Digital Commons Network^™

Maternal Hookworm Infection And Its Effects On Maternal Health: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Tara E Ness, Vedika Agrawal, Kathryn Bedard, Lara Ouellette, Timothy A Erickson, Peter Hotez, Jill E Weatherhead

Library Staff Publications

Hookworm is an intestinal parasite that infects nearly 230 million people, with another 5.1 billion at risk, especially in poverty-stricken tropical and subtropical regions. Pregnancy is an especially vulnerable time for hookworm infection because of its effect on both maternal and subsequently fetal health. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. The meta-analysis was performed on the association between maternal hookworm and maternal anemia, as well as maternal hookworm coinfection with malaria. The prevalence of hookworm ranged from 1% to 78% in pregnant women, whereas malaria prevalence ranged from 11% to 81%. Pregnant women with hookworm infection were more likely …

Biographical Feature: William A. Hinton, M.D., Erik Munson

Clinical Lab Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Comprehensive Molecular Screening In A Cohort Of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men And Transgender Women: Effect Of Additive Rectal Specimen Source Collection And Analyte Testing, Erik Munson, Alyssa Reynoso, Morena Pass, Kathleen Buehler, Daniel Ryan, Antonia Clifford, Ethan Morgan, Brian Mustanski

Clinical Lab Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Background

This study's purposes were to characterize detection rates of several sexually transmitted infection (STI) agents and describe the effect additional specimen source and analyte screening has on STI detection within a cohort of young men who have sex with men and transgender women.

Methods

Within a 16-month interval, 1966 encounters involved dual urine and rectal swab submissions assessed by commercial transcription-mediated amplification–based assays for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae and by off-label transcription-mediated amplification–based Trichomonas vaginalis and Mycoplasma genitalium testing. Identification of STI carriers used algorithms involving Food and Drug Administration–cleared screening methods, laboratory-modified testing for extraurogenital C. trachomatis …

An Evaluative Study Of The Rural Elementary Teachers’ Perspective On The Partnership Between Rural Public Elementary Schools And Nebraska Extension, Tammera Mittelstet

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Science education reform is a new reality for Elementary Teachers who have found themselves in a paradigm shift as Nebraska implements its NCCRS-S standards. This reform and implementation process might benefit from the support of Nebraska Extension. The purpose of this evaluative study was twofold: (a) determine elementary teachers' awareness, current use, and future recommendations regarding extension resources in Nebraska’s rural elementary schools and (b) inform guidelines for future development of community partnerships and distribution of Nebraska Extension resources for elementary science instruction.

Data for this study was gathered using Qualtrics and was analyzed with SPSS version 27 software. The …

Network Analysis As A Tool To Understand Social Development In Spider Monkeys, Emily R. Boeving, Michelle A. Rodrigues, Eliza L. Nelson

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The emerging field of network science has demonstrated that an individual's connectedness within their social network has cascading effects to other dimensions of life. Like humans, spider monkeys live in societies with high fission–fusion dynamics, and are remarkably social. Social network analysis (SNA) is a powerful tool for quantifying connections that may vary as a function of initiating or receiving social behaviors, which has been described as shifting social roles. In primatology, the SNA literature is dominated by work in catarrhines, and has yet to be applied to the study of development in a platyrrhine model. Here, SNA was utilized …

Biomechanical And Biophysical Properties Of Breast Cancer Cells Under Varying Glycemic Regimens, Diganta Dutta, Xavier-Lewis Palmer, Jose Ortega-Rodas, Vasundhara Balraj, Indrani Ghosh Dastider, Surabhi Chandra

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Diabetes accelerates cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, particularly for cancers of the pancreas, liver, breast, colon, and skin. While pathways linking the 2 disease conditions have been explored extensively, there is a lack of information on whether there could be cytoarchitectural changes induced by glucose which predispose cancer cells to aggressive phenotypes. It was thus hypothesized that exposure to diabetes/high glucose alters the biomechanical and biophysical properties of cancer cells more than the normal cells, which aids in advancing the cancer. For this study, atomic force microscopy indentation was used through microscale probing of multiple human breast cancer cells (MCF-7, …

Evaluation Of The Genetic And Structural Variations Of Camel Hemoglobin, Amanat Ali

