Digital Commons Network^™

Biophysical Properties Of Trophoblast Placental Plasma Membrane, Nelly-Raissa Setchie-Tchato

Theses - ALL

The lack of experimental research on a woman’s placenta due to ethical restrictions has led to little to no research on the biophysical changes at the molecular level that a woman undergoes during pregnancy. This research aims to understand biophysical changes in placental trophoblast cells that facilitate diffusion between maternal and fetal blood during the first and third trimesters. It is challenging to comprehend the function of the placental trophoblast lipid membrane in regulating molecular transport between the mother and placental trophoblast cells due to inadequate in vitro models. For this reason, we utilized recent findings on the lipid compositions …

Discovering The Kinetic Behaviors Of Zeolites Of Mordenite, Ferrierite, Faujasite, Beta, Weixuan Huang

Theses - ALL

Fossil fuels have played a significant role in the development of nations. However, they have also given rise to various societal problems. In this context, Gamma-Valerolactone (GVL) emerges as a potential solution as a fuel additive and feedstock for the production of gasoline, jet fuel, and other products. GVL can undergo decarboxylation reactions facilitated by zeolite catalysts. Surprisingly, it has been observed that reactions taking place on different zeolites, despite having similar Brønsted acid site densities, exhibit distinct simulated initial rates. This research aims to compare the initial rate trends of mordenite and its poisoned derivatives with those of the …

Biophysical Properties Of Trophoblast Placental Plasma Membrane, Nelly-Raissa Setchie-Tchato

Theses - ALL

The lack of experimental research on a woman’s placenta due to ethical restrictions has led to little to no research on the biophysical changes at the molecular level that a woman undergoes during pregnancy. This research aims to understand biophysical changes in placental trophoblast cells that facilitate diffusion between maternal and fetal blood during the first and third trimesters. It is challenging to comprehend the function of the placental trophoblast lipid membrane in regulating molecular transport between the mother and placental trophoblast cells due to inadequate in vitro models. For this reason, we utilized recent findings on the lipid compositions …

Discovering The Kinetic Behaviors Of Zeolites Of Mordenite, Ferrierite, Faujasite, Beta, Weixuan Huang

Theses - ALL

Fossil fuels have played a significant role in the development of nations. However, they have also given rise to various societal problems. In this context, Gamma-Valerolactone (GVL) emerges as a potential solution as a fuel additive and feedstock for the production of gasoline, jet fuel, and other products. GVL can undergo decarboxylation reactions facilitated by zeolite catalysts. Surprisingly, it has been observed that reactions taking place on different zeolites, despite having similar Brønsted acid site densities, exhibit distinct simulated initial rates. This research aims to compare the initial rate trends of mordenite and its poisoned derivatives with those of the …

Parenting Practices In Adolescence And Their Influence On Subsequent Eating Disorders, Dominica Colavito

Theses - ALL

Eating disorders in adolescents have increased in recent years. Risk factors for eating disorders come from many domains of life, though there seems to be a gap in knowledge on the effects of family environment, more specifically parenting practices, and their influence on eating disorder pathology. This paper seeks to investigate parenting practices as risk factors for eating disorders, including Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN), in adolescents. Given increased prevalence, there is a need for updated conversations on risk factors and influences on eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa to contribute to new prevention and …

Multiomics Analyses Reveal Dars1-As1/Ybx1-Controlled Posttranscriptional Circuits Promoting Glioblastoma Tumorigenesis/Radioresistance, Caishang Zheng, Yanjun Wei, Qiang Zhang, Ming Sun, Yunfei Wang, Jiakai Hou, Peng Zhang, Xiangdong Lv, Dan Su, Yujie Jiang, Joy Gumin, Nidhi Sahni, Baoli Hu, Wenyi Wang, Xi Chen, Daniel J Mcgrail, Chaolin Zhang, Suyun Huang, Han Xu, Junjie Chen, Frederick F Lang, Jian Hu, Yiwen Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The glioblastoma (GBM) stem cell-like cells (GSCs) are critical for tumorigenesis/therapeutic resistance of GBM. Mounting evidence supports tumor-promoting function of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), but their role in GSCs remains poorly understood. By combining CRISPRi screen with orthogonal multiomics approaches, we identified a lncRNA DARS1-AS1-controlled posttranscriptional circuitry that promoted the malignant properties of GBM cells/GSCs. Depleting DARS1-AS1 inhibited the proliferation of GBM cells/GSCs and self-renewal of GSCs, prolonging survival in orthotopic GBM models. DARS1-AS1 depletion also impaired the homologous recombination (HR)-mediated double-strand break (DSB) repair and enhanced the radiosensitivity of GBM cells/GSCs. Mechanistically, DARS1-AS1 interacted with YBX1 to promote …

