Digital Commons Network^™

A Conceptual Framework For Graduate Teaching Assistant Professional Development Evaluation And Research, Todd D. Reeves, Gili Marbach-Ad, Kristen R. Miller, Judith Ridgway, Grant E. Gardner, Elisabeth E. Schussler, E. William Wischusen

Faculty Publications

© 2016 T. D. Reeves et al. Biology graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are significant contributors to the educational mission of universities, particularly in introductory courses, yet there is a lack of empirical data on how to best prepare them for their teaching roles. This essay proposes a conceptual framework for biology GTA teaching professional development (TPD) program evaluation and research with three overarching variable categories for consideration: outcome variables, contextual variables, and moderating variables. The framework’s outcome variables go beyond GTA satisfaction and instead position GTA cognition, GTA teaching practice, and undergraduate learning outcomes as the foci of GTA TPD …

Transcriptional Truncation Of The Long Coding Imprinted Gene Usp29, Hongzhi He, An Ye, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

© 2016 He et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Usp29 (Ubiquitin-specific protease 29) is a paternally expressed gene located upstream of another imprinted gene Peg3. In the current study, the transcription of this long coding gene spanning a 250-kb genomic distance was truncated using a knockin allele. According to the results, paternal transmission of the mutant allele resulted in reduced body and litter sizes whereas the maternal transmission caused no …

Persistence Of Neighborhood Demographic Influences Over Long Phylogenetic Distances May Help Drive Post-Speciation Adaptation In Tropical Forests, Christopher Wills, Kyle E. Harms, Thorsten Wiegand, Ruwan Punchi-Manage, Gregory S. Gilbert, David Erickson, W. John Kress, Stephen P. Hubbell, C. V.Savitri Gunatilleke, I. A.U.Nimal Gunatilleke

Faculty Publications

© 2016, Public Library of Science. All rights reserved. This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Studies of forest dynamics plots (FDPs) have revealed a variety of negative density-dependent (NDD) demographic interactions, especially among conspecific trees. These interactions can affect growth rate, recruitment and mortality, and they play a central role in the maintenance of species diversity in these complex ecosystems. Here we use an …

The Abiotic And Biotic Drivers Of Rapid Diversification In Andean Bellflowers (Campanulaceae), Laura P. Lagomarsino, Fabien L. Condamine, Alexandre Antonelli, Andreas Mulch, Charles C. Davis

Faculty Publications

© 2016 New Phytologist Trust. The tropical Andes of South America, the world's richest biodiversity hotspot, are home to many rapid radiations. While geological, climatic, and ecological processes collectively explain such radiations, their relative contributions are seldom examined within a single clade. We explore the contribution of these factors by applying a series of diversification models that incorporate mountain building, climate change, and trait evolution to the first dated phylogeny of Andean bellflowers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae). Our framework is novel for its direct incorporation of geological data on Andean uplift into a macroevolutionary model. We show that speciation and extinction are …

Hepatic Autophagy Contributes To The Metabolic Response To Dietary Protein Restriction, Tara M. Henagan, Thomas Laeger, Alexandra M. Navard, Diana Albarado, Robert C. Noland, Krisztian Stadler, Carrie M. Elks, David Burk, Christopher D. Morrison

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Autophagy is an essential cellular response which acts to release stored cellular substrates during nutrient restriction, and particularly plays a key role in the cellular response to amino acid restriction. However, there has been limited work testing whether the induction of autophagy is required for adaptive metabolic responses to dietary protein restriction in the whole animal. Here, we found that moderate dietary protein restriction led to a series of metabolic changes in rats, including increases in food intake and energy expenditure, the downregulation of hepatic fatty acid synthesis gene expression and reduced markers …

Absence Of The Filarial Endosymbiont Wolbachia In Seal Heartworm (Acanthocheilonema Spirocauda) But Evidence Of Ancient Lateral Gene Transfer, Caroline D. Keroack, Jenna Irene Wurster, Caroline G. Decker, Kalini M. Williams, Barton E. Slatko, Jeremy M. Forster, Steven A. Williams

