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Computational Modeling Of The N-Back Task In The Abcd Study: Associations Of Drift Diffusion Model Parameters To Polygenic Scores Of Mental Disorders And Cardiometabolic Diseases, Mads L Pedersen, Dag Alnæs, Dennis Van Der Meer, Sara Fernandez-Cabello, Pierre Berthet, Andreas Dahl, Rikka Kjelkenes, Emanuel Schwarz, Wesley K Thompson, Deanna M Barch, Ole A Andreassen, Lars T Westlye

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction is common in mental disorders and represents a potential risk factor in childhood. The nature and extent of associations between childhood cognitive function and polygenic risk for mental disorders is unclear. We applied computational modeling to gain insight into mechanistic processes underlying decision making and working memory in childhood and their associations with polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for mental disorders and comorbid cardiometabolic diseases.

METHODS: We used the drift diffusion model to infer latent computational processes underlying decision making and working memory during the n-back task in 3707 children ages 9 to 10 years from the Adolescent …

Targeted Deletion Of Fgf9 In Tendon Disrupts Mineralization Of The Developing Enthesis, Elahe Ganji, Connor Leek, William Duncan, Debabrata Patra, David M Ornitz, Megan L Killian

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The enthesis is a transitional tissue between tendon and bone that matures postnatally. The development and maturation of the enthesis involve cellular processes likened to an arrested growth plate. In this study, we explored the role of fibroblast growth factor 9 (Fgf9), a known regulator of chondrogenesis and vascularization during bone development, on the structure and function of the postnatal enthesis. First, we confirmed spatial expression of Fgf9 in the tendon and enthesis using in situ hybridization. We then used Cre-lox recombinase to conditionally knockout Fgf9 in mouse tendon and enthesis (Scx-Cre) and characterized enthesis morphology as well as mechanical …

Aging And Obesity Prime The Methylome And Transcriptome Of Adipose Stem Cells For Disease And Dysfunction, Shaojun Xie, Sulbha Choudhari, Chia-Lung Wu, Karen Abramson, David Corcoran, Simon G Gregory, Jyothi Thimmapuram, Farshid Guilak, Dianne Little

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The epigenome of stem cells occupies a critical interface between genes and environment, serving to regulate expression through modification by intrinsic and extrinsic factors. We hypothesized that aging and obesity, which represent major risk factors for a variety of diseases, synergistically modify the epigenome of adult adipose stem cells (ASCs). Using integrated RNA- and targeted bisulfite-sequencing in murine ASCs from lean and obese mice at 5- and 12-months of age, we identified global DNA hypomethylation with either aging or obesity, and a synergistic effect of aging combined with obesity. The transcriptome of ASCs in lean mice was relatively stable to …

Cnih3 Deletion Dysregulates Dorsal Hippocampal Transcription Across The Estrous Cycle, Bernard Mulvey, Hannah E. Frye, Tania Lintz, Stuart Fass, Eric Tycksen, Elliot C. Nelson, Jose A. Morón, Joseph D. Dougherty

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In females, the hippocampus, a critical brain region for coordination of learning, memory, and behavior, displays altered physiology and behavioral output across the estrous or menstrual cycle. However, the molecular effectors and cell types underlying these observed cyclic changes have only been partially characterized to date. Recently, profiling of mice null for the AMPA receptor trafficking gene

Prospective Associations Between Accelerometry-Derived Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviors And Mortality Among Cancer Survivors, Elizabeth A Salerno, Pedro F Saint-Maurice, Fei Wan, Lindsay L Peterson, Yikyung Park, Yin Cao, Ryan P Duncan, Richard P Troiano, Charles E Matthews

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Survival benefits of self-reported recreational physical activity (PA) during cancer survivorship are well-documented in common cancer types, yet there are limited data on the associations between accelerometer-derived PA of all domains, sedentary behavior, and mortality in large, diverse cohorts of cancer survivors.

