Digital Commons Network^™

Aging Of The Reproductive System And Of Germline Stem Cells In Caenorhabditis, Zuzana Kocsisova

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

C. elegans hermaphrodites display dramatic age-related decline of reproduction early in life while somatic functions are still robust. To understand why the germline fails so early, we analyzed the assembly line of oocyte production that generates fertilized eggs in mated hermaphrodites with sufficient sperm. Aging germlines displayed both sporadic and population-wide changes. A small fraction of aging animals displayed endomitotic oocytes in the germline and other defects. By contrast, all animals displayed age-related decreases in germline size and function. As early as day 3 of adulthood, animals displayed fewer stem cells and a slower cell cycle, which combine to substantially …

Solid-State Nmr Of Co2 Mineralization And Nmr Crystallography, Jinlei Cui

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The work described in this dissertation has been accomplished by using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy to investigate CO2 mineralization and to refine the positions of protons in the crystalline system. The reaction of forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and 13CO2 is presented here, which is measured using in-situ 13C NMR spectroscopy without removing the sample from the reactor. 29Si SSNMR is used to investigate the reaction of forsterite with 13CO2 in the presence of water or NaCl brine as a function of depth in the sample. Additionally, we also show that NMR crystallography can significantly improve structure refinement of hydrogens’ positions …

Individual Differences In Human Brain Functional Network Organization, Benjamin A. Seitzman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The human brain is organized at many spatial scales, including the level of areas and systems. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive technique that allows for the study of areal- and systems-level brain organization in vivo. Over two decades of research has sought to identify and characterize the functional communities that comprise the brain’s network architecture. Consequently, a convergent description of group-average functional network organization in healthy adults has emerged. Recent advances have allowed for the study of such organization in single individuals. Investigation of functional network organization in highly sampled individuals has revealed brain regions that deviate …

Ohio Research Team Explores The Science Of Longevity And Wellness (August 15, 2019), University Communications And Marketing

OHIO News Articles Archive

No abstract provided.

Envisioning A Healthier Ocean, Rebecca Irelan

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Equine Or Porcine Synovial Fluid As A Novel Ex Vivo Model For The Study Of Bacterial Free-Floating Biofilms That Form In Human Joint Infections, Jessica M. Gilbertie, Lauren V. Schnabel, Noreen J. Hickok, Megan E. Jacob, Brian P. Conlon, Irving Shapiro, Javad Parvizi, Thomas P. Schaer

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

Bacterial invasion of synovial joints, as in infectious or septic arthritis, can be difficult to treat in both veterinary and human clinical practice. Biofilms, in the form of free-floating clumps or aggregates, are involved with the pathogenesis of infectious arthritis and periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Infection of a joint containing an orthopedic implant can additionally complicate these infections due to the presence of adherent biofilms. Because of these biofilm phenotypes, bacteria within these infected joints show increased antimicrobial tolerance even at high antibiotic concentrations. To date, animal models of PJI or infectious arthritis have been limited to small animals such …

Can Swimming Depth Data From Multiple Pacific Herring Individuals Be Used To Estimate Characteristics Of Their School? Verification By Micro Bio-Loggers, Makoto Tomiyasu, Yuki Iino, Hokuto Shirakawa, Kazushi Miyashita

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Bio-logging and bio-telemetry are effective methods for monitoring the activity of aquatic animals. Tagging technology has recently advanced, and it is now possible to use tracking devices on small fish and multiple individuals. For species that live in schools such as small pelagic fish, analyzing the activity of multiple individuals may help to further our understanding of school activity in nature. In this study, we tracked the swimming depth of multiple individuals of schooling Pacific herring and examined whether the school’s characteristics and activity can be estimated from the individuals’ swimming depth in the laboratory and a set net experiment. …

On The Fabrication And Development Of Tissue On A Chip Devices With Included Perfused Vasculatures, Usama Ismail

