Digital Commons Network^™

Vegetation, Ground Cover, Soil, Rainfall Simulation, And Overland Flow Experiments Before And After Tree Removal In Woodland-Encroached Sagebrush Steppe: The Hydrology Component Of The Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (Sagestep), C. Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Patrick R. Kormos, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Justin C. Johnson

Reports

Rainfall simulation and overland-flow experiments enhance understanding of surface hydrology and erosion processes, quantify runoff and erosion rates, and provide valuable data for developing and testing predictive models. We present a unique dataset (1021 experimental plots) of rainfall simulation (1300 plot runs) and overland flow (838 plot runs) experimental plot data paired with measures of vegetation, ground cover, and surface soil physical properties spanning point to hillslope scales. The experimental data were collected at three sloping sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) sites in the Great Basin, USA, each subjected to woodland-encroachment and with conditions representative of intact wooded-shrublands and 1–9 yr …

Modulation Of Reck Levels In Xenopus A6 Cells: Effects On Mt1-Mmp, Mmp-2 And Perk Levels, Jessica A. Willson, Bradley S. Bork, Carlie A. Muir, Sashko Damjanovski

Paediatrics Publications

Background: MT1-MMP is a cell-surface enzyme whose regulation of pro-MMP-2 and ERK activation position it as a key facilitator of ECM remodelling and cell migration. These processes are modulated by endogenous MMP inhibitors, such as RECK, a GPI-anchored protein which has been shown to inhibit both MT1-MMP and MMP-2 activity. Our previous studies have revealed a link between MT1-MMP levels, and pro-MMP-2 and ERK activation in mammalian cells, as well as MT1-MMP and RECK co-localization in Xenopus embryos. We here investigated how modulation of RECK would impact MT1-MMP and MMP-2 levels, as well as ERK signalling in Xenopus A6 cells. …

Characterization Of The Role Of Bgs13 In The Secretory Mechanism Of Pichia Pastoris, Christopher A. Naranjo, Anita Jivan, Maria N. Vo, Katherine De Sa Campos, Jared S. Devarmin, Ryan Hekman, Christina Uribe, Aaron Hang, Kai Her, Michelle M. Fong, Joyce J. Choi, Caroline Chou, Taylor Rabara, Gina Myers, Pachai S. Moua, Der Thor, Douglas D. Risser, Craig Vierra, Andreas Franz, Joan Lin-Cereghino, Geoff Lin-Cereghino

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris has been utilized for heterologous protein expression for over 30 years. Because P. pastoris secretes few of its own proteins, the exported recombinant protein is the major polypeptide in the extracellular medium, making purification relatively easy. Unfortunately, some recombinant proteins intended for secretion are retained within the cell. A mutant strain isolated in our laboratory, containing a disruption of the BGS13 gene, displayed elevated levels of secretion for a variety of reporter proteins. The Bgs13 peptide (Bgs13p) is similar to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein kinase C 1 protein (Pkc1p), but its specific mode of action …

Anterior Tooth-Use Behaviors Among Early Modern Humans And Neandertals, Kristin L. Krueger, John C. Willman, Gregory J. Matthews, Jean-Jaques Hublin, Alejandro Perez-Perez

Anthropology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Early modern humans (EMH) are often touted as behaviorally advanced to Neandertals, with more sophisticated technologies, expanded resource exploitation, and more complex clothing production. However, recent analyses have indicated that Neandertals were more nuanced in their behavioral adaptations, with the production of the Châtelperronian technocomplex, the processing and cooking of plant foods, and differences in behavioral adaptations according to habitat. This study adds to this debate by addressing the behavioral strategies of EMH (n = 30) within the context of non-dietary anterior tooth-use behaviors to glean possible differences between them and their Neandertal (n = 45) counterparts. High-resolution …

Tamoxifen Activity Against Plasmodium In Vitro And In Mice, Ada Weinstock, Julio Gallego-Delgado, Cláudia Gomes, Julian Sherman, Cyrus Nikain, Sandra Gonzalez, Edward Fisher, Ana Rodriguez

Publications and Research

Background: Tamoxifen is an oestrogen receptor modulator that is widely used for the treatment of early stage breast cancer and reduction of recurrences. Tamoxifen is also used as a powerful research tool for controlling gene expression in the context of the Cre/loxP site-specific recombination system in conditional mutant mice.