Dissertations

The single-humped Arabian camel (Camelus dromedarius) thrives in the hot arid Arabian desert. Many unique adaptations permit it to accomplish this. Camel erythrocytes or red blood cells (RBCs) have a peculiar elliptical shape and are amenable to large variations in physical conditions resulting from dehydration and rehydration cycles. The oxygen transport protein hemoglobin is found abundantly in RBCs and is also believed to behave differently in camels. While several physiological and biochemical studies have been performed on camel hemoglobin, very little is known about genetic and structural adaptions in this protein. The camel genome harbors several unique variations …

Small Herbaria Contribute Unique Biogeographic Records To County, Locality, And Temporal Scales, Travis D. Marsico, Erica R. Krimmel, J. Richard Carter, Emily L. Gillespie, Phillip D. Lowe, Ross Mccauley, Ashley B. Morris, Gil Nelson, Michelle Smith, Diana L. Soteropoulos, Anna K. Monfils

Arkansas Biosciences Institute

With digitization and data sharing initiatives underway over the last 15 years, an important need has been prioritizing specimens to digitize. Because duplicate specimens are shared among herbaria in exchange and gift programs, we investigated the extent to which unique biogeographic data are held in small herbaria vs. these data being redundant with those held by larger institutions. We evaluated the unique specimen contributions that small herbaria make to biogeographic understanding at county, locality, and temporal scales.

Virginia’S Physician-Only Law For First Trimester Abortion: Maintaining The Unduly Burdensome Law Under Falls Church Medical Center, Llc V. Oliver And Its Subsequent Amendment, Emily M. Gindhart

University of Richmond Law Review

This Comment seeks to critique the Falls Church Medical Center’s holding that Virginia’s first-trimester physician-only law is not an undue burden on the right to abortion. Part I is an overview of the physician-only law, discussing the historical roots of the law, the impacts of the law on access to first-trimester abortion, related laws in other jurisdictions, and a survey of research conducted on the overall safety and effectiveness of APCs as abortion providers. Part II is an overview of the Falls Church Medical Center’s three decisions. Part III is an undue burden analysis of the physician-only law, …

Christ’S Ethnonationalist Crucifixion: Sacralization Of Ethnonationalist Agendas Within Croatian Catholicism And Serbian Orthodoxy—Cases And Effects, Zoran Grozdanov, Branko Sekulić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

In this article, the authors look into the theological background of the support that nationstates in the Western Balkans received during their formation at the end of the 20th century. Although many articles were written on the causes of the wars for national independence, and on the relationship between religious narratives and ethnic exclusion, very few were written on the theological support of the ethnic exclusion. The authors show that the roots of making ethnos and affiliation with certain nations in Eastern Europe can be found in the writings of late Pope John Paul II and Serbian Orthodox Bishop Nikolaj …

The Paradox Of Power In Conflict Dynamics, Daniel Rothbart

Peace and Conflict Studies

In recent decades the political state has been implicated in genocide, mass violence, political oppression, and targeted deprivations. Yet, in the field of conflict analysis, the meaning of state “power over” in conflict settings is under-theorized. In this article I probe the conceptual depths of state power to show that such power is neither singular nor simple. It’s neither ahistorical nor asocial. Beneath the surface of the state’s wide-ranging practices of governing its political subjects is a fundamental paradox that juxtaposes the state’s authority as the rightful authority over its subjects against the state’s vulnerability to potentially de-stabilizing threats to …

Paediatric Unicystic Ameloblastoma - A Report Of 2 Cases, Spoorti Kulkarni, Subhalakshmi Sen, Chetana Chandrashekar, Venkadasalapathi Narayanaswamy

Open Access archive

Unicytic ameloblastoma is a variant of ameloblastoma encompassing about 6% of ameloblastomas. They represent cystic lesions that reveal clinical and radiographic features of a cyst, but the histopathological features demonstrate a typical ameloblastomatous epithelium lining the cyst. Plexiform unicystic ameloblastoma, a variant of unicystic ameloblastoma refers to the pattern of proliferation where one or more nodules of ameloblastomatous epithelium project from the cystic lining into the lumen demonstrating an edematous plexiform pattern. The lesion is seen more commonly in the third and fourth decades of life with less than 10% of cases being reported in the first decade. Here, we …

