Digital Commons Network^™

A Shared Gene Expression Signature In Mouse Models Of Ebv-Associated And Non-Ebv-Associated Burkitt Lymphoma, Kathryn T. Bieging, Kamonwan Fish, Subbarao Bondada, Richard Longnecker

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

The link between EBV infection and Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is strong, but the mechanism underlying that link has been elusive. We have developed a mouse model for EBV-associated BL in which LMP2A, an EBV latency protein, and MYC are expressed in B cells. Our model has demonstrated the ability of LMP2A to accelerate tumor onset, increase spleen size, and bypass p53 inactivation. Here we describe the results of total gene expression analysis of tumor and pretumor B cells from our transgenic mouse model. Although we see many phenotypic differences and changes in gene expression in pretumor B cells, the transcriptional …

Development Of An Environmentally Friendly Binder System For Paper Products, Ashley Rhea Flory

Student Theses and Dissertations

It is important for industries to find ways to find green chemistries to protect the environment and the paper industry is no exception. Using renewable resources such as plant material will be an excellent substitute for the chemicals that are currently used as paper binders. In this project, carbohydrates, proteins and phenolic compounds were applied to air laid, pressed paper in order to obtain a binder that is as strong as the currently used factory binders while being organic and renewable. Out of the twenty binders surveyed soy protein, gelatin, zein protein, pectin and Salix lignin provided comparable strength results …

Mechanism Of Acetylcholinesterase's Neurotrophic Action On Drg Neurons Of Rat, Naga Venkata Pavan Kumar Kunala

Student Theses and Dissertations

The fundamental role of enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is to catalyze the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at cholinergic synapses. In addition to its catalytic activity, AChE appears to play a significant non-catalytic role of neurotropic activity on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons of rat. However the mechanism responsible for AChE's neurotrophic activity is not fully understood. Earlier experiments in Dr. Srivatsan's laboratory demonstrated the binding of fluorophore conjugated AChE to cell surface of DRG neurons. These findings led to my hypothesis that AChE may bind to cell surface protein(s) in DRG neurons, and the resulting protein-protein interaction is responsible for activating downstream signaling …

Efficacy Of A Novel Chelator For Mercury Chelation And Distribution, David Harold Clarke

Student Theses and Dissertations

Mercury is found throughout the environment with a distribution on a global scale in nearly all terrestrial to marine environments. Biotransformation of divalent mercury and subsequent bioaccumulation of organo-mercury species is catalyzed by sulfate reducing bacteria. Trophic transport of the resultant methyl mercury, a highly toxic species, leads to upward accumulation in the trophic structure of aquatic environments and ultimately to human exposure through consumption of methyl mercury laden fish. The potential for human health risk has made mercury a high priority environmental contaminant. Research aimed at assessing the within-organism fate of mercury using a genetically tractable mammalian model is …

Differential Effects Of Pravastatin And Simvastatin On The Growth Of Tumor Cells From Different Organ Sites, David G. Menter, Victoria P. Ramsauer, Sam Harirforoosh, Kanishka Chakraborty, Peiying Yang, Linda Hsi, Robert A. Newman, Koyamangalath Krishnan

ETSU Faculty Works

3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) inhibitors, commonly known as statins, may possess cancer preventive and therapeutic properties. Statins are effective suppressors of cholesterol synthesis with a well-established risk-benefit ratio in cardiovascular disease prevention. Mechanistically, targeting HMGCR activity primarily influences cholesterol biosynthesis and prenylation of signaling proteins. Pravastatin is a hydrophilic statin that is selectively taken up by a sodium-independent organic anion transporter protein-1B1 (OATP1B1) exclusively expressed in liver. Simvastatin is a hydrophobic statin that enters cells by other mechanisms. Poorly-differentiated and well-differentiated cancer cell lines were selected from various tissues and examined for their response to these two statins. Simvastatin …

Morpholino Gene Knockdown In Adult Fundulus Heteroclitus: Role Of Sgk1 In Seawater Acclimation, Emily G. Notch, Joseph R. Shaw, Bonita A. Coutermarsh, Marisa Dzioba, Bruce A. Stanton

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is an environmental sentinel organism used extensively for studies on environmental toxicants and salt (NaCl) homeostasis. Previous research in our laboratory has shown that rapid acclimation of killifish to seawater is mediated by trafficking of CFTR chloride channels from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane in the opercular membrane within the first hour in seawater, which enhances chloride secretion into seawater, thereby contributing to salt homeostasis. Acute transition to seawater is also marked by an increase in both mRNA and protein levels of serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1) within 15 minutes of transfer. …

