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Liquid Chromatography - Mass Spectrometric Analysis Of Clinicallyand Pharmacologically Relevant Molecules, Raghavi Kakarla

ETD Archive

Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry is an advanced analytical technique that offers high sensitivity and specificity and has been increasingly used for analysis of a wide variety of compounds including clinically and pharmacologically relevant molecules. In this dissertation we describe qualitative and quantitative liquid chromatographic mass spectrometric methods to analyze both small molecules and larger macromolecules that provide useful insights into diagnosis and management of several diseases. An LCMS(/MS) analytical method includes extraction of analytes of interest from the matrix followed by liquid chromatographic separation and mass spectrometric detection. Chapter I describes pre-analytical workflows and sample pretreatment techniques and theories underlying LC-MS …

Role Of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Stimulated Gene-6 In Cutaneous Wound Healing And Inflammation, Sajina Shakya

ETD Archive

Controlled inflammation is crucial for normal wound healing. Our main aim in this study was to investigate the effect of loss of tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene-6 (TSG-6) in cutaneous wound closure and inflammation. TSG-6 by its enzymatic action modifies the extracellular matrix molecule, hyaluronan (HA), through the transfer of heavy chain (HC) proteins from inter-a-trypsin inhibitor to form HC-HA complexes. Both TSG-6 and HC-HA have been associated with inflammation. Here, we showed that loss of endogenous TSG-6 and HC-HA in TSG-6 null mice results in significantly delayed wound closure and differential neutrophil recruitment compared to wildtype mice. Both of these …

Southeastern Alumni Magazine- Winter 2019, Southeastern University - Lakeland

Southeastern Alumni Magazine

This issue features alumni from the College of Education.

AMERICAN CENTER FOR POLITICAL LEADERSHIP Former U.S. Congressman Dennis Ross joins SEU as a distinguished professor of political science to launch the American Center for Political Leadership, a bipartisan center.

SEU LAUNCHES AVIATION PROGRAM In partnership with the International Aero Academy, Ltd., SEU announced the launch of an innovative, cost-effective new aviation program that will meet the current and anticipated need for professional pilots.

CHRISTY (CLEMENTS) PAVILANDO: CLIENT RELATIONS FOR THE JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS As a member experience specialist for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL football team, Christy ’16 is a key player …

The Rock, Fall/Winter 2019 (Vol. 88, No. 1), Whittier College

The Rock

No abstract provided.

Chapter 4. Bottlenecks Of Information Literacy, Joan Middendorf, Andrea Baer

Libraries Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Commencement Exercises, Texas A&M University-Commerce

All Commencement Programs

A color program for the Spring 2019 commencement ceremony at Texas A&M University-Commerce. It includes a program of events and a list of graduating students.

Plaster Creek Microbial Ecosystem And Source Tracking, Sarah Gibes, Luke Vander Meer, Kelly Dubois

Summer Research

In 2013, Plaster Creek Stewards built Kreiser Pond, a green infrastructure bioswale in East Grand Rapids that flows into Plaster Creek. It has reduced the creek’s water flow, making the creek less prone to flooding. A similar green infrastructure project was completed at Shadyside Park in Dutton in 2019. At Shadyside Park, a floodplain was built to slow the flow of the creek when there is heavy rainfall and prevent erosion caused by flooding.1 Plaster Creek’s flow rate isn’t the only concern. There is also significant microbial (bacterial and viral) contamination in Plaster Creek.2 This project investigated whether the green …

Quantitative Monthly Analysis Of Green Plant Biomass Differences Among Burned And Unburned Prairie Sites & Phenology Study, Andrew Koning, Dave Warners

Summer Research

The summer was spent at Flat Iron Lake in Greenville Michigan. Over the ten weeks two studies were performed. The phenology study looked at the timing of native herbaceous wildflowers and sought to analyze a potential effect of climate change. The second study examined the benefits of performing a controlled burn. The study sought to find a quantifiable benefit to controlled burns by looking at monthly statistics of green plant biomass produced on the control side and burned section of prairie.