Is The Proteome Of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Extracellular Vesicles A Marker Of Advanced Lung Cancer?, Ana Sofia Carvalho, Maria Carolina Strano Moraes, Chan Hyun Na, Ivo Fierro-Monti

Open Access archive

Acellular bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) proteomics can partially separate lung cancer from non-lung cancer patients based on principal component analysis and multivariate analysis. Furthermore, the variance in the proteomics data sets is correlated mainly with lung cancer status and, to a lesser extent, smoking status and gender. Despite these advances BAL small and large extracellular vehicles (EVs) proteomes reveal aberrant protein expression in paracrine signaling mechanisms in cancer initiation and progression. We consequently present a case-control study of 24 bronchoalveolar lavage extracellular vesicle samples which were analyzed by state-of-the-art liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). We obtained evidence that BAL EVs proteome complexity …

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5n1) Landscape Suitability Varies By Wetland Habitats And The Degree Of Interface Between Wild Waterfowl And Poultry In India, Michael G. Walsh, Siobhan M. Mor, Shah Hossain

Open Access archive

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus, subtype H5N1, constitutes one of the world’s most important health and economic concerns given the catastrophic impact of epizootics on the poultry industry, the high mortality attending spillover in humans, and its potential as a source subtype for a future pandemic. Nevertheless, we still lack an adequate understanding of HPAI H5N1 epidemiology and infection ecology. The nature of the wild waterfowl–poultry interface, and the sharing of diverse wetland habitat among these birds, currently underscore important knowledge gaps. India has emerged as a global hotspot for HPAI H5N1, while also providing critical wintering habitat for …

Performance Of Molecular And Serologic Tests For The Diagnosis Of Scrub Typhus, Kavitha Kannan, Rebecca John, Debasree Kundu, Divya Dayanand

Open Access archive

Diagnosis of scrub typhus, caused by the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi, is challenging because of the overlap of its non-specific symptoms with other infections coupled with the lack of sufficient data on the performance of diagnostic tests. Early diagnosis of scrub typhus is crucial to improve outcomes and this study evaluates the diagnostic performance of various tests. The present study aims at assessing the accuracy of various rapid diagnostic tests, serologic tests, and nucleic acid amplification methods on well-characterized patient samples. Adult patients with acute febrile illness and manifestations suggestive of scrub typhus confirmed by positive PCR in the blood, eschar …

Microrna's – The Vibrant Performers In The Oral Cancer Scenario, Monica Charlotte Solomon, Raghu Anekal Radhakrishnan

Open Access archive

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a family of small non-coding (18–22 nucleotide) RNA molecules. These molecules regulate gene expression by either inhibiting mRNA translation or by degrading mRNA. A single miRNA can control the expression of target genes, and the expression of a target gene can be regulated by multiple miRNAs. They are key regulators of various biological and pathological processes. These include cell proliferation, development and tumorigenesis. Novel studies have discovered definite signature miRNAs in the initiation and progression of cancers. Interestingly, miRNAs have also been found in fragile genomic sites that are associated with increased cancer risk. These micro RNAs …

The Impact Of Foreign Direct Investment On The Ecological Footprints Of Nations, Nadia Doytch

Ateneo School of Government Publications

We study the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the rate of exhaustion of bioproductive physical land. We test for differential ecological performance of FDI in developed vs. developing countries, as well as in “clean” vs. “dirty” sectors. We examine the impact of six sector-level FDI flows on four ecological footprints (EF): Consumption EF, Production EF, Imports EF, and Exports EF, compiled by the Global Footprint Network. We estimate a dynamic panel model incorporating an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and differentiating across country development levels. The findings are intriguing. First, High Income countries tend to …

The Pacifican November 2020, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Management Of Acute Ischemic Stroke., Franziska Herpich, Fred Rincon

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: Concise "synthetic" review of the state of the art of management of acute ischemic stroke.

DATA SOURCES: Available literature on PubMed.

STUDY SELECTION: We selected landmark studies, recent clinical trials, observational studies, and professional guidelines on the management of stroke including the last 10 years.

DATA EXTRACTION: Eligible studies were identified and results leading to guideline recommendations were summarized.

