Digital Commons Network^™

Association Of Low-Frequency And Rare Coding Variants With Information Processing Speed, Jan Bressler, Gail Davies, Albert V Smith, Yasaman Saba, Joshua C Bis, Xueqiu Jian, Caroline Hayward, Lisa Yanek, Jennifer A Smith, Saira S Mirza, Ruiqi Wang, Hieab H H Adams, Diane Becker, Eric Boerwinkle, Archie Campbell, Simon R Cox, Gudny Eiriksdottir, Chloe Fawns-Ritchie, Rebecca F Gottesman, Megan L Grove, Xiuqing Guo, Edith Hofer, Sharon L R Kardia, Maria J Knol, Marisa Koini, Oscar L Lopez, Riccardo E Marioni, Paul Nyquist, Alison Pattie, Ozren Polasek, David J Porteous, Igor Rudan, Claudia L Satizabal, Helena Schmidt, Reinhold Schmidt, Stephen Sidney, Jeannette Simino, Blair H Smith, Stephen T Turner, Sven J Van Der Lee, Erin B Ware, Rachel A Whitmer, Kristine Yaffe, Qiong Yang, Wei Zhao, Vilmundur Gudnason, Lenore J Launer, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Bruce M Psaty, Myriam Fornage, M Arfan Ikram, Cornelia M Van Duijn, Sudha Seshadri, Thomas H Mosley, Ian J Deary

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Measures of information processing speed vary between individuals and decline with age. Studies of aging twins suggest heritability may be as high as 67%. The Illumina HumanExome Bead Chip genotyping array was used to examine the association of rare coding variants with performance on the Digit-Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) in community-dwelling adults participating in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. DSST scores were available for 30,576 individuals of European ancestry from nine cohorts and for 5758 individuals of African ancestry from four cohorts who were older than 45 years and free of dementia and …

High-Throughput Functional Analysis Of Cftr And Other Apically Localized Proteins In Ipsc-Derived Human Intestinal Organoids, Sunny Xia, Zoltán Bozóky, Michelle Di Paola, Onofrio Laselva, Saumel Ahmadi, Jia Xin Jiang, Amy L Pitstick, Chong Jiang, Daniela Rotin, Christopher N Mayhew, Nicola L Jones, Christine E Bear

Open Access Publications

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) can be differentiated into epithelial organoids that recapitulate the relevant context for CFTR and enable testing of therapies targeting Cystic Fibrosis (CF)-causing mutant proteins. However, to date, CF-iPSC-derived organoids have only been used to study pharmacological modulation of mutant CFTR channel activity and not the activity of other disease-relevant membrane protein constituents. In the current work, we describe a high-throughput, fluorescence-based assay of CFTR channel activity in iPSC-derived intestinal organoids and describe how this method can be adapted to study other apical membrane proteins. Specifically, we show how this assay can be employed to study …

Primacy And Recency Effects On Position Error In Short-Term Memory Recall, Weerachet Sinlapanuntakul, Kelly Harris, Brittany S. Wesley

Beyond: Undergraduate Research Journal

Position error is the most common error in serial recall of short-term memory, especially when environment, language, or similarity factors are presented. Previous studies demonstrate some support for the serial recall resulting in less error-prone for the first and last positions than the middle positions. This study investigates the accuracy of recalling letters and their positions when given a random sequence with minimal to no external factors. The significant predictors influencing position error were the primacy and recency effects. Participants completed a 20-trial experiment on the CogLab Experimental Control Software, which presented a series of letters one at a time …

Mechanical Overload-Induced Muscle-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Promote Adipose Tissue Lipolysis, Ivan J. Vechetti Jr, Bailey D. Peck, Yuan Wen, R Grace Walton, Taylor R. Valentino, Alexander P. Alimov, Cory M. Dungan, Douglas W. Van Pelt, Ferdinand Von Walden, Bjorn Alkner, Charlotte A. Peterson, John J. Mccarthy

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

How regular physical activity is able to improve health remains poorly understood. The release of factors from skeletal muscle following exercise has been proposed as a possible mechanism mediating such systemic benefits. We describe a mechanism wherein skeletal muscle, in response to a hypertrophic stimulus induced by mechanical overload (MOV), released extracellular vesicles (EVs) containing muscle-specific miR-1 that were preferentially taken up by epidydimal white adipose tissue (eWAT). In eWAT, miR-1 promoted adrenergic signaling and lipolysis by targeting Tfap2α, a known repressor of Adrβ3 expression. Inhibiting EV release prevented the MOV-induced increase in eWAT miR-1 abundance and expression of …

