Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of Gene Silencing Technique For Crop Protection Against Soil-Borne Fungal Disease, Guo Huishan, Gao Feng, Zhao Jianhua, Zhang Bosen

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Crop disease caused by soil-borne fungal pathogens is one of the major threatens to agriculture nowadays. Due to the lack of efficient control method, it is becoming a key factor to restrict sustainable development of agricultural production in China. Gene silencing (or RNA silencing, RNAi) is an important pathway in eukaryotes that regulates gene expression based on sequence homology. Gene silencingbased technology has been widely used as a new strategy for plant protection. In this review, we summarized occurrence and general prevention method of crop disease caused by soil-borne fungi, and introduced recent advances and applications of RNA silencing in …

Ecological Effects Of Regional Agricultural Landscape On Insect And Its Prospect, Ge Feng, Ouyang Fang, Men Xinyuan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Ecological regulation and control of pests are always important frontier areas in science and technology for prevention and management of crop diseases and insect pests. The research system on ecological regulation and control of pests is developing from a single agroecosystem to regional agricultural landscape ecosystem. Researching the effects of landscape pattern characteristics and human activities in regional agricultural landscape ecosystem on crop diseases and insect pests, and their natural enemies has a great significance for prevention and management of pests. It also benefits to explore the influence of human activities on structure and functions of biodiversity and to elucidate …

Application Of Genetic Regulation Technique For Invasive Pest Management, Li Zhiqian, Chen Kai, Yang Fangying, Huang Yongping

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Biological invasion is defined as exotic species invading a new area naturally or artificially, thus bringing harm to the local ecological system. Since no natural enemies for the exotic species existed in the local ecological environment, population of the invasion species increases dramatically and destroys local ecological environment, biodiversity, and economy. Recently, frequency and hazard of biological invasion are increasing along with the globalization. However, the current controlling strategy for invasion species relies on physical and chemical methods largely, which brings severe pollution to the environment and living organisms. Therefore, developing of new method such as genetic regulation technique (GRT) …

Research Progress And Perspective Of Tripartite Interaction Of Virus-Vector-Plant In Vector-Borne Viral Diseases, Ye Jian, Gong Yuqing, Fang Rongxiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Due to the immobility of plants, around 75% of 1100 plant virus species are piercing-sucking insect transmitted. Host plantmediated interactions between viruses and insects play vital roles in the population dynamics of vectors and the epidemiology of plant diseases. A successful viral pathogen has to evolve multiple strategies to manipulate host immune responses and also the ecological environment to facilitate effective transmission by insect vectors. Among these strategies, reprogramming the plant immune signaling pathways such as phytohormone is critical to the establishment of an effective virus transmission among plants and disease pandemic. Here, we review recent studies on the plant-virus …

Research Advances And Prospect For Plant Innate Immunity, Zhang Jie, Liu Jun, Qin Jun

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Crop diseases cause serious yield loss and are threatening our food security. Although chemical pesticides contribute effectively to plant disease control, huge fertilizing amount led to substantial environmental pollution. During long-term interactions, plants and pathogenic microbes have developed diverse strategies to recognize and respond to each other. Understanding the interaction mechanisms will greatly improve molecular resistance breeding in crops, and thus contribute significantly to the decrement of chemical pesticides. Notably, great achievements have been made in elucidating the molecular mechanisms of plant immunity and microbial pathogenicity during the last decade, leading to the proposing of a few co-evolution models. These …

Insect Symbionts And Their Potential Application In Pest And Vector-Borne Disease Control, Wang Sibao, Qu Shuang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Insects are the most diverse and abundant group of organisms dominating terrestrial habitats, in terms of numbers of species. The evolutionary success of insects and their diversification into a wide range of ecological niches depends in part on the beneficial members of their associated microbiome. The insect is colonized by a complex population of microorganisms in a symbiotic relationship, which vary from bacteria to viruses, yeasts, and protists. These diverse microbial communities provide important physiological functions for the insect hosts in many ways, including provision of nutritional supplements, enhancement of digestive mechanism, tolerance of environmental perturbations, modulation of host immune …

