Digital Commons Network^™

Editors' Note, Laura B. Regassa, Delena Gatch

Biology: Faculty Publications

Dear colleagues,

The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is undergoing some major changes.

• The layout of the journal has been overhauled, giving it a look that better aligns with the quality of the content. As we continue to struggle with SoTL “counting” as scholarship at some institutions, it is important to package our work in a way that reinforces its value. We hope you enjoy the new look!

• Articles are being assigned DOI (digital object identifier) numbers. All articles, past and present, will be tagged and linked to metadata as indexing is completed over the next …

Astrocytes Increase Atp Exocytosis Mediated Calcium Signaling In Response To Microgroove Structures, Ajay V. Singh, Michael Raymond, Fabiano Pace, Anthony Certo, Jonathan M. Zuidema, Christopher A. Mckay, Ryan J. Gilbert, X. Lucas Lu, Leo Q. Wan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Following central nervous system (CNS) injury, activated astrocytes form glial scars, which inhibit axonal regeneration, leading to long-term functional deficits. Engineered nanoscale scaffolds guide cell growth and enhance regeneration within models of spinal cord injury. However, the effects of micro-/nano size scaffolds on astrocyte function are not well characterized. In this study, a high throughput (HTP) microscale platform was developed to study astrocyte cell behavior on micropatterned surfaces containing 11/4m spacing grooves with a depth of 250 or 500â €...nm. Significant changes in cell and nuclear elongation and alignment on patterned surfaces were observed, compared to on flat surfaces. The …

2015 Spring Commencement, Georgia Southern University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

2015 Fall Commencement, Georgia Southern University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Differences In Health Literacy Knowledge And Experiences Among Senior Nursing Students, Sharon S. Williamson, Joanne Chopak-Foss

Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background: Low health literacy has been identified as a significant public health problem. Also, higher expenditures due to longer hospital stays have been reported for persons with low health literacy. Nurses can assist patients with low health literacy to reduce their hospital stays and increase compliance with discharge instructions.

Methods: A quantitative, descriptive research design was employed to assess knowledge and experiences of 192 senior nursing students. These students were administered the Health Literacy Knowledge and Experiences Survey (HL-KES), a 2- part survey that included assessment of knowledge about health literacy and experience in working with populations of …

Is There An Economic Case For Investing In Nursing Care – What Does The Literature Tell Us?, Diane E. Twigg, Helen Myers, Christine Duffield, Margaret Giles, Gemma Evans

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Aim

To determine the cost effectiveness of increasing nurse staffing or changing the nursing skill mix in adult medical and/or surgical patients?

Background

Research has demonstrated that nurse staffing levels and skill mix are associated with patient outcomes in acute care settings. If increased nurse staffing levels or richer skill mix can be shown to be cost-effective hospitals may be more likely to consider these aspects when making staffing decisions.

Design

A systematic review of the literature on economic evaluations of nurse staffing and patient outcomes was conducted to see whether there is consensus that increasing nursing hours/skill mix is …

Consanguinity And Pregnancy Outcomes In A Multi-Ethnic, Metropolitan European Population, Rolf Becker, Thomas Keller, Rolf-Dieter Wegner, Heidemarie Neitzel, Markus Stumm, Ute Knoll, Markus Stärk, Heiner Fangerau, Alan Bittles

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the risk of major anomalies in the offspring of consanguineous couples, including data on the prenatal situation. Methods: Over 20years (1993-2012), 35391 fetuses were examined by prenatal sonography. In 675 cases (1.9%), parents were consanguineous, with 307 couples (45.5%) related as first cousins, 368 couples (54.5%) beyond first cousins. Detailed information was retrieved on 31710 (89.6%) fetuses, (consanguineous 568: 1.8%). Results: Overall prevalence of major anomalies among fetuses with non-consanguineous parents was 2.9% (consanguineous, 10.9%; first cousins, 12.4%; beyond first cousins, 6.5%). Adjusting the overall numbers for cases having been …

Factors Influencing The Employment Of Australian Phd Graduates, Denise Jackson, Grant Michelson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

It has long been argued in many Western countries that having a highly skilled workforce is crucial to innovation and national competitiveness. Ensuring the employment of the most highly educated members of a country's population is integral to helping achieve such economic outcomes. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the major factors that account for the initial full-time employment of Australian-trained PhD graduates. It draws on a national survey conducted in 2011 (n = 2761) and 2012 (n = 3181) of PhD graduates in Australia across all major disciplines four to six months after conferral of their …

Rapid Root Elongation By Phreatophyte Seedlings Does Not Imply Tolerance Of Water Table Decline, Caroline A. Canham, Raymond H. Froend, William D. Stock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Key message Despite high rates of root elongation during phreatophyte establishment once connection to groundwater has occurred and leaf area develops, seedlings demonstrate limited capacity for root elongation in response to groundwater decline.

