Digital Commons Network^™

Serum Amyloid P Component Binds Fungal Surface Amyloid And Decreases Human Macrophage Phagocytosis And Secretion Of Inflammatory Cytokines, Nicole E. Behrens, Peter N. Lipke, Darrell Pilling, Richard H. Gomer, Stephen A. Klotz

Publications and Research

In patients with invasive fungal diseases, there is often little cellular inflammatory response. We tested the idea that binding of the human constitutive plasma protein serum amyloid P component (SAP) (also called PTX2) to Candida albicans dampens the innate immune response to this fungus. Many pathogenic fungi have cell surface amyloid-like structures important for adhesion and biofilm formation. Human SAP bound to fungi that expressed functional cell surface amyloid, but SAP had minimal binding to fungi with reduced expression of cell surface amyloid. In the absence of SAP, phagocytosis of fungi by human macrophages was potentiated by expression of amyloid …

A Critical Evaluation Of The Biological Construct Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy: Size Matters But So Does The Measurement, Cody T. Haun, Christopher G. Vann, Brandon M. Roberts, Andrew D. Vigotsky, Brad J. Schoenfeld, Michael D. Roberts

Publications and Research

Skeletal muscle is highly adaptable and has consistently been shown to morphologically respond to exercise training. Skeletal muscle growth during periods of resistance training has traditionally been referred to as skeletal muscle hypertrophy, and this manifests as increases in muscle mass, muscle thickness, muscle area, muscle volume, and muscle fiber cross-sectional area (fCSA). Delicate electron microscopy and biochemical techniques have also been used to demonstrate that resistance exercise promotes ultrastructural adaptations within muscle fibers. Decades of research in this area of exercise physiology have promulgated a widespread hypothetical model of training-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy; specifically, fCSA increases are accompanied by …

Tryptophan Confers Resistance To Sds-Associated Cell Membrane Stress In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Lea Schroeder, Amy E. Ikui

Publications and Research

Sodium dodecyl sulfate is a detergent that disrupts cell membranes, activates cell wall integrity signaling and restricts cell growth in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, the underlying mechanism of how sodium dodecyl sulfate inhibits cell growth is not fully understood. Previously, we have shown that deletion of the MCK1 gene leads to sensitivity to sodium dodecyl sulfate; thus, we implemented a suppressor gene screening revealing that the overexpression of TAT2 tryptophan permease rescues cell growth in sodium dodecyl sulfatetreated Δmck1 cells. Therefore, we questioned the involvement of tryptophan in the response to sodium dodecyl sulfate treatment. In this work, we show that …

Cryo-Em Structure Of The Human Ferritin–Transferrin Receptor 1 Complex, Linda Celeste Montemiglio, Claudia Testi, Pierpaolo Ceci, Elisabetta Falvo, Martina Pitea, Carmelinda Savino, Alessandro Arcovito, Giovanna Peruzzi, Paola Baiocco, Filippo Mancia, Alberto Boffi, Amédée Des Georges, Beatrice Vallone

Publications and Research

Human transferrin receptor 1 (CD71) guarantees iron supply by endocytosis upon binding of iron-loaded transferrin and ferritin. Arenaviruses and the malaria parasite exploit CD71 for cell invasion and epitopes on CD71 for interaction with transferrin and pathogenic hosts were identified. Here, we provide the molecular basis of the CD71 ectodomain-human ferritin interaction by determining the 3.9 Å resolution single-particle cryo-electron microscopy structure of their complex and by validating our structural findings in a cellular context. The contact surfaces between the heavy-chain ferritin and CD71 largely overlap with arenaviruses and Plasmodium vivax binding regions in the apical part of the receptor …

Annihilator Dimers Enhance Triplet Fusion Upconversion, Andrew B. Pun, Samuel N. Sanders, Matthew Y. Sfeir, Luis M. Campos, Daniel N. Congreve

Publications and Research

Optical upconversion is a net process by which two low energy photons are converted into one higher energy photon. There is vast potential to exploit upconversion in applications ranging from solar energy and biological imaging to data storage and photocatalysis. Here, we link two upconverting chromophores together to synthesize a series of novel tetracene dimers for use as annihilators. When compared with the monomer annihilator, TIPS–tetracene, the dimers yield a strong enhancement in the triplet fusion process, also known as triplet–triplet annihilation, as demonstrated via a large increase in upconversion efficiency and an order of magnitude reduction of the threshold …

