Digital Commons Network^™

Injury-Induced Actin Cytoskeleton Reorganization In Podocytes Revealed By Super-Resolution Microscopy, Hani Y. Suleiman, Robyn Roth, Sanjay Jain, John E. Heuser, Andrey S. Shaw, Jeffrey H. Miner

Open Access Publications

The architectural integrity of tissues requires complex interactions, both between cells and between cells and the extracellular matrix. Fundamental to cell and tissue homeostasis are the specific mechanical forces conveyed by the actomyosin cytoskeleton. Here we used super-resolution imaging methods to visualize the actin cytoskeleton in the kidney glomerulus, an organized collection of capillaries that filters the blood to make the primary urine. Our analysis of both mouse and human glomeruli reveals a network of myosin IIA-containing contractile actin cables within podocyte cell bodies and major processes at the outer aspects of the glomerular tuft. These likely exert force on …

Resilience And Coping In The Adolescent And Young Adult With Type 1 Diabetes, Debra L. Messinger

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

There is a need to understand the roles coping strategies play in enhancing resilience in adolescents and young adults with type 1 diabetes between the ages of 18-30. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between and among positive, protective coping strategies (courageous coping), negative coping strategies (defensive coping), and resilience. The Resilience in Illness Model (Haase, Kinter, Monahan, & Robb, 2014) was the theoretical model which guided this research.

A convenience sample was recruited via diabetes organizations’ Facebook and Forum pages, a College Diabetes Network chapter meeting, and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundations’ (JDRF) sponsored events. Data …

Using Remote Sensing, Occupancy Estimation, And Fine-Scale Habitat Characterization To Evaluate Fall Chum Salmon (Oncorhynchus Keta) Spawning Habitat Usage In Arctic Alaska, Chelsea M. Clawson

Fisheries

Groundwater upwellings provide stable temperatures for overwinter salmon embryo development and this process may be particularly important in cold, braided, gravel-bed Arctic rivers where rivers may freeze solid in the absence of upwellings. Aerial counts and remote sensing were used during 2013-2015 to estimate fall chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) spawner abundance states (e.g., low or high), classify river segments by geomorphic channel type (primary, flood, and spring), and map thermal variability along a 25.4 km stretch of the Chandalar River in interior Alaska. Additionally, I used on-the-ground examination of fine scale variation in physical habitat characteristics at 11 representative sites …

Characterizing The Diet And Population Structure Of Lampreys Lethenteron Spp. Using Molecular Techniques, Katie G. Shink

Fisheries

Lampreys contribute to the health of aquatic ecosystems and are targeted in both subsistence and commercial fisheries. Despite their ecological and commercial importance, the management and conservation of native lampreys have been largely overlooked. The goal of this study was to close current knowledge gaps of lamprey biology through the examination of Lethenteron spp. in Alaska. This study applied two molecular techniques, DNA metabarcoding and microsatellite genotyping, to (1) characterize the diet of marine-phase Arctic lamprey Lethenteron camtschaticum (N = 250) in the eastern Bering Sea and (2) investigate the population structure of larval lampreys Lethenteron spp. (N = 120) …

Surface Water Connectivity Of Arctic Lakes Drives Patterns Of Fish Species Richness And Composition, And Food Web Structure, Sarah M. Laske

Fisheries

Hydrological processes regulate fish habitat, largely controlling availability and suitability of habitat for freshwater fishes. Seasonal fluctuations in surface water distribution and abundance on the Arctic Coastal Plain, Alaska, influence individual fish species occupancy in lentic habitats. On low-relief tundra, permafrost processes and climate are chiefly responsible for lake formation and surface water dynamics, such as the timing, duration, and availability of water that affects fish species distributions. However, it is unclear how these relationships scale up to influence fish community richness and composition, or food web structure. Further, each of these processes is also likely to change with rapid …

