Digital Commons Network^™

Draft Genome Sequence Of Erwinia Tracheiphila, An Economically Important Bacterial Pathogen Of Cucurbits, Lori R. Shapiro, Erin D. Scully, Dana Roberts, Timothy J. Straub, Scott M. Geib, Jihye Park, Andrew G. Stephenson, Erika Salaau Rojas, Quin Liu, Gwyn Beattie, Mark Gleason, Consuelo M. De Moraes, Mark C. Mescher, Shelby G. Fleischer, Roberto Kolter, Naomi Pierce, Olga Zhaxybayeva

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Erwinia tracheiphila is one of the most economically important pathogens of cucumbers, melons, squashes, pumpkins, and gourds in the northeastern and midwestern United States, yet its molecular pathology remains uninvestigated. Here, we report the first draft genome sequence of an E. tracheiphila strain isolated from an infected wild gourd (Cucurbita pepo subsp. texana) plant. The genome assembly consists of 7 contigs and includes a putative plasmid and at least 20 phage and prophage elements.

Extracellular Matrix Breakdown Blocks Repair And Regeneration Following Preterm Brain Injury, Rachel Siltman, Stephen Black, Taasin Srivastava

CUP Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Formal Extracurricular Activities On Satisfaction And Attitudes-Toward-School Among At-Risk Adolescents, Derek G. Miller

MA IDS Thesis Projects

At-risk adolescents, comprised mainly of low-income African American and Hispanic/Latino students, tend to disengage and dropout of school because they lack a bond to school and society. Formal extracurricular activity in schools is one way to develop student involvement and attachment to school. The researcher sought to explore how participation of at-risk adolescent students in formal extracurricular sport activity impacted their academic perceptions, attitudes toward school, motivation, and satisfaction with life. The researcher also examined whether location, international versus local, made a difference in the impact of formal extracurricular activities on at-risk adolescent students. Seventy-four at-risk adolescent and primarily students …

The Impact Of Ethnicity And Social Class On The Practice Of Corporal Punishment, Jana Weiss

MA Community Psychology Theses

The purpose of this research is to explore disciplinary practices employed by families from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds. In history, corporal punishment, (CP; also known as flagellation) was a practice widely used in religious settings during the eighth century. The social norm was to whip for punishment but also for pleasure. For some, CP is one way of disciplining children in home and in school settings. There are signs that are present in determining whether a parent may practice CP in the home that include certain parenting behaviors, socioeconomic status (SES), parent mood, and discipline responses. It has been …

Uv Irradiation Of Thymine Molecules And Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Kelsey Mauk, Andrew Johnson

CUP Undergraduate Research

When irradiated with UV light, adjacent pyrimidine bases undergo a photochemical reaction to form cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD)3. Although this damage is often repaired, CPDs can cause issues with DNA replication and transcription, and are believed to be one of the major sources of carcinogenic mutations created through DNA replication2. Although CPDs can be formed between any two pyrimidine bases, the most common dimers formed are between two thymine molecules. Previous studies have shown success in the creation of thymine dimers by irradiating frozen thymine solution with UV light4, however techniques of analysis vary. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) is an …

Uv Irradiation Of Thymine Molecules And Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry, Kelsey Mauk

CUP Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Giant Chloroviruses: Five Easy Questions, James L. Van Etten, David Dunigan

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Chloroviruses are large, icosahedral, dsDNA-containing viruses that replicate in certain unicellular, chlorella-like green algae [1,2]. They exist in freshwater throughout the world with titers as high as thousands of plaque-forming units (PFU) per ml of indigenous water although titers are typically 1–100 PFU/ml. Titers fluctuate during the year with the highest titers typically occurring in the spring and late fall. Known chlorovirus hosts, which are normally symbionts and are often referred to as zoochlorellae, are associated with either the protozoan Paramecium bursaria (Fig 1A), the coelenterate Hydra viridis, or the heliozoan Acanthocystis turfacea. Zoochlorellae are resistant to viruses …

Genetic Barrier To Direct Acting Antivirals In Hcv Sequences Deposited In The European Databank, Dimas Alexandre Kliemann, Cristiane Valle Tovo, Ana Beatriz Gorini Da Veiga, André Luiz Machado, John T. West

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Background & Aims: Development of resistance results from mutations in the viral genome, and the presence of selective drug pressure leads to the emergence of a resistant virus population. The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of genetic variability on the genetic barrier to drug resistance to DAAs.

