Digital Commons Network^™

Tofacitinib, Inderbir S. Padda, Rajat Bhatt, Mayur S. Parmar

HPD Articles

No abstract provided.

Structure Of Unmodified And Pyroglutamylated Amyloid Beta Peptide In Lipid Membranes, Rowan Hassan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by brain atrophy, neuronal and synaptic loss, cognitive decline, trouble handling activities of daily life, and ultimately leads to death. Worldwide, at least 30 million people suffer from AD, with 5.8 million suffering in the US alone. Despite extensive basic and clinical research, the underlying molecular mechanisms behind AD remain largely unknown. There are four FDA-approved compounds are used for alleviating symptoms but have no curative potency. The first potentially disease-modifying AD drug, aducanumb, was approved by FDA in June 2021. The main histopathological traits of AD are the …

Consequences Of Stress-Induced Trait Plasticity In Cultivated Helianthus, Gillian Gomer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Leaf Economics Spectrum (LES) describes the continuous range of leaf ecophysiological strategies that plants across the globe utilize to achieve a net-positive return on their resource investment. This spectrum is measured by traits such as leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen, and leaf lifespan. Unsuitable leaf trait combinations are selected against in nature due to a net-loss on the return of initial resource investment, while some potentially extremely effective trait combinations may not be possible due to genetic constraints. Existing genetic variation in LES traits, however, suggests the spectrum may be less rigid than previously expected. To test this, …

Neuroglobin And Its Role In The Recovery Of Neuronal Cells In Hypoxic Conditions Using Hypoxia Inducible Factor– 1, Riya Shah

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Stroke is the world's leading cause of adult disability, caused by lack of oxygen and nutrients to the brain due to a blood clot in a major artery. This leads to ischemic damage of neuronal cells that leads to paralysis, motor, and speech deficits. While most stroke therapies aim at removing or reducing the blood clots in the brain, few treatments target cell damage. Neuroglobin (NGB) is a protein in the brain that is able to aid in neuroprotection following oxidative stress. Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor that serves as a marker for cell recovery after hypoxia or …

People, Places, And Things: The Relationship Between Presence, Demographic Factors, And Self-Concept On A University Campus, Lydell E. Kerbo Jr

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Within the framework of ecological psychology, environments are places, defined as landscapes of affordances, or the array of potential actions that can be executed. The feedback between direct perception-action and use of affordances results in the sense of presence in place. According to previous research, increased presence has been correlated with greater attachment and connectedness with the place as well as beneficial psychological states in a campus setting. However, it is unclear what factors, such as demographics, may influence differences in engagement with campus affordances, and hence, presence among individuals. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship …

Respiratory Protection Program, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

Respiratory Protection Program

Approved General Education (Ge) Distribution Courses, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

General Education Program's List of Approved Distribution Courses

Approved Faculty Positions Recommendations 21-22, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

Memo from the Senior VP of Finance to the VP of Academic Affairs listing approved faculty positions for 2021-2022.

2021 - 2022 Undergraduate Course Catalog, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

This document provides a course catalog of the various undergraduate degrees offered at Kean University for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Kean Online, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

Kean University offers student-centered online learning designed to fit your busy schedule. With a 160-year tradition of excellence in higher education, Kean is dedicated to providing world-class programs and the flexibility to complete your degree when and where you choose. Our expert faculty and supportive online community will help you forge a path to career success.

Cnahs_2020_Sess_Program_Review_Pages_1-16, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

Example of a program review report, where PSLO alignment is shown on pages 8-12.

Academic Program Assessment Report

Evidence Inventory

Academic Program Assessment Report

2015 - 2020

Faculty Position Requests, Analysis & Recommendations 2021-2022, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

Faculty Position Requests, Analysis & Recommendations 2021-2022 is a document used by the VP of Academic Affairs to analyze and review final recommendations for faculty position requests.

Njcstm_2018-2019_Deans_Report, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

NJCSTM 2018-2019 Deans Report

Kean University 2013-2020 Strategic Plan Detailed Assessment Of Progress, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

No abstract provided.

Feature Augmentation For Improved Topic Modeling Of Youtube Lecture Videos Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation, Nakul Srikumar

Dissertations

Application of Topic Models in text mining of educational data and more specifically, the text data obtained from lecture videos, is an area of research which is largely unexplored yet holds great potential. This work seeks to find empirical evidence for an improvement in Topic Modeling by pre- extracting bigram tokens and adding them as additional features in the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm, a widely-recognized topic modeling technique. The dataset considered for analysis is a collection of transcripts of video lectures on Machine Learning scraped from YouTube. Using the cosine similarity distance measure as a metric, the experiment showed …

3d Bioprinted Implants For Cartilage Repair In Intervertebral Discs And Knee Menisci, Kalindu Perera, Ryan Ivone, Evelina Natekin, Cheryl Wilga, Jie Shen, Jyothi Menon

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Cartilage defects pose a significant clinical challenge as they can lead to joint pain, swelling and stiffness, which reduces mobility and function thereby significantly affecting the quality of life of patients. More than 250,000 cartilage repair surgeries are performed in the United States every year. The current gold standard is the treatment of focal cartilage defects and bone damage with nonflexible metal or plastic prosthetics. However, these prosthetics are often made from hard and stiff materials that limits mobility and flexibility, and results in leaching of metal particles into the body, degeneration of adjacent soft bone tissues and possible failure …

