Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Childhood Trauma On Skin Conductance Response To Fear, Safety, And Reward, Tristan Alana Gregg

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Trauma is associated with neurological and physiological differences that can persist years after trauma exposure. Physiologically, trauma has been associated with altered responses to cues in the environment, most commonly threatening stimuli. For instance, in participants who experience trauma during adulthood, such individuals exhibit heightened physiological arousal. Conversely, other studies have found that childhood trauma may be associated with blunted physiological arousal. Most of this research has involved threatening cues, but previous research suggests that trauma is also associated with aberrant physiological arousal responses to positive or rewarding cues. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) are a commonly utilized measure of physiological …

Evaluating Interest In Clinical Trial Participation For The Treatment Of Pediatric Food Allergy, Perry Allen Catlin

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Food allergy (FA) is a chronic medical condition that affects one out of every 13 children in the United States. Researchers have recently begun utilizing double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials to test novel biological treatments designed to retrain the immune system to be less reactive to food allergens. Although these treatments remain in the clinical trial stage, evidence suggests that individuals differentially engage with these options based on a variety of factors. Using a socioecological framework, this study sought to evaluate the effect of child, parent, and family-level factors on parental interest in clinical trial participation for the treatment of pediatric …

Activated Charcoal Versus A Chemical Whitening Agent: Effect On Human Enamel, Hien Thai Doan

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Objective: For many years, the conventional method to achieve a white smile has been chemical regimens such as peroxide compounds. Previous studies suggest risks associated with chemical procedures, so many are seeking out alternative options such as utilizing activated charcoal. Since this new method is rapidly trending, there have not been many scientific studies on how utilizing activated charcoal can affect the mechanical/physical properties of tooth structure. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of activated charcoal on enamel’s mechanical/physical properties and compare it to a conventional tooth whitening method (carbamide peroxide). Materials and Methods: Extracted …

Transcriptional Profile Of Cohesin Complex Mutations In The Background Of Npm1 And Runx1-Runx1t1 Aml, Jacob Tiegs

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a cancer of the blood, characterized by a heterogenous mixture of disease causing mutations. Mutations of the cohesin complex is a group of such mutations and occur alongside several other driving mutations in the development of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. This thesis specifically focuses on cohesin complex mutations in the context of concurrence with NPM1 mutation and the Core Binding Factor (CBF) mutation RUNX1-RUNX1T1 in three distinct components. The first two components involved Differential Expression Analysis (DEA) to identify significantly differentiated genes in each model, followed by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to identify Gene Ontology (GO) …

Development Of An In Vitro Model To Assess Endothelial Dysfunction From Coarctation Of The Aorta, Dylan James Schock

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a common congenital heart defect characterized by a stenosis of the descending thoracic aorta. Surgical treatment can alleviate the stenosis and restore physiologic blood flow; however, patients frequently develop cardiovascular morbidity with hypertension (HTN) being most common. Identifying the mechanisms involved with the onset of HTN in CoA patients is difficult due to confounding factors including the severity of coarctation, age of correction, and general lifestyle factors. To account for the variability seen in humans, a rabbit model of CoA and correction was developed previously. Microarray analysis of aortic samples from the model showed …

Comparison Of 3d Bio-Printed Ipsc-Cms Derived From Healthy Donors And Patients With Hlhs, Wei He

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is an extremely severe form of congenital heart disease, but current treatments are not adequate. In order to find more effective treatments, we need to reproduce in vitro the physiological characteristics of cardiomyocytes associated with HLHS. Such a tissue model could be of great help to current medical research, and 3D printing technology is an effective tool for this purpose. We print layer-by-layer cardiomyocytes from both healthy and HLHS patients with laminin-based bioink to form a three-dimensional model. With our 3D cell culture technology, this model can simulate the growth conditions of cardiomyocytes in vivo. …

Near Infrared Light Penetration In Human Tissue: An Analysis Of Tissue Structure And Heterogeneities, Paul Murray Koster

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Low level laser irradiation (LLLI) has been a controversial method of therapy due to a limited understanding of the underlying mechanisms that could cause the irradiation to provide its proposed benefits – increased blood flow, vasodilation, cell attachment, and wound healing. Near infrared (NIR) light appears able to function with nitrates and enzymes around the electric transport chain to allow biologically available nitric oxide to be released from hemoglobin and myoglobin. Nitric oxide has been shown to be a part of a mechanism that promotes blood flow, vasodilation, and wound healing.NIR penetration in biological tissue is not well described due …

Lifelines Fall 2022, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2022 issue of Lifelines contains an alumni spotlight, department happenings, and student missionaries.

