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Identification Of Candidate Dna Methylation Biomarkers Related To Alzheimer’S Disease Risk By Integrating Genome And Blood Methylome Data, Yanfa Sun, Jingjing Zhu, Yaohua Yang, Zichen Zhang, Hua Zhong, Guanghua Zeng, Dan Zhou, Richard S Nowakowski, Jirong Long, Chong Wu, Lang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with a late onset. It is critical to identify novel blood-based DNA methylation biomarkers to better understand the extent of the molecular pathways affected in AD. Two sets of blood DNA methylation genetic prediction models developed using different reference panels and modelling strategies were leveraged to evaluate associations of genetically predicted DNA methylation levels with AD risk in 111,326 (46,828 proxy) cases and 677,663 controls. A total of 1,168 cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites showed a significant association with AD risk at a false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05. Methylation levels of 196 CpG sites were correlated with expression levels of 130 adjacent genes in blood. Overall, 52 CpG sites of 32 genes showed consistent association directions for the methylation-gene expression-AD risk, including nine genes (CNIH4, THUMPD3, SERPINB9, MTUS1, CISD1, FRAT2, CCDC88B, FES, and SSH2) firstly reported as AD risk genes. Nine of 32 genes were enriched in dementia and AD disease categories (P values ranged from 1.85 × 10-4 to 7.46 × 10-6), and 19 genes in a neurological disease network (score = 54) were also observed. Our findings improve the understanding of genetics and etiology for AD.

Our Weird Living World, Saugat Bolakhe

Capstones

The series of articles featured in this portfolio dives into the weirdest and most unique natural phenomena that power and sustain our living world. It features the eccentric worlds of microbes that have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain entire underground ecosystems, birds that go on to choosing vocal coaches based on sounds they hear as embryos, moths that keep on blinding children in Nepal, algae and their cost of adapting in warming oceans and female insects that hide cryptic sex for their survival.

Link: https://saugatbol.wixsite.com/saugat-bolakhe

The Pima County Jail In A “State Of Full-Blown Crisis”: Inmate Deaths Four Times The National Average, Natalie Robbins

Capstones

Last year, 12 inmates died in custody at the Pima County Jail in Tucson, Arizona. With a 10-year average jail population of 1,827, that is a per capita rate of 656.8 deaths per 100,000 inmates.

According to the most recent data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the 2019 national local jail mortality rate was 167 deaths for every 100,000 inmates, making the Pima County Jail’s 2022 per capita death rate nearly four times as high as the national average in 2019.

In a December 2022 memo to the Pima County Board of Supervisors, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos wrote …

“Unsanitary, Rundown, Everything Is Broken”: The Reality Of Queer Homeless Shelters, Sunjum Nagpaul

Capstones

Despite the larger need for queer-designated shelters, there are only a handful of them out of hundreds of city shelters. Most of them are for youth except Marsha’s House, located in Belmont in the Bronx, which has an age limit of 30. It also comes with a slew of concerns, like staff who are unfamiliar with LGBTQ+ issues and a layout that can exclude those with physical disabilities. What’s more, queer residents face many of the same challenges others homeless do: dirty and unsanitary facilities that never seem to improve.

https://medium.com/@sunny.nagpaul/unsanitary-rundown-everything-is-broken-the-reality-of-homeless-shelters-fd2940f6b862

Local Composters Carve New Path Amid Budget Cuts, Nicolas J. Magrino

Capstones

This piece focuses on how New York City’s composting programs have adjusted after losing funding from the city government at the beginning of 2024. While there has been coverage about the issue at a larger policy level, there has not been a lot of attention paid to the small local gardens who are just as affected by this change as the larger organizations. The piece interrogates the issue from the bottom up, starting with small community gardens and ending with the larger organizations that support their work. It also looks at the issue from the perspective of the Department of …

Exodus: The Cost Of Leaving High-Control Religion And Life After Breaking Free, Hannah-Kathryn Valles

Capstones

There are many names for those who leave their faith community—apostate, heretic, dissenter. While there is no singular path to parting with one’s religious beliefs, the experience can be fraught and intensely painful. For those in high-control religious environments, the price of leaving is even steeper.