METHODS: Participants included adults who reported a cancer diagnosis in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and wore an accelerometer for up to 7 days in 2003-2006. Participants were followed for subsequent mortality through 2015. We examined the association of light PA, moderate to vigorous PA, total PA, and sedentary behavior, with all-cause mortality. Cox proportional …

Building The Foundation For A Community-Generated National Research Blueprint For Inherited Bleeding Disorders: Research Priorities For Mucocutaneous Bleeding Disorders, Robert F Sidonio Jr, Jorge Di Paola, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Excessive or abnormal mucocutaneous bleeding (MCB) may impact all aspects of the physical and psychosocial wellbeing of those who live with it (PWMCB). The evidence base for the optimal diagnosis and management of disorders such as inherited platelet disorders, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), hypermobility spectrum disorders (HSD), Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS), and von Willebrand disease (VWD) remains thin with enormous potential for targeted research.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: National Hemophilia Foundation and American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network initiated the development of a National Research Blueprint for Inherited Bleeding Disorders with extensive all-stakeholder consultations to identify the priorities of people with …

A New Mouse Model Of Elastin Haploinsufficiency Highlights The Importance Of Elastin To Vascular Development And Blood Pressure Regulation, Bridget M Brengle, Michelle Lin, Robyn A Roth, Kara D Jones, Jessica E Wagenseil, Robert P Mecham, Carmen M Halabi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) is an autosomal dominant disease resulting from elastin (ELN) haploinsufficiency. Individuals with SVAS typically develop a thickened arterial media with an increased number of elastic lamellae and smooth muscle cell (SMC) layers and stenosis superior to the aortic valve. A mouse model of SVAS (Eln

Resolution Of Hepatic Fibrosis After Zfn-Mediated Gene Editing In The Piz Mouse Model Of Human Α1-Antitrypsin Deficiency, Yanfeng Li, Chandan Guha, Patrik Asp, Xia Wang, Tatyana L. Tchaikovskya, Kenneth Kim, Matthew Mendel, Gregory J. Cost, David H. Perlmutter, Namita Roy-Chowdhury, Ira J. Fox, Anthony Conway, Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: α1-antitrypsin deficiency is most commonly caused by a mutation in exon-7 of SERPINA1 (SA1-ATZ), resulting in hepatocellular accumulation of a misfolded variant (ATZ). Human SA1-ATZ-transgenic (PiZ) mice exhibit hepatocellular ATZ accumulation and liver fibrosis. We hypothesized that disrupting the SA1-ATZ transgene in PiZ mice by in vivo genome editing would confer a proliferative advantage to the genome-edited hepatocytes, enabling them to repopulate the liver.

METHODS: To create a targeted DNA break in exon-7 of the SA1-ATZ transgene, we generated 2 recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) expressing a zinc-finger nuclease pair (rAAV-ZFN), and another rAAV for gene correction by targeted insertion …

Assessing Functional Biodiversity For The Future Of Plants, Planet, And People, Ali Loker

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Biodiversity plays a critical role in supporting life in global ecosystems and its links to ecosystem services and sustainability are recognized by scientific and non-scientific communities. Growing awareness of the importance of biodiversity is accelerated by discussions of its loss, and how to design interventions to conserve and mitigate a biodiversity crisis. Stakeholders are funding and implementing assessment strategies at various scales to help direct conservation efforts. There is also growing interest in measuring and communicating biodiversity outcomes.

Functional biodiversity characterizes the multiplicity of life forms into groups based on their diverse contributions to natural and agro-ecosystems. Assessing functional biodiversity …

The Impact Of Parent Math Anxiety On Parent Homework Help Behaviors, Makenzie P. Starlin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Math anxiety is commonly defined as negative feelings toward mathematics or solving mathematics problems (Dowker et al., 2016). Research indicates that math anxiety can influence parenting behaviors during homework interactions, which can involve behaviors that are autonomy supportive, or allow the child to initiate the homework task, or controlling, which does not allow the child to be actively engaged (Retanal et al., 2021) In particular, autonomy support behaviors allow children to work through homework on their own, whereas control behaviors do not allow children to work through the homework on their own and instead involve parents overseeing the homework help …

All Bark And No Byte: A Case Study On Nuclear Weapons' Role In Cyber Deterrence, Phuc Nguyen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In what some scholars consider a marked departure from its traditional policy, the U.S.' 2018 Nuclear Deterrence Posture Review declared that the U.S. would consider the use of nuclear weapons in response to "significant, non-nuclear strategic attacks." However, despite real-world examples of the type of significant cyberattacks on U.S., allied, or partner civilian population or infrastructure alluded to in the Review, the factors that might trigger multidomain escalation remain underexplored, which creates a credibility gap in the U.S.' deterrence policy. This paper explores these factors by providing a case study of the North Korean WannaCry and Russian NotPetya cyberattacks and …

