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Protein/Protein Interactions In The Mammalian Heme Degradation Pathway: Heme Oxygenase-2, Cytochrome P450 Reductase, And Biliverdin Reductase, Andrea L. M. Spencer, Ireena Bagai, Donald F. Becker, Erik R. P. Zuiderweg, Stephen W. Ragsdale

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Heme oxygenase (HO) catalyzes the rate-limiting step in the O₂- dependent degradation of heme to biliverdin, CO, and iron with electrons delivered from NADPH via cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR). Biliverdin reductase (BVR) then catalyzes conversion of bili­verdin to bilirubin. We describe mutagenesis combined with kinetic, spectroscopic (fluorescence and NMR), surface plasmon resonance, cross-linking, gel filtration, and analytical ultracentrifugation studies aimed at evaluating interactions of HO-2 with CPR and BVR. Based on these results, we propose a model in which HO-2 and CPR form a dynamic ensemble of complex(es) that precede formation of the productive electron transfer complex. The …

Stress Adaptation In A Pathogenic Fungus, Alistair J. P. Brown, Susan Budge, Despoina Kaloriti, Anna Tillmann, Mette D. Jacobsen, Zhikang Yin, Iuliana V. Ene, Iryna Bohovych, Doblin Sandai, Stavroula Kastora, Joanna Potrykus, Elizabeth R. Ballou, Delma S. Childers, Shahida Shahana, Michelle D. Leach

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Candida albicans is a major fungal pathogen of humans. This yeast is carried by many individuals as a harmless commensal, but when immune defences are perturbed it causes mucosal infections (thrush). Additionally, when the immune system becomes severely compromised, C. albicans often causes life-threatening systemic infections. A battery of virulence factors and fitness attributes promote the pathogenicity of C. albicans. Fitness attributes include robust responses to local environmental stresses, the inactivation of which attenuates virulence. Stress signalling pathways in C. albicans include evolutionarily conserved modules. However, there has been rewiring of some stress regulatory circuitry such that the roles of …

Proline Biosynthesis Is Required For Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Tolerance In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Xinwen Liang, M. B. Dickman, Donald F. Becker

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background: Proline is an important amino acid for stress resistance in different organisms.

Results: Depletion of proline biosynthesis disrupts redox homeostasis and increases sensitivity to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in yeast.

Conclusion: Proline biosynthesis is critical for maintaining the intracellular redox environment and the UPR during ER stress.

Significance: Proline metabolism is shown to have an important role in ER stress tolerance that was previously unknown.

Protein/Protein Interactions In The Mammalian Heme Degradation Pathway Heme Oxygenase-2, Cytochrome P450 Reductase, And Biliverdin Reductase, Andrea L. M. Spencer, Ireena Bagai, Donald F. Becker, Erik R. P. Zuiderweg, Stephen W. Ragsdale

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background: Heme oxygenase, cytochrome P450 reductase, and biliverdin reductase are the key enzymes in heme degradation.

Results: Specific electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions form the binding interface between heme oxygenase and cytochrome P450 reductase. Conclusion: Heme oxygenase binds cytochrome P450 reductase dynamically and biliverdin reductase very weakly.

Significance: Characterizing interactions among proteins involved in heme degradation are crucial to understanding heme homeostasis.

Mechanisms Underlying The Exquisite Sensitivity Of Candida Albicans To Combinatorial Cationic And Oxidative Stress That Enhances The Potent Fungicidal Activity Of Phagocytes, Despoina Kaloriti, Mette Jacobsen, Zhikang Yin, Miranda Patterson, Anna Tillmann, Deborah A. Smith, Emily Cook, Tao You, Melissa J. Grimm, Iryna Bohovych, Celso Grebogi, Brahm H. Segal, Neil A.R. Gow, Ken Haynes, Janet Quinn, Alistair J.P. Brown

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Immune cells exploit reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cationic fluxes to kill microbial pathogens, such as the fungus

Candida albicans. Yet, C. albicans is resistant to these stresses in vitro. Therefore, what accounts for the potent antifungal activity

of neutrophils? We show that simultaneous exposure to oxidative and cationic stresses is much more potent than the individual

stresses themselves and that this combinatorial stress kills C. albicans synergistically in vitro.We also show that the high

fungicidal activity of human neutrophils is dependent on the combinatorial effects of the oxidative burst and cationic fluxes, as

their pharmacological attenuation with …

New Clox Systems For Rapid And Efficient Gene Disruption In Candida Albicans, Shahida Shahana, Delma S. Childers, Elizabeth R. Ballou, Iryna Bohovych, Frank C. Odds, Neil A.R. Gow, Alistair J.P. Brown

