Digital Commons Network^™

The Interactions Of Cell Cycle Protein Cdc34 With Its Ubiquitin Conjugation Cascade Enzyme Partners, Katelyn Williams

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Cdc34 is an essential E2 ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme that regulates the cell cycle at the G1-S checkpoint. It has been implicated in several disease processes, primarily cancer, and has become a target for therapeutic development. As an E2, Cdc34 interacts with an E1 ubiquitin-activating enzyme and a family of SCF E3 ligases to attach ubiquitin molecules to target proteins. Moreover, Cdc34 is known to specifically select Lys48 on the end of a growing polyUb chain to Ub attachment, resulting in Lys48-linked Ub chain extension and subsequent proteasomal degradation of the target. Despite decades of investigation, the structural basis for Cdc34 activities …

A Systematic Review Of Medical Students’ And Professionals’ Attitudes And Knowledge Regarding Medical Cannabis As A Proxy For Forecasting Trends In The Medical Community’S Acceptance Of Therapeutic Hallucinogens, Jared Weisman

Pitzer Senior Theses

Background: In recent years, the renewed global interest in both hallucinogens’ and cannabis’ therapeutic properties has resulted in shifting attitudes and legislative policies worldwide. The aim of this systematic review is to explore the existing literature on medical professionals’ and students’ attitudes and knowledge regarding medicinal cannabis (MC) to assess any relevant and significant trends which may forecast analogous trends in the nascent clinical acceptance of hallucinogens.

Methods: Using Google Scholar and PubMed, a literature search was performed to identify studies pertaining to healthcare professionals’ and medical students’ knowledge and attitudes regarding MC. This systematic search yielded 43 studies published …

Host Restriction Factors In The Replication Of Tombusviruses: From Rna Helicases To Nucleocytoplasmic Shuttling, Cheng-Yu Wu

Theses and Dissertations--Plant Pathology

Positive-stranded (+)RNA viruses replicate inside cells and depend on many cellular factors to complete their infection cycle. In the meanwhile, (+)RNA viruses face the host innate immunity, such as cell-intrinsic restriction factors that could block virus replication.

Firstly, I have established that the plant DDX17-like RH30 DEAD-box helicase conducts strong inhibitory function on tombusvirus replication when expressed in plants and yeast surrogate host. This study demonstrates that RH30 blocks the assembly of viral replicase complex, the activation of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase function of p92pol and viral RNA template recruitment.

In addition, the features rendering the abundant plant DEAD-box helicases either …

Gentle Space-Making: Christian Silent Prayer, Mindfulness, And Kenotic Identity Formation, Travis Ryan Pickell

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The practice of mindfulness has reached an unprecedented level of prevalence in the US and the UK, both in terms of widespread popularity and in terms of institutional support and investment. One potential clue to this phenomenon may be found in the nature of the institutional contexts that are increasingly being filled with mindfulness practitioners and seminars: each is deeply embedded in and pervaded by what philosopher Charles Taylor calls the ‘modern identity’. This article provides an analysis of mindfulness as a practice of moral formation that challenges these late-modern notions of human agency and identity. It does so by …

Periodical Cicada Emergence Resource Pulse Tracks Forest Expansion In A Tallgrass Prairie Landscape, Matt R. Whiles, Bruce A. Snyder, Brent L. Brock, Sophia Bonjour, Mac A. Callaham, Clinton K. Meyer, Alex Bell

Faculty and Staff Works

Understanding factors that influence resource pulses is an important aspect of ecosystem ecology. We quantified below‐ to aboveground energy and nutrient fluxes during the 2015 periodical cicada emergence from forest habitats in a tallgrass prairie matrix and compared results to our prior studies of the 1998 emergence in the same watershed. We estimated 35.2 million cicadas emerged across 159 ha in 2015, almost 2× more than the 19.6 million across 98 ha in 1998. The 2015 emergence resulted in below to aboveground fluxes of 9.4 metric tons of ash‐free dry mass and 1.12 metric tons of N, both ~2× greater …

Biomarker Discovery In Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Using Network-Based Feature Selection, Mostafa Abbas, John Matta, Thanh Le, Halima Bensmail, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, Vasant Honavar, Yasser El-Manzalawy

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Reliable identification of Inflammatory biomarkers from metagenomics data is a promising direction for developing non-invasive, cost-effective, and rapid clinical tests for early diagnosis of IBD. We present an integrative approach to Network-Based Biomarker Discovery (NBBD) which integrates network analyses methods for prioritizing potential biomarkers and machine learning techniques for assessing the discriminative power of the prioritized biomarkers. Using a large dataset of new-onset pediatric IBD metagenomics biopsy samples, we compare the performance of Random Forest (RF) classifiers trained on features selected using a representative set of traditional feature selection methods against NBBD framework, configured using five different tools for inferring …