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The symbiotic relationship of Wolbachia spp. was first observed in insects and subsequently in many parasitic filarial nematodes. This bacterium is believed to provide metabolic and developmental assistance to filarial parasitic nematodes, although the exact nature of this relationship remains to be fully elucidated. While Wolbachia is present in most filarial nematodes in the familyOnchocercidae, it is absent in several disparate species such as the human parasite Loa loa. All tested members of the genusAcanthocheilonema, such as Acanthocheilonema viteae, have been shown to lack Wolbachia. Consistent with this, we show thatWolbachia is absent from the seal heartworm (Acanthocheilonema spirocauda), but …

Mir-1207-3p Is A Novel Prognostic Biomarker Of Prostate Cancer, Dibash K. Das, Joseph R. Osborne, Hui-Yi Lin, Jong Y. Park, Olorunseun O. Ogunwobi

Publications and Research

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to be dysregulated in prostate cancer (PCa). In this study, we investigated if miR-1207-3p is capable of distinguishing between indolent and aggressive PCa and if it contributes to explaining the disproportionate aggressiveness of PCa in men of African ancestry (moAA). A total of 404 patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the prostate were recruited between 1988 and 2003 at the Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA. Patient clinicopathological features and demographic characteristics such as race were identified. RNA samples from 404 postprostatectomy prostate tumor tissue samples were analyzed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction …

As Who They Really Are: Expanding Opportunities For Transgender Athletes To Participate In Youth And Scholastic Sports, Erin E. Buzuvis

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

Symposium: Playing with Pride: LGBT Inclusion in Sports

Lessons From The Gender Equality Movement: Using Title Ix To Foster Inclusive Masculinities In Men's Sport, Deborah L. Brake

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

Symposium: Playing with Pride: LGBT Inclusion in Sports

Stress Ecology Of The Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Oreganus And Crotalus Helleri), Natalie Claunch

Master's Theses

Stress is a physiological state induced by disturbance or adverse environmental conditions and is modulated by the glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone (CORT) in reptiles. Stressors can have various impacts on vertebrate trait expression and may affect survival or reproduction. Little is known about the effects of chronically elevated CORT in free-ranging reptiles, or the effect of disturbance stress on venom composition in captive snakes.

In chapter 1, we investigated the effects of researcher induced disturbance on CORT levels and venom composition in a group of captive Northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus). Venom protein concentration and plasma CORT levels were …

Grain Orientation Effects On The Rotating-Bending Fatigue Properties Of Forged 7050-T7452 Aluminum Alloy, Matt Cristler, Jonas Zhang

Materials Engineering

In order to investigate the effects of grain orientation on the high cycle fatigue properties of 7050-T7452 aerospace grade aluminum, rotating-bending fatigue tests were performed on longitudinal (LG) and short transverse (ST) specimens taken from two sample sets (Method A and Method B) of open die forged 7050 aluminum. The fatigue specimens were machined to a 0.2" gage diameter and 4" length and subsequently hand polished to a mirror finish to minimize potential crack initiation sites. The tests were conducted on a Fatigue Dynamics RBF-300 HT tester in the fully reversed loading condition, with stress levels varying from 20 ksi …

Prep Advocacy Project: Increasing The Adoption Of Pre-­Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) In San Luis Obispo County, Leona Rajaee

Journalism

The following study investigates the need for Pre­exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County in order to develop an effective health outreach and advocacy program that could increase the adoption of PrEP treatment and in turn decrease new HIV transmissions in the community studied. The sponsor of this study is the Access Support Network (ASN), a non­profit organization that provides supportive services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS. ASN launched this study after observing the effectiveness of PrEP in metropolitan cities. At the same time, ASN also noticed a rise in new HIV transmissions, particularly among injecting drug users …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Curriculum For College Students, Danielle M. Colangelo, Alexis K. Sepulveda