Systematic Review: Effect Of Cover Crop On Working Farm, Noella A. Bahatsi

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

On-farm research is when research techniques such as randomized, replicated treatments strips and large-scale techniques are used on actual farms or ranches. Due to a great deal of interest and curiosity among farmers and researchers who wish to make their farming methods more profitable, efficient, and/or sustainable, this type of research has been conducted more frequently each year. On-farm research has contributed to economic growth and the transfer of knowledge to farmers because of fresh discoveries and upgraded technology (Lacoste et al., 2022). This is also where farmers collaborate with researchers to test new management practices and technologies providing unbiased …

Investigating The Diversity Of Wolbachia Across The Spiny Ants (Polyrhachis), Jenna L. Webb, Leland C. Graber, Manuela O. Ramalho, Corrie S. Moreau

Biology Faculty Publications

Among insects, Wolbachia is an exceedingly common bacterial endosymbiont with a range of consequences of infection. Despite the frequency of Wolbachia infection, very little is known about this bacteria's diversity and role within hosts, especially within ant hosts. In this study, we analyze the occurrence and diversity of Wolbachia across the spiny ants (Polyrhachis), a large and geographically diverse genus. Polyrhachis samples from throughout the host genus' phylogenetic and biogeographical range were first screened for single infections of Wolbachia using the wsp gene and Sanger sequencing. The multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme was then used on these singly infected samples …

The Lumberjack, March 01, 2023

Cal Poly Humboldt's Student Newspaper

The student newspaper of Humboldt State University.

Property's Boundaries, James Toomey

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Property law has a boundary problem. Courts are routinely called upon to decide whether certain kinds of things can be owned--cells, genes, organs, gametes, embryos, corpses, personal data, and more. Under prevailing contemporary theories of property law, questions like these have no justiciable answers. Because property has no conceptual essence, they maintain, its boundaries are arbitrary--a flexible normative choice more properly legislative than judicial.

This Article instead offers a straightforward descriptive theory of property's boundaries. The common law of property is legitimated by its basis in the concept of ownership, a descriptive relationship of absolute control that exists outside of …

Seaspine Force Limiting Handle With Replaceable Components, Natalie Adamson, Anna Burke, Megan Phillips

Biomedical Engineering

This document outlines details of the Cal Poly-SeaSpine senior project collaboration for the force limiting handle with replaceable components. This document will cover a brief introduction of the project itself, background information about the problem, customer requirements and engineering specifications, ideation and concept selection, detailed design, description of testing and manufacturing plans, design verification and validation results, conclusions, and future work.

The design process included background research and scope identification, ideation, concept selection based on quality functions and customer requirements, detailed design, manufacturing, testing and iteration, and design verification and validation. Key specifications for the device included a force to …

Release, Retraction, And Protection Instrumentation: Designed For Spinal Interbody Fusion Surgeries (P/Tlif, Tfar), Rayana Gutierrez, Pearse Lipscomb, Troy Cristobal

Biomedical Engineering

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of Black American Student Experiences And International Student Experiences During The Initial Months Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Leah P. Hollis Edd

Comparative Civilizations Review

The Covid-19 pandemic created an indelible mark on K-12 education — specifically, high school students transitioning to college and career. The global scope of this pandemic presented an opportunity to compare how high school cultures across the world adapted to the emergency. Further, news reports highlighted how communities of color were more susceptible to the pandemic.

To better understand how the Black student experience in middle America compared to that of other students from the global community in responding to pandemic-related educational disruption, I used Krippendorff’s content analysis procedures (2018) and a phenomenological interview process to gather and analyze data …

Book Review: Katell Berthelot. Jews And Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome’S Challenge To Israel, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

This is a magisterial work, one which sets high the bar in the comparative study of civilizations. In it, Prof. Katell Berthelot covers the sweep of 600 years, from the second century, BCE, to the fourth century, CE, as she analyzes the extensive impact of Rome on Jewish ideas of law, religion, and peoplehood and, secondarily, the corresponding impact of their rivals, the Jews, on Roman society and history.

