Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Genome Analysis Of Bifidobacterium Longum Subsp. Infantis Strains Reveals Variation In Human Milk Oligosaccharide Utilization Genes Among Commercial Probiotics, Rebbeca M. Duar, Giorgio Casaburi, Ryan D. Mitchell, Lindsey N.C. Scofield, Camila A. Ortega Ramirez, Daniela Barile, Bethany M. Henrick, Steven A. Frese

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Dysbiosis is associated with acute and long-term consequences for neonates. Probiotics can be effective in limiting the growth of bacteria associated with dysbiosis and promoting the healthy development of the infant microbiome. Given its adaptation to the infant gut, and promising data from animal and in vitro models, Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis is an attractive candidate for use in infant probiotics. However, strain-level differences in the ability of commercialized strains to utilize human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) may have implications in the performance of strains in the infant gut. In this study, we characterized twelve B. infantis probiotic strains and identified …

Analysis Of Genetic Structure And Pathogen Dynamics Of Ixodes Scapularis In Southwestern Virginia, Leemu Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ixodes scapularis, or the blacklegged tick, is the primary vector of Borrelia burgdorferi. This pathogen is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common vector-transmitted disease in the United States. Although I. scapularis is distributed throughout the eastern U.S., Lyme disease is only considered endemic in the northeastern region of the country. Prior to 2007, Lyme disease was uncommon in Virginia, but since then cases of Lyme disease have increased dramatically with a hotspot forming in the Roanoke-Blacksburg area. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether B. burgdorferi prevalence and the genetic structure of I. …

Resume, Thomas Premo

Local Reports and Publications

No abstract provided.

Baseline And Stress-Induced Corticosterone Levels Across Birds And Reptiles Do Not Reflect Urbanization Levels, Allison S. Injaian, Clinton D. Francis, Jenny Q. Ouyang, Davide M. Dominoni, Jeremy W. Donald, Matthew J. Fuxjager, Wolfgang Goymann, Michaela Hau, Jerry F. Husak, Michele A. Johnson, Bonnie K. Kircher, Rosemary Knapp, Lynn B. Martin, Eliot T. Miller, Laura A. Schoenle, Tony D. Williams, Maren N. Vitousek

Global Health Faculty Publications

Rates of human-induced environmental change continue increasing with human population size, potentially altering animal physiology and negatively affecting wildlife. Researchers often use glucocorticoid concentrations (hormones that can be associated with stressors) to gauge the impact of anthropogenic factors (e.g. urbanization, noise and light pollution). Yet, no general relationships between human-induced environmental change and glucocorticoids have emerged. Given the number of recent studies reporting baseline and stress-induced corticosterone (the primary glucocorticoid in birds and reptiles) concentrations worldwide, it is now possible to conduct large-scale comparative analyses to test for general associations between disturbance and baseline and stress-induced corticosterone across species. Additionally, …

White-Handed Gibbons Discriminate Context-Specific Song Compositions., Julie Andrieu, Samuel G Penny, Hélène Bouchet, Suchinda Malaivijitnond, Ulrich H. Reichard, Klaus Zuberbühler

Publications

White-handed gibbons produce loud and acoustically complex songs when interacting with their neighbours or when encountering predators. In both contexts, songs are assembled from a small number of units although their composition differs in context-specific ways. Here, we investigated whether wild gibbons could infer the 'meaning' when hearing exemplars recorded in both contexts (i.e. 'duet songs' vs. 'predator songs'). We carried out a playback experiment by which we simulated the presence of a neighbouring group producing either its duet or a predator song in order to compare subjects' vocal and locomotor responses. When hearing a recording of a duet song, …

Supporting Safety Culture In Academia: Safety Communication Barriers, Emily Faulconer, Chelsea Lenoble

Publications

In the last decade, we have heard of multiple disturbing academic laboratory accidents resulting in significant injury and property damage. When these hit headlines, it can spur self-reflection across academic institutions. The unfortunate truth is that safety in academia tends to be problematic. Accidents happen regularly even if they do not make headlines, with post-accident analyses typically revealing systematic safety failures. As a result, the concept of safety culture has come into the spotlight.