Kinesiology and Public Health

The recreational use of prescription drugs has been increasingly common in university communities (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2015). Students may abuse prescription drugs to get high, study longer or sleep. A survey conducted by Kinesiology students used snowball sampling to assess the number of Cal Poly students recreationally using prescription drugs and their knowledge of prescription drug abuse (Colangelo & Sepulveda, 2015). The assessment showed 30.7% of students had abused prescription drugs in the last six months. There was an increase in abuse between college freshmen (19.2%), college sophomores (41.4%) and juniors (44.3%) (Colangelo & Sepulveda, 2015). This …

Mathematics Without Apologies: Portrait Of A Problematic Vocation (Book Review), Calvin Jongsma

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Reviewed Title: Mathematics Without Apologies: Portrait of a Problematic Vocation by Michael Harris. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2015. 438 pages. ISBN: 9780691154237.

Sustainability Science Graduate Students As Boundary Spanners, Spencer R. Meyer, Vanessa R. Levesque, Karen H. Bieluch, Michelle L. Johnson, Bridie Mcgreavy, Stacia Dreyer, Hollie Smith

Faculty Publications

Graduate training in sustainability science (SS) focuses on interdisciplinary research, stakeholder-researcher partnerships, and creating solutions from knowledge. But becoming a sustainability scientist also requires specialized training that addresses the complex boundaries implicit in sustainability science approaches to solving social-ecological system challenges. Using boundary spanning as a framework, we use a case study of the Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) at the University of Maine to explicate key elements for graduate education training in SS. We used a mixed-methods approach, including a quantitative survey and autoethnographic reflection, to analyze our experiences as SSI doctoral students. Through this research, we identified four essential …

Transforming Transgender Rights In Schools: Protection From Discrimination Under Title Ix And The Equal Protection Clause, Vittoria Buzzelli

Penn State Law Review (2003 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Novel Protein Disulfide Isomerase Inhibitor With Anticancer Activity In Multiple Myeloma, Sergei Vatolin, James G. Phillips, Babal K. Jha, Shravya Govindgari, Jennifer Hu, Dale Grabowski, Yvonne Parker, Daniel J. Lindner, Fei Zhong, Clark W. Distelhorst, Mitchell R. Smith, Claudiu Cotta, Yan Xu, Sujatha Chilakala, Rebecca R. Kuang, Samantha Tall, Frederic J. Reu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Multiple myeloma cells secrete more disulfide bond–rich proteins than any other mammalian cell. Thus, inhibition of protein disulfide isomerases (PDI) required for protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) should increase ER stress beyond repair in this incurable cancer. Here, we report the mechanistically unbiased discovery of a novel PDI-inhibiting compound with antimyeloma activity. We screened a 30,355 small-molecule library using a multilayered multiple myeloma cell–based cytotoxicity assay that modeled disease niche, normal liver, kidney, and bone marrow. CCF642, a bone marrow–sparing compound, exhibited a submicromolar IC₅₀ in 10 of 10 multiple myeloma cell lines. An active biotinylated analog …

The Chorro Valley Trail From Cal Poly To Cuesta College, Nichole M. Garner

City and Regional Planning

No abstract provided.

Criteria For Selecting Pegylation Sites On Proteins For Higher Thermodynamic Stability, Paul B. Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

PEGylation of protein side-chains has been used for more than 30 years to enhance the pharmacokinetic properties of protein drugs, and has been enabled by the recent development of many chemoselective reactions for protein side-chain modification. However, there are no structure- or sequence-based guidelines for selecting sites that provide optimal PEG-based pharmacokinetic enhancement with minimal loss to biological activity. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to protein PEGylation. In chapter 2 we use the WW domain of the human protein Pin 1 (WW) as a model system to probe the impact of PEG on protein conformational stability. Using a combination …