Developing A Novel Anti-Bias Curriculum For Medical School, Francis I. Achike, Sonali Batta, Catherine Duncan, Clyde K. Fomunung, Astha Mittal, Alexandra D. Powell Pierce, Sebastian Powell, Maya Ramy, Mikaila Singleton, Patricia K. Watson

Journal of Medical Education

Background: The disproportionate morbidity and mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic in communities of color in the USA, combined with the May 2020 murder of George Floyd triggered a national outcry against systemic racism. US medical education regulatory agencies, and students from around the country joined in the call for diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum reforms. This prompted the formation of a Texas A&M University College of Medicine anti-bias curriculum committee of students, staff, and faculty, charged with a comprehensive review targeted at developing a transformative and organizational level diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum. Methods and Results: A framework for the …

Application And Outcome Evaluation Of Using Moodle Learning System For Identification Of Morphology In Laboratory Medicine During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hsing-Wen Cheng, Chung-Chih Hung, Hsin-Yi Ko, Yu-Yu Lin, Chin-An Yang, Mo Siu-Mei Lee

Journal of Medical Education

Background and purpose: Web-based learning and teaching have become a new model in medical education. The modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) is widely used as a web-based platform for course management. Morphology is a major task in the laboratory medicine. The study aimed to evaluate the learning outcome of applying the Moodle Learning System (MLS) to learn the identification of blood cells, sperms, and parasites. Methods: Twenty-two medical technologists participated in the inter-hospital collaborative program and completed the survey questions. The database of educational information and background management systems was first built up on Moodle. The participants were asked …

Non-Coding Regions Of Nuclear-Dna-Encoded Mitochondrial Genes And Intergenic Sequences Are Targeted By Autoantibodies In Breast Cancer, Deya Obaidat, Roberta Giordo, Erica L. Kleinbrink, Emilia Banisad, Lawrence I. Grossman, Rooshan Arshad, Azadeh Stark, Marie-Claire Maroun, Leonard Lipovich, Félix Fernandez-Madrid

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Articles

Autoantibodies against mitochondrial-derived antigens play a key role in chronic tissue inflammation in autoimmune disorders and cancers. Here, we identify autoreactive nuclear genomic DNA (nDNA)-encoded mitochondrial gene products (GAPDH, PKM2, GSTP1, SPATA5, MFF, TSPOAP1, PHB2, COA4, and HAGH) recognized by breast cancer (BC) patients' sera as nonself, supporting a direct relationship of mitochondrial autoimmunity to breast carcinogenesis. Autoreactivity of multiple nDNA-encoded mitochondrial gene products was mapped to protein-coding regions, 3' untranslated regions (UTRs), as well as introns. In addition, autoantibodies in BC sera targeted intergenic sequences that may be parts of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes, including LINC02381 and other …

Exposure To Pcb126 During The Nursing Period Reversibly Impacts Early-Life Glucose Tolerance, Brittany Breon Rice, Keegan W. Sammons, Sara Y. Ngo Tenlep, Madeline T. Weltzer, Leryn J. Reynolds, Cetewayo S. Rashid, Hollie I. Swanson, Kevin J. Pearson

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent environmental organic pollutants known to have detrimental health effects. Using a mouse model, we previously demonstrated that PCB126 exposure before and during pregnancy and throughout the perinatal period adversely affected offspring glucose tolerance and/or body composition profiles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the glucose tolerance and body composition of offspring born to dams exposed to PCB126 during the nursing period only. Female ICR mice were bred, and half of the dams were exposed to either vehicle (safflower oil) or 1 μmole PCB126 per kg of body weight via oral gavage on postnatal …

Sophisticated Vs. Rugged: Examining Gendered Brand Communication Styles And Social Media Engagement, Joanne T. Cao, Jamye Foster, Gallayanee S. Yaoyuneyong, Lacey K. Wallace

Faculty Publications

Advertising and marketing managers understand that not all brands need to be on social media, but what is not clearly understood is consumers’ engagement expectations for brands that are on social media. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of brand personality, specifically sophisticated and rugged brands, and gendered communication styles on consumers’ expectations of social media engagement. A scenario-based experiment is performed to test the hypotheses using a mock brand. The main study consisted of a Qualtrics consumer panel, and a MANOVA was utilized to examine three components of social media engagement (consumption, contribution, and creation) on the two brand …

