Digital Commons Network^™

Hijacking Membrane Transporters For Arsenic Phytoextraction, Melissa S. Leblanc, Elizabeth C. Mckinney, Richard B. Meagher, Aaron P. Smith

Faculty Publications

Arsenic is a toxic metalloid and recognized carcinogen. Arsenate and arsenite are the most common arsenic species available for uptake by plants. As an inorganic phosphate (Pi) analog, arsenate is acquired by plant roots through endogenous Pi transport systems. Inside the cell, arsenate is reduced to the thiol-reactive form arsenite. Glutathione (GSH)-conjugates of arsenite may be extruded from the cell or sequestered in vacuoles by members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of transporters. In the present study we sought to enhance both plant arsenic uptake through Pi transporter overexpression, and plant arsenic tolerance through ABC transporter overexpression. We demonstrate …

Structural And Functional Studies Of Extensin, An Hydroxyproline-Rich Glycoprotein In The Reproductive Tissues Of B73 Inbred Maize (Zea Mays L.), Audrei Nisio Dabul

Student Theses and Dissertations

The cell wall, one of the most complex and interesting organelle in a plant cell, still holds a mystery to be solved by the research community. In maize (Zea mays L.), the primary cell wall contains several structural proteins, the most abundant and well-studied being hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins (HRGPs). These structural proteins give strength, flexibility during cell expansion and participate in the process of cell wall formation and assembly. Extensin is the dominant member of the HRGP family is accumulated in silk and pericarp of maize. We hypothesized that extensin comprises a small gene family in maize and that a specific …

Factors Influencing The Loss Of Migratory Birds At Communication Towers, Erin Tighe Aylsworth

Student Theses and Dissertations

Nearctic-Neotropical migrants are a charismatic group of birds that occupy two distinct and often distant habitats for breeding and winter phases of their annual cycle. The migratory journey between these phases poses the greatest threat to populations because of the increased exposure to anthropogenic sources of mortality. Fatal collisions with communication towers are one of many anthropogenic sources of mortality. I conducted a four-year investigation into the impacts of communication tower structures in Arkansas on migrating songbirds by searching 28 randomly-selected towers for carcasses and feather piles from spring 2005 through fall 2008. Tall towers (<150 m AGL) negatively impacted significantly more birds than short towers (61 - 150 m AGL), and I found significant but inconsistent evidence that towers with red lighting systems at night were associated with significantly more fatalities than towers with white lighting systems. Tower search technicians recovered 32.9% of placed bird carcasses. Scavengers removed placed bird carcasses at a rate of approximately 10% per day. Results from searcher efficiency and carcass removal rates confirm that the use of recovered carcasses to quantify the loss of birds at communication towers results in negatively biased estimates, indicating that the number of birds lost to communication towers annually is likely much higher than the number of carcasses and feather piles from towers. Data from my study as well as that from two contemporary studies in Michigan and Wisconsin show that opting for shorter towers, or towers less than 150 m AGL, can significantly reduce the number of avian fatalities annually as well as reduce the probability a mass collision event may occur. Furthermore, the use of white aviation safety lighting systems instead of red offers a relatively inexpensive way to further mitigate the threat posed to migrating birds by communication towers.

A Guide To Enterotypes Across The Human Body: Meta- Analysis Of Microbial Community Structures In Human Microbiome Datasets, Omry Koren, Dan Knights, Antonio Gonzalez, Levi Waldron, Nicola Segata, Rob Knight, Curtis Huttenhower, Ruth E. Ley

Publications and Research

Recent analyses of human-associated bacterial diversity have categorized individuals into ‘enterotypes’ or clusters based on the abundances of key bacterial genera in the gut microbiota. There is a lack of consensus, however, on the analytical basis for enterotypes and on the interpretation of these results. We tested how the following factors influenced the detection of enterotypes: clustering methodology, distance metrics, OTU-picking approaches, sequencing depth, data type (whole genome shotgun (WGS) vs.16S rRNA gene sequence data), and 16S rRNA region. We included 16S rRNA gene sequences from the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) and from 16 additional studies and WGS sequences from …

Assembly Of The Type Ii Secretion System Such As Found In Vibrio Cholerae Depends On The Novel Pilotin Asps, Rhys A. Dunstan, Eva Heinz, Lakshmi C. Wijeyewickrema, Robert N. Pike, Anthony W. Purcell, Timothy J. Evans, Judyta Praszkier, Roy M. Robins-Browne, Richard A. Strugnell, Konstantin V. Korotkov, Trevor Lithgow

