Digital Commons Network^™

Stephen Liben Oral History.

Pediatric Palliative Care Oral History Project

Dr. Liben credits his initial venture into pediatric palliative care to his experiences of witnessing "unnecessary suffering" during his career in pediatric critical care. Dr. Liben states that he was attracted to how much "promise" that pediatric palliative care held in addressing more than just the medical needs of children and their families. He then recalls experiences he had with international leaders in the emerging field of pediatric palliative care. Dr. Liben describes how the field has evolved to be more patient- and family-centric while spanning across the intersections of pain management, chronic care, and complex care. Dr. Liben also …

Cd5 Deficient Mice Exhibit Altered Cognitive Function In Behavioral Studies, Tyler Cox, Dr. Scott Weber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The immune system plays a role in protecting and maintaining the central nervous system (CNS). 1Dysfunctions within the immune system can affect the CNS and it is associated with diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Having an imbalanced activation of immune cells within CNS results in cognitive impairments. CD5 is a protein on the surface of T cells and certain B cells that inhibits cellular activation and prevents immune cells from reacting too strongly to antigens and causing autoimmunity to our own tissues. Modulating CD5 and the immune system could affect the CNS and cognitive function. Observations …

Characterization Of Mutant Chemokine (C-C) Motif Receptor-Like 2 (Ccrl2) And Its Role In Inflammation And Alzheimer’S Disease, Meganne Ferrel, Dr. John S. K. Kauwe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is identified as a proteopathic disease that results from an extensive accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Several researchers have discovered that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains biomarkers for AD such as Amyloid-beta and tau. Neuritic plaques in AD are surrounded by activated microglia and astrocytes which can initiate complement and inflammation in the presence of amyloid-beta. Macrophage inflammatory protein chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 4 (CCL4) is a biomarker found in CSF. A high level of expression is associated with risk of developing AD. CCL4 is expressed in a subpopulation of reactive astrocytes and …

Anaerobic Digestion Of The Aqueous Pyrolysis Condensate, Franco Berruti, Cesar Miguel Moreira Valenzuela, Lars Rehmann, Connie Wen

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Fractional condensation of biomass pyrolysis vapors allows the segregation of different pyrolysis fractions and a separation of an aqueous pyrolysis condensate from an organic rich dry bio-oil fraction. Aqueous pyrolysis condensate is often referred at as “wood vinegar” or “pyroligneous acid” since it contains 70-80% water together with 10-20% acetic acid, and smaller quantities of acetone and methanol mixed with hundreds of other chemicals in small concentrations. Such aqueous pyrolysis condensate cannot be easily disposed of, and it may represent a valuable resource. For example, the significant percentage of acetic acid offers the opportunity to attempt its conversion into methane …

Obit - Herbert Oscar Hille Morice, Journal-Gazette Times-Courier

EIU in the News

No abstract provided.

Histone Post-Translational Modifications And Nucleosome Positioning: A New Layer In The Histone Code Hypothesis?, Andrew Earl, Dr. Steven Johnson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Nucleosomes are the fundamental unit of chromatin organization. They consist of an octamer of histone proteins (two of each H2A, H2B, H3, and H4) wrapped around by 147 base pairs of DNA. Their positioning and occupancy around important genetic elements such as enhancers and promoters are some of the most important means of epigenetic regulation: changes in expression of genes that reflect a change in something other than DNA sequence. For example, highly-expressed genes are generally associated with low nucleosome occupancy, whereas inactive genes are associated with high nucleosome occupancy. It has also been shown that the positioning of nucleosomes …

Oxidative Stress, Genotoxicity, And Immune Response Biomarkers Measured In Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Collected Aboard Multiple R/V Weatherbird Ii Cruises In The Gulf Of Mexico From 2015-08-20 To 2017-07-30, Steven A. Murawski, Kristina Deak, Larry Dishaw

