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University Curriculum Committee Meeting Minutes - February 10, 2022, University Curriculum Committee

Faculty Senate Minutes

Minutes for the Governors State University Curriculum Committee Meeting held February 10, 2022.

Long-Read Sequencing Of The Zebrafish Genome Reorganizes Genomic Architecture, Yelena Chernyavskaya, Xiaofei Zhang, Jinze Liu, Jessica S. Blackburn

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Nanopore sequencing technology has revolutionized the field of genome biology with its ability to generate extra-long reads that can resolve regions of the genome that were previously inaccessible to short-read sequencing platforms. Over 50% of the zebrafish genome consists of difficult to map, highly repetitive, low complexity elements that pose inherent problems for short-read sequencers and assemblers.

RESULTS: We used long-read nanopore sequencing to generate a de novo assembly of the zebrafish genome and compared our assembly to the current reference genome, GRCz11. The new assembly identified 1697 novel insertions and deletions over one kilobase in length and placed …

Investigating The Behavior And Personality Structure Of The Aldabra Tortoise During Human Interactions And Training Events, Pastorino G Quintavalle, Vanessa Smith, Massimo Faustini, Eleonora Bonacina, Davide Guadagnini, Roberto Robbiati, Alice Cavalleri, James Edward Brereton, Richard Preziosi

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Human–animal interaction (HAI) can be valuable for captive animals, and many zoo-housed species benefit from interactions with their keepers. There is also an increasing body of evidence that some animal species possess personalities that are temporally consistent. However, the majority of zoo research, particularly on personality and HAI, traditionally has focused on mammals, and there are comparatively fewer studies on reptiles. Research was undertaken at the Faunistic Park Le Cornelle, Italy, to investigate the effects of approach tests and food interaction events on 5 male and 5 female Aldabra tortoise (Aldrabrachelys gigantea) behavior. During human–tortoise interactions, continuous focal sampling of …

On The Photostability Of Cyanuric Acid And Its Candidature As A Prebiotic Nucleobase, Luis A. Ortiz-Rodríguez, Sean J. Hoehn, Carlos E. Crespo-Hernández

Faculty Scholarship

Cyanuric acid is a triazine derivative that has been identified from reactions performed under prebiotic conditions and has been proposed as a prospective precursor of ancestral RNA. For cyanuric acid to have played a key role during the prebiotic era, it would have needed to survive the harsh electromagnetic radiation conditions reaching the Earth’s surface during prebiotic times (≥200 nm). Therefore, the photostability of cyanuric acid would have been crucial for its accumulation during the prebiotic era. To evaluate the putative photostability of cyanuric acid in water, in this contribution, we employed density functional theory (DFT) and its time-dependent variant …

Insecticide Resistance In Australian Spodoptera Frugiperda (J.E. Smith) And Development Of Testing Procedures For Resistance Surveillance, Lisa Bird, Melina M. Miles, Adam Quade, Helen Spafford

Biosecurity Research Articles

Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is a highly invasive noctuid pest first reported in northern Australia during early 2020. To document current status of resistance in S. frugiperda in Australia, insecticide toxicity was tested in field populations collected during the first year of establishment, between March 2020 and March 2021. Dose-response was measured by larval bioassay in 11 populations of S. frugiperda and a susceptible laboratory strain of Helicoverpa armigera. Emamectin benzoate was the most efficacious insecticide (LC50 0.023μg/ml) followed by chlorantraniliprole (LC50 0.055μg/ml), spinetoram (LC50 0.098μg/ml), spinosad (LC50 0.526μg/ml), and methoxyfenozide (1.413μg/ml). Indoxacarb was the least toxic …

Cilia Proteins Are Biomarkers Of Altered Flow In The Vasculature, Ankan Gupta, Karthikeyan Thirugnanam, Madhan Thamilarasan, Ashraf M. Mohieldin, Hadeel T. Zedan, Shubhangi Prabhudesai, Meghan R. Griffin, Andrew D. Spearman, Amy Pan, Sean P. Palecek, Huseyin C. Yalcin, Surya M. Nauli, Kevin R. Rarick, Rahima Zennadi, Ramani Ramchandran

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Cilia, microtubule-based organelles that project from the apical luminal surface of endothelial cells (ECs), are widely regarded as low-flow sensors. Previous reports suggest that upon high shear stress, cilia on the EC surface are lost, and more recent evidence suggests that deciliation—the physical removal of cilia from the cell surface—is a predominant mechanism for cilia loss in mammalian cells. Thus, we hypothesized that EC deciliation facilitated by changes in shear stress would manifest in increased abundance of cilia-related proteins in circulation. To test this hypothesis, we performed shear stress experiments that mimicked flow conditions from low to high shear stress …