Infrastructures Of Taste: Rethinking Local Food Histories In Lithuania, Renata Blumberg, Diana Mincyte

Publications and Research

Lithuania hosts a diversity of places that offer consumers a taste of local food, which appear to mirror the recent popularity of local and alternative food initiatives globally. In this paper we show that the proliferation of local foods in the region is not a novel phenomenon, nor is it solely a manifestation of taste preferences or identities associated with food. Drawing on the growing scholarly work on the role of infrastructures in mediating social, economic and political relations, we conceptualize the taste for local food as embedded in broader networks and reproduced through material facilities. To advance this argument, …

Islam And Buddhism: The Arabian Prequel?, Anna Akasoy

Publications and Research

Conventionally, the first Muslim-Buddhist encounters are thought to have taken place in the context of the Arab-Muslim expansions into eastern Iran in the mid-seventh century, the conquest of Sind in 711 and the rise of the Islamic empire. However, several theories promoted in academic and popular circles claim that Buddhists or other Indians were present in western Arabia at the eve of Islam and thus shaped the religious environment in which Muhammad’s movement emerged. This article offers a critical survey of the most prominent arguments adduced to support this view and discusses the underlying attitudes to the Islamic tradition, understood …

Music Synchronizes Brainwaves Across Listeners With Strong Effects Of Repetition, Familiarity And Training, Jens Madsen, Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, Rhimmon Simchy-Gross, Lucas C. Parra

Publications and Research

Music tends to be highly repetitive, both in terms of musical structure and in terms of listening behavior, yet little is known about how engagement changes with repeated exposure. Here we postulate that engagement with music affects the inter-subject correlation of brain responses during listening. We predict that repeated exposure to music will affect engagement and thus inter-subject correlation. Across repeated exposures to instrumental music, inter-subject correlation decreased for music written in a familiar style. Participants with formal musical training showed more inter-subject correlation, and sustained it across exposures to music in an unfamiliar style. this distinguishes music from other …

Aligning The Curriculums For College Success: High School And College Library Collaborations, Carl R. Andrews, Dickens Saint Hilaire

Publications and Research

In today’s highly competitive global economy, City University of New York (CUNY) graduates need strong critical thinking skills. More New York City students than ever before are applying to college and enrolling into CUNY schools. This is especially the case with high schools throughout the Bronx, a good portion of these schools are feeder schools for Bronx Community College (BCC). Unfortunately, many of the students who matriculate into BCC come un-prepared for college level work, where information literacy skills are essential. A strong body of published scholarly literature discusses the importance of information literacy instruction at the high school level, …

The Pedagogies Of Sex Trafficking Postcolonial Fiction: Consent, Agency, And Neoliberalism In Chika Unigwe's On Black Sisters' Street, M Laura Barberan Reinares

Publications and Research

Amnesty International’s 2015-16 push for the decriminalization of sex work sparked yet another international debate on sex trafficking, with the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), together with a long list of celebrities and iconic feminists such as Gloria Steinem, claiming that such measure will only worsen sex trafficking, among other problems, and myriad pro-sex work feminists vouch-ing exactly the opposite.1 This dispute is by no means new-as of 2018, it remains at an impasse-but, interestingly, while sociologists and women’s studies scholars have been discussing sex trafficking issues for decades now, and despite its intimate relation to postcolonialism and globalization, …

Mass Shooting Films: Myths, Academic Knowledge, And Popular Criminology, Jason R. Silva

Publications and Research

The author compares cinematic constructions of mass shooting perpetrators, victims, and social factors against academic knowledge and news media to determine how films perpetuate myths, reinforce academic knowledge, and act as a source of popular criminology. Cinematic findings highlight perpetrators as young, White, school shooters, and motivation types including fame seeking and defeated by society. Films construct diverse forms of victimization involving direct victims, indirect victims, and perpetrators as victims. Finally, movies emphasize sensational news media coverage as a contributing social factor. Implications of these findings suggest films blend with news media misconceptions and perpetuate myths that reinforce stereotypes of …