An Investigation On The Causes Of Student’S Poor Performance Of Bookkeeping Subject In Form Four National Examinations: A Case Of Ubungo Municipal Council, Mshindo Idd

Master of Education

The form four national examination results in bookkeeping subject for years have been going down. Many students are performing poorly in their national examinations. However, students' performance in bookkeeping subjects is very good when students are in form two. This research investigates the causes of student’s poor performance of bookkeeping subject in form four national examinations. The research was a case study design and used purposive sampling in getting research participants. Data for this research were collected through a semi-structured interview and document analysis. The research involved 17 participants who are; Students, Subject teachers, Academic teachers, and Head of schools. …

Asbury Theological Seminary Academic Catalog : 2020-2021, Asbury Theological Seminary

Academic Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of United States Of America College Education On The Japanese Students’ Keigo Toward Their Senpai, Manami Matsuoka

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of the study is to research whether studying abroad experiences in the United States of America affect keigo usage of Japanese college students toward senpai. 58 Japanese college students in Japan and the United States of America completed a 25-item survey. Honorifics usage of both Japanese college students in Japan and international Japanese students in the United States were tested. The Results revealed that study abroad experiences influenced/changed international Japanese students’ original communication style and keigo usage toward senpai.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels In Children With Mild And Severe Atopic Asthma, Rhoda Ndinda Masaku

Master of Medicine in Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Asthma is a chronic respiratory illness affecting an estimated 334 million people worldwide, including 14% of the total pediatric population. It results in significant morbidity, and therefore the etiologies and risk factors associated with asthma are of great interest. Serum 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) has substantial immunomodulatory effects on the innate immune system. It reduces the probability of viral respiratory infections and asthma exacerbations by potentiating the anti-inflammatory action of corticosteroids. Objectives: This study was conducted to determine if there was a difference in serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels between children with mild and severe atopic asthma and explored the …

Analysis Of Terminal Duct Lobular Unit Involution In Luminal, Her-2enriched And Triple Negative Breast Cancer Subtypes, Joseph Nyaguti Kiwinga

Master of Medicine in Anatomic Pathology

Introduction: The terminal duct lobular unit (TDLU) of the breast is the most common origin of most breast cancers (BC). With increasing age and menopause, physiologic involution of TDLU occurs with a reduction in both the number and size of the lobules. Reduced TDLU involution is associated with a higher mammographic breast density (MBD) which by itself is a strong breast cancer risk factor. Recent studies have shown that TDLU involution is associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer and involution also differs with molecular subtypes of BC. Studies have shown that the etiology, pathogenesis and prognosis of the …

Hair Cortisol As A Retrospective Biomarker Of Stress Among Minorities And Immigrants During The First Year Of The Trump Administration, Dennis Wang

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Cortisol is an important part of the body’s physiological response to stress. Chronic exposure to race-based discrimination and stress is thought to explain, in part, minority health disparities. Hair cortisol concentration (HCC) can be used as an objective proxy of a participant’s chronic stress prior to recruitment. It has not to our knowledge been used to investigate stress following an unexpected political event. President Trump issued in his first week in office multiple Executive Orders targeting minorities and immigrants. The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index also showed significant declines in Democrats but not in Republicans, and in women but not in men, …

#Criticalreading #Wickedproblem, Carolyn V. Williams

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

A majority of incoming law students lack adequate critical reading skills. In order to effectively address this problem, all stakeholders must recognize that this is a “wicked problem.” A wicked problem is one that cannot be definitively described or understood since it is seen differently by different stakeholders, has numerous causes, and is often the symptom of other problems. Addressing this wicked problem requires participation from a myriad of legal education stakeholders and cannot be solved by legal writing professors alone, even with help from academic support staff.

Part II of this Article describes what critical reading is, the proof …

Determinants Of Pathological Response To Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy In Women With Breast Cancer In Kenya, Ngayu Munga Thairu

Master of Medicine in Anatomic Pathology

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cause of cancer deaths in Kenya. Standard treatment involves surgery followed by adjuvant chemo/radiotherapy as appropriate. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) facilitates surgery in locally advanced breast cancer. The Residual Cancer Burden (RCB) is an objective, standardised measure of pathological response to NACT. Pathological complete response (pCR) (RCB Class 0) is a robust prognostic indicator, used in clinical trials. This study aimed to use RCB to improve understanding of current practice and effectiveness of NACT for breast cancer patients at Aga Khan University Hospital Nairobi (AKUH, N.).