Sex Differences In Desiccation Tolerance Varies By Colony In The Mesic Liverwort Plagiochila Porelloides, Juliana Da C. Silva-E-Costa, Andrea P. Luizi-Ponzo, David Nicholas Mcletchie

Biology Faculty Publications

Water scarcity, a common stress factor, negatively impacts plant performance. Strategies to cope with it, such as desiccation tolerance, are becoming increasingly important to investigate. However, phenomena, such as intraspecific variation in stress responses have not received much attention. Knowledge of this variability and the environmental drivers can be leveraged to further investigate the mechanisms of desiccation tolerance. Here we tested for variation in desiccation tolerance in Plagiochila porelloides among colonies and sexes within the same riparian zone. Field-collected dehardened plants were subjected to a desiccation event, under controlled conditions and then rehydrated. Plant water status, photosynthetic rates, net carbon …

Hydrological Seasonality And Nutrient Stoichiometry Control Dissolved Organic Matter Characterization In A Headwater Stream, Siyue Li, Jiachen Luo, Y. Jun Xu, Liuqing Zhang, Chen Ye

Faculty Publications

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a diverse and highly complex mixture of organic macromolecules, and thus plays a central role in aquatic ecosystems. However, responses of components and sources of DOM to hydrological processes and trophic levels (nutrient stoichiometric ratios) are poorly understood, particularly in monsoonal headwater streams of Asia that are vulnerable to catchment physical characteristics. In this study, the excitation - emission matrix florescence spectroscopy coupled with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC) was used to explore the DOM characters in a headwater stream, where seasonal rainfalls and nutrient levels vary largely. The EEM-PARAFAC modelling identified one autochthonous protein-like fluorescence …

Optimizing Graminoid Composition In Cost-Effective Seed Mixes For Prairie Strips, Justin Meissen

Tallgrass Prairie Publications and Reports

In order to reduce nutrient loss and increase other ecological benefits, there is growing interest in integrating reconstructed tallgrass prairie stands within and around crop fields. The most recent Farm Bill creates a new conservation practice (CP-43, Prairie Strips) to encourage prairie vegetation in and around farmed fields for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Because this practice is flexible and easy to integrate into conventionally farmed fields, Prairie Strips have proven very popular, and nearly 15,000 acres have been enrolled in less than 2 years (Farm Service Agency 2021).

To optimize the potential value of this popular nutrient reduction practice, …

Second Heart Field–Derived Cells Contribute To Angiotensin Ii–Mediated Ascending Aortopathies, Hisashi Sawada, Yuriko Katsumata, Hideyuki Higashi, Chen Zhang, Yanming Li, Stephanie Morgan, Lang H. Lee, Sasha A. Singh, Jeff Z. Chen, Michael K. Franklin, Jessica J. Moorleghen, Deborah A. Howatt, Debra L. Rateri, Ying H. Shen, Scott A. Lemaire, Masanori Aikawa, Mark W. Majesky, Hong S. Lu, Alan Daugherty

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The ascending aorta is a common location for aneurysm and dissection. This aortic region is populated by a mosaic of medial and adventitial cells that are embryonically derived from either the second heart field (SHF) or the cardiac neural crest. SHF-derived cells populate areas that coincide with the spatial specificity of thoracic aortopathies. The purpose of this study was to determine whether and how SHF-derived cells contribute to ascending aortopathies.

METHODS: Ascending aortic pathologies were examined in patients with sporadic thoracic aortopathies and angiotensin II (AngII)–infused mice. Ascending aortas without overt pathology from AngII-infused mice were subjected …

Curriculum Minutes 02/10/2022, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

Antibody Response To Sars-Cov-2 Infection And Vaccination In Covid-19-Naive And Experienced Individuals, Susan L. Uprichard, Amornrat O'Brien, Monika Evdokimova, Cynthia L. Rowe, Cara Joyce, Matthew Hackbart, Yazmin Edith Cruz Pulido, Courtney A. Cohen, Michelle L. Rock, John M. Dye, Paul Kuehnert, Keersten M. Ricks, Marybeth Casper, Lori Linhart, Katrina Anderson, Laura Kirk, Jack A. Maggiore, Andrew S. Herbert, Nina M. Clark, Gail E. Reid, Susan C. Baker