High Connectivity In The Deepwater Snapper Pristipomoides Filamentosus (Lutjanidae) Across The Indo-Pacific With Isolation Of The Hawaiian Archipelago, Michelle R. Gaither, Shelley A. Jones, Christopher Kelley, Stephen J. Newman, Laurie Sorenson, Brian W. Bowen

Fisheries Research Articles

In the tropical Indo-Pacific, most phylogeographic studies have focused on the shallow-water taxa that inhabit reefs to approximately 30 m depth. Little is known about the large predatory fishes, primarily snappers (subfamily Etelinae) and groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae) that occur at 100–400 m. These long-lived, slow-growing species support fisheries across the Indo-Pacific, yet no comprehensive genetic surveys within this group have been conducted. Here we contribute the first range-wide survey of a deepwater Indo-Pacific snapper, Pristipomoides filamentosus, with special focus on Hawai'i. We applied mtDNA cytochrome b and 11 microsatellite loci to 26 samples (N = 1,222) collected across …

Cns Recruitment Of Cd8+ T Lymphocytes Specific For A Peripheral Virus Infection Triggers Neuropathogenesis During Polymicrobial Challenge., Christine M Matullo, Kevin J O'Regan, Mark Curtis, Glenn F Rall

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

Although viruses have been implicated in central nervous system (CNS) diseases of unknown etiology, including multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the reproducible identification of viral triggers in such diseases has been largely unsuccessful. Here, we explore the hypothesis that viruses need not replicate in the tissue in which they cause disease; specifically, that a peripheral infection might trigger CNS pathology. To test this idea, we utilized a transgenic mouse model in which we found that immune cells responding to a peripheral infection are recruited to the CNS, where they trigger neurological damage. In this model, mice are infected with …

Do Wild Baboons Kidnap Puppies For Pets?, Harold Herzog

Herzog - Wildlife Issues

A video of dogs living with baboons in Taif, Saudi Arabia is described and analyzed to determine if the dogs are simply associating with the baboons for mutual benefit or if they are more pet-like.

A Scientific Mystery: Do Wild Baboons Kidnap Puppies For Pets?, Harold Herzog

Interactive Behavior Collection

Do wild baboons really keep puppies for pets?

Economic Impact Of Agriculture On South Dakota, Gary Taylor

Economics Commentator (1972- 2016)

No abstract provided.

Political Competition, Relative Deprivation, And Perceived Threat: A Research Note On Anti- Christian Violence In India, Chad Bauman, Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A preliminary subnational statistical analysis of violence against Christians in contemporary India, this article suggests that whereas the data provide very little support for simple, demographic explanations of this violence, they do more robustly support theories emphasizing the relative status of ethnic and religious minorities (vis-à-vis majorities) and the perception, among Hindus, that Christians (and other minorities) represent a threat to their numerical, political and economic strength.

Scholarly Inbreeding In Latin American Academically Managed Journals, Erwin Krauskopf

Higher Learning Research Communications

From a bibliometric perspective, scholarly inbreeding has been identified in journals through the excessive use of both author and journal self-citations. However, editorial bias toward researchers from the same institution as the editorial management team has seldom been considered. According to the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology, this occurs when a journal publishes more than 20% of documents authored by researchers affiliated with the same institution as the editorial management team. The purpose of this study is to establish the extent to which 81 Latin American journals managed by universities publish intramural documents (defined as those published by its …

Hotline Press Newspaper- December 2011 Vol 28 No 29, Hotline Press Newspaper

Hotline Press Newspaper 2011

No abstract provided.

Multi- Autonomous Vehicle Insertion-Extraction System (Mavies), Jamie C. Macbeth, Manal Habib, Armen Mkrtchyan, Missy Cummings

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

MAVIES (Multi-Autonomous Vehicle Insertion-Extraction System) is the culmination of a year-long multi-stakeholder e ort between UTRC and the Humans and Automation Lab at MIT to design a human inter- face for insertion and extraction missions with multiple UAVs and option- ally piloted rotorcraft. The design process is a successful application of the Hybrid Cognitive Task Analysis (hCTA) process that tracks dozens of tasks, decision-making processes and their associated situation aware- ness requirements to determine the proper allocation of responsibilities between the human operator and the automated mission planner.