C-IMAGE data

This dataset contains oxidative stress, genotoxicity and immune response biomarkers measured in red snappers collected aboard the R/V Weatherbird II cruises WB-1602, WB-1603, WB-1701 and WB-1736 in the Gulf of Mexico from 2015-08-20 to 2017-07-30. The dataset contains the location, date and depth of sample collection. In addition it includes the fish species, fish biometric data (such as weight, sex, liver weight, gonad weight, fork and total length) and concentrations or percentages of biomarkers that indicate oxidative stress (plasma superoxide dismutase, plasma sorbitol dehydrogenase, plasma malondialdehyde), immune response (hematocrit and leukocrit percentages, differential white blood cell counts in whole blood, …

Sustainable Model Of Rural Vitalization In Hilly And Gully Region On Loess Plateau, Chen Yiping, Zhang Yi

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The great achievements of ecological construction have been made on Loess Plateau since the founding of the People's Republic of China, but the contradiction among population, farmland and grain production has become increasingly prominent in some regions. Document No. 1 of the Central Committee put forward "Opinions on the Implementation of the Strategy of Rural Revitalization" in 2018. On the basis of our many research and previous reference analysis, here we put forward the sustainable revitalization model of hilly and gully region on the Loess Plateau:namely, the coupling development model of ecology, economy, and society, i.e. cutting hilltops to build …

An Analysis On The Applicability Of Meta-Heuristic Searching Techniques For Automated Test Data Generation In Automatic Programming Assessment, Ja’Afaru Musa, Rohaida Romli, Nooraini Yusoff

Baghdad Science Journal

Automatic Programming Assessment (APA) has been gaining lots of attention among researchers mainly to support automated grading and marking of students’ programming assignments or exercises systematically. APA is commonly identified as a method that can enhance accuracy, efficiency and consistency as well as providing instant feedback on students’ programming solutions. In achieving APA, test data generation process is very important so as to perform a dynamic testing on students’ assignment. In software testing field, many researches that focus on test data generation have demonstrated the successful of adoption of Meta-Heuristic Search Techniques (MHST) so as to enhance the procedure of …

Discovery And Characterization Of Bacteriophage Luckybarnes, Savannah L. Underwood, Amanda Foto, Amanda F. Ray, Alexander E. Nelms, Keyshawn L. Kennedy, Shelby G. Hartley, Logan M. Ryals, Chandan Gurung, William A. D'Angelo, Welkin H. Pope, Dmitri V. Mavrodi

Faculty Publications

Here, we report the genome sequence of LuckyBarnes, a newly isolated singleton siphovirus that infects Brevibacterium iodinum ATCC 15728 and has a 50,774-bp genome with 67 predicted genes.

A Transfer Learning Approach For Malignant Prostate Lesion Detection On Multiparametric Mri, Quan Chen, Shiliang Hu, Peiran Long, Fang Lu, Yujie Shi, Yunpeng Li

Radiation Medicine Faculty Publications

Purpose: In prostate focal therapy, it is important to accurately localize malignant lesions in order to increase biological effect of the tumor region while achieving a reduction in dose to noncancerous tissue. In this work, we proposed a transfer learning–based deep learning approach, for classification of prostate lesions in multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging images. Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging images were preprocessed to remove bias artifact and normalize the data. Two state-of-the-art deep convolutional neural network models, InceptionV3 and VGG-16, were pretrained on ImageNet data set and retuned on the multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging data set. As lesion appearances differ by …

Influence Of Environmental Stress And Anthropogenic Disturbance On The Energy Expenditure Of Wintering Northern Pintails (Anas Acuta), Dustin P. Taylor, Daniel A. Dvorett, John N. Vradenburg, Loren M. Smith

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Winter conditions impose hardships on waterfowl, impacting how they apportion energy and time. Human disturbances may affect this energetic balance, influence lipid reserves, and potentially survival. Objectives of this study were to determine effects of environmental and anthropogenic factors on energetic expenditure (kcal/day) of Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) in behaviors commonly associated with a disturbance response (alert, locomotion, and flight) during winter 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, USA. The refuge is a frequently visited ecotourism destination with over 170,000 visitors each winter. Thermoregulatory cost, time-of-winter, amount of natural and anthropogenic disturbances, …

Functional Comparison Of Current Software Tools For Genomic Assembly From High Throughput Sequencing Data, Lars J. Olsen