Methods: The genetic barrier was quantified based on the number and type of nucleotide mutations required to impart resistance, considering full-length HCV NS3, NS5A and NS5B regions segregated by genotype into subtypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b and 3a. This study analyzed 789 NS3 sequences, 708 sequences and 536 NS5B …

Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Reduces Cellular Myeloid Differentiation Primary-Response Gene 88 (Myd88) Expression Via Modulation Of Its Rna, Amy Lingel, Erica Ehlers, Qianli Wang, Mingxia Cao, Charles Wood, Rongtuan Lin, Luwen Zhang

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human gammaherpesvirus associated with several human malignancies. The replication and transcription activator (RTA) is necessary and sufficient for the switch from KSHV latency to lytic replication. Interleukin 1 (IL-1) is a major mediator for inflammation and plays an important role in both innate and adaptive immunity. Myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 (MyD88) is an essential adaptor molecule for IL-1 as well as most Toll-like receptor signaling. In this study, we identified a novel mechanism by which KSHV interferes with host inflammation and immunity. KSHV RTA specifically reduces the steady-state protein levels of …

Nf45 And Nf90 Bind Hiv-1 Rna And Modulate Hiv Gene Expression, Yan Li, Michael Belshan

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

A previous proteomic screen in our laboratory identified nuclear factor 45 (NF45) and nuclear factor 90 (NF90) as potential cellular factors involved in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication. Both are RNA binding proteins that regulate gene expression; and NF90 has been shown to regulate the expression of cyclin T1 which is required for Tat-dependent trans-activation of viral gene expression. In this study the roles of NF45 and NF90 in HIV replication were investigated through overexpression studies. Ectopic expression of either factor potentiated HIV infection, gene expression, and virus production. Deletion of the RNA binding domains of NF45 …

Mucosal Vaccination By Adenoviruses Displaying Reovirus Sigma 1, Eric A. Weaver, Zenaido T. Camacho, Matthew L. Hillestad, Catherine M. Crosby, Mallory A. Turner, Adam J. Guenzel, Hind J. Fadel, George T. Mercier, Michael A. Barry

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

We previously developed adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vectors displaying the sigma 1 protein from reovirus as mucosal vaccines. Ad5-sigma retargets to JAM-1 and sialic acid, but had 40-fold reduced gene delivery when compared to Ad5. While weaker at transduction, Ad5-sigma generated stronger T cell responses than Ad5 when used for mucosal immunization. New Ad5- fiber-sigma vectors were generated here by varying the number of fiber β-spiral shaft repeats (R) fused between fiber tail and the sigma. Ad5 virions encoding R3, R14, and R20 chimeras were rescued. Increasing chimera length led to their decreasing encapsidation of these proteins in the virions. …

Graduate Program Survey 2015-2016, Megan Vogt

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

-- Overview - Graduate College
-- Graduate College: Degrees Awarded Summer 2015 - Spring 2016 --- 1
-- Number of Majors Awarded per College over 5 years --- 4
-- Graduate Program Survey
-- Methodology --- 5
-- Response Rate --- 6
-- Principal Activity After Graduation --- 8
-- Activities Student Engaged in at UNI --- 9
-- Reasons for Going to Graduate School --- 11
-- Graduate Education Experience --- 12
-- Paying for a Graduate Education at UNI --- 14
-- Survey Form --- Appendix A

2015-2016 Uni Strategic Plan Accomplishments, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

A report detailing the progress on the strategic goals within the University of Northern Iowa's strategic plan.

