Digital Commons Network^™

Advection-Reaction-Diffusion Model Of Drug Concentration In A Lymph Node, Ting Yan

Mathematics Theses and Dissertations

It is recognized that there exist reservoirs of HIV located outside the bloodstream, and that these reservoirs hinder the efficacy of antiretroviral medication regimens in combating the virus. The prevailing theories regarding these reservoirs point to the lymphatic system. In this work, we discuss a novel computational model of viral dynamics in the lymph node, to allow numerical studies of viral “reservoirs” causing reinfection. Our model consists of a system of advection-reaction-diffusion partial differential equations (PDEs), where the diffusion coefficients vary between species (virus, drugs, lymphocytes) and include discontinuous jumps to capture differing properties of internal lymph node structures. We …

Breaking The Organic Mold: Introducing Copper Into The Influenza A Arena With Neutral And Divalent Complexes, Jonathan D. Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A (IVA) continues to pose a growing global threat even as current medications are becoming less effective. One of the main avenues of research into new anti-IVA drugs is its homotetrameric Matrix 2 proton channel (M2A), without which the virus would be unable to release its viral RNA into the host cell. The drug amantadine used to bind and block M2A until near-ubiquitous resistance formed as an M2A-S31N mutation, starting around 1995 and proceeding to 2005 when amantadine was disallowed for use as an anti-IVA drug. The standard organic structure currently being used for M2A inhibitor research comprises an …

Viral Transfer And Inactivation Through Zooplankton Trophic Interactions, Niveen S. Ismail, Margot Olive, Xavier Fernandez-Cassi, Virginie Bachmann, Tamar Kohn

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Waterborne viruses are responsible for numerous diseases and are abundant in aquatic systems. Understanding the fate of viruses in natural systems has important implications for human health. This research quantifies the uptake of the bacteriophage T4 and the enteric virus echovirus 11 when exposed to the filter feeders Tetrahymena pyriformis and Daphnia magna, and also examines the potential of viral transfer due to trophic interactions. Experiments co-incubating each species with the viruses over 72-96 h showed up to a 4 log virus removal for T. pyriformis, while direct viral uptake by D. magna was not observed. However, viral uptake by …

Enzyme-Responsive Nucleic Acid Nanocapsules (Nans) For The Delivery Of Therapeutic Oligonucleotides And Small Molecule Drugs, Alyssa Hartmann

Doctoral Dissertations

The first chapter of this work describes a novel, enzyme-responsive nanocapsule for the intracellular delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids and small molecule drugs. The stepwise assembly of this new construct, referred to as a nucleic acid nanocapsule (NAN), is presented. The cellular uptake properties of the NAN are investigated through confocal microscopy. Additionally, the functionalization of the NAN with a therapeutic nucleic acid is described. For these experiments, the NAN was functionalized with a DNAzyme, a catalytically active DNA molecule that can specifically bind and cleave a target mRNA sequence. The DNAzyme utilized in these studies is specific for the …

Fosl1 Is A Novel Mediator Of Endotoxin/Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Pulmonary Angiogenic Signaling., Christopher R. Nitkin, Sheng Xia, Heather Menden, Wei Yu, Min Xiong, Daniel P. Heruth, Shui Qing Ye, Venkatesh Sampath

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Systemic sepsis is a known risk factor for bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in premature infants, a disease characterized by dysregulated angiogenesis and impaired vascular and alveolar development. We have previoulsy reported that systemic endotoxin dysregulates pulmonary angiogenesis resulting in alveolar simplification mimicking BPD in neonatal mice, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We undertook an unbiased discovery approach to identify novel signaling pathways programming sepsis-induced deviant lung angiogenesis. Pulmonary endothelial cells (EC) were isolated for RNA-Seq from newborn C57BL/6 mice treated with intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to mimic systemic sepsis. LPS significantly differentially-regulated 269 genes after 6 h, and 1,934 genes after …

Bottle Fillers For The Natural Sciences Building, Melissa Gast-Goodman, Daniel F. Gleason

Sustainability Showcase (2014-2022)