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

The George-Anne

• CAMPUS CARRY
• Campus Life
• Features
• News
• Opinions
• Puzzles
• Sports

Early Marine Growth Patterns Of Situk River Steelhead, Oncorhynchus Mykiss, Matthew R. Catterson

Fisheries

Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss exhibit complex life-history patterns described by variable freshwater and marine residency periods, maturation patterns, and reproductive characteristics. Over 300 small populations of Steelhead are present in Southeast Alaska, and similar trends in abundance among these populations suggest the influence of population-regulating forces operating on a regional scale. The Situk River, near Yakutat, Alaska, supports the largest known population of Steelhead in Alaska. Stock assessment studies on this river have collected the longest set of biological data and scale samples for Steelhead in the state. For this study, retrospective scale pattern analysis of samples from Situk River Steelhead …

Estimability Of Time-Varying Natural Mortality In Groundfishes: Covariates And Hierarchical Models, Philip D. Ganz

Fisheries

Natural mortality, M, has historically been a difficult parameter to estimate in conjunction with other stock assessment parameters. Time-varying M, while likely to be experienced by a population, is a particularly difficult process to estimate with the data and methods currently available to most stock assessments. Although auxiliary information in the form of a covariate to M has been shown to improve model fit for some stocks, such data are rarely available. Meanwhile, hierarchical models continue to be utilized in capturing processes that vary in time and space. I tested both the covariate and hierarchical methods in their ability to …

Past, Present And Future Of Surgical Meshes: A Review, Karen Baylón, Perla Rodríguez-Camarillo, Alex Elías-Zúñiga, Jose Antonio Díaz-Elizondo, Robert Gilkerson, Karen Lozano

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Surgical meshes, in particular those used to repair hernias, have been in use since 1891. Since then, research in the area has expanded, given the vast number of post-surgery complications such as infection, fibrosis, adhesions, mesh rejection, and hernia recurrence. Researchers have focused on the analysis and implementation of a wide range of materials: meshes with different fiber size and porosity, a variety of manufacturing methods, and certainly a variety of surgical and implantation procedures. Currently, surface modification methods and development of nanofiber based systems are actively being explored as areas of opportunity to retain material strength and increase biocompatibility …

Dietary Phytochemicals As Inhibitors Of Primary Amine Oxidase, Padraig Shanahan, Jeffrey O'Sullivan, Keith F. Tipton, Gemma Kinsella, Barry J. Ryan, Gary T. Henehan

Articles

Phytochemicals such as methylxanthines, catechins and polyphenols show health benefits in a range of diseases although their mechanism of action is not fully understood. Primary Amine Oxidase (PrAO) is widely recognised as a therapeutic drug target for the treatment of inflammatory, vascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Previous work in our laboratories showed that caffeine inhibited bovine PrAO activity with a Ki of 1.0mM. In the present study we examined a range of methylxanthines and catechins as inhibitors of bovine PrAO. The methylxanthines tested were caffeine, paraxanthine, theophylline, theobromine and 7-methylxanthine. Of these, only theobromine was an inhibitor with an IC50 of …

Becoming Engineers: Exploring Gender, Choice And Intersectional Identities Among Women In Undergraduate Engineering, Emily Gwen Blosser

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Women’s participation in engineering remains one of the areas in American higher education in which gender inequality remains particularly pronounced. Much has been written about the chilly climate, unwelcoming occupational practices, and significant social barriers in engineering, which cause women to exit the field. Yet recent literature also suggests that woman’s minority status results not only from their attrition, but also from their relatively slow movement into engineering majors. In this sense, it is important that we begin to ask not only why women leave engineering, but also what reasons those women who actually pursue engineering as a college major, …

Executive Dysfunction Or State Regulation: A Dimensional Comparison Of Two Neuropsychological Theories Of Attention Disorder Symptoms Using Rdoc Paradigms, Justin Hull Ory