To Cross The Mara River:Thoughts On Breakthrough Point Of Research Evaluation Reform In China, Xu Fang, Li Xiaoxuan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The question of research evaluation appears to be a bastion which is hard to breach, while the academia, government, and society have been continutely disputing and attempting to make breakthroughs, which is just like the hundreds of wildebeest wandering and attempting to cross the Mara River. This paper analyzes that the fundamental reason why China's research evaluation is difficult to solve is that it does not clarify the relationship between the government and the science, does not deal with the relationship between the overall advancement and the key breakthrough, and does not give the special policy and autonomy of the …

Long-Term Ecological Research And Demonstrations Support Protection And Sustainable Management Of Grassland Ecosystems, Bai Yongfei, Wang Yang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The grassland ecosystems in China have experienced widespread deterioration in functioning and services during the last few decades, caused primarily by overusing the production functions of grasslands at the cost of their ecological functions. Therefore, it is urgently needed to develop a new paradigm for ecological restoration and sustainable grassland husbandry based on basic research and demonstrations in grassland science. Since the establishment in 1979, the research at Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station (IMGERS) of Chinese Academy of Sciences focuses on long-term monitoring of key biotic and abiotic factors driving ecosystem processes in temperate grasslands; researches on structure and …

Automated Breast Cancer Diagnosis Using Deep Learning And Region Of Interest Detection (Bc-Droid), Richard Platania, Jian Zhang, Shayan Shams, Kisung Lee, Seungwon Yang, Seung Jong Park

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Detection of suspicious regions in mammogram images and the subsequent diagnosis of these regions remains a challenging problem in the medical world. There still exists an alarming rate of misdiagnosis of breast cancer. This results in both over treatment through incorrect positive diagnosis of cancer and under treatment through overlooked cancerous masses. Convolutional neural networks have shown strong applicability to various image datasets, enabling detailed features to be learned from the data and, as a result, the ability to classify these images at extremely low error rates. In order to overcome the difficulty in diagnosing breast cancer from mammogram images, …

Out Of Bounds: The Bodies, Borders, And Voices Of Female Athletes, Scarlett Leigh Hester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Professional sports and sports culture permeate almost every aspect of contemporary American culture. By its very nature, sports culture focuses on the bodies and perfomances of athletes. While this is a natural result, the taken-for-granted norms of professional sports culture priviliges cisgendered, White, heteronormative bodies. This study investigates how professional sports culture operates as an apparatus of discipline that is inundated in notions of whiteness. Through the case studies of UFC fighter Ronda Rousey, tennis champion Serena Williams, and WNBA star Brittney Griner, this study exposes the modes of discipline that are deployed by professional sports culture and the impact …

Working On The Wayne | An Ending Note, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Biomedical Research Careers Pipeline In A Southern Hispanic-Serving Institution (Hsi): Perspectives Of Faculty And Students On Efficacy Of Mentoring Workshops, Ming-Tsan P. Lu, Stacey Lee Gonzalez, Yuridia Munoz, Luis V. Colom

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of the study was to investigate the efficacy of the Mentoring Workshops for students and faculty. College student and faculty participants’ perceptions of competencies, abilities, beliefs, and attitudes through the study university’s mentoring workshops were reported. The studies were exploratory in nature, leading the investigators to conduct pre-post surveys. Findings suggested that students and faculty had a positive perception of the mentoring workshops’ effectiveness. Faculty provided suggestions, such as making the workshops longer, providing case studies, and holding future mentoring workshops, were reported for enhancing the effectiveness of the mentoring workshops.

Recommendations For Developing Video Games To Address Depression Among College Students, John Bodycombe

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Depression is a significant problem on college campuses, and the data shows that prevalence is on the rise (The National Survey on Drug Use and Health [NSDUH], 2014; Stewart, Ricci, Chee, Hahn, & Morgenstein, 2003). Depression impacts the well-being of students and puts them at risk for a variety of issues (Leach, 2009; Adams, Wharton, Quilter, & Hirsch, 2008; Serras, Saules, Cranford, & Eisenberg, 2010; Cranford, Eisenberg, & Serras, 2009; Weitzman, 2004). Many students with depression do not receive care (Blanco, Okuda, Wright, Hasin, Grant, Liu, & Olfson, 20008; Eisenburg and Chung, 2012), or receive care that is not minimally …