The Role Of Low-Level Image Features In The Affective Categorization Of Rapidly Presented Scenes, L. Jack Rhodes, Matthew Rios, Jacob M. Williams, Gonzalo Quinones, Prahalada K. Rao, Vladimir Miskovic

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

It remains unclear how the visual system is able to extract affective content from complex scenes even with extremely brief (< 100 millisecond) exposures. One possibility, suggested by findings in machine vision, is that low-level features such as unlocalized, two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier spectra can be diagnostic of scene content. To determine whether Fourier image amplitude carries any information about the affective quality of scenes, we first validated the existence of image category differences through a support vector machine (SVM) model that was able to discriminate our intact aversive and neutral images with ~ 70% accuracy using amplitude-only features as inputs. This model allowed us to confirm that scenes belonging to different affective categories could be mathematically distinguished on the basis of amplitude spectra alone. The next question is whether these same features are also exploited by the human visual system. Subsequently, we tested observers’ rapid classification of affective and neutral naturalistic scenes, presented briefly (~33.3 ms) and backward masked with synthetic textures. We tested categorization accuracy across three distinct experimental conditions, using: (i) original images, (ii) images having their amplitude spectra swapped within a single affective image category (e.g., an aversive image whose amplitude spectrum has been swapped with another aversive image) or (iii) images having their amplitude spectra swapped between affective categories (e.g., an aversive image containing the amplitude spectrum of a neutral image). Despite its discriminative potential, the human visual system does not seem to use Fourier amplitude differences as the chief strategy for affectively categorizing scenes at a glance. The contribution of image amplitude to affective categorization is largely dependent on interactions with the phase spectrum, although it is impossible to completely rule out a residual role for unlocalized 2-D amplitude measures.

Nutech Ventures Annual Report 2018-2019

NUtech Ventures: Publications

NUTech Ventures annual report 2018-2019.

Confronting Western Conceptions Of Non-Human Animal Cognition, Jinji Donato

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

The capabilities of non-human animals have long been subjected to philosophical consideration in the West. Over the course of a longstanding cultural dialogue about non-human animal capability, the Aristotelian view of humans as the only rational species, and consequently more valuable species in a hierarchy of being, seems to have prevailed. In this thesis, a Western view of animal cognition as “non-rational” is juxtaposed with the contemporary study of animal minds via the disciplines of comparative psychology, ethology and animal studies in order to emphasize a cognitive dissonance between historical and contemporary views. Based in part on belief in animal …

Turning Passion Into Profit: When Leisure Becomes Work In Modern Roller Derby, Amanda Nicole Draft

Wayne State University Dissertations

Modern roller derby operates as a “by the skater, for the skater” business model, where participants are not paid but must devote a certain amount of time, effort, and money to sustaining their sport and respective organizations. At the same time, while derby is grounded in anti-corporate values, a growing industry has sprouted to support the sport, the larger share of which consists of small business retailers selling gear, apparel, and other accessories. I use the context of modern roller derby to examine the changing natures of work and leisure, specifically how they operate as greedy institutions and emphasizing the …

Life Without Professional Work-Perceptions About One’S Self, Interpersonal Relations And Social Life After Retirement, Ann-Charlotte Dalheim-Englund, Gunilla Carlsson, Maria Nystrom, Catharina Gillsjö, Irene Eriksson, Lina Palmer

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

The aim of this study is to understand how healthy, older adults in Sweden perceive their life situation after retirement. The study is based on a lifeworld approach, and a phenomenographic method was used. Eighteen participants were interviewed, and data were analysed according to the phenomenographic principle of qualitatively different categories. Two categories were developed. The first category, “perceptions that draw attention inward, towards one’s self”, was further described in three subcategories: Sense of decreased status in society, the desire to keep aging at a distance, and contemplation of one’s own existence. The second category, “perceptions that draw attention outward, …

Associations Between Timing And Quality Of Solid Food Introduction With Infant Weight-For-Length Z-Scores At 12 Months: Findings From The Nurture Cohort, Maya Vadiveloo, Alison Tovar, Truls Østbye, Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon

Nutrition Faculty Publications

This study assesses associations of the timing and quality of solid foods introduced during infancy with weight-for-length (WFL) z-scores at 12 months within the Nurture cohort. Women from North Carolina self-reported sociodemographics, the timing and type of solid food introduction, and reasons for introducing solids; infant anthropometrics were measured every 3 months through 1 year (n = 666). Frequency (0–5x/day) infants consumed fruits and vegetables was used to compute a mean (4–12 months) healthy food score (HFS), and sweets, french fries, snacks, and ice cream was used to compute a mean unhealthy food score (UnHFS). Multivariable-adjusted generalized linear models …

Loss Of Bcaa Catabolism During Carcinogenesis Enhances Mtorc1 Activity And Promotes Tumor Development And Progression, Russell E. Ericksen, Siew Lan Lim, Eoin Mcdonnell, Wai Ho Shuen, Maya Vadiveloo, Phillip J. White, Zhaobing Ding, Royston Kwok, Philip Lee, George K. Radda, Han Chong Toh, Matthew D. Hirschey, Weiping Han

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Tumors display profound changes in cellular metabolism, yet how these changes aid the development and growth of tumors is not fully understood. Here we use a multi-omic approach to examine liver carcinogenesis and regeneration, and find that progressive loss of branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism promotes tumor development and growth. In human hepatocellular carcinomas and animal models of liver cancer, suppression of BCAA catabolic enzyme expression led to BCAA accumulation in tumors, though this was not observed in regenerating liver tissues. The degree of enzyme suppression strongly correlated with tumor aggressiveness, and was an independent predictor of clinical outcome. Moreover, …

Development And Validation Of The Policies, Opportunities, Initiatives And Notable Topics (Points) Audit For Campuses And Worksites, Tanya M. Horacek, Mariel Simon, Elif Dede Yildirim, Adrienne A. White, Karla P. Shelnutt, Kristin Riggsbee, Melissa D. Olfert, Jesse Stabile Morrell, Anne E. Mathews, Wenjun Zhou, Tandalayo Kidd, Kendra Kattelmann, Geoffrey Greene, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Sarah Colby, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Onikia Brown

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Background: Workplace or campus wellness/obesity-prevention policies and initiatives can improve health. Research tools to assess worksite or campus policies/initiatives are scarce. Thus, the aim of this research is to develop and validate the policies, opportunities, initiatives, and notable topics (POINTS) audit. Methods: POINTS was developed and refined via expert review, pilot-testing, and field testing. Trained researchers completed a web-based review from a student-focus or employee-focus regarding 34 health-promoting topics for colleges. Each topic was evaluated on a 0–2 scale: 0 = no policy/initiative, 1 = initiatives, 2 = written policy. When a written policy was detected, additional policy …

Iron Deficiency Anemia And Difficulty Concentrating In A Nationally Representative Sample Of School-Aged Children In The United States., Elizabeth Jennifer Voyles

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The worldwide prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among school-aged children is estimated to be 40%. Anemia has been associated with varying degrees of impaired cognitive functioning due to iron’s role in maintaining the neurochemical environment of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). However, limited research is available related to the prevalence of IDA and its resulting adverse effects on cognitive functioning in school-aged children in the United States. Data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 2013-2016 were analyzed to assess the relationship between iron deficiency anemia and difficulty concentrating in 1758 children, ages 5-15 years old. Hemoglobin …

Influence Of Side Chain Conformation On The Mechanism(S) Of Glycosylation Reactions; Investigation Of Sialidation Reaction Mechanism(S) By Kinetic Studies, Harsha Chandhana Amarasekara

Wayne State University Dissertations

Glycosylation, being the key reaction of glycobiology and carbohydrate chemistry, demands robust and stereoselective glycosylation methods. The rational development of such methods necessitates knowledge of the glycosylation reaction mechanism and the factors influencing glycosylation reactions. The work discussed in this dissertation is focused on studying glycosylation reaction mechanisms and exploring the key factors influencing them.

