Digital Commons Network^™

Pkc Activation In Niemann Pick C1 Cells Restores Subcellular Cholesterol Transport, Farshad Tamari, Fannie W. Chen, Chunlei Li, Jagrutiben Chaudhari, Yiannis A. Ioannou

Publications and Research

Activation of protein kinase C (PKC) has previously been shown to ameliorate the cholesterol transport defect in Niemann Pick Type C1 (NPC1) cells, presumably by increasing the soluble levels of one of its substrates, vimentin. This activity would then restore the vimentin cycle in these cells and allow vimentin-dependent retrograde transport to proceed. Here, we further investigate the effects of PKC activation in NPC1 cells by evaluating different isoforms for their ability to solubilize vimentin and correct the NPC1 cholesterol storage phenotype. We also examine the effects of PKC activators, including free fatty acids and the PKC-specific activator diazoxide, on …

Determination Of Mortar Saturation Methods Based On Mri Scanning Image, Hsiang-Wei Chiang, Ran Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used in the medical field and among one of the greatest inventions in recent years. In MRI images, the bright zone denotes signals that are generated by water in the specimen. However, solid cement-based materials lack water. Therefore, developing a method to achieve optimal saturation for cement-based materials is crucial for MRI scanning. In this study, the immersion, boiling, and vacuum methods were used to achieve saturation for various mortar specimens with w/c ratios of 0.45, 0.55, and 0.65. By comparing MRI images and absorption test results, we found that the vacuum method tends …

Generating High Purity Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cell Populations For Transplantation Following Spinal Cord Injury, Dylan A. Mccreedy

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Embryonic stem cells hold great potential for cell replacement strategies in the central nervous system. Pre-differentiation into various neural cell types can help generate tissue-specific cell populations that can replace cells and tissue lost due to do injury or disease. A small number of undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells persist in most transplant populations even after pre-differentiation. Given the right environment, i.e. biomaterial scaffolds, these cells can lead to tumor formation thereby eliminating any potential therapeutic benefit. This dissertation focused on the development of high purity embryonic stem cell-derived cell populations devoid of pluripotent stem cells for transplantation into the central …

Quantification Of Conformational Heterogeneity And Its Role In Protein Aggregation And Unfolding, Nicholas J. Lyle

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Proteins can exhibit significant conformational heterogeneity either under denaturing conditions or in aqueous solutions. The latter is true for a class of proteins whose sequences predispose them to form heterogeneous ensembles of conformations. Characterization of conformational heterogeneity in a protein ensemble requires the quantification of the amplitudes of spontaneous fluctuations in conjunction with information regarding coarse grain measures that report on the average sizes, shapes, and densities. This often demands multiplexed experimental approaches whose readouts are interpreted or annotated using ensembles drawn from atomistic or coarse grain computational simulations. Efforts to characterize conformational heterogeneity contribute directly to our understanding of …

Β-Catenin-Independent Activation Of Tcf1/Lef1 In Human Hematopoietic Tumor Cells Through Interaction With Atf2 Transcription Factors, Luca Grumolato, Guizhong Liu, Tomomi Haremaki, Sathish Kumar Mungamuri, Phyllus Mong, Gal Akiri, Pablo Lopez-Bergami, Adriana Arita, Youssef Anouar, Marek Mlodzik, Ze'ev A. Ronai, Joshua Brody, Daniel C. Weinstein, Stuart A. Aaronson

Publications and Research

The role of Wnt signaling in embryonic development and stem cell maintenance is well established and aberrations leading to the constitutive up-regulation of this pathway are frequent in several types of human cancers. Upon ligand-mediated activation, Wnt receptors promote the stabilization of β-catenin, which translocates to the nucleus and binds to the T-cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) family of transcription factors to regulate the expression of Wnt target genes. When not bound to β-catenin, the TCF/LEF proteins are believed to act as transcriptional repressors. Using a specific lentiviral reporter, we identified hematopoietic tumor cells displaying constitutive TCF/LEF transcriptional activation in …

The Natural Variants Of The Streptococcus Nad+-Glycohydrolase Spn Modulate Divergent Host Cell Signaling Pathways And Death, Sukantha Chandrasekaran

