Digital Commons Network^™

Environmental And Plant Biology Review 9-12-23, Angela Brock

Program Review Committee

No abstract provided.

Asymmetric Response Of Amazon Forest Water And Energy Fluxes To Wet And Dry Hydrological Extremes Reveals Onset Of A Local Drought-Induced Tipping Point, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Marcos Longo, Luciana F. Alves, Kleber Silva Campos, Alessandro C. Da Araujo, Raimundo C. De Oliveira Jr., Neill Prohaska, Rodrigo Da Silva, Raphael Tapajos

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Understanding the effects of intensification of Amazon basin hydrological cycling—manifest as increasingly frequent floods and droughts—on water and energy cycles of tropical forests is essential to meeting the challenge of predicting ecosystem responses to climate change, including forest “tipping points”. Here, we investigated the impacts of hydrological extremes on forest function using 12+ years of observations (between 2001–2020) of water and energy fluxes from eddy covariance, along with associated ecological dynamics from biometry, at the Tapajós National Forest. Measurements encompass the strong 2015–2016 El Niño drought and La Niña 2008–2009 wet events. We found that the forest responded strongly to …

Ucc Agenda 9-12-23, Angela Brock

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Ucc Minutes 9-12-23, Angela Brock

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Approved Courses 9-12-23, Angela Brock

Individual Course Committee (ICC)

No abstract provided.

Sigra: Single-Cell Spatial Elucidation Through An Image-Augmented Graph Transformer, Ziyang Tang, Zuotian Li, Tieying Hou, Tonglin Zhang, Baijian Yang Ph.D., Jing Su, Qianqian Song

Publications

Recent advances in high-throughput molecular imaging have pushed spatial transcriptomics technologies to subcellular resolution, which surpasses the limitations of both single-cell RNA-seq and array-based spatial profiling. The multichannel immunohistochemistry images in such data provide rich information on the cell types, functions, and morphologies of cellular compartments. In this work, we developed a method, single-cell spatial elucidation through image-augmented Graph transformer (SiGra), to leverage such imaging information for revealing spatial domains and enhancing substantially sparse and noisy transcriptomics data. SiGra applies hybrid graph transformers over a single-cell spatial graph. SiGra outperforms state-of-the-art methods on both single-cell and spot-level spatial transcriptomics data …

Biosafety And Biohazard Considerations Of Hsv-1-Based Oncolytic Viral Immunotherapy., Elizabeth Robilotti, Nathalie C Zeitouni, Marlana Orloff

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Oncolytic viral immunotherapies are agents which can directly kill tumor cells and activate an immune response. Oncolytic viruses (OVs) range from native/unmodified viruses to genetically modified, attenuated viruses with the capacity to preferentially replicate in and kill tumors, leaving normal tissue unharmed. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is the only OV approved for patient use in the United States; however, during the last 20 years, there have been a substantial number of clinical trials using OV immunotherapies across a broad range of cancers. Like T-VEC, many OV immunotherapies in clinical development are based on the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), with …

Disease Modeling And Gene Correction Of Lgmdr21 Ipscs Elucidates The Role Of Poglut1 In Skeletal Muscle Maintenance, Regeneration, And The Satellite Cell Niche, Jose L Ortiz-Vitali, Jianbo Wu, Nasa Xu, Annie W Shieh, Nima Niknejad, Megumi Takeuchi, Carmen Paradas, Chunru Lin, Hamed Jafar-Nejad, Robert S Haltiwanger, Sidney H Wang, Radbod Darabi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 21 (LGMDR21) is caused by pathogenic variants in protein O-glucosyltransferase 1 (POGLUT1), which is responsible for O-glucosylation of specific epidermal growth factor (EGF) repeats found in ∼50 mammalian proteins, including Notch receptors. Previous data from patient biopsies indicated that impaired Notch signaling, reduction of muscle stem cells, and accelerated differentiation are probably involved in disease etiopathology. Using patient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), their corrected isotypes, and control iPSCs, gene expression profiling indicated dysregulation of POGLUT1, NOTCH, muscle development, extracellular matrix (ECM), cell adhesion, and migration as involved pathways. They also exhibited reduced in vitro …

