Digital Commons Network^™

Salcaprozate Sodium (Snac) Enhances Permeability Of Octreotide Across Isolated Rat And Human Intestinal Epithelial Mucosae In Ussing Chambers, Sarinj Fattah, Mohamed Ismaiel, Brenda Murphy, Aleksandra Rulikowska, Jesus Maria Frias, Desmond C. Winter, David J. Brayden

Articles

Octreotide is approved as a one-month injectable for treatment of acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumours. Oral delivery of the octapeptide is a challenge due mainly to low intestinal epithelial permeability. The intestinal permeation enhancer (PE) salcaprozate sodium (SNAC) has Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) status and is a component of an approved oral peptide formulation. The purpose of the study was to examine the capacity of salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), to increase its permeability across isolated rat intestinal mucosae from five regions and across human colonic mucosae mounted in Ussing chambers. Apical-side buffers were Kreb's-Henseleit (KH), fasted simulated intestinal fluid (FaSSIF-V2), rat …

What Do We Know About The Nexus Between Culture, Age, Gender And Health Literacy? Implications For Improving The Health And Well-Being Of Young Indigenous Males, Anthony Merlino, James A. Smith, Mick Adams, Jason Bonson, Richard Osborne, Barry Judd, Murray Drummond, David Aanundsen, Jesse Fleay, Benjamin Christie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Health literacy, although diversely defined, refers to the abilities, relationships and external environments required for people to successfully promote health. Existing research suggests that health literacy is related to health inequities, including individual and community capacity to navigate health. A diverse range of factors shape health literacy abilities and environments, especially culture, gender and age. However, the nexus between these variables and their cumulative impact on health literacy development remains largely unexplored. Commentary that explores these dynamics among young Indigenous males is particularly scant. In turn, strategies to bridge health equity gaps have been obscured. This article brings together disparate …

Christian Bioethical Approaches To Gender Reassignment Surgery: Understanding Opposition And Retrieving The Body-Soul Complex, Stephanie Roy

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

No abstract provided.

Libraries And Their Publics In The United States, Maura A. Smale

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Drought Effects On Germination Rate Of Two Sagebrush Species, Artemisia Cana And Artemisia Arbusula, And Comparison Of Seed Counts Using A Photography App And Weighing, Sam S. Kelly, Cessair E. Mckinney

Environmental Science & Management Senior Capstones

Sagebrush steppe ecosystems have been impacted by climate change, grazing, and invasive plants. While some widespread sagebrush species have been well-studied, including big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), others like silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana) and low sagebrush (Artemisia arbuscula) are understudied. To learn more about how to restore these important ecosystems, we conducted a germination study of two sagebrush species. We germinated seeds from A. cana in petri plates and in soil to compare the rates of germination in both methods, while A. arbuscula seeds were germinated only in petri plates. We also tested the efficiency …

A Multi-Stage Machine Learning Approach To Predict Dengue Incidence: A Case Study In Mexico, Annalisa Appice, Yulia R. Gel, Iliyan Iliev, Vyacheslav Lyubchich, Donato Malerba

Faculty Publications

© 2013 IEEE. The mosquito-borne dengue fever is a major public health problem in tropical countries, where it is strongly conditioned by climate factors such as temperature. In this paper, we formulate a holistic machine learning strategy to analyze the temporal dynamics of temperature and dengue data and use this knowledge to produce accurate predictions of dengue, based on temperature on an annual scale. The temporal dynamics are extracted from historical data by utilizing a novel multi-stage combination of auto-encoding, window-based data representation and trend-based temporal clustering. The prediction is performed with a trend association-based nearest neighbour predictor. The effectiveness …

Distribution, Relative Abundance, And Reproductive Output Of Spawning Female Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) In Offshore Waters Of The Gulf Of Mexico, Adam A. Kemberling, M. Zachary Darnell

Faculty Publications

Effective assessment and management of migratory species require an understanding of stock boundaries and habitat use during critical life history periods. The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is considered a primarily estuarine species and has traditionally been assessed and man-aged on a state basis, relying on abundance estimates derived from estuarine sampling. Females undertake a sea-ward spawning migration, and recent evidence indicates that coastal and offshore waters may provide important spawning habitat. We investigated occurrence and reproductive output of spawning blue crab in offshore waters of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, and results indicate that these waters may be …