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Streptococcus pyogenes has an arsenal of virulence factors that promote its ability to cause a broad range of diseases and fight host defenses. One of these factors is the S. pyogenes NAD+-glycohydrolase (SPN), which is secreted from the bacterial cell and translocated into the host cell cytosol where it contributes to cell death. Every strain examined to date has SPN and recent studies suggest that SPN is continuing to evolve diverging into two variants that correlate with tissue tropism, one of which lacks the signature NADase activity. SPN's roles in both cytotoxicity and niche selection are unknown. To gain insight …

Development Of Polarizable Force Field Models For Transition Metal Ions, Jin Yu Xiang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the development of polarizable molecular mechanics (MM) force field models for the third-row transition metal (TM) ions. These TM ions perform important structural and chemical functions in a wide range of organic and biological environments because of the unique properties of the 3d orbitals. Being able study these systems in silico can provide a tremendous amount of information that is difficult to obtain through experiments. However, the standard treatment of ions in traditional MM models has shown to be insufficient for describing the d-shell electronic effects. In this work, empirical models for TM electronic effects are …

The Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli Effector Ybcl Modulates The Innate Immune Response In The Urinary Tract, Megan Elizabeth Lau

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are the primary etiology of urinary tract infections (UTIs), one of the most common bacterial infections afflicting the human population. While UPEC cause disease throughout the urinary tract, bladder infection, or cystitis, is most prevalent. A key aspect of UPEC pathogenesis in the bladder is the modulation of the host inflammatory response. At acute time points, UPEC delay the arrival of immune cells, such as neutrophils, to the bladder. The lack of neutrophils in the bladder lumen enables UPEC to replicate freely in the urine and invade the bladder epithelium, a requirement for bacterial persistence, in …

Structural And Functional Study Of The Diheme Cytochrome C Subunit Of The Cytochrome Bc Complex In Heliobacterium Modesticaldum, Hair Yue

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is focused on the structural and functional study of the unique diheme cytochrome c subunit of the cytochrome bc complex in H. modesticaldum, and its application in determining the stoichiometry between H. modesticaldum's cytochrome bc complex and its reaction center. Heliobacterium modesticaldum is a gram positive, anaerobic, anoxygenic photoheterotrophic bacterium. Its cytochrome bc complex (Rieske/cyt b complex) has some similarities to cytochrome b6f complexes from cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, and also shares some characteristics of typical bacterial cytochrome bc1 complexes. One of the unique features of the heliobacterial cytochrome bc complex is the presence of a diheme cytochrome c …

Biological Applications Of Extraordinary Electroconductance And Photovoltaic Effects In Inverse Extraordinary Optoconductance, Lauren C. Tran

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The Extraordinary Electroconductance (EEC) sensor has been previously demonstrated to have an electric field sensitivity of 3.05V/cm in a mesoscopic-scale structure fabricated at the center of a parallel plate capacitor. In this thesis, we demonstrate the first successful application of EEC sensors as electrochemical detectors of protein binding and biological molecule concentration. Using the avidin derivative, captavidin, in complex with the vitamin biotin, the change in four-point measured resistance with fluid protein concentration of bare EEC sensors was shown to increase by a factor of four in the presence of biomolecular binding as compared to baseline. Calculations for approximate field …

Assessing Optic Neuritis In A Mouse Model Of Multiple Sclerosis With Diffusion Mr Imaging, Chia-Wen Chiang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Optic neuritis (ON) is an early manifestation in patients of multiple sclerosis (MS), typically resulting in visual dysfunction. The inflammatory demyelination of the optic nerve in ON closely resembles pathologies of the rest of central nervous system (CNS) white matter in MS. Since accumulated axonal degeneration in MS was considered as the potential cause leading to permanent disability, correlating optic nerve pathology and visual function in ON could be a model system to investigate the relationship between functional outcome and neuropathology. It may also present a new way to reflect the disease progression in MS. Various MR techniques have been …