When identity, social connections, finances, and family structures are dependent on conforming to strict religious and ideological norms, the decision to leave can have far-reaching consequences. For those who do make the bold decision to leave, it’s hardly the end of the road. In many ways, leaving is just the first step toward finding …

The False Promise That Guilt-Free Flying Is Just Around The Corner, Amanda Braitman

Capstones

Airlines are spending big bucks advertising “sustainable aviation fuel,” but some experts say it's greenwashing.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19ZejyJBgPGgleNXOWrHXKGF5WI1poQ8OyxSKg8PBNZI/edit?usp=sharing

Appearance Teasing And Identity Formation Amongst Young Adults: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Sneha Yadav, Shagun Shagun, Koko Veerning Moyon, Divya Bhanot

The Qualitative Report

Appearance teasing (AT) is such a widespread phenomenon that to discount its meaning, impact, and severity on the lives of those who are teased would be a mistake. This study aims to explore the lived experiences of Indian youths who have been appearance-teased by their close friends and family, how they perceive it has impacted their senses of self and identity and to understand their coping strategies that help them manage the negative effects of AT. Data was collected via semi structured interviews with six young adults and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Analysis of the transcripts reveals five master …

Neurodivergent Artists In Nyc, Brianna R. Poulos

Capstones

Workplaces, classrooms, and creative studios are just a few examples of everyday spaces that are largely designed with neurotypical norms in mind. Creating, sharing, and funding a creative vision is difficult for any artist, but these struggles are amplified for artists with intellectual disabilities who may have been overlooked or not given the same opportunities.

Over the last 18 months, journalist Brianna Rebecca Poulos has worked with neurodivergent artists in New York City and non-profits already working to serve this community of creatives. Brianna created a landing page to help neurodivergent artists in New York City access important information about …

The Cost Of The Crunch: Ethical Chocolate In New York City, Rachel J. Goldman

Capstones

Within the past few years since the Supreme Court ruled in favor Big Chocolate companies, awareness about the ethical problems with industrial chocolate continue to penetrate public consciousness. There is a rise in boutique chocolate manufacturing around New York City, but how viable is it for every New Yorker?

The Cost of the Crunch: Ethical Chocolate in New York City | by Rachel Goldman | Dec, 2023 | Medium

Documents From The December 13, 2023 Meeting Of The University Of Montana Staff Senate, University Of Montana--Missoula. Staff Senate

University of Montana Staff Senate Meeting Minutes

Agenda and meeting minutes from the December 13th 2023 meeting of the University of Montana Staff Senate.

Highlights include Secretary election and Presentation by VP for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Zach Rossmiller.

Epigenomic Mapping Reveals Distinct B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Chromatin Architectures And Regulators, Kelly R Barnett, Robert J Mobley, Jonathan D Diedrich, Brennan P Bergeron, Kashi Raj Bhattarai, Alexander C Monovich, Shilpa Narina, Wenjian Yang, Kristine R Crews, Christopher S Manring, Elias Jabbour, Elisabeth Paietta, Mark R Litzow, Steven M Kornblau, Wendy Stock, Hiroto Inaba, Sima Jeha, Ching-Hon Pui, Charles G Mullighan, Mary V Relling, Shondra M Pruett-Miller, Russell J H Ryan, Jun J Yang, William E Evans, Daniel Savic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

B cell lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is composed of diverse molecular subtypes, and while transcriptional and DNA methylation profiling has been extensively examined, the chromatin landscape is not well characterized for many subtypes. We therefore mapped chromatin accessibility using ATAC-seq in primary B-ALL cells from 156 patients spanning ten molecular subtypes and present this dataset as a resource. Differential chromatin accessibility and transcription factor (TF) footprint profiling were employed and identified B-ALL cell of origin, TF-target gene interactions enriched in B-ALL, and key TFs associated with accessible chromatin sites preferentially active in B-ALL. We further identified over 20% of …