Biostatistics Collaborative Core: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Understanding the magnitude of responses to vaccination during the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is essential for ultimate mitigation of the disease. Here, we describe a cohort of 102 subjects (70 COVID-19-naïve, 32 COVID-19-experienced) who received two doses of one of the mRNA vaccines (BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna)). We document that a single exposure to antigen via infection or vaccination induces a variable antibody response which is affected by age, gender, race, and co-morbidities. In response to a second antigen dose, both COVID-19-naïve and experienced subjects exhibited elevated levels of anti-spike and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing activity; however, COVID-19-experienced individuals achieved higher antibody …

Faculty Senate Chronicle February 10, 2022, Heather M. Loughney

The University of Akron Faculty Senate Chronicle

Minutes for the regular meeting of The University of Akron Faculty Senate on February 10, 2022

Detection Of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Infections Using Molecular Methods, Fred C. Tenover, Isabella A. Tickler

Biology Faculty Publications

The application of molecular detection methods for bacterial pathogens has dramatically improved the outcomes of septic patients, including those with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Molecular methods can be applied to a variety of clinical specimens including nasal swabs, growth in blood culture bottles, and wounds. While data show that the overall accuracy of molecular tests for MRSA is high, results can be confounded by the presence of multiple staphylococcal species in a specimen, insertions and deletions of DNA in and around the Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) element, and point mutations in mecA. Herein, we explore the complexities of …

Post-Termination Effects Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Soil Inorganic Nitrogen And Microbial Communities On Two Organic Farms In Illinois, Eleanor E. Lucadamo, Ashley A. Holmes, Samuel E. Wortman, Anthony C. Yannarell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops can continue to affect agricultural systems even after they have been terminated by influencing nitrogen dynamics and by altering soil microbial communities. These post-termination effects can influence soil fertility, weed pressure, and the dynamics of potential plant pathogens in the narrow window of time between cover crop termination and cash crop emergence. We evaluated the post-termination effects of 12 different spring-sown cover crop mixtures and monocultures on soil nitrogen and microbial communities on two different organic farms in Central Illinois (on Lawson silt loam soil) and Northern Illinois (on Virgil silt loam soil). In comparison to control plots …

The Cowl - V. 86 N. 12 - Feb 10, 2022

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 86 No. 12 - February 10, 2022. 28 pages.

Decline Of The Northern Long-Eared Myotis (Myotis Septentrionalis) In The Eastern Great Plains After The Arrival Of White-Nose Syndrome, Jeremy A. White, Patricia W. Freeman, Madelene I. Shehan, Cliff A. Lemen

Western North American Naturalist

The northern long-eared myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) has declined sharply in the eastern United States due to the disease white-nose syndrome (WNS), which is caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). However, less is known about the species’ status in the central and western parts of its range where WNS has arrived more recently. Here we report the timing of the arrival of Pd and WNS to eastern Nebraska and examine acoustic and capture data of M. septentrionalis to determine the initial impact of the disease on this species. We sampled bats for the presence of Pd …

Post-Termination Effects Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Soil Inorganic Nitrogen And Microbial Communities On Two Organic Farms In Illinois, Eleanor E. Lucadamo, Ashley A. Holmes, Samuel E. Wortman, Anthony C. Yannarell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops can continue to affect agricultural systems even after they have been terminated by influencing nitrogen dynamics and by altering soil microbial communities. These post-termination effects can influence soil fertility, weed pressure, and the dynamics of potential plant pathogens in the narrow window of time between cover crop termination and cash crop emergence. We evaluated the post-termination effects of 12 different spring-sown cover crop mixtures and monocultures on soil nitrogen and microbial communities on two different organic farms in Central Illinois (on Lawson silt loam soil) and Northern Illinois (on Virgil silt loam soil). In comparison to control plots …

The Association Between Hiv Status, Estradiol, And Sex Hormone Binding Globulin Among Premenopausal Women In The Women's Interagency Hiv Study, Sally B Coburn, Jodie Dionne-Odom, Maria L Alcaide, Caitlin A Moran, Lisa Rahangdale, Elizabeth T Golub, Leslie Stewart Massad, Dominika Seidman, Katherine G Michel, Howard Minkoff, Kerry Murphy, Todd T Brown, Kala Visvanathan, Bryan Lau, Keri N Althoff

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

Flowering By Dioecious Rhamnus Ilicifolia (Rhamnaceae) And Pollen Transport To Female Flowers By Flies And Bees, William D. Wiesenborn

Western North American Naturalist

Rhamnus ilicifolia (Rhamnaceae) is a large shrub found in a range of habitats from southern Oregon south to Baja California and east into Arizona. During spring, the plant produces clusters of unisexual flowers, each with a 5–6-mm-diameter, open perianth of green or yellowish-green sepals. I investigated the pollination of R. ilicifolia in western Arizona during 27 April to 21 May 2020 by examining the distribution and phenology of male and female flowers on shrubs, collecting insects from female flowers, and determining the proportions of conspecific pollen on insects to estimate floral constancy. Shrubs were dioecious, and individual male and female …