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Two leading theories regarding the neurocognitive basis of attentional disorders are the executive dysfunction theory and the state regulation theory. The executive dysfunction theory takes a top-down approach, explaining the symptoms of ADHD as a byproduct of general deficits in executive functioning—particularly disinhibition. The state regulation theory takes a bottom-up approach, explaining the symptoms of ADHD as a failure to be sufficiently aroused by, and subsequently engage with, less stimulating or rewarding tasks. These two theories predict different patterns of performance on tasks of executive functioning and attention, and research has demonstrated mixed support for both theories. The present study …

Performance Assessment Of Diffuse Optical Spectroscopic Imaging Instruments In A 2-Year Multicenter Breast Cancer Trial, Anais Leproux, Thomas D.O. Sullivan, Albert E. Cerussi, Amanda Durkin, Brian Hill, Nola M. Hylton, Arjun G. Yodh, Stefan A. Carp, David A. Boas, Shudong Jiang, Keith D. Paulsen, Brian W. Pogue, Darren M. Roblyr, Wei T. Yang, Bruce J. Tromberg

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a framework for characterizing the performance of an experimental imaging technology, diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging (DOSI), in a 2-year multicenter American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) breast cancer study (ACRIN-6691). DOSI instruments combine broadband frequency-domain photon migration with time-independent near-infrared (650 to 1000 nm) spectroscopy to measure tissue absorption and reduced scattering spectra and tissue hemoglobin, water, and lipid composition. The goal of ACRIN-6691 was to test the effectiveness of optically derived imaging endpoints in predicting the final pathologic response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Sixty patients were enrolled over a 2-year period at participating sites and received …

To See For Herself: Maria Sibylla Merian’S Research Journey To Suriname: 1699-1701, Catherine Grimm

Resources

No abstract provided.

Census Overview: Basics, Acs, And Estimates, Jerry Deichert

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

Unfamiliar with Census data or first time attending the conference? No problem – start your day with this session designed for beginners or as a refresher to bring you up to speed. We will cover census concepts such as race versus ethnicity, geographic types, when to use data from each major census program, data accuracy versus timeliness tradeoffs, various data products designed to meet specific needs, and how population estimates are valuable now that we’re moving further away from the 2010 Census year.

2017 Fall Faculty Conference: Telling Our Stories, Demonstrating Excellence In Teaching, Academic Affairs

Fall Faculty Conference

The 2017 Fall Faculty Conference featured teaching showcases by Kyriacos Aristotelous (Business, Accounting, and Economics), Phyllis Lynne Burns (English), Terry Hermsen (English), Mike Hudoba (Engineering), and Leesa Kern (Sociology, Criminology, and Justice Studies).

Breakout sessions followed.

Assessment Of Nitrogen Inputs Into Hunt River By Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems Via Swat Simulation, Supria Paul, Michaela Cashman, Katelyn Szura, Soni Pradhanang

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Nonpoint source nitrogen pollution is difficult to effectively model in groundwater systems. This study aims to elucidate anthropogenic nonpoint source pollution discharging into Potowomut Pond and ultimately Narragansett Bay. Hydrologic modeling with Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and SWAT Calibration and Uncertainty Program (SWAT-CUP) was used to simulate streamflow and nitrogen levels in the Hunt River with and without onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). The objective of this study was to determine how input of OWTS data impacts nitrogen loading into the Hunt River Watershed in Rhode Island, USA. The model was simulated from 2006 to 2014, calibrated from …

Biophysical And Computational Studies Of The Vcci:Vmip-Ii Complex, Anna Nguyen, Nai-Wei Kuo, Laura Showalter, Ricardo Ramos, Cynthia Dupureur, Michael Colvin, Patricia Liwang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Certain viruses have the ability to subvert the mammalian immune response, including interference in the chemokine system. Poxviruses produce the chemokine binding protein vCCI (viral CC chemokine inhibitor; also called 35K), which tightly binds to CC chemokines. To facilitate the study of vCCI, we first provide a protocol to produce folded vCCI from Escherichia coli (E. coli.) It is shown here that vCCI binds with unusually high affinity to viral Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-II (vMIP-II), a chemokine analog produced by the virus, human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Fluorescence anisotropy was used to investigate the vCCI:vMIP-II complex and shows that vCCI binds to …

