Digital Commons Network^™

Kruppel-Like Factor 2 In Cholangiocarcinoma, Cody J. Wehrkamp, Justin L. Mott

Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances

No abstract provided.

Bacterial Protein Meta-Interactomes Predict Cross-Species Interactions And Protein Function, J. Harry Caufield, Christopher Wimble, Semarjit Shary, Stefan Wuchty, Peter Uetz

Study of Biological Complexity Publications

Background

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) can offer compelling evidence for protein function, especially when viewed in the context of proteome-wide interactomes. Bacteria have been popular subjects of interactome studies: more than six different bacterial species have been the subjects of comprehensive interactome studies while several more have had substantial segments of their proteomes screened for interactions. The protein interactomes of several bacterial species have been completed, including several from prominent human pathogens. The availability of interactome data has brought challenges, as these large data sets are difficult to compare across species, limiting their usefulness for broad studies of microbial genetics and …

Salivary Biometrics And Assessment Of Autonomous Nervous System Activation During Emergency And Mascal Training, Michael Czekajlo

Health Sciences Education Symposium

A 4.5 day full immersion intensive skills week for emergency medicine and surgical training for finishing second year medical students was performed on a 20 acre movie studio. Utilizing hyper-realistic medical emergency scenarios, we simulated all events beginning at the point of injury, continuing to treatment en route, and ending at transition of care to surgical intervention. The trainees staffed an emergency room (ER) and two operating rooms (OR), triaged multiple victims and performed real surgical procedures on role-playing actors wearing the Human Worn Partial Task Surgical Simulator. Saliva was collected before and after scenarios (i.e., multiple victims from an …

Oral Health And Aging, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

The sooner we recognize the importance of oral health to our well-being as older adults, the better we age. We need to consider our dentist as part of our health care team. For those of us in health professions, we should work together more to incorporate oral health into primary care.

Safe Driving For The Mature Adult: Selected Issues, Rebecca Parsio

Case Studies from Age in Action

Educational Objectives

1. Examine issues related to aging and driving assessment.

2. Review Virginia’s Mature Drivers Study.

3. Discuss the levels of care for prevention of driving disability and resources available at each level.

4. Explore the impact of medications and substances (both prescribed and not prescribed) on driving ability.

Proteomic Approach For Extracting Cytoplasmic Proteins From Streptococcus Sanguinis Using Mass Spectrometry, Fadi Elrami, Kristina Nelson, Ping Xu

Philips Institute for Oral Health Research Publications

Streptococcus sanguinis is a commensal and early colonizer of oral cavity as well as an opportunistic pathogen of infectious endocarditis. Extracting the soluble proteome of this bacterium provides deep insights about the physiological dynamic changes under different growth and stress conditions, thus defining “proteomic signatures” as targets for therapeutic intervention. In this protocol, we describe an experimentally verified approach to extract maximal cytoplasmic proteins from Streptococcus sanguinis SK36 strain. A combination of procedures was adopted that broke the thick cell wall barrier and minimized denaturation of the intracellular proteome, using optimized buffers and a sonication step. Extracted proteome was quantitated …

Slowly Cycling Rho Kinase-Dependent Actomyosin Cross-Bridge "Slippage" Explains Intrinsic High Compliance Of Detrusor Smooth Muscle, Christopher J. Neal, Jia B. Lin, Tanner Hurley, Amy S. Miner, John E. Speich, Adam P. Klausner, Paul H. Ratz

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications

Biological soft tissues are viscoelastic because they display timeindependent pseudoelasticity and time-dependent viscosity. However, there is evidence that the bladder may also display plasticity, defined as an increase in strain that is unrecoverable unless work is done by the muscle. In the present study, an electronic lever was used to induce controlled changes in stress and strain to determine whether rabbit detrusor smooth muscle (rDSM) is best described as viscoelastic or viscoelastic plastic. Using sequential ramp loading and unloading cycles, stress-strain and stiffness-stress analyses revealed that rDSM displayed reversible viscoelasticity, and that the viscous component was responsible for establishing a …

Epigenetic Silencing Of Socs3 Expression Contributes To Fibrosis In Crohn’S Disease, Emily T. Marshall, Chao Li, John K. Kuemmerle

MD Student Summer Research Fellowship Program Posters

Identified risk polymorphisms affecting the Jak-STAT3 pathway in patients with Crohn’s disease could affect TGF-β1 and collagen I expression and in the pathway’s negative regulator, SOCS3. Genetic factors, however, account for only ~25% of disease. Epigenetic events also shape gene expression. Recent experiments showed that autocrine IL-6 production in mesenchymal cells, subepithelial myofibroblasts (SEMF) and muscle cells, of patients with fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease causes sustained Jak-STAT3 activity, excess TGF-β1 and Collagen I production and fibrosis. SOCS3 paradoxically decreased in these cells. We now identify epigenetic mechanisms that silence SOCS3 expression in SEMF of patients with fibrostenotic Crohn’s disease. In a …