Implicit Body Perception At The Pelvic Girdle With The Two-Point Estimation Task: A Reliability Study, B Halliday, J Freeman, S Chatfield, J Marsden

School of Health Professions

Background & aims: Implicit body perception disturbance has been evidenced in low back pain (LBP) using the two-point estimation (2PE) measure. Previous research has only investigated unilateral LBP, not included a pain-free control group, or examined the measure at the pelvic girdle. Aims 1) design a testing protocol suitable for assessing pain crossing the midline (central) 2) investigate regional 2PE reliability 3) compare left and right sides and lumbar and pelvic regions. Methods: A central 2PE measure was designed and protocolised. Non-pregnant, pain-free adult women > 18 years old were recruited from a university setting. Participants were assessed with repeated 2PE …

The Endosomal Escape Vehicle Platform Enhances Delivery Of Oligonucleotides In Preclinical Models Of Neuromuscular Disorders, Xiang Li, Mahboubeh Kheirabadi, Patrick G Dougherty, Kimberli J Kamer, Xiulong Shen, Nelsa L Estrella, Suresh Peddigari, Anushree Pathak, Sara L Blake, Emmanuelle Sizensky, Carmen Del Genio, Arti B Gaur, Mohanraj Dhanabal, Mahasweta Girgenrath, Natarajan Sethuraman, Ziqing Qian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Biological therapeutic agents are highly targeted and potent but limited in their ability to reach intracellular targets. These limitations often necessitate high therapeutic doses and can be associated with less-than-optimal therapeutic activity. One promising solution for therapeutic agent delivery is use of cell-penetrating peptides. Canonical cell-penetrating peptides, however, are limited by low efficiencies of cellular uptake and endosomal escape, minimal proteolytic stability, and toxicity. To overcome these limitations, we designed a family of proprietary cyclic cell-penetrating peptides that form the core of our endosomal escape vehicle technology capable of delivering therapeutic agent-conjugated cargo intracellularly. We demonstrated the therapeutic potential of …

Interaction Between Myelodysplasia-Related Gene Mutations And Ontogeny In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Joseph G W Mccarter, David Nemirovsky, Christopher A Famulare, Noushin Farnoud, Abhinita S Mohanty, Zoe S Stone-Molloy, Jordan Chervin, Brian J Ball, Zachary D Epstein-Peterson, Maria E Arcila, Aaron J Stonestrom, Andrew Dunbar, Sheng F Cai, Jacob L Glass, Mark B Geyer, Raajit K Rampal, Ellin Berman, Omar I Abdel-Wahab, Eytan M Stein, Martin S Tallman, Ross L Levine, Aaron D Goldberg, Elli Papaemmanuil, Yanming Zhang, Mikhail Roshal, Andriy Derkach, Wenbin Xiao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Accurate classification and risk stratification are critical for clinical decision making in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In the newly proposed World Health Organization and International Consensus classifications of hematolymphoid neoplasms, the presence of myelodysplasia-related (MR) gene mutations is included as 1 of the diagnostic criteria for AML, AML-MR, based largely on the assumption that these mutations are specific for AML with an antecedent myelodysplastic syndrome. ICC also prioritizes MR gene mutations over ontogeny (as defined in the clinical history). Furthermore, European LeukemiaNet (ELN) 2022 stratifies these MR gene mutations into the adverse-risk group. By thoroughly annotating a cohort …

Cell-Type-Specific Alternative Polyadenylation Promotes Oncogenic Gene Expression In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Progression, Kexin Huang, Yun Zhang, Xiaorui Shi, Zhiqin Yin, Weiling Zhao, Liyu Huang, Fu Wang, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Disrupted alternative polyadenylation (APA) is frequently involved in tumorigenesis and cancer progression by regulating the gene expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressors. However, limited knowledge of tumor-type- and cell-type-specific APA events may lead to novel APA events and their functions being overlooked. Here, we compared APA events across different cell types in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and normal tissues and identified functionally related APA events in NSCLC. We found several cell-specific 3'-UTR alterations that regulate gene expression changes showed prognostic value in NSCLC. We further investigated the function of APA-mediated 3'-UTR shortening through loss of microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites, and …