Mesophotic Gorgonian Corals Evolved Multiple Times And Faster Than Deep And Shallow Lineages, Juan A. Sánchez, Fanny L. González-Zapata, Carlos Prada, Luisa F. Dueñas

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (MCEs) develop on a unique environment, where abrupt environmental changes take place. Using a time-calibrated molecular phylogeny (mtDNA: mtMutS), we examined the lineage membership of mesophotic gorgonian corals (Octocorallia: Cnidaria) in comparison to shallow and deep-sea lineages of the wider Caribbean-Gulf of Mexico and the Tropical Eastern Pacific. Our results show mesophotic gorgonians originating multiple times from old deep-sea octocoral lineages, whereas shallow-water species comprise younger lineages. The mesophotic gorgonian fauna in the studied areas is related to their zooxanthellate shallow-water counterparts in only two clades (Gorgoniidae and Plexauridae), where the bathymetrical gradient could serve as a …

Life In The Fast Lane: Modeling The Fate Of Glass Sponge Larvae In The Gulf Stream, Shuangqiang Wang, Ellen Kenchington, Zeliang Wang, Andrew J. Davies

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Effective conservation management of deep-sea sponges, including design of appropriate marine protected areas, requires an understanding of the connectivity between populations throughout a species’ distribution. We provide the first consideration of larval connectivity among deep-sea sponge populations along the southeastern coast of North America, illustrate the influence of the Gulf Stream on dispersal, and complement published distribution models by evaluating colonization potential. Connectivity among known populations of the hexactinellid sponge Vazella pourtalesii was simulated using a 3-D biophysical dispersal model throughout its distribution from Florida, United States to Nova Scotia, Canada. We found no exchange with an estimated pelagic larval …

High Levels Of Genetic Divergence Detected In Sacramento Perch Suggests Two Divergent Translocation Sources, Amanda E. Coen, Max Fish, Randy Lovell, Jeff Rodzen, Rachel Schwartz, Andrea Schreier

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Translocation has been used to conserve imperiled fishes and create new fisheries. One species for which translocation has played a significant role is the Sacramento Perch Archoplites interruptus. Extirpated from its native range, the Sacramento Perch has been introduced throughout California and Nevada through multiple translocation events, though historical records are incomplete. Recent assessments of eight previously uncharacterized Sacramento Perch populations have prompted reevaluation of range-wide population structure to inform a genetic management plan for long-term resiliency of this species. We examined Sacramento Perch genetic diversity and population structure across the current range of the species using 12 microsatellite …

Lepidopteran Wing Scales Contain Abundant Cross-Linked Film-Forming Histidine-Rich Cuticular Proteins, Jianqiu Liu, Zhiwei Chen, Yingdan Xiao, Tsunaki Asano, Shenglong Li, Li Peng, Enxiang Chen, Jiwei Zhang, Wanshun Li, Yan Zhang, Xiaoling Tong, Keiko Kadono-Okuda, Ping Zhao, Ningjia He, Kallare P. Arunkumar, Karumathil P. Gopinathan, Judith H. Willis, Marian R. Goldsmith, Kazuei Mita

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Scales are symbolic characteristic of Lepidoptera; however, nothing is known about the contribution of cuticular proteins (CPs) to the complex patterning of lepidopteran scales. This is because scales are resistant to solubilization, thus hindering molecular studies. Here we succeeded in dissolving developing wing scales from Bombyx mori, allowing analysis of their protein composition. We identified a distinctive class of histidine rich (His-rich) CPs (6%–45%) from developing lepidopteran scales by LC-MS/MS. Functional studies using RNAi revealed CPs with different histidine content play distinct and critical roles in constructing the microstructure of the scale surface. Moreover, we successfully synthesized films in …

Induced Bank Filtration: Hydraulic Testing Of Pilot Filters, Miles Schelling, Thomas B. Boving, K. Patil

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Hydraulic tests were performed on two pilot scale filters as part of a water treatment project in the village of Nersa, Karnataka, India. The filters use locally sourced alluvial material to filter E.coli contamination using natural processes that mimic those in Riverbank Filtration (RBF). Two pilot scale filters were tested, one containing locally sourced granular activated carbon (GAC) and one without. A falling head test and tracer test were preformed, and breakthrough curves were used to analyze the hydraulic performance. E.coli data were also collected, and percent removal was calculated to determine the effectiveness of the filters. Relative …

Virginia Commonwealth University Courses [2021], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Listing of courses for the 2021-2022 year.