Innate Immune System In The Context Of Radiation Therapy For Cancer, Boopathi Ettickan, Robert Den, Chellappagounder Thangavel

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Radiation therapy (RT) remains an integral component of modern oncology care, with most cancer patients receiving radiation as a part of their treatment plan. The main goal of ionizing RT is to control the local tumor burden by inducing DNA damage and apoptosis within the tumor cells. The advancement in RT, including intensity-modulated RT (IMRT), stereotactic body RT (SBRT), image-guided RT, and proton therapy, have increased the efficacy of RT, equipping clinicians with techniques to ensure precise and safe administration of radiation doses to tumor cells. In this review, we present the technological advancement in various types of RT methods …

Proteomic Profiling Across Breast Cancer Cell Lines And Models, Marian Kalocsay, Matthew J Berberich, Robert A Everley, Maulik K Nariya, Mirra Chung, Benjamin Gaudio, Chiara Victor, Gary A Bradshaw, Robyn J Eisert, Marc Hafner, Peter K Sorger, Caitlin E Mills, Kartik Subramanian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We performed quantitative proteomics on 60 human-derived breast cancer cell line models to a depth of ~13,000 proteins. The resulting high-throughput datasets were assessed for quality and reproducibility. We used the datasets to identify and characterize the subtypes of breast cancer and showed that they conform to known transcriptional subtypes, revealing that molecular subtypes are preserved even in under-sampled protein feature sets. All datasets are freely available as public resources on the LINCS portal. We anticipate that these datasets, either in isolation or in combination with complimentary measurements such as genomics, transcriptomics and phosphoproteomics, can be mined for the purpose …

Csf1r Regulates Schizophrenia-Related Stress Response And Vascular Association Of Microglia/Macrophages, Ling Yan, Yanli Li, Fengmei Fan, Mengzhuang Gou, Fangling Xuan, Wei Feng, Keerthana Chithanathan, Wei Li, Junchao Huang, Hongna Li, Wenjin Chen, Baopeng Tian, Zhiren Wang, Shuping Tan, Alexander Zharkovsky, L Elliot Hong, Yunlong Tan, Li Tian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Microglia are known to regulate stress and anxiety in both humans and animal models. Psychosocial stress is the most common risk factor for the development of schizophrenia. However, how microglia/brain macrophages contribute to schizophrenia is not well established. We hypothesized that effector molecules expressed in microglia/macrophages were involved in schizophrenia via regulating stress susceptibility.

METHODS: We recruited a cohort of first episode schizophrenia (FES) patients (n = 51) and age- and sex-paired healthy controls (HCs) (n = 46) with evaluated stress perception. We performed blood RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) and brain magnetic resonance imaging, and measured plasma level of colony stimulating …

Spatial Transcriptomics Of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms Of The Pancreas Identifies Nkx6-2 As A Driver Of Gastric Differentiation And Indolent Biological Potential, Marta Sans, Yuki Makino, Jimin Min, Kimal I Rajapakshe, Michele Yip-Schneider, C Max Schmidt, Mark W Hurd, Jared K Burks, Javier A Gomez, Fredrik I Thege, Johannes F Fahrmann, Robert A Wolff, Michael P Kim, Paola A Guerrero, Anirban Maitra

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms (IPMNs) of the pancreas are bona fide precursor lesions of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The most common subtype of IPMNs harbor a gastric foveolar-type epithelium, and these low-grade mucinous neoplasms are harbingers of IPMNs with high-grade dysplasia and cancer. The molecular underpinning of gastric differentiation in IPMNs is unknown, although identifying drivers of this indolent phenotype might enable opportunities for intercepting progression to high-grade IPMN and cancer. We conducted spatial transcriptomics on a cohort of IPMNs, followed by orthogonal and cross species validation studies, which established the transcription factor NKX6-2 as a key determinant of gastric …

Revolutionising Health Care: Exploring The Latest Advances In Medical Sciences, Gehendra Mahara, Cuihong Tian, Xiaojia Xu, Wei Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recent years have seen a revolution in the domain of medical science, with ground-breaking discoveries changing health care as we once knew it [1]. These advances have considerably improved disease diagnosis, treatment, and management, improving patient outcomes and quality of life [2–5]. . . .