Rare Mutations And Potentially Damaging Missense Variants In Genes Encoding Fibrillar Collagens And Proteins Involved In Their Production Are Candidates For Risk For Preterm Premature Rupture Of Membranes, Bhavi P. Modi, Maria E. Teves, Laurel N. Pearson, Hardik I. Parikh, Piya Chaemsaithong, Nihar U. Sheth, Timothy P. York, Roberto Romero, Jerome F. Strauss

Human and Molecular Genetics Publications

Preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) is the leading identifiable cause of preterm birth with ~ 40% of preterm births being associated with PPROM and occurs in 1% - 2% of all pregnancies. We hypothesized that multiple rare variants in fetal genes involved in extracellular matrix synthesis would associate with PPROM, based on the assumption that impaired elaboration of matrix proteins would reduce fetal membrane tensile strength, predisposing to unscheduled rupture. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) on neonatal DNA derived from pregnancies complicated by PPROM (49 cases) and healthy term deliveries (20 controls) to identify candidate mutations/variants. Genotyping for …

Substrate Stiffness Controls Osteoblastic And Chondrocytic Differentiation Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Without Exogenous Stimuli, Rene Olivares-Navarrete, Erin M. Lee, Kathryn Smith, Sharon L. Hyzy, Maryam Doroudi, Joseph K. Williams, Ken Gall, Barbara D. Boyan, Zvi Schwartz

Biomedical Engineering Publications

Stem cell fate has been linked to the mechanical properties of their underlying substrate, affecting mechanoreceptors and ultimately leading to downstream biological response. Studies have used polymers to mimic the stiffness of extracellular matrix as well as of individual tissues and shown mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be directed along specific lineages. In this study, we examined the role of stiffness in MSC differentiation to two closely related cell phenotypes: osteoblast and chondrocyte. We prepared four methyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate (MA/MMA) polymer surfaces with elastic moduli ranging from 0.1 MPa to 310 MPa by altering monomer concentration. MSCs were cultured in …

Predictive Behavior Of A Computational Foot/Ankle Model Through Artificial Neural Networks, Ruchi D. Chande, Rosalyn Hobson Hargraves, Norma Ortiz-Robinson, Jennifer S. Wayne

Biomedical Engineering Publications

Computational models are useful tools to study the biomechanics of human joints. Their predictive performance is heavily dependent on bony anatomy and soft tissue properties. Imaging data provides anatomical requirements while approximate tissue properties are implemented from literature data, when available. We sought to improve the predictive capability of a computational foot/ankle model by optimizing its ligament stiffness inputs using feedforward and radial basis function neural networks. While the former demonstrated better performance than the latter per mean square error, both networks provided reasonable stiffness predictions for implementation into the computational model.

Breastfeeding After Gestational Diabetes: Does Perceived Benefits Mediate The Relationship?, Jordyn T. Wallenborn, Robert A. Perera, Saba W. Masho

Family Medicine and Population Health Publications

Introduction. Breastfeeding is recognized as one of the best ways to decrease infant mortality and morbidity. However, women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may have breastfeeding barriers due to the increased risk of neonatal and pregnancy complications. While the prevalence of GDM is increasing worldwide, it is important to understand the full implications of GDM on breastfeeding outcomes.The current study aims to investigate the (1) direct effect of GDM on breastfeeding duration and (2) indirect effect of GDM on breastfeeding duration through perceived benefits of breastfeeding. Methods. Prospective cohort data from the Infant Feeding and Practices Study II was analyzed …

Structural Modeling And Functional Analysis Of The Essential Ribosomal Processing Protease Prp From Staphylococcus Aureus, Erin A. Wall, Adam L. Johnson, Darrell L. Peterson, Gail E. Christie

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

In Firmicutes and related bacteria, ribosomal large subunit protein L27 is encoded with a conserved N-terminal extension that is removed to expose residues critical for ribosome function. Bacteria encoding L27 with this N-terminal extension also encode a sequence-specific cysteine protease, Prp, which carries out this cleavage. In this work, we demonstrate that L27 variants with an un-cleavable N-terminal extension, or lacking the extension (pre-cleaved), are unable to complement an L27 deletion in Staphylococcus aureus. This indicates that N-terminal processing of L27 is not only essential but possibly has a regulatory role. Prp represents a new clade of previously uncharacterized cysteine …

