Digital Commons Network^™

Ecotoxicological Bioassays For Treated Wastewater Monitoring And Assessment, M.G. Lionetto, R. Caricato, A. Calisi, E. Erroi, M.E. Giordano, T. Schettino

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.

Genome Editing Of Human Ipscs Using The Cas9 System, Cade Ellis Ito, Nick Wolfe

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Recent research advancements in induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have broadened their capacity for research in specific disease models3 need for effective and robust techniques to detect cell differentiation. Two techniques currently exist to determine cell type; morphology and immunostaining. Although they have been used by researchers for many years, these methods can be unreliable, time-consuming, and very uneconomical. We seek to create a technology that will be more accurate and efficient in detecting differentiation of iPSCs. This will allow researchers greater speed in screening for specific differentiation products, further increasing the utility of iPSCs in medical research. We will …

Reverse Protein Engineering Of Firefly Luciferase, Kahler Bugtong, Skyler Herczeg, Abraham Munoz, Alexandra Obata

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Firefly luciferase is a bioluminescent protein commonly used as a bioluminescent tag in biological studies and applications. However, because the protein is fairly large in size, it is sometimes larger than the molecules it is intended to measure and is therefore not a sufficient tag in smaller applications. The active site of firely luciferase is also not well understood, making it difficult to engineer the protein without affecting its bioluminescent activity. In this paper, we discuss the experimental methods of Reverse Protein Engineering: a bioengineering technology that reduces the size of a protein while retaining its original function. This involves …

Trnas As Regulators Of Biological Processes, Medha Raina, Michael Ibba

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Transfer RNAs (tRNA) are best known for their role as adaptors during translation of the genetic code. Beyond their canonical role during protein biosynthesis, tRNAs also perform additional functions in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes for example in regulating gene expression. Aminoacylated tRNAs have also been implicated as substrates for non-ribosomal peptide bond formation, post-translational protein labeling, modification of phospholipids in the cell membrane, and antibiotic biosyntheses. Most recently tRNA fragments, or tRFs, have also been recognized to play regulatory roles. Here, we examine in more detail some of the new functions emerging for tRNA in a variety of cellular processes …

Emotions Are Contagious, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Through millions of pairs of lenses, we each see ourselves, others, and relationships from a variety of views. Each brings his or her inner world, unmet needs, emotional baggage, culture, and belief system into the human connection. So perhaps I shouldn't have been stunned a few weeks ago while reading the resiliency research associated with troubled youth inside our schools, when I encountered these words from Dr. Nicholas Long: "The number one reason for the increase in student violence in schools is staff counteraggression." Yet I was stunned.

Liquid Waste Treatment: Can Combined Biological Processes Be Really Effective?, Luca Rondi

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.

Genomics Investigator Works Toward Cancer Prevention With Award-Winning Research, Jim Bakken

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Volume 51, Number 43: June 11, 2014, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

The Potential Roles Of Hepatocyte Growth Factor (Hgf)-Met Pathway Inhibitors In Cancer Treatment, Rahul A. Parikh, Peng Wang, Jan H. Beumer, Edward Chu, Leonard J. Appleman

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

MET is located on chromosome 7q31 and is a proto-oncogene that encodes for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) receptor, a member of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family. HGF, also known as scatter factor (SF), is the only known ligand for MET. MET is a master regulator of cell growth and division (mitogenesis), mobility (motogenesis), and differentiation (morphogenesis); it plays an important role in normal development and tissue regeneration. The HGF-MET axis is frequently dysregulated in cancer by MET gene amplification, translocation, and mutation, or by MET or HGF protein overexpression. MET dysregulation is associated with an increased propensity for metastatic …

Community Level Impacts Associated With The Invasion Of English Ivy (Hedera Spp.) In Forest Park: A Look At The Impacts Of Ivy On Community Composition And Soil Moisture, Sara Rose Copp

Dissertations and Theses

Invasive species degrade ecosystems by altering natural processes and decreasing the abundance and diversity of native flora. Communities with major fluctuations in resource supply allow invasive species to exploit limiting resources making the community prone to invasion. In the Pacific Northwest, urban forests characterized with limited light and seasonally limited soil moisture are being dominated by nonnative English ivy (Hedera spp). Three observational studies were conducted in the Southern end of Forest Park within the Balch Creek Subwatershed in Portland, Oregon in order to understand 1) how English ivy changes over three growing seasons, 2) how the native …

Legacy Borehole Project, Maza Brady, Luke Cashman, Erin Hicks, Meghan Richey

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The Legacy Borehole Project is a three-year effort to design and build a sensor package that will be used to explore the geological and chemical conditions of the ocean floor. Over the course of three years, a mechanical structure and a robotic system will be constructed to lower sensors into previously drilled boreholes. As the team responsible for the development of the first year of this project, we have constructed a prototype sensor package and mock mechanical structure to test a communication interface between the sensors and a graphical user interface. The sensors were tested by lowering the sensor package …