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The Type II Secretion System (T2SS) is a molecular machine that drives the secretion of fully-folded protein substrates across the bacterial outer membrane. A key element in the machinery is the secretin: an integral, multimeric outer membrane protein that forms the secretion pore. We show that three distinct forms of T2SSs can be distinguished based on the sequence characteristics of their secretin pores. Detailed comparative analysis of two of these, the Klebsiella-type and Vibrio-type, showed them to be further distinguished by the pilotin that mediates their transport and assembly into the outer membrane. We have determined the crystal structure of …

Effects Of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome On Dexterous Manipulation Are Grip Type-Dependent, Wei Zhang, Jamie A. Johnston, Mark A. Ross, Kyle Sanniec, Elizabeth A. Gleason, Amylou C. Dueck, Marco Santello

Publications and Research

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) impairs sensation of a subset of digits. Although the effects of CTS on manipulation performed with CTS-affected digits have been studied using precision grip tasks, the extent to which CTS affects multi-digit force coordination has only recently been studied. Whole-hand manipulation studies have shown that CTS patients retain the ability to modulate multi-digit forces to object mass, mass distribution, and texture. However, CTS results in sensorimotor deficits relative to healthy controls, including significantly larger grip force and lower ability to balance the torques generated by the digits. Here we investigated the effects of CTS on multi-digit …

Pan-Arctic Distributions Of Continental Runoff In The Arctic Ocean, Cédric G. Fichot, Karl Kaiser, Stanford B. Hooker, Rainer M.W. Amon, Marcel Babin, Simon Bélanger, Sally A. Walker, Ronald Benner

Faculty Publications

Continental runoff is a major source of freshwater, nutrients and terrigenous material to the Arctic Ocean. As such, it influences water column stratification, light attenuation, surface heating, gas exchange, biological productivity and carbon sequestration. Increasing river discharge and thawing permafrost suggest that the impacts of continental runoff on these processes are changing. Here, a new optical proxy was developed and implemented with remote sensing to determine the first pan-Arctic distribution of terrigenous dissolved organic matter (tDOM) and continental runoff in the surface Arctic Ocean. Retrospective analyses revealed connections between the routing of North American runoff and the recent freshening of …

Swim Speed, Behavior, And Movement Of North Atlantic Right Whales (Eubalaena Glacialis) In Coastal Waters Of Northeastern Florida, Usa, James H.W. Hain, Joy D. Hampp, Shelia A. Mckenney, Julie A. Albert, Robert D. Kenney

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

In a portion of the coastal waters of northeastern Florida, North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) occur close to shore from December through March. These waters are included within the designated critical habitat for right whales. Data on swim speed, behavior, and direction of movement – with photo-identification of individual whales – were gathered by a volunteer sighting network working alongside experienced scientists and supplemented by aerial observations. In seven years (2001–2007), 109 tracking periods or “follows” were conducted on right whales during 600 hours of observation from shore-based observers. The whales were categorized as mother-calf pairs, singles …

The Trafficking Of Children: A Counter-Narrative To The Crc's Construction Of 'Care', Ashleigh Barnes

Socio-Legal Review

The Convention on the Rights of the Child imagines the child to be in a particularpositionalmatrix: the famiy or some similar form of 'care' This article employs a textual analysis of the CRC to examine this matrix of care; in other words this article examines how the parent, the state, and the child are positioned in relation to each other in the CRC. It argues that the positional matrix portraed in the CRCis hierarchical, where the adult positioned over the child. As such, the child is only given autonomy and protection rzghts that buttress this hierarchy. In many instances, the …

Lanthorn, Vol. 47, No. 34, January 10, 2013, Grand Valley State University

Volume 47, July 2, 2012 - June 3, 2013

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy: Off-Clamp Technique, Gurdarshan S. Sandhu, Eric H. Kim, Youssef S. Tanagho, Sam B. Bhayani, R. Sherburne Figenshau

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Publications On Chronic Disease In Coal Dependent Communities In Central Appalachia, Susan Meacham, Phd, Suporn Sukpraput, Phd, Thomas Taber Oms I, Diana Metzger

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

CONTEXT:

Agency and nonprofit reports have traditionally been the source of health information in Appalachia. Recently, publications have appeared in the literature associating coal mining, specifically mountain top mining, with numerous chronic health conditions spurring debate among environmental and industry interest groups. Publication quantity and quality were objectively assessed. This article reports on a literature review and analysis of publications on chronic disease in coal dependent communities in Appalachia.