A Road Map To Indoos-2: Better Observations Of The Rapidly Warming Indian Ocean, L. M. Beal, J. Vialard, M. K. Roxy, J. Li, M. Andres, H. Annamalai, M. Feng, W. Han, R. Hood, T. Lee, M. Lengaigne, R. Lumpkin, Y. Masumoto, M. J. Mcphaden, M. Ravichandran, T. Shinoda, B. M. Sloyan, P. G. Strutton, A. C. Subramanian, T. Tozuka, C. C. Ummenhofer, A. S. Unnikrishnan, J. Wiggert, L. Yu, L. Cheng, D. G. Desbruyères, V. Parvathi

Faculty Publications

The Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), established in 2006, is a multinational network of sustained oceanic measurements that underpin understanding and forecasting of weather and climate for the Indian Ocean region and beyond. Almost one-third of humanity lives around the Indian Ocean, many in countries dependent on fisheries and rain-fed agriculture that are vulnerable to climate variability and extremes. The Indian Ocean alone has absorbed a quarter of the global oceanic heat uptake over the last two decades and the fate of this heat and its impact on future change is unknown. Climate models project accelerating sea level rise, more …

American Buddhist Protection Of Stones In Terms Of Climate Change On Mars And Earth, Daniel Capper

Faculty Publications

A number of scientific writers have proposed manipulating the ecology of Mars in order to make the planet more comfortable for future immigrants from Earth. However, the ethical acceptability of such ‘terraforming’ proposals remains unresolved. In response, in this article I explore some of these scientific proposals through the lens provided by Buddhist environmental ethics that are quantitatively expressed by practitioners in the ethnographic field of the United States. What I find is that contemporary Buddhists combine philosophical notions of interconnectedness with moral considerations not to harm others and then creatively extend this combined sensibility to the protection specifically of …

Attacks Against Cultural Heritage As A Crime Against Humanity, Yaron Gottlieb

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

"The article begins with a brief overview of the contemporary international criminal law regime governing attacks against cultural heritage. It continues by identifying the main legal gaps as well as additional considerations that support the introduction of a distinct crime against humanity in the Draft Convention’s list of crime. The article then defines the proposed new crime and analyzes the crime’s elements including a definition of cultural heritage for the purpose of the Draft Convention."

Development Of Highly Sensitive Environmental Dna Methods For The Detection Of Bull Sharks, Carcharhinus Leucas (Müller And Henle, 1839), Using Droplet DigitalTm Pcr, Katherine E. Schweiss, Ryan N. Lehman, J. Marcus Drymon, Nicole M. Phillips

Faculty Publications

Background: As apex and mesopredators, elasmobranchs play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem function and balance in marine systems. Elasmobranch populations worldwide are in decline as a result of exploitation via direct and indirect fisheries mortalities and habitat degradation; however, a lack of information on distribution, abundance, and population biology for most species hinders their effective management. Environmental DNA analysis has emerged as a cost‐effective and non‐invasive technique to fill some of these data gaps, but often requires the development of species‐specific methodologies.

Aims: Here, we established eDNA methodology appropriate for targeted species detections of Bull Sharks, Carcharhinus …

Modeling Mycorrhizal Fungi Dispersal By The Mycophagous Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia Bicolor), Melissa Danks, Natalie Simpson, Todd F. Elliot, C.E. Timothy Paine, Karl Vernes

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

No abstract provided.

Reviewing The Current Methods Of Assessing Hydration In Athletes, Oliver R. Barley, Dale W. Chapman, Chris R. Abbiss

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Despite a substantial body of research, no clear best practice guidelines exist for the assessment of hydration in athletes. Body water is stored in and shifted between different sites throughout the body complicating hydration assessment. This review seeks to highlight the unique strengths and limitations of various hydration assessment methods described in the literature as well as providing best practice guidelines.

Main body

There is a plethora of methods that range in validity and reliability, including complicated and invasive methods (i.e. neutron activation analysis and stable isotope dilution), to moderately invasive blood, urine and salivary variables, progressing to non-invasive …

Detection Of Braf Splicing Variants In Plasma-Derived Cell-Free Nucleic Acids And Extracellular Vesicles Of Melanoma Patients Failing Targeted Therapy Therapies, Michael E. Clark, Helen Rizos, Michelle Pereira, Ashleigh Mcevoy, Gabriela Marsavela, Leslie Calapre, Katie Meehan, Olivia Ruhen, Muhammad A. Khattak, Tarek M. Meniawy, Georgina Long, Matteo S. Carlino, Alexander M. Menzies, Michael Millward, Melanie Ziman, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The analysis of plasma circulating tumour nucleic acids provides a non-invasive approach to assess disease burden and the genetic evolution of tumours in response to therapy. BRAF splicing variants are known to confer melanoma resistance to BRAF inhibitors. We developed a test to screen cell-free RNA (cfRNA) for the presence of BRAF splicing variants. Custom droplet digital PCR assays were designed for the detection of BRAF splicing variants p61, p55, p48 and p41 and then validated using RNA from cell lines carrying these variants. Evaluation of plasma from patients with reported objective response to BRAF/MEK inhibition followed by disease progression …

