Digital Commons Network^™

How Do They Do It? Using Omics Approaches To Explore Metabolic Responses Associated With Hypoxia And Exercise Tolerance In The Deepest Diving Pinniped, Elizabeth R. Piotrowski

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Marine mammals such as northern elephant seals (NES) routinely experience hypoxemia and ischemia-reperfusion events to many tissues during deep dives with no apparent adverse effects. Adaptations to diving include increased antioxidants and elevated oxygen storage capacity associated with high hemoprotein content in blood and muscle. Despite experiencing decreased oxygen tensions during diving, NES likely rely on the mobilization of large lipids stores and catabolism of fatty acids to provide energy to exercising muscle while diving. To identify potential regulatory mechanisms that may underly hypoxia and exercise tolerance in diving mammals, this study used system-wide approaches to characterize changes in genes …

Beyond Cortisol: Indicators Of Stress And Negative Feedback In Plasma And Blubber Of Marine Mammals, Jessica Avalos

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Marine mammals play an important role in ecosystem stability. However, anthropogenic activity is compounding pressure on many already vulnerable populations. A potential consequence of anthropogenic disturbance is physiological stress, which can impact metabolism, immunity, and reproduction, especially if it occurs repeatedly. Previous studies on marine mammals have focused on acute stress, but the impacts of repeated stress are poorly understood. Due to its accessibility on land during haul-outs, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is a good system in which to study the effects of stress in marine mammals. Stress stimulates the release of glucocorticoid hormones, primarily cortisol. Elevated cortisol …

Thermodynamic Mechanisms Of Helix Stabilization In A Model Peptide And Protein, Ryan Murray

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Biologics are large, complex therapeutic agents generally produced from living organisms. One group of biologics is peptide/protein based. Biological agents offer unique advantages over traditional therapeutics including longer half-lives, higher specificity, greater efficacy, and reduced off-target effects. However, protein/peptide based drugs suffer from both delivery and stability issues. The higher order of protein structures (secondary, tertiary, etc.) derive ~80% of their conformational stability from paltry hydrophobic effects, with net stabilization of 5-15 kcal/mole observed for many proteins. Loss of conformational stability can lead to increased aggregation, precipitation, and degradation; and reduced activity and side effects. To increase stability and improve …

Using Korematsu In Law School Orientation And Introduction To Law Courses, Lorraine Bannai

Using Korematsu to Teach Across the Law School Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Using Korematsu In A Civil Procedure Course, Lorraine Bannai, Margaret Chon, Eric K. Yamamoto

Using Korematsu to Teach Across the Law School Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Using Korematsu In A Constitutional Law Course, Lorraine Bannai, Eric K. Yamamoto

Using Korematsu to Teach Across the Law School Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Using Korematsu To Teach Professional Responsibility (Word With Government Documents At End), Lorraine Bannai

Using Korematsu to Teach Across the Law School Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 Is Associated With Early Emergence Of Preeclampsia: Results From A Large Regional Collaborative, Yasmin G. Hasbini, Gregory Goyert, Adi L. Tarca, Madhurima Keerthy, Theodore Jones, Lisa Thiel, Pooja M. Green, Youssef Youssef, Courtney Townsel, Shyla Vengalil, Paige Paladino, Amy Wright, Mariam Ayyash, Gayathri Vadlamudi, Marta Szymanska, Sonia Sajja, Grace Sterenberg, Michael Baracy, Karlee Grace, Kaitlyn Houston, Jessica Norman, Dereje W. Gudicha, Robert J. Sokol, Ray Bahado-Singh, Sonia S. Hassan

Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health Services Meeting Abstracts

Objective: To examine the relationship between COVID-19 and preeclampsia (PreE) in a large, diverse population.

Study Design: The COVID-19 in Pregnancy and The Newborn: State of Michigan Collaborative established a database of pregnant patients admitted to 14 institutions in Southern Michigan. Patients with COVID-19 (cases) were matched to 2 or 3 non-COVID patients (controls) on the same unit within 30 days of each case. Relative Risks (RR) were calculated using robust Poisson regression models with adjustment for covariates. Chi-squared test for trend was used to assess the increase in risk with the severity of disease.