This paper discusses the various accomplishments through several phases of a disciplined …

Outbreak Of Beriberi Among African Union Troops In Mogadishu, Somalia, John T. Watson, Hassan El Bushra, Emmaculate J. Lebo, Godfrey Bwire, James Kiyengo, Gideon Emukule, Victor Omballa, John Tole, Muvunyi Zuberi, Robert F. Breiman, Mark A. Katz

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Context and Objectives: In July 2009, WHO and partners were notified of a large outbreak of unknown illness, including deaths, among African Union (AU) soldiers in Mogadishu. Illnesses were characterized by peripheral edema, dyspnea, palpitations, and fever. Our objectives were to determine the cause of the outbreak, and to design and recommend control strategies.

Design, Setting, and Participants: The illness was defined as acute onset of lower limb edema, with dyspnea, chest pain, palpitations, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, or headache. Investigations in Nairobi and Mogadishu included clinical, epidemiologic, environmental, and laboratory studies. A case-control study was performed to identify risk …

Staff Council Meeting, 12/20/2011, Unm Staff Council

UNM Staff Council

No abstract provided.

Why Animal Ethics Committees Don't Work, Denise Russell

Between the Species

Abstract

Animal ethics committees have been set up in many countries as a way to scrutinize animal experimentation and to assure the public that if animals are used in research then it is for a worthwhile cause and suffering is kept to a minimum. The ideals of Refinement, Reduction and Replacement are commonly upheld. However while refinement and reduction receive much attention in animal ethics committees the replacement of animals is much more difficult to incorporate into the committees’ deliberations. At least in Australia there are certain structural reasons for this but it is likely that most of the reasons …

Microglial P38Α Mapk Is Critical For Lps-Induced Neuron Degeneration, Through A Mechanism Involving Tnfα, Bin Xing, Adam D. Bachstetter, Linda J. Van Eldik

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The p38α MAPK isoform is a well-established therapeutic target in peripheral inflammatory diseases, but the importance of this kinase in pathological microglial activation and detrimental inflammation in CNS disorders is less well understood. To test the role of the p38α MAPK isoform in microglia-dependent neuron damage, we used primary microglia from wild-type (WT) or p38α MAPK conditional knockout (KO) mice in co-culture with WT cortical neurons, and measured neuron damage after LPS insult.

RESULTS: We found that neurons in co-culture with p38α-deficient microglia were protected against LPS-induced synaptic loss, neurite degeneration, and neuronal death. The involvement of the proinflammatory …

Monitor Newsletter December 20, 2011, Bowling Green State University

Monitor

Official Publication of Bowling Green State University for Faculty and Staff

Minutes Of 12/20/2011 Hsc Board Of Directors Mtg, Patrice Martin

HSC Committee (A subcommittee of the UNM Board of Regents)

No abstract provided.

Methods And Products For Biasing Cellular Development, Kiminobu Sugaya, Angel Alvarez, Amelia Marutle

UCF Patents

Proper cellular functionand development depends on intrinsic signals and extracellular environmental cues. The interplay of these environmental influences and intracellular dynamics determine cellular ectivity including migration, differentiation and the manner in whihc it interacts with surrounding cells. An object of this invention invloves a way to mofigy cellular activity by gene insertion. Another object of this invention is the application of specially modified cells for therapeutic and research applications. Through gene insertion by means of a delivery system such as transfection we can create specialized cell types from various stem cells including adults these cells can be either be used …

Development Of Photographic Dynamic Measurements Applicable To Evaluation Of Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicles, Jeremy C. Murray

Theses and Dissertations

Developments in the area of flapping wing micro air vehicles (FWMAVs) of a small size and with limited range. This has lead to a great deal of interest in biomimetric designs based on flapping wing flyers, including the North American Hawkmoth (Manduca Sexta). By utilizing high speed photography and photogrammetry the dynamic flapping of the wing can be characterized for comparison with mathematical models, namely computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA).To successfully utilize high speed image capture, a method of successfully digitizing many data points in a short period of time needs to be developed. The effort …

Reverse Protection Assay: A Tool To Analyze Transcriptional Rates From Individual Promoters, Yan O. Zubo, Victor V. Kusnetsov, Thomas Börner, Karsten Liere

Dartmouth Scholarship

Transcriptional activity of entire genes in chloroplasts is usually assayed by run-on analyses. To determine not only the overall intensity of transcription of a gene, but also the rate of transcription from a particular promoter, we created the Reverse RNase Protection Assay (RePro): in-organello run-on transcription coupled to RNase protection to define distinct transcript ends during transcription. We demonstrate successful application of RePro in plastid promoter analysis and transcript 3' end processing.