Copper Toxicity Links To Pathogenesis Of Alzheimer’S Disease And Therapeutics Approaches, Hafza Wajeeha Ejaz, Wei Wang, Minglin Lang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, age-related progressive neurological disorder, and the most common type of dementia in aged people. Neuropathological lesions of AD are neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), and senile plaques comprise the accumulated amyloid-beta (Aβ), loaded with metal ions including Cu, Fe, or Zn. Some reports have identified metal dyshomeostasis as a neurotoxic factor of AD, among which Cu ions seem to be a central cationic metal in the formation of plaque and soluble oligomers, and have an essential role in the AD pathology. Cu-Aβ complex catalyzes the generation of …

Automated Smart Home Assessment To Support Pain Management: Multiple Methods Analysis, Roschelle L. Fritz, Marian Wilson, Gordana Dermody, Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, Diane J. Cook

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

©Roschelle L Fritz, Marian Wilson, Gordana Dermody, Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, Diane J Cook. Objective: This study aimed to determine if a smart home can detect pain-related behaviors to perform automated assessment and support intervention for persons with chronic pain.Background: Poorly managed pain can lead to substance use disorders, depression, suicide, worsening health, and increased use of health services. Most pain assessments occur in clinical settings away from patients’ natural environments. Advances in smart home technology may allow observation of pain in the home setting. Smart homes recognizing human behaviors may be useful for quantifying functional pain interference, thereby creating new ways …

Tumour Pd-L1 Expression In Small-Cell Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Emmanuel Acheampong, Afaf Abed, Michael Morici, Samantha Bowyer, Benhur Amanuel, Weitao Lin, Michael Millward, Elin S. Gray

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

: Antibodies against programmed death-1 (PD-1), and its ligand, (PD-L1) have been approved recently for the treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Although there are previous reports that addressed PD-L1 detection on tumour cells in SCLC, there is no comprehensive meta-analysis on the prevalence of PD-L1 expression in SCLC. We performed a systematic search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library and EMBASE databases to assess reports on the prevalence of PD-L1 expression and the association between PD-L1 expression and overall survival (OS). This meta-analysis included 27 studies enrolling a total of 2792 patients. The pooled estimate of PD-L1 expression was 26.0% …

Interpreting Health Events In Big Data Using Qualitative Traditions, Roschelle L. Fritz, Gordana Dermody

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© The Author(s) 2020. The training of artificial intelligence requires integrating real-world context and mathematical computations. To achieve efficacious smart health artificial intelligence, contextual clinical knowledge serving as ground truth is required. Qualitative methods are well-suited to lend consistent and valid ground truth. In this methods article, we illustrate the use of qualitative descriptive methods for providing ground truth when training an intelligent agent to detect Restless Leg Syndrome. We show how one interdisciplinary, inter-methodological research team used both sensor-based data and the participant’s description of their experience with an episode of Restless Leg Syndrome for training the intelligent agent. …

Tripping Over The Other: Could Psychedelics Increase Empathy?, Emily Blatchford, Stephen Bright, Liam Engel

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

There is increasing evidence that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is effective for a range of psy-chological conditions. There are likely numerous mechanisms of action that contribute to these clinicaleffects. One such mechanism of action might involve psychedelics increasing levels of empathicfunctioning. This paper synthesises research concerning the relationship between psychedelics andempathy, emphasising neuroscientific and clinical contexts. We conclude that neuropsychological andclinical evidence imply psychedelics could lead to increased empathic functioning. The effects of psy-chedelics on the 5-HT system, default mode network, neural connectivity and ego dissolution areimplicated in these changes. Changes in empathic functioning also likely relate to increases in thepersonality trait …

Australian Muslim Citizens: Questions Of Inclusion And Exclusion, 2006 –2020, Nahid A. Kabir

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Muslims have a long history in Australia. In 2016, Muslims formed 2.6 per cent of the total Australian population. In this article, I will discuss Australian Muslims’ citizenship in two time periods, 2006–2018 and 2020. In the first period, I will examine Australian Muslims’ identity and sense of belonging, and whether their race or culture have any impact on their Australian citizenship. I will also discuss the political rhetoric concerning Australian Muslims. In the second period, 2020, I will examine Australian Muslims’ placement as returned travellers during the COVID-19 period. I conclude that, from 2006 to 2018, Islamophobia was rampant …

