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Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - September 28, 2023, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the September 28, 2023 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• Research participants needed for study on menopause in the workplace
• Meet a Med Student: Jonathan Swint
• Scammell retires from the Whiddon college of medicine
• Menger named vice chair for the department of Neurosurgery

Vol.51 N.10 September 28th 2023, Voice Media Ventures

Black Voice News

No abstract provided.

Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor Based On Poly (O-Phenylenediamine) For Sensitive Detection Of Oxycodone In Water, Pranaya Charkravarthula, Amos Mugweru

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

This work was aimed at the development of a sensitive electrochemical detection method for oxycodone in water. Molecularly imprinted electrodes were formed by electro-polymerization process using o-phenylenediamine as a monomer. The electro-polymerization was performed on glassy carbon electrodes in the presence of oxycodone before the extraction of entrapped oxycodone molecules. Various electrochemical techniques were employed to monitor the polymerization and response of the fabricated electrodes toward oxycodone. These techniques included cyclic voltammetry (CV), square wave voltammetry (SWV), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The oxycodone concentration was determined using SWV by measuring the change in the oxidation …

Genomic And Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Polygenic Architecture For Ecologically Important Traits In Aspen (Populus Tremuloides Michx.), Jennifer F. L. Riehl, Christopher T. Cole, Clay J. Marrow, Hilary L. Barker, Carolina Bernhardsson, Kennedy Rubert-Nason, Pär K. Ingvarsson, Richard L. Lindroth

Aspen Bibliography

Intraspecific genetic variations in foundation species such as aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) shapes their impact on forest structure and function. Identifying genes underlying ecologically important traits is key to understanding that impact. Previous studies, using single-locus genome-wide association (GWA) analyses to identify candidate genes, have identified fewer genes than anticipated for highly heritable quantitative traits. Mounting evidence suggests that polygenic control of quantitative traits is largely responsible for this "missing heritability" phenomenon. Our research characterized the genetic architecture of 30 ecologically important traits using a common garden of aspect through genomic and transcriptomic analyses. A multilocus association model revealed …

Remote Ischaemic Conditioning Combined With Bimanual Task Training To Enhance Bimanual Skill Learning And Corticospinal Excitability In Children With Unilateral Cerebral Palsy: A Study Protocol Of A Single Centre, Phase Ii Randomised Controlled Trial, Swati M Surkar, John D Willson, Jessica M Cassidy, Shailesh Kantak, Charity G Patterson

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP) have difficulty in bimanual coordination that restricts the child's independence in daily activities. Although several efficacious interventions to improve bimanual coordination exist, these interventions often require higher training doses and have modest effect sizes. Thus, there is a critical need to find an effective priming agent that, when paired with task-specific training, will facilitate neurobiological processes to enhance the magnitude of training effects and subsequently improve functional capabilities of children with UCP. The aim of this study is to determine the effects of a novel priming agent, remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC), combined with …

Montana Kaimin, September 28, 2023, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

September 28, 2023, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Modeling Leaf-Level Transpiration: Exploring The Consequences Of Assumed Saturated Vapor Pressure In Leaves, Danlyn L. Brennan

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding the dynamics of water transport through leaf intercellular airspaces (IAS) and its impact on transpiration is crucial for accurate predictions of plant water use and ecosystem response to changing climates. This study investigates the implications of assuming undersaturation of water vapor in the IAS for transpiration predictions and explores potential modifications to standard modeling approaches.

A dynamic 1D soil-plant-atmosphere continuum using a stomatal optimization model (SPAC-SOT) framework was used to simulate the response of tree species, P. edulis, to prolonged drought and varying environmental conditions. Comparisons between two model assumptions (saturated vs. undersaturated IAS) reveal notable differences in …

Designing Peptide Amphiphiles As Novel Antibacterials And Antibiotic Adjuvants Against Gram-Negative Bacteria, Huihua Xing, Vanessa Loya-Perez, Joshua Franzen, Paul Denton, Martin Conda-Sheridan, Nathalia Rodrigues De Almeida