Chapter one reviews the background to the research, starting with a brief introduction of the significance of carbohydrates as structural and energy-storage materials. The significance of cell surface carbohydrates and their roles in communication and related processes are discussed along with examples of their applications …

The Disproportionate Burden Of Asthma By Race, Sex, Income And Education, Lisa Elizabeth Stack

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper seeks to understand the relationship of county level median air quality with adult asthma risk, and the disproportional adult asthma risk by sex, race, income and education, controlling for individual and county effects. The specific objectives of this work are to answer the following questions: 1) What is the difference exposure of the median AQI by race, controlling for county and individual effects? 2) What is the difference in exposure of the median AQI by sex, controlling for county and individual effects? 3) What is the difference in exposure of the median AQI by education, controlling for county …

The Role Of The Cell-Surface Protease Tmprss13 In Colorectal Cancer, Fausto Alexander Varela

Wayne State University Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common and deadly cancers in both men and women in the United States. Extracellular proteolysis is often dysregulated in cancer including (CRC), resulting in degradation of extracellular matrix, as well as cleavage, processing, or shedding of cell adhesion molecules, growth factors, and cytokines. Several members of the type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) family have been shown to play critical roles in cancer progression; however, many family members have not yet been characterized in malignancy. We identified TMPRSS13 transcript to be upregulated in CRC compared to normal colon. This increase was confirmed …

Mutation Update For The Satb2 Gene, Yuri A. Zarate, R. Caffrey, Et Al

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

SATB2‐associated syndrome (SAS) is an autosomal dominant neurodevelopmental disorder caused by alterations in the SATB2 gene. Here we present a review of published pathogenic variants in the SATB2 gene to date and report 38 novel alterations found in 57 additional previously unreported individuals. Overall, we present a compilation of 120 unique variants identified in 155 unrelated families ranging from single nucleotide coding variants to genomic rearrangements distributed throughout the entire coding region of SATB2. Single nucleotide variants predicted to result in the occurrence of a premature stop codon were the most commonly seen (51/120 = 42.5%) followed by …

Self-Delivery Drug Amphiphilies In Chemotherapy And Immunotherapy, Jingchao Xi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Eliminating the need for external delivery systems, self-delivery drug amphiphiles represent a simple yet effective approach designed to overcome the various biological barriers for drug delivery. The ability to program the molecular structures and the physicochemical properties, which control the interactions between the drug amphiphiles and their biological surroundings has attracted significant research interests. In this work, we constructed several amphiphilic drugs including chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic agents. These amphiphiles exhibited interesting interactions with their biological surroundings. Amphiphiles self-assemble into spherical micelle structures in aqueous solution. However, in the presence of complexed biological fluids, they also possess a strong affinity toward …

Prescription Opioid Use Among Pregnant Women Enrolled In Rhode Island Medicaid, Xuerong Wen, Nicholas Belviso, Rebecca Lebeau, Jeffrey P. Bratberg, Brandi Cotton, Kristina E. Ward, Debra A. Erickson-Owens, Stephen Jon Kogut

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Objective: Our objective was to identify the patterns of opioid use among pregnant women enrolled in RI Medicaid.

Methods: This study used linked RI Medicaid and RI Birth Certificate data from 01/01/2006 to 12/31/2016. We examined temporal trends of prescription opioid dispensings and identified risk factors associated with opioids use during pregnancy.

Results: Among 25,500 RI Medicaid enrolled pregnant women who delivered a live baby from 2008 to 2016, 1,914 (7.5%) received at least one prescription for an opioid medication during pregnancy, 810 (3.2%) were during the first trimester, 633 (2.5%) during the second trimester, and 866 (3.4%) during the …

Female Headship And Women’S Work In Nepal, Pratistha Joshi-Rajkarnikar, Smita Ramnarain

Economics Faculty Publications

Literature on household headship has, by and large, tended to homogenize female-headed households (FHHs). We present a mixed methods approach to disaggregating the experiences of female-headed households (FHHs) in the post-conflict period in Nepal. One of four households in Nepal is estimated to be female-headed, either as a result of conflict-related male deaths (de jure, or widow heads) or due to male out-migration (de facto, or wives of migrants). We examine similarities and differences in the work responsibilities and labor market participation of de jure and de facto female heads using quantitative data from the Nepal …

Monitoring Spatial And Temporal Variabilities Of Gross Primary Production Using Maiac Modis Data, Marcos Fernandez-Martinez, Rong Yu, John Gamon, Gabriel Hmimina, Iolanda Filella, Manuela Balzarolo, Benjamin Stocker, Josep Penuelas

Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies: Publications

Remotely sensed vegetation indices (RSVIs) can be used to efficiently estimate terrestrial primary productivity across space and time. Terrestrial productivity, however, has many facets (e.g., spatial and temporal variability, including seasonality, interannual variability, and trends), and different vegetation indices may not be equally good at predicting them. Their accuracy in monitoring productivity has been mostly tested in single-ecosystem studies, but their performance in different ecosystems distributed over large areas still needs to be fully explored. To fill this gap, we identified the facets of terrestrial gross primary production (GPP) that could be monitored using RSVIs. We compared the temporal and …

Comparing Phonemic Patterns In Book Of Mormon Personal Names With Fictional And Authentic Sources: An Exploratory Study, Brad Wilcox, Bruce L. Brown, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Sharon Black, Dennis L. Eggett

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

In 2013 we published a study examining names from Solomon Spalding’s fictional manuscript, J. R. R. Tolkien’s fictional works, and nineteenth-century US census records. Results showed names created by authors of fiction followed phonemic patterns that differed from those of authentic names from a variety of cultural origins found in the US census. The current study used the same methodology to compare Book of Mormon names to the three name sources in the original study and found that Book of Mormon names seem to have more in common with the patterns found in authentic names than they do with those …

Transitions To Capitalism In Early Modern Europe: Economies In The Era Of Early Globalization, C. 1450 – C. 1820, Robert S. Duplessis

History Faculty Works

Between the end of the Middle Ages and the early nineteenth century, the long-established structures and practices of European trade, agriculture, and industry were disparately but profoundly transformed. Revised, updated, and expanded, this second edition of Transitions to Capitalism in Early Modern Europe narrates and analyses the diverse trends that greatly enlarged European commerce, permanently modified rural and urban production, gave birth to new social classes, remade consumer habits, and altered global economic geographies, culminating in capitalist industrial revolution. Broad in chronological and geographical scope and explicitly comparative, Robert S. DuPlessis' book introduces readers to a wealth of information drawn …

Towards A Developmental Biology Of Holobionts, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

We do not develop as monogenomic organisms, instructed solely from the DNA and cytoplasm of the zygote. Rather, we are holobionts, symbiotic consortia containing numerous microbial genomes, whose signals are critically important for our normal development. Microbes play crucial roles in forming and maturing animal guts, immune systems, nervous systems, and reproductive organs. In some species, they regulate such developmental phenomena as the proper orientation of the anterior-posterior axis and metamorphosis. One of the biggest challenges to developmental biology, then, is studying the developmental biology of holobionts, where co-development is the rule, and where the body is seen as a …

Nineteen Years Of Consistently Positive And Strong Female Mate Preferences Despite Individual Variation, M. J. Ryan, K. A. Akre, Alexander T. Baugh, X. E. Bernal, A. M. Lea, C. Leslie, M. B. Still, D. Wylie, A. S. Rand

Biology Faculty Works

Sexual selection driven by mate choice has generated some of the most astounding diversity in nature, suggesting population-level preferences should be strong and consistent over many generations. On the other hand, mating preferences are among the least repeatable components of an individual animal’s phenotype, suggesting low consistency across an animal’s lifetime. Despite decades of intensive study of sexual selection there is almost no information about the strength and consistency of preferences across many years. In this study we present the results of over 5000 mate choice tests with a species of wild frog conducted over 19 consecutive years. Results show …

Neandertal Mandibular Molars From Hortus Cave, France: A Comparison Of Crown Shapes Using Elliptical Fourier Analysis, Frank L. Williams, Juliet K. Brophy, Gregory J. Matthews, Emilee Hart, Marie-Antoinette De Lumley, Gaël Becam

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Neandertal permanent mandibular molars are well represented at Hortus Cave, France, Sub-Phase IVb and Vb, providing an opportunity to assess intrapopulation and intersite shape variation. We expected the mandibular molars from Hortus cave, comprising Hortus II, Hortus IV, Hortus V and Hortus VI to cluster together, compared to Neandertals close in proximity, such as Malarnaud and La Quina 5 as well as those more distantly located such as Arcysur- Cure 1, Engis 2 and Scladina 4A-1. A single Neolithic cave burial from Maurenne Caverne de la Cave, Belgium (n = 11) is used to contextualize the degree of variation in …