Self-Extending Symbiosis In Symbiodinium Microadriaticum And The Effect Of Endosymbiotic / Horizontal Gene Transfer On Dinoflagellates And The Tree Of Life, Maha Kadry Ahmed Fathy

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Symbiodinium microadriaticum is a dinoflagellate that lives in a mutualistic relationship with the coral Stylophora pistillata in the Red Sea. Symbiodinium microadriaticum is divided into several clades and the A1 clade of Symbiodinium microadriaticum lives in shallow waters and is resilient to thermal stress. The association between Symbiodinium microadriaticum A1 and Stylophora pistillata enables Stylophora pistillata to tolerate the rise in the sea surface temperature caused by global warming and climate change. Here, the first completely sequenced dinoflagellate genome is explored to answer two questions: The first question is whether self-extending symbiosis has a role in the ability of Symbiodinium …

Enrichment Of Extremophilic Bacteria From Atlantis Ii Deep Brine Sediments Using Various Electron Donors & Acceptors, Nelly Abu Alkheir

Archived Theses and Dissertations

The Atlantis II Deep is the most studied and largest brine pool in the Red Sea. It is an active hydrothermal habitat with unique physical conditions. Its unique characteristics (70°C temperature, 26% salinity, pH 5.2) caused it to be a very attractive marine ecosystem for microbiological and metagenomics studies. Sediments of the Atlantis II Deep brine were investigated for the presence of extremophilic bacteria using a cultivation approach combined with phylogenetic analysis. Two different cultivation methods were utilized: substrate gradient cultures and minimal salts medium supplemented with various combinations of electron donors and acceptors. A bacterial culture enriched from the …

The Shortcomings Of Corporate Accountability In Post-Conflict Colombia: Land, Rivers And Animals, Isabella Ariza Buitrago, Luisa Gomez Betancur

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Although the notion of sustainable peace requires acknowledging the role played by all actors, transitional processes around the world have inadequately addressed or completely ignored the direct and indirect participation of economic actors. In particular, Colombia's transitional justice regime left out corporations entirely. A skillshare between Colombian lawyers and US-based human rights attorneys showed some of the gaps that let corporations continue in impunity for profiting, benefiting from, or directly financing the conflict. Other than harming and deeply fracturing communities, the shortcomings of corporate accountability in post-conflict Colombia also leave land, rivers, and animals without redress. This paper explores some …

Metagenomic Assessment Of The Mobilomes Of Red Sea's Atlantis Ii, Discovery And Kebrit Deeps, Mohamed Mohamed El Rifai

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Mobile genetic elements in microbial communities are mainly composed of plasmids, transposons and viruses. They are collectively referred to as the mobilome and serve as agents that facilitate horizontal gene transfer, which plays an important role in evolution and adaptation of microorganisms. In order to study the abundance and distribution of mobile genetic elements in different marine environments and to clarify whether certain environmental conditions could explain such distribution, sequence similarity searches using protein family signatures against diverse marine metagenomic datasets were used to determine the relative frequency of coding sequences associated with transposases, integrases, plasmids and viruses, or phages. …

E2 Evolutionary Motif Prediction And Identification Of Drug Candidates To Prevent Hepatitis C Virus Cellular Entry, Shairy Azmy Danial

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection causes around three quarters of worldwide chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Interferon and ribavirin combination therapy is not effective with all HCV genotypes, and has serious side effects that may result in discontinuation of treatment. The aim of our work is to design inhibitors against HCV envelope glycoprotein E2 to prevent its binding to CD81 surface receptor and the consequent viral entry into hepatocytes. Currently, no crystal structure is constructed for E2. However, a model of E2 is available, Yagnik et al. model, which served as the starting point for the structure-based inhibitor …

Exploring The Aerobic Methanotrophs Community In The Red Sea Atlantis Ii Deep Brine Area, Rehab Abdallah

Archived Theses and Dissertations

Methane represents one of the most abundant hydrocarbons on earth and a powerful greenhouse gas. Methane oxidation by microbial consortia contributes positively to the environment by decreasing methane emission to the atmosphere from different ecosystems. Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria are considered one of the main groups involved in methane oxidation. Brine pools are dynamic habitats for microbial cycling of carbon. Atlantis II Deep is the largest brine pool in the Red Sea. The pool is well known for its elevated temperature, salinity and methane concentration. Methane seeps from the deep brine to the overlying brine seawater interface layer, providing a suitable …