Monitoring Glucocorticoid Receptor In Plasma-Derived Extracellular Vesicles As A Marker Of Resistance To Androgen Receptor Signaling Inhibition In Prostate Cancer, Emanuela Gentile, Andrew W Hahn, Jian H Song, Anh Hoang, Peter D A Shepherd, Sumankalai Ramachandran, Nora M Navone, Eleni Efstathiou, Mark Titus, Paul G Corn, Sue-Hwa Lin, Christopher J Logothetis, Theocharis Panaretakis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Disease progression following androgen ablation was shown to be associated with upregulation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Longitudinal monitoring of GR expression in circulating extracellular vesicles (EV) may reflect changes in the tumor cell and facilitates detection of acquired resistance. We utilized LNCaP, LREX cells and a patient-derived xenograft, MDA PDX 322-2-6a, for in vitro and in vivo experiments. Plasma-derived EVs were isolated from patients with localized high-risk prostate cancer undergoing androgen ablation. The mRNA levels of GR in EVs and their responsive genes were detected by transcriptome analysis, qRT-PCR and the protein levels by Western blot analysis. We detected …

Addressing Chronic Violence From A Gendered Perspective: Fostering People-Centered Approaches At The National Level (Case Study: Mexico), Elena B. Stavrevska, Nattecia Nerene Bohardsingh, María Dolores Hernández Montoya, Tania Cecilia Martínez, Briana Mawby, Aliza Carns

Kroc IPJ Research and Resources

Violence has traditionally been viewed through the lens of armed conflict or specific, concrete violent incidents. However, it is necessary to understand that violence may be a chronic phenomenon— a persistent, deeply ingrained aggression affecting daily lives.

The report makes the case for reconceptualizing violence in the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and gender equality fields, building upon feminist conceptions of the continuum of violence to recognize that societal structures, systemic discrimination and even pervasive cultural norms can be sources of violence. This comprehensive view has significant implications for policy, demanding multisectoral strategies that address not just symptoms but the …

Midweek Memo, Georgia Southern University

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Sticks, Naomi Karen Miller

Theses

Sticks is a thesis consisting of allegorical sculptural objects informed by chairs and inspired by a transgender woman’s personal narrative. Derived from personal anecdotes and feelings, the objects form a constellation of moments in time. The body of work primarily consists of burned wooden chairs. The chairs are analogous to the self. Fire is applied to the chair to document change. My work is about the ways an individual is changed by small moments of interaction. It explores the relationship between identity, observation, perception, and time.

Mmmworld: Health Modern Food, Xindi Wang

Theses

The societal concern for maintaining a healthy lifestyle has endured the test of time, especially given the transformative impact of globalization, urbanization, and industrialization on dietary patterns. The evolution of eating habits, propelled by the modernization of societies, has ushered in unprecedented changes in the way people consume and engage with food. While modern diets offer unparalleled convenience and variety, they also introduce a plethora of industrially processed products, contributing to the inadvertent neglect of the intrinsic value of natural ingredients. This shift has, in turn, resulted in profound implications for human health, giving rise to an increase in chronic …

Postmortem Minimally Invasive Tissue Sampling In Communities: Exploring Perceptions Of Families, Funeral Workers, Religious And Community Leaders And Healthcare Providers From Pakistan, Nazia Ahsan, Fauzia Aman Malik, Waliyah Mughis, Rawshan Jabeen, Shaheen Mehboob, Raheel Allana, Syeda Quratulain, Saima Jamal Saima Jamal, Christina R. Paganelli, Abdul Momin Kazi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Minimally invasive tissue sampling (MITS) has increasingly been used to improve the diagnosis of disease and identification of the cause of death, particularly in underserved areas. However, there are multiple barriers to accessing those who die within the community, our study aimed to explore the perceptions and insights of community members and healthcare providers regarding the feasibility of implementing MITS in community settings.
Methods: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted. A total of twenty one in-depth interviews were conducted with deceased infants' parents, elders of the family, religious leaders, community leaders, and funeral workers. Focus group discussions were conducted …

Developing A Hypothetical Research Study Through Scaffolding: An Approach Used In A Graduate Clinical Mental Health Counseling Research Course, Tracy N. Baker

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Conducting research at any level can be daunting, especially for students interested in pursuing helping professions, and have no desire to conduct research professionally. The goal of this redefined research assignment was two-fold: 1) address AI concerns experienced in higher education and, 2) mentor students in the development of a hypothetical research study. Students are encouraged to select participants and variables of interest within the first two weeks of the course. Scaffolded throughout the semester, students submit weekly assignments on their progress, including annotated bibliographies of relevant literature, descriptions of the selected variables and populations, and their proposed methodology: which …

Judicial Threats To Olmstead And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Jean Mangan, Andrea L. Dennis