Methods: To determine whether the administration of tamoxifen affects Plasmodium growth and/or disease outcome in malaria, in vitro studies assessing the effect of tamoxifen and its active metabolite 4-hydroxytamoxifen on Plasmodium falciparum blood stages were performed. Tamoxifen effects were also evaluated in vivo treating C57/B6 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei (ANKA …

December 5, 2019: Agenda, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Agenda for the December 5, 2019, meeting of the University Senate. 110 pages

Autophagy Protein Nrbf2 Has Reduced Expression In Alzheimer's Brains And Modulates Memory And Amyloid-Beta Homeostasis In Mice, Veronik Lachance, Qian Wang, Eric Sweet, Insup Choi, Cui-Zan Cai, Xu-Xu Zhuang, Jessica Li Jiang, Robert D. Blitzer, Ozlem Bozdagi-Gunal, Bin Zhang, Jia-Hong Lu, Zhenyu Yue

Biology Faculty Publications

Background Dysfunctional autophagy is implicated in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathogenesis. The alterations in the expression of many autophagy related genes (ATGs) have been reported in AD brains; however, the disparity of the changes confounds the role of autophagy in AD. Methods To further understand the autophagy alteration in AD brains, we analyzed transcriptomic (RNAseq) datasets of several brain regions (BA10, BA22, BA36 and BA44 in 223 patients compared to 59 healthy controls) and measured the expression of 130 ATGs. We used autophagy-deficient mouse models to assess the impact of the identified ATGs depletion on memory, autophagic activity and amyloid-beta (A …

A New Method To Quantify Mineral Dust And Other Aerosol Species From Aircraft Platforms Using Single Particle Mass Spectrometry, Karl Froyd, Daniel M. Murphy, Charles A. Brock, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jack E. Dibb, Jose-Luis Jimenez, Agnieszka Kupc, Ann M. Middlebrook, Gregory P. Schill, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Christina J. Williamson, James C. Wilson, Luke D. Ziemba

Faculty Publications

Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) instruments characterize the composition of individual aerosol particles in real time. Their fundamental ability to differentiate the externally mixed particle types that constitute the atmospheric aerosol population enables a unique perspective into sources and transformation. However, quantitative measurements by SPMS systems are inherently problematic. We introduce a new technique that combines collocated measurements of aerosol composition by SPMS and size-resolved absolute particle concentrations on aircraft platforms. Quantitative number, surface area, volume, and mass concentrations are derived for climate-relevant particle types such as mineral dust, sea salt, and biomass burning smoke. Additionally, relative ion signals are calibrated …

College Of Public Health News, Georgia Southern University

College of Public Health: News & Publications

• Georgia Southern: Completes Molecular Survey Study for Pathogens and Markers of Pesticide Resistance in Human Head Lice from Madagascar
• Georgia Southern: Completes Pilot Survey of Mosquitos from Southeastern Georgia for Wolbachia and Rickettia felis

Pubfair: A Distributed Framework For Open Publishing Services. Version 2, November 27, 2019, Tony Ross-Hellauer, Benedikt Fecher, Kathleen Shearer, Eloy Rodrigues

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Over the last thirty years, digitally-networked technologies have disrupted traditional media, turning business models on their head and changing the conditions for the creation, packaging and distribution of content. Yet, scholarly communication still looks remarkably as it did in the pre-digital age. The primary unit of dissemination remains the research article (or book in some disciplines), and today’s articles still bear a remarkable resemblance to those that populated the pages of Oldenburg’s Philosophical Transactions 350 years ago. In an age of such disruptive innovation, it is striking how little digital technologies have impacted scholarly publishing; and this is also somewhat …

Early Childhood Intervention Teachers' Beliefs And Use Of Peer Social Interaction Interventions, Elizabeth Howe

Doctoral Dissertations

Teachers’ ability to facilitate social interactions between children in the early childhood classroom is necessary for the development of social competence in all children, including those with disabilities. Peer social interaction interventions are a group of interventions to promote social engagement by focusing on the reciprocal social exchanges between children with and without disabilities. However, the literature base around teachers’ use of peer social interaction interventions indicates teachers use these practices infrequently and their use is related to their beliefs about the acceptability and feasibility of the interventions. This study validates prior research related to teachers’ beliefs and use of …

Case Presentation On Urinary Bladder Cancer And Cysto-Prostatectomy, Tetiana Soloviova