OBJECTIVE:

To conduct a review and analysis of original, peer reviewed research publications on chronic health conditions in communities dependent on coal mining with a focus on central Appalachia and report …

Acclimatization To Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia In Mine Workers: A Challenge To Mountain Medicine In Chile, J. G. Farias, D. Jimenez, J. Osario, A. B. Zepeda, C. A. Figueroa, V. M. Pulgar

Pharmaceutical Sciences

In the past two decades, Chile has developed intense mining activity in the Andes mountain range, whose altitude is over 4,000 meters above sea level. It is estimated that a workforce population of over 55,000 is exposed to high altitude hypobaric hypoxia. The miners work under shift systems which vary from 4 to 20 days at the worksite followed by rest days at sea level, in a cycle repeated for several years. This Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia (CIH) constitutes an unusual condition for workers involving a series of changes at the physiological, cellular and molecular levels attempting to compensate for the …

January 9, 2013, Communication Disorders & Sciences

Faculty Meeting Minutes & Agendas

Meeting minutes of the January 9, 2013 Faculty Committee meeting.

The Prion Dilemma Confounding Science Educators, Igor V. Zaitsev, Ling Chen, Susie Boydston-White, Manita Pavel, Svetlana N. Shugaeva, Alla G. Petrova, Oksana V. Williams

Publications and Research

In this paper, the issue of the prion hypothesis, a simmering controversy within the scientific community, is addressed. We inquire into the appropriateness of the use of certain augmentations and rhetoric approaches used during scientific debates, as well as the aptness of unequivocal statements in textbooks that indicate “abnormal prions” as a primary cause of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies.

2013 Spring Convocation Program, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

Spring convocation program held on January 9, 2013.

Tolerance Of Roadside And Old Field Populations Of Common Teasel (Dipsacus Fullonum Subsp. Sylvestris) To Salt And Low Osmotic Potentials During Germination, Laura L. Beaton, Susan A. Dudley

Publications and Research

Maternal families from roadside populations of Dipsacus fullonum subsp. sylvestris displayed greater tolerance of both high salinity and drought during germination than families from old field populations. However, the tolerances were not correlated, indicating that they are separate traits.

Hydrodynamics Of Pilot-Scale Bubble Columns: Effect Of Internals, Ahmed A. Youssef, Mohamed E. Hamed, Joshua T. Grimes, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan, Milorad P. Duduković

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Gas Holdup and Bubble Characteristics Are Key Parameters that Affect the Performance of Bubble Columns. an Experimental Study of the Effect of Heat Exchanging Internals on the Gas Holdup, Bubble Dynamics, and their Radial Profiles is Performed. an Air-Water System is Used in a Plexiglas Column 45 Cm (18 In.) in Diameter. Internals Configurations Mimicking Those Typical for the Liquid-Phase Methanol Synthesis and Fischer-Tropsch Process and Covering 5% and 25%, Respectively, of the Total Cross-Sectional Area of the Column, Are Investigated. High Superficial Gas Velocities that Fall within the Churn Turbulent Flow Regime, Which Are of Interest for Most …

Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits To Drosophila Melanogaster, Ria Chhabra, Santharam Kolli, Johannes H. Bauer

Biosciences Research

The ‘‘organic food’’ market is the fastest growing food sector, yet it is unclear whether organically raised food is nutritionally superior to conventionally grown food and whether consuming organic food bestows health benefits. In order to evaluate potential health benefits of organic foods, we used the well-characterized fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Fruit flies were raised on diets consisting of extracts of either conventionally or organically raised produce (bananas, potatoes, raisins, soy beans). Flies were then subjected to a variety of tests designed to assess overall fly health. Flies raised on diets made from organically grown produce …

Daily Eastern News: January 09, 2013, Eastern Illinois University

January

No abstract provided.

Profluorogenic Reductase Substrate For Rapid, Selective, And Sensitive Visualization And Detection Of Human Cancer Cells That Overexpress Nqo1, William C. Silvers, Bijeta Prasai, David H. Burk, Matthew L. Brown, Robin L. Mccarley

Faculty Publications

Achieving the vision of identifying and quantifying cancer-related events and targets for future personalized oncology is predicated on the existence of synthetically accessible and economically viable probe molecules fully able to report the presence of these events and targets in a rapid and highly selective and sensitive fashion. Delineated here are the design and evaluation of a newly synthesized turn-on probe whose intense fluorescent reporter signature is revealed only through probe activation by a specific intracellular enzyme present in tumor cells of multiple origins. Quenching of molecular probe fluorescence is achieved through unique photoinduced electron transfer between the naphthalimide dye …

Changes In Natural Killer Cell Activation And Function During Primary Hiv-1 Infection, Vivek Naranbhai, Marcus Altfeld, Salim S. Abdool Karim, Thumbi Ndung’U, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, William H. Carr