Collagen Based Multicomponent Interpenetrating Networks As Promising Scaffolds For 3d Culture Of Human Neural Stem Cells, Human Astrocytes, And Human Microglia, Rachel Van Drunen, Andrea C. Jimenez-Vergara, Erin H. Tsai, Rachel Tchen, Tyler Cagle, Anne B. Agee, James Roberts, Jennifer M. Steele, Dany J. Munoz Pinto

Engineering Faculty Research

This work describes for the first time the fabrication and characterization of multicomponent interpenetrating networks composed of collagen I, hyaluronic acid, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate for the 3D culture of human neural stem cells, astrocytes, and microglia. The chemical composition of the scaffolds can be modulated while maintaining values of complex moduli within the range of the mechanical performance of brain tissue (∼6.9 kPa) and having cell viability exceeding 84%. The developed scaffolds are a promising new family of biomaterials that can potentially serve as 3D in vitro models for studying the physiology and physiopathology of the central nervous system.

Effect Of Marital Status On Survival In Parathyroid Cancer Patients In The Usa – A Seer Database Study, Joseph Xavier Jeyanth Jenkins Fernandez

Public Health Theses

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the influence of marital status on the survival outcomes of patients diagnosed with parathyroid cancer.

MATERIALS and METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify patients diagnosed with parathyroid cancer between 1975 and 2016. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis, to evaluate the association between marital status and parathyroid cancer survival, controlling for potential confounders. Overall mortality and parathyroid cancer-specific mortality rates were calculated for 5-year and 10-year follow-up periods.

RESULTS: The final cohort from SEER consisted of 611 patients. 373 (61.05%) were married and 238 …

Feasibility Of Augmenting Brief Interventions With Text Messaging To Reduce Adolescent Alcohol And Marijuana Use: A Pilot Study., Jonathan Phillip Williams

Public Health Theses

Background - Alcohol and marijuana use in adolescents remains widespread, pervasive and recognized as a major public health concern.

This pilot study aimed to test the feasibility of a novel health intervention that adds a 4-week series of text messaging to the Brief

Negotiation Interview (BNI; a brief motivational technique) for 13-18-year-olds with high-risk alcohol or marijuana use in an emergency department or primary care setting.

Methods -13-18-year-old patients presenting to a Children's emergency department or a primary care clinic in the Northeast were screened with the CRAFFT substance use screener. Adolescents who scored 2+ on the CRAFFT were asked …

A Review On Antibiotic Stewardship In Pediatric Primary Care, Paulina Kaminski

Public Health Theses

Background. Misuse of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) in pediatric primary care settings persists despite growing concern over antibiotic resistance. Interventions aimed at improving prescription use, coined Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (ASPs) often target clinicians for improved clinical decision-making. More recently, ASPs have begun educating patients to antibiotic needs, and for pediatric cases, parents who might pressure clinicians into prescribing unneeded antibiotics. While many reviews have targeted adult patients or emergency settings, few evaluate practices for pediatric populations. For this reason, we performed a review of the literature to summarize common strategies used to reduce antibiotic overprescribing for pediatric …

Old & Sexy: Investigating And Reducing Stigmatization Of Sexually-Active Older Persons, Samantha Nicole Levy

Public Health Theses

Media often portrays older persons as asexual or perversely sexual. This stigmatization may harm older persons’ sexual, mental, and physical health and well-being. As such, our study aimed to investigate the stigmatization of sexuality in later life and see if it can be reversed. Our four hypotheses included: (1) sexually-active older persons would be more stigmatized than sexually-inactive older persons; (2) negative age beliefs would predict stigmatization of sexually-active older adults; (3) participants would think more negatively about sexually-active older men compared to sexually-active older women; and (4) a brief writing intervention would help improve participants’ views towards sexually-active old …

“Don’T Confuse Me With The Facts”: The Use And Misuse Of Social Science On The United States Supreme Court, William D. Blake

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sponge Spicule And Phytolith Evidence For Late Quaternary Environmental Changes In The Tropical Pantanal Wetlands Of Western Brazil, Giliane G. Rasbold, Michael M. Mcglue, José C. Stevaux, Mauro Parolin, Aguinaldo Silva, Ivan Bergier

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

The environmental history of the central Pantanal wetlands of western Brazil is inferred for the last 19 kyrs based on a multi-indicator paleolimnological analysis of a sediment core from Lake Negra. The core, dated by 14 C and OSL, shows variations in the abundance, diversity, and preservation of sponge spicules and phytoliths through time, consistent with changing aquatic environments. In the late Pleistocene, Lake Negra was influenced by a strong monsoon and fluvial depositional processes, whereas in the Holocene, there was a drier interval where the lake was more isolated on the floodplain. Hiatuses in the stratigraphy resulted from both …

Doc 2019-02 Bachelor Of Arts In Sustainability, Full Proposal, University Of Dayton. College Of Arts And Sciences

Senate Documents

Legislative Authority.