Lab‐Grown Meat And Veganism: A Virtue‐Oriented Perspective, Carlo Alvaro

Publications and Research

The project of growing meat artificially represents for some the next best thing to humanity. If successful, it could be the solution to several problems, such as feed- ing a growing global population while reducing the environmental impact of raising animals for food and, of course, reducing the amount and degree of animal cruelty and suffering that is involved in animal farming. In this paper, I argue that the issue of the morality of such a project has been framed only in terms of the best conse- quences for the environment, animals, and humans, or in terms of deontic princi- …

Leaking Women: A Genealogy Of Gendered And Racialized Flow, Michelle Fine

Publications and Research

Through a feminist and critical race analytic, this paper theorizes the disruptions evoked by leaky women—actually doubly leaky women—those whose nipples, peri-menopausal uterus’ and mouths have “leaked” in ways that rupture/stain/expose the white-patriarchal-capitalist enclosure of work, home and the streets and then dared to leak again by suing for justice in court. In a closing coda, I address the race/class policing dynamics between she who leaks and the “respectable” [usually white] women recruited to plaster up the hole and cauterize the leaker.

A Question Of Space: Surveying Student Usage Of Lgbtq Resources In The Lgbtq Student Center Library And The Campus Library, Anne Hays

Publications and Research

This article explores how self-identified lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) students use the library located within a culture center on campus serving LGBTQ students, compared to the ways those students use the main campus library. In particular, this study asks how LGBTQ students’ needs of library collections may differ based on where those collections are located. While much has been written about pluralism, diversity, and multiculturalism in the library, there have been strikingly few studies by librarians attempting to work with minority student cultural centers on campus. Through an in-depth survey, this study directly asks LGBTQ students …

Advances In Geometric Techniques For Analyzing Blebbing In Chemotaxing Dictyostelium Cells, Zully Santiago, John Loustau, David Meretzky, Devarshi Rawal, Derrick Brazill

Publications and Research

We present a technical platform that allows us to monitor and measure cortex and membrane dynamics during bleb-based chemotaxis. Using D. discoideum cells expressing LifeAct-GFP and crawling under agarose containing RITC-dextran, we were able to simultaneously visualize the actin cortex and the cell membrane throughout bleb formation. Using these images, we then applied edge detect to generate points on the cell boundary with coordinates in a coordinate plane. Then we fitted these points to a curve with known x and y coordinate functions. The result was to parameterize the cell outline. With the parameterization, we demonstrate how to compute data …

Cultural Transmission Modes Of Music Sampling Traditions Remain Stable Despite Delocalization In The Digital Age, Mason Youngblood

Publications and Research

Music sampling is a common practice among hip-hop and electronic producers that has played a critical role in the development of particular subgenres. Artists preferentially sample drum breaks, and previous studies have suggested that these may be culturally transmitted. With the advent of digital sampling technologies and social media the modes of cultural transmission may have shifted, and music communities may have become decoupled from geography. The aim of the current study was to determine whether drum breaks are culturally transmitted through musical collaboration networks, and to identify the factors driving the evolution of these networks. Using network-based diffusion analysis …

“In The Beginning Was Body Language” Clowning And Krump As Spiritual Healing And Resistance, Sarah S. Ohmer

Publications and Research

In the neighborhood of HollyWatts in Los Angeles, dance allows a shift from existing as bodies presented as sites of threat and extinction to sources of spiritual empowerment. Clowning and Krump dancers—their subjectivity and their dancing bodies—negotiate survival from trauma and socioeconomic marginalization. I argue that the dancers’ performances act as embodied narratives of “re-membering in the flesh.” The performance acts as a spiritual retrieval and re-integration of traumatic memories and afflictions into memory through the body. Choreography and quotes from dancers support the claim that Krump and Clowning is “re-membering in the flesh” that enacts self-worth, self-defined sexuality, and …

A Pulse Sensor Interface Design For Fpga Based Multisensor Health Monitoring Platform, Yu Wang, Sunghoon Jang