Results: 369 cases and 1,090 …

Racial Disparities And Risk For Covid-19 Among Pregnant Patients: Results From The Michigan Statewide Collaborative, Inara Ismailova, Robert J. Sokol, Dereje W. Gudicha, Yasmin G. Hasbini, Adi L. Tarca, Pooja M. Green, Theodore Jones, Gregory Goyert, Lisa Thiel, Youssef Youssef, Courtney Townsel, Shyla Vengalil, Paige Paladino, Amy Wright, Mariam Ayyash, Gayathri Vadlamudi, Marta Szymanska, Sonia Sajja, Grace Sterenberg, Michael Baracy Jr., Karlee Grace, Kaitlyn Houston, Jessica Norman, Ray Bahado-Singh, Sonia S. Hassan

Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health Services Meeting Abstracts

Objective: Previous studies have looked at COVID-19 outcomes in pregnancy and racial disparities among patients with COVID-19, but few have studied racial disparities among pregnant patients with COVID-19. Our goal in this study is to analyze the relationship between race and disparate COVID-19 risk in pregnancy.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort analysis was performed on data collected as part of the COVID-19 in Pregnancy and The Newborn: State of Michigan Collaborative, a database of pregnant patients admitted to 14 institutions in Southern Michigan. Cases were defined as patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result. Controls, those with suspicion of COVID-19 …

The Transcription Factor Nfe2l2a Is Required For Development Of Hematopoietic Stem Cells In The Zebrafish Embryo, Sivam Bhatt, Teerth Patel, Madeleine Seputro, Anubhav Thapaliya, Erich Damm

UROP Posters

Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) are the self-renewing population of cells that generate all erythrocytes and leukocytes over the lifetime of a vertebrate organism. HSCs are also the therapeutic units of curative bone marrow transplants used in the treatment of blood malignancies and in gene therapy for genetic blood disorders. In all vertebrate embryos, HSCs originate from the floor of the embryonic dorsal aorta during the endothelial to hematopoietic transition. Nascent HSCs will bud into the blood vessel and be carried to maturation sites by the embryonic blood flow. Despite the curative potential of HSC transplants in blood disorders, this approach …

The Human Louse Microbiome Insights Into Insect-Bacterial Coevolution And Consequences For Vector Capacity, Kirthana Srinivasan

UROP Posters

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Social Media Use And Depression And Anxiety Symptoms During Covid-19, Tene'sha L. Crews, Christina Sheerin

UROP Posters

The rise of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a global surge in exposure to disaster and crisis-related media. Increases in poor mental health outcomes such as anxiety and depression, are associated with increased exposure to such media content (Abbas et al., 2021; Riehm et al., 2020; Zhao & Zhou, 2020). In recent years, social media has become one of the most widely used sources for news; approximately 48% of adult Americans receive their news from social media (Pew Research Center, 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in social media use due to social distancing and …

Comparison Of Free Versus Encapsulated Drugs On 3t3 Differentiation, Simon H. Friedrich, Gabriel Volpe

UROP Posters

The scope of this project was to design, synthesize and test targeted nanoparticles containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs that promote browning in adipose tissue. For hydrophilic drugs the use of liposomes and their hydrophilic core is more useful than the PLGA nanoparticles which have hydrophobic cores. The inhibition of the FOXO1 pathway and modulation of autophagy in adipose tissue can promote browning of white adipose tissue, or an energy burning state where excess energy is burned as heat instead of stored in the cell. If successful, these drugs would offer an alternative treatment for obesity where changes to the patient's …

Mental Health Among Chicanos And Chicanas: Barriers To Mental Health Care, Consequences Of Disparities, And Resources, Roma A. Kankaria, Shaheer Alam, Ananya Udyaver, Alyssa Sievers

UROP Posters

Mexican Americans, or Chicanos and Chicanas, face many barriers to mental health care. This literature review was conducted by the Collective Corazón—a VCU student organization, mentored by Dr. Indira Sultanić, that addresses Latinx health equity through service and advocacy—in order to examine the underlying causes and consequences of disparities in mental health in Chicanos and Chicanas. Some of the barriers that affect mental health care in Mexican Americans are racial inequities and discrimination, the societal and/or cultural stigma associated with receiving care, language barriers, lack of health insurance, and legal status. Furthermore, among Chicanos, machismo culture is associated with an …

Man Vs Machine: How Will Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Systems Impact Cancer Diagnosis And The Patient-Physician Relationship?, Aditya Kotha, Faye Prichard

UROP Posters

Oncologic diagnosticians are physicians who specialize in interpreting diagnostic exams to diagnose cancer in patients. Software companies have been developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems to interpret these exams to diagnose cancer. These AI systems may affect the traditional role of oncologic diagnosticians if they were to be implemented in the clinical setting. Therefore, I set out to answer my research question: How will AI and machine learning systems impact the roles of oncologic diagnosticians in diagnosing cancer and the patient-physician relationship? By analyzing surveys and studies, I examined the attitudes of oncologic diagnosticians versus cancer patients toward implementing AI systems …