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The advent of Tissue-on-a-Chip (TiOC) devices has provided a novel way for researchers to approach biological study and drug development. As a platform that enables human in vivo conditions to be accurately replicated ex vivo, TiOC can accelerate both fundamental biological research to answer basic questions regarding tissue behavior and function (e.g., cell-cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment (TME)) and translational research that includes testing of standard and novel therapeutics. The reported work focuses on development of processes and technologies common to two classes of TiOC. The first device is a single-layer, multi-compartment microfluidic device for investigation of pancreatic …

Feeling, Failure, Fallacies, G Cox, Cu Andersen

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Digital culture has become instrumental for capturing and managing what Raymond Williams would once have called “structures of feeling”. The journal issue A Peer-Reviewed Journal About Machine Feeling alludes to this, and points to a material analysis of aesthetics and culture, including its technical and social forms, and in the way that this concept was originally employed as an acknowledgment of the importance of the hard to capture dimensions of everyday life. What potential new sensibilities and structures of feeling may arise in such normalized registers of our habits? What new cultural and social forms and practices emerge in the …

Advancing Multi-Vehicle Deployments In Oceanographic Field Experiments, António Sérgio Ferreira, Maria Costa, Frédéric Py, José Pinto, Mónica A. Silva, Alex Nimmo-Smith, Tor Arne Johansen, João Borges De Sousa, Kanna Rajan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Our research concerns the coordination and control of robotic vehicles for upper water-column oceanographic observations. In such an environment, operating multiple vehicles to observe dynamic oceanographic phenomena, such as ocean processes and marine life, from fronts to cetaceans, has required that we design, implement and operate software, methods and processes which can support opportunistic needs in real-world settings with substantial constraints. In this work, an approach for coordinated measurements using such platforms, which relate directly to task outcomes, is presented. We show the use and operational value of a new Artificial Intelligence based mixed-initiative system for handling multiple platforms along …

The University Of Texas At El Paso Operating Budget Fiscal Year Ending August 31, 2020, U. T. System Board Of Regents

Campus Operating Budget

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of The Efficacy Of Four Drug Combinations For Immobilization Of Wild Pigs, Christine K. Ellis, Morgan E. Wehtje, Lisa L. Wolfe, Peregrine L. Wolff, Clayton D. Hilton, Mark C. Fisher, Shari Green, Michael P. Glow, Joeseph M. Halseth, Michael J. Lavelle, Nathan P. Snow, Eric H. Vannatta, Jack C. Rhyan, Kurt C. Vercauteren, William R. Lance, Pauline Nol

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Field immobilization of native or invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) is challenging. Drug combinations commonly used often result in unsatisfactory immobilization, poor recovery, and adverse side effects, leading to unsafe handling conditions for both animals and humans. We compared four chemical immobilization combinations, medetomidine–midazolam–butorphanol (MMB), butorphanol–azaperone–medetomidine (BAM™), nalbuphine–medetomidine–azaperone (NalMed-A), and tiletamine– zolazepam–xylazine (TZX), to determine which drug combinations might provide better chemical immobilization of wild pigs. We achieved adequate immobilization with no post-recovery morbidity withMMB. Adequate immobilization was achieved with BAM™; however, we observed post-recovery morbidity. Both MMB and BAM™ produced more optimal results relative to body temperature, recovery, and …

Microrna And Mrna Interactions In Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Reprogramming Of Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines, Satish Kumar, Erika C. Espinosa, Ana C. Leandro, Joanne E. Curran, John Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

A large number of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) have been generated and maintained in genetic/epidemiological studies as a perpetual source of DNA and as a surrogate in vitro cell model. Recent successes in reprograming LCLs into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has paved the way to generate more relevant in vitro disease models using this existing bioresource. However, the latent EBV infection in the LCLs make them a unique cell type by altering expression of many cellular genes and miRNAs. These EBV induced changes in the LCL miRNome and transcriptome are reversed upon reprogramming into …