Theses

De novo genomic sequencing, which is the process of discovering the sequence of a genome which has not previously been elucidated, provides unique challenges, especially for larger genomes. Modern high-throughput sequencing technologies have addressed the issue of covering the entire genome in a reasonable time by fragmenting the genome into portions that can be examined in a massively-parallel approach. While these have saved considerable time and cost for the chemical process of determining the sequence of a genome, they result in sets of many tens of millions of sequence fragments called reads, each of which is typically on the order …

Evaluation Of The Antifungal Activity Of Cattle Manure Bio-Oil, Matheus Pinheiro Carvalho, Alberto Wisnievski Junior, Ingred Suellen Carvalho Carregosa, Wyllian Winckler Sartori, Maria Lucileide Nogueira Santos Ramos

Pyroliq 2019: Pyrolysis and Liquefaction of Biomass and Wastes

Plant diseases are a threat to the health and functionality of both natural and man-made ecosystems. Diverse methods and strategies are being employed to prevent, ameliorate or control plant diseases. Unsustainable practices such as use and misuse of synthetic fungicides have caused severe harm to human health, wildlife and the environment (1). Fungal cause the most destructive plant diseases and impose major losses to both natural and production systems, and one of it is the fungi. Botanical fungicides are particularly sought after because they are abundant, selective, readily degraded, and are not toxic to mammals (2).

Bio-oils produced by rotatory …

Assay Of Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride) Utilizing Isocratic Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Ronald Bartzatt, Purnima Gajmer, Mai Han Cassandra Nguyen, Alexndra My-Hanh Tran

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Aims: To demonstrate an analysis for vitamin B6 from commercial aqueous nutritional drinks and solid tablets, utilizing isocratic conditions with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and UV detection at 290 nm. Study Design: Vitamin B6 in the form of pyridoxine hydrochloride is assayed by HPLC from various samples. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemistry, Durham Science Center, University of Nebraska, Omaha Nebraska from May to August 2016. Methodology: Utilizing a reversed-phase C-18 column with eluent solvent (19% ethanol, 77% water, 4% acetic acid), the samples were prepared in sample solvent (19% ethanol, 81% distilled water). Detection of vitamin …

Open Textbook Project [Poster], Sue Ann Gardner

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

Details of a porject undertaken to collaboratively write and produce an open access parasitology textbook for undergraduate and graduate students. The book will be published by Zea Books at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2020 and be available in English and Spanish both online and print-on-demand through lulu.com.

Co-Executive Editors: Scott L. Gardner and Sue Ann Gardner, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Publisher: Paul Royster/Zea Books, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Spanish Translator: Yoanna Esquivel Greenwood, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Project Coordinator: Sue Ann Gardner.

Project website: Concepts in Animal Parasitology.

Sequence Variability In The Nramp1 Geneamong Indigenous And Exotic Chicken Types, Abazuh Uchenna Desmond, Adekoya Khalid Olajide, Oboh Bola Olufunmilayo

Makara Journal of Science

The natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1) gene in chickens, which exists on chromosome 7, is thought to play a significant role in disease resistance. Variations in this gene have been documented and have played crucial roles in the variations in the resistance and/or susceptibility that is expressed by individuals and different groups of animal species. In this study, the NRAMP1 gene was studied for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variability between indigenous and exotic chicken breeds. The gene was amplified using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and sequenced and analyzed. Six SNPs, both synonymous and non-synonymous (C3700T, G3702C, A3712C, …

"It's Not Addiction Until You Graduate": Natural Recovery In The College Context, Breanne I. Casper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural recovery is inhibition or moderation of problematic substance use without employing the use of formal addiction services. A neuroanthropological approach to natural recovery highlights the importance of both social and biological aspects of achieving this "self" led process of change. Throughout this project I take a critical anthropological approach to natural recovery, which explores a more holistic conception and historically situated view of current natural recovery theory. This research project employs a neuroanthropological perspective to assess how college students perform natural recovery. Using ethnographic methods, which highlight the social and physical experience of moderation, I discuss how students negotiate …

Functional Characterization Of The Ovarian Tumor Domain Deubiquitinating Enzyme 6b, Jasmin M. D'Andrea

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The posttranslational modification ubiquitination is major regulatory mechanism used throughout cell signaling pathways such as cell cycle regulation and the DNA damage response. As such, the E3 ligases and their deubiquitinating enzyme counterparts, which conjugate and deconjugate ubiquitin to and from protein substrates respectively, must be tightly regulated to prevent aberrant cellular behaviors that could lead to diseases such as cancer.

