Digital Commons Network^™

Application Of Sihler’S Stain To Expose Cardiac Conduction Nerve Fibers, Adam Jorgensen, Jonathan J. Wisco

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Arrhythmia is a serious heart condition that affects 14 million people in the United Statesⁱ, and is characterized by irregular frequency of atrial and ventricular beats.ⁱⁱ The most serious effects of arrhythmia include sudden cardiac arrest and stroke.ⁱⁱⁱ About 383,000 cases of cardiac arrest are recorded annually in the United States alone.^iv In a report complied in 2011 by the World Health Organization, stroke has the second highest death rate of any disease worldwide, ending the lives of 6.1 million people annually.^v Recent developments in cardiac ablation have helped in the treatment of arrhythmia …

Sediment Loads And Transport At Constructed Chutes Along The Missouri River-Upper Hamburg Chute Near Nebraska City, Nebraska, And Kansas Chute Near Peru, Nebraska, Brenda K. Densmore, David L. Rus, Matthew T. Moser, Brent M. Hall, Michael J. Andersen

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, monitored suspended sediment within constructed Missouri River chutes during March through October 2012. Chutes were constructed at selected river bends by the US Army Corps of Engineers to help mitigate aquatic habitat lost through the creation and maintenance of the navigation channel on the Missouri River. The restoration and development of chutes is one method for creating shallow-water habitat within the Missouri River to meet requirements established by the amended 2000 Biological Opinion. Understanding geomorphic channel-evolution processes and sediment transport is important for the …

The Grizzly, February 4, 2016, Brian Thomas, Leighnah L. Perkins, Deana Harley, Alexandria Sutton, William Diciurcio, Jay Farrell, Jim Yichi Zhang, Jordan Ostrum, Rachel Dickinson, Maddie Mathay, Joy Jones, Andrew Tran, Hunter Gellman, Cory Rogers

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Ursinus to Host Popular Author • Clearing the Path to a Career • Companies and Grad Schools Seek Out Ursinus Alumni • International Perspective: Cultural Differences in Parties • Businesses Offer Student Discounts • Talking About Depression with Nuance • Fighting Off the Freshman Fifteen • Ups and Downs of Being an RA in Reimert • New Face on Campus • Opinion: The Elephants Aren't in the Room: Poll Probes Pupils on Pressing Politics • From Across the Atlantic • Dynamic Duo

The Bg News February 04, 2016, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. February 04, 2016. Volume 95-Issue 41.

Toward Repurposing Metformin As A Precision Anti-Cancer Therapy Using Structural Systems Pharmacology, Thomas Hart, Shihab Dider, Weiwei Han, Hua Xu, Zhongming Zhao, Lei Xie

Publications and Research

Metformin, a drug prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, exhibits anti-cancer effects in a portion of patients, but the direct molecular and genetic interactions leading to this pleiotropic effect have not yet been fully explored. To repurpose metformin as a precision anti-cancer therapy, we have developed a novel structural systems pharmacology approach to elucidate metformin’s molecular basis and genetic biomarkers of action. We integrated structural proteome-scale drug target identification with network biology analysis by combining structural genomic, functional genomic, and interactomic data. Through searching the human structural proteome, we identified twenty putative metformin binding targets and their interaction models. We experimentally …

February 2016 Faculty Senate Packet, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Packets

No abstract provided.

Non-Thermal Atmospheric Plasma Induces Ros-Independent Cell Death In U373mg Glioma Cells And Augments The Cytotoxicity Of Temozolomide, Gillian Conway, Alan Casey, Vladimir Milosavljevic, Yupeng Liu, Orla L. Howe, Patrick J. Cullen, James Curtin

Articles

Non-thermal atmospheric plasma (NTAP) is an ionised gas produced under high voltage that can generate short-lived chemically active species and induce a cytotoxic insult in cancer cells. Cell-specific resistance to NTAP-mediated cytotoxicity has been reported in the literature. The aim of this study was to determine whether resistance against NTAP could be overcome using the human glioma cell line U373MG.