Disordered Eating Behaviors In Nonbinary Populations: Exploring The Unique Roles Of Body Dissatisfaction, Gender Dysphoria, And Misgendering, Raven Callahan Cohen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Nonbinary individuals have long been underrepresented in eating disorder research despite gender minority risk factors that place them at higher risk for gender-based discrimination, which impacts mental health outcomes including eating disorder pathology. Nonbinary individuals often present themselves in such a way that rejects body image ideals that may also lead to body dissatisfaction and gender dysphoria in relation to gendered expectations, which is a known risk factor of disordered eating. The current study investigated how body dissatisfaction, gender dysphoria, and misgendering predicted disordered eating behaviors in a sample of 130 nonbinary participants. Unexpectedly, body dissatisfaction was significantly and inversely …

Exploring The Ways Black Choral Conductors Negotiate Racism And Nonculturally Relevant Leadership In Choral Music Spaces In The United States, Cordara Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to understand the ways Black choral conductors negotiated racism and nonculturally-relevant choral music leadership in the United States. I sought to address the following research questions: (a) How do Black choral conductors experience racism in choral settings?; (b) How do Black choral conductors describe an ideal culturally relevant–led choral music setting?; and (c) How have their experiences influenced or informed their decisions as choral conductors today? Using critical race theory (CRT) and culturally relevant leadership learning model (CRLL) as the macro-level theoretical lenses and narrative inquiry as the methodology, I sought counternarratives to …

Reduced Racial Disparity As A Result Of Survival Improvement In Prostate Cancer, Baoyi Zhang, Jianrong Li, Mabel Tang, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Prostate cancer is a cancer type associated with a high level of racial and socioeconomic disparities as reported by many previous studies. However, the changes in these disparities in the past two decades have not been systematically studied. In this study, we investigated the Surveillance Epidemiology End Results (SEER) data for prostate cancer patients diagnosed during 2004-2018. African Americans and Asians showed significantly better and worse cancer-specific survival (CSS), respectively, compared to non-Hispanic white individuals after adjusting for confounding factors such as age and cancer stage. Importantly, the data indicated that racial disparities fluctuated and reached the highest level during …

Conserved Temporal Processing Principles In Olfactory Systems, Doris Ling

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Olfaction is a primitive sensory modality used by animals to perform basic functions such as searching for food or mates. Olfactory cues are highly temporally dynamic and therefore time is an important encoding dimension in this sensory modality. How olfactory information is encoded by the temporal patterns of neural responses remains a fundamental question in the field of sensory neuroscience. Furthermore, it is not understood whether different organisms employ similar neural encoding principles. In this work, I investigated how neural activity is patterned over time in the primary olfactory system of the American bird locust (Schisctocerca americana). Previous studies have …

Translating Deep Learning Into Scientific Domains: Case Studies In Bioactivation, Quantum Chemistry, And Clinical Studies, Kathryn Sarullo

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Artificial intelligence has made substantial progress in resolving key issues in a variety of scientific and technical domains, particularly in cross-disciplinary sciences. Deep learning is becoming ubiquitous, particularly in biology, healthcare, and drug discovery. Deep learning techniques offer chances to advance science with the potential to significantly outperform state-of-the-art approaches in many scientific fields. There are, however, notable challenges. Each discipline in which deep learning could be applied has a unique manner of communicating concepts, which we describe as interpretability, critical for use in science, both in industry and academia. Interpretability can be defined as decisions made during visualization generation …

Neighborhood- And Finer-Scale Spatial Variations In Environmental Noise And Air Pollution, Maryssa Loehr

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The urban environment contains both air pollution and noise pollution from various sources. For noise pollution, sources include biogenic emissions such as insect chorus and anthropogenic emissions such as highway traffic and airplane flyovers. Numerous studies link exposure to noise with increased health risks through mechanisms such as disruption of sleep and introduction of external stress factors. It is not clear whether biogenic and anthropogenic noise have differential impacts. Ultrafine particulate matter (UFP) contribute to adverse health outcomes such as asthma, obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer. Ambient UFP is currently not regulated in the United States with …

Investigating How Sterol Transport Affects Survival Of The Pathogenic Fungus Cryptococcus Neoformans In Host-Like Conditions, Hau Lam Choy

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that has an enormous impact on global health and is the most common cause of meningitis in adults living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. With a mortality rate of 10-75%, cryptococcal meningitis results in over 100,000 deaths per year, comprising 18% of all AIDS-related deaths worldwide. These numbers emphasize the need to understand the basic biology and pathogenesis of this fungus. During infection, spores or desiccated yeast cells are inhaled, resulting in primary pulmonary infection. In immunocompetent hosts, these infections are asymptomatic and are either quickly cleared or remain latent. In immunocompromised patients, …

Mechanisms Of Immunopathology And Protection In Genital Herpes Simplex Virus 2 Infection, Ying Shiang Lim