Publications and Research

The FPGA-based platform is critical for producing an inexpensive early validation platform design. In past years, sensor nodes based on the FPGA platform have been proposed to be IoT low-end devices. In this study, we present the FPGA based IoT low-end reconfigurable pulse sensor interface design that can be integrated with a multi-sensor healthcare platform to monitor a human pulse vital sign and be able to distinguish between user normal, Bradycardia, or Tachycardia heart rate. The pulse sensor interface is implemented by VHDL programming and FPGA technology. The designed pulse sensor peripheral interface is reliable and reconfigurable. It can collect …

Bridging The Research/Teaching Divide With Dah And Sotl-Ah, Renee Mcgarry, Virginia B. Spivey Phd

Publications and Research

This paper explores the potential for rigorous pedagogical scholarship to complement developments in digital art history (DAH). In addition to introducing ideas and methods that characterize scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) in higher education, we focus on two major themes: how digital tools and techniques can support robust scholarship of teaching and learning in art history (SoTL-AH) and ways that SoTL-AH can be used to evaluate and demonstrate the impact of DAH projects in the classroom and the public realm. Our goal is to encourage greater exchange between these two emerging fields that can together advance art historical study.

Biotransformed Metabolites Of The Hop Prenylflavanone Isoxanthohumol, Hyun Jung Kim, Soon-Ho Yim, Fubo Han, Bok Yun Kang, Hyun Jin Choi, Da-Woon Jung, Darren R. Williams, Kirk R. Gustafson, Edward J. Kennelly, Ik-Soo Lee

Publications and Research

A metabolic conversion study on microbes is known as one of the most useful tools to predict the xenobiotic metabolism of organic compounds in mammalian systems. The microbial biotransformation of isoxanthohumol (1), a major hop prenylflavanone in beer, has resulted in the production of three diastereomeric pairs of oxygenated metabolites (2–7). The microbial metabolites of 1 were formed by epoxidation or hydroxylation of the prenyl group, and HPLC, NMR, and CD analyses revealed that all of the products were diastereomeric pairs composed of (2S)- and (2R)- isomers. The structures of these metabolic compounds were elucidated to be (2S,200S)- and (2R,200S)-40 …

Implications Of The #Metoo Movement For Academia, Nicole Elias, Maria J. D'Agostino

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Deletion Of Mgr2p Affects The Gating Behavior Of The Tim23 Complex, Oygul Mirzalieva, Shinhye Jeon, Kevin Damri, Ruth Hartke, Layla Drwesh, Keren Demishtein-Zohary, Abdussalam Azem, Cory D. Dunn, Pablo M. Peixoto

Publications and Research

The TIM23 complex is a hub for translocation of preproteins into or across the mitochondrial inner membrane. This dual sorting mechanism is currently being investigated, and in yeast appears to be regulated by a recently discovered subunit, the Mgr2 protein. Deletion of Mgr2p has been found to delay protein translocation into the matrix and accumulation in the inner membrane. This result and other findings suggested that Mgr2p controls the lateral release of inner membrane proteins harboring a stop-transfer signal that follows an N-terminal amino acid signal. However, the mechanism of lateral release is unknown. Here, we used patch clamp electrophysiology …

A Writing Assignment To Address Gaps In The Nursing Curriculum Regarding Health Issues Of Lgbt+ Populations., Bridget Maley, Randy Gross

Publications and Research

Background: LGBT+ populations account for 4% of the US population, yet health disparities persist, which are considered a priority in health care systems. In nursing education programs, the allotment in time to cover LGBT+ health content is not mandated thus ranges from zero to several hours total in nursing curricula. Therefore, nursing students’ education regarding LGBT+ health issues remains minimal and inconsistent throughout the nation’s nursing programs.

Aim: To provide associate degree nursing students with exposure to the health disparities in LGBT+ populations through a reflective writing assignment.

Methods: The essays were culled from both sections of an established core …

Building Bridges: Fostering Dynamic Partnerships Between The Library Department And Office Of Student Disability Services In Higher Education, Nilda Alexandra Sanchez-Rodriguez, Joseph Logiudice

Publications and Research

Building effective communication and interdepartmental partnerships are essential components of strengthening services, policies, and procedures to meet the individual information needs of students, faculty, and the college community. Despite major advancements in library services for users with disabilities, there are ongoing challenges, which need to be addressed. It is essential to develop inclusion and accessibility frameworks that serve mutual departmental interests to share and document lessons learned along the way.