Effective Therapy For Aml With Runx1 Mutation By Cotreatment With Inhibitors Of Protein Translation And Bcl2, Christopher P Mill, Warren Fiskus, Courtney D Dinardo, Christine Birdwell, John A Davis, Tapan M Kadia, Koichi Takahashi, Nicholas Short, Naval Daver, Maro Ohanian, Gautam Borthakur, Steven M Kornblau, Michael R Green, Yuan Qi, Xiaoping Su, Joseph D Khoury, Kapil N Bhalla

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The majority of RUNX1 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are missense or deletion-truncation and behave as loss-of-function mutations. Following standard therapy, AML patients expressing mtRUNX1 exhibit inferior clinical outcome than those without mutant RUNX1. Studies presented here demonstrate that as compared with AML cells lacking mtRUNX1, their isogenic counterparts harboring mtRUNX1 display impaired ribosomal biogenesis and differentiation, as well as exhibit reduced levels of wild-type RUNX1, PU.1, and c-Myc. Compared with AML cells with only wild-type RUNX1, AML cells expressing mtRUNX1 were also more sensitive to the protein translation inhibitor homoharringtonine (omacetaxine) and BCL2 inhibitor venetoclax. Homoharringtonine treatment repressed …

Three-Week Old Pigs Are Not Susceptible To Productive Infection With Sars-Cov-2, Elaine Haddock, Julie Callison, Stephanie N. Seifert, Atsushi Okumura, Tsing Lee Tang-Huau, Shanna S. Leventhal, Matthew C. Lewis, Jamie Lovaglio, Patrick W. Hanley, Carl Shaia, David W. Hawman, Vincent J. Munster, Michael A. Jarvis, Juergen A. Richt, Heinz Feldmann

School of Biomedical Sciences

As the COVID-19 pandemic moves into its third year, there remains a need for additional animal models better recapitulating severe COVID to study SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and develop countermeasures, especially treatment options. Pigs are known intermediate hosts for many viruses with zoonotic potential and are susceptible to infection with alpha, beta and delta genera of coronaviruses. Herein, we infected young (3 weeks of age) pigs with SARS-CoV-2 using a combination of respiratory and parenteral inoculation routes. Pigs did not develop clinical disease, nor macroscopic or microscopic pathologic lesions upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Despite occasional low levels of SARS-CoV-2 genomic RNA in the …

Preservation Of Library Materials: A Case Of A Public Library Within The Accra Metropolitan Area Of Ghana, Deborah Nyamewaah Amankwah Mrs., Albert Paa Kojo Ebi Bilson Mr., Gloria Atisoe Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Preservation is an important component of the library as it is designed to prolong the lifespan of library collections in order to provide access to users. The study was achieved through different reviews on literature in relation to library preservation. Globally different kinds of literature have been reviewed on the preservation of library materials and specifically narrowed to Ghana. The purpose of the study was to review the literature on the prospects and challenges of library materials in Ghana. The study further sought to find out the benefits of preserving library materials and identification of the internal and external factors …

Palaeoecological Data Indicates Land-Use Changes Across Europe Linked To Spatial Heterogeneity In Mortality During The Black Death Pandemic, A. Izdebski, P. Guzowski, R. Poniat, L. Masci, J. Palli, C. Vignola, M. Bauch, C. Cocozza, R. Fernandes, F. C. Ljungqvist, T. Newfield, A. Seim, D. Abel-Schaad, F. Alba-Sánchez, L. Björkman, A. Brauer, A. Brown, S. Czerwiński, A. Ejarque, M. Fiłoc, A. Florenzano, E. D. Fredh, R. Fyfe, N. Jasiunas, P. Kołaczek, K. Kouli, R. Kozáková, M. Kupryjanowicz, P. Lagerås, P. Lagerås, M. Lindbladh, J. A. López-Sáez, R. Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, K. Marcisz, F. Mazier, S. Mensing, A. M. Mercuri, K. Milecka, Y. Miras, A. M. Noryśkiewicz, E. Novenko, M. Obremska, S. Panajiotidis, M. L. Papadopoulou, A. Pędziszewska, S. Pérez-Díaz, G. Piovesan, A. Pluskowski, P. Pokorny, A. Poska, T. Reitalu, M. Rösch, L. Sadori, Ferreira C Sá, D. Sebag, M. Słowiński, M. Stančikaitė, N. Stivrins, I. Tunno, S. Veski, A. Wacnik, A. Masi