Methods:

Non-thermal atmospheric plasma was generated using a Dielectric Barrier Device (DBD) system with a maximum voltage output of 120 kV at 50 Hz. The viability of U373MG GBM cells and HeLa cervical carcinoma cells was determined using morphology, flow …

Incorporating Priors For Medical Image Segmentation Using A Genetic Algorithm, Payel Ghosh, Melanie Mitchell, James A. Tanyi, Arthur Y. Hung

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Medical image segmentation is typically performed manually by a physician to delineate gross tumor volumes for treatment planning and diagnosis. Manual segmentation is performed by medical experts using prior knowledge of organ shapes and locations but is prone to reader subjectivity and inconsistency. Automating the process is challenging due to poor tissue contrast and ill-defined organ/tissue boundaries in medical images. This paper presents a genetic algorithm for combining representations of learned information such as known shapes, regional properties and relative position of objects into a single framework to perform automated three-dimensional segmentation. The algorithm has been tested for prostate segmentation …

February 4, 2016, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the February 4, 2016, meeting of the University Senate. 22 pages

Analysis Of Hmgcr As A Genetic Modifier For Alzheimer’S Disease, Brian Davis, Dr. John S. K. Kauwe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder that occurs predominantly later in life and represents the fourth most common cause of death in the developed world. Given the absence of curative treatment, discovering the factors related to the development of AD and the conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD is one of the most urgent medical mysteries affecting the aging population. The search for the identification of genes contributing to AD led to the identification of 695 candidate genes of which a surprising number are directly involved in lipid metabolism at the level of transport, synthesis, storage, …

Association Of Rare Genetics Variants To The Protection Of Alzheimer’S Disease In The Cache County Data Set, Josue David Gonzalez Murcia, John Kauwe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the top 10 causes of death in the world and the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, with 5.5 million people diagnosed with the disease. Alzheimer’s cannot be cured, prevented or slowed. Most research with Alzheimer’s disease has been done on SNPs that have a relatively high frequency in the population this has helped facilitate researchers in finding a broad genetic pathway in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (Naj et al. 2011; Harold et al. 2009). Our research will focus on a very rare SNP, with a much lower frequency than previously …

Expanding The Freshwater Aquatic Invertebrate Identification Guide Cd, Sarah Brown, C. Riley Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Freshwater Aquatic invertebrate Identification Guide (FAIIG) was a computer program created by the C. Riley Nelson lab in 2006 to help students with the identification process of various aquatic invertebrates throughout Utah. It has been used in Bio 100 classes at Brigham Young University to help students successfully identify various aquatic invertebrate specimens from rivers and streams in Utah. The goal of this project was to work on expanding the FAIIG program to include aquatic invertebrates in North America west of the Mississippi River. As well as expanding the breadth of content, we also worked on improving the information …

Association Of Rs75932628 (R47h) With Vascular Dementia In The Cache County Study, Emily Sears, Dr. John Kauwe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Vascular dementia (VaD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by atherosclerosis, or inadequate blood flow to the brain as a result of the build-up of fat deposits, dead cells, or other cell debris on the inside of arteries. It shortens the lifespan of those affected, and severely impairs their quality of life. VaD is the second most common form of dementia, after Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 20-30% of dementia cases. Thus far the risk factors that have been determined are non-specific to the brain: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (Roman et. al 2003). There has not been …

Assembling Benchmark Datasets For Machine Learning Classification, Parker Hollingsworth, Stephen Piccolo

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Machine learning classification is a type of artificial intelligence that learns from data and makes predictions. There are many different algorithms that can be used to develop predictive models for machine learning. Generally the algorithm looks for patterns in the data and uses those patterns to make predictions on an additional data set. This type of artificial intelligence is being used increasingly in the biomedical community to predict disease diagnosis and prognosis. Although machine learning has shown to provide promising results, it is far from perfect. The accuracy of the predictive model often depends on arbitrary decisions made by researchers. …