Abstract In a water-limited environment, rapid root elongation immediately after germination can be critical for a plant to reach deeper water sources such as a water table to avoid water deficit stress. However, once plants have accessed a water table, their continued survival may depend on their ability to adapt their root distribution to changes in the depth to a water table. In glasshouse experiments using two …

Mechanisms Contributing To Differential Regulation Of Pax3 Downstream Target Genes In Normal Human Epidermal Melanocytes Versus Melanoma Cells, Danielle Bartlett, Glen M. Boyle, Mel Ziman, Sandra Medic

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Melanoma is a highly aggressive and drug resistant form of skin cancer. It arises from melanocytes, the pigment producing cells of the skin. The formation of these melanocytes is driven by the transcription factor PAX3 early during embryonic development. As a result of alternative splicing, the PAX3 gene gives rise to eight different transcripts which encode isoforms that have different structures and activate different downstream target genes involved in pathways of cell proliferation, migration, differentiation and survival. Furthermore, posttranslational modifications have also been shown to alter the functions of PAX3.We previously identified PAX3 downstream target genes in melanocytes and melanoma …

Rapid Recovery Of An Urban Remnant Reptile Community Following Summer Wildfire, Robert A. Davis, Tim S. Doherty

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Reptiles in urban remnants are threatened with extinction by increased fire frequency, habitat fragmentation caused by urban development, and competition and predation from exotic species. Understanding how urban reptiles respond to and recover from such disturbances is key to their conservation. We monitored the recovery of an urban reptile community for five years following a summer wildfire at Kings Park in Perth, Western Australia, using pitfall trapping at five burnt and five unburnt sites. The reptile community recovered rapidly following the fire. Unburnt sites initially had higher species richness and total abundance, but burnt sites rapidly converged, recording a similar …

Multiple Drivers Of Decline In The Global Status Of Freshwater Crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea), Nadia I. Richman, Monika Bohm, Susan Adams, Fernando Alvarez, Elizabeth A. Bergey, John J.S. Bunn, Quinton Burnham, Jay Cordeiro, Jason Coughran, Keith A. Crandall, Kathryn L. Dawkins, Robert J. Distefano, Niall E. Doran, Lennart Edsman, Arnold G. Eversole, Leopold Fureder, James M. Furse, Francessa Gherardi, Premek Hamr, David M. Holdich, Pierre Horwitz, Kerrylyn Johnston, Clive M. Jones, Julia P.G. Jones, Robert L. Jones, Thomas G. Jones, Tadashi Kawai, Susan Lawler, Marilu Lopez-Mejia, Rebecca M. Miller, Carlos Pedraza-Lara, Julian D. Reynolds, Alastair M.M. Richardson, Mark B. Schiltz, Guenter A. Schuster, Peter J. Sibley, Catherine Souty-Grosset, Christopher A. Taylor, Roger F. Thoma, Jerry Walls, Todd S. Walsh, Ben Collen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Rates of biodiversity loss are higher in freshwater ecosystems than in most terrestrial or marine ecosystems, making freshwater conservation a priority. However, prioritization methods are impeded by insufficient knowledge on the distribution and conservation status of freshwater taxa, particularly invertebrates. We evaluated the extinction risk of the world's 590 freshwater crayfish species using the IUCN Categories and Criteria and found 32% of all species are threatened with extinction. The level of extinction risk differed between families, with proportionally more threatened species in the Parastacidae and Astacidae than in the Cambaridae. Four described species were Extinct and 21% were assessed as …

Circulating Melanoma Cell Subpopulations: Their Heterogeneity And Differential Responses To Treatment, Elin S. Gray, Anna L. Reid, Samantha Bowyer, Leslie Calapre, Kelvin Siew, Robert Pearce, Lester Cowell, Markus H. Frank, Michael Millward, Mel R. Ziman Dr

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Metastatic melanoma is a highly heterogeneous tumor; thus, methods to analyze tumor-derived cells circulating in blood should address this diversity. Taking this into account, we analyzed, using multiparametric flow cytometry, the co-expression of the melanoma markers melanoma cell adhesion molecule and melanoma-associated chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan and the tumor-initiating markers ATP-binding cassette sub-family B member 5 (ABCB5), CD271, and receptor activator of NF-κβ (RANK) in individual circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from 40 late-stage (III-IV) and 16 early-stage (I-II) melanoma patients. CTCs were heterogeneous within and between patients, with limited co-expression between the five markers analyzed. Analysis of patient matched blood and …

The Uyghur Population And Genetic Susceptibility To Type 2 Diabetes: Potential Role For Variants In Cdkal1, Jazf1, And Igf1 Genes, Manshu Song, Feifei Zhao, Longjin Ran, Mamatyusupu Dolikun, Lijuan Wu, Lijuan Ge, Hao Dong, Qing Gao, Yanchun Zhai, Ling Zhang, Yuxiang Yan, Fen Liu, Xinghua Yang, Xiuhua Guo, Youxin Wang, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Substantial evidence suggests that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a multi-factorial disease with a strong genetic component. A list of genetic susceptibility loci in populations of European and Asian ancestry has been established in the literature. Little is known on the inter-ethnic contribution of such established functional polymorphic variants. We performed a case-control study to explore the genetic susceptibility of 16 selected T2DM-related SNPs in a cohort of 102 Uyghur objects (51 cases and 51 controls). Three of the 16 SNPs showed significant association with T2DM in the Uyghur population. There were significant differences between the T2DM and control …