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

AbstractThe Black Death (1347–1352 ce) is the most renowned pandemic in human history, believed by many to have killed half of Europe’s population. However, despite advances in ancient DNA research that conclusively identified the pandemic’s causative agent (bacterium Yersinia pestis), our knowledge of the Black Death remains limited, based primarily on qualitative remarks in medieval written sources available for some areas of Western Europe. Here, we remedy this situation by applying a pioneering new approach, ‘big data palaeoecology’, which, starting from palynological data, evaluates the scale of the Black Death’s mortality on a regional scale across Europe. We collected pollen …

Single-Agent Mosunetuzumab Shows Durable Complete Responses In Patients With Relapsed Or Refractory B-Cell Lymphomas: Phase I Dose-Escalation Study, Lihua E Budde, Nancy L Bartlett, Et Al

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Mosunetuzumab is a bispecific antibody targeting CD20 and CD3 that redirects T cells to engage and eliminate malignant B cells and is being developed for relapsed or refractory (R/R) B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas (B-NHLs).

METHODS: This first-in-human trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02500407) evaluated the safety and tolerability and efficacy of mosunetuzumab in patients with R/R B-NHL and established the recommended phase II dose. Data from dose escalation are presented. Single-agent mosunetuzumab was administered intravenously in 3-week cycles, at full dose in cycle 1 day 1 (group A) or with ascending (step-up) doses during cycle 1 on days 1, 8, and 15 …

Innovative Approaches To Analysing Carbon Sequestration As A Mitigation Strategy In Tropical Pasture Landscapes In Two Emblematic Contexts, The Amazon And The West African Sahel, V. Blanfort, R. Pocard-Chapuis, J. Vayssières, M. Vignes, M. H. Assouma, B. Hubert, A. Ickowicz, S. Fontaine

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The relationship between ruminant production systems and climate change is complex. As a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the sector has been the subject of considerable controversy, with particularly severe criticism in the 2000s. However, ten years ago, the attitude towards grazing lands began to change. Their efficient use of non-renewable energy and their contribution to carbon (C) sequestration were considered as key factors in the new environmental challenge. The reality of this mitigation potential was recently called into question once again in the global agriculture and climate change debate, including that of sequestration in the soil where …

Elevated Co2 And Extreme Climatic Events Modify Nitrogen Content And Ruminal Protein Digestion Of Temperate Grassland, V. Niderkorn, C. Picon-Cochard

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

This study was aimed at analyzing changes in nitrogen (N) content and in vitro protein rumen digestion of an upland grassland exposed to climate changes in controlled conditions. Monoliths of grassland were inserted in 12 macrocosms in which climatic conditions for the 2050s were simulated (i.e., +2.3°C and 33 mm less precipitation compared to the current climatic conditions). Six of them were subjected to ambient CO₂ (390 ppm) while the other six were subjected to elevated CO₂ (520 ppm). After four months, an extreme climatic event (ECE) consisting of four weeks of reducted precipitation (-50%) followed by two …

Effects Of Climate Variability On Wild Edible Plant Products: A Coping Strategy Applied By Pastoralists Of Northern Kenya, A. W. Kagunyu, J. W. Wanjohi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Drought which is a manifestation of climate variability has become a perennial problem in Kenya with chronic vulnerability being concentrated in Arid and Semi-Arid lands (ASALs). Traditionally, pastoralists have used wild edible plant products namely; fruits, vegetables and seeds as a coping strategy while faced by climate related calamities. However, recent studies have shown that pastoralists’ traditional coping strategies have become weak as a result of recurrent droughts. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the effects of climate variability on wild edible plant products. This study applied; household interviews (n=400), focus group discussions and key informant interviews …

Drought Mitigation In Bundelkahand Grassland Ecosystem For Improving Livelihood Of Farming Community-A Case Study, N. S. Pasricha, P. K. Ghosh

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Bundelkhand grassland ecosystem (23º20´ and 26°20´N latitude and 78°20´ and 81°40´E longitude) is an undulating rain fed region (annual rain fall, 768-1087 mm) spread over an area of 7.08 m ha in central India in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This region has to support 16 million human and 8.5 million animal populations. Area is prone to surface run off losses, severe soil erosion and increasingly more drought events, leading to only mono-cropping. Lively-hood of the people, which is mainly the live-stock rearing and marginal agriculture, is at stake. In-situ conservation of rain water, forage management, …

The Story Of Winston Kapoor Or The Story Of All Men And People Of Colour: A Case Of Tragic Pessimism Of The Modern Times, Ripon Singh

Budding Writers Contest 2021

No abstract provided.