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Genital Herpes Simplex Virus-2 (HSV-2) infections is a highly prevalent and incurable sexually transmitted disease. Upon infection at the primary genital mucosa, HSV-2 localizes to the sensory ganglia to establish chronic latency. Symptomatic and asymptomatic recurrences can then occur episodically to promote viral transmissions. Painful genital and peri-genital lesions can be formed, increasing the risk for secondary HIV-1 acquisition by three times. Despite being a serious public health risk with severe physiological and psycho-sociological impacts, there are currently no cures or FDA-approved vaccines for this chronic infection. Thus, it is imperative to understand how the immune system interacts with HSV-2 …

Ca2+ Dynamics And Genome Protection, Lingzhen Kong

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

DNA replication is a fundamental process and defects in replication can cause genetic mutations and instability and various human diseases including cancer. The progression of replication forks can be challenged by both intrinsic and environmental factors, such as DNA lesions, secondary structure, insufficient nucleotides, collision with the transcription apparatus, radiation, or cancer drugs. These challenges necessitate robust mechanisms to protect the fork structure in the event of replication stress. Tumor suppressors like BRCA1, BRCA2, and FANC can protect fork structure by controlling nucleases that can attack stalled replication forks, which otherwise can cause fork collapse and DNA damage. In addition …

The Sperm-Specific K+ Channel Slo3, A Regulator Of Human Fertility And New Target For Contraception, Maximilian Daniel Lyon

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Sperm from mammalian species are incapable of fertilization at the point of ejaculation. Several maturation steps must take place in the female genital tract that give the sperm the capacity to fertilize, which are collectively called capacitation. The mechanisms behind and interactions between these steps appear to rapidly evolve between species. One of these steps is a hyperpolarization of the membrane to a more negative potential. Human sperm hyperpolarize during capacitation, however the processes that regulate and are regulated by this hyperpolarization remain unclear. This is due in part to discrepancies between what is known about hyperpolarization in other species, …

Maladjustment Among Victims Of Bullying, Jack Bryant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bullying has garnered attention from educators, social scientists, and the public at large for nearly 50 years, but the dilemma persists. We have seen that bullying is a high-risk factor for psychological adjustment across the lifespan. The current study has surveyed college students to ascertain their perceptions of adjustment in adult life. The study has added to the existing literature in addressing the role of reduced perceived control in the maladjustment of bully victims. A novel contribution was made by comparing the strength of this potential mediator to another documented correlate of poor adjustment among bullying victims, thwarted belonging.

Dna-Encoded Chemical Libraries Yield Non-Covalent And Non-Peptidic Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease Inhibitors, Ravikumar Jimmidi, Srinivas Chamakuri, Shuo Lu, Melek Nihan Ucisik, Peng-Jen Chen, Kurt M Bohren, Seyed Arad Moghadasi, Leroy Versteeg, Christina Nnabuife, Jian-Yuan Li, Xuan Qin, Ying-Chu Chen, John C Faver, Pranavanand Nyshadham, Kiran L Sharma, Banumathi Sankaran, Allison Judge, Zhifeng Yu, Feng Li, Jeroen Pollet, Reuben S Harris, Martin M Matzuk, Timothy Palzkill, Damian W Young

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The development of SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) inhibitors for the treatment of COVID-19 has mostly benefitted from X-ray structures and preexisting knowledge of inhibitors; however, an efficient method to generate Mpro inhibitors, which circumvents such information would be advantageous. As an alternative approach, we show here that DNA-encoded chemistry technology (DEC-Tec) can be used to discover inhibitors of Mpro. An affinity selection of a 4-billion-membered DNA-encoded chemical library (DECL) using Mpro as bait produces novel non-covalent and non-peptide-based small molecule inhibitors of Mpro with low nanomolar Ki values. Furthermore, these compounds demonstrate efficacy against mutant forms of Mpro that …

Total Rna Sequencing Reveals Gene Expression And Microbial Alterations Shared By Oral Pre-Malignant Lesions And Cancer, Alessandro Villa

All Publications

Head and neck cancers are a complex malignancy comprising multiple anatomical sites, with cancer of the oral cavity ranking among the deadliest and the most disfiguring cancers globally. Oral cancer (OC) constitutes a subset of head and neck cancer cases, presenting primarily as tobacco- and alcohol-associated oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), with a 5-year survival rate of ~ 65%, partly due to the lack of early detection and effective treatments. OSCC arises from premalignant lesions (PMLs) in the oral cavity through a multi-step series of clinical and histopathological stages, including varying degrees of epithelial dysplasia. To gain insights into the …