Methods: 67 breast cancer patients …

Louisiana Agriculture Winter, 2020, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Framework For A Community Health Observing System For The Gulf Of Mexico Region: Preparing For Future Disasters, P Sandifer, L Knapp, M Lichtveld, R Manley, P Sandifer, R Caffey, D Cochran, T Collier, K Ebi, L Engel, J Farrington, M Finucane, C Hale, D Halpern, E Harville, L Hart, Y Hswen, B Kirkpatrick, B Mcewen, G Morris, R Orbach, L Palinkas, M Partyka, D Porter, G Prather, T Rowles, G Scott, T Seeman, H Solo-Gabriele, E Svendsen, T Tincher, J Trtanj, A H. Walker, R Yehuda

Faculty Publications

The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) region is prone to disasters, including recurrent oil spills, hurricanes, floods, industrial accidents, harmful algal blooms, and the current COVID-19 pandemic. The GoM and other regions of the U.S. lack sufficient baseline health information to identify, attribute, mitigate, and facilitate prevention of major health effects of disasters. Developing capacity to assess adverse human health consequences of future disasters requires establishment of a comprehensive, sustained community health observing system, similar to the extensive and well-established environmental observing systems. We propose a system that combines six levels of health data domains, beginning with three existing, national surveys …

Who’S Afraid Of Ebola? Epidemic Fires And Locative Fears In The Information Age, W. Shrum, J. Aggrey, A. Campos, J. Pamplona Da Costa, J. Joseph, P. Kreimer, R. Kroeger, L. Medina, P. Miller, A. Palackal, A. Pandal De La Peza, A. Traore

Faculty Publications

Epidemics have traditionally been viewed as the widespread occurrence of infectious disease within a community, or a sudden increase above what is typical. But modern epidemics are both more and less than the diffusion of viral entities. We argue that epidemics are 'fire objects', using a term coined by Law and Singleton: They generate locative fears through encounters that focus attention on entities that are unknown or imprecisely known, transforming spaces and humans into indeterminate dangers, alternating appearance and absence. The Ebola epidemic of 2014 had more complex impacts than the number of infections would suggest. We employ multi-sited qualitative …

Artificial Intelligence And Covid-19: Deep Learning Approaches For Diagnosis And Treatment, M. B. Jamshidi, A. Lalbakhsh, J. Talla, Z. Peroutka, F. Hadjilooei, P Lalbakhsh, M. Jamshidi, L. La Spada, M. Mirmozafari, M. Dehghani, A. Sabet, Sa. Roshani, So. Roshani, N. Bayat-Makou, B. Mohamadzade, Z. Malek, A. Jamshidi, S. Kiani, H. Hashemi-Dezaki, W. Mohyuddin

Faculty Publications

COVID-19 outbreak has put the whole world in an unprecedented difficult situation bringing life around the world to a frightening halt and claiming thousands of lives. Due to COVID-19 & x2019;s spread in 212 countries and territories and increasing numbers of infected cases and death tolls mounting to 5,212,172 and 334,915 (as of May 22 2020), it remains a real threat to the public health system. This paper renders a response to combat the virus through Artificial Intelligence (AI). Some Deep Learning (DL) methods have been illustrated to reach this goal, including Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Extreme Learning Machine (ELM), …

Small Molecule Inhibitors Of The Bfrb-Bfd Interaction Decrease Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Fitness And Potentiate Fluoroquinolone Activity, Achala N.D.Punchi Hewage, Huili Yao, Baskar Nammalwar, Krishna Kumar Gnanasekaran, Scott Lovell, Richard A. Bunce, Kate Eshelman, Sahishna M. Phaniraj, Molly M. Lee, Blake R. Peterson, Kevin P. Battaile, Allen B. Reitz, Mario Rivera

Faculty Publications

© 2019 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved. The iron storage protein bacterioferritin (BfrB) is central to bacterial iron homeostasis. The mobilization of iron from BfrB, which requires binding by a cognate ferredoxin (Bfd), is essential to the regulation of cytosolic iron levels in P. aeruginosa. This paper describes the structure-guided development of small molecule inhibitors of the BfrB-Bfd protein-protein interaction. The process was initiated by screening a fragment library and followed by obtaining the structure of a fragment hit bound to BfrB. The structural insights were used to develop a series of 4-(benzylamino)- A nd 4-((3-phenylpropyl)amino)-isoindoline-1,3-dione analogs that selectively …