Contains:

1. Rationale for the New Degree Program

2. Description of the Impact on Other Programs and Departments

3. Prospective Enrollment

4. Attraction and Retention of Underrepresented Student Groups

5. Evidence of Industry Need and Employability of Graduates

6. Identification of Similar University Programs and Peer Institutions

7. Description of Proposed Curriculum

8. Review of resource Availability and Adequacy

9. Projected Additional Investment and Evidence of Capacity

Pooled Analysis Of Individually Fed Finishing Trials, Brett A. Melton, James C. Macdonald, Andrea K. Watson Watson, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

A pooled analysis of 21 finishing trials (2002–2016; 1530 animals) with cattle individually fed in Calan gate barns was conducted. Mixed model regression analysis following random coefficient methodology was used to evaluate relationships between performance variables and carcass characteristics. Gain had a greater effect on efficiency (R² = 0.72) compared to intake (R² = 0.02). The relationship between gain and efficiency was cubic, while intake had a quadratic relationship. The cubic response of gain relative to efficiency was continually increasing with relatively slight curves in the line heavily influenced by points that lay on the ends of the …

Effect Of Adding Urea To Finishing Diets Containing Two Different Inclusions Of Distillers Grains On Steer Performance And Carcass Characteristics, Bradley M. Boyd, James C. Macdonald, Matthew K. Luebbe, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

The effects of adding urea to a dry rolled corn based finishing diet containing low inclusions of distillers grains was evaluated. Treatments were designed as a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement with factors consisting of wet distillers inclusion (either 12 or 20% of diet DM) and urea inclusion (0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2% of diet DM). There were no significant interactions observed between distillers inclusion and urea inclusion in the diet. Increasing inclusion of distillers grains improved carcass adjusted average daily gain and feed conversion and reduced dry matter intake. Increasing distillers inclusion also increased 12th rib fat and had a …

Impacts Of 40 Years Of The Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory On Beef Cattle And Range Systems, Jack C. Whittier, Kelly W. Bruns, Rick N. Funston Funston, Jerry D. Volesky, Terry J. Klopfenstein, Don C. Adams

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

The University of Nebraska (UNL) Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory (GSL) is a 12,800-acre research ranch in the Nebraska Sandhills. In 1978, Elmer “Pete” and Abbie Gudmundsen gifted the former Rafter C Ranch to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Thus, 2018 was the 40th year of UNL oversight of GSL. To the credit of UNL Administration, GSL development for range livestock research was delegated to a team of Research and Extension Specialists chaired by Dr. Don Clanton. Other members of that original team were Jim Nichols, Range Science; Gene Deutscher, Reproductive Physiologist; Dick Clark, Agricultural Economist; and Ivan Rush, Beef Extension Specialist. …

Attitudes Toward Animal Research And Experimentation, Erich Yahner

eBooks

An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1981 and 2019.

Humane Education, Erich Yahner

eBooks

An annotated bibliography of relevant materials published between 1991 and 2019.

Itihas Vol. 19 Issue No. 1, Sastra Univ

ITIHAS

NEWSLETTER FROM SASTRA DEEMED UNIVERSITY

Itihas Vol. 19 Issue No. 1, Sastra Univ

ITIHAS

NEWSLETTER FROM SASTRA DEEMED UNIVERSITY

Characterizing Whole Brain Temporal Variation Of Functional Connectivity Via Zero And First Order Derivatives Of Sliding Window Correlations., Flor A Espinoza, Victor M Vergara, Eswar Damaraju, Kyle G Henke, Ashkan Faghiri, Jessica A Turner, Aysenil A Belger, Judith M Ford, Sarah C Mcewen, Daniel H Mathalon, Bryon A Mueller, Steven G Potkin, Adrian Preda, Jatin G Vaidya, Theo G M Van Erp, Vince D Calhoun

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Brain functional connectivity has been shown to change over time during resting state fMRI experiments. Close examination of temporal changes have revealed a small set of whole-brain connectivity patterns called dynamic states. Dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) studies have demonstrated that it is possible to replicate the dynamic states across several resting state experiments. However, estimation of states and their temporal dynamicity still suffers from noisy and imperfect estimations. In regular dFNC implementations, states are estimated by comparing connectivity patterns through the data without considering time, in other words only zero order changes are examined. In this work we propose …