Response Of Human Small Intestinal Epithelium To Fractionated Irradiation: Dynamical Modeling Approach, Francis A. Cucinotta, Olga A. Smirnova

Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences Faculty Research

A biologically motivated mathematical model of the dynamics of the small intestinal epithelium in humans treated with fractionated radiotherapy has been developed and is further investigated here. This model, originating from our previous work, is implemented as a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, in which the variables and parameters have a clear biological meaning. The model also includes, as input, the key parameters of fractionated irradiation. The modeling results on the dynamical response of the human normal small intestinal epithelium to fractionated radiation therapy regimens were in agreement with the corresponding empirical data, which, in turn, demonstrates the capability …

Meta-Analysis Of Cognitive Performance By Novel Object Recognition After Proton And Heavy Ion Exposures, Eliedonna Cacao, Francis A. Cucinotta

Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences Faculty Research

Experimental studies of cognitive detriments in mice and rats after proton and heavy ion exposures have been performed by several laboratories to investigate possible risks to astronauts exposed to cosmic rays in space travel and patients treated for brain cancers with proton and carbon beams in Hadron therapy. However, distinct radiation types and doses, cognitive tests and rodent models have been used by different laboratories, while few studies have considered detailed dose-response characterizations, including estimates of relative biological effectiveness (RBE). Here we report on the first quantitative meta-analysis of the dose response for proton and heavy ion rodent studies of …

Novel Self-Assembly Of Fullerene-Based Dyads, Ashley D. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Eventual depletion and environmental toxicity of natural non-renewable energy resources are two issues pushing research toward alternative energy resources. Nature’s process of renewable, unlimited, clean energy production is photosynthesis and porphyrins are a critical component due to their ability to undergo photoinduced electron transfer. This property also makes porphyrins excellent candidates for applications such as solar cells, water splitting, and optical sensing. Researchers have previously tethered porphyrins to fullerene (C60), an excellent electron acceptor, to mimic the reaction centers in photosynthesis. Photoinduced electron transfer in these donor-acceptor dyads has been investigated with particular focus on factors such as the donor, …

New Faculty, 2019-2020, University Of Mississippi. Provost.

New Faculty

No abstract provided.

New Records Of Three Deep-Sea Bathymodiolus Mussels (Bivalvia: Mytilida: Mytilidae) From Hydrothermal Vent And Cold Seeps In Taiwan, Meng-Ying Kuo, Dun- Ru Kang, Chih-Hsien Chang, Chia-Hsien Chao, Chau-Chang Wang, Hsin-Hung Chen, Chih-Chieh Su, Hsuan-Wien Chen, Mei-Chin Lai, Saulwood Lin, Li-Lian Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The deep sea mussel genus, Bathymodiolus Kenk & Wilson, 1985, contains 31 species, worldwide. Of which, one endemic species (Bathymodiolus taiwanesis) was reported from Taiwan (MolluscaBase, 2018). Herein, based on the mitochondrial COI results, we present 3 new records of the Bathymodiolus species from Taiwan, namely Bathymodiolus platifrons, Bathymodiolus securiformis, and Sissano Bathymodiolus sp.1 which were collected from vent or seep environments at depth ranges of 1080-1380 m. Therefore, a total of four species in the genus of Bathymodiolus are now known from Taiwan.

Broadband Acoustic Scattering From Oblate Hydrocarbon Droplets, Scott Loranger, Geir Pedersen, Thomas C. Weber

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

Improved in situ quantification of oil in the marine environment is critical for informing models of fate and transport and evaluating the resiliency of marine communities to oil spills. Broadband acoustic backscatter has been used to quantify a variety of targets in the water column; from fish and planktonic organisms to gas bubbles and oceanic microstructure, and shows promise for use in quantifying oil droplets. Quantifying water column targets with broadband acoustic backscatter relies on accurate models of a target's frequency dependent target strength (TS), a function of the target's acoustic impedance, shape, and size. Previous acoustic quantification of oil …