Type 1 Diabetes And The Male Reproductive Axis, Erica Schoeller

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Glucose regulation is important in both spermatogenesis as well as mature sperm function. The impact of diabetes on sperm function is becoming increasingly clear, though much work is still needed to elucidate the mechanism by which diabetes impairs spermatogenesis. Diabetes causes disruptions in the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis, the regulatory system that controls reproduction. The HPG axis functions by secreting GnRH pulses from the hypothalamus, which bind to receptors on the pituitary and cause secretion of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, which then bind to receptors in the testes and facilitate spermatogenesis. Type 1 diabetes can severely impact …

Post-Translational Regulation Of Fas-Mediated Pparα Activation, Anne Patricia Louise Jensen-Urstad

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The liver is a central organ to whole-body metabolism and mediates many of the adaptive responses to changes in nutrient availability, such that the appropriate energy sources are used and blood glucose levels maintained, whether directly after a meal or after a twelve-hour fast. The adaptive responses to fasting in liver are largely mediated by the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α, or PPARα. PPARα can be activated by a de novo synthesized lipid ligand—16:0/18:1- glycerophosphocholine (16:0/18:1-GPC)—the synthesis of which is dependent on fatty acid synthase (FAS), but little is known about the regulation of this pathway. My thesis focused …

Photosynthetic Chromophore Analogs And Biohybrid Antenna For Light Harvesting, Joseph William Springer

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Photosynthetic chromophore analogs are studied, starting with simplified structures and systematically building complexity to elucidate overarching design principles. The general goals are to achieve an artificial light-harvesting system that exhibits broad spectral coverage, including extension well into the photon rich red and near-infrared portions of the solar spectrum. For example, the spectral properties of chlorophylls are primarily a consequence of the 13¹-oxophorbine base macrocycle, with further tuning provided by the dramatic difference in auxochromic effects of a given substituent at the 7- versus 3-position, consistent with Gouterman's four-orbital model. While light-harvesting antennas in photosynthetic bacteria generally have near-quantitative …

Exploring Tissue Engineering: Vitamin D3 Influences On The Proliferation And Differentiation Of An Engineered Osteoblast Precursor Cell Line During Early Bone Tissue Development, Shelley S. Mason

Dissertations and Theses

Most of the load-bearing demand placed on the human body is transduced by skeletal tissue, and the capacity of the skeleton to articulate in various opposing directions is essential for body movement and locomotion. Consequently, cartilage and bone defects due to trauma, disease, and developmental abnormalities result in disabling pain and immobility for millions of people worldwide. A novel way of promoting cartilage and bone regeneration is through the incorporation of either primary cells or multipotent progenitor cells in a three-dimensional (3D) biomaterial scaffold, and/or the addition of exogenous growth and differentiation factors. The first part of this study reports …

Reference Databases Usage Statistics 2012-2013, Michael A. Cerbo Ii, Sarah Bannister

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the use of online reference databases at the University of Rhode Island during the period from July 2012 through June 2013. Includes COUNTER-compliant data on sessions, searches, turnaways, full text articles downloaded, cost per search, and other metrics.

Spanish Law In 2010-2012: The Influence Of European Union Law And The Impact Of The Economic Crisis, Juana Marco Molina

Journal of Civil Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Semantics And Legal Interpretation: A Comparative Study Of The Value Of Embryonic Life Under Argentine And U.S. Constitutional Law, María Del Pilar Zambrano, Estela B. Sacristán

Journal of Civil Law Studies

No abstract provided.

Acrylamide Reduction In Potato Chips By Selection Of Potato Variety Grown In Iran And Processing Conditions, S. Shojaee-Aliabadi, Hooshang Nikoopour, Farzad Kobarfard, Mahdi Parsapour, Maryam Moslehishad, Hassan Hassanabadi, Jesus Maria Frias, Maryam Hashemi, Ezzat Dahaghin

Articles

Background

Acrylamide as a possible carcinogen is known to form in heated carbohydrate-rich food such as potato chips. In this study, the effect of three potato varieties (Agria, Sante and Savalan) and two blanching conditions ((75˚C for 9 min and 83˚C for 2.5 min) on the concentration of precursors and acrylamide reduction in potato chips was investigated.