Food Addiction And The Effective Treatment Of Adult Food Addicts: An Integrative Review Of Literature, Sara Bourque

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Abstract

Background: In a survey conducted between the years of 2011 and 2014 it was suggested that 36% of adults in the U.S. were obese with over 40.2% being middle aged adults. Obesity is associated with a number of comorbid conditions including diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. Due to this it is one of the major factors driving up our annual medical care costs. It is also one of the leading causes of death not only in the U.S. but worldwide. With one third of the adult population in the U.S. being obese food addiction may very well be a …

Early Life Antibiotic Exposure And Its Association With Overweight/Obesity: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Margaret Pfaff

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Early Life Antibiotic Exposure and its Association with Overweight/Obesity: An Integrative Review of the Literature

Margaret Pfaff

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Shannon Simonovich

Background: Prevention of or treatment for obesity could improve quality of life for many people. Infancy may be a critical period during which efforts should be focused to mitigate modifiable factors that may influence the risk for developing obesity.

Objectives: This integrative literature identified factors associated with greater incidence or effects of antibiotic exposure during infancy and examined the connection between early life antibiotic exposure and later in life overweight/obesity.

Method: This analysis followed the Whittemore and Knafl …

Racial Microaggressions Within The Field Of Nursing, Theresa Farris, Elizabeth Hartman, Young-Me Lee

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Racial microaggressions (RM) have transitioned into a subtle form of contemporary racism and are potentially involved within our communication as healthcare providers. Though cultural competency is addressed within nursing education, this RM phenomenon continues to happen in everyday discourse and can occur with little or no awareness on the part of Caucasians. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of how RMs against African Americans exist within the field of nursing and how their underlying discrimination increases the marginalization of this community. A detailed search was conducted using CINAHL, PsycInfo and ProQuest databases using the keywords: …

Effect Of Body Image On Health Outcomes In Individuals With Weight-Related Disorders, Anna Gertsberg

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Weight related disorders are on the rise in the United States with a prevalence rate for anorexia nervosa of 0.6% and obesity of 20%. The increase is attributed to emphasis on body image. Body image is the combined perception of how one feels about their appearance with how others perceive them. The purpose of the integrative literature review was to analyze the effect of body image on individuals with anorexia nervosa and obesity and the mechanisms underlying such. A literature search was conducted through Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) Complete, PubMed, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health …

Rates Of Autoimmune Disease Increasing In Women, Rosa De La Cotera

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Abstract

Autoimmune disorders (AD) are a group of highly disabling pathological conditions that are growing at an alarming rate affecting approximately 8% of the population. These disorders occur more frequently in women, as 78% of those diagnosed are women. Little conclusive research has been conducted as to determine why there is a tremendous sex disparity when looking at the rates. Due to the overall poor health that results from these disorders, there is an increase in the societal burden in terms of health care costs, loss of work productivity and reduced quality of life. The aim of this integrative literature …

Anticipating Change: An Exploratory Analysis Of Teachers’ Conceptions Of Engineering In An Era Of Science Education Reform, Tesha Sengupta-Irving, Janet Mercado

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

While integrating engineering into science education is not new in the United States, technology and engineering have not been well emphasized in the preparation and professional development of science teachers. Recent science education reforms integrate science and engineering throughout K–12 education, making it imperative to explore the conceptions teachers hold of engineering as a discipline, and as an approach to teaching. This analysis draws on focus group interviews with practicing secondary teachers (n = 12) conducted during a professional development seminar. The goals of the seminar were to present engineering as a heterogeneity of practices and inquiries organized to …

Genomic, Transcriptomic, And Proteomic Approaches Towards Understanding The Molecular Mechanisms Of Salt Tolerance In Frankia Strains Isolated From Casuarina Trees, Rediet Oshone, Mariama Ngom, Feixia Chu, Samira R. Mansour, Mame Oureye Sy, Antony Champion, Louis S. Tisa