Description Of A New Pavlovskyella Species (Acari: Argasidae) From Chile, Sebastián Muñoz-Leal, José M Venzal, Alexander R Kneubehl, Job E Lopez, Thiago F Martins, Marcelo B Labruna

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Soft ticks (Argasidae) of the Pavlovskyella Pospelova-Shtrom subgenus are important vectors of relapsing fever spirochetes, which are agents of disease globally. South American representatives of the Pavlovskyella subgenus include 3 species: Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) brasiliensis Aragão, Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) furcosus Neumann, and Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) rostratus Aragão. Here, we describe a fourth species based on morphological and mitogenomic evidence of ticks collected in burrows of unknown hosts in central Chile. The larva of the new species separates from other South American soft ticks by the following combination of characters: 13 pairs of dorsolateral setae, dorsal plate hexagonal, hypostome blunt with denticles from apex …

Procedure For Handling And Storage Of Onchocerca Volvulus Microfilariae Obtained From Skin Snips For Downstream Genetic Work, Shannon M Hedtke, Anusha Kode, Tony O Ukety, Jöel L Mande, Germain M Abhafule, Anuarite A Raciu, Claude B Uvon, Stephen R Jada, An Hotterbeekx, Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo, Makedonka Mitreva, Wilson Sebit, Robert Colebunders, Warwick N Grant, Annette C Kuesel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

WHO and endemic countries target elimination of transmission of

The Prospector, September 12, 2023, Student Publications

The Prospector

Headline: Two for One, A Student Mother Makes it Happen

The George-Anne Daily, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

Defining The Causes Of Sporadic Parkinson’S Disease In The Global Parkinson’S Genetics Program (Gp2), Clodagh Towns, Madeleine Richer, Simona Jasaityte, Eleanor J. Stafford, Julie Joubert, Tarek Antar, Alejandro Martinez-Carrasco, Mary B. Makarious, Bradford Casey, Dan Vitale, K Levine, Hampton Leonard, Caroline B. Pantazis, La Screven, Dg Hernandez, Ce Wegel, J Solle, Mike A. Nalls, Cornelis Blauwendraat, Andrew B. Singleton, Mmx Tan, Hirotaka Iwaki, Huw R. Morris, Emilia M. Gatto, Marcelo Kauffman, Samson Khachatryan, Zaruhi Tavadyan, Claire E. Shepherd, Julie Hunter, Kishore Kumar

Peninsula Medical School

The Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2) will genotype over 150,000 participants from around the world, and integrate genetic and clinical data for use in large-scale analyses to dramatically expand our understanding of the genetic architecture of PD. This report details the workflow for cohort integration into the complex arm of GP2, and together with our outline of the monogenic hub in a companion paper, provides a generalizable blueprint for establishing large scale collaborative research consortia.

Patient-Specific Multi-Scale, Multi-Physics Simulations Of Human Uterine Contractions And Peristalsis During Pregnancy And The Menstrual Cycle, Yiqi Lin

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Uterine contractions during pregnancy drive birth, and peristalsis during menstrual cycles not only expel menstrual blood, but also play significant roles in both sperm transport and gynecological disorders. The present work encompasses an in-depth exploration into the electrophysiology, biomechanics, and fluid dynamics of these activities. We introduce an advanced multiscale dynamic electrophysiology model that delves into cellular-level details, using both electromyography (EMG) and cell force generation methods. An innovative ionic channel model integrates individual ionic channel knowledge and clinical data from the human myometrium. This model accurately represents action potentials and their interactions with oxytocin, while an associated mechanical force …

Theory And Application Of Dynamic Analog Memory Based On Fowler-Nordheim Quantum Tunneling, Mustafizur Rahman

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Traditionally, memory devices store information in a static manner be it charge-based devices like floating-gates of FeFET or any other method for that matter such as spin-based, electrochemical-based, magnetic-based, etc. But what if memory storage became dynamic in nature and you can control the dynamics? My thesis is based on these premises where I investigate the theory and application of Dynamic Analog Memory (DAM). In my thesis, I answer the questions on how to design such a DAM and what optimal characteristics it needs to have for it to demonstrate advantages over traditional memory devices. To this end, my thesis …