Federal Preemption On Michigan State's Authority Enacting Law Concerning Ballast Water Discharge In The Great Lake, Mengxue Xie

War Crimes Memoranda

No abstract provided.

Shared Responsibility Regulation Model For Cross-Border Reproductive Transactions, Sharon Bassan

Michigan Journal of International Law

The term “cross-border reproductive transactions” refers to the movement of tens of thousands of people, who travel from one country to purchase reproductive services from suppliers in other countries, in order to have a child.2 It is estimated that between eleven and fourteen thousand patients in Europe alone engage in this practice annually.3 Historically, the phrase ‘medical tourism’ used to refer to the travel of patients from less-affluent countries seeking better healthcare in countries with superior healthcare standards. Today, the journey is just as likely to flow in the opposite direction, as patients travel from industrialized to less affluent countries …

Collar Color And Its Influence On Perceived Adoptability Of Stigmatized Shelter Dogs, Eva Cross

Theses & ETDs

Little research thus far has examined color as it relates to adoptability of shelter dogs. The aim of the current study was to examine whether collar color could help shelter dogs find homes faster. 306 participants rated 11 dogs on adoptability, likeability, cuteness, and threat. Participants were randomly assigned to a collar condition (black, blue, green, or red) for each dog. Participants saw the same dogs again and rated them on how much they resembled a pit bull. Finally, they completed an Anthropomorphism measure and demographics. The hypotheses were that a.) collar color would have an influence on likeability, adoptability, …

Relating Queerly To God As Spiritual Power: Exploring The Connections Between Androgyny And Spirituality In Christianity, Jane E. Hepler

Theses & ETDs

This thesis explores the connection between androgyny and spiritual power in Christianity. This begins with an examination of the ways in which gender is socially constructed and therefore fluid. Across cultures, the ways in which gender is created, enforced, and played out vary, but in many cultures androgynous people are given spiritual authority because they represent the connection between God and humanity. This thesis includes the history of inclusion for women and androgynous people in the early Christian Church, as well as the impact of Thecla, an influential androgynous saint. Thecla’s cult declined in the early Middle Ages, but at …

Alexithymia And Psychological Defenses: A Meta-Analysis, Madeline A. Huffstickler

Theses & ETDs

A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the association between alexithymia and psychological defensiveness, and to assess the moderating influence of the psychological maturity reflected in the defense type indexed by each effect size included in the analyses. An exhaustive search of the literature using database, forwards, and backwards searches yielded a total sample of 22 studies that contributed 60 independent effect sizes. Analyses using both fixed-effects and random-effects models obtained moderate positive associations between alexithymia and overall defensiveness as well as neurotic defenses, a strong positive association for immature defenses, and a moderate negative association for mature defenses. These findings …

Racialized Intimacy In Afrofuturism, Nasib Mcintosh

Theses & ETDs

This thesis analyzes the representations of racialized intimacy in two Afrofuturistic works: “The Comet” written by W.E.B Du Bois and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine created by Michel Piller and Rick Berman. Afrofuturism is both a genre of black cultural production and an analytical framework for critiquing discourses about the future. Afrofuturistic works and analyses interrogate and critique the construction of contemporary racial identities by envisioning how racialized subjects might function in imagined futures. The works I analyze in this thesis offer critiques and revisions of dominant discourses about interracial intimacy in their respective time periods as well as the …

Same-Sex Marriage Litigation And Children's Right To Be Queer, Clifford Rosky

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines how lawyers and judges have framed the question of children’s queerness in litigation over samesex marriage. First, it argues that in United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges, the US Supreme Court invoked the tropes of dignity, injury, and immutability to set the outer limits of sexual liberty for both children and adults. Next, the essay looks back to the early work of queer theorists, legal scholars, and lawyers to unearth a more promising vision of law’s relationship to children’s queerness. By juxtaposing how two judges approached the possibility of the gay child in Utah and …