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Precise genome modification is essential for the molecular dissection of Candida albicans, and is yielding invaluable information about the roles of specific gene functions in this major fungal pathogen of humans. C. albicans is naturally diploid, unable to undergo meiosis, and utilizes a non-canonical genetic code. Hence, specialized tools have had to be developed for gene disruption in C. albicans that permit the deletion of both target alleles, and in some cases, the recycling of the Candida-specific selectable markers. Previously, we developed a tool based on the Cre recombinase, which recycles markers in C. albicans with 90–100% efficiency via …

An Assembly Of Proteins And Lipid Domains Regulates Transport Of Phosphatidylserine To Phosphatidylserine Decarboxylase 2 In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Wayne R. Riekhof, Wen-I Wu, Jennifer L. Jones, Mrinalini Nikrad, Mallory M. Chan, Christopher J. R. Loewen, Dennis R. Voelker

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The machinery for interorganelle phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) transport is poorly defined at the molecular level.

Results: Molecular interaction studies identify specific protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions in PtdSer transport.

Conclusion: A protein and lipid interaction network defines key participants in PS transport to the locus of PtdSer-decarboxylase 2.

Significance: This study identifies important molecular participants involved in non-vesicular phospholipid traffic.

Levisunguis Subaequalis N. G., N. Sp., A Tongue Worm (Pentastomida: Porocephalida: Sebekidae) Infecting Softshell Turtles, Apalone Spp. (Testudines: Trionychidae), In The Southeastern United States, Stephen S. Curran, Robin M. Overstreet, David E. Collins, George W. Benz

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

A new tongue worm (Pentastomida) belonging to the Sebekidae Sambon, 1922 (Porocephaloidea Sambon, 1922) is described based on exemplars collected from softshell terrapins Apalone spinifera aspera (Agassiz) and Apalone ferox (Schneider) in the southeastern United States; a new genus is erected to accommodate the new species. The new species belongs in the Sebekidae because adults possess four simple hooks arranged in a trapezoid pattern on the ventral surface of the cephalothorax, a mouth opening between the anterior and posterior pairs of hooks, a terminal anus, an elongated uterus with preanal uterine pore, and a Y-shaped seminal vesicle. Nymphs possess geminate …

[The Development Of Public Relations In] Kenya, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This chapter traces the practice of PR from pre-independence Kenya to the 21st century. It emerges that the practice of PR is closely tied to major national events and to social, cultural, political and economic forces. PR roles as understood by the pre-independence colonial government: keeping the public informed on government development projects, assessing public opinion and advising government, endearing government to Kenyans and building the awareness of Kenya abroad have continued to modern-day Kenya.

A Modified Stacking Ensemble Machine Learning Algorithm Using Genetic Algorithms, Riyaz Sikora, O'La Hmoud Al-Laymoun

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

With the massive increase in the data being collected as a result of ubiquitous information gathering devices, and the increased need for doing data mining and analyses, there is a need for scaling up and improving the performance of traditional data mining and learning algorithms. Two related fields of distributed data mining and ensemble learning aim to address this scaling issue. Distributed data mining looks at how data that is distributed can be effectively mined without having to collect the data at one central location. Ensemble learning techniques aim to create a meta-classifier by combining several classifiers created on the …

Assessing Web Site Usability In Retail Electronic Commerce, Charles E. Downing, Chang Liu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

In the increasingly competitive environment of electronic commerce, companies are paying careful attention to Web site design and function to attract and retain both traffic and customers. One key factor that has been shown to increase both is Web site usability. This paper presents and tests a Web site usability research framework derived from prior literature. Fourteen Fortune 500 retail Web sites are examined by 261 potential customers and rated on aspects of usability. Results show that Content and Ease of Use are not currently differentiating sites with regard to usability (these attributes are expected and required just to survive …

Cloud-Based Email Adoption At Higher Education Institutions In South Africa, Melanie Willett, Rossouw Von Solms