Meridional Survey Of The Central Pacific Reveals Iodide Accumulation In Equatorial Surface Waters And Benthic Sources In The Abyssal Plain, Rintaro Moriyasu, Kenneth M. Bolster, Dalton S. Hardisty, David C. Kadko, Mark P. Stephens, James W. Moffett

Faculty Publications

The distributions of iodate and iodide were measured along the GEOTRACES GP15 meridional transect at 152°W from the shelf of Alaska to Papeete, Tahiti. The transect included oxygenated waters near the shelf of Alaska, the full water column in the central basin in the North Pacific Basin, the upper water column spanning across seasonally mixed regimes in the north, oligotrophic regimes in the central gyre, and the equatorial upwelling. Iodide concentrations are highest in the permanently stratified tropical mixed layers, which reflect accumulation due to light-dependent biological processes, and decline rapidly below the euphotic zone. Vertical mixing coefficients (K …

Purinergic Receptors In Lung Disease, Emily Mize

University Honors Theses

Purinergic receptors regulate a wide range of physiological processes including neurotransmission, inflammation, and pulmonary function. This review examines the role of purinergic receptor subtypes in the lung with a focus on their relevance to disease and potential as therapeutic targets in future drug development.

Cover Crops Did Not Improve Soil Health But Hydroclimatology May Guide Decisions Preventing Cash Crop Yield Loss, Debankur Sanyal, Avik Mukherjee, Amin Rahhal, Johnathon Wolthuizen, David Karki, Jason D. Clark, Anthony Bly

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Introduction: Cover crop (CC) is an essential tool to improve or maintain soil health, potentially improving cash crop productivity. Several recent reports of cash crop yield reduction following cover cropping necessitated this research to guide efficient CC decisions in the season before corn (Zea mays) or soybean (Glycine max) is to be grown.
Methods: Therefore, we designed this multi-year, multi-location study to include the farmers who plant CC following the harvest of a small grain crop, majorly wheat (Triticum aestivum) or oats (Avena sativa), and then grow corn or soybean cash crop in the subsequent season. We also selected the …

Surface Plasmon Resonance (Spr) Sensor For Cancer Biomarker Detection, Sreyashi Das, Ram Devireddy, Manas Ranjan Gartia

Faculty Publications

A biomarker is a physiological observable marker that acts as a stand-in and, in the best-case scenario, forecasts a clinically significant outcome. Diagnostic biomarkers are more convenient and cost-effective than directly measuring the ultimate clinical outcome. Cancer is among the most prominent global health problems and a major cause of morbidity and death globally. Therefore, cancer biomarker assays that are trustworthy, consistent, precise, and verified are desperately needed. Biomarker-based tumor detection holds a lot of promise for improving disease knowledge at the molecular scale and early detection and surveillance. In contrast to conventional approaches, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) allows for …

Ivd Delivery System, Brandon Low, Jonathan Li, Margaux Faure, Quentin Yamasaki

Mechanical Engineering

Cepheid is a molecular diagnostics company that has assigned our senior project team to design a system that automates the current manual transportation of samples between two laboratory rooms. With the focus of retaining the sanitary integrity of both the samples as well as the initial cleanroom, also referred to as the packaging laboratory, our team has designed an extension of the current passthrough that will contain all other subsystems. In order to automate the transportation of the samples, the design employs a track and trolley system to be purchased and mounted within the passthrough. A verification prototype was built …

Latexin Regulates Sex Dimorphism In Hematopoiesis Via Gender-Specific Differential Expression Of Microrna 98-3p And Thrombospondin 1, Xiaojing Cui, Cuiping Zhang, Fang Wang, Xinghui Zhao, Shuxia Wang, Jinpeng Liu, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Feng-Chun Yang, Sheng Tong, Ying Liang

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) have the ability to self-renew and differentiate to all blood cell types. HSCs and their differentiated progeny show sex/gender differences. The fundamental mechanisms remain largely unexplored. We previously reported that latexin (Lxn) deletion increased HSC survival and repopulation capacity in female mice. Here, we find no differences in HSC function and hematopoiesis in Lxn knockout (Lxn-/- male mice under physiologic and myelosuppressive conditions. We further find that Thbs1, a downstream target gene of Lxn in female HSCs, is repressed in male HSCs. Male-specific high expression of micro- RNA 98-3p (miR98-3p) contributes to Thbs1 suppression in male …