Investigation Of Visual Systems In A New Species Of Firefly, Yelena Pacheco, Dr. Seth Bybee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Fireflies are well known for their bioluminescent flashes causing them to be a particular group of interest concerning insect vision research. Their flashes are used for both sexual communication and as an aposematic warning to predators. Bioluminescent fireflies are known to use either a yellow-green flash or a yellow-orange flash to communicate between sexes in order to find a mate. There have been many studies concerning flash patterns’ role in sexual communication among fireflies; however, the understanding of firefly vision as a whole allows for many more untouched research possibilities. As a member of the Bybee lab I had the …

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms And Accelerated Telomere Shortening, Rebecca Winner, Dr. Brent Nielsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Telomeres are protective deoxyribonucleic acid caps on the ends of chromosomes which help prevent the chromosome itself from shortening during replication. As a person ages, normal telomere shortening occurs due to chromosome replication. However, accelerated telomere shortening is abnormal and has been linked to several factors such as disease, depression, and anxiety.

This project aims to determine if underlying genetic factors that contribute to increased incidence of depression will produce accelerated telomere shortening as seen in subjects with a history of depression. SNP’s in genes that code for 5-HTT, a serotonin receptor, and DRD2, a dopamine receptor, have been shown …

Role Of The Viral Lana Protein In Human Cancers Caused By Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus, Gregory Low, Brad Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of our experiment was to ascertain the importance of the LANA protein encoded by the Kaposi’s Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV). LANA is believed to be essential for the survival of KSHV in human cells. KSHV causes a variety of cancers including Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), multicentric Castleman’s disease (MCD), and primary effusion lymphoma (PEL). These cancers most often appear in the immunocompromised and can be fatal. The mortality rate of PEL is ~60% after one year, KS 5-year mortality rate is ~30%, and MCD 5-year mortality rate is 35%. No known vaccine or anti-viral drug treatment is currently licensed for …

The Use Of Bacteriophage For Surface Sterilization Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus In Poultry Facilities, Trevor Wienclaw, Bradford Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is potentially dangerous pathogen that can infect humans and animals alike¹. The primary treatment for such infections has been antibiotics, but even shortly after antibiotics began to be used, antibiotic-resistant strains, known as MRSA, were discovered. These resistant strains have since spread, and now account for over half of all clinical isolates⁴. A similar scenario developed in the livestock industry. Antibiotics have been used to treat diseased animals and to promote growth in healthy animals. This use lead to development of MRSA among these animals. These animals may merely be carriers or they …

Isolation And Characterization Of Novel Lytic Phage To Treat Mrsa, Tyler White, Bradford Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The bacterium Staphylococcus Aureus is the cause of a serious skin disease that is known to cause life-threatening infections such as pneumonia, endocarditis, meningitis, sepsis, bacteremia, and toxic shock syndrome [1]. Nonetheless, most SA infections are readily remedied via antibiotic treatment with methicillin. However, over the course of frequent exposure to various antibiotics, the bacteria have evolved a mutant strain (MRSA) that is completely resistant to the drug. In 2005 an estimated 11,000 deaths occurred that can be attributed to SA, with the majority caused by MRSA isolates [2]. Albeit the mutant is named MRSA, isolates of this strain are …

Finding Clues To Phosphate Homeostasis Through Transposon Sequencing, Tanner Dean, William Mccleary

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Though Escherichia Coli is a thoroughly investigated species of bacteria, questions still remain concerning genes involved in phosphate homeostasis. Phosphate homeostasis is the idea that a cell or bacterium adapts to changing environmental phosphate concentrations. Cells need to adapt to changing phosphate conditions because phosphate is essential to the biochemistry of many cellular processes. A cell therefore, must be able to collect and store phosphate when there is excess or scavenge and utilize stored phosphate in times when there are low levels of extracellular phosphate available. This process is not entirely understood in E.coli or other single celled organisms. A …