Molecular Responses To Freshwater Limitation In The Mangrove Tree Avicennia Germinans (Acanthaceae), Mariana Vargas Cruz, Gustavo Maruyama Mori, Dong Ha Oh, Maheshi Dassanayake, Maria Imaculada Zucchi, Rafael Silva Oliveira, Anete Pereira De Souza

Faculty Publications

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Environmental variation along the geographical space can shape populations by natural selection. In the context of global warming and changing precipitation regimes, it is crucial to understand the role of environmental heterogeneity in tropical trees adaptation, given their disproportional contribution to water and carbon biogeochemical cycles. Here, we investigated how heterogeneity in freshwater availability along tropical wetlands has influenced molecular variations of the black mangrove (Avicennia germinans). A total of 57 trees were sampled at seven sites differing markedly in precipitation regime and riverine freshwater inputs. Using 2,297 genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphic markers, …

Large-Scale Mass Wasting On The Miocene Continental Margin Of Western India, Sarah K. Dailey, Peter D. Clift, Denise K. Kulhanek, Jerzy Blusztajn, Claire M. Routledge, Gérôme Calvès, Paul O'Sullivan, Tara N. Jonell, Dhananjai K. Pandey, Sergio Andò, Giovanni Coletti, Peng Zhou, Yuting Li, Nikki E. Neubeck, James A.P. Bendle, Sophia Aharonovich, Elizabeth M. Griffith, Gundiga P. Gurumurthy, Annette Hahn, Masao Iwai, Boo Keun Khim, Anil Kumar, A. Ganesh Kumar, Hannah M. Liddy, Huayu Lu, Mitchell W. Lyle, Ravi Mishra, Tallavajhala Radhakrishna, Rajeev Saraswat, Rakesh Saxena, Giancarlo Scardia, Girish K. Sharma, Arun D. Singh

Faculty Publications

© 2019 Geological Society of America. A giant mass-transport complex was recently discovered in the eastern Arabian Sea, exceeding in volume all but one other known complex on passive margins worldwide. The complex, named the Nataraja Slide, was drilled by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 355 in two locations where it is ~300 m (Site U1456) and ~200 m thick (Site U1457). The top of this mass-transport complex is defined by the presence of both reworked microfossil assemblages and deformation structures, such as folding and faulting. The deposit consists of two main phases of mass wasting, each consisting of …

The Role Of Functional Strategies In Global Plant Distribution, Huixuan Liao, Daijiang Li, Ting Zhou, Bei Huang, Haijie Zhang, Baoming Chen, Shaolin Peng

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Ecography published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Nordic Society Oikos Understanding the determinants of species distributions is a central topic in ecology. Competition, stress tolerance and colonization, respectively represented by Grime's competitor (C), stress-tolerator (S) and ruderal (R) schemes, are three important functions that interactively influence plant distributions. In this study, we compiled a dataset of 2645 vascular plant species to explore the roles of the CSR strategies in global plant distribution. We analyzed the associations between the CSR scores and species range size with phylogenetic generalized least square (PGLS) models and …

Female Reproductive State Is Associated With Changes In Distinct Arginine Vasotocin Cell Types In The Preoptic Area Of Astatotilapia Burtoni, Julie M. Butler, Chase M. Anselmo, Karen P. Maruska

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC Nonapeptides play a crucial role in mediating reproduction, aggression, and parental care across taxa. In fishes, arginine vasotocin (AVT) expression is related to social and/or reproductive status in most male fishes studied to date, and is linked to territorial defense, paternal care, and courtship. Despite a plethora of studies examining AVT in male fishes, relatively little is known about how AVT expression varies with female reproductive state or its role in female social behaviors. We used multiple methods for examining the AVT system in female African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, including immunohistochemistry for AVT, in …

Halobacterium Bonnevillei Sp. Nov., Halobaculum Saliterrae Sp. Nov. And Halovenus Carboxidivorans Sp. Nov., Three Novel Carbon Monoxide-Oxidizing Halobacteria From Saline Crusts And Soils, Marisa R. Myers, G. M. King

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Three novel carbon monoxide-oxidizing Halobacteria were isolated from Bonneville Salt Flats (Utah, USA) salt crusts and nearby saline soils. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strains PCN9T, WSA2T and WSH3T belong to the genera Halobacterium, Halobaculum and Halovenus, respectively. Strains PCN9T, WSA2T and WSH3T grew optimally at 40 °C (PCN9T) or 50 °C (WSA2T, WSH3T). NaCl optima were 3 M (PCN9T, WSA2T) or 4 M NaCl (WSH3T). Carbon monoxide was oxidized by all isolates, each of which contained a molybdenum-dependent CO dehydrogenase. G+C contents for the three respective isolates were 66.75, 67.62, and …