Publications and Research

Background: Recent reports suggest that Natural Killer (NK) cells may modulate pathogenesis of primary HIV-1 infection. However, HIV dysregulates NK-cell responses. We dissected this bi-directional relationship to understand how HIV impacts NK-cell responses during primary HIV-1 infection.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Paired samples from 41 high-risk, initially HIV-uninfected CAPRISA004 participants were analysed prior to HIV acquisition, and during viraemic primary HIV-1 infection. At the time of sampling post-infection five women were seronegative, 11 women were serodiscordant, and 25 women were seropositive by HIV-1 rapid immunoassay. Flow cytometry was used to measure NK and T-cell activation, NK-cell receptor expression, cytotoxic and cytokine-secretory functions, …

Volume 50, Number 21: January 09, 2013, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

The Spinnaker [Vol. 33 No. 110], University Of North Florida

Spinnaker

Student newspaper for the UNF community.

Satisfaction In Adult Romantic Relationships After Parental Divorce : The Role Of Locus Of Control, Meghan L. Mole

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Previous research has found that parental divorce influences both locus of control (LOC) and relationship satisfaction, and LOC also influences relationship satisfaction; therefore, LOC may play a mediating role in the relationship between parental divorce and relationship satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between LOC and satisfaction in adult romantic relationships, comparing participants from intact and divorced families of origin. The influence of gender, age when parents divorced, and current age was also explored based on the following hypotheses: that parental divorce during early childhood would yield a more external LOC while parental divorce …

High Levels Of Adherence And Viral Suppression In A Nationally Representative Sample Of Hiv-Infected Adults On Antiretroviral Therapy For 6, 12 And 18 Months In Rwanda, Batya Elul, Paulin Basinga, Harriet Nuwagaba-Biribonwoha, Suzue Saito, Deborah Horowitz, Denis Nash, Jules Mugabo, Veronicah Mugisha, Etienne Rugigana, Richard Nkunda, Anita Asiimwe

Publications and Research

Background Generalizable data are needed on the magnitude and determinants of adherence and virological suppression among patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Africa. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey with chart abstraction, patient interviews and site assessments in a nationally representative sample of adults on ART for 6, 12 and 18 months at 20 sites in Rwanda. Adherence was assessed using 3- and 30-day patient recall. A systematically selected sub-sample had viral load (VL) measurements. Multivariable logistic regression examined predictors of non-perfect (<100%) 30-day adherence and detectable VL (>40 copies/ml). Results Overall, 1,417 adults were interviewed and 837 had VL measures. Ninety-four percent and 78% …

Profluorogenic Reductase Substrate For Rapid, Selective, And Sensitive Visualization And Detection Of Human Cancer Cells That Overexpress Nqo1, William C. Silvers, Bijeta Prasai, David H. Burk, Matthew L. Brown, Robin L. Mccarley

Faculty Publications

Achieving the vision of identifying and quantifying cancer-related events and targets for future personalized oncology is predicated on the existence of synthetically accessible and economically viable probe molecules fully able to report the presence of these events and targets in a rapid and highly selective and sensitive fashion. Delineated here are the design and evaluation of a newly synthesized turn-on probe whose intense fluorescent reporter signature is revealed only through probe activation by a specific intracellular enzyme present in tumor cells of multiple origins. Quenching of molecular probe fluorescence is achieved through unique photoinduced electron transfer between the naphthalimide dye …

The Bg News January 09, 2013, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. January 09, 2013. Volume 92-Issue 52.

Social Workers In Private Practice And Psychotropic Medications, Rosy L. Metcalfe

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study explored how social workers in private practice view the role of psychotropic medications in treatment and handle psychopharmacological issues in practice. It specifically focused on social workers' perspectives on the helpfulness of psychotropic medications and the nature of their communication with prescribing providers. Split treatment has become the standard arrangement for providing both psychotherapy and psychopharmacotherapy to mental health clients, yet there is limited research on issues that social workers encounter in split treatment relationships and how they view them. Fifty-six independently licensed social workers who provided psychotherapy in private practice completed a mixed method survey that asked …

Enduring Attunement : Emerging Adults Attachment Patterns And Desires For The Nature Of The Primary Attachment Relationship, Marian Salley

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This mixed methods study was created to explore the relatively unexplored nature of the primary attachment relationship between emerging adults and their parents/parent figures in the hopes of discovering to what extent the following attachment patterns—angry withdrawal, compulsive care giving, compulsive self-reliance, and compulsive care seeking—are represented in the relationship between emerging adults and their parents or parent figures; is an emerging adult's attachment pattern with her or his parent/parent figure mediated by particular characteristics of an emerging adult's life; and what specific desires do emerging adults have for the nature of the attachment relationship with their parent or parent …