Scholarly Works

The authors examine the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Olmstead v L.C. ex rel. Zimring and related Supreme Court rulings that could raise questions about the Americans With Disabilities Act's guarantee of care in integrated settings and about which governmental entity's interpretation should be respected when deciding whether a state has met its integration obligation. After reviewing statutes, administrative regulations, and judicial decisions, the authors conclude that Olmstead's integration mandate will likely stand, but actions should be taken to codify the rule in federal and state statutes so that governmental agencies will continue to have the authority to ensure compliance …

Trans/Feminist Collaborative Autoethnographic Storying Of Gender-Based Violence, During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lesley Murray, Jessica Moriarty, Amanda Holt, Sian Lewis, Mel Parks

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

The COVID-19 crisis has spotlighted particular insidious social problems, including gender-based violence (GBV), and their relationship with movement and confinement. As well as changing configurations of GBV, the experience of the global pandemic and the immobilities of national lockdowns have created space to imagine GBV – to connect with past experiences in the context of our rethinking of current experiences across multiple spaces. In this article we explicate a transdisciplinary feminist collaborative autoethnographic storying of GBV during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the ‘trans/feminist methodology’ of Pryse (2000), we seek to contribute knowledge of GBV through the lens of COVID-19 …

Modbed Track: Visualization Of Modified Bases In Single-Molecule Sequencing, Daofeng Li, Xiaoyu Zhuo, Jessica K Harrison, Shane Liu, Ting Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Recent advances in long-read sequencing technologies have not only dramatically increased sequencing read length but also have improved the accuracy of detecting chemical modifications to the canonical nucleotide bases, thus opening exciting venues to investigate the epigenome. Currently, the ability to visualize modified bases from long-read sequencing data in genome browsers is still limited, preventing users from easily and fully exploring these type of data. To address this limitation, the WashU Epigenome Browser introduces the modbed track type, which provides visualization of modification details in each single read as well as aggregated modifications of individual or multiple molecules across a …

Decreased Fxr Agonism In The Bile Acid Pool Is Associated With Impaired Fxr Signaling In A Pig Model Of Pediatric Nafld, Magdalena A Maj, Douglas G Burrin, Rodrigo Manjarín

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The objective of this study was to investigate whether the impairment of farnesoid X receptor (FXR)-fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) signaling in juvenile pigs with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with changes in the composition of the enterohepatic bile acid pool. Eighteen 15-day-old Iberian pigs, pair-housed in pens, were allocated to receive either a control (CON) or high-fructose, high-fat (HFF) diet. Animals were euthanized in week 10, and liver, blood, and distal ileum (DI) samples were collected. HFF-fed pigs developed NAFLD and had decreased FGF19 expression in the DI and lower FGF19 levels in the blood. Compared with …

A Multicenter Evaluation Of Pediatric Emergency Department Injury Visits During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Holly R Hanson, Margaret Formica, Danielle Laraque-Arena, Mark R Zonfrillo, Puja Desai, Joseph O O'Neil, Purnima Unni, Estell Lenita Johnson, Patricia Cobb, Maneesha Agarwal, Kristen Beckworth, Stephanie Schroter, Stephen Strotmeyer, Katie A Donnelly, Leah K Middelberg, Amber M Morse, James Dodington, Richard F Latuska, Brit Anderson, Karla A Lawson, Michael Valente, Michael N Levas, Andrew Waititu Kiragu, Kathy Monroe, Stephanie M Ruest, Lois K Lee, Tanya Charyk Stewart, Megan M Attridge, Maya Haasz, Mubeen Jafri, Alicia Mcintire, Steven C Rogers, Neil G Uspal, Ashley Blanchard, Max D Hazeltine, Teresa Riech, Charles Jennissen, Lynn Model, Quinney Fu, Lindsay D Clukies, David Juang, Michelle T Ruda, Jose M Prince, Stephanie Chao, Brian K Yorkgitis, Wendy J Pomerantz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Injuries, the leading cause of death in children 1-17 years old, are often preventable. Injury patterns are impacted by changes in the child's environment, shifts in supervision, and caregiver stressors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence and proportion of injuries, mechanisms, and severity seen in Pediatric Emergency Departments (PEDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: This multicenter, cross-sectional study from January 2019 through December 2020 examined visits to 40 PEDs for children < 18 years old. Injury was defined by at least one International Classification of Disease-10th revision (ICD-10) code for bodily injury (S00-T78). The main study outcomes were total and proportion of PED injury-related visits compared to all visits in March through December 2020 and to the same months in 2019. Weekly injury visits as a percentage of total PED visits were calculated for all weeks between January 2019 and December 2020.