Scrutinizing Immutability: Research On Sexual Orientation And U.S. Legal Advocacy For Sexual Minorities, Clifford Rosky, Lisa M. Diamond

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

We review scientific research and legal authorities to argue that the immutability of sexual orientation should no longer be invoked as a foundation for the rights of individuals with same-sex attractions and relationships (i.e., sexual minorities). On the basis of scientific research as well as U.S. legal rulings regarding lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) rights, we make three claims: First, arguments based on the immutability of sexual orientation are unscientific, given what we now know from longitudinal, population-based studies of naturally occurring changes in the same-sex attractions of some individuals over time. Second, arguments based on the immutability of sexual …

A Lost Tribe In The City: Health Status And Needs Of African Asylum Seekers And Refugees In Hong Kong, William Chi Wai Wong, Sealing Cheng, Eleanor Holroyd, Julie Chen, Kelley Ann Loper, Lynn Tran, Heidi Yin Hai Miu

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Background: Hong Kong’s resistance to be a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention and lack of domestic policies in this area has resulted in restrictions on access to healthcare amongst asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs). Using social determinants of health framework this study sought to identify health practices, problems and needs of African ASRs in Hong Kong.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey comprising of six domains including health status, health-seeking behaviour and social experience targeted at adult African ASRs in Hong Kong was conducted through three local non-governmental organisations between February and April 2013. Outpatient care and inpatient care in the …

Age-Related Hearing Loss: Prevention Of Threshold Declines, Cell Loss And Apoptosis In Spiral Ganglion Neurons, Robert D. Frisina, Bo Ding, Xiaoxia Zhu, Joseph P. Walton

Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) -presbycusis - is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and number one communication disorder of our aged population; and affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Its prevalence is close to that of cardiovascular disease and arthritis, and can be a precursor to dementia. The auditory perceptual dysfunction is well understood, but knowledge of the biological bases of ARHL is still somewhat lacking. Surprisingly, there are no FDA-approved drugs for treatment. Based on our previous studies of human subjects, where we discovered relations between serum aldosterone levels and the severity of ARHL, we treated middle age mice …

Towards The Complete Small Rnome Of Acinetobacter Baumannii, Andy Weiss, William H. Broach, Mackenzie C. Lee, Lindsey N. Shaw

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

In recent years, the Gram-negative bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii has garnered considerable attention for its unprecedented capacity to rapidly develop resistance to antibacterial therapeutics. This is coupled with the seemingly epidemic emergence of new hyper-virulent strains. Although strain-specific differences for A. baumannii isolates have been well described, these studies have primarily focused on proteinaceous factors. At present, only limited publications have investigated the presence and role of small regulatory RNA (sRNA) transcripts. Herein, we perform such an analysis, describing the RNA-seq-based identification of 78 A. baumannii sRNAs in the AB5075 background. Together with six previously identified elements, we include each of …

Peptidoglycan Recycling In Gram-Positive Bacteria Is Crucial For Survival In Stationary Phase, Marina Borisova, Rosmarie Gaupp, Amanda Duckworth, Alexander Schneider, Désirée Dalügge, Maraike Mühleck, Denise Deubel, Sandra Unsleber, Wenqi Yu, Günther Muth, Markus Bischoff, Friedrich Götz, Christoph Mayer

Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications

Peptidoglycan recycling is a metabolic process by which Gram-negative bacteria reutilize up to half of their cell wall within one generation during vegetative growth. Whether peptidoglycan recycling also occurs in Gram-positive bacteria has so far remained unclear. We show here that three Gram-positive model organisms, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, and Streptomyces coelicolor, all recycle the sugar N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) of their peptidoglycan during growth in rich medium. They possess MurNAc-6-phosphate (MurNAc-6P) etherase (MurQ in E. coli) enzymes, which are responsible for the intracellular conversion of MurNAc-6P to N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate and d-lactate. By applying mass spectrometry, we observed accumulation of MurNAc-6P in …