Biology Faculty Publications

Gram-negative strains are intrinsically resistant to most antibiotics due to the robust and impermeable characteristic of their outer membrane. Self-assembling cationic peptide amphiphiles (PAs) have the ability to disrupt bacteria membranes, constituting an excellent antibacterial alternative to small molecule drugs that can be used alone or as antibiotic adjuvants to overcome bacteria resistance. PA1 (C16KHKHK), self-assembled into micelles, which exhibited low antibacterial activity against all strains tested, and showed strong synergistic antibacterial activity in combination with Vancomycin with a Fractional Inhibitory Concentration index (FICi) of 0.15 against E. coli. The molecules, PA2 (C16KRKR) and PA3 (C16AAAKRKR), also self-assembled …

Law Professor Calls For Ethical Approach To Human Experiments In Space, Clara Turnage

University of Mississippi News

Michelle Hanlon co-authored article published in the journal Science

Creative Thinking And Its Relationship To Test Anxiety For Fourth Grade Scientific Students, Jasim Mohammed Abdulredha

Uruk Journal of Human Sciences

The aim of the current research is to reveal the connected correlation between creative thinking and examination tension to a sample of preparatory students where (119) have been chosen from male and female gender who are in forthcoming scientific grade. The creative thinking mode of assessment has been adopted which was prepared by (Mohamad and AL-Muhja, 2007).

Resistance Training In Humans And Mechanical Overload In Rodents Do Not Elevate Muscle Protein Lactylation, Madison L. Mattingly, Auburn University A. Ruple, Casey L. Sexton, Joshua S. Godwin, Mason C. Mcintosh, Morgan A. Smith, Daniel L. Plotkin, J. Max Michel, Derick A. Anglin, Nicholas J. Kontos, Shengyi Fei, Stuart M. Phillips, C. Brooks Mobley, Ivan Jose Vechetti Jr, Christopher G. Vann, Michael D. Roberts

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Although several reports have hypothesized that exercise may increase skeletal muscle protein lactylation, empirical evidence in humans is lacking. Thus, we adopted a multifaceted approach to examine if acute and subchronic resistance training (RT) altered skeletal muscle protein lactylation levels. In mice, we also sought to examine if surgical ablation-induced plantaris hypertrophy coincided with increases in muscle protein lactylation. To examine acute responses, participants’ blood lactate concentrations were assessed before, during, and after eight sets of an exhaustive lower body RT bout (n = 10 trained college-aged men). Vastus lateralis biopsies were also taken before, 3-h post, and 6-h post-exercise …

Critical Contributions Of Protein Cargos To The Functions Of Macrophage‑Derived Extracellular Vesicles, Baolong Liu, Phuong Linh Nguyen, Han Yu, Xingzhi Li, Huiren Wang, Wang Price, Meng Niu, Chittibabu Guda, Xiao Cheng, Xinghui Sun, Regis Moreau, Amanda E. Ramer-Tait, Michael J. Naldrett, Sophie Alvarez, Jiujiu Yu

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background Macrophages are highly plastic innate immune cells that play key roles in host defense, tissue repair, and homeostasis maintenance. In response to divergent stimuli, macrophages rapidly alter their functions and manifest a wide polarization spectrum with two extremes: M1 or classical activation and M2 or alternative activation. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted from differentially activated macrophages have been shown to have diverse functions, which are primarily attributed to their microRNA cargos. The role of protein cargos in these EVs remains largely unexplored. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the protein cargos in macrophage-derived EVs.

Results Naïve murine bone marrow-derived …

Floral Constancies Of Flies And Native Bees Visiting Ceanothus Perplexans (Rhamnaceae) Flowers In Western Arizona, William D. Wiesenborn

Western North American Naturalist

Ceanothus perplexans (Rhamnaceae) is a chaparral and montane shrub found mostly in southern California and northern Baja California, Mexico, and infrequently in western Arizona. The plant produces inflorescences of small, perfect, white or cream flowers during winter to early spring. I examined the pollination of C. perplexans in the Cerbat Mountains in western Arizona during March and April 2022 by collecting flies and native bees on flowers and estimating floral constancies from the proportions of conspecific pollen in pollen loads. Flowers are protandrous with the pistil elongating and the stigmas separating after the anthers lose pollen. Pollen from C. perplexans …