Publications and Research

Patients who have invasive bladder cancer (spread to different tissues and organs) may need to have a radical cystectomy type of surgery. In male patients, the surgeon usually removes the prostate and seminal vesicles in addition to the bladder, parts of the ureters, and lymph nodes (Nicholson, 2017, ¶ 1)

In our case a reconstructive surgery followed right after removing of the bladder and prostate gland. A different way of urine to be stored and passed from the patient’s body was created by the surgeon. A part of small intestine was used to make up a reservoir that will serve …

Pepperdine University School Of Law Legal Summaries, Analise Nuxoll

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Key Amino Acids In The Anti-Cancer Activity Of Cdt Peptide Analogs, Jaylen E. Taylor

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Hyaluronan has been identified as a ligand for key receptors related to cancer cell growth and metastasis, such as CD44 and RHAMM (Misra et al. 2015). Analogs of cysteine deleted tachyplesin (CDT), an antimicrobial peptide, have shown effective anti-cancer properties against the A549 cancer cell line (Evans et al. 2016). It was hypothesized that the hyaluronan binding sequence could act as a coordination mechanism for the anti-cancer peptide contained within CDT. To enhance the efficacy of CDT, a shorter peptide analog was synthesized that contained only the sequence of the identified hyaluronan binding sequence (HA-CDT) and was tested on the …

The Association Of Breastfeeding Practices And Postpartum Depression Risk, Christine Toledo

Open Access Dissertations

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a significant maternal health problem afflicting nearly 800,000 new mothers in the United States every year. Mothers suffering from PPD endure feelings of sadness, anxiety, extreme fatigue that makes it difficult to care for one’s self or for others, feeling worthless, and even thoughts of harming oneself or child. Mothers who are not treated for PPD may have negative health outcomes, including difficulty bonding with and caring for their children, chronic anxiety, and are at an increased risk for substance abuse. PPD is considered the single greatest risk factor for maternal suicide and infanticide. The important …

Non-Invasive Analyses Of Electrophysiological Properties Of Primary Cell Culture, Ahmad Mohammad N Alassaf

Open Access Dissertations

The model of efficacy and toxicity testing has been largely based on a model of high quantities of low quality data gathered in vitro. Recent advances in nanotechnology offer an alternative strategy. Soft lithography has made microscale tissue engineering possible. It is now feasible to create the cellular microenvironments of healthy and diseased tissues and engineer biological systems with high fidelity. Further, development of multielectrode array (MEA) platforms by precise location of metal electrodes on glass substrates has proven to be a robust innovative tool to use with cells that generate electrical activity. In this study, we first fabricated …

Drew, Lala, Erika Chadbourne, Kate Brezak

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

LaLa Drew is a Black, queer, Georgia born, Maine native. Drew was raised in Gray, Maine with their adoptive family. Drew is a writer, poet, activist, performer, artist, teacher, and inspirational catalyst for change. Much of Drew’s community engagement focuses on raising awareness about the black identity and embodiment. They teach an after-school program in Lewiston, Maine where they help students learn about climate change, capitalism, and racism. Drew is also known for their work as a writer. Their work has been published in Ms. Magazine, The Maine Sunday Telegram, The Deepwater Column, and the Portland Phoenix. They write about …

Lindsey, Ian-Meredythe, Zackary Caron

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Ian-Meredythe Lindsey moved around often during their childhood due to their parents being transferred for jobs. They lived in Oregon, Colorado, and finally Maine. Ian-Meredythe identifies as a non-binary transgender individual who considers themselves pansexual. Ian-Meredythe speaks in depth about their experiences with the erasure of themselves due to their gender identity and sexuality due to those not fitting within the gender-binary. Ian-Meredythe also focused on their experiences within the theatre, as they see very little room for non-binary individuals and storylines within the mainstream theatre productions. Ian-Meredythe focused on their involvement with Equality Maine, as well as their own …

Matthew Connell ǀ ‘The Kinematics Of Dihiggs Decay Products In The Bbvv Final State’, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Burnout, Job Dissatisfaction, And Mental Health Outcomes Among Medical Students And Health Care Professionals At A Tertiary Care Hospital In Pakistan: Protocol For A Multi-Center Cross-Sectional Study, Syed Hamza Mufarrih, Aeman Naseer, Nada Qaisar Qureshi, Zohaib Anwar, Nida Zahid, Riaz Hussain Lakdawala, Shahryar Noordin