Results

Results revealed that potato variety and blanching time-temperature ere important parameters for acrylamide formation in potato chips. Acrylamide content in Sante variety potatoes, which contained the highest amount of reducing sugars, was found to be the highest (8825μg/kg). However, Savalan, containing …

The Parthenon, August 15, 2013, Rebecca Stephens

The Parthenon

The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper, is published by students Monday through Friday during the regular semester and weekly Thursday during the summer. The editorial staff is responsible for the news and the editorial content.

Phenology-Assisted Classification Of C3 And C4 Grasses In The U.S. Great Plains And Their Climate Dependency With Modis Time Series, Cuizhen Wang, E. Raymond Hunt Jr., Li Zhang, Huadong Guo

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Grassland ecosystems in the North America are primarily composed of C3 and C4 plant functional types (PFTs) that have different responses to the changing climate. Knowledge of their spatial distributions and temporal variations helps us better understand the ecological functions and climate dependencies of grasslands. This study used the 500-m MODIS surface reflectance products (MOD09A1) from 2000 to 2009 to extract NDVI time series of C3 and C4 grass PFTs in different floristic regions (tallgrass, shortgrass, and mixed-grass prairies.) A set of phenology metrics, including Start of Season, End of Season, Season Length, Peak NDVI, Peak Date, andΣNDVI, were found …

Improving Radiotherapy Targeting For Cancer Treatment Through Space And Time, Camille Noel

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Radiotherapy is a common medical treatment in which lethal doses of ionizing radiation are preferentially delivered to cancerous tumors. In external beam radiotherapy, radiation is delivered by a remote source which sits several feet from the patient's surface. Although great effort is taken in properly aligning the target to the path of the radiation beam, positional uncertainties and other errors can compromise targeting accuracy. Such errors can lead to a failure in treating the target, and inflict significant toxicity to healthy tissues which are inadvertently exposed high radiation doses.

Tracking the movement of targeted anatomy between and during treatment fractions …

Taxonomic Revision Of The Olingos (Bassaricyon), With Description Of A New Species, The Olinguito, Kristofer M. Helgen, C. Miguel Pinto, Roland Kays, Laura E. Helgen, Mirian T. N. Tsuchiya, Aleta Quinn, Don E. Wilson, Jesús E. Maldonado

Publications and Research

We present the first comprehensive taxonomic revision and review the biology of the olingos, the endemic Neotropical procyonid genus Bassaricyon, based on most specimens available in museums, and with data derived from anatomy, morphometrics, mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, field observations, and geographic range modeling. Species of Bassaricyon are primarily forest-living, arboreal, nocturnal, frugivorous, and solitary, and have one young at a time. We demonstrate that four olingo species can be recognized, including a Central American species (B. gabbii), lowland species with eastern, cis-Andean (B. alleni) and western, trans- Andean (B. medius) distributions, and a species endemic to cloud forests in …

Oncogenes And Inflammation Rewire Host Energy Metabolism In The Tumor Microenvironment: Ras And Nfκb Target Stromal Mct4., Ubaldo E. Martinez-Outshoorn, Md, Joseph Curry, Md, Ying-Hui Ko, Md, Zhao Lin, Md, Madalina Tuluc, Md, David Cognetti, Md, Ruth Birbe, Md, Edmund A. Pribitkin, Md, Alessandro Bombonati, Richard Pestell, Md, Anthony Howell, Federica Sotgia, Michael P. Lisanti, Md

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

Here, we developed a model system to evaluate the metabolic effects of oncogene(s) on the host microenvironment. A matched set of "normal" and oncogenically transformed epithelial cell lines were co-cultured with human fibroblasts, to determine the "bystander" effects of oncogenes on stromal cells. ROS production and glucose uptake were measured by FACS analysis. In addition, expression of a panel of metabolic protein biomarkers (Caveolin-1, MCT1, and MCT4) was analyzed in parallel. Interestingly, oncogene activation in cancer cells was sufficient to induce the metabolic reprogramming of cancer-associated fibroblasts toward glycolysis, via oxidative stress. Evidence for "metabolic symbiosis" between oxidative cancer cells …