Columns Fall 2022, Southern Adventist University

Alumni Newsletter

Features information about LifeGroups, Southern’s 130-year-history, missionary work, and homecoming weekend.

Kir-Based Inhibitory Cars Overcome Car-Nk Cell Trogocytosis-Mediated Fratricide And Tumor Escape, Ye Li, Rafet Basar, Guohui Wang, Enli Liu, Judy S Moyes, Li Li, Lucila N Kerbauy, Nadima Uprety, Mohsen Fathi, Ali Rezvan, Pinaki P Banerjee, Luis Muniz-Feliciano, Tamara J Laskowski, Emily Ensley, May Daher, Mayra Shanley, Mayela Mendt, Sunil Acharya, Bin Liu, Alexander Biederstädt, Hind Rafei, Xingliang Guo, Luciana Melo Garcia, Paul Lin, Sonny Ang, David Marin, Ken Chen, Laura Bover, Richard E Champlin, Navin Varadarajan, Elizabeth J Shpall, Katayoun Rezvani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Trogocytosis is an active process that transfers surface material from targeted to effector cells. Using multiple in vivo tumor models and clinical data, we report that chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) activation in natural killer (NK) cells promoted transfer of the CAR cognate antigen from tumor to NK cells, resulting in (1) lower tumor antigen density, thus impairing the ability of CAR-NK cells to engage with their target, and (2) induced self-recognition and continuous CAR-mediated engagement, resulting in fratricide of trogocytic antigen-expressing NK cells (NK

Perspectives Of Zambian Clinical Oncology Trainees In The Md Anderson And Zambia Virtual Clinical Research Training Program (Mozart), Kevin Diao, Darya A Kizub, Noveen Ausat, Catherine K Mwaba, Chidinma P Anakwenze Akinfenwa, Carrie A Cameron, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Dorothy C Lombe, Susan C Msadabwe, Lilie L Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: African countries are underrepresented in cancer research, partly because of a lack of structured curricula on clinical research during medical education. To address this need, the MD Anderson and Zambia Virtual Clinical Research Training Program (MOZART) was developed jointly by MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDA) and the Cancer Diseases Hospital in Zambia (CDH) for Zambian clinical oncology trainees. We explored participant perspectives to provide insight for implementation of similar efforts.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MD Anderson and Zambia Virtual Clinical Research Training Program consisted of weekly virtual lectures and support of Zambian-led research protocols through longitudinal mentorship groups that …

Aging After Stroke: How To Define Post-Stroke Sarcopenia And What Are Its Risk Factors?, Sheng Li, Javier Gonzalez-Buonomo, Jaskiran Ghuman, Xinran Huang, Aila Malik, Nuray Yozbatiran, Elaine Magat, Gerard E Francisco, Hulin Wu, Walter R Frontera

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia, generally described as "aging-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function", can occur secondary to a systemic disease.

AIM: This project aimed to study the prevalence of sarcopenia in chronic ambulatory stroke survivors and its associated risk factors using the two most recent diagnostic criteria.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional observational study.

SETTING: A scientific laboratory.

POPULATION: Chronic stroke.

METHODS: Twenty-eight ambulatory chronic stroke survivors (12 females; mean age=57.8±11.8 years; time after stroke=76±45 months), hand-grip strength, gait speed, and appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM) were measured to define sarcopenia. Risk factors, including motor impairment and spasticity, were identified using regression …

