Digital Commons Network^™

Interaction-Based Discovery Of Functionally Important Genes In Cancers, Dario Ghersi, Mona Singh

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

A major challenge in cancer genomics is uncovering genes with an active role in tumorigenesis from a potentially large pool of mutated genes across patient samples. Here we focus on the interactions that proteins make with nucleic acids, small molecules, ions and peptides, and show that residues within proteins that are involved in these interactions are more frequently affected by mutations observed in large-scale cancer genomic data than are other residues. We leverage this observation to predict genes that play a functionally important role in cancers by introducing a computational pipeline (http://canbind.princeton.edu) for mapping large-scale cancer exome data …

Disaster Response: Global Nursing Leadership In Difficult Times, Karen M. Pehrson, Safiya George Dalmida, K. Joanne Mcglown, Cynthia Vlasich

Biennial Convention (CONV)

This special session provides a unique opportunity for attendees to engage in dialogue and networking with two well-respected global experts in Disaster Nursing, as well as members of the Disaster Nursing Subgroup of the STTI International Service Task Force 2011-2013, and with each other. During this session we will continue the ongoing STTI discussion of Disaster Nursing, with its wide variety of opportunities for nurses. Structures of global and national response, and how nurses can participate, will be explored. The organization of federal response within the United States will be detailed, as will the international opportunities for disaster nursing. Newest …

Investigation Of Iron Reduction By Green Tea Polyphenols For Application In Soil Remediation, Jacqueline S. Oakes

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Temperature-Dependent Dielectric And Thermal Properties Of Whey Protein Gel And Mashed Potato, Jiajia Chen, Krishnamoorthy Pitchai, Sohan Birla, Ricardo Gonzalez, David Jones, Jeyamkondan Subbiah

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Temperature-dependent dielectric properties (dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor) and thermal properties (thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity) of whey protein gel and mashed potato were measured from -20°C to 100°C. A dielectric properties measurement system and a multipoint temperature calibration protocol were developed. The system consists of an impedance analyzer, a high-temperature coaxial cable, a high-temperature coaxial probe, a micro-climatic chamber and a metal sample holder. Calibrations at two temperatures (25°C and 85°C) were sufficient to accurately measure the dielectric properties of foods from frozen to hot temperatures. Both dielectric constant and dielectric loss factor rapidly increased from -20°C …

On A Roll, Suki Casanave

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Salinity, Ph, Temperature, And Dissolved Oxygen On Sensitivity Of Pcr Identification Of T4 Bacteriophage, Joesph F. Cannon, Nicholas A. Thurn, Paul E. Richardson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Bacteriophages are used as indicators of pathogenic bacteria in drinking, and wastewaters. They also show potential in limiting aquatic bacterial populations through their lytic properties. The effect of different water characteristics (salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) on the sensitivity of the PCR identification of virus particles were analyzed to determine at what levels bacteriophage can be detected in environmental samples. Results from this preliminary study indicate that a PCR bacteriophage detection technique has potential as a relatively efficient and economical indicator of coliform contamination in multiple aquatic environments. While further evaluation is needed, the protocol appears to function in …

Exploring The Mechanisms Of Allelopathic Interaction In The Invasive Annual Plant, Phyllanthus Urinaria, Alyssa L. Smith, Andrew R. Dyer

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

The belowground mechanisms facilitating invasion and proliferation of non-native plant species into natural communities are of critical importance for understanding plant invasions. Research on allelopathy suggests that some exotic plant species produce compounds via root exudates that may suppress or inhibit the growth of neighboring plants, but the specific mechanisms and consequences of these plant-chemical interactions remain elusive. In an effort to understand the abiotic and biotic factors governing allelopathic activity, a two-part greenhouse experiment was designed to examine plant-soil interactions of the invasive euphorb, Phyllanthus urinaria, and the residual soil effects of these interactions on subsequent growth of …

Dose Dependent Effects Of Caffeine On Cognitive Performance And Neuronal Activation, Stephan Albrecht, Helen Morris, Michelle Vieyra