Development And Usability Testing Of A Phr For Down’S Syndrome (Ds) Care Coordination, Jeffrey B. Duah, Elizabeth Baker Ph.D, Bethany Cosgrove Ph.D, Isosceles Lab

UROP Posters

Development and Usability Testing of a PHR for Down’s

Syndrome (DS) Care Coordination

Jeffrey Duah¹, UROP Fellow, Dept. of Computer Science, with Dr. Elizabeth Baker¹, Dept. of Information Systems, Dr. Bethany Cosgrove², School of Nursing, and ISOSCELES Lab¹

¹Virginia Commonwealth University ²UNC Chapel Hill

Parents of children with Down’s Syndrome typically have many health professionals they have to meet with which leads to the need to efficiently document the development of the child. With this, information management becomes a problem for a number of families. Dr. Bethany Cosgrove drafted 321Connect with …

The Association Between Survivors’ Guilt And Gratitude In The Belongingness Of First-Generation College Student Refugees, Mehwish Safdar, Chelsea Williams, Myriam Kadeba

UROP Posters

Refugees often experience a lot of stress and trauma before relocating to their host country (Leo, 2021). Additionally, they often continue to experience different challenges while adapting to their new environment (Leo, 2021). Refugees who relocate may experience survivor’s guilt, gratitude to their host country, or may not feel like a member in their new community. On top of new challenges and stressors, refugee students who are the first in their families to attend college feel pressure to excel academically in a way to ‘give back’ to their family and their host country (Turjanmaa & Jasinskaja-Lahti, 2020). Although there has …

Determining Effective Treatment Regimens For Breast Cancer Using Combined Immunotherapy And Chemotherapy In Vivo, Akhila R. Kunuthuru, Laura Graham, Harry D. Bear Md, Phd

UROP Posters

Breast cancer has the highest incidence rate of all cancers globally in women, and those of African descent, especially West African females, face higher rates of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a more aggressive form of breast cancer. Immunotherapy for breast cancer is a relatively new treatment option, and research is ongoing to identify the best combination treatments for increasing survival of those diagnosed with TNBC. Eganelisib (IPI-549: a PI3K-gamma inhibitor that works to shift M2 macrophages to M1 to augment T cell function) with other combinatory treatments has shown promising results in reducing tumor growth and increasing survival in mice. …

Spanish Translation And Psychometric Validation Of A Measure Of Acculturative Stress Among Latinx Immigrants In The Usa, Ria Grover, Kritzia Merced, Chimdindu Ohayagha, Isis Garcia-Rodriguez,, Oswaldo Moreno, Paul B. Perrin

UROP Posters

BACKGROUND: In the U.S., the Latinx community is growing at a faster rate than any other racial and ethnic minority group. Members of this community have been found to experience a number of acculturative stressors after immigrating including xenophobia, racism, and discrimination. Although several scales have been created in recent years to measure acculturative stress in Spanish-speaking immigrants, they are long, do not have nuanced subscales, or have not been validated in an extremely diverse sample of Latinx immigrants.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to translate and psychometrically validate the Riverside Acculturative Stress Inventory (RASI) in a …

Neonatal Blood Methylation Marks Associated With Obstetric Pain Relief, Charles J. Tran, Lin Y. Xie, Christina Hultman, Edwin Van Den Oord, Karolina A. Aberg

UROP Posters

The placenta, responsible for intrauterine development, can facilitate modifications within the placental epigenome in response to changes in the mother. In turn these changes have the potential to also influence the neonate¹. Pain relief during delivery is widely used and frequently involves the use of nitrous oxide (N₂O, commonly referred to as laughing gas), and pudendal blocks. These treatments, alone or in combination, are generally accepted as safe methods of providing pain relief to mothers. However, laughing gas and local anesthetics such as the ones used during pudendal blocks have been known to cross the placental …

Covid-19 Impact And The Association Between Sociodemographic, Social Support, Depression, And Anxiety In The Mindful Moms Program, Ashley Nguyen

UROP Posters

Background: The Covid-19 Pandemic lockdown resulted in lessened social support and a higher incidence of depressive symptoms in the United States. Low-income families were more likely to have experienced negative impacts on income, access to mental health treatment, stress, and discord within the family, and higher anxiety scores during the pandemic. Minority groups had higher COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates. More than 1 in 5 pregnant women in the United States experience clinically significant depressive symptoms, with marginalized populations carrying a greater burden. Maternal depression is linked to poor maternal and child health outcomes.