Development Of A Xylose-Inducible Promoter And Riboswitch Combination System For Manipulating Gene Expression In Fusobacterium Nucleatum, Bibek G C, Peng Zhou, Arindam Naha, Jianhua Gu, Chenggang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inducible gene expression systems are important for studying bacterial gene function, yet most exhibit leakage. In this study, we engineered a leakage-free hybrid system for precise gene expression controls in Fusobacterium nucleatum by integrating the xylose-inducible expression system with the theophylline-responsive riboswitch. This innovative method enables concurrent control of target gene expression at both transcription and translation initiation levels. Using luciferase and the indole-producing enzyme tryptophanase (TnaA) as reporters, we demonstrated that the hybrid system displays virtually no observable signal in the absence of inducers. We employed this system to express FtsX, a protein related to fusobacterial cytokinesis, in an …

Cabozantinib And Il-27 Combinatorial Therapy For Bone-Metastatic Prostate Cancer, Shreya Kumar, Grace E. Mulia, Marxa L. Figueiredo

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Introduction: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death among American men. Prostate tumor cells exhibit significant tropism for the bone and once metastasis occurs, survival rates fall significantly. Current treatment options are not curative and focus on symptom management. Immunotherapies are rapidly emerging as a possible therapeutic option for a variety of cancers including prostate cancer, however, variable patient response remains a concern. Chemotherapies, like cabozantinib, can have immune-priming effects which sensitize tumors to immunotherapies. Additionally, lower doses of chemotherapy can be used in this context which can reduce patient side effects. We hypothesized that a combination …

Lack Of Methylation Changes In Gjb2 And Rb1 Non-Coding Regions Of Cochlear Implant Patients With Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Angelo Augusto M Sumalde, Ivana V Yang, Talitha Karisse L Yarza, Celina Ann M Tobias-Grasso, Ma Leah C Tantoco, Elizabeth Davidson, Abner L Chan, Mahshid S Azamian, Teresa Luisa G Cruz, Seema R Lalani, Maria Rina T Reyes-Quintos, Eva Maria Cutiongco-De La Paz, Regie Lyn P Santos-Cortez, Charlotte M Chiong

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Recent advances in epigenetic studies continue to reveal novel mechanisms of gene regulation and control, however little is known on the role of epigenetics in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) in humans. We aimed to investigate the methylation patterns of two regions, one in

METHODS: We investigated an RB1 promoter region that was previously identified as differentially methylated in children with SNHL and lead exposure. Additionally, we investigated a sequence in an enhancer-like region within GJB2 that contains four CpGs in close proximity. Bisulfite conversion was performed on salivary DNA samples from 15 children with SNHL and 45 unrelated ethnically-matched …

Hydrophobicity Optimization Of Cathode Catalyst Layer For Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Hao-Jie Chen, Mei-Hua Tang, Sheng-Li Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Hydrophobicity of the cathode catalyst layers (CCLs) crucially determines the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) by affecting the transports of oxygen and liquid water. In this regard, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is usually used as a hydrophobic additive to facilitate the oxygen and water transports in CCLs. So far, there remains lacking systematic effort to optimize the addition methods of PTFE in CCLs and the mechanisms behind. In this work, the effects of the approaches for PTFE addition and the distribution of PTFE on the mass transport of oxygen and the proton conduction in CCLs were studied by using …

Dependence Of Heat Transfer Model On The Structure Of Electrically Coil-Heated Microelectrodes, Ju Li, Sen Yang, Jian-Jun Sun

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrically heated microelectrodes have gained much attention in electroanalytical chemistry in recent years. It has been shown that the promotion of mass transport and reaction kinetics at high-temperatures often results in increased current signals. However, there is no study about the heat transfer inner the microelectrodes which is necessary for the design and operation for microsensors. This report introduces a finite element software (COMSOL) to analyze the factors that influence the surface temperature (T_s), which is crucial for the heating ability of micro-disk electrodes with coils. Distances between the electrode surface and the bottom of the heated copper …

The Cowl - V. 88 N. 19 - September 28, 2023

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol. 88 No. 19 - September 28, 2023. 20 pages.