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Many students assume that the more caffeine you drink, the better your cognitive performance. Over-consumption of caffeine has many negative effects, so if there are no dose related cognitive benefits to large amounts of caffeine, then college students should limit their intake. This study looked at whether ingesting a medium dose (200 mg) versus a lower dose (100 mg) of caffeine improved short term memory as measured by Flanker and n-back tests, compared to a control group. In addition, we looked at whether larger doses of caffeine produced a difference in neuronal activation during these tests as measured by functional …

Fourier Analysis Of Phase Resetting Curves Of Neural Oscillators, Robert A. Raidt, Sorinel A. Oprisan

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

We investigated the impact of changes in biologically relevant control parameters, such as the shape of an external perturbation or the conductance values of an individual model neuron, on the shape of the phase resetting curve (PRC) of that neuron. For that purpose, PRCs were generated for groups of Morris-Lecar (ML) model neurons with different conductance values but similar firing periods (within 0.005ms) using external rectangular, triangular, or trapezoidal perturbations of varying areas. These PRCs were numerically described and analyzed as a series of coefficient values using a Fourier Discrete Sine Transform (DST). We found that changes in the shape …

Protecting The Marks Of Life: Genetic Testing And The Personalization Of Health Care, Michael L. Wilson

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Rxx Factor: Different On The Outside - Different On The Inside - Rethinking The Medical Model And Clinical Trials, Kathleen Uhl

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Women's Health Is A Human Right, Maureen Mcteer

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Symposium: Does Sexx Really Matter - What A Difference An X Makes: Welcome Remarks, Phyllis Greenberger

Health Law and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

‘Maybe It Was Too Much To Expect In Those Days’: The Changing Lifestyles Of Barnard’S First Female Students, Jennifer Prevete Fcrh '12

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

From 1890 to 1920 higher education witnessed a marked increase in female matriculation among select East Coast institutions. This paper explores the personal narratives of these pioneering women to illustrate how societal forces strongly influenced these women’s college experiences. Existing discourse emphasizes the difficulties female university students faced as they tried to pursue both careers and families. Scholars claim that an unusual number of college-educated women did not marry or married at a later age. This paper examines first-hand perspectives drawn from the Barnard College Archives to supplement current secondary data. Alumnae biographical questionnaires reveal how women reconciled opportunities with …

School Actvities In Natural Sciences For Students With Special Needs In Bulgaria, M. Zamfirov, Sv. Saeva

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study discusses the influence of classroom activities in the mainstream schools and special schools in Bulgaria. The study presents classroom activities related to the school subject Human and Nature. This school subject is part of the curriculum both at special and at mainstream schools. There are detailed explanations and descriptions as well as concrete methodological directions for each classroom activity. Some photographs are included in the text in order to achieve better visualization of the classroom activities described. The developed classroom activities in Natural Sciences for students with special needs, are just a small step in the understanding of …

Solving Word Problems: As Easy As Pies!, Mary Jane Heater, Lori A. Howard, Ed Linz

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Many students are challenged when tasked to complete a word problem. While they may know the procedural steps to solve an equation, translating a word problem into an appropriate equation and producing a solution may often cause students to become confused or unwilling to try. This article provides a potential solution for teachers by discussing the use of a simple mnemonic tool to help organize the process. Mnemonics are a useful and effective strategy to help students with learning disabilities remember information and process steps. In the strategy presented, the mnemonic PIES is used to describe a 4-step process for …

Mobile Sensor Data Mining, Jeff Lockhart Fcrh '13

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

At an ever increasing rate, the smartphones and other devices people carry with them in their everyday lives are packed with sensors and processing power. This provides an unprecedented opportunity to apply data mining techniques to people’s activities as they go about their daily lives, without changing their routine. The goal of the Wireless Sensor Data Mining (WISDM) Project is to explore the possibilities of data mining on these powerful mobile platforms.1 Data mining involves extracting knowledge from data using computer algorithms. A major sensor in these devices is the tri-axial accelerometer originally included for screen rotation and advanced gaming. …

Nmr Determination Of Enantiomeric Composition Of Chiral Alcohols Using Camphorsulfonate Esters, Steven Bondi Fcrh '11, Thomas Lobasso Fcrh '09, Christa Iwanoski Fcrh '09, Shahrokh Saba, Donald Clarke