Proposed by Melissa Gast-Goodman, Administrative Coordinator, ICPS and Dr. Daniel Gleason, Director, ICPS. ($3,495.16)

Awareness Of Bone Health Risks In People With Epilepsy And Intellectual Disability, Indermeet Sawhney, Asif Zia, Bahar Yazdi, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

There are worries about the impact of epilepsy and antiepilepsy drugs (AEDs) on bone health and the increased risk of fractures. It is now considered important that people with epilepsy should be told about the long-term effects of AEDs particularly risk of fractures. People with intellectual disability are more prone to have seizures which do not respond fully to AEDs, on multiple AEDs and thus higher risk of fractures. This is a small study to see whether people with intellectual disability and/or their carers are informed of the risks of AEDs and fractures including how to reduce them. The study …

To Feed Or Not To Feed: Examining The Effects Of Provisioning Tourism On Nurse Sharks In Caye Caulker, Belize, Carlee Jackson

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Wildlife tourism is increasing in popularity around the world, creating the need to understand alterations in animal behavior and spatial distributions that may occur due to associated anthropogenic disturbances. Nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum, Bonnaterre 1788) are commonly used for wildlife tourism within the Caye Caulker Marine Reserve in Belize. Shark and Ray Village (SRV) is a site within the reserve where nurse sharks are consistently fed by tour/snorkel boats to create an interactive experience with tourists, termed provisioning tourism. Prior to this experiment, no studies had been conducted in SRV to evaluate the impact of provisioning tourism (tourism …

Metagenomes Of The Dominant Microbial Symbionts Of Sponge Genus Cinachyrella Display Common Sulfur Metabolic And Quorum Sensing Functions, Elizaveta Shmakova

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Host associated microbes play important roles in animal health. The symbiotic relationship between sponges and the microorganisms, prokaryotes-in particular, forms a complex mutualistic system, or community called the “microbiome”. Prokaryotes play a dynamic roll in these symbioses including providing nutritional sources, digestion, development, metabolism, immune defenses, while host sponge provides an environment for the symbionts. However, the whole metabolism of a sponge, holobioint, and the symbiont diversity and respective contributions to the holobtiont remains unclear. Metagenomics is an approach to study these systems by analyzing the gene content of the microorganisms for both taxonomic affiliation and biochemical function. The primary …

Fgf5 Regulates Schwann Cell Migration And Adhesion, Bing Chen, Rong Hu, Qing Min, Yankun Li, David B. Parkinson, Xin Peng Dun

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Retinal And Renal Microvasculature In Relation To Central Hemodynamics In 11‐Year‐Old Children Born Preterm Or At Term, Fang-Fei Wei, Anke Raaijmakers, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Nicholas Cauwenberghs, Lutgarde Thijs, Zhen-Yu Zhang, Cai-Guo Yu, Elena Levtchenko, Harry A. J. Struijker‐Boudier, Wen‐Yi Yang

School of Medicine Publications

Background

Prematurity disrupts the perinatal maturation of the microvasculature and macrovasculature and confers high risk of vascular dysfunction later in life. No previous studies have investigated the crosstalk between the microvasculature and macrovasculature in childhood.

Methods and Results

In a case‐control study, we enrolled 55 children aged 11 years weighing < 1000 g at birth and 71 matched controls (October 2014–November 2015). We derived central blood pressure (BP) wave by applanation tonometry and calculated the forward/backward pulse waves by an automated pressure–based wave separation algorithm. We measured the renal resistive index by pulsed wave Doppler and the central retinal arteriolar equivalent by computer‐assisted program software. Compared with controls, patients had higher central systolic BP (101.5 versus 95.2 mm Hg, P< 0.001) and backward wave amplitude (15.5 versus 14.2 mm Hg, P=0.029), and smaller central retinal arteriolar equivalent (163.2 versus 175.4 µm, P< 0.001). In multivariable analyses, central retinal arteriolar equivalent was smaller with higher values (+1 SD) of central systolic BP (−2.94 µm; 95% CI, −5.18 to −0.70 µm [P=0.011]) and forward (−2.57 µm; CI, −4.81 to −0.32 µm [P=0.026]) and backward (−3.20 µm; CI, −5.47 to −0.94 µm [P=0.006]) wave amplitudes. Greater renal resistive index was associated with higher backward wave amplitude (0.92 mm Hg, P=0.036).