Integrated Molecular And Multiparametric Mri Mapping Of High-Grade Glioma Identifies Regional Biologic Signatures, Leland S Hu, Fulvio D'Angelo, Taylor M Weiskittel, Francesca P Caruso, Shannon P Fortin Ensign, Mylan R Blomquist, Matthew J Flick, Lujia Wang, Christopher P Sereduk, Kevin Meng-Lin, Gustavo De Leon, Ashley Nespodzany, Javier C Urcuyo, Ashlyn C Gonzales, Lee Curtin, Erika M Lewis, Kyle W Singleton, Timothy Dondlinger, Aliya Anil, Natenael B Semmineh, Teresa Noviello, Reyna A Patel, Panwen Wang, Junwen Wang, Jennifer M Eschbacher, Andrea Hawkins-Daarud, Pamela R Jackson, Itamar S Grunfeld, Christian Elrod, Gina L Mazza, Sam C Mcgee, Lisa Paulson, Kamala Clark-Swanson, Yvette Lassiter-Morris, Kris A Smith, Peter Nakaji, Bernard R Bendok, Richard S Zimmerman, Chandan Krishna, Devi P Patra, Naresh P Patel, Mark Lyons, Matthew Neal, Kliment Donev, Maciej M Mrugala, Alyx B Porter, Scott C Beeman, Todd R Jensen, Kathleen M Schmainda, Yuxiang Zhou, Leslie C Baxter, Christopher L Plaisier, Jing Li, Hu Li, Anna Lasorella, C Chad Quarles, Kristin R Swanson, Michele Ceccarelli, Antonio Iavarone, Nhan L Tran

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sampling restrictions have hindered the comprehensive study of invasive non-enhancing (NE) high-grade glioma (HGG) cell populations driving tumor progression. Here, we present an integrated multi-omic analysis of spatially matched molecular and multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) profiling across 313 multi-regional tumor biopsies, including 111 from the NE, across 68 HGG patients. Whole exome and RNA sequencing uncover unique genomic alterations to unresectable invasive NE tumor, including subclonal events, which inform genomic models predictive of geographic evolution. Infiltrative NE tumor is alternatively enriched with tumor cells exhibiting neuronal or glycolytic/plurimetabolic cellular states, two principal transcriptomic pathway-based glioma subtypes, which respectively demonstrate …

Regulation Of Syntaxin3b-Mediated Membrane Fusion By T14, Munc18, And Complexin, Rajkishor Nishad, Miguel Betancourt-Solis, Himani Dey, Ruth Heidelberger, James A Mcnew

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Retinal neurons that form ribbon-style synapses operate over a wide dynamic range, continuously relaying visual information to their downstream targets. The remarkable signaling abilities of these neurons are supported by specialized presynaptic machinery, one component of which is syntaxin3B. Syntaxin3B is an essential t-SNARE protein of photoreceptors and bipolar cells that is required for neurotransmitter release. It has a light-regulated phosphorylation site in its N-terminal domain at T14 that has been proposed to modulate membrane fusion. However, a direct test of the latter has been lacking. Using a well-controlled in vitro fusion assay, we found that a phosphomimetic T14 syntaxin3B …

Kenyon Collegian - September 28, 2023

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Fire On Kangaroo Rats In The San Joaquin Desert Of California, David J. Germano, Lawrence R. Saslaw, Brian L. Cypher, Linda Spiegel

Western North American Naturalist

Fire can alter ecological communities, particularly those that are not fire-adapted, such as desert communities. We examined the effects of fire on rodent communities in the San Joaquin Desert of central California. Of particular interest were the effects on kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spp.) including 2 rare species, the giant kangaroo rat (D. ingens) and the short-nosed kangaroo rat (D. nitratoides brevinasus). Lightning caused multiple fires in arid scrub habitat in western Kern County in 1993. We trapped rodents at 7 sites along paired transects, with one transect in a burned area and one in a …