DATA SYNTHESIS: Stroke mortality has been declining over the past 6 decades, and as a result, stroke has fallen from the second to the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. This trend may follow recent advances in …

The Return Of Jugoslovenka: An Unrequited Love Affair, Jasmina Tumbas

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This essay considers women’s emancipation in Socialist Yugoslavia as central to the socialist project. I focus on the feminist art of the 1970s and 1980s, aswell as contemporary engagements with the question of Yugoslavia. I put in conversation performance works by Sanja Iveković, Vlasta Delimar, Marina Gržinić, and Šejla Kamerić. The title of this essay, “Return of Jugoslovenka: An Unrequited Love Affair” points to how contested the position of Yugoslav women was during socialism, and how much it remains so today, albeit for very different reasons. As I show in the article, Yugoslav women in the arts embraced socialism as …

Landscape Genetics Of Plants: Challenges And Opportunities, Mitchell Cruzan, Elizabeth C. Hendrickson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dispersal is one of the most important but least understood processes in plant ecology and evolutionary biology. Dispersal of seeds maintains and establishes populations, and pollen and seed dispersal are responsible for gene flow within and among populations. Traditional views of dispersal and gene flow assume models that are governed solely by geographic distance and do not account for variation in dispersal vector behavior in response to heterogenous landscapes. Landscape genetics integrates population genetics with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate the effects of landscape features on gene flow patterns (effective dispersal). Surprisingly, relatively few landscape genetic studies have been …

Outbreak Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid 19) In Pakistan: Psychological Impact And Coping Strategies Of Health Care Professionals, Khola Noreen, Muhammad Umar, Syed Arshad Sabir, Rehana Rehman

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objective: This study was conducted to explore factors that can impact psychological health and coping strategies to help health care professionals (HCPs) to perform their duties.
Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted using structured questionnaire electronically shared with the participants after ethical approval. Descriptive statistics were calculated for socio demographic variables. Chi squared χ² test was used to compare the responses between different groups of HCPs.
Results: Survey was completed by 250 participants. They performed their duties diligently during outbreak but were concerned about their safety, had fear of infecting themselves and their family members. Lack of evidence-based …

Strategic Assessment 2020: Into A New Era Of Great Power Competition, Thomas F. Lynch Iii, Hassan Abbas, Zachary M. Abuza, Justin Anderson, Richard Andres, David Auerswald, Paul Bernstein, R. Kim Cragin, Diane Dieuliis, Gerald Epstein, Douglas Farah, T.X. Hammes, Todd C. Helmus, Frank G. Hoffman, Steven Philip Kramer, Irene Kyriakopoulos, Bryce Loidolt, Amanda Moodie, Mariya Omelicheva, James Przystup, Phillip C. Saunders, Shannon Smith, Caitlyn Yates

Books and Book Chapters

Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition provides a comprehensive analysis of how global strategic dynamics have shifted from the post–Cold War period into a renewed era of great power rivalry. Beginning with conceptual foundations and historical context, the book situates contemporary competition among major powers—especially the United States, China, and Russia, within broader geopolitical trends and power structures. It examines the evolving tools and domains of competition, including technological innovation, information operations, and weapons of mass destruction, and analyzes strategic deterrence and competitive behavior across regions such as the Indo-Pacific and Europe. The volume also …

Do Not Disturb The Flow!, Shunderla Wilson, Brooke A. Whitworth

Publications

Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a heart attack (Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2017). Students may experience or be affected by several incidences of heart attacks throughout their life. As such, students should be aware of the risk factors and learn the underlying reasons for a heart attack.

Most students believe they are too young for a heart attack and think symptoms will appear gradually (Roth and Gotter 2018). Heart disease in younger individuals is appearing more frequently due to obesity, tobacco and alcohol usage, stress, and race (Napoli 2019). In this …

Analyzing The Impact Of Negative Sampling On Fact-Prediction Algorithms, Iti Bansal

Theses

Knowledge graphs are useful for many applications like product recommendations and web search query engines. However, knowledge graphs are marked by incompleteness. Fact-prediction algorithms aim to expand knowledge graphs by predicting missing facts. Fact-prediction algorithms train models using positive facts present and creating negative facts not present in the knowledge graph at hand. Negative facts are obtained by corrupting information in the positive facts present in the knowledge graph at hand. Although it is generally assumed that negative facts drive the accuracy of fact-prediction algorithms, this concept has not been thoroughly examined yet. In this work, we investigate whether negative …

Role Of Tc-Ptp-Mediated Regulation Of Stat1 In Skin Carcinogenesis, Carson Bogatto, Dae Joon Kim