Conclusions

In childhood, prematurity compared with term birth is associated with higher central systolic BP and forward/backward wave amplitudes. Higher renal resistive index likely moves reflection points closer to the heart, thereby explaining the inverse association of central retinal arteriolar equivalent with central systolic BP and backward wave amplitude. These …

Classification And Geolocation Of Cotton And Palmer Amaranth Using Spectral And Geometric Data, Brandon Richard Simmers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The discrimination between cotton and the invasive Palmer amaranth is economically important, as these weeds take resources away from cotton, resulting in diminished crop yield. There has been research into the discrimination between species of plants, including cotton and Palmer amaranth, that focused on the use of aerial imagery and the derived Red, Green, and near-infrared (RGN) spectral data fed into a machine-learning algorithm to classify these plants based on the measurable differences in their spectral characteristics. We believe that this research can be expanded upon by using geometric data derived from aerial imagery to classify cotton and non-cotton plants …

Metabolism Of Jq1, An Inhibitor Of Bromodomain And Extra Terminal Bromodomain Proteins, In Human And Mouse Liver Microsomes†, Feng Li, Kevin R Mackenzie, Prashi Jain, Conrad Santini, Damian W Young, Martin M Matzuk

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

JQ1 is a small-molecule inhibitor of the bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) protein family that potently inhibits the bromodomain testis-specific protein (BRDT), which is essential for spermatogenesis. JQ1 treatment produces a reversible contraceptive effect by targeting the activity of BRDT in mouse male germ cells, validating BRDT as a male contraceptive target. Although JQ1 possesses favourable physical properties, it exhibits a short half-life. Because the details of xenobiotic metabolism play important roles in the optimization of drug candidates and in determining the role of metabolism in drug efficacy, we investigated the metabolism of JQ1 in human and mouse liver microsomes. …

A Criterion For Measuring Urban Intelligence, Yasser Fouda, Maged Zagow

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

The emergence of complicated problems encountering the urban environment, like absence of sustainability, has led to the initiation of the notion called "Intelligent Urban Conglomerations". It aimed to maintain a minimal level of balance between features of the urban environment, through clinging to more prudent actions towards urban policies, like increasing awareness of healthy environment, energy, mobility organization, and other issues. A great and persisting need has emerged for a practical scientific evaluation means for urban plans in all of their technical phases. The research aims to advance a practical methodology for monitoring and evaluating urban projects, throughout designing, implementation, …

The Impact Of Visual Environment On Illuminance Levels Preferencescross-Culture Case Study On Omani And Portuguese Forts In Oman, Hesham Eissa

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

The objective of this research is to investigate the cross-cultural differences with regard to the illuminance levels preferences. Illuminance level preferences are directly related to and based on visual environment impact that differs according to different geographical locations. Therefore, the cross-cultural difference is a common term that relates directly to the different visual environment of each region. Toward this aim a field study carried out a comparison of daylight illuminance levels of internal spaces, in a definite region (Muscat, Oman), built and used by two groups of people from different climatic and cultural backgrounds. Forts and citadels built and inhabited …

Tribute To John S. Mbiti, Joseph G. Healey, Mm

The Journal of Social Encounters

We continue to mourn John S. Mbiti, the Kenyan professor, author and theologian who died in Switzerland on 6 October, 2019 at the age of 87. He was one of the founders of our African Proverbs Project and the African Proverbs Working Group. He was one of cornerstones of our African Proverbs, Sayings and Stories Website.

Research Output Of Army Medical College, Pakistan: A Bibliometric Study Based On Scopus Database, Ikram Ul Haq, Midrar Ullah, Muhammad Tanveer

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to carry-out bibliometric analysis of publications by authors associated with Army Medical College, Pakistan using Scopus database.

Methodology: All publications, published from 1977 to 2018, by the authors affiliated with Army Medical College, Pakistan were retrieved from Scopus database. The bibliographic records of all retrieved publications were downloaded in the Microsoft Excel. The data regarding phase-wise growth of publications; citations; subject distribution; the most prolific authors and journals; and research collaboration within Pakistan and abroad were analyzed and presented in tabular form.