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Have Clinical Activity In Patients With Recurrent Chordoma, Andrew J Bishop, Behrang Amini, Heather Lin, Shaan M Raza, Shreyaskumar Patel, David R Grosshans, Amol Ghia, Ahsan Farooqi, B Ashleigh Guadagnolo, Devarati Mitra, Kadir C Akdemir, Alexander J Lazar, Wei-Lien Wang, Christopher Alvarez-Breckenridge, Justin Bird, Laurence D Rhines, Neeta Somaiah, Anthony P Conley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcomes and tolerance of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) for patients with recurrent chordoma. We reviewed the records of 17 patients with recurrent chordomas who received ICIs for progressing disease as part of their treatment between 2016 and 2020. Response was assessed using response evaluation criteria in solid tumors 1.1 criteria. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the duration of response, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). Clinical benefit was defined as having stable disease (SD), a partial response, or a complete response. The median follow-up from the start of …

Svat: Secure Outsourcing Of Variant Annotation And Genotype Aggregation, Miran Kim, Su Wang, Xiaoqian Jiang, Arif Harmanci

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Sequencing of thousands of samples provides genetic variants with allele frequencies spanning a very large spectrum and gives invaluable insight into genetic determinants of diseases. Protecting the genetic privacy of participants is challenging as only a few rare variants can easily re-identify an individual among millions. In certain cases, there are policy barriers against sharing genetic data from indigenous populations and stigmatizing conditions.

RESULTS: We present SVAT, a method for secure outsourcing of variant annotation and aggregation, which are two basic steps in variant interpretation and detection of causal variants. SVAT uses homomorphic encryption to encrypt the data at …

Correlations Between Peripheral Levels Of Inflammatory Mediators And Frontolimbic Structures In Bipolar Disorder: An Exploratory Analysis, Satyajit Mohite, Haitham Salem, Thiago Cordeiro, Jonika Tannous, Benson Mwangi, Sudhakar Selvaraj, Jair C Soares, Marsal Sanches, Antonio L Teixeira

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Altered peripheral immune/inflammatory system and brain volumetric changes have been implicated in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD). This study aimed to evaluate how peripheral levels of cytokines are related to volumetric brain changes in euthymic patients with BD.

METHODS: Euthymic patients with BD (n = 21) and healthy controls (n = 22) were enrolled in this exploratory study. Blood samples were collected on the same day of clinical assessment and neuroimaging. Cytokines were measured through cytometric bead array method. Neuroimaging data were acquired using a sagittal three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging T1-weighted fast field echo sequence and was processed …

The Hect Family Of E3 Ubiquitin Ligases And Pten, Min Sup Song, Pier Paolo Pandolfi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Members of the HECT family of E3 ubiquitin ligases have emerged as prominent regulators of PTEN function, subcellular localization and levels. In turn this unfolding regulatory network is allowing for the identification of genes directly involved in both tumorigenesis at large and cancer susceptibility syndromes. While the complexity of this regulatory network is still being unraveled, these new findings are paving the way for novel therapeutic modalities for cancer prevention and therapy as well as for other diseases. Here we will review the signal transduction and therapeutic implications of the cross-talk between HECT family members and PTEN.

Machine Learning Modeling Of Protein-Intrinsic Features Predicts Tractability Of Targeted Protein Degradation, Wubing Zhang, Shourya S Roy Burman, Jiaye Chen, Katherine A Donovan, Yang Cao, Chelsea Shu, Boning Zhang, Zexian Zeng, Shengqing Gu, Yi Zhang, Dian Li, Eric S Fischer, Collin Tokheim, X Shirley Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) has rapidly emerged as a therapeutic modality to eliminate previously undruggable proteins by repurposing the cell’s endogenous protein degradation machinery. However, the susceptibility of proteins for targeting by TPD approaches, termed “degradability”, is largely unknown. Here, we developed a machine learning model, model-free analysis of protein degradability (MAPD), to predict degradability from features intrinsic to protein targets. MAPD shows accurate performance in predicting kinases that are degradable by TPD compounds [with an area under the precision–recall curve (AUPRC) of 0.759 and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of 0.775] and is …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating The Effects Of Social Networking On Chronic Disease Management In Rheumatoid Arthritis, Maria A Lopez-Olivo, Jessica T Foreman, Cheuk Leung, Heather Y Lin, Tiffany Westrich-Robertson, Catherine Hofstetter, Jude K A Des Bordes, Anne Lyddiatt, Amye Leong, Irmgard U Willcockson, Susan K Peterson, Maria E Suarez-Almazor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Social networking has been shown to improve health outcomes in certain patient populations. While patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) increasingly use social networking to communicate with peers, the effects of these interactions are largely unknown.