Triggers Of Spermatogenesis, Moses Bibi

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Of the 7% of men affected with infertility, about 54% suffer from pre-testicular and/or testicular factor induced azoospermia/ oligospermia. This agenesis of spermatozoa has been the subject of much andrology research over the past 50 years, with a particular focus in the triggers of spermatogenesis. While much of their work is limited to murine populations, researchers have put a lot of emphasis on the spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) niche as the source of the trigger(s). By following physiological patterns exhibited in the seminiferous epithelium, researchers have been able to detect distinct morphological stages that correlate with spermatogonial germ-line action. Different …

Dombi Interval Valued Neutrosophic Graph And Its Role In Traffic Control Management, D. Nagarajan, M. Lathamaheswari, S. Broumi, J. Kavikumar

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

The Patent Ability Of Genetic Therapies: Car-T And Medical Treatment Exclusions Around The World, Luis Gil Abinader, Jorge L. Contreras

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

On Finding And Enumerating Maximal And Maximum K-Partite Cliques In K-Partite Graphs, Charles A. Phillips, Kai Wang, Erich J. Baker, Jason A. Bubier, Elissa J Chesler, Michael A. Langston

Faculty Research 2019

No abstract provided.

Lisa: Accurate Reconstruction Of Cell Trajectory And Pseudo-Time For Massive Single Cell Rna-Seq Data., Yang Chen, Yuping Zhang, Zhengqing Ouyang

Faculty Research 2019

Cell trajectory reconstruction based on single cell RNA sequencing is important for obtaining the landscape of different cell types and discovering cell fate transitions. Despite intense effort, analyzing massive single cell RNA-seq datasets is still challenging. We propose a new method named Landmark Isomap for Single-cell Analysis (LISA). LISA is an unsupervised approach to build cell trajectory and compute pseudo-time in the isometric embedding based on geodesic distances. The advantages of LISA include: (1) It utilizes k-nearest-neighbor graph and hierarchical clustering to identify cell clusters, peaks and valleys in low-dimension representation of the data; (2) Based on Landmark Isomap, it …

Curating Gene Sets: Challenges And Opportunities For Integrative Analysis., Jason A. Bubier, David P. Hill, Gaurab Mukherjee, Timothy Reynolds, Erich J Baker, Alexander Berger, Jake Emerson, Judith A. Blake, Elissa J Chesler

Faculty Research 2019

Genomic data interpretation often requires analyses that move from a gene-by-gene focus to a focus on sets of genes that are associated with biological phenomena such as molecular processes, phenotypes, diseases, drug interactions or environmental conditions. Unique challenges exist in the curation of gene sets beyond the challenges in curation of individual genes. Here we highlight a literature curation workflow whereby gene sets are curated from peer-reviewed published data into GeneWeaver (GW), a data repository and analysis platform. We describe the system features that allow for a flexible yet precise curation procedure. We illustrate the value of curation by gene …

An Effective Biomedical Document Classification Scheme In Support Of Biocuration: Addressing Class Imbalance., Xiangying Jiang, Martin Ringwald, Judith A. Blake, Cecilia Arighi, Gongbo Zhang, Hagit Shatkay

Faculty Research 2019

Published literature is an important source of knowledge supporting biomedical research. Given the large and increasing number of publications, automated document classification plays an important role in biomedical research. Effective biomedical document classifiers are especially needed for bio-databases, in which the information stems from many thousands of biomedical publications that curators must read in detail and annotate. In addition, biomedical document classification often amounts to identifying a small subset of relevant publications within a much larger collection of available documents. As such, addressing class imbalance is essential to a practical classifier. We present here an effective classification scheme for automatically …

Cd11c+ Cells Are Gatekeepers For Lymphocyte Trafficking To Infiltrated Islets During Type 1 Diabetes., Adam M Sandor, Robin S Lindsay, Nathan Dyjack, Jennifer C Whitesell, Cydney Rios, Brenda J Bradley, Kathryn Haskins, David V. Serreze, Aron M Geurts, Yi-Guang Chen, Max A Seibold, Jordan Jacobelli, Rachel S Friedman

Faculty Research 2019

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a T cell mediated autoimmune disease that affects more than 19 million people with incidence increasing rapidly worldwide. For T cells to effectively drive T1D, they must first traffic to the islets and extravasate through the islet vasculature. Understanding the cues that lead to T cell entry into inflamed islets is important because diagnosed T1D patients already have established immune infiltration of their islets. Here we show that CD11c