Triterpenoid Modulation Of Il-17 And Nrf-2 Expression Ameliorates Neuroinflammation And Promotes Remyelination In Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, Tej K. Pareek, Abdelmadjid Belkadi, Sashi Kesavapany, Anita Zaremba, Sook L. Loh, Lianhua Bai, Mark L. Cohen, Colin Meyer, Karen T. Liby, Robert H. Miller, Michael B. Sporn, John J. Letterio

Dartmouth Scholarship

Inflammatory cytokines and endogenous anti-oxidants are variables affecting disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here we demonstrate the dual capacity of triterpenoids to simultaneously repress production of IL-17 and other pro-inflammatory mediators while exerting neuroprotective effects directly through Nrf2-dependent induction of anti-oxidant genes. Derivatives of the natural triterpene oleanolic acid, namely CDDO-trifluoroethyl-amide (CDDO-TFEA), completely suppressed disease in a murine model of MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), by inhibiting Th1 and Th17 mRNA and cytokine production. Encephalitogenic T cells recovered from treated mice were hypo-responsive to myelin antigen and failed to adoptively transfer the disease. Microarray analyses showed significant suppression of …

The Murine Caecal Microrna Signature Depends On The Presence Of The Endogenous Microbiota, Natasha Singh, Elize A. Shirdel, Levi Waldron, Regan-Heng Zhang, Igor Jurisica, Elena M. Comelli

Publications and Research

The intestinal messenger RNA expression signature is affected by the presence and compo-sition of the endogenous microbiota, with effects on host physiology. The intestine is also characterized by a distinctive micronome. However, it is not known if microbes also impact intestinal gene expression epigenetically. We investigated if the murine caecal microRNA expression signature depends on the presence of the microbiota, and the potential implica-tions of this interaction on intestinal barrier function. Three hundred and thirty four mi-croRNAs were detectable in the caecum of germ-free and conventional male mice and 16 were differentially expressed, with samples from the two groups clustering …

Design And Synthesis Of Cationic Steroid Antimicrobial Compounds, Synthesis Of Glycolipids Recognized By Natural Killer T Cells And Development Of Tlr-1, Tlr-6 Heterodimer Binders And Studies Of Their Immunology Activities, Yanshu Feng

Theses and Dissertations

Cationic steroid antimicrobial agents (CSAs) are a family of bile acid derivatives. These compounds are amphiphilic and mimic endogenous antimicrobial peptides. The antimicrobial activities of CSA-13 have been investigated and due to portent bactericidal activities and low toxicity, a large amount of CSA-13 is demanded for clinic trails and other antimicrobial applications. During our studies, we optimized the synthetic route of CSA-13, so that it can be prepared at the kilogram, even in tons scale. We investigated three routes and one of them is suitable for industry, because only recrystallization is needed in the synthesis. Natural killer T cells (NKT …

Design Of A Tetracycline Operon Inducible System For The Control Of Vaccinia Virus Replication: Implications For Vaccine Development, Caitlin J. Hagen

Master's Theses

The use of vaccinia virus (VACV) as a vaccine resulted in the eradication of smallpox in 1979. Characteristics that contribute to the effectiveness of VACV as a vaccine and viral vector include its ability to elicit strong, long-lived humoral and cell-mediated immune responses as a live-replicating virus and to accept large inserts of DNA into its genome. However, adverse events associated with its use as the smallpox vaccine have constrained it from being more widely utilized in vaccines and therapies. We propose to improve the safety of VACV as a live-replicating vector by using elements of the tet operon to …

An Assessment Of Moose (Alces Alces Americana) And Moose Management In Connecticut, Andrew M. Labonte

Master's Theses

Eastern moose (Alces alces americana) populations have been increasing in New England over the past decade. Moose populations have the potential to generate human conflict due to their size, speed, nocturnal behavior, and seasonal mobility. As problems associated with increasing moose populations become more common, the need to develop management strategies that are both effective and acceptable to stakeholders becomes increasingly important. The potential for moose to continue to expand in southern New England and the long-term impacts they may have on Connecticut residents, is unclear. The overall purpose of this study was to assess how suitable Connecticut …

Effects Of 4-Hydroxy-2-Nonenal On Mutant Sperm Whale Myoglobins, Nantawat Tatiyaborworntham

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.