Digital Commons Network^™

Book Reviews, Human Biology Editors

Human Biology

Reconstruction of Life from the Skeleton. Edited by Mehmet Yasar Iscan and Kenneth A.R. Kennedy. 315 pp. A.R. Liss, Inc., New York, 1989. $49.50. (Reviewd by Marc S. Micozzi, National Museum of Health and Medicine)

The Foundations of Human Genetics, By Krishna R. Dronamraju. 211 pp. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1989. $40.75. (Reviewed by Dennis O.Rourke, University of Utah)

The Fabric of Mind. By Richard Bergland. 202 pp. Penguin Books Australia, Victoria, Australia, 1985 (reprinted 1988). $9.95 (paper). (Reviewed by Ted A. Rathbun, University of South Carolina)

The Colonization of the Pacific: A Genetic Trail Research Monographs …

Diversity Of Cultivable Bacteria Involved In The Formation Of Macroscopic Microbial Colonies (Cave Silver) On The Walls Of A Cave In Slovenia, Blagajana Herzog Velikonja, Rok Tkavc, Lejla Pašić

International Journal of Speleology

Karstic caves often support white, yellow, grey or pink microbial colonies that are termed ‘cave silver’ by speleologists. Using various sample pre-treatments and culture media, a wide variety of bacteria associated with these colonies were recovered from a cave in Slovenia, Pajsarjeva jama. Decreasing the inoculum size resulted in significant increases in viable counts, while pre-treatments had the opposite effect with the exception of microwave irradiation. While all growth media yielded viable counts, the maximal counts were observed on a low-nutrient TWA medium.

Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of OTU representatives, the majority of the 80 isolates examined …

Animal Health Matters, Russ Daly, Jane Hennings

Animal Health MATTERS Newsletter

[Page] 1- SDSU’s ADRDL Receives Full Accreditation through AAVLD [Page] 2- Director's Message: Being a “Game Changer” [Page] 2- Bailey Herd Health Conference to Focus on Food Animal Vaccination Considerations [Page] 3- SDSU Creates Extension Position for Livestock Stewardship [Page] 3- Development of an Indirect ELISA for Detection of Antibodies Against Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) [Page] 4- ADRDL Bacteriology Section Working at the Cutting Edge [Page] 5- MALDI-TOF Technology Speeds Bacteriology Results [Page] 6- New Hires [Page] 6- Use Computer Spreadsheets or Word Processing for Large Sample Submissions [Page] 6- Tularemia in a South Dakota Cat [Page] 7- Animal …

Healing Touch As An Integrative Therapy For Cancer Care: A Review Of Evidence And Implications For Nursing, Kelsey Irene Tirona

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Life expectancies and survival rates of adults with cancer in the United States have significantly increased in recent history, primarily due to advancements in technology and early detection. More people are living longer with cancer and it has evolved to a complex, chronic illness. Although progress is being made in the treatment of cancer, pain and other symptoms related to the disease and its treatment are poorly managed by conventional care (Chapman, 2012; Deng, 2005). The use of complementary and alternative therapies is becoming increasingly popular in this population, in addition to conventional treatment from their primary providers. Healing Touch …

Developing A Multistage Model For Treponemal Disease Susceptibility, Sarah A (Sarah Ann) Mathena

Theses and Dissertations

Despite numerous studies, little is known about the influential factors impacting treponemal disease susceptibility. Yet, forms of treponemal disease, specifically yaws, are a major source of morbidity in the developing world. Bioarchaeological materials may assist with deficit by testing full ranges of disease expression. This study explores the relationship between treponemal disease ecology, specifically yaws, and susceptibility through six southeastern United States archaeological samples. Results show early life health experiences have a relationship to later life disease expression. However, influences of climate may only be seen at a cross-regional level. Finally, although nutrition, as evidenced by subsistence strategy, may play …

Significance Of The D-Serine-Deaminase And D-Serine Metabolism Of Staphylococcus Saprophyticus For Virulence, Miriam Korte-Berwanger, Turkan Sakinc, Kimberly Kline, Hailyn V. Nielsen, Scott Hultgren, Soren G. Gatermann

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Simulating Bipartite Networks To Reflect Uncertainty In Local Network Properties, Ravi Goyal, Joseph Blitzstein, Victor De Gruttola

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Healthcare Provider's Adherence To The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention's Guidelines Regarding The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine In Males, Lacey Gullick, Kevin Miller

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the number (percentage) of boys, ages 9-21, who were educated on or who received the HPV vaccine at their local community clinic.

Tetanus, Diphtheria, And Pertussis Screening And Pertussis Prevention Throughout The Age Span, Lacey Gullick, Kevin Miller

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine the number (percentage) of boys, ages 9-21, who were educated on or who received the HPV vaccine at their local community clinic.

Are Health Care Providers Following Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines For The Screening, Diagnosis And Treatment Of Childhood Obesity?, Cara Harris, Thu Tran

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if preteens and adults are screened and given the diphtheria toxoid and acelluar pertussis vaccine.