Disentangling The Mechanisms Shaping The Surface Ocean Microbiota, Ramiro Logares, Ina M. Deutschmann, Pedro C. Junger, Caterina R. Giner, Anders K. Krabberød, S. B. Schmidt, Laura Rubinat-Ripoll, Mireia Mestre, Guillem Salazar, Clara Ruiz-González, Marta Sebastián, Colomban De Vargas, Silvia G. Acinas, Carlos M. Duarte, Josep M. Gasol, Ramon Massana

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

BACKGROUND: The ocean microbiota modulates global biogeochemical cycles and changes in its configuration may have large-scale consequences. Yet, the underlying ecological mechanisms structuring it are unclear. Here, we investigate how fundamental ecological mechanisms (selection, dispersal and ecological drift) shape the smallest members of the tropical and subtropical surface-ocean microbiota: prokaryotes and minute eukaryotes (picoeukaryotes). Furthermore, we investigate the agents exerting abiotic selection on this assemblage as well as the spatial patterns emerging from the action of ecological mechanisms. To explore this, we analysed the composition of surface-ocean prokaryotic and picoeukaryotic communities using DNA-sequence data (16S- and 18S-rRNA genes) collected during …

A Randomised Controlled Crossover Trial Investigating The Short-Term Effects Of Different Types Of Vegetables On Vascular And Metabolic Function In Middle-Aged And Older Adults With Mildly Elevated Blood Pressure: The Vegetables For Vascular Health (Vessel) Study Protocol, Emma Connolly, Catherine P. Bondonno, Marc Sim, Simone Radavelli-Bagatini, Kevin D. Croft, Mary C. Boyce, Anthony P. James, Karin Clark, Reindolf Anokye, Nicola P. Bondonno, Richard Woodman, Amanda Devine, Seng Khee Gan, Carl J. Schultz, Richard F. Mithen, Joshua Lewis, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Lauren C. Blekkenhorst

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is recommended for cardiovascular health. However, the majority of Australians do not consume the recommended number of vegetable servings each day. Furthermore, intakes of vegetables considered to have the greatest cardiovascular benefit are often very low. Results from prospective observational studies indicate that a higher consumption of cruciferous vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower) is associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. This may be due to the presence of specific nutrients and bioactive compounds found almost exclusively, or at relatively high levels, in cruciferous vegetables. Therefore, the aim of this randomised controlled crossover trial …

Is Dietary Vitamin A Associated With Myopia From Adolescence To Young Adulthood?, Fletcher J. Ng, David A. Mackey, Therese A. O'Sullivan, Wendy H. Oddy, Seyhan Yazar

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose: Potential links may exist between vitamin A intake and myopia via various pathways. In this study, we examined the association between dietary vitamin A intake during adolescence and myopia in early adulthood. Methods: We performed a prospective analysis utilizing data collected from participants of the Raine Study Gen2. Dietary vitamin A intake, determined via food frequency questionnaires completed at ages 14, 17, and 20 years, was compared with ophthalmic measurements collected at year 20. Low vitamin A levels were defined as <600 >µg/day. Regression models were used to adjust for ocular sun exposure level, educational level, and parental myopia as …

Global Database Of Ratios Of Particulate Organic Carbon To Thorium-234 In The Ocean: Improving Estimates Of The Biological Carbon Pump, Viena Puigcorbe, Pere Masque, Frederic A.C. Le Moigne

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ocean's biological carbon pump (BCP) plays a major role in the global carbon cycle. A fraction of the photosynthetically fixed organic carbon produced in surface waters is exported below the sunlit layer as settling particles (e.g., marine snow). Since the seminal works on the BCP, global estimates of the global strength of the BCP have improved but large uncertainties remain (from 5 to 20 Gt C yr−1 exported below the euphotic zone or mixed-layer depth). The 234Th technique is widely used to measure the downward export of particulate organic carbon (POC). This technique has the advantage of allowing a …

Mitigating Fatigue On The Flight Deck: How Is Controlled Rest Used In Practice?, Cassie J. Hilditch, Lucia Arsintescu, Kevin B. Gregory, Erin E. Flynn-Evans