Of the five families of deubiquitinating enzymes, the Ovarian Tumor Domain (OTU) family is fairly unique and under-studied; many of its family members hold a linkage specificity to certain ubiquitin chains and a number of them have been implicated …

Neighborhood-Level Predictors Of Obesity Among African American Children In California, Uche Onyeka

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The increased prevalence of childhood obesity is a major public health concern nationally and globally. Childhood obesity is primarily caused by the imbalance between caloric intake and caloric expenditure; however, its increase over the past decades may be due to environmental and behavioral factors. The purpose of the current study was to examine if any relationships existed between childhood obesity, level of physical activity, and neighborhood-level risk factors. This study used the California Health Interview Survey 2009–2014 data sets for African American children aged 5–11 years (n = 1,049). The dependent variable was body mass index (BMI) while the …

Taxonomy Of Memory Usage In Swarm Intelligence-Based Metaheuristics, Shaymah Akram Yasear, Ku Ruhana Ku-Mahamud

Baghdad Science Journal

Metaheuristics under the swarm intelligence (SI) class have proven to be efficient and have become popular methods for solving different optimization problems. Based on the usage of memory, metaheuristics can be classified into algorithms with memory and without memory (memory-less). The absence of memory in some metaheuristics will lead to the loss of the information gained in previous iterations. The metaheuristics tend to divert from promising areas of solutions search spaces which will lead to non-optimal solutions. This paper aims to review memory usage and its effect on the performance of the main SI-based metaheuristics. Investigation has been performed on …

Mycological Assessment Of Cooked Beef Products, Mohamed Elgazzar, Amr Abdo, Mayada El – Zeny

Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

A total of 130 samples of ready-to- eat beef products comprised luncheon, fried sausage, fried burger, grilled kofta and fried liver (26 each) were randomly purchased embedded in their sandwiches ( with exception of luncheon’s samples ) from different supermarkets and restaurants having various sanitation levels at Mansoura city, Egypt –were analysed mycologically. Laboratory findings exhibited presence of moulds contaminants in 23 ( 88.5 %) beef luncheon, 19 ( 73.1 % ) every of fried beef sausage and fried beef burger, 18 (69.2 %) of grilled beef kofta plus 25 ( 96.2 % ) fried beef liver samples. Whereas, the …

Multiculturalism: The Search Of Home Through Roots And Tentacles, Daniela Ferreira, Brian Christensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

When this project was conceived, my idea was to exhibit how juxtaposition of marine creatures and perennial plants would help further the discussion of multiculturalism and the idea of home. The project consisted of traveling to the Audubon Park in New Orleans to observe century old oaks known for their majestic roots, extensive size and elongated branches. Following this, I would travel to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, in California, to focus on their cephalopods in the Tentacles exhibition. In better understanding these forms I would draw from nature to better explain multiculturalism via paintings and/or ceramic works.

Antenatal Exposure To Secondhand Smoke Impacts Growth And Cardiopulmonary Energetics In 4-Week-Old Mice, Kaleb Egbert, Paul Reynolds

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a well-established cause of respiratory illness in infants and children who live in environments where exposure is common. Recent studies have been performed to examine the potential effects of SHS exposure on fetus’s before they are born1. The data collected suggests that antenatal exposure to SHS impacts cardiovascular and respiratory function through childhood and may even have lifelong ramifications, even if the exposure is terminated shortly after birth. In our study, we sought to determine the impact of SHS exposure during development in the womb would have on 4 week-old mice, or the equivalent of an …

We Don’T Need Another Hero: Historiography And The Sophie Digital Library’S Science And Technology Collection, Michael Evans, Robert Mcfarland