Findings: A total of 417 publications were found …

Structure And Unprecedented Reactivity Of A Mononuclear Nonheme Cobalt(Iii) Iodosylbenzene Complex, J. Yang, M. S. Seo, K. H. Kim, Y. M. Lee, S. Fukuzumi, Jason M. Shearer, W. Nam

Chemistry Faculty Research

A mononuclear nonheme cobalt(III) iodosylbenzene complex, [Co^III(TQA)(OIPh)(OH)]²⁺ (1), is synthesized and characterized structurally and spectroscopically. While 1 is a sluggish oxidant in oxidation reactions, it becomes a competent oxidant in oxygen atom transfer reactions, such as olefin epoxidation, in the presence of a small amount of proton. More interestingly, 1 shows a nucleophilic reactivity in aldehyde deformylation reaction, demonstrating that 1 has an amphoteric reactivity. Another interesting observation is that 1 can be used as an oxygen atom donor in the generation of high-valent metal-oxo complexes. To our knowledge, we present the first crystal structure …

Npc1 Deficiency Impairs Cerebellar Postnatal Development Of Microglia And Climbing Fiber Refinement In A Mouse Model Of Niemann-Pick Disease Type C., Bridget R Boyle, Sierra E Melli, Ruth S Altreche, Zachary M Padron, Fawad A K Yousufzai, Sarah Kim, Mariella D Vasquez, Dawn M Carone, Benjamin Carone, Ileana Soto Reyes

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Little is known about the effects of NPC1 deficiency in brain development and whether these effects contribute to neurodegeneration in Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC). Degeneration of cerebellar Purkinje cells occurs at an earlier stage and to a greater extent in NPC; therefore, we analyzed the effect of NPC1 deficiency on microglia and on climbing fiber synaptic refinement during cerebellar postnatal development using the

The Landscape Of Rna Polymerase Ii-Associated Chromatin Interactions In Prostate Cancer, Susmita G Ramanand, Yong Chen, Jiapei Yuan, Kelly Daescu, Maryou Bk Lambros, Kathleen E Houlahan, Suzanne Carreira, Wei Yuan, Guemhee Baek, Adam Sharp, Alec Paschalis, Mohammed Kanchwala, Yunpeng Gao, Adam Aslam, Nida Safdar, Xiaowei Zhan, Ganesh V Raj, Chao Xing, Paul C Boutros, Johann De Bono, Michael Q Zhang, Ram S Mani

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Transcriptional dysregulation is a hallmark of prostate cancer (PCa). We mapped the RNA polymerase II-associated (RNA Pol II-associated) chromatin interactions in normal prostate cells and PCa cells. We discovered thousands of enhancer-promoter, enhancer-enhancer, as well as promoter-promoter chromatin interactions. These transcriptional hubs operate within the framework set by structural proteins - CTCF and cohesins - and are regulated by the cooperative action of master transcription factors, such as the androgen receptor (AR) and FOXA1. By combining analyses from metastatic castration-resistant PCa (mCRPC) specimens, we show that AR locus amplification contributes to the transcriptional upregulation of the AR gene by increasing …

2020 New Faculty Orientation Handbook, Robert M. Lindsey

New Faculty Orientation Handbooks

No abstract provided.

Using Climate To Explain And Predict West Nile Virus Risk In Nebraska, Kelly Helm Smith, Andrew J. Tyre, Jeff Hamik, Michael J. Hayes, Yuzhen Zhou, Li Dai

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

We used monthly precipitation and temperature data to give early warning of years with higher West Nile Virus (WNV) risk in Nebraska. We used generalized additive models with a negative binomial distribution and smoothing curves to identify combinations of extremes and timing that had the most influence, experimenting with all combinations of temperature and drought data, lagged by 12, 18, 24, 30, and 36 months. We fit models on data from 2002 through 2011, used Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) to select the best‐fitting model, and used 2012 as out‐of‐sample data for prediction, and repeated this process for each successive year, …