METHODS: In a randomized controlled trial, we compared RA patients who participated in a social networking group moderated by peer leaders and who had access to a static website offering RA materials with a control group, who only had access to the website. The primary outcomes were patients' RA knowledge, self-efficacy and empowerment. Secondary outcomes included participation in desired health behaviors, and satisfaction with …

Immunogenomic Profiling Of Lung Adenocarcinoma Reveals Poorly Differentiated Tumors Are Associated With An Immunogenic Tumor Microenvironment, Neal Akhave, Jiexin Zhang, Erin Bayley, Meredith Frank, Shin-Heng Chiou, Carmen Behrens, Runzhe Chen, Xin Hu, Edwin Roger Parra, Won-Chul Lee, Stephen Swisher, Luisa Solis, Annikka Weissferdt, Cesar Moran, Neda Kalhor, Jianhua Zhang, Paul Scheet, Ara A Vaporciyan, Boris Sepesi, Don L Gibbons, John V Heymach, Jack J Lee, Ignacio I Wistuba, P Andrew Futreal, Jianjun Zhang, Junya Fujimoto, Alexandre Reuben

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Pathologists have routinely observed distinct histologic patterns of growth in early-stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), which have been suggested to be associated with prognosis. Herein, we investigated the relationship between LUAD patterns of growth, as defined by the updated international association for the study of lung cancer (IASLC) grading criteria, and differences in the tumor immune microenvironment to identify predictors of response to immunotherapy.

METHODS: 174 resected stage I-III LUAD tumors were classified by histologic pattern of growth (i.e. solid, micropapillary, acinar, papillary, and lepidic) and then grouped as well differentiated, moderately differentiated, and poorly differentiated. Comprehensive multiplatform analysis including …

Coordinated School Health 2021-22 Annual Report, Tennessee. Department Of Education.

Coordinated School Health

No abstract provided.

Tolerance Of Peppermint To Tiafenacil Applied Postharvest, Stephen L. Meyers, Jeanine Arana, Brandi C. Woolam

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Trials were conducted in two experimental runs at the Purdue University Horticulture Greenhouses, West Lafayette, IN, to determine ‘Redefined Murray Mitcham’ peppermint tolerance to tiafenacil. Established peppermint in 20-cm-diameter polyethylene pots was subjected to a simulated harvest by removing aboveground biomass at the substrate surface; then, tiafenacil was applied at 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 g ai ha−1. Visible crop injury, height, and aboveground dry biomass data were subjected to regression analysis to generate predictive models. At 2 wk after treatment (WAT), peppermint injury increased from 63% to 86% and from 25% to 76% in Experimental Run 1 and …

A Book Review: Cannery Row, Young B. Choi

KAUPA Letters

No abstract provided.

Conflict Dynamics In Scale-Free Networks With Degree Correlations And Hierarchical Structure, Eduardo Jacobo-Villegas, Bibiana Obregón-Quintana, Lev Guzmán-Vargas, Larry S. Liebovitch

Publications and Research

We present a study of the dynamic interactions between actors located on complex networks with scale-free and hierarchical scale-free topologies with assortative mixing, that is, correlations between the degree distributions of the actors. The actor’s state evolves according to a model that considers its previous state, the inertia to change, and the influence of its neighborhood. We show that the time evolution of the system depends on the percentage of cooperative or competitive
interactions. For scale-free networks, we find that the dispersion between actors is higher when all interactions are either cooperative or competitive, while a balanced presence of interactions …

The Importance Of Low Iq To Early Diagnosis Of Autism, Kristina Denisova, Zhichun Lin

Publications and Research

Abstract
Some individuals can flexibly adapt to life’s changing demands while others, in particular those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), find it challenging. The origin of early individual differences in cognitive abilities, the putative tools with which to navigate novel information in life, including in infants later diagnosed with ASD remains unexplored. Moreover, the role of intelligence quotient (IQ) vis-à-vis core features of autism remains debated. We systematically investigate the contribution of early IQ in future autism outcomes in an extremely large, population-based study of 8000 newborns, infants, and toddlers from the US between 2 and 68 months with over …