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

Most biologically active compounds, including pharmaceuticals, have chiral molecular structures. With increased recognition that enantiomers of chiral drugs are metabolized differently, there has been enormous interest in the development of enantioselective methodologies for the synthesis of chiral compounds. NMR spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful method for discrimination of enantiomers of chiral compounds. 1 One strategy by which the NMR method is exploited is based on converting the enantiomers of a chiral compound to diastereomers using a chiral derivatizing agent. These diastereomers often display anisochronous NMR signals, which can be identified and integrated affording quantitative measurements of the optical purity …

A Review Of “An Ethical Market In Human Organs,” By Charles A. Erin And John Harris, And A Proposed Solution To The Current Organ Shortage, Rachel Rattenni Fcrh '14

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

In 2005, an Israeli man named Nick Rosen answered an ad in his local Tel Aviv newspaper searching for someone interested in selling a kidney. Through funding from the broker who placed the ad, Rosen was flown to New York and set up with a dialysis patient from Brooklyn. After Rosen and the dialysis patient passed a simple procedure for the screening of illegal organ sales by saying the two were old friends, the successful transplant surgery was performed at the esteemed Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. The Brooklyn resident walked away never again needing to go on …

The Spontaneous Formation Of Selenium Nanoparticles On Gallic Acid Assemblies And Their Antioxidant Properties, Stacey Barnaby Fcrh '11, Nazmul Sarker Fcrh '13, Aaron Dowdell Fcrh '12, Ipsita Bannerjee

The Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal

Gallic acid (GA) is a naturally occurring plant phenol known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In this work, we probed the molecular self-assembly of GA for the development of GA based nanocomposites for potential device fabrications and enhanced antioxidant applications. We found that the formation of GA nanostructures was pH dependent. Further, we examined the interactions of selenite with GA and subsequently examined the biomimetic formation of selenium (Se) nanoparticles. We found that in the presence of selenite, the yield of nanofibers was significantly higher, and selenium nanoparticle coated nanofibers were formed. The ability of the nanocomposites to scavenge …

Spatio-Temporal Visual Information Analysis For Moving Object Detection And Retrieval In Video Sequences, Dianting Liu

Open Access Dissertations

The development of the Internet makes the number of online videos increase dramatically, which brings new demands to the video search engines for automatic retrieval and classification. We propose an unsupervised moving object detection and retrieval framework by exploiting and analyzing spatio-temporal visual information in the video sequences. The motivation is to use visual content information to estimate the locations of the moving objects in the spatio-temporal domain. Compared with the existing approaches, our proposed detection algorithm is unsupervised. It does not need to train models for specific objects. Furthermore, it is suitable for the detection of unknown objects. Therefore, …

Haitian Parents' Experiences With The Iep Process And Their Involvement With The Special Education Program, Margarette Mahotiere

Open Access Dissertations

Current literature and recent legislation advocate parental involvement in education as ‘best subsequent reauthorizations practice.’ The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendment of 1997 and its promote parental participation in the special education process by requiring schools to consider parents as equal partners in the development of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for students with disabilities. However, parents have reported the process as stressful and confusing. Prior research revealed barriers that marginalize culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) parents to passive roles in the process. Using qualitative methods, this study focused on Haitian parents’ participation in both the IEP process …

Attentional Biases, Emotional Arousal, And Post-Event Processing In Social Anxiety: An Eye-Tracking Study, Demet Çek

Open Access Theses

Research across the past two decades has identified attentional biases (AB) to threat as a cognitive vulnerability factor for social anxiety symptoms. However, much remains unknown regarding the nature of the association between AB and other key physiological and cognitive maintenance factors proposed by the cognitive-behavioral model of social anxiety. The current study investigated the relationship between AB to threat and emotional, physiological and cognitive responding to a social stressor in an undergraduate sample (N = 55) using eyetracking methodology. Findings revealed a significant positive association between AB-disgust and subjective emotional reactivity (SER). Furthermore, ABdisgust had a significant indirect effect …

Carbonate Slope Morphology And Sedimentary Processes Along Southwestern Great Bahama Bank, Andrew Jo