This article explores the evolving shared leadership between an Architecture Librarian/Liaison to the AccessAbility Center; and the Director of Student Disability Services at the City College of New York to …

Introduction To Issue Fourteen: Teaching & Research With Archives, Danica B. Savonick, Jojo Karlin, Stephen Klein

Publications and Research

This article is work is the introduction to the 14th issue of the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, which is available in full at https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/journal-of-interactive-technology-and-pedagogy-no-14

From projects like the SNCC Digital Gateway to Colored Conventions, digital technologies are prompting renewed attention to archival research and teaching practices and creating new opportunities for engaging primary sources. At the same time, digital technologies are raising ethical questions about how archives are created, organized, shared, accessed, and preserved. Increased access has coincided with what Wendy Hayden calls “The Archival Turn’s Pedagogical Turn,” as instructors explore how archival encounters can catalyze student-centered, experiential, …

Influence Of Fake News In Twitter During The 2016 Us Presidential Election, Alexandre Bovet, Hernán A. Makse

Publications and Research

The dynamics and influence of fake news on Twitter during the 2016 US presidential election remains to be clarified. Here, we use a dataset of 171 million tweets in the five months preceding the election day to identify 30 million tweets, from 2.2 million users, which contain a link to news outlets. Based on a classification of news outlets curated by www.opensources.co, we find that 25% of these tweets spread either fake or extremely biased news. We characterize the networks of information flow to find the most influential spreaders of fake and traditional news and use causal modeling to …

Adolescent Trials Network For Hiv-Aids Scale It Up Program: Protocol For A Rational And Overview, Sylvie Naar, Jeffrey T. Parsons, Bonita F. Stanton

Publications and Research

Background: The past 30 years have witnessed such significant progress in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS that an AIDS-free generation and the end to the global AIDS epidemic are ambitious, but achievable, national and global goals. Despite growing optimism, globally, youth living with HIV are markedly less likely to receive antiretroviral therapy than adults (23% vs 38%). Furthermore, marked health disparities exist regarding HIV infection risk, with young men of color who have sex with men disproportionately affected. A large body of research has identified highly impactful facilitators of and barriers to behavior change. Several efficacious interventions have been …

"More Like You": Disrupting Native-Speakerism Through A Multimodal Online Intercultural Exchange, Brooke R. Schreiber

Publications and Research

Research over the past decades has demonstrated the harmful effects of native speakerism in English language teaching, including how perceptions of native speaker status are deeply intertwined with race and national identity. Recently, scholars have begun to investigate how teacher training programs might push back on native speakerism by providing classroom opportunities for students to challenge their assumptions about native speakers. This article discusses the disruptive potential of an online intercultural learning activity in which MA TESL students in Sri Lanka communicated through digital platforms with undergraduates in New York City. Drawing on data from interviews and students’ online writing, …

Addressing The Technical Challenges Of Open Educational Resources, Steven Ovadia

Publications and Research

As open educational resources (OER) becomes a more established concept, its growth and continued success not only center around the creation of new content but also depend upon the development and evolution of existing content, licenses permitting. The evolution of and persistent access to existing content requires easily editable works and the ability to download local copies of OER files so that no technical limitations hinder what the license permits. Such measures as text files, OpenDocument formats, and version control present a way to keep OER content editable and shareable, in compliance with licenses. Librarians are uniquely positioned to help …

A Case Study Comparing Student Experiences And Success In An Undergraduate Mathematics Course Offered Through Online, Blended, And Face-To-Face Instruction, Virginia L. Thompson, Yonghong L. Mcdowell

Publications and Research

A research study was conducted at an undergraduate college, comparing student experiences and successes in a mathematics course offered fully online, blended and face-to-face. In online courses, students enjoy the flexibility of learning at their own pace, not having to travel to school, as well as having consistent access to courses through a web browser. However, such conveniences do not automatically produce positive results. Some students lack the discipline, enthusiasm and sometimes feel socially isolated from their peers when learning online. Despite these challenges, online courses continue to be developed in response to the demand for online learning opportunities. However, …