Advising News | Applying To Medical, Dental, Veterinary, Optometry, Physician Assistant Or Physical Therapy Programs?, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Advising News: Helpful Insights For Students In The Application Process For Professional Programs, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Deepwater Horizon On Fish And Fisheries: What Have We Learned About Resilience And Vulnerability In A Coupled Human-Natural System?, S.A. Murawski, C.B. Paris, Tracey Sutton, M. Cockrell, S. O'Farrell, J. Sanchirico, E. Chancellor, L. Perruso

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

The Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill occurred in a region of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) supporting abundant, diverse and valuable communities of fishes and fishers. The economy of the northern GoM is inextricably tied to the natural resource bases of the region (tourism, fishing, oil and gas, etc.) and thus the coupling between the human and ecological systems is tight and subject both feed-back and, to some extent, feed-forward controls. Management actions taken during the 87-day DWH spill incident included the closure of over 280,000 km² of productive fishing area (about 1/3 of USA federal waters in the …

Novel Approaches For Enhancing Cell Survival And Function In Vivo, Ou Wang

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

FDA has approved several cell-based therapeutics and hundreds of cell therapy clinical trials are ongoing. Cells will be a significant type of medicine after small molecule and protein drugs. However, several obstacles need to be addressed to achieve the widespread use of cellular therapeutics. The first challenge is the low efficacy of cell transplantation due to low retention, survival, integration, and function of cells in vivo. The second challenge is producing a massive number of cells for clinical treatment with cost-effectively and reproducibly technologies.

In this thesis, we proposed and investigated two approaches to address these challenges. To begin …

Kingfish Neurocranium, Kaden R. Mackey, David Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

This is the skull of a kingfish with the nasal bone included.

The Puppy In The Polka Dot Pajamas: Animating Children's Literature Through Short Film, Grace Phillips

Honors Projects

The following written defense describes the guiding research, methodologies, and end results of my yearlong project - creating a digital children’s book and an accompanying short film. The project was initially inspired by an event at home in which my family was laughing at our small dog for the way he looked after we dressed him in pajamas, after which my dad made a comment that it would be heinous of us to treat a human being the same way. This comment inspired me to adopt my own approach as to how humans can learn from the animal kingdom. The …

Identification Of Tuna Species In Raw And Processed Products Using Dna Mini-Barcoding Of The Mitochondrial Control Region, Jiahleen Roungchun, Amanda M. Tabb, Rosalee S. Hellberg

Food Science Faculty Articles and Research

Accurate species identification methods are needed to combat tuna fraud, improve tuna stock regulation, and mitigate health risks associated with mislabeled tuna products. The objective of this study was to conduct a market survey of raw and processed tuna products using a DNA mini-barcoding system based on the mitochondrial control region (CR). A total of 80 samples of raw, dried, and canned tuna products were collected at the retail level for CR mini-barcoding analysis. The samples underwent DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and DNA sequencing of the 236-bp CR mini-barcode. The resulting sequences were searched against GenBank using the …

Grey Triggerfish (Balistes Capriscus) Neurocranium, Madelynn Sampson, Hailey Levine, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Grey Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) neurocranium preparation by Madelynn Sampson and Hailey LeVine.

Pelagic Habitat Use By Benthic Fishes – Juvenile Scorpaenoids Of The Oceanic Gulf Of Mexico, Drew W. Mertzlufft

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The suborder Scorpaenoidei is among the most speciose fish taxa of the World Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Most adult scorpionfishes are benthic and have a pelagic juvenile phase. Although the species descriptions and distributions of adult scorpionfishes within the GoM are well documented, their juvenile forms are largely undescribed. Due to the poorly resolved taxonomic status of juvenile scorpionfishes, their assemblage dynamics have not been accurately assessed. Specimens were collected from the GoM during seven research cruises (2010-2011), as part of the NOAA-supported Offshore Nekton Sampling and Analysis Program (ONSAP), and during six research cruises (2015-2018), as …

Computational Solutions To Exosomal Microrna Biomarker Detection In Pancreatic Cancer, Thuy T. An

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the 5-year survival rate is only 5% to 10%. There are only a few non-specific symptoms associated with the early-stage cancer, therefore most patients are diagnosed in a late stage. Due to the lack of effective treatments and the fact that the early stage has a 39% 5-year survival rate, the biggest hope to control this disease is early detection. Therefore, discovery of effective and reliable non-invasive biomarkers for early detection of pancreatic cancer has been a major topic. Very recently, exosomal microRNAs have become …

A Temporal Analysis Of The Microbiota And Biofouling Development On Artificial Substrates In The Port Everglades Inlet, Florida, Denise Swack