Open Access Theses

High-resolution multibeam bathymetry and sub-bottom profile data from offshore Great Bahama Bank, covering an area of 6,500 km2, allow an assessment of the evolution of the slope and basin environment. The data reveal a substantial variability in the slope morphology. Three different sedimentary processes (downslope mass gravity flows, margin collapse, and contour currents) control this variability in slope morphology. The deposits that result from these processes produce a consistent facies distribution along the slope, consisting of four morphofacies: 1) a steep upper slope with an onlapping sediment wedge, 2) a toe-of-slope with redeposited carbonates, 3) a basin floor covered with …

12-18-2013 Dr. Peter Grant Named Dean Of The Swosu College Of Arts & Sciences, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2013

Dr. Peter Grant has been selected as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford.

The Influence Of Snowmobile Trails On Coyote Movements During Winter In High-Elevation Landscapes, Eric M. Gese, Jennifer L. Burghardt Dowd, Lise M. Aubry

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Competition between sympatric carnivores has long been of interest to ecologists. Increased understanding of these interactions can be useful for conservation planning. Increased snowmobile traffic on public lands and in habitats used by Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) remains controversial due to the concern of coyote (Canis latrans) use of snowmobile trails and potential competition with lynx. Determining the variables influencing coyote use of snowmobile trails has been a priority for managers attempting to conserve lynx and their critical habitat. During 2 winters in northwest Wyoming, we backtracked coyotes for 265 km to determine how varying snow characteristics influenced coyote movements; …

Identifying Potential Cancer Driver Genes By Genomic Data Integration., Yong Chen, Jingjing Hao, Wei Jiang, Tong He, Xuegong Zhang, Tao Jiang, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Cancer is a genomic disease associated with a plethora of gene mutations resulting in a loss of control over vital cellular functions. Among these mutated genes, driver genes are defined as being causally linked to oncogenesis, while passenger genes are thought to be irrelevant for cancer development. With increasing numbers of large-scale genomic datasets available, integrating these genomic data to identify driver genes from aberration regions of cancer genomes becomes an important goal of cancer genome analysis and investigations into mechanisms responsible for cancer development. A computational method, MAXDRIVER, is proposed here to identify potential driver genes on the basis …

Integrating Human Omics Data To Prioritize Candidate Genes., Yong Chen, Xuebing Wu, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: The identification of genes involved in human complex diseases remains a great challenge in computational systems biology. Although methods have been developed to use disease phenotypic similarities with a protein-protein interaction network for the prioritization of candidate genes, other valuable omics data sources have been largely overlooked in these methods.

METHODS: With this understanding, we proposed a method called BRIDGE to prioritize candidate genes by integrating disease phenotypic similarities with such omics data as protein-protein interactions, gene sequence similarities, gene expression patterns, gene ontology annotations, and gene pathway memberships. BRIDGE utilizes a multiple regression model with lasso penalty to …

On The Origin Of Phenotypic Variation: Novel Technologies To Dissect Molecular Determinants Of Phenotype, Francesco Vallania

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This thesis describes the conception, design, and development of novel computational tools, theoretical models, and experimental techniques applied to the dissection of molecular factors underlying phenotypic variation. The first part of my work is focused on finding rare genetic variants in pooled DNA samples, leading to the development of a novel set of algorithms, SNPseeker and SPLINTER, applied to next-generation sequencing data. The second part of my work describes the creation of a reporter system for DNA methylation for the purpose of dissecting the genetic contribution of tissue-specific patterns of DNA methylation across the genome. Finally the last part of …

Translation And Transcription Of A Passage From The Baduem Manuscript: An Eighteenth-Century Portuguese Embassy To China, Annalyn Beus

Theses and Dissertations

This project is a diplomatic transcription and English translation of a passage from an 18-century manuscript that chronicles a remarkable Portuguese embassy to China (Macau). The embassy embarked from Lisbon in February 1752, sailing in a luxuriously outfitted ship (Nossa Senhora da Conceição e Lusitânia Grande), in convoy with a warship (Nossa Senhora das Brotas). The English translation is important because it makes the account accessible to scholars who lack familiarity with Portuguese.This voyage to China is remarkable in light of the long history of maritime loss by the Portuguese. Although the normal projected loss of life on this route …