Resilient Leadership: Bridging The Research Divide And 4th Industrial Revolution In Creating Sustainable Pathways For Strengthening Research, Shirlene Neerputh

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Library services have strengthened in responding relevance towards new realities facing research-led universities in the 21st century. The dawn of the digital era ushers in new technologies, augmented realities, research practices and culture, announcing the birth of resilient leadership. How can Library Leaders respond to bridge the research divide and build the 4th industrial revolution (IR) in universities? Academic libraries re-aligned post COVID 19, to fulfil the mandates of the research-intensive university goals: Enhancing the student experience; Supporting learning and teaching; Enhancing research and innovation. In connecting possibilities of the research-led universities, academic library services have strengthened its digital services …

Correlation Between Altmetric Score And Citation: A Study Based On 1000 Highly Cited Cancer Scientific Outputs, Mohammad Ahmadian, Hossein Vakilimofard, Hamzeh Mazaherilaghab

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Objective: In recent years, indicators based on social media have been introduced as a complementary and expeditious tool along with scientometric indicators to evaluate scientific outputs. The aim of this study was to comprehensively analyze the altmetric indices on 1000 titles of the most cited articles in the field of cancer, which is one of the most vital issues in the medical community and is the second leading cause of death after CVDs. Material and Methods: The present study was descriptive and performed using altmetric indices. Bibliographic information of the research sample was extracted from the Scopus citation database. Data …

Transormative Agreements: Communicating Next Phase Of Library Collections, Julia Gelfand, Mitchell Brown

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Open Access journals and scholarship share a new relationship as content has transitioned from a subscription commodity to rights management. As federal governments encourage and increasingly mandate sponsored research outputs be freely and widely available at the time of publication sustainability of such models led to varied ways of how OA could be made viable. Recent practices suggest successes and trials in changing the footprint of collections. Libraries accustomed to acquiring content for perpetual ownership, and those that created institutional repositories to allow authors when they didn’t retain intellectual property could distribute and repurpose their works are but examples of …

Conceptual Framework Of Information Retrieval System In The Field Of Gastroenterology And Hepatology, Masoud Mohammadi, Fatemeh Sheikhshoaei

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Background and aims: Optimal information retrieval is one of the components of achieving evidence-based medicine. This study aimed to present the Conceptual framework of information retrieval system in the field of Gastroenterology and hepatology. Methods: Based on the previous two studies, the characteristics of the optimal information retrieval system from the perspective of gastroenterologists and hepatologists and the most important approaches and technologies used in the design of information retrieval systems in medical sciences have been used in designing the proposed conceptual framework. Results: The conceptual framework of the information retrieval system in the gastroenterology and hepatology was presented in …

Acute Effects Of Different Set Configurations On Neuromuscular, Metabolic, And Perceptual Responses In Young Women, Francisco Dalton-Alves, Lígia Martins, Witalo Kassiano, Mário Simim, Alexandre I. A. Medeiros, Cláudio De O. Assumpção

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(4): 974-986, 2023. We compared neuromuscular, metabolic, and perceptual responses between different resistance training configurations in young women. In a counterbalanced randomized order, 13 young women performed the following protocols in separate sessions (sets x repetitions): traditional (TRAD): 5x10, 90-s of rest interval between sets; more frequent and shorter total rest (FSR): 10x5, 30-s of rest interval between sets. The sessions were composed of leg press exercise with the same intensity. Force (maximum voluntary isometric contraction [MVIC]) and metabolic (lactate concentration) responses were measured pre- and post-resistance training sessions. The rating of perceived exertion (RPE) …

Does Beta-Alanine Supplementation Potentiate Muscle Performance Following 6 Weeks Of Blood Flow Restriction Or Traditional Resistance Training?, Kassiana De Araujo Pessoa, Jason Michael Cholewa, Rayssa Sousa-Silva, Xia Zhi, Alessandro M. Zagatto, Antonio Herbert Lancha-Jr, Jakob D. Lauver, Fabricio Eduardo Rossi, Nelo Zanchi

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(2): 999-1011, 2023. We aimed to compare the effects of beta-alanine on Traditional Resistance Training (TRAD) or Blood Flow Restriction Training (BFR). Methods: 19 subjects were randomly allocated to a Placebo (n = 10) or beta-alanine (n = 9) group. Subjects from both groups were trained unilaterally (unilateral arm curl) for six weeks, and each arm was trained using a different paradigm (BFR or TRAD). One repetition maximum (1RM) test measurements were performed before and after the strength training program. Work output was accessed as the total weight lifted (repetitions × weight lifted …