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Burnout, a state of vital exhaustion, has frequently been related to work-related stress and job dissatisfaction. Given the emotionally and physically challenging nature of their work, high rates of burnout have been reported among health care professionals. This may put them at a higher risk for of suffering from adverse mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety and stress. In our study, we aim to assess the prevalence i of and associations among burnout and job dissatisfaction and adverse mental health outcomes in a developing country, where the challenges faced by the health care system are unique. Facilities are over-burdened and …

Differential Functions Of Splicing Factors In Mammary Transformation And Breast Cancer Metastasis., Sunghee Park, Mattia Brugiolo, Martin Akerman, Shipra Das, Laura M Urbanski, Adam Geier, Anil K Kesarwani, Martin Fan, Nathan Leclair, Kuan-Ting Lin, Leo Hu, Ian Hua, Joshy George, Senthil K Muthuswamy, Adrian R Krainer, Olga Anczuków

Faculty Research 2019

Misregulation of alternative splicing is a hallmark of human tumors, yet to what extent and how it contributes to malignancy are only beginning to be unraveled. Here, we define which members of the splicing factor SR and SR-like families contribute to breast cancer and uncover differences and redundancies in their targets and biological functions. We identify splicing factors frequently altered in human breast tumors and assay their oncogenic functions using breast organoid models. We demonstrate that not all splicing factors affect mammary tumorigenesis in MCF-10A cells. Specifically, the upregulation of SRSF4, SRSF6, or TRA2β disrupts acinar morphogenesis and promotes cell …

2019-November-26-Women On Wednesdays, University Marketing And Communications, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

No abstract provided.

Alu Insertion Polymorphisms Shared By Papio Baboons And Theropithecus Gelada Reveal An Intertwined Common Ancestry, Jerilyn A. Walker, Vallmer E. Jordan, Jessica M. Storer, Cody J. Steely, Paulina Gonzalez-Quiroga, Thomas O. Beckstrom, Lydia C. Rewerts, Corey P. St. Romain, Catherine E. Rockwell, Jeffrey Rogers, Clifford J. Jolly, Miriam K. Konkel, Mark A. Batzer, R. Alan Harris, Muthuswamy Raveendran, Yue Liu, Shwetha Murali, Tauras P. Vilgalys, Gregg W.C. Thomas, Kymberleigh A. Pagel, Vikas Pejaver, Claudia R. Catacchio, Nicoletta Archidiacono, Mario Ventura, Alessia Marra-Campanale, Antonio Palazzo, Oronzo Capozzi, Archana Raja, John Huddleston, Veronica Searles Quick, Anis Karimpour-Fard, Dominik Schrempf, Marc De Manuel Montero, Konstantinos Billis

Faculty Publications

© 2019 The Author(s). Background: Baboons (genus Papio) and geladas (Theropithecus gelada) are now generally recognized as close phylogenetic relatives, though morphologically quite distinct and generally classified in separate genera. Primate specific Alu retrotransposons are well-established genomic markers for the study of phylogenetic and population genetic relationships. We previously reported a computational reconstruction of Papio phylogeny using large-scale whole genome sequence (WGS) analysis of Alu insertion polymorphisms. Recently, high coverage WGS was generated for Theropithecus gelada. The objective of this study was to apply the high-Throughput "poly-Detect" method to computationally determine the number of Alu insertion polymorphisms shared by T. …

Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly Of Coil-Comb-Shaped Polypeptoid Block Copolymers: Solution Morphology And Self-Assembly Pathways, Naisheng Jiang, Tianyi Yu, Omead A. Darvish, Shuo Qian, Igor Kevin Mkam Tsengam, Vijay John, Donghui Zhang

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society. Crystallization-driven self-assembly (CDSA) of amphiphilic polymers into well-defined nanoscopic structures with different morphologies and functionalities has attracted increasing attention. Here, we investigate the CDSA of coil-comb-shaped diblock copolypeptoids, namely, poly(N-methyl glycine)-b-poly(N-decyl glycine) (PNMG-b-PNDG), in dilute methanol solution using X-ray/neutron solution scattering in conjunction with cryogenic transmission electron microscopy techniques. A series of PNMG-b-PNDGs were synthesized by sequential benzyl amine-initiated ring-opening polymerizations of the corresponding N-substituted N-carboxyanhydrides, in which the degree of polymerization and the length of the blocks were varied. The PNMG-b-PNDG polymers with a lower volume fraction of the crystalline PNDG blocks (fPNDG …