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

STAT1 has been shown to have tumor suppressive or protumorigenic roles in tissues in a context-dependent manner. In this study, we explored the role of TC-PTP in the regulation of STAT1 during skin tumor promotion. We found that the levels of the phosphorylated serine form of STAT1 were increased in TC-PTP overexpressing keratinocytes in response to TPA treatment. Additionally, TC-PTP overexpression decreased TPA-induced proliferation through regulation of STAT1 signaling. These results suggest that positive regulation of STAT1 signaling via TC-PTP can have a protective role towards keratinocytes during tumor promotion. These findings suggest that targeting TC-PTP-mediated regulation of STAT1 signaling …

Gcn5: The Quintessential Histone Acetyltransferase, Vikki M. Weake

Department of Biochemistry Faculty Publications

In this Special Issue, we bring together many of the original researchers involved in the initial studies to identify and characterize Gcn5, together with leaders from the field who have contributed to our understanding of this quintessential histone acetyltransferase. First, Jim Brownell and David Allis describe the discovery of Gcn5 [8], followed by Brittany Albaugh and John Denu who highlight key structural and catalytic attributes of Gcn5 as the defining member of the Gcn5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT) protein superfamily [15]. Next, Michael Sack and colleagues describe a protein that is closely related to Gcn5, Gcn5L1, which lacks intrinsic histone acetylation activity …

Identification And Characterization Of Edible Cricket Peptides On Hypertensive And Glycemic In Vitro Inhibition And Their Anti-Inflammatory Activity On Raw 264.7 Macrophage Cells, Felicia Hall, Lavanya Reddivari, Andrea M. Liceaga

Department of Food Science Faculty Publications

Recent studies continue to demonstrate the potential of edible insects as a protein base to obtain bioactive peptides applicable for functional food development. This study aimed at identifying antihypertensive, anti-glycemic, and anti-inflammatory peptides derived from the in vitro gastrointestinal digests of cricket protein hydrolysates. After sequential fractionation, the protein digest subfraction containing the lowest molecular weight (<0.5 kDa), hydrophobic (C18) and cationic peptides (IEX) was found responsible for the most bioactivity. The cationic peptide fraction significantly reduced (p < 0.05) α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity in vitro, and also inhibited the expression of NF-κB in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. A total of 28 peptides were identified with mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) and de novo sequencing from the potent fraction. Three novel peptides YKPRP, PHGAP, and VGPPQ were chosen for the molecular docking studies. PHGAP and VGPPQ exhibited a higher degree of non-covalent interactions with the enzyme active site residues and binding energies comparable to captopril. Results from this study demonstrate the bioactive potential of edible cricket peptides, especially as ACE inhibitors.

Inconclusive Evidence Of Sexual Reproduction Of Invasive Halophila Stipulacea: A New Field Guide To Encourage Investigation Of Flower And Fruit Production Throughout Its Invasive Range, Fee O.H. Smulders, Kelcie L. Chiquillo, Demian A. Willette, Paul H. Barber, Marjolijn J.A. Christianen

Biology Faculty Works

The dioecious seagrass species Halophila stipulacea reproduces mainly through fast clonal growth, underlying its invasive behavior. Here, we provide morphological evidence to show that the first findings of fruits in the Caribbean were misidentified. Consequently, H. stipulacea reproduction is likely still only asexual in the Caribbean. Therefore, we introduce an identification key of H. stipulacea reproductive structures to encourage careful identification and quantification throughout its invasive range. Until large-scale seed production in invaded habitats is reported, the apparent low rate of sexual reproduction needs to be considered in current studies investigating the invasion capacity of this species.

An Exercise Device Used To Achieve Bone Formation Metrics For The Strengthening Of The Proximal Femur., Sean P. Coyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lateral falls often lead to hip fracture particularly in the elderly who have low bone mineral density. These fractures frequently lead to indirect mortality soon after injury. Normal use over the course over a lifetime leads to optimized adaptation of the bone in the proximal femur according to normal loading. A lateral fall generates non-normal, lateral loading at the proximal hip where the bone has not adapted to withstand such loading. The resulting fracture is generated by reversed strains on the bone tissue in the femoral neck in the hip in contrast to vertical, quotidian loading. Modern practices for preventing …