The Pmrhfijklm Operon In Yersinia Pseudotuberculosis Enhances Resistance To Ccl28 And Promotes Phagocytic Engulfment By Neutrophils, Lauren Elizabeth Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a foodborne pathogen that is the ancestral strain to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of Plague. Y. pseudotuberculosis invades a host through the intestinal epithelium. The bacteria resist mucosal innate immune defenses including antimicrobial chemokines and phagocytic cells, and replicate in local lymph nodes. They cause Tuberculosis-like symptoms, including necrosis of local tissue and granuloma formation. Like all bacteria, Y. pseudotuberculosis has a net negative charge, which contributes to its susceptibility to some cationic antimicrobial peptides. Y. pseudotuberculosis is able to reduce this negative charge by adding 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) to the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide. The …

The Raf-Like Kinase Ilk1 And The High Affinity K+ Transporter Hak5 Are Required For Innate Immunity And Abiotic Stress Response, Elizabeth K. Brauer, Nagib Ahsan, Renee Dale, Naohiro Kato, Alison E. Coluccio, Miguel A. Piñeros, Leon V. Kochian, Jay J. Thelen, Sorina C. Popescu

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. Plant perception of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and other environmental stresses trigger transient ion fluxes at the plasma membrane. Apart from the role of Ca2+ uptake in signaling, the regulation and significance of PAMPinduced ion fluxes in immunity remain unknown. We characterized the functions of INTEGRIN-LINKED KINASE1 (ILK1) that encodes a Raf-like MAP2K kinase with functions insufficiently understood in plants. Analysis of ILK1 mutants impaired in the expression or kinase activity revealed that ILK1 contributes to plant defense to bacterial pathogens, osmotic stress sensitivity, and cellular responses and total ion …

Mechanisms Of Animal Diapause: Recent Developments From Nematodes, Crustaceans, Insects, And Fish, Steven C. Hand, David L. Denlinger, Jason E. Podrabsky, Richard Roy

Faculty Publications

© 2016 the American Physiological Society. Life cycle delays are beneficial for opportunistic species encountering suboptimal environments. Many animals display a programmed arrest of development (diapause) at some stage(s) of their development, and the diapause state may or may not be associated with some degree of metabolic depression. In this review, we will evaluate current advancements in our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the remarkable phenotype, as well as environmental cues that signal entry and termination of the state. The developmental stage at which diapause occurs dictates and constrains the mechanisms governing diapause. Considerable progress has been made in …

The Abiotic And Biotic Drivers Of Rapid Diversification In Andean Bellflowers (Campanulaceae), Laura P. Lagomarsino, Fabien L. Condamine, Alexandre Antonelli, Andreas Mulch, Charles C. Davis

Faculty Publications

© 2016 New Phytologist Trust. The tropical Andes of South America, the world's richest biodiversity hotspot, are home to many rapid radiations. While geological, climatic, and ecological processes collectively explain such radiations, their relative contributions are seldom examined within a single clade. We explore the contribution of these factors by applying a series of diversification models that incorporate mountain building, climate change, and trait evolution to the first dated phylogeny of Andean bellflowers (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae). Our framework is novel for its direct incorporation of geological data on Andean uplift into a macroevolutionary model. We show that speciation and extinction are …

Addressing Emerging Risks: Scientific And Regulatory Challenges Associated With Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals, Tammy R. Dugas, Slawomir Lomnicki, Stephania A. Cormier, Barry Dellinger, Margaret Reams

Faculty Publications

© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Airborne fine and ultrafine particulate matter (PM) are often generated through widely-used thermal processes such as the combustion of fuels or the thermal decomposition of waste. Residents near Superfund sites are exposed to PM through the inhalation of windblown dust, ingestion of soil and sediments, and inhalation of emissions from the on-site thermal treatment of contaminated soils. Epidemiological evidence supports a link between exposure to airborne PM and an increased risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. It is well-known that during combustion processes, incomplete combustion can lead to the production of …