Tetr Family Regulator Brpt Modulates Biofilm Formation In Streptococcus Sanguinis, Jinlin Liu, Victoria N. Stone, Xiuchun Ge, Madison Tang, Fadi Elrami, Ping Xu

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

Biofilms are a key component in bacterial communities providing protection and contributing to infectious diseases. However, mechanisms involved in S. sanguinis biofilm formation have not been clearly elucidated. Here, we report the identification of a novel S. sanguinis TetR repressor, brpT (Biofilm Regulatory Protein TetR), involved in biofilm formation. Deletion of brpT resulted in a significant increase in biofilm formation. Interestingly, the mutant accumulated more water soluble and water insoluble glucans in its biofilm compared to the wild-type and the complemented mutant. The brpT mutation led to an altered biofilm morphology and structure exhibiting a rougher appearance, uneven …

Identification Of Naegleria Fowleri Proteins Linked To Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis, Melissa Jamerson, Jacqueline A. Schmoyer, Jay Park, Francine Marciano-Cabral, Guy A. Cabral

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri) causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a rapidly fatal disease of the central nervous system. N. fowleri can exist in cyst, flagellate or amoebic forms, depending on environmental conditions. The amoebic form can invade the brain following introduction into the nasal passages. When applied intranasally to a mouse model, cultured N. fowleri amoebae exhibit low virulence. However, upon serial passage in mouse brain, the amoebae acquire a highly virulent state. In the present study, a proteomics approach was applied to the identification of N. fowleri amoeba proteins whose expression was associated with the highly virulent state …

Saikosaponins Induced Hepatotoxicity In Mice Via Lipid Metabolism Dysregulation And Oxidative Stress: A Proteomic Study, Xiaoyu Li, Xiaojiaoyang Li, Junxian Lu, Youyi Huang, Lili Lv, Yongfu Luan, Runping Liu, Rong Sun

Microbiology and Immunology Publications

Background

Radix Bupleuri (RB) has been popularly used for treating many liver diseases such as chronic hepatic inflammation and viral Hepatitis in China. Increasing clinical and experimental evidence indicates the potential hepatotoxicity of RB or prescriptions containing RB. Recently, Saikosaponins (SS) have been identified as major bioactive compounds isolated from RB, which may be also responsible for RB-induced liver injury.

Methods

Serum AST, ALT and LDH levels were determined to evaluate SS-induced liver injury in mice. Serum and liver total triglyceride and cholesterol were used to indicate lipid metabolism homeostasis. Liver ROS, GSH, MDA and iNOS were used to examine …

Consequences Of Dam Removal On Mussel Assemblages (Unionidae) In The Cuyahoga River, Nicholas P. Hogya, Rachel E. Andrikanich, Ryan J. Trimbath, Robert A. Krebs

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

The primary objective of a new survey of the Cuyahoga River was to assess species richness and population abundance of various mussel species in the family Unionidae throughout the Middle Cuyahoga River and upper parts of the Lower Cuyahoga River. Historically, few records existed for this river between Lake Rockwell and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a region in which four dams have been removed in the past 12 years. Timed visual surveys were conducted during low flow conditions and by using tactile techniques in deeper water. Throughout the survey, only 37 live animals were located across the 18 Middle …

Developmental Stages Identified In The Trophozoite Of The Free-Living Alveolate Flagellate Colpodella Sp. (Apicomplexa), Raghavendra Yadavalli, Tobili Y. Sam-Yellowe

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

In this study we performed light, immunofluorescent and transmission electron microscopy of Colpodella trophozoites to characterize trophozoite morphology and protein distribution. The use of Giemsa staining and antibodies to distinguish Colpodella life cycle stages has not been performed previously. Rhoptry and β-tubulin antibodies were used in immunofluorescent assays (IFA) to identify protein localization and distribution in the trophozoite stage of Colpodella (ATCC 50594). We report novel data identifying “doughnut-shaped” vesicles in the cytoplasm and apical end of Colpodella trophozoites reactive with antibodies specific to Plasmodium merozoite rhoptry proteins. Giemsa staining and immunofluorescent microscopy identified different developmental stages of Colpodella trophozoites, …

A Model For Anomalies Detection In Internet Of Things (Iot) Using Inverse Weight Clustering And Decision Tree, Ahod Alghuried

Dissertations

Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the fast growing technologies today. It is a technology by which billions of smart objects or devices known as “Things” can use several types of sensors to collect various types of data about themselves and/or the surrounding environment. They can then share this with authorized parties to serve several purposes such as controlling and monitoring industrial facilities or improving business service or functions. There are currently 3 billion devices connected to the Internet. The number will increase to 20 billion by 2020. While these devices make our life easier, safer and healthier, they …