Identification And Characterization Of An Operon, Msaabcr, That Controls Virulence And Biofilm Development In Staphlococcus Aureus, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Mohamed O. Elasri

Faculty Publications

Background

Community-acquired, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains often cause localized infections in immunocompromised hosts, but some strains show enhanced virulence leading to severe infections even among healthy individuals with no predisposing risk factors. The genetic basis for this enhanced virulence has yet to be determined. S. aureus possesses a wide variety of virulence factors, the expression of which is carefully coordinated by a variety of regulators. Several virulence regulators have been well characterized, but others have yet to be thoroughly investigated. Previously, we identified the msa gene as a regulator of several virulence genes, biofilm development, and antibiotic resistance. We also …

Performance Of All Student Subgroups In Arkansas: Moving Beyond Achievement Gaps, Sarah M. Burks, Gary W. Ritter

Arkansas Education Reports

The 2013-14 school year marks ten years since the Arkansas General Assembly passed legislation to construct a new K-12 funding system in response to a 2002 Arkansas Supreme Court ruling in the decades-long court case, Lake View School District No. 25 v. Huckabee. The General Assembly established a foundation formula to provide adequate funding to districts across the state and created categorical funding to provide additional equity funding to districts based on need. In doing so, the state provides additional funding to districts based on the number of students that are English Language Learners, in alternative learning environments, or from …

The Gordon Natural Area (Gna): (Our Ecological Treasure Island In A Sea Of Development) 2013: The 40th Anniversary, Gerard Hertel

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

No abstract provided.

Students Spend Summer Conducting Immunology Research, University Relations

Campus News Archive

Student researchers gain lab experience researching Human Herpesvirus 6.

The Alestle - Vol. 66 No. 35 - 06/11/2014, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The Alestle

Vol. 66 No. 35

P‐Nexfs Analysis Of Aerosol Phosphorus Delivered To The Mediterranean Sea, Amelia F. Longo, Ellery D. Ingall, Julia M. Diaz, Michelle Oakes, Laura E. King, Athanasios Nenes, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Kaliopi Violaki, Anna Avila, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Jay Brandes, Ian Mcnulty, David J. Vine

Faculty Publications

Biological productivity in many ocean regions is controlled by the availability of the nutrient phosphorus. In the Mediterranean Sea, aerosol deposition is a key source of phosphorus and understanding its composition is critical for determining its potential bioavailability. Aerosol phosphorus was investigated in European and North African air masses using phosphorus near‐edge X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy (P‐NEXFS). These air masses are the main source of aerosol deposition to the Mediterranean Sea. We show that European aerosols are a significant source of soluble phosphorus to the Mediterranean Sea. European aerosols deliver on average 3.5 times more soluble phosphorus than North African aerosols …

Pattern Of Mutation Rates In The Germline Of Drosophila Melanogaster Males From A Large-Scale Mutation Screening Experiment, Jian-Jun Gao, Xue-Rong Pan, Jing Hu, Li Ma, Jian-Min Wu, Ye-Lin Shao, Shi-Meng Ai, Shu-Qun Liu, Sara A Barton, Ronny C Woodruff, Ya-Ping Zhang, Yun-Xin Fu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The sperm or eggs of sexual organisms go through a series of cell divisions from the fertilized egg; mutations can occur at each division. Mutations in the lineage of cells leading to the sperm or eggs are of particular importance because many such mutations may be shared by somatic tissues and also may be inherited, thus having a lasting consequence. For decades, little has been known about the pattern of the mutation rates along the germline development. Recently it was shown from a small portion of data that resulted from a large-scale mutation screening experiment that the rates of recessive …

Body Shape Divergence In Invasive Round Goby, Cat Collins

DePaul Discoveries

The round goby, Neogobius melanostomus, originally native to the Black and Caspian seas, was introduced into the Great Lakes via ballast water in the 1990’s. Since then, the species has spread to all of the Great Lakes, thriving in the Lake Michigan region and spreading to surrounding bays and rivers. Invasive species are considered to have a high evolutionary potential. Differences in environmental conditions between native and introduced ranges stimulate adaptive evolution. Multiple introductions of an exotic species can result in separate instances of founder effects, further increasing the chance of evolutionary change. A total of 267 round goby specimens …

How Do Management Treatments Affect Invasive Cattail (Typha X Glauca) And Pore Water Nutrient Concentrations?, Yarency Rodriguez