Tetanus, Diphtheria, And Pertussis Screening And Pertussis Prevention Throughout The Age Span, Cara Harris, Thu Tran

MSN Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if preteens and adults are screened and given the diphtheria toxoid and acelluar pertussis vaccine.

Volume 51, Number 17: December 11, 2013, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

Testing Pathways Linking Exposure To Community Violence And Sexual Behaviors Among African American Youth, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Exposure to community violence and HIV sexual risks are two major public health concerns among youth. This study tests various pathways linking exposure to community violence and sexual behaviors among African American adolescents. Using a sample of 563 (61 % females) African American youth attending high school we examined whether problematic psychological symptoms, low school engagement, and/or negative perceptions of peer norms about safer sex functioned as pathways linking exposure to community violence and sexual behaviors. Major findings indicated that, for boys, the relationship between exposure to community violence and sexual début and sexual risk behaviors were linked by aggression. …

Differences Between Healthcare Systems In Costa Rica & The United States And How Those Differences Affect The Overall Quality Of Healthcare, Carlie Decker

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to examine the similarities and differences between the healthcare system employed in Costa Rica and the healthcare system employed in the United States through a series of interviews and web-based research. Four healthcare system components will be examined in order to determine the success of each system. These components include health insurance coverage, access to pharmaceuticals, medical licensing requirements, and medical research.

Following the completion of the interviews and research, I found that United States citizens pay nearly four times the amount Costa Rican citizens do for health insurance coverage. This dramatic increase in price can be …

Label Retention Identifies A Multipotent Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Like Population In The Postnatal Thymus, Masako Osada, Varan J. Singh, Kenmin Wu, Derek B. Sant’Angelo, Mark Pezzano

Publications and Research

Thymic microenvironments are essential for the proper development and selection of T cells critical for a functional and self-tolerant adaptive immune response. While significant turnover occurs, it is unclear whether populations of adult stem cells contribute to the maintenance of postnatal thymic epithelial microenvironments. Here, the slow cycling characteristic of stem cells and their property of label-retention were used to identify a K5-expressing thymic stromal cell population capable of generating clonal cell lines that retain the capacity to differentiate into a number of mesenchymal lineages including adipocytes, chondrocytes and osteoblasts suggesting a mesenchymal stem cell-like phenotype. Using cell surface analysis …

Genetic Adjuvants For Immunotherapy, Shyam S. Mohapatra, Mukesh Kumar

USF Patents

The present invention pertains to methods and pharmaceutical compositions for modulating an immune response. The method of the present invention involves administration of an effective amount of nucleic acid molecules encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), or a combination thereof, to a patient in need of such treatment. The pharmaceutical compositions of the invention contain nucleic acid molecules encoding IL-12 and/or IFN-γ and an operably-linked promoter sequence. In another aspect, the present invention concerns expression vectors containing a nucleotide sequence encoding IL-12 and IFN-γ, and an operably-linked promoter sequence. In another aspect, the present invention concerns cells genetically modified with a …

Elucidating The Factors That Modulate The Distribution Of Avian Haemosporida Parasites Across A Community Of Hosts, Matthew Christopher Ikaika Medeiros

Dissertations

Parasites are heterogeneously distributed across host species, host populations, and host individuals within populations. A primary aim of infectious disease ecology seeks to uncover the factors that drive this heterogeneity. At a fundamental level, host infection is determined by exposure and susceptibility to a pathogen. My dissertation explores how evolutionary and ecological forces associated with these fundamental determinates of infection shape variation in parasite host breadth and host infection status. Here, I focus on a community of vector-borne avian Haemosporida parasites among suburban birds of Chicago, IL. These parasites exhibit strong variation in their distribution among available hosts, and provide …

The Free Press Vol 45 Issue 11, 12-09-2013, Kirsten Sylvain

Free Press, The

Holiday Issue--USM rings in the holiday season--Student involvement rises despite falling funding

Clostridium Difficile Infection Occurrence In Academic Health Centers: Do Organizational Factors Matter?, Amy Pakyz

Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare-associated infections occur commonly in hospitals and have a major impact on patient well-being. The occurrence of the healthcare-associated infection, Clostridium difficile, has been occurring more frequently among hospitalized patients due to an epidemic strain, and is an important cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and colitis. This study examined the impact of several organizational factors on the occurrence of C. difficile infection (CDI) in hospitals using an institutional theory perspective. Administrative claims were utilized from University HealthSystem Consortium hospitals to obtain hospital-level data for the calendar year 2011. Data were available for 89 hospitals. Hospital-level analyses, negative binomial regression models, were …

Understanding Perceptions About Contraceptive Responsibility Among Adolescents, Silvia T. Linares, Lisa M. Hollier

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Invited Commentary on "Attitudes Surrounding Contraceptive Responsibility: Do Latino Adolescents Differ From Other Groups?"