Insulin Resistance And Insulin Handling In Chronic Kidney Disease, Vishnu P Parvathareddy, Jiao Wu, Sandhya S Thomas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Insulin regulates energy metabolism involving multiple organ systems. Insulin resistance (IR) occurs when organs exhibit reduced insulin sensitivity, leading to difficulties in maintaining glucose homeostasis. IR ensures decades prior to development of overt diabetes and can cause silent metabolic derangements. IR is typically seen very early in the course of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is evident even when the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is within the normal range and IR persists at various stages of kidney disease. In this article, we will discuss insulin handling by the kidneys, mechanisms responsible for IR in CKD, measurements and management of …

Associations Between Plasma, Imaging, And Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers With Driving Behavior And Cognitive Tests: Implications For Biomarker Usefulness, Catherine M Roe, Sayeh Bayat, Ganesh M Babulal

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Declines in instrumental activities of daily living like driving are hallmarks sequelae of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although driving has been shown to be associated with traditional imaging and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, it is possible that some biomarkers have stronger associations with specific aspects of driving behavior. Furthermore, associations between newer plasma biomarkers and driving behaviors are unknown.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the extent to which individual plasma, imaging, and CSF biomarkers are related to specific driving behaviors and cognitive functions among cognitively normal older adults.

METHODS: We analyzed naturalistic driving behavior from cognitively healthy older drivers (N = …

Evaluating A Large Language Model’S Ability To Solve Programming Exercises From An Introductory Bioinformatics Course, Stephen R. Piccolo, Paul Denny, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Samuel H. Payne, Perry G. Ridge

Faculty Publications

Life scientists frequently write computer code when doing research. Computer programming can aid researchers in performing tasks that are not supported by existing tools. Programming can also help researchers to implement analytical logic in a way that documents their steps and thus enables others to repeat those steps. Many educational resources are available to teach computer programming, but this skill remains challenging for many researchers and students to master. Artificial-intelligence tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are able to interpret human-language requests to generate code. Accordingly, we evaluated the extent to which this technology might be used to perform programming tasks described …

Deep Representation Learning Identifies Associations Between Physical Activity And Sleep Patterns During Pregnancy And Prematurity, Neal G Ravindra, Peinan Zhao, Erik D Herzog, Sarah K England, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of infant mortality globally. Research has focused on developing predictive models for PTB without prioritizing cost-effective interventions. Physical activity and sleep present unique opportunities for interventions in low- and middle-income populations (LMICs). However, objective measurement of physical activity and sleep remains challenging and self-reported metrics suffer from low-resolution and accuracy. In this study, we use physical activity data collected using a wearable device comprising over 181,944 h of data across N = 1083 patients. Using a new state-of-the art deep learning time-series classification architecture, we develop a 'clock' of healthy dynamics during pregnancy …

Modeling Nonsegmented Negative-Strand Rna Virus (Nnsv) Transcription With Ejective Polymerase Collisions And Biased Diffusion, Felipe-Andres Piedra

Research Symposium

Background: The textbook model of NNSV transcription predicts a gene expression gradient. However, multiple studies show non-gradient gene expression patterns or data inconsistent with a simple gradient. Regarding the latter, several studies show a dramatic decrease in gene expression over the last two genes of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) genome (a highly studied NNSV). The textbook model cannot explain these phenomena.

Methods: Computational models of RSV and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV – another highly studied NNSV) transcription were written in the Python programming language using the Scientific Python Development Environment. The model code is freely available on GitHub: …

Text Recycling (Aka “Self-Plagiarism") In Research Writing: Thorny Issues And Best Practices, Cary Moskovitz

Bear GRADS

Researchers often have reason to reuse content from their prior papers in their new ones (descriptions of methods, background material, theoretical frameworks, and so on). Some uses of text recycling are widely considered appropriate; others are universally condemned. Given the variety of ways that researchers might recycle text, they are often unsure about what is and isn't ethical or legal. This talk will present the ethical and legal complexities of text recycling in research writing, present a new taxonomy of text recycling, and explain best practices for recycling material across a range of research contexts.