DePaul Discoveries

Invasive species are problematic for wetland managers, but little is known about how common management treatments influence nutrient cycling or plant responses. This study tested three experimental treatments (mowing, herbiciding, and harvesting (i.e., removal of aboveground biomass)) on several response variables: wetland soil porewater nutrient content (NO₃^-, NH₄⁺, PO₄^-), native plant and invasive-Typha density, and light attenuation through the plant canopy. Seventeen days post-treatment, herbiciding resulted in higher porewater phosphate concentrations (55.63 µg-P/L) than harvesting (8.95 µg-P/L). After 24 days, herbicide had higher porewater phosphate concentration (72.03 µg-P/L) than all …

Arthropod Communities And Red-Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes Erythrocephalus) Habitat Selection, Michael C. Lordon

DePaul Discoveries

Red-headed woodpecker populations are near-threatened. Their habitat selection and reproductive success may be related to the availability of arthropods. We sampled the arthropod community within 0.04 ha plots surrounding known nests and compared these findings to plots without nests in the same fragments of forest or park in Cook County, IL. After 14 days, the traps were recovered, yielding close to 45,000 arthropods across 10 orders. Nest and control site differences were not statistically significant. Differences between park and forest diversity were not statistically significant either, but the greater diversity values in forests were consistent with expectations. We conclude that …

Investigating The Viability Of Two Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia Isolates After Air-Drying, Samantha Lane, Joanna Brooke

DePaul Discoveries

Abstract

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a water-borne infectious bacterium that is found in both clinical (hospitals) and non-clinical environments. This human pathogen is commonly recovered from respiratory tract infections. A recent study at a hospital in Taiwan suggested that dry patient charts can serve as a vehicle of transmission of this bacterium⁷. As S. maltophilia is not commonly isolated from dry surfaces, this current study tested the hypothesis that this pathogen can remain viable for some time on a dry surface. This study was designed to determine how long S. maltophilia could remain viable after air-drying by observing …

Quantifying The Effects Of Vegetation On The Carbon Storage Of Northern Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands, Nia Hurst

DePaul Discoveries

Given the rising concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the Earth’s atmosphere, it is important to assess the natural reservoirs in which carbon can be stored. Great Lakes coastal wetlands are a potentially significant pool of carbon that have yet to be thoroughly investigated. Our study measured soil C (carbon) and depth of organic matter in swamp, transitional, and wet meadow vegetation zones of three wetlands located in the Eastern half of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in the Les Chenaux Islands. It was hypothesized that soil C would decrease moving lakeward (swamp>transitional>wet meadow); however, this hypothesis was …

Vitamin A Deficiency Causes Ovulation Abnormalities In Mice, Rebecca Ursin

DePaul Discoveries

Retinoic acid (RA) is an active metabolite of vitamin A (VA) and is involved in tissue organization, patterning, and growth. RA has been shown to regulate male reproduction, however information on its role in ovary development is limited. To investigate the functions of RA in the ovary, we examined its role in ovary development and ovulation using an in vivo dietary VA-deprivation animal model. Our preliminary results have shown that VA deficiency causes a variety of ovarian pathologies, including reduced numbers of total follicles and corpus lutea, formation of hemorrhagic and atretic follicles, and formation of bursa and follicular cysts. …

The Effect Of Short-Term Water Stress On Leaf Isoprene Emission, Othon Nunez-Montelongo

DePaul Discoveries

This study measured the photosynthetic rate and isoprene emission from red oaks (Quercus rubra) during drought stress conditions. Over a period of 30 days, the trees were grown outdoors on a rooftop. The experimental group was subject to drought stress while the control group was watered regularly. The measurements from each group were compared to determine differences. The results indicated that isoprene emissions do not increase directly from drought stress, and that whole plant increases are due to indirect increases in leaf temperature caused by drought conditions.

The Integrated Biohydrogen Reactor Clarifier System (Ibrcs): Setup, Performance, And Application, Hesham El-Naggar

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.

Sludge Pretreatment Methods For Enhanced Volatiles Solids Destruction And Methane Production, Ng Jern Wun

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.

Treatment Of Carbide Slurry Using Electrocoagulation, Shereen Wajeeh Hasan, Muftah El-Naas

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.

Dominican Students Return From Ugandan Immersion Trip, Sarah Gardner, Dave Albee

Press Releases

The Dominican entourage brought big donations such as 75 E-Readers from the Worldreader program preloaded with 100 children’s reading books and two suitcases full of vegetable seeds collected from local donors by LeeAnn Bartolini, psychology professor and trip organizer. They also brought little donations such as hand stamps and star stickers. Dominican students used the trinkets to reward and give positive reinforcement to Ugandan children in school. Sister Carla said it is their hope that these children become educated and, eventually, volunteer as future educated parents to serve as teachers’ aides in crowded classrooms that can have as many as …

Impact Of Enhanced Stabilization Treatments On Sludge Quality And Methane Recovery, Camilla Braguglia, A. Gallipoli, A. Gianico, G. Mascolo, G. Mininni

Wastewater and Biosolids Treatment and Reuse: Bridging Modeling and Experimental Studies

No abstract provided.