Mechanism Of Activation Of Uvrd Helicase By A Processivity Factor Mutl, Yerdos Ordabayev

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

E. coli UvrD is a superfamily 1A helicase/translocase involved in DNA repair, recombination, and replication. I investigated the role of E. coli MutL, a regulatory protein involved in methyl-directed mismatch DNA repair, in the regulation of UvrD-catalyzed DNA unwinding. Using single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and single round stopped-flow DNA unwinding experiments I demonstrated that MutL can activate latent UvrD monomer helicase activity and also stimulate UvrD dimer helicase activity. Furthermore, using analytical ultracentrifugation experiments I determined that a single MutL dimer is sufficient to activate UvrD monomer helicase. DNA unwinding experiments with a series of DNA substrates …

Visual And Chemosensory Pathways Associated With Male Courtship Decisions In Drosophila Melanogaster, Ross Mckinney

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Successful mating in diverse animal species often depends on ritualistic sequences of spatially and temporally coordinated behavioral elements. Yet, the sensory cues and neural circuits that mediate optimal mating display patterns are largely unknown. The courtship ritual in Drosophila melanogaster consists of a well-studied sequence of behavioral elements — including orienting, chasing, tapping, singing, and licking — that are known to depend on several sensory modalities, including both vision and chemosensation. However, the specific sensory inputs utilized by males to direct the spatial and temporal transitions between different elements of the courtship ritual are not well understood. In this thesis, …

Spatial Navigation Ability As A Predictor Of Increased Clinical Impairment, Taylor Hendershott

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Spatial navigation deficits are observed in Alzheimer disease (AD) cross-sectionally, but prediction of longitudinal clinical decline has been less examined. Cognitive mapping (CM) was assessed in 95 participants and route Learning (RL) was assessed in 65 participants at baseline. Clinical progression over an average of 4.16 years was assessed using the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Relative predictive ability of these tasks was compared to episodic memory, hippocampal volume and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (ptau₁₈₁/Aβ₄₂ ratio). CM and RL were significant predictors of clinical progression (ps181/Aβ₄₂ in prediction (psTaken together the results suggest that baseline spatial navigation …

A Physics-Based Intermolecular Potential For Biomolecular Simulation, Joshua Andrew Rackers

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The grand challenge of biophysics is to use the fundamental laws of physics to predict howbiological molecules will move and interact. The atomistic HIPPO (Hydrogen-likeIntermolecular Polarizable Potential) force field is meant to address this challenge. It does so bybreaking down the intermolecular potential energy function of biomolecular interactions intophysically meaningful components (electrostatics, polarization, dispersion, and exchangerepulsion)and using this function to drive molecular dynamics simulations. This force field isable to achieve accuracy within 1 kcal/mol for each component when compared with ab initioSymmetry Adapted Perturbation Theory calculations. HIPPO is capable of this accuracy becauseit introduces a model electron density on every …

Expression And Function Of Snornas In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Wayne Alsworth Warner

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that contribute to ribosome biogenesis and RNA splicing by modifying ribosomal RNA and spliceosome RNAs, respectively. These modifications are critical for a variety of cellular processes, including ribosomal biogenesis and splicing of RNAs. Recent studies have suggested an expanded role for snoRNAs beyond ribosomal biogenesis and splicing, including, regulation of chromatin structure, metabolism, and neoplastic transformation. The contribution of snoRNAs to the regulation of normal and malignant hematopoiesis is largely unknown. The lack of a method to accurately and comprehensively assess snoRNA expression has limited research in this area. In particular, array-based methods …