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Controlled Rest (CR) refers to a short, unscheduled, voluntary nap opportunity taken by pilots on the flight deck as a countermeasure to unanticipated fatigue in flight. This study explores the profile of CR use in a long-haul commercial airline. Forty-four pilots wore actiwatches and filled in an application-based sleep/work diary for approximately 2 weeks resulting in complete records from 239 flights. Timing of sleep periods and flight schedules were analyzed relative to home-base time. Pearson correlations were used to assess the influence of pilot demographics on CR use. A mixed-effects logistic regression was used to analyze the impact of schedule …

Contemporary Epidemiology Of Rising Atrial Septal Defect Trends Across Usa 1991–2016: A Combined Ecological Geospatiotemporal And Causal Inferential Study, Albert Stuart Reece, Gary Kenneth Hulse

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Cardiovascular anomalies are the largest group of congenital anomalies and the major cause of death in young children, with various data linking rising atrial septal defect incidence (ASDI) with prenatal cannabis exposure. Objectives / Hypotheses. Is cannabis associated with ASDI in USA? Is this relationship causal? Methods: Geospatiotemporal cohort study, 1991–2016. Census populations of adults, babies, congenital anomalies, income and ethnicity. Drug exposure data on cigarettes, alcohol abuse, past month cannabis use, analgesia abuse and cocaine taken from National Survey of Drug Use and Health (78.9% response rate). Cannabinoid concentrations from Drug Enforcement Agency. Inverse …

Exercise Twice-A-Day Potentiates Markers Of Mitochondrial Biogenesis In Men, Victor Amorim Andrade-Souza, Thaysa Ghiarone, Andre Sansonio, Kleiton Augusto Santos Silva, Fabiano Tomazini, Lucyana Arcoverde, Jackson Fyfe, Enrico Perri, Nicholas Saner, Jujiao Kuang, Romulo Bertuzzi, Carol Gois Leandro, David John Bishop, Adriano Eduardo Lima‐Silva

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Endurance exercise begun with reduced muscle glycogen stores seems to potentiate skeletal muscle protein abundance and gene expression. However, it is unknown whether this greater signaling responses is due to performing two exercise sessions in close proximity-as a first exercise session is necessary to reduce the muscle glycogen stores. In the present study, we manipulated the recovery duration between a first muscle glycogen-depleting exercise and a second exercise session, such that the second exercise session started with reduced muscle glycogen in both approaches but was performed either 2 or 15 hours after the first exercise session (so-called "twice-a-day" and "once-daily" …

The Optimisation Of Cultivation Conditions For Basil (Ocimum Sp. L) Production In Multi-Tier Hydroponics And The Role Of Light Quality In The Enhancement Of Growth And Quality, Mohammed Aldarkazali

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Basil (Ocimum sp. L.) is considered an important herb in Herbalism, Agronomy, Ethnobotany, Gastronomy, and Bromatology. Increases in population have led to an increase in the demands for food including Basil and thus there is an increased need to optimise its growing conditions in order to produce acceptable plants for the consumers. This optimization includes growing Basil in indoor farming situations. Basil contains essential oils which impart many of its herbal and culinary properties and whilst the chemical composition of the essential oil of Basil varied but commonly contains, Estragole, Linalool, Eugenol, E Cinnamate and Eucalyptol. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) …

Ecological Studies Of An Abyssal Nodule Province To Inform The Management Of Deep-Sea Mining, Kirsty Alexandra Mcquaid

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The abyssal environment remains one of the most poorly studied parts of the planet. While predominantly an environment dominated by soft sediments, some abyssal regions are known to harbour potato-sized, rock-like formations known as polymetallic nodules. These nodule provinces are now the subject of exploration by nations and their nominated contractors keen to develop a new deep-sea mining industry. This new industry has the potential for large-scale environmental impacts, but at present these impacts are difficult to predict, and therefore mitigate, as a result of the lack of ecological data and scientific understanding of these areas. The studies carried out …

Lab-Scale Bioremediation Technology: The Development Of Environmental Biotechnology For The Ex Situ Bioremediation Of Cadmium-Contaminated Freshwater, Nadia Jebril

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Cadmium (Cd) is one of the most common contaminates in freshwater. Among freshwater remediation techniques, bioremediation – the use of bacteria to extract Cd from water – is an eco-friendly technique. Cd-resistant bacteria evolve in the natural environment and can be used to develop a bioremediation process for Cd. However, gaining an adaptive strain is usually difficult. This research aimed to find an alternative bioremediation process for Cd from freshwater using Cd-resistant bacteria. To increase the Cd-resistance of the isolated Brevibacillus agri C15, UV-light mutagenesis was used to generate the mutant B. agri C15 CdR with a minimum inhibitory concentration …