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Sophie Digital Library is an online library and resource center for works produced by German-speaking women. These works are focused on the publications from pre- 17th century through the early 20th century. Unfortunately, the group of women in Germany living during this time faced many challenges and one of them was being underrepresented in historical works published from their research and achievements. The Sophie Digital Library consists of works produced by German-speaking women from this time frame that help to highlight their successes that have assisted in shaping the future for other women who strive to achieve something great. …

Industrial Convergence Of Marine Ranching And Offshore Wind Power: Concept And Prospect, Yang Hongsheng, Ru Xiaoshang, Zhang Libin, Lin Chenggang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China is a major maritime country. The booming marine ranching and offshore wind power industries are becoming important components of Chinese marine economy. The industrial convergence of marine ranching and offshore wind power is a representative innovation of modern high-efficiency agriculture industry and new energy industry, which plays a great significant role in accelerating the shift in driving forces for economic development. Nonetheless, such a program has not yet been established in China now. In this paper, current advances of marine ranching and offshore wind power industries are discussed. Then the necessity, concept, prospects, scientific problems, technological difficulties, and research …

Blended Film From Pva And Sansevieria Trifasciata Dichloromethane Fraction For Reducing Heat Radiation From Smartphones, Auliya Ilmiawati, Pujiyati, Asep Hidayat, Purwantiningsih Sugita, Luthfan Irfana, Budi Arifin

Makara Journal of Science

It has been reported that the lidah mertua plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) can absorb electromagnetic radiation from vari-ous electronic equipment. The current study aimed to make a film layer from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and a dichloro-methane (DCM) fraction of S. trifasciatato reduce heat radiation from smartphones. S. trifasciataleaves were macer-ated using ethanol and partitioned with ethyl acetate, DCM, and n-butanol. The DCM fraction was chosen to create the film, for which PVA was also used. The blended film made from PVA and 0.02% DCM reduced heat radiation from smartphones by up to 4.4 °C starting from the first minute of use; …

Characterization Of Cellulase Enzyme Produced By Two Selected Strains Of Streptomyces Macrosporeus Isolated From Soil In Indonesia, Yati Soeka, Nandang Suharna, Evi Triana, Titin Yulinery

Makara Journal of Science

This study was conducted to characterize the cellulase enzymes produced by Streptomyces macrosporeus BB 32 and S.microspores KRC 21. D, which were isolated from Tanjung Pendam, Belitung Island, and from Cibodas Botanical Gar-den, Indonesia, respectively. The optimal activity of the enzymes was analyzed using parameters such as incubationtime, pH, temperature, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) concentration. The effect of the addition of some metal ions asactivators or inhibitors was also analyzed spectrophotometrically at λ 540 nm. Results demonstrated that the activity of the cellulase enzymes of S. macrosporeus BB 32 and S. macrosporeus KRC 21 D reached the optimum level after 2 and5 …

Sterol And Triterpene Profiles Of The Callus Culture Of Solanum Mammosum, Silvy Juliana, Suciati, Gunawan Indrayanto

Makara Journal of Science

This study aimed to compare the sterol and triterpene profiles of two types of Solanum mammosum callus cultures , i.e., compact globular structure (CGS) and normal fine (F) calluses. The CGS callus resulted from the differentiation of the F calus culture after many years of subculturing. The growth rate, microscopic characteristics, and morphologies of the two callus types were determined and compared. Sterols and triterpenes were identified through thin-layer chromatog-raphy, gas chromatography-flame ionization detection, and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. The growth rate of the CGS callus was lower than that of the F callus. Microscopic identification revealed that thick, lignincontaining …

Potential Of Indigenous Methanotrophic Bacteria As A Biological Control Agent Against Xanthomonas Oryzaepv. Oryzae Causing Diseases On Rice, Maimuna Nontji, Farizah Dhaifina Amran

Makara Journal of Science

Methanotrophic bacteria inhabit the rhizosphere and potentially inhibit the growth of pathogens. Therefore, they have potential utility as biological control agents. This study aimed to analyze 10 isolates of indigenous Methanotrophic bac-teria with the potential to act as biological control agents for Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Analysis of antagonistic activity was conducted by the direct inhibition method on media using the following parameters: the time to formation of a clear zone, the diameter of the clear zone, and the index of inhibition. The study recommended two isolates as bio-logical control agents that can be combined to inhibit the growth of …