Critical Success Factors Analysis Of Implementing Mpa At The Yilan Gueishan Island, Taiwan, Ching-Ta Chuang, Jun-Yu Chen, Kuei-Chao Chang, Li-Wen Hung, Ta-Kang Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Gueishan Island, located along the strong Kuroshio current, is one of the most essential fishing grounds in Taiwan’s offshore fishery, and critical during its transitional fishery periods. However, long-term pollution, overfishing and rapid coastal development result in overexploitation and adverse environmental and ecological impacts. Previous studies focused on single species fishery management or merely the interpretation relevant laws whereas the views and perceptions of the stakeholders are often overlooked. Therefore, stakeholders’ participation and co-management seem to challenge the future establishment of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Gueishan Island. This study focuses on the evaluation of stakeholders’ perception and analyzes …

The Application Of The Genetic Adaptive Neural Network In Landslide Disaster Assessment, Jing-Wen Chen, Yung-Sheng Chue, Yie-Ruey Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study applied the Genetic Adaptive Neural Network (GANN) structure to satellite image classification and the assessment of landslide disaster. First, the study conducted quantitative analysis of the various factors of slope development and natural environmental hazards in some parts of the catchment areas of the Laonong River in Southern Taiwan. Meanwhile, using the weighting ratios of various disaster causing factors inferred from the best structure of GANN, this study explored the degree of slope land disturbance. Then, this study incorporated the relationship between rainfall and landslides to draw a landslide potential map using the discriminant analysis approach combined with …

Model Simulation Of Asian Dust And Iron Depositions Over The East Asian Marginal Seas, Fujung Tsai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study applies a dust model to investigate Asian dust and iron depositions on the East Asian marginal sea during the months of the northeasterly monsoon from November to May, when dust events are often observed. Simulated dry and wet depositions of dust are compared with measurements obtained from Taipei, Taiwan. According to the model simulation, higher concentrations of atmospheric dust occur from March to May over East Asia, resulting in greater dry and wet deposition fluxes of dust and iron within these months than other months. The monthly averaged dry and wet deposition fluxes of iron are 0.6 and …

Purification And Characterization Of Succinyl Thiokinase From Pig Heart, Shu-Cheng Hsueh, Li-Ying Pan, Ming-Cheng Lee, An-Chin Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In our earlier studies, the concentration of succinate in the body fluid of hard clams was used as an anoxia-stress indicator. The concentration of succinate was monitored by a color kit the key component of which is succinyl thiokinases (STK). Therefore, finding a source of STK is very important for developing the color kit. STK from pig heart was purified over 850-fold to apparent homogeneity. It has a dimeric structure with a relative molecular mass of 69,200, and there are two types of subunits, α and β, with respective apparent molecular weights of 38,000 and 47,000. Among the isolation steps, …

Intra And Extracellular Functions Of Sphingosine-1-Phosphate In Sterile Inflammation., Jessie Yester

Theses and Dissertations

Sterile inflammation is a key component of a variety of diseases including, gout, arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis (MS). Sterile inflammation induces the recruitment of immune cells via chemokines, such as CCL5 and CXCL10. Expression of these chemokines is dependent on IRF-1. Recently the FDA has approved the use of a pro-drug, FTY720 that after phosphorylation becomes a S1P mimetic for the treatment of MS. This report describes two novel and opposing mechanisms of S1P action in sterile inflammation. First, intracellular S1P acts as a cofactor of cIAP2 that inducesIL-1-dependent K63-polyubiquitination of IRF-1, which leads to …

Silence So Loud, Qian Li

Theses

In this thesis I will examine the relationship between dolls and human beings through a series of oil paintings and installations that involve the arrangement of canvases and small, three dimensional figures. The dolls that I paint are a metaphor for how humans interact. I also have incorporated language into the paintings. By lining up paintings of the dolls to "say" several short statements, each mouth on a doll's face is formed to represent part of a spoken word. Although the dolls attempt to say something, silence still remains. In the following document my childhood influence, and struggle of transforming …