Mutations In Lamb2 Are Associated With Albuminuria And Optic Nerve Hypoplasia With Hypopituitarism, Mona Tahoun, Jennifer C Chandler, Emma Ashton, Scott Haston, Athia Hannan, Ji Soo Kim, Felipe D'Arco, D Bockenhauer, G Anderson, Meei-Hua Lin, Salah Marzouk, Marwa H Saied, Jeffrey H Miner, Mehul T Dattani, Aoife M Waters

Open Access Publications

CONTEXT: Mutations in LAMB2, encoding the basement membrane protein, laminin β2, are associated with an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by congenital nephrotic syndrome, ocular abnormalities, and neurodevelopmental delay (Pierson syndrome).

CASE DESCRIPTION: This report describes a 12-year-old boy with short stature, visual impairment, and developmental delay who presented with macroscopic hematuria and albuminuria. He had isolated growth hormone deficiency, optic nerve hypoplasia, and a small anterior pituitary with corpus callosum dysgenesis on his cranial magnetic resonance imaging, thereby supporting a diagnosis of optic nerve hypoplasia syndrome. Renal histopathology revealed focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Using next-generation sequencing on a targeted gene panel …

An Open Challenge To Advance Probabilistic Forecasting For Dengue Epidemics, Michael A. Johansson, Karyn M. Apfeldorf, Scott Dobson, Jason Devita, Anna L. Buczak, Benjamin Baugher, Linda J. Moniz, Thomas Bagley, Steven M. Babin, Erhan Guven, Teresa K. Yamana, Jeffrey Shaman, Terry Moschou, Nick Lothian, Aaron Lane

Journal Articles

A wide range of research has promised new tools for forecasting infectious disease dynamics, but little of that research is currently being applied in practice, because tools do not address key public health needs, do not produce probabilistic forecasts, have not been evaluated on external data, or do not provide sufficient forecast skill to be useful. We developed an open collaborative forecasting challenge to assess probabilistic forecasts for seasonal epidemics of dengue, a major global public health problem. Sixteen teams used a variety of methods and data to generate forecasts for 3 epidemiological targets (peak incidence, the week of the …

The Impact Of Temperature On The Early Stages Of The Development Of The Body Axis In The Model Species Astyanax Mexicanus (Teleostei: Characidae), Sara Mohammad Alharbi

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Environmental fluctuations can change the phenotypic traits of ectotherms. Ectotherms such as fishes are very susceptible to changes in temperature. Recent studies on adults of the Mexican tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, indicate that variation in temperature during development significantly impacts vertebral number and body shape. Since vertebral number and somite number are related, I examined whether temperature significantly impacts somitogenesis and the early development of the body axis in this species. Fertilized eggs of the surface form of lab-reared Astyanax mexicanus were subjected to temperature treatments of 20°C, 24°C, and 28°C, and fixed hourly as they developed until they hatched. Embryos …

The Cold Vacuum Of Arms Control In Outer Space: Can Existing Law Make Some Anti-Satellite Weapons Illegal?, Jeffrey A. Murphy

Cleveland State Law Review

The current space law paradigm came into existence when two major national powers were vying for supremacy after a catastrophic world war. The nuclear age had dawned. The United Nations drafted and ratified the Outer Space Treaty under these conditions with limited foresight to the specific nature of future space activities. As more nations and private actors enter the space arena, the nature of the weapons used in space has changed, and the number of targets and opportunities for collateral damage has greatly increased.

This Note looks at the weapons aimed at space and the laws that try to govern …

November 26, 2019, The Dakota Student

The Dakota Student

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Differences In The Radioprotection Activity Of The Vitamin E Tocols, And Their Implications In Developing Effective Radioprotectors, Ujwani Nukala

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased use of ionizing radiation for various purposes like radiotherapy, nuclear power generation, sterilization, the likelihood of intentional or unintentional radiation exposure is increasing and there is an unmet need for effective radiation countermeasures that are safe, efficient, easy to administer. Vitamin-E is a well-known antioxidant, consisting of eight different vitamers, including four tocopherols (α, β, γ and δ) and four tocotrienols (α, β, γ and δ), which are structurally very similar and collectively known as tocols. Though alpha-tocopherol has been considered the primary form of vitamin-E and extensively studied, tocotrienols have recently gained attention for their superior …