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Cloud computing, in general, is having an impact on organizations today. Cloud-based email, in particular, is being adopted by educational institutions around the world on a large scale. This paper reports on the state of cloud-based email adoption at higher education institutions in South Africa; it does this by describing the findings of a survey of IT managers at sixteen of these institutions. It will show that South Africa follows the global trend of a large uptake of cloud- based email for higher education institutions. The fact that although organizations are satisfied with the service they receive from cloud-based email …

When Google Meets Xiaomi: Comparative Case Study In Western And Eastern Corporate Management, Yu-Feng Lin Lee

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Google Inc. of the West and Xiaomi Inc. of the East are recognized as ‘flat organizations’. They exercise ‘flat management’ in their corporate culture, wherein mid-level management is abridged, leaving the corporate structure less-bureaucratic, top-down-and-less-hierarchical, and more laissez-faire. Using the Confucian criteria of Wu Yu, namely morality (or, virtue), intellectual (or, wisdom), physical ability (or, sportsmanship), groupism (or, cooperation), and aesthetics (or, elegance), this paper assesses managerial philosophy and corporate practice of Google and Xiaomi. It is found that under flat management, although each company nevertheless reveals its corporate idiosyncrasy, they achieve business success and sustainability through adopting small-team orientation, …

Determinants Of Digital Distraction: A Cross-Cultural Investigation Of Users In Africa, China And The U.S., Leida Chen, Ravi Nath, Robert Insley

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

No abstract provided.

The Temperature Independence Of Interaction Strength In A Sit-And-Wait Predator, Rachel A. Novich, Emma K. Erickson, Ryan M. Kalinoski, John Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The strength of interactions between consumers and their resources has important implications for the overall structure and function of food webs. These interactions can change with warming, depending on the foraging mode of the predator. Theory predicts that warming increases foraging velocity in ectotherms, but in a sit-and-wait predator that has zero velocity when foraging, the interaction strength should be temperature independent. Using the protist Urocentrum turbo and the sit-and- wait copepod Orthocyclops modestus, we tested this prediction by measuring dynamic interaction strengths (effect of a predator on prey population growth rate) and by estimating the parameters of a …

The Pseudomonas Syringae Type Iii Effector Hopd1 Suppresses Effector-Triggered Immunity, Localizes To The Endoplasmic Reticulum, And Targets The Arabidopsis Transcription Factor Ntl9, Anna Block, Tania Y. Toruno, Christian G. Elowsky, Chi Zhang, Jens Steinbrenner, Jim Beynon, James R. Alfano

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Pseudomonas syringae type III effectors are known to suppress plant immunity to promote bacterial virulence. However, the activities and targets of these effectors are not well understood. We used genetic, molecular, and cell biology methods to characterize the activities, localization, and target of the HopD1 type III effector in Arabidopsis. HopD1 contributes to P. syringae virulence in Arabidopsis and reduces effector-triggered immunity (ETI) responses but not pathogen-associated molecular pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) responses. Plants expressing HopD1 supported increased growth of ETI-inducing P. syringae strains compared with wild-type Arabidopsis. We show that HopD1 interacts with the membrane-tethered Arabidopsis transcription factor NTL9 and …

The Effect Of Barium On Perceptions Of Taste Intensity And Palatability, Angela M. Dietsch, Nancy Pearl Solomon, Catriona M. Steele, Cathy A. Pelletier

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Barium may affect the perception of taste intensity and palatability. Such differences are important considerations in the selection of dysphagia assessment strategies and interpretation of results. Eighty healthy women grouped by age (younger, older) and genetic taste status (supertaster, nontaster) rated intensity and palatability for seven tastants prepared in deionized water with and without 40 % w/v barium: noncarbonated and carbonated water, diluted ethanol, and high concentrations of citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), caffeine (bitter), and sucrose (sweet). Mixed-model analyses explored the effects of barium, taster status, and age on perceived taste intensity and acceptability of stimuli. Barium was …