Sustainability Matters: Advocating For The Establishment And Continuation Of Peer-Led Team Learning, A.E. Dreyfuss

Publications and Research

The successful dissemination of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model at multiple institutions of higher education, in the United States and other countries, is reflected in the number of publications (see www.pltlis.org). However, many PLTL campus programs are no longer active or exist. This may be due, more recently, to the COVID pandemic and its disruptions. Historically, programs no longer exist because grant funding that supported the initiative ended; other reasons include the promotion, retirement, or even death of the practitioners whose work championing their PLTL program ended. What can sustain a campus PLTL program so that its benefits …

Redox-Mediated Inactivation Of The Transcriptional Repressor Rcrr Is Responsible For Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli’S Increased Resistance To Reactive Chlorine Species, Sadia Sultana, Mary E. Crompton, Kennadi Meurer, Olivia Jankiewicz, Grace H. Morales, Colton Johnson, Elise Horbach, Kevin Pierre Hoffmann, Pooja Kr, Ritika Shah, Greg M. Anderson, Jonathan E. Schmitz, Maria Hadjifrangiskou, Alessandro Foti, Jan-Ulrik Dahl

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

The ability to overcome stressful environments is critical for pathogen survival in the host. One challenge for bacteria is the exposure to reactive chlorine species (RCS), which are generated by innate immune cells as a critical part of the oxidative burst. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is the most potent antimicrobial RCS and is associated with extensive macromolecular damage in the phagocytized pathogen. However, bacteria have evolved defense strategies to alleviate the effects of HOCl-mediated damage. Among these are RCS-sensing transcriptional regulators that control the expression of HOCl-protective genes under non-stress and HOCl stress. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the major causative agent …

Music-Based Mentoring And Academic Improvement In High-Poverty Elementary Schools, Hannah Holbrook, Margaret Martin, Deborah Glik, James Hudziak

Journal of Youth Development

Recent research links disparities in children’s language-related brain function to poverty and its correlates. Such disparities are hypothesized to underlie achievement gaps between students from low-income families and more advantaged peers. Interventions that improve language-related brain function in low-income students exist, but evaluations of their implementation within high-poverty elementary schools do not. This comparison-group study evaluates whether implementation within high-poverty elementary schools of Harmony Project music-based mentoring, previously shown in randomized controlled research to improve language-related brain function and literacy in low-income students, might be associated with academic improvement for participants compared with non-participating peers. Standardized academic achievement scores were …

Consistency Of Sleep Across Development And Relations To Executive Functions; Applications To Emerging Adults Transitioning To College And Adolescents With Spina Bifida, Laura Nicholson

Dissertations

College Students, Development, Executive Functioning, Inhibition, Sleep consistency, Spina Bifida

Academic Achievement And Relations To Externalizing Behavior: Much Ado About Nothing?, Tara Kulkarni, Amanda L. Sullivan

Education and Leadership Faculty Publications and Presentations

Some of the worst long-term outcomes of children are associated with the presence of externalizing behavior and low academic achievement. However, the nature of the causal and predictive relationship between these two domains remains contested due to inconsistent findings in previous literature. Leveraging a nationally representative sample (N = 7330) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS)–Kindergarten Cohort of 2011, we used latent class growth analysis and machine learning cross validation techniques to analyze the association of early math and reading achievement with the development of externalizing behavior trajectories in elementary school. Several theoretically and empirically important covariates were utilized …

Measuring The Impact Of Thermal Stress On Coral Resilience In Hawai'i Using Large-Area Imagery, Caroline Rodriguez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Coral reefs worldwide are declining due to several anthropogenic stressors, but rising ocean temperature is the most serious threat to coral reef persistence. Developing models that document changes in coral communities following thermal stress events and forecast trends in reef recovery is crucial in identifying resilient reefs. Traditional approaches to generating the coral vital rates necessary for demographic modeling are time consuming and field intensive; however, by leveraging Structure-from-Motion photogrammetry, we can accurately track populations over time at a large spatial scale. In this study, I assessed the population dynamics of the dominant coral species across the Hawaiian archipelago and …