Molecular, Cellular & Biomedical Sciences

Background: Soil salinization is a worldwide problem that is intensifying because of the effects of climate change. An effective method for the reclamation of salt-affected soils involves initiating plant succession using fast growing, nitrogen fixing actinorhizal trees such as the Casuarina. The salt tolerance of Casuarina is enhanced by the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis that they form with the actinobacterium Frankia. Identification and molecular characterization of salt-tolerant Casuarina species and associated Frankia is imperative for the successful utilization of Casuarina trees in saline soil reclamation efforts. In this study, salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive Casuarina associated Frankia strains were identified and comparative genomics, transcriptome …

The Heat Shock Response And Humoral Immune Response Are Mutually Antagonistic In Honey Bees, Mia Mckinstry, Charlie Chung, Henry Truong, Brittany A. Johnston, Jonathan W. Snow

Publications and Research

The honey bee is of paramount importance to humans in both agricultural and ecological settings. Honey bee colonies have suffered from increased attrition in recent years, stemming from complex interacting stresses. Defining common cellular stress responses elicited by these stressors represents a key step in understanding potential synergies. The proteostasis network is a highly conserved network of cellular stress responses involved in maintaining the homeostasis of protein production and function. Here, we have characterized the Heat Shock Response (HSR), one branch of this network, and found that its core components are conserved. In addition, exposing bees to elevated temperatures normally …

Pattern Recognition Receptors, Immune Proteins, And Nf-Κb Signaling Regulate Behaviors Associated With Aging Phenotypes, Nicholas W. Dekorver

Theses & Dissertations

The aging process is accompanied by functional impairments, including reduced locomotor function, fragmentation of active states, and alterations in energy balance. Our lab has demonstrated that immune proteins are increased in specific regions of the mouse brain that correlate with strain specific deficits. These immune proteins include toll-like receptors (Tlr), class I major histocompatibility complex proteins (MHC I), and complement proteins. There is an increasing appreciation for the role of immune proteins in neurodevelopment; however, their involvement in age-associated deficits is poorly understood. Here, we present data demonstrating that 1) activation of a specific immune receptor (Tlr2) leads to changes …

Genome-Wide Interaction Study Of Omega-3 Pufas And Other Fatty Acids On Inflammatory Biomarkers Of Cardiovascular Health In The Framingham Heart Study, Jenna Veenstra, Anya Kalsbeek, Jason Westra, Craig Disselkoen, Caren E. Smith, Nathan L. Tintle

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Numerous genetic loci have been identified as being associated with circulating fatty acid (FA) levels and/or inflammatory biomarkers of cardiovascular health (e.g., C-reactive protein). Recently, using red blood cell (RBC) FA data from the Framingham Offspring Study, we conducted a genome-wide association study of over 2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 22 RBC FAs (and associated ratios), including the four Omega-3 FAs (ALA, DHA, DPA, and EPA). Our analyses identified numerous causal loci. In this manuscript, we investigate the extent to which polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels moderate the relationship of genetics to cardiovascular health biomarkers using a genome-wide …

Choline Supplementation Normalizes Fetal Adiposity And Reduces Lipogenic Gene Expression In A Mouse Model Of Maternal Obesity, Chauntelle Jack-Roberts, Yaelle Joselit, Khatia Nanobashvili, Rachel Bretter, Olga V. Malysheva, Marie A. Caudill, Anjana Saxena, Kathleen Axen, Ahmed Gomaa, Xinyin Jiang

Publications and Research

Maternal obesity increases fetal adiposity which may adversely affect metabolic health of the offspring. Choline regulates lipid metabolism and thus may influence adiposity. This study investigates the effect of maternal choline supplementation on fetal adiposity in a mouse model of maternal obesity. C57BL/6J mice were fed either a high-fat (HF) diet or a control (NF) diet and received either 25 mM choline supplemented (CS) or control untreated (CO) drinking water for 6 weeks before timed-mating and throughout gestation. At embryonic day 17.5, HF feeding led to higher (p < 0.05) percent total body fat in fetuses from the HFCO group, while the choline supplemented HFCS group did not show significant difference versus the NFCO group. Similarly, HF feeding led to higher (p < 0.05) hepatic triglyceride accumulation in the HFCO but not the HFCS fetuses. mRNA levels of lipogenic genes such as Acc1, Fads1, and Elovl5, as well as the transcription factor Srebp1c that favors lipogenesis were downregulated (p < 0.05) by maternal choline supplementation in the HFCS group, which may serve as a mechanism to reduce fat accumulation in the fetal liver during maternal HF feeding. In summary, maternal choline supplementation improves indices of fetal adiposity in obese dams at late gestation.