Potential Citric Acid Exposure And Toxicity To Hawaiian Hoary Bats (Lasiurus Cinereus Semotus) Associated With Eleutherodactylus Frog Control, William C. Pitt, Gary W. Witmer, Susan M. Jojola, Hans Sin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We examined potential exposure of Hawaiian hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus semotus) to citric acid, a minimum risk pesticide registered for control of invasive Eleutherodactylus frog populations. Hoary bats are nocturnal insectivores that roost solitarily in foliage, federally listed as endangered, and are endemic to Hawaii. Oral ingestion during grooming of contaminated fur appears to be the principal route by which these bats might be exposed to citric acid. We made assessments of oral toxicity, citric acid consumption, retention of material on fur, and grooming using big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) as a surrogate species. We evaluated both ground application and …

Comparative Responses To Endocrine Disrupting Compounds In Earlylife Stages Of Atlantic Salmon, Salmo Salar, T. A. Duffy, L. R. Iwanowics, S. D. Mccormick

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are endangered an adromous fish that may be exposed to feminizing endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) during early development, potentially altering physiological capacities, survival and fitness. To assess differential life stage sensitivity to common EDCs, we carried out short-term (4 day) exposures using three doses each of 17 α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), 17 β-estradiol(E2), and nonylphenol (NP) on four early life stages; embryos, yolk-sac larvae, feeding fry and 1 year old smolts. Differential response was compared using vitellogenin (Vtg, a precursor egg protein) gene transcription. Smolts were also examined for impacts on plasma Vtg, cortisol, thyroid hormones (T_{4 …}

Inference Of Strata Separation And Gas Emission Paths In Longwall Overburden Using Continuous Wavelet Transform Of Well Logs And Geostatistical Simulation, C. Ozgen Karacan, Ricardo A. Olea

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Prediction of potential methane emission pathways from various sources into active mine workings or sealed gobs from longwall overburden is important for controlling methane and for improving mining safety. The aim of this paper is to infer strata separation intervals and thus gas emission pathways from standard well log data. The proposed technique was applied to well logs acquired through the Mary Lee/Blue Creek coal seam of the Upper Pottsville Formation in the BlackWarrior Basin, Alabama, using well logs froma series of boreholes aligned along a nearly linear profile. For this purpose, continuous wavelet transform (CWT) of digitized gamma well …

A Bayesian Network Model For Assessing Natural Estrogen Fate And Transport In A Swine Waste Lagoon, Boknam Lee, Seth W. Kullman, Erin Yost, Michael T. Meyer, Lynn Worley-Davis, C. Michael Williams, Kenneth H. Reckhow

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Commercial swine waste lagoons are regarded as a major reservoir of natural estrogens, which have the potential to produce adverse physiological effects on exposed aquatic organisms and wildlife. However, there remains limited understanding of the complex mechanisms of physical, chemical, and biological processes that govern the fate and transport of natural estrogens within an anaerobic swine lagoon. To improve lagoon management and ultimately help control the offsite transport of these compounds from swine operations, a probabilistic Bayesian network model was developed to assess natural estrogen fate and budget and then compared against data collected from a commercial swine field site. …

Practice Authority For Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: Troubling Trends In Regulatory Variability, Susanne Johnson Phillips

Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses

In response to the national call to increase the healthcare provider workforce, states are enacting more laws to give APRNs full practice authority. However, the approach is incremental and often politically motivated, leading to wide variation in state laws. A significant area of regulatory variability relates to the point at which APRNs have full practice authority. Some states never allow it for one or more APRN roles; some states have a transition to practice, where, following licensure there is a period of oversight or supervision; some states allow full practice authority upon licensure. Full practice authority for APRNs upon licensure …

Does Driver Safety Education Have An Impact On Texting While Driving?, Kelli Noble, Duane Young

Graduate Research Projects

In today’s society, Americans are more connected than ever. Gone are the days of pulling to the side of the road in order to find a pay phone to call for help, check in with family or find an address of a business in the yellow pages. All these tasks can now be accomplished while driving down the road. Most Americans have become accustomed to driving with distractions; changing the radio station, eating a snack or carrying on an in car conversation with passengers. Many profess that these distractions can be accomplished while maintaining an awareness of traffic conditions and …

Palestinian Women Of The Intifada: The Women’S Committees, 1987-1988, Melinda Cohoon

University Honors Theses

This study situates the Palestinian women’s committees within the initial year of Intifada, 1987-1988, to show that women’s committees were politically active yet were an inherent creation due to class issues. It became evident that these unofficial women’s popular organizations were a development of the 1970s. Furthermore, this study argues that the women’s committees were affected by issues of class, politics and gender; after all, their creation was due to the charitable societies exclusivity to upper and upper-middle class women, while gendered differences in tactics of women and women’s committees during the Intifada in comparison to the Shabbiba (youth movement) …