Mitigation And Control Of The Overcuring Effect In Mask Projection Micro-Stereolithography, Nigel Kent, Paul F. O'Neill, Dermot Brabazon

Conference Papers

Mask Projection micro-Stereolithography (MPμSL) is an additive manufacturing technique capable of producing solid parts with micron-scale resolution from a vat of photocurable liquid polymer resin. Although the physical mechanism remains the same, the process differs from traditional laser-galvanometer based stereolithography (SL) in its use of a dynamic mask UV projector, or digital light processor (DLP), which cures each location within each 3D layer at the same time. One area where MPµSL has garnered considerable attention is in the field of microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip, where complex multistep microfabrication techniques adopted from the semiconductor industry are still widely used, and where MPµSL …

A System To Monitor Cognitive Workload In Naturalistic High-Motion Environments, Bethany K. Bracken, Seth Elkin-Frankston, Noa Palmon, Michael Farry, Blaise De B Frederick

H-Workload 2017: Models and Applications (Works in Progress)

Across many careers, individuals face alternating periods of high and low attention and cognitive workload can impair cognitive function and undermine job performance. We have designed and are developing an unobtrusive system to Monitor, Extract, and Decode Indicators of Cognitive Workload (MEDIC) in naturalistic, high-motion environments. MEDIC is designed to warn individuals, teammates, or supervisors when steps should be taken to augment cognitive readiness. We first designed and manufactured a forehead sensor device that includes a custom fNIRS sensor and a three-axis accelerometer designed to be mounted on the inside of a baseball cap or headband, or standard issue gear …

Towards A Not Obtrusive Low Cost Biosystem To Assess Risk Perception In Workplace Through Stress Detection, Emanuele Bellini, Serena Benevenuti, Chiara Batistini

H-Workload 2017: Models and Applications (Works in Progress)

The main aim of the article is to build a method to assess risk perception in real time in order to early detect and prevent risk behaviors and possible human errors. To this end, the relation between mental workload and stress as critical factors affecting risk perception has been investigated. In particular the mental-physical activation generated by an increment of the workload has the effect of reducing the resources needed to perceive risk increasing the worker vulnerability. The complexity of the stress phenomenon suggested the adoption of an integrated view. The Functional Model has been adopted to for its holistic …

Retention Systems For Extraoral Maxillofacial Prosthetic Implants: A Critical Review, M.V. Cobein, N.P. Coto, O. Crivello Junior, J.B.D. Lemos, L.M. Vieira, M.L. Pimentel, Hugh Byrne, R.B. Dias

Articles

We describe the techniques available for retention of implant-supported prostheses: bar-clips, O-rings, and magnets. We present reported preferences and, although this is limited by the heterogeneity of methods used and patients studied, we hope we have identified the best retention systems for maxillofacial prosthetic implants. If practitioners know the advantages and disadvantages of each system, they can choose the most natural and comfortable prosthesis. We searched the PubMed and Scopus databases, and restricted our search to papers published 2001–13. MeSH terms used were Maxillofacial prosthesis and Craniofacial prosthesis OR Craniofacial prostheses. We found a total of 2630 papers, and after …

Exploring The Transcriptome Of Introduced Naupactus Weevils To Understand The Mechanisms Facilitating Invasive Species Success, Mary Kate Dornon

Non-Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Characterization And Assessment Of Cardiac K+ Ion Channels In A Heterologous System, Myfanwy Adams

Non-Honors Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Georgia College Celebration Of Faculty Scholarship 2016, Georgia College & State University

Celebration of Faculty Scholarship

TThis is the booklet that contains faculty scholarship achievements at Georgia College in 2016.

19th Annual Andrew B. Conteh Student Academic Conference, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Student Academic Conference Abstract Books

Minnesota State University Moorhead Student Academic Conference abstract book.

Vol. 92, No. 2 | Winter 2017, Bridgewater College

Bridgewater Magazine

Momentum & Growth

Msche Periodic Review Report- June 1, 2017, Middle States Commission On Higher Education

Middle States Information and Publications

MSCHE Periodic Review Report

2017 Summer Newsletter, Dusty Layton, Angela Williams

Newsletters

Office of Research Compliance and Assurance 2017 Summer Newsletter.

Inside This Issue:

• IRB Submission: Getting Started
• Involvement in Clinical Research: For Non-Healthcare Providers
• Western IRB (WIRB) Submission Now Live
• Clinical Research Fundamentals Training
• Clinical Trials Module
• Welcome New Staff
• QA/QI Program
• Observing Informed Consent Process
• Conducting Research Responsibly: Data Management Practices