Commentary On "Trends In Child Health Insurance Coverage: A Local Perspective", Claire Elizabeth Bocchini

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Purpose: To provide commentary on the original research article, “Trends in Child Health Insurance Coverage: A Local Perspective,” by Jean Rapahel, Richard R. Batsell, Marc A. Kowalkowski, Aileen Beltran, Angelo P. Giardino, and Charles G. Macias.

Findings: The authors clearly show that in Houston, TX, over the past eight years, fewer children have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and more children, especially low-income and minority children, are enrolled in public health insurance programs. These findings underscore the critical importance of preserving and strengthening our existing public insurance safety-net programs.

Conclusion: All children should have access to high quality health care and …

Pediatric Tropical Diseases And The World’S Children Living In Extreme Poverty, Peter J. Hotez

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Enormous strides have been made in reducing the number of global under-five child deaths through expanded development and use of vaccines under the auspices of the GAVI Alliance. However such successes have left behind a significant burden of child morbidity and mortality in developing countries from six major tropical diseases, ie, dengue, malaria, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminth infections, trachoma, and visceral leishmaniasis. Approximately 1.7 billion infections occur from these six diseases that result in disability-adjusted life years that exceed HIV/AIDs and result in 700,000 to 1.2 million deaths annually. International efforts are in place to reduce the disease burden of several …

December 6, 2013 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Towards On-Site Detection Of Nucleic Acids For Pathogen Monitoring, Daohong Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

As a leading cause of death in developing countries and a persistent problem elsewhere, pathogenic organisms are as ubiquitous as they are dangerous. Significant worldwide resources are directed toward their detection and eradication, leading to a broad coalition of government agencies, healthcare providers, academic researchers, and food manufacturers dedicated to providing the best-available prevention strategies for mitigating exposure risk. At the forefront of this effort is the field of pathogen detection. Our work directly addresses the current lack of simple, rapid, sensitive, and selective pathogen detection methods needed for frontline intervention in the most at-risk populations. To begin, we focused …

Uab Commencement Scheduled For Dec. 14, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Metabolic Remodeling And Mitochondrial Dysfunction In Maladaptive Right Ventricular Hypertrophy Secondary To Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Jose Gomez-Arroyo

Theses and Dissertations

Right ventricular dysfunction is the most frequent cause of death in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Although abnormal energy substrate use has been implicated in the development of chronic left heart failure, data describing such metabolic remodeling in failing right ventricular tissue remain incomplete. In the present dissertation we sought to characterize metabolic gene expression changes and mitochondrial dysfunction in functional and dysfunctional RV hypertrophy. Two different rat models of RV hypertrophy were studied. The model of right ventricular failure (SU5416/hypoxia) exhibited a significantly decreased gene expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor- coactivator-1α, peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor-α and estrogen-related receptor-α. The …

Methods For Inhibiting Tumor Cell Proliferation, James Turkson, Richard Jove, Jay Palmer, Heidi Kay, Hua Yu

USF Patents

The subject invention concerns methods for inhibition of STAT biological functions using platinum complexes.

Data Management Planning: Nih Data Sharing Policy And Resources, Lisa Zilinski

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Data Management Planning and Resources covers NIH Data Sharing Plans (DSPs), data management plans (DMPs), describes the areas that are typically included in DSPs and DMPs, and identifies tools and resources to help support a data sharing consultation with disciplinary faculty. Participants will be informed of the NIH data sharing policy and general requirements in order to describe them to a faculty member, be able to identify the qualities that comprise effective data sharing plans, and identify resources and tools that can be useful in data management.

In Vivo Bioluminescence Imaging To Evaluate Systemic And Topical Antibiotics Against Community-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus-Infected Skin Wounds In Mice, Yi Guo, Romela Irene Ramos, John S. Cho, Niles P. Donegan, Ambrose L. Cheung, Lloyd S. Miller

Dartmouth Scholarship

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) frequently causes skin and soft tissue infections, including impetigo, cellulitis, folliculitis, and infected wounds and ulcers. Uncomplicated CA-MRSA skin infections are typically managed in an outpatient setting with oral and topical antibiotics and/or incision and drainage, whereas complicated skin infections often require hospitalization, intravenous antibiotics, and sometimes surgery. The aim of this study was to devel

Assessing “Dangerous Climate Change”: Required Reduction Of Carbon Emissions To Protect Young People, Future Generations And Nature, J Hansen, P Kharecha, M Sato, V Masson-Delmotte, Et Al

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

We assess climate impacts of global warming using ongoing observations and paleoclimate data. We use Earth's measured energy imbalance, paleoclimate data, and simple representations of the global carbon cycle and temperature to define emission reductions needed to stabilize climate and avoid potentially disastrous impacts on today's young people, future generations, and nature. A cumulative industrial-era limit of ∼500 GtC fossil fuel emissions and 100 GtC storage in the biosphere and soil would keep climate close to the Holocene range to which humanity and other species are adapted. Cumulative emissions of ∼1000 GtC, sometimes associated with 2°C global warming, would spur …