Professors In Gwu Physician Assistant (Pa) Studies Program Challenged Students To Keep Learning, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

“Work harder, study more and test better.” Caitlin Heredia heard this phrase often as a student in the Gardner-Webb Physician Assistant (PA) Studies Program. Heredia was a member of the program’s first graduating class in 2016.

Extracting Intercellular Signaling Network Of Cancer Tissues Using Ligand-Receptor Expression Patterns From Whole-Tumor And Single-Cell Transcriptomes., Joseph X Zhou, Roberto Taramelli, Edoardo Pedrini, Theo Knijnenburg, Sui Huang

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Many behaviors of cancer, such as progression, metastasis and drug resistance etc., cannot be fully understood by genetic mutations or intracellular signaling alone. Instead, they are emergent properties of the cell community which forms a tumor. Studies of tumor heterogeneity reveal that many cancer behaviors critically depend on intercellular communication between cancer cells themselves and between cancer-stromal cells by secreted signaling molecules (ligands) and their cognate receptors. We analyzed public cancer transcriptome database for changes in cell-cell interactions as the characteristic of malignancy. We curated a list (>2,500 ligand-receptor pairs) and identified their joint enrichment in tumors from TCGA …

Rational Confederation Of Genes And Diseases: Ngs Interpretation Via Genecards, Malacards And Varelect., Noa Rappaport, Simon Fishilevich, Ron Nudel, Michal Twik, Frida Belinky, Inbar Plaschkes, Tsippi Iny Stein, Dana Cohen, Danit Oz-Levi, Marilyn Safran, Doron Lancet

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: A key challenge in the realm of human disease research is next generation sequencing (NGS) interpretation, whereby identified filtered variant-harboring genes are associated with a patient's disease phenotypes. This necessitates bioinformatics tools linked to comprehensive knowledgebases. The GeneCards suite databases, which include GeneCards (human genes), MalaCards (human diseases) and PathCards (human pathways) together with additional tools, are presented with the focus on MalaCards utility for NGS interpretation as well as for large scale bioinformatic analyses.

RESULTS: VarElect, our NGS interpretation tool, leverages the broad information in the GeneCards suite databases. MalaCards algorithms unify disease-related terms and annotations from 69 …

The Daily Gamecock, Friday August, 18, 2017, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

August

No abstract provided.

Neurological Impact Of Zinc Excess And Deficiency In Vivo, Ronald Bartzatt

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Zinc is an essential mineral that can cause pathological effects whether in excess or deficiency. Zinc is a component for over 250 enzymes and is required for cell growth, cell division, and cell function. Zinc is found in muscle and bones, with the prostrate, liver, skin, and kidney having detectable levels of zinc. However, zinc present in excess or deficiency can cause significant pathology in patients that include deleterious effects neurologically. Zinc in excess in vivo can cause focal neuronal pathology, while zinc deficiency can bring about mental lethargy, neuropsychiatric disorders, and reduced nerve conduction. Zinc is assimilated within the …

Inflammasome Activation By Methamphetamine Potentiates Lipopolysaccharide Stimulation Of Il-1Β Production In Microglia, Enquan Xu

Theses & Dissertations

Methamphetamine (Meth) is a psychostimulant drug that is widely abused all around the world. The administration of Meth causes a strong instant euphoria effect, and long-term of abuse is correlative of drug-dependence and neurotoxicity. The neuroimaging studies demonstrated that the long-term abuse of Meth is associated with the reduction of the dopamine transporter (DAT) and vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) in the striatum. Neuroinflammation is well-accepted as an important mechanism underlying the Meth-induced neurotoxicity. The over-activated microglia were found both in Meth human abusers and animal models.

NACHT, LRR, and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is the most predominant Nod-like …