Nitrogen And Carbon Isotopic Dynamics Of Subarctic Soils And Plants In Southern Yukon Territory And Its Implications For Paleoecological And Paleodietary Studies, Farnoush Tahmesabi, Fred J. Longstaffe, Grant Zazula, Bruce Bennett

Earth Sciences Publications

We examine here the carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of bulk soils (8 topsoil and 7 subsoils, including two soil profiles) and five different plant parts of 79 C₃ plants from two main functional groups: herbs and shrubs/subshrubs, from 18 different locations in grasslands of southern Yukon Territory, Canada (eastern shoreline of Kluane Lake and Whitehorse area). The Kluane Lake region in particular has been identified previously as an analogue for Late Pleistocene eastern Beringia. All topsoils have higher average total nitrogen δ¹⁵N and organic carbon δ¹³C than plants from the same sites with a …

Transcriptional Analysis Of Abdominal Fat In Chickens Divergently Selected On Bodyweight At Two Ages Reveals Novel Mechanisms Controlling Adiposity: Validating Visceral Adipose Tissue As A Dynamic Endocrine And Metabolic Organ, Christopher W. Resnyk, Wilfrid Carré, Xiaofei Wang, Tom E. Porter, J. Simon, Elisabeth Le Bihan-Duval, Michel J. Duclos, Sammy E. Aggrey, Larry A. Cogburn

Biology Faculty Research

Background

Decades of intensive genetic selection in the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) have enabled the remarkable rapid growth of today’s broiler (meat-type) chickens. However, this enhanced growth rate was accompanied by several unfavorable traits (i.e., increased visceral fatness, leg weakness, and disorders of metabolism and reproduction). The present descriptive analysis of the abdominal fat transcriptome aimed to identify functional genes and biological pathways that likely contribute to an extreme difference in visceral fatness of divergently selected broiler chickens.

Methods

We used the Del-Mar 14 K Chicken Integrated Systems microarray to take time-course snapshots of global gene transcription …

More Haste, Less Speed: Could Public-Private Partnerships Advance Cellular Immunotherapies?, Tania M. Bubela, Katherine Bonter, Silvy Lachance, Jean-Sébastien Delisle, E Richard Gol

Office of the Provost

Cellular immunotherapies promise to transform cancer care. However, they must overcome serious challenges, including: (1) the need to identify and characterize novel cancer antigens to expand the range of therapeutic targets; (2) the need to develop strategies to minimize serious adverse events, such as cytokine release syndrome and treatment-related toxicities; and (3) the need to develop efficient production/manufacturing processes to reduce costs. Here, we discuss whether these challenges might better be addressed through forms of public-private research collaborations, including public-private partnerships (PPPs), or whether these challenges are best addressed by way of standard market transactions. We reviewed 14 public-private relationships …

Seattle U Law Welcomes Incoming Students, Seattle University School Of Law

News Center Articles

No abstract provided.

Gwu Alumna’S Education Prepared Her For The Most Important Job Of Motherhood, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Since she left Gardner-Webb University in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in religious education, Jill Mayo Forbes of Hanahan, S.C., has worked in a variety of ministries and jobs from retail sales and wedding planning to student ministry, missions and teaching children and adults. Her studies prepared her for each of those roles, as well as her most important job of being a mother. “I use what I gained in the classroom every day as a mom. Every day,” she emphasized.

Daily Eastern News: August 16, 2017, Eastern Illinois University

August

No abstract provided.

Development Of Physics Curriculum For Pre-Health Students, Elliot Eckman Mylott

Dissertations and Theses

Many pre-health students are required to take introductory physics as undergraduates, though they often struggle to see the relationship between medicine and what they learn in these courses. In order to help students make that connection, reformed curriculum was adopted that teaches physics through the context of biomedicine. This dissertation will discuss the development, implementation, and assessment of the reformed curriculum for the introductory and intermediate level physics courses that targets the needs of pre-health students.