Gender Complex Curriculum For The Portland Public School District: Proposal, Kathryn Hayes

University Honors Theses

GLSEN states that 43.9% of students felt unsafe in school to express their preferred gender in the year 2011. This lack of safety can be attributed to a variety of factors including peer harassment, harassment by teachers or staff, lack of support or resources, unintentionally offensive language in the classroom, and lack of gender variety in historical figures and role models. The first part of this project is an original gender-complex curriculum aimed at creating a safer space inside the classroom for elementary aged students who may identify or express as gender variant by encouraging these, and other supportive behaviors …

Cul3 Ubiquitin Ligase And Ctb73 Protein Interactions, Lacey Royer

University Honors Theses

Ubiquitination is a fundamental biochemical process, which controls numerous aspects of protein function, such as degradation, protein-protein interaction and sub cellular localization. Cullin 3 (Cul3) is a ubiquitin ligase that is fundamentally responsible for ubiquitination of proteins and plays a critical role in normal cellular processes. Cul3 has been shown to use substrate adaptors to facilitate the ubiquitination process and many of these substrate adaptors contain BTB domains among other protein-protein interacting domains. A novel BTB domain containing protein is Ctb73. Ctb73 has a BACK and Kelch domain along with a BTB domain. It has not been shown whether Ctb73 …

The Media’S Presentation Of The Second Chance Act: Funding For Reentry Following Prison, A Content Analysis, Ailene Joyce Farkac

University Honors Theses

The US prison system has multiplied by four since 1980; each year about 730,000 people enter state and federal prisons and 700,000 people exit. As a result of this expansion, there is a massive increase of formerly incarcerated people reentering local communities every year. Budget cuts in prison programs and in local government’s social services are causing these individuals to be less educated and less prepared for reintegration; communities are also ill prepared to absorb them. The Second Chance Act was signed into law by President Bush on April 9, 2008. It authorized a pool of about $393m (renewed in …

The Changing Landscape Of Peer Aggression: A Literature Review On Cyberbullying And Interventions, Katie Davis, Justin Reich, Carrie James

Journal of Youth Development

While traditional forms of bullying have been steadily decreasing over the course of the last two decades, cyberbullying has emerged as a major concern among parents, teachers, and other professionals working with young people. Because cyberbullying is a relatively new phenomenon, its research base is not as well developed as research on traditional bullying. In this literature review, the authors synthesize current knowledge on cyberbullying’s prevalence among youth; its relationship to offline bullying; which youth are most likely to be perpetrators and victims; the negative effects of cyberbullying on victims; and the landscape of intervention efforts currently employed in the …

Youth Online Media Use: Associations With Youth Demographics, Parental Monitoring, And Parent-Child Relationships, Jessie Rudi, Jodi Dworkin

Journal of Youth Development

As online media has become an increasingly important part of youths’ daily lives, it is critical for the field to explore questions related to youth online media use in order to support youth workers, youth development practice and programming. Using a national sample of youth age 13-22 (N = 585), the current study explored demographic differences in youth online media use, and examined associations between youth demographics, parental monitoring, parent-child relationship quality, and likelihood of being a frequent user of online activities. Although youth reported being frequent users of online media, Internet use was not the same for all youth. …

Targeted Search For Actinomycetes From Nearshore And Deep-Sea Marine Sediments, Alejandra Prieto-Davó, Luis J. Villarreal-Gómez, Stephanie Forschner-Dancause, Alan T. Bull, James E.M. Stach, David C. Smith, David C. Rowley, Paul R. Jensen

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Sediment samples collected off the coast of San Diego were analyzed for actinomycete diversity using culture-independent techniques. Eight new operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the Streptomycetaceae were identified as well as new diversity within previously cultured marine OTUs. Sequences belonging to the marine actinomycete genus Salinispora were also detected, despite the fact that this genus has only been reported from more tropical environments. Independent analyses of marine sediments from the Canary Basin (3814 m) and the South Pacific Gyre (5126 and 5699 m) also revealed Salinispora sequences providing further support for the occurrence of this genus in deep-sea sediments. Efforts …