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

A pilot project was deployed in Port Everglades Inlet, Florida that aimed to evaluate the biofilm composing the microbiome on ecologically engineered artificial substrates used to build Coastal Marine Infrastructure. In April of 2017, an Articulated Concrete Block Mattress comprised of an ecological engineered concrete substrate and a standard smooth surface control substrates were compared. This study will provide a profile on the microbiome community on artificial substrates within Port Everglades Inlet on bio-enhancing concrete-based solutions in our Coastal Marine Infrastructure. To study the microbial community, the 16s rRNA technology was used in Illumina’s high-throughput DNA sequencing. Samples were collected …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Ir_M1 Report Fy2021 - Multimedia Item Requests, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 Report IR_M1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021. The IR_M1 report is defined as "Multimedia Item Requests." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 6,292

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_B1 Report Fy2021 - Book Requests (Excluding Oa_Gold) By Title, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 Report TR_B1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021. The TR_B1 report is defined as "Book Requests (Excluding OA_Gold)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

• Total Item Requests - 84,955
• Unique Title Requests - 38,932

The Effects Of Chronic Ethanol Exposure On Caenorhabditis Elegans Germline, Andrea Zegarra

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Ethanol is the most commonly abused drug in the world. Alcohol consumption increases a number of health risks, morbidity and mortality, and chronic and acute diseases. Some health risks include high blood pressure, stroke, liver disease, cancer, and can include mental health and social problems. Chronic alcohol consumption can lead to learning and memory problems, along with alcohol dependence. Additionally, alcohol consumption has an impact on ovarian reserve, steroid hormone production, sperm quality, fecundity, and fertility treatments. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of ethanol exposure on fertility of the N2 wild type as measured by …

Mahi Mahi (Coryphaena Hippurus) Neurocranium, Alexia J. Hilber, Caileigh Craddock, Kiara Belanger, David W. Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium from Mahi Mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), collected in 3/2021 by Katerina Sawickji

Genomic Epidemiology Of Clostridium Difficile Colonization And Transmission In An Intensive Care Unit Cohort, Brianne Ciferri

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract

Genomic epidemiology of Clostridium difficile colonization and transmission in an intensive care unit cohort

by Brianne Ciferri, MPH

Advisor: C. Mary Schooling, PhD

Introduction: Clostridiodes difficile (C. difficile) is a leading cause of healthcare associated infections (HAI) in the United States and responsible for an estimated incidence of 223,900 cases and 12,800 deaths per year^1,2. C. difficile can cause gastrointestinal illness with symptoms ranging from mild diarrheal illness to a life-threatening condition. C. difficile is an opportunistic pathogen in which spores can live in an undisturbed dormant state within the intestinal tract and become …

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes - December 03, 2021, Usm Gulf Coast Faculty Council

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Molecular Basis For Natural Competence In Acinetobacter, Yafan Yu

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bacteria use Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) to acquire genetic material, leading to the development of novel traits, such as the spread and development of antibiotic resistance. Natural competence is one type of HGT accomplished by DNA uptake from the environment and incorporation into the genome. Bacteria from Acinetobacter are wildly distributed in the environment and are naturally competent. This propensity is a key factor to the steady increase in drug resistance in Acinetobacter, which is a cause for concern in human health as Acinetobacter is a major source of nosocomial infections. During natural competence, type IV pili (T4P) and related …

The Application Of Mathematical Optimization And Flavor-Detection Technologies For Modeling Aroma Of Hops, Yutong Liu

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, proprietary hops (Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic) become the most sought-after hops among brewers due to their excellent aroma. However, they are restricted to the owners unless other growers purchase the costly licensing agreements. Many public hops are available to the growers without any additional costs, but their aroma is difficult to match to the proprietary hops. Although proprietary and public hop varieties are unique in their aroma profiles, all hops varieties contain similar volatile compounds, merely differ in the quantity of different individual compounds. The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the feasibility of matching …

Development And Characterization Of A Decellularized Neuroinhibitory Scaffold Containing Matrix Bound Nanovesicles, Logan Piening

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability but treatments for LBP are limited. Degeneration of the intervertebral disc leads to loss of neuroinhibitory sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAGs) which allows nerves from dorsal root ganglia (DRG) to grow into the core of the disc, leading to pain. Current treatments for LBP involve drugs that do not target the source of the pain and lack long term efficacy or use invasive surgeries with high complication rates. Treatment with a decellularized tissue scaffold that contains neuroinhibitory components may inhibit nerve growth and prevent disc-associated LBP. Here, a decellularized nucleus pulposus …