The curriculum created during this project include laboratory activities, multimedia content, and other instructional materials all of which present physics in biomedical contexts. The …

Expanding Metabolic Diversity Of Two Archaeal Phyla: Nanoarchaeota And Korarchaeota, John Forad Kelley

Dissertations and Theses

Culture independent studies have revealed a greater diversity of Archaea than the two kingdoms initially defined by Carl Woese. Culturing species from the newly discovered archaeal lineages, as with the majority of microbes, has been difficult. To overcome the culturing dilemma, metagenomics is being used to reconstruct environmental genomes. Two metagenomic studies are presented in this thesis, with the aim of recovering newly proposed archaeal genomes from the Nanoarchaeota and Korarchaeota.

In the first study, a sediment sample, NZ13, was collected from a terrestrial New Zealand hot spring. Along with the sediment sample, two complex enrichments were sequenced on an …

Intercultural Communicative Competence In Chinese Language Programs: Curriculum Design And Instructional Strategies, Li Cao

Theses and Dissertations

The qualitative two case comparisons study explored the effect of different curricular models and instructional strategies on increasing learners’ intercultural communicative competence in two Chinese programs at two American universities. There were five student participants and three faculty members in a Confucius Institute program in a public university and five student participants and one faculty member in a traditional Chinese language acquisition program in small private baccalaureate college. Participants were interviewed for one hour individually on curricular models, instructional strategies and intercultural communicative competence. Student participants took the CCAI assessment before their interviews. The scores of the assessment indicated that …

On-The-Spot Mindfulness Based Practices For Addressing Behavior Challenges Among 3rd Graders, Christina Francis

Master's Projects and Capstones

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to introduce and implement a mindfulness based tool that will empower students to manage their stress which contributes to their classroom behavior and allow teachers to minimize the amount of classroom time spent addressing behavior challenges.

Methods: Observations of third grade classrooms, key informant interviews with third grade teachers and community observations were conducted at the Achieve Academy School while throughout the school day.

Results: Findings showed that students would benefit from the implementation of On-The-Spot Mindfulness Based Techniques and Practices by minimizing stress, increasing academic success and improving the overall behavior, …

Phytoplasma Infection Of A Tropical Root Crop Triggers Bottom-Up Cascades By Favoring Generalist Over Specialist Herbivores, Kris A. G. Wyckhuys, Ignazio Graziosi, Dharani Dhar Burra, Abigail Jan Walter

Entomology Faculty Publications

Global interest on plant-microbe-insect interactions is rapidly growing, revealing the multiple ways in which microorganisms mediate plant-herbivore interactions. Phytopathogens regularly alter whole repertoires of plant phenotypic traits, and bring about shifts in key chemical or morphological characteristics of plant hosts. Pathogens can also cause cascading effects on higher trophic levels, and eventually shape entire plant-associated arthropod communities. We tested the hypothesis that a Candidatus Phytoplasma causing cassava witches’ broom (CWB) on cassava (Manihot esculenta Grantz) is altering species composition of invasive herbivores and their associated parasitic hymenopterans. We conducted observational studies in cassava fields in eastern Cambodia to assess …

Development Of An In-Situ Passive Sampling Device For Munitions Compounds And Sulfate, Joseph K Warren

Master's Theses

Passive sampling is a novel method of analyte concentration from the environment that strives to bring greater ease to field sampling regimes than traditional liquid-solid phase extractions (SPE). It is easier to deploy than a Niskin bottle or CTD rosette, and easier to recover than hoisting up dozens of liters of water. Passive sampling also offers the opportunity for wider exploratory studies, as compounds can be selectively extracted back in lab, rather than having to select a particular phase SPE and follow phase-specific elution methods. In this study, Ethylene Vinyl Acetate copolymer (EVA) was used as a marine sorption and …