Research Data Service: Current State And Future Plan For Cwu, Ping Fu

Library Scholarship

Today, more and more academic libraries provide or plan to provide library-based research data services (RDS). There are two major reasons: (1) science becomes more collaborative, data-intensive, and computational, and academic researchers face a series of data management needs; (2) research funding agencies require researchers to provide data management plans when they apply for a grant and publishers also require researchers to provide data when publishing research results. Tenopir, C. et al. (2014) pointed out that “academic libraries may be ideal centers for research data service activities on campuses, providing unique opportunities for academic libraries to become even more active …

Buford Named Director Of The Uab Center For Exercise Medicine, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Food System And Water–Energy–Biodiversity Nexus In Nepal: A Review, Roshan Subedi, Madhav Karki, Dinesh Panday

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Water, energy, and biodiversity are essential components for building a sustainable food system in a developing country like Nepal. Green Revolution technologies and the package of practices largely ignored the role of ecosystem services, leaving a large population of small farmers’ food- and nutrition-insecure. Biodiversity, especially, agrobiodiversity is in decline and this vital cross-cutting element is less discussed and interlinked in nexus literature. The interlinking food system with water–energy–biodiversity nexus, therefore, is essential to achieve a resilient food system. It ensures the vital structures and functions of the ecosystem on which it is dependent are well protected in the face …

Evaluation Of Aspirin And Statin Therapy Use And Adherence In Patients With Premature Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease, Dhruv Mahtta, David J. Ramsey, Mahmoud Al Rifai, Khurram Nasir, Zainab Samad, David Aguilar, Hani Jneid, Christie M. Ballantyne, Laura A. Petersen, Salim S. Virani

Section of Cardiology

Importance: Studies on the use of and adherence to secondary prevention therapies in patients with premature and extremely premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) are lacking.
Objective: To evaluate and compare aspirin use, any statin use, high-intensity statin use, and statin adherence among patients with premature or extremely premature ASCVD compared with patients with nonpremature ASCVD.
Design, setting, and participants: This multicenter cross-sectional study used the clinical and administrative data sets of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to identify adult patients with at least 1 primary care visit in the VA health care system between October 1, 2014, and …

Expanding Pharmacotherapy Data Collection, Analysis, And Implementation In Eras® Programs—The Methodology Of An Exploratory Feasibility Study, Eric Johnson, Richard Parrish Ii, Gregg Nelson, Kevin Elias, Brian Kramer, Marian Gaviola

Pharmacy Practice and Science Faculty Publications

Surgical organizations dedicated to the improvement of patient outcomes have led to a worldwide paradigm shift in perioperative patient care. Since 2012, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS^®) Society has published guidelines pertaining to perioperative care in numerous disciplines including elective colorectal and gynecologic/oncology surgery patients. The ERAS^® and ERAS-USA^® Societies use standardized methodology for collecting and assessing various surgical parameters in real-time during the operative process. These multi-disciplinary groups have constructed a bundled framework of perioperative care that entails 22 specific components of clinical interventions, which are logged in a central database, allowing a system …

Response Of Photoluminescence Of H-Terminated And Hydrosilylated Porous Si Powders To Rinsing And Temperature, Kurt W. Kolasinski, Joseph D. Swanson, Benjamin Roe, Teresa Lee

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The photoluminescence (PL) response of porous Si has potential applications in a number of sensor and bioimaging techniques. However, many questions still remain regarding how to stabilize and enhance the PL signal, as well as how PL responds to environmental factors. Regenerative electroless etching (ReEtching) was used to produce photoluminescent porous Si directly from Si powder. As etched, the material was H-terminated. The intensity and peak wavelength were greatly aected by the rinsing protocol employed. The highest intensity and bluest PL were obtained when dilute HCl(aq) rinsing was followed by pentane wetting and vacuum oven drying. Roughly half of the …

Fabrication, Testing And Theoretical Background Of A Quantum Dot Floating Gate Flash Non-Volatile Memory (Qdg Nvm), Nathan Butterfield

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Shyness X Niche Interactions Across Five Countries: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Study, Daniell Carvalheiro

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.