructions. Hence, educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders need to have plans in place …

Applications Of Non-Invasive Neuromodulation For The Management Of Disorders Related To Covid-19, Abrahão Fontes Baptista, Adriana Baltar, Alexandre Hideki Okano, Alexandre Moreira, Ana Carolina Pinheiro Campos, Ana Mércia Fernandes, André Russowsky Brunoni, Bashar W. Badran, Clarice Tanaka, Daniel Ciampi De Andrade, Daniel Gomes Da Silva Machado, Edgard Morya, Eduardo Trujillo, Jaiti K. Swami, Joan A. Camprodon, Katia Monte-Silva, Katia Nunes Sá, Isadora Nunes, Juliana Barbosa Goulardins, Marom Bikson, Pedro Sudbrack-Oliveira, Priscila De Carvalho, Rafael Jardim Duarte-Moreira, Rosana Lima Pagano, Samuel Katsuyuki Shinjo, Yossi Zana

Publications and Research

Background: Novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) morbidity is not restricted to the respiratory system, but also affects the nervous system. Non-invasive neuromodulation may be useful in the treatment of the disorders associated with COVID-19.

Objective: To describe the rationale and empirical basis of the use of non-invasive neuromodulation in the management of patients with COVID-10 and related disorders.

Methods: We summarize COVID-19 pathophysiology with emphasis of direct neuroinvasiveness, neuroimmune response and inflammation, autonomic balance and neurological, musculoskeletal and neuropsychiatric sequela. This supports the development of a framework for advancing applications of non-invasive neuromodulation in the management COVID-19 and related disorders.

Results: …

Trust: Assessing The Efficacy Of An Intervention To Increase Hiv Self‑Testing Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) And Transwomen, Victoria Frye, Vijay Nandi, Mark Q. Paige, Jermaine Mccrossin, Debbie Lucy, Marya Gwadz, Patrick S. Sullivan, Donald R. Hoover, Leo Wilton

Publications and Research

HIV testing among young Black MSM and transwomen (YBMSM/TW) is the gateway to biomedical HIV prevention or treatment. HIV self-testing (HST) is a method that may increase consistent HIV testing. TRUST, a brief, peer-based behavioral intervention, was designed to increase uptake of consistent (every three months) HST among YBMSM/TW in New York City. To test the efficacy of the intervention, we randomized 200 friend pairs into either the intervention condition (TRUST) or a time and attention control condition. A modified intent-to-treat analysis found that self-reported HST at 3-month follow-up was statistically significantly higher (uOR 2.29; 95% CI 1.15, 4.58) and …

Reducing Violence Without Police: A Review Of Research Evidence, Charles Branas, Shani Buggs, Jeffrey A. Butts, Anna Harvey, Erin M. Kerrison, Tracey Meares, Andrew V. Papachristos, John Pfaff, Alex R. Piquero, Joseph Richardson Jr., Caterina Gouvis Roman, Daniel Webster

Publications and Research

Arnold Ventures sought to review the research evidence for violence reduction strategies that do not rely on law enforcement. The John Jay College Research and Evaluation Center (JohnJayREC) and an expert group of researchers from public policy, criminology, law, public health, and social science fields conducted the scan. The research group members worked collaboratively to identify, translate, and summarize the most critical and actionable studies.