Speciation-By-Depth On Coral Reefs: Sympatric Divergence With Gene Flow Or Cryptic Transient Isolation?, Carlos Prada, Michael E. Hellberg

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society for Evolutionary Biology The distributions of many sister species in the sea overlap geographically but are partitioned along depth gradients. The genetic changes leading to depth segregation may evolve in geographic isolation as a prerequisite to coexistence or may emerge during primary divergence leading to new species. These alternatives can now be distinguished via the power endowed by the thousands of scorable loci provided by second-generation sequence data. Here, we revisit the case of two depth-segregated, genetically isolated ecotypes of …

Lgbtq+ Civil Rights: Local Government Efforts In A Volatile Era, Nicole M. Elias

Publications and Research

LGBTQ+ issues at the local level pose some of the most pressing civil rights challenges in the current U.S.context. This analysis provides insight into what is taking place in major municipalities and how these efforts can be improved to bolster equity and civil rights for LGBTQ+ populations. At a time when identity, language, and public sector values are inherently intertwined and constantly changing, the following question is ripe for analysis: how are major U.S. municipalities addressing the civil rights needs of the LGBTQ+ population? To answer this question, an analysis of government websites from the top 10 U.S. cities by …

The Avr4 Effector Is Involved In Cercosporin Biosynthesis And Likely Affects The Virulence Of Cercospora Cf. Flagellaris On Soybean, Josielle Santos Rezende, Marija Zivanovic, Maria Izabel Costa De Novaes, Zhi Yuan Chen

Faculty Publications

One of the most devastating fungal diseases of soybean in the southern USA is Cercospora leaf blight (CLB), which is caused mainly by Cercospora cf. flagellaris. Recent studies found that the fungal effector AVR4, originally identified in Cladosporium fulvum as a chitin-binding protein, is highly conserved among other Cercospora species. We wanted to determine whether it is present in C. cf. flagellaris and, if so, whether it plays a role in the pathogen infection of soybean. We cloned the Avr4 gene and created C. cf. flagellaris ∆avr4 mutants, which produced little cercosporin and significantly reduced expression of cercosporin biosynthesis genes. …

Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Associated With The Root Zone Of Hop Cultivars Planted In A Florida Field Soil, Tristan T. Watson, Marco Suarez, Zhanao Deng, Johan A. Desaeger

Faculty Publications

In early 2016, hop plants were introduced into Florida. By late 2016, the hop plants were showing stunted growth and were heavily parasitized by Meloidogyne javanica. In this study, we determined host susceptibility of 14 hop cultivars to M. javanica in a greenhouse experiment and monitored population development of plant-parasitic nematode species in the root zone of 17 hop cultivars planted in three newly established hop yards in Florida. Plant-parasitic nematodes in the rooting zone soil of field grown hop plants included M. javanica, Pratylenchus brachyurus, Paratrichodorus minor, Belonolaimus longicaudatus, Xiphinema setariae/vulgare complex, Mesocriconema xenoplax, and Helicotylenchus dihystera; however, soil …

Assessing Salvinia Molesta Impact On Environmental Conditions In An Urban Lake: Case Study Of Lago Las Curias, Puerto Rico, Charles F. Wahl, Rodrigo Diaz, Jorge Ortiz-Zayas

Faculty Publications

Giant salvinia (Salvinia molesta Mitchell, Salviniaceae) is a free-floating fern native to Brazil that alters natural processes in aquatic ecosystems, causing ecological problems for water resource managers. Due to its ease of dispersal through fragmentation and rapid growth, giant salvinia can quickly become problematic, requiring persistent management efforts. If left unmanaged, giant salvinia creates a thick mat of vegetation, which limits sunlight penetration, reducing aquatic macrophytes, lowering dissolved oxygen and stressing aquatic organisms. Giant salvinia was first reported in Lago Las Curias, Cupey, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA, in 2016 and covered the entire 19 ha waterbody in 2018. In …

Impact Report, 2019-2020, Lsu Libraries

Libraries Impact Reports

No abstract provided.