RESULTS: The study included 741,418 PED visits for injuries pre-COVID-19 pandemic (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Overall PED visits from all causes …

The Accuracy Of Flap Thickness And Diameter In Lasik Using A Femtosecond Laser, Stephen A Wexler, Brad Hall

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To evaluate the resultant thickness of the WaveLight FS200 (Alcon Vision, LLC) created LASIK flap compared to intended thickness at the surgical visit, using the WaveLight EX500 (Alcon Vision, LLC) pachymeter and the resultant flap diameter compared to intended diameter.

METHODS: This single arm, prospective, single surgeon study assessed the accuracy of the intended flap thickness and diameter, after successful bilateral LASIK surgery. The WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser was used to create all flaps with an intended thickness of 120 μm. Flap thickness was calculated by subtracting the stromal bed thickness after flap lift from the preoperative corneal thickness …

A Multicenter Evaluation Of Pediatric Emergency Department Injury Visits During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Holly R Hanson, Puja Desai, Lindsay D Clukies, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Injuries, the leading cause of death in children 1-17 years old, are often preventable. Injury patterns are impacted by changes in the child's environment, shifts in supervision, and caregiver stressors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence and proportion of injuries, mechanisms, and severity seen in Pediatric Emergency Departments (PEDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: This multicenter, cross-sectional study from January 2019 through December 2020 examined visits to 40 PEDs for children < 18 years old. Injury was defined by at least one International Classification of Disease-10th revision (ICD-10) code for bodily injury (S00-T78). The main study outcomes were total and proportion of PED injury-related visits compared to all visits in March through December 2020 and to the same months in 2019. Weekly injury visits as a percentage of total PED visits were calculated for all weeks between January 2019 and December 2020.

RESULTS: The study included 741,418 PED visits for injuries pre-COVID-19 pandemic (2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020). Overall PED visits from all causes …

E-Governance: The Implication Of Next Social Generation Welfare Information System, Yaya Mulyana Abdul Aziz, Andre Ariesmansyah

Smart City

Accelerating bureaucracy can be performed by e-governance present in order to improve the quality of government administration in the world. E-governance draft is closely related to the development of information and communication technology (ICT) globally. One form of embodiment of e-governance is the implementation of a smart city. smart cities are expected to be able to become a liaison between the demands of the community in appropriate, effective, and efficient services from the city government, by utilizing ICT. There are various related definitions of smart city in this world. One of them is as explained by Nam and Pardo who …

Is Tenure Enough?: Reproductive Healthcare And Academic Precarity, Lisa Vandenbossche

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This piece focuses on insurance and parental leave. While it feels like we know in the abstract that insurance and leave policies are important concerns for faculty members, and employees across all industries, conversations about them by and large taken place in informal settings – through mentorship or personal conversations between friends. In reconstructing these informal information networks, this article seeks to make visible ways that leave policies impact career decisions by women academics. We need to start seeing employee benefits as a reflection of institutional values, to ask about them when considering employment, and to have these conversations with …

Care And Pregnancy Loss, Chelsea Phillips

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

In the wake of the Dobbs decision, new legislation across the U.S. has created ambiguity around the access to and legality of interventions for pregnancy loss in certain states. This essay situates our current legal landscape in opposition to that of the eighteenth-century, where care and preservation of the pregnant person were a guiding priority.

Abortion In The Fiction Of Laclos, Rousseau, Isabelle De Charrière, Montesquieu, Servanne Woodward

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Eighteenth-century French fiction containing episodes on abortion are influenced by the seventeenth-century scandal of La Voisin, and by the 1731 legal suit involving the Jesuit Priest Père Girard and Catherine Cadière. Two observations may be derived from eighteenth-century French novels: women's abortions are monitored, instigated, and decided by fathers, husbands and lovers, who select for them, if they are to remain celibate, and whose children they bear. And as well, abortion tests or reveals the limits of a woman’s individual freedom and right to care for herself.