Anti-Parallel Β-Hairpin Structure In Soluble Aβ Oligomers Of Aβ40-Dutch And Aβ40-Iowa, Ziao Fu, William Van Nostrand, Steven O. Smith

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are associated with two prominent diseases in the brain, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). Aβ42 is the dominant component of cored parenchymal plaques associated with AD, while Aβ40 is the predominant component of vascular amyloid associated with CAA. There are familial CAA mutations at positions Glu22 and Asp23 that lead to aggressive Aβ aggregation, drive vascular amyloid deposition and result in degradation of vascular membranes. In this study, we compared the transition of the monomeric Aβ40-WT peptide into soluble oligomers and fibrils with the corresponding transitions of the Aβ40-Dutch (E22Q), Aβ40-Iowa (D23N) and …

Sequence Dependent Repair Of 1,N6-Ethenoadenine By Dna Repair Enzymes Alkbh2, Alkbh3, And Alkb, Rui Qi, Ke Bian, Fangyi Chen, Qi Tang, Xianhao Zhou, Deyu Li

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Mutation patterns of DNA adducts, such as mutational spectra and signatures, are useful tools for diagnostic and prognostic purposes. Mutational spectra of carcinogens derive from three sources: adduct formation, replication bypass, and repair. Here, we consider the repair aspect of 1,N⁶-ethenoadenine (εA) by the 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent AlkB family enzymes. Specifically, we investigated εA repair across 16 possible sequence contexts (5′/3′ flanking base to εA varied as G/A/T/C). The results revealed that repair efficiency is altered according to sequence, enzyme, and strand context (ss- versus ds-DNA). The methods can be used to study other aspects of mutational spectra or …

New Micropeptins With Anti-Neuroinflammatory Activity Isolated From A Cyanobacterial Bloom, Riley D. Kirk, Haiyin He, Paul G. Wahome, Shibiao Wu, Guy T. Carter, Matthew Bertin

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Metabolite mining of environmentally collected aquatic and marine microbiomes offers a platform for the discovery of new therapeutic lead molecules. Combining a prefractionated chromatography library with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based molecular networking and biological assays, we isolated and characterized two new micropeptins (1 and 2) along with the previously characterized micropeptin 996. These metabolites showed potency in anti-neuroinflammatory assays using BV-2 mouse microglial cells, showing a 50% reduction in inflammation in a range from 1 to 10 μM. These results show promise for cyanobacterial peptides in the therapeutic realm apart from their impact on environmental health and provide …

Synthesis And Biological Evaluations Of Oleanolic Acid Indole Derivatives As Hyaluronidase Inhibitors With Enhanced Skin Permeability, Hao He, Huifang Li, Toyosi Akanji, Shengli Niu, Zhujun Luo, Dongli Li, Navindra P. Seeram, Panpan Wu, Hang Ma

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Oleanolic acid (OA) is a natural cosmeceutical compound with various skin beneficial activities including inhibitory effect on hyaluronidase but the anti-hyaluronidase activity and mechanisms of action of its synthetic analogues remain unclear. Herein, a series of OA derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for their inhibitory effects on hyaluronidase. Compared to OA, an induction of fluorinated (6c) and chlorinated (6g) indole moieties led to enhanced anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC50 = 80.3 vs. 9.97 and 9.57 µg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, spectroscopic and computational studies revealed that 6c and 6g can bind to hyaluronidase protein and alter its secondary structure leading …

Pomegranate (Punica Granatum) Extract And Its Polyphenols Reduce The Formation Of Methylglyoxal-Dna Adducts And Protect Human Keratinocytes Against Methylglyoxal-Induced Oxidative Stress, Hao Guo, Chang Liu, Qi Tang, Deyu Li, Yinsheng Wan, Jiu-Hong Li, Xing-Hua Gao, Navindra P. Seeram, Hang Ma, Hong-Duo Chen

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Pomegranate extract (PE) and its polyphenols have been reported to show skin protective effects but their cytoprotective effects against methylglyoxal (MGO)-induced DNA damage and cell dysfunctions are unclear. Herein, we evaluated whether PE, punicalagin (PA), ellagic acid (EA), and urolithin A (UA), can alleviate MGO-induced DNA damage in human keratinocytes. PE (50 µg/mL) and PA (50 µM) protected DNA integrity and reduced the formation of MGO-DNA adducts and tailed DNA by 60.2 and 49.7%, respectively, in HaCaT cells. PE and PA reduced MGO-induced cytotoxicity by increasing the cell viability (by 17.5 and 15.0%) and decreasing reactive oxygen species (by 28.3 …

Florida State Law Alumni Magazine & Annual Report (2021), Florida State University College Of Law Office Of Development And Alumni Affairs

Alumni Newsletter & FSU Law Magazine

No abstract provided.

Bacilli As Sources Of Agrobiotechnology: Recent Advances And Future Directions, Zerihun T. Dame, Mahfuz Rahman, Tofazzal Islam

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The group bacilli represent the Gram-positive ubiquitous spore-forming bacteria. Their diversity, versatility and the ability of producing diverse secondary metabolites including enzymes created enormous potential for applications in agriculture, biotechnology, environment and medicine. The bacilli are considered as one of the most studied groups of bacteria providing plant growth-promotion and biocontrol of multiple diseases reflecting their vital role in enhancing plants’ tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Some of the Bacillus species are available commercially as phytostimulants, biopesticides, and biofertilizers. Genetically engineered plants such as maize, cotton, brinjal with endotoxins producing genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has revolutionized agriculture. Many …