Vector Species Richness Increases Haemorrhagic Disease Prevalence Through Functional Diversity Modulating The Duration Of Seasonal Transmission, Andrew W. Park, Christopher A. Cleveland, Tad A. Dallas, Joseph L. Corn

Faculty Publications

© Copyright Cambridge University Press 2015. SUMMARY Although many parasites are transmitted between hosts by a suite of arthropod vectors, the impact of vector biodiversity on parasite transmission is poorly understood. Positive relationships between host infection prevalence and vector species richness (SR) may operate through multiple mechanisms, including (i) increased vector abundance, (ii) a sampling effect in which species of high vectorial capacity are more likely to occur in species-rich communities, and (iii) functional diversity whereby communities comprised species with distinct phenologies may extend the duration of seasonal transmission. Teasing such mechanisms apart is impeded by a lack of appropriate …

A Generalized Reed Model With Application To Wildfire Risk In Even-Aged Southern United States Pine Plantations, Andres Susaeta, Douglas R. Carter, Sun Joseph Chang, Damian C. Adams

Faculty Publications

We develop a generalized Reed model to incorporate the risk of wildfires on optimal management of slash pine (Pinus elliotti var. elliotti) in the southern United States. Comparative static analyses are conducted to determine the impacts of the probability of increasing and constant wildfire risk as forest stand ages, and portion of stand that is salvageable following a wildfire, on slash pine harvest decisions. Our results reveal that increasing the current risk of wildfire damage would shorten the current optimal slash pine harvest age, while increasing the future risk of wildfire losses would lengthen the current optimal harvest age. We …

Cancer Stem-Like Cells Accumulated In Nickel-Induced Malignant Transformation, Lei Wang, Jia Fan, John Andrew Hitron, Young Ok Son, James T.F. Wise, Ram Vinod Roy, Donghern Kim, Jin Dai, Poyil Pratheeshkumar, Zhuo Zhang, Xianglin Shi

Faculty Publications

Nickel compounds are known as human carcinogens. Chronic environmental exposure to nickel is a worldwide health concern. Although the mechanisms of nickel-induced carcinogenesis are not well understood, recent studies suggest that stem cells/cancer stem cells are likely important targets. This study examines the role of cancer stem cells in nickelinduced cell transformation. The nontransformed human bronchial epithelial cell line (Beas-2B) was chronically exposed to nickel chloride for 12 months to induce cell transformation. Nickel induced Beas-2B cell transformation, and cancer stemlike cells were enriched in nickel-transformed cell (BNiT) population. The BNiT cancer stem-like cells demonstrated enhanced self-renewal and distinctive differentiation …

The Plight Of Aspen: Emerging As A Beneficiary Of Wolf Restoration On Yellowstone’S Northern Range, John Klaptosky

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Today - June 2016, Loma Linda University Health

TODAY

Inside this issue:

-- Two weekends of commencement ceremonies add more than 1,500 new alumni and recognize honorees
-- Loma Linda University and Siemens' PETNET Solutions, Inc. announce PET production and research facility
-- Commencement 2016 photo memories (pictorial)
-- Becker's Hospital Review names senior vice president of finance among '150 hospital and health system CFOs to know in 2016'
-- Reading day camp to take place in July
-- Another Emmy win for advancement films
-- Employees line up to sign banners of support for two Florida hospitals in the aftermath of tragic shootings
-- New patient parking structure …

Injury Severity Data For Front And Second Row Passengers In Frontal Crashes, Theresa Atkinson, Leszek Gawarecki, Massoud Tavakoli

Mechanical Engineering Publications

The data contained here were obtained from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration׳s National Automotive Sampling System – Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) for the years 2008–2014. This publically available data set monitors motor vehicle crashes in the United States, using a stratified random sample frame, resulting in information on approximately 5000 crashes each year that can be utilized to create national estimates for crashes. The NASS-CDS data sets document vehicle, crash, and occupant factors. These data can be utilized to examine public health, law enforcement, roadway planning, and vehicle design issues. The data provided in this brief are a subset …