The Pros And Cons Of Ecological Risk Assessment Based On Data From Different Levels Of Biological Organization, Jason R. Rohr, Christopher J. Salice, Roger M. Nisbet

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is the process used to evaluate the safety of manufactured chemicals to the environment. Here we review the pros and cons of ERA across levels of biological organization, including suborganismal (e.g., biomarkers), individual, population, community, ecosystem and landscapes levels. Our review revealed that level of biological organization is often related negatively with ease at assessing cause-effect relationships, ease of high-throughput screening of large numbers of chemicals (it is especially easier for suborganismal endpoints), and uncertainty of the ERA because low levels of biological organization tend to have a large distance between their measurement (what is quantified) …

The Contribution Of Marine Aggregate-Associated Bacteria To The Accumulation Of Pathogenic Bacteria In Oysters: An Agent-Based Model, Andrew M. Kramer, J. Evan Ward, Fred C. Dobbs, Melissa L. Pierce, John M. Drake

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Bivalves process large volumes of water, leading to their accumulation of bacteria, including potential human pathogens (e.g., vibrios). These bacteria are captured at low efficiencies when freely suspended in the water column, but they also attach to marine aggregates, which are captured with near 100% efficiency. For this reason, and because they are often enriched with heterotrophic bacteria, marine aggregates have been hypothesized to function as important transporters of bacteria into bivalves. The relative contribution of aggregates and unattached bacteria to the accumulation of these cells, however, is unknown. We developed an agent-based model to simulate accumulation of vibrio-type bacteria …

A Model For Hiv Disclosure Of A Parent’S And/Or A Child’S Illness, Grace Gachanja, Gary Burkholder

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

HIV prevalence in Kenya remains steady at 5.6% for adults 15 years and older, and 0.9% among children aged below 14 years. Parents and children are known to practice unprotected sex, which has implications for continued HIV spread within the country. Additionally, due to increased accessibility of antiretroviral therapy, more HIV-positive persons are living longer. Therefore, the need for HIV disclosure of a parent’s and/or a child’s HIV status within the country will continue for years to come. We conducted a qualitative phenomenological study to understand the entire process of disclosure from the time of initial HIV diagnosis of an …

Cutaneous Human Papillomavirus Infection And Development Of Subsequent Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Skin, Shalaka S. Hampras, Rhianna A. Reed, Spencer Bezalel, Michael Cameron, Basil Cherpelis, Neil Fenske, Vernon K. Sondak, Jane Messina, Massimo Tommasino, Tarik Gheit, Dana E. Rollison

Pathology and Cell Biology Faculty Publications

The role of cutaneous human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the development of subsequent cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is unknown. Pathologically confirmed cases of SCC () enrolled in a previously conducted case-control study were included in a retrospective cohort study to examine the association of cutaneous HPV at the time of SCC diagnosis with the risk of subsequent SCC development. Data on HPV seropositivity, HPV DNA in eyebrow hairs (EB) and SCC tumors were available from the parent study. Incidence of subsequent SCC was estimated using person-years of follow up. Cox Proportional Hazards ratios were estimated to evaluate the associations …

Charge-Induced Fluctuation Forces In Graphitic Nanostructures, D. Drosdoff, Igor V. Bondarev, Allan Wisdom, Rudolf Podogrnik, Lilia M. Woods

Physics Faculty Publications

Charge fluctuations in nanocircuits with capacitor components are shown to give rise to a novel type of long-ranged interaction, which coexist with the regular Casimir–van der Waals force. The developed theory distinguishes between thermal and quantum mechanical effects, and it is applied to capacitors involving graphene nanostructures. The charge fluctuations mechanism is captured via the capacitance of the system with geometrical and quantum mechanical components. The dependence on the distance separation, temperature, size, and response properties of the system shows that this type of force can have a comparable and even dominant effect to the Casimir interaction. Our results strongly …