Magic Angle Spinning Spheres And Improved Microwave Coupling For Magnetic Resonance, Pin-Hui Chen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a nondestructive technique used to characterize molecular structure and dynamics with atomic resolution. In solid-state NMR, magic angle spinning (MAS) is commonly implemented to improve spectral resolution by partially averaging anisotropic interactions. To further improve NMR sensitivity, dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is utilized to transfer the polarization from electron spins to nuclei of interest using microwaves. Advanced MAS DNP NMR instrumentation, such as spherical rotors for stable and fast spinning, dielectric lenses to effectively couple the microwaves into the sample, and the separation of receiving and transmitting circuits to decrease measurement noise, are developed to …

Understanding The Physiology Of Extracellular Electron Uptake In Purple Nonsulfur Bacteria, Michael Singh Guzman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Microbially catalyzed oxidation-reduction reactions drive nutrient cycling and energy flux on Earth. Photoautotrophs, which include the cyanobacteria (oxygenic) and purple and green sulfur bacteria (anoxygenic), transform light energy into chemical energy and are responsible for substantial global primary productivity. Anoxygenic phototrophs, in particular, play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycling in anoxic illuminated environments because of their ability to oxidize an array of inorganic compounds for CO2 fixation. Electron donors include molecular hydrogen, nitrite, and reduced sulfur compounds. Recent evidence has also suggested that solid-phase conductive substances (SPCSs), including rust (mixed-valent iron minerals) and their proxies (poised electrodes), can serve …

Caseworker Turnover In Foster Care Services: Problem Or Symptom? A System Dynamics Approach, Marian Joan Stahlschmidt

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Problem: Child welfare (CW) caseworkers perform a crucial role in our society--ensuring the safety, permanency, and well-being of one of our most vulnerable populations, victims of child maltreatment. Yet, since its inception in the early 20th century, CW, including foster care services, has been plagued by high turnover rates that have been associated with delayed permanency and recurrent maltreatment. This dissertation aimed to develop a dynamic hypothesis about the system structure that produces turnover in foster care services, to create a formal system dynamics simulation model representing the problem, to develop an intervention to reduce the problem, and to test …

Effort, Avolition And Motivational Experience In Schizophrenia: Analysis Of Behavioral And Neuroimaging Data With Relationships To Daily Motivational Experience, Adam Culbreth

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has suggested an association between motivational impairment in those with schizophrenia and reduced willingness to expend effort on experimental tasks. However, few studies have examined the neural correlates of effort-based decision-making in those with schizophrenia. In the current study, we aimed to examine willingness to expend effort, the associated neural circuitry of effort-based decision-making, and the impact of experimentally-defined effort-based decision-making on daily motivational experience in schizophrenia. We recruited 28 individuals with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls to perform an effort-based decision-making task while undergoing fMRI scanning. In order to assess whether willingness to expend effort was associated …

Solid-State Nmr Of Co2 Mineralization And Nmr Crystallography, Jinlei Cui

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The work described in this dissertation has been accomplished by using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy to investigate CO2 mineralization and to refine the positions of protons in the crystalline system. The reaction of forsterite (Mg2SiO4) and 13CO2 is presented here, which is measured using in-situ 13C NMR spectroscopy without removing the sample from the reactor. 29Si SSNMR is used to investigate the reaction of forsterite with 13CO2 in the presence of water or NaCl brine as a function of depth in the sample. Additionally, we also show that NMR crystallography can significantly improve structure refinement of hydrogens’ positions …

Understanding Excitation Energy Quenching In Isia, Hui-Yuan Steven Chen

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Cyanobacteria are photoautotrophic organisms that contribute a significant amount of global primary productivity. They are found in freshwater, marine and even some extremely severe environments. Among those environments, iron deficiency is one of the most common stress conditions in cyanobacterial habitats. To survive, cyanobacteria have evolved and developed several strategies to alleviate the damage caused by iron deficiency.

Iron stress-inducible protein (IsiA) is a chlorophyll-binding membrane protein found in cyanobacteria grown in iron-deficient conditions. During the past decades, considerable effort has been put on understanding how IsiA functions to help cyanobacteria survive iron deficiency. It has been reported that IsiA …