Depression scores of pregnant individuals during …

Exploring Cell Differentiation Vs. Localization In Engineered Ligament-To-Bone Entheses, Saagar N. Sheth, Michael E. Brown, Jennifer L. Puetzer

UROP Posters

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) connects to bone via structurally complex insertions known as entheses that translate load from elastic ligament and stiff bone via gradients in organization, composition, and cell phenotype [1]. These gradients are not recreated in graft repair or engineered replacements, yielding limited repair options and high failure rates [2]. Previously, we developed a culture system that uses a tensile-compressive interface to guide ligament fibroblasts to develop early postnatal-like entheses by 6 weeks [3]; however, cells used were isolated from the entirety of the neonatal bovine ACL from bone to bone and likely contained multiple cell phenotypes …

Developing A Model Of Aged Decellularized Muscle Matrix With Advanced Glycation Cross-Linking, Ammar Jawad, Scott Pennebaker, Lucas C. Olson, Tri M. Nguyen, Barbara D. Boyan, Zvi Schwartz, Michael J. Mcclure

UROP Posters

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) has been found to overwhelm muscle regeneration, resulting in loss of long-term muscle functionality. Decellularized muscle matrices (DMMs) provide an effective environment for muscle regeneration; however, the age of their source has not been adequately explored for clinical translation. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are chemical cross-links that contribute to the aging process by accumulating on collagen fibers, resulting in a stiffening of the collagenous matrix and an increase in inflammation via the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). In previous experiments, we found increased levels of AGE-specific cross-links within DMMs in old mice compared to young …

Observing Gravitropism In Brassica Rapa Roots, Trang Ly, Maya O'Callagham, Lan Poeschl, Adil Saeed, George Zorn

UROP Posters

The objective of this experiment is to observe the effect of gravitropism on the orientation of Brassica rapa (B. rapa) roots. Specifically, amyloplasts that reside at the bottom of root tips act as gravity sensors. As plants are disturbed from upright orientation, roots automatically grow according to the downward pull of gravity. It is hypothesized that as the angle of rotation increases, the angle of root growth is inversely proportional. Five plants containing four seeds of B. rapa were grown over the course of 10 days. Each plates, aside from the control, were rotated once 90°, 80°, and 270° to …

Introductory Pages, Laura Owen, Christopher W. Tremblay, Diana Camilo, Patrick J. O'Connor Phd

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Academic Aspirations And Career Uncertainty On Students’ College Outcomes, Mary Edwin, Hannah Pulse, Nour Alhiyari, David Salvatierra, Claire Martin, Rachel Gaglio

Journal of College Access

Between the fall of 2009 and 2019, total postsecondary institution enrollment in the United States decreased by 5%, and for those students who do enroll in college, many who lack clear career objectives drop out, making the U.S. the nation with the highest college dropout rate in the industrialized world. Students’ academic aspirations and career certainty have been shown to impact college outcomes. However, the impact of career uncertainty and academic aspirations on students’ college outcomes has not been studied nationally. Using binomial regression analyses and a nationally representative sample (N = 23,503) of high school students, we investigated …

A National Investigation On The Effect Of College Readiness Counseling On Postsecondary Outcomes, Dana L. Brookover, Kaprea Johnson

Journal of College Access

The current study utilized the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, from the National Center for Education Statistics, to conduct a longitudinal investigation into how access to school counseling impacts postsecondary outcomes. Findings indicate that school counselor time spent college readiness counseling, in addition to lower student socioeconomic status and identifying as multiracial, were predictive of lesser odds of college attainment and persistence. The results of the current study offer practice, policy, and training implications.

Book Review: Early Colleges As A Model For Schooling: Creating New Pathways For Access To Higher Education, Christopher W. Tremblay

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.

College Access After Covid, Patrick J. O'Connor Phd

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.

Attitudes About Cybersecurity Articulation Agreements And Transfer Students: A Statewide Survey Of Faculty Members And Advisors, Brian K. Payne, Tracy Vandecar-Burdin, Daniela Cigularova

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

In this study, cybersecurity faculty and academic advisors from community colleges and 4-year universities in the southeast region of the United States completed a survey assessing attitudes about and support for articulation agreements and related transfer policies. Hypothesizing that professional structures shape attitudes and experiences, the researchers conducted an exploratory quantitative study with primarily descriptive analyses. The results reveal differences in attitudes between community college and 4-year stakeholders and between faculty and academic advisors. The results of this study are discussed in relation to faculty and advisor training and communication.