Novel G-Protein Coupled Receptor Expression And Modulation Of Synaptic Plasticity, Michael Thayer Christensen, Dr. Jeff Edwards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alzheimer’s disease – infamously known for its patients’ loss of memory and other intellectual abilities – is the sixth most common cause of death in the United States. Sadly this is just one of many ailments people experience that result in learning and memory loss. Why do so many suffer from these neurodegenerative states? One fundamental problem is that the complex learning and remembering process is not well understood. A specific brain region called the hippocampus is involved in short-term declarative memory; however, many of its intricate signaling pathways that mediate …

Confirming The Spatial Relationship Between Iron, Tau Protein, And Amyloid Beta Within The Subiculum As A Means To Better Detect Alzheimer’S Disease With Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Brandon Herrington, Jonathan Wisco

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As the 6^th leading cause of death in the United States¹, and because of the significant deterioration it causes in the quality of life of its victims, Alzheimer’s disease is an area where research to improve its early diagnosis is paramount to establishing new treatments. Alzheimer’s disease appears to show its effects at a particularly early stage within the hippocampus². More specifically, the subicular area of the hippocampus is noted as a region that is subjected to more severe pathological changes due to the disease³. Braak staging is a method used to classify, …

The Effect Of Gut Microbiota On Starvation Resistance In D. Melanogaster, Alec Judd, John Chaston

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It has already been established that gut microbiota affect starvation resistance, fat (TAG) content, and development in D. melanogaster. Previous studies in this lab have suggested that effects of the microbiome on these traits are correlated, but this prediction has not been explicitly tested. We are specifically interested in identifying individual bacterial genes that may mediate microbial effects on all three host traits. One way to identify genes with causal influence on animal traits is MGWA (Meta Genome-Wide Association). To this end we have measured starvation resistance in D. melanogaster individually associated with a panel of 43 bacterial strains, and …

Learning Chemistry Through Experimentation, Kyle Long, Jennifer Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For the past five years, Dr. Jennifer Nielson has conducted research in Kampala, Uganda, located in south-central Africa. I have been able to join her for two of the five years, including this past year for nearly three weeks in August. Our research focuses on teaching basic chemistry principle that are difficult to comprehend by using experiments that demonstrate the general concept of atomic structures and functions.

Isothermal Titration Calorimetry Uncovers Substrate Promiscuity Of Bicupin Oxalate Oxidase From Ceriporiopsis Subvermispora, Hassan Rana, Patricia Moussatche, Lis Souza Rocha, Ellen W. Moomaw

Faculty Articles

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) may be used to determine the kinetic parameters of enzymecatalyzed reactions when neither products nor reactants are spectrophotometrically visible and when the reaction products are unknown. We report here the use of the multiple injection method of ITC to characterize the catalytic properties of oxalate oxidase (OxOx) from Ceriporiopsis subvermispora (CsOxOx), a manganese dependent enzyme that catalyzes the oxygen-dependent oxidation of oxalate to carbon dioxide in a reaction coupled with the formation of hydrogen peroxide. CsOxOx is the first bicupin enzyme identified that catalyzes this reaction. The multiple injection ITC method of measuring OxOx activity involves …

Spartan Daily, February 4, 2016, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2016

Volume 146, Issue 3

February 4, 2016, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

• News
• Puzzles
• Opinions
• Special Issue
• Features
• Sports

The Missouri Miner, February 4, 2016

The Missouri Miner Newspaper

No abstract provided.

Fetal Exposure To Placental Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Is Associated With Child Self-Reported Internalizing Symptoms, Mariann A. Howland, Curt A. Sandman, Laura M. Glynn, Cheryl Crippen, Elyssia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective

Fetal exposure to maternal prenatal stress hormones such as cortisol exerts influences on the developing nervous system that persist and include risk for internalizing symptoms later in life. Placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH) is a feto-placental stress signal that also shapes fetal neurodevelopment and may be a more direct indicator of the fetal experience than maternal stress hormones. The programming effects of pCRH on child development are unknown. The current investigation examined associations between prenatal maternal and placental stress hormone exposures (maternal cortisol and pCRH) and child self-reported internalizing symptoms at age 5.

Method

Maternal plasma cortisol and pCRH …