Collective Cell Migration Across Confinements, Wan Jung Lin

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Epithelial cell collectives migrate through tissue interfaces and crevices to orchestrate processes of development, tumor invasion, and wound healing. Various mechanisms ranging from the scale of single molecules to that of multicellular organisms have been proposed to address these complicated but vital processes. In chapter 1, we give a brief review on how confinement affects cell migration and why we chose polysiloxane (PDMS) microchannels as the in vitro platform for study collective cell migration across confinement. In chapter 2, we found that the migrating collectives built up cell density differentials upon encountering microchannels. Such accumulation of cell density altered cell …

Modeling Multiscale Mechanobiological Modulation Of Collective Cell Migration, Jairaj Mathur

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Cells constantly interact with and interpret their environment as they migrate, a process integral to an array of vital physiological events within the body. One such form of cellular migration that is of particular significance is collective migration, a coordinated and group-based movement that is central to various biological processes such as embryogenesis, tissue repair, and cancer metastasis. As these cells navigate through the body, they receive and process a wide array of inputs and cues from their surroundings that guide their direction and velocity. These cues are not simply instantaneous or immediate, they span across time and length, presenting …

Picobirnaviruses Encode Proteins That Are Functional Bacterial Lysins, Tianyu Gan, David Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Picobirnaviruses (PBVs) are double-stranded RNA viruses frequently detected in human and animal enteric viromes. Associations of PBVs with enteric graft-versus-host disease and type I diabetes during pregnancy have been established. Since their discovery in 1988, PBVs have been generally assumed to be animal-infecting viruses despite the lack of culture system, animal model, or detection in animal cells or tissues. Recent studies have proposed that bacteria or fungi could be the hosts of PBVs based on genomic analysis. Here, we functionally demonstrate that multiple PBVs of different genome organizations encode bacterial lysins that lyse

Lichens Of Iller Creek: A Checklist For The Iller Creek Unit, A Division Of Dishman Hills Conservation Area, Spokane Valley, Wa, Devin M. Mumey, Giovanna Bishop, Jessica L. Allen

2023 Symposium

The field of biodiversity documentation encompasses a broad range of research including new species discovery and description, compilation of species present in a given area, and investigation of interspecies interaction. In an era of increasingly devastating and rapid environmental change, documenting biodiversity has become increasingly important. Anthropogenic effects on urban-adjacent natural areas are especially significant, as they can cause numerous, often drastic, responses in ecosystems. Our objective here was to document the lichen biodiversity in a large urban-adjacent protected area: the Iller Creek Unit of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area in Spokane Valley, Washington. This unit encompasses a diversity of …

Developing Cryopreservation Methods Of Wheat Roots, Ramanpreet Singh, Nguyen Khoi Nguyen, Taylor S. Matteucci

2023 Symposium

In the midst of record breaking rates of plant species extinction due to climate change and fungal diseases, a universal cryopreservation method would provide a means for preservation of these many different species. The concept of plant root cryopreservation first emerged in the late 1960’s, and with it came new avenues of preserving tissue for the purposes of agriculture and research. Frozen tissues can be transported and stored more reliably than other more conventional means. When thawed, they have the potential to be cultured and grown. Several different methods of cryopreservation exist. This experiment used the Fast (3°C/minute) and Slow …

Canine Testes Thin Sections Culture​, Nguyen Khoi Nguyen, Ramanpreet Singh

2023 Symposium

Canine testes thin section culture

Testes tissue culture systems would provide a tool to elucidate spermatogenesis mechanisms, with the aim of genetic preservation of mammals, especially endangered species. Our experiment aims to develop a culture system capable of producing viable mammalian sperm cells in vitro.

Dogs were chosen as the model organism because testes are readily available. Canine testes were obtained from a local veterinary clinic. Thin sections were generated using a commercial electric slicer. They then were cleaned using Dulbecco’s Phosphate-Buffered Saline (DPBS) supplemented with antibiotics then cultured in a modified Tissue Culture Medium 199 (TCM-199). Sections were …

Canine Testes Thin Sections Culture, Nguyen Khoi Nguyen, Ramanpreet Singh

2023 Symposium

Canine testes thin section culture

Testes tissue culture systems would provide a tool to elucidate spermatogenesis mechanisms, with the aim of genetic preservation of mammals, especially endangered species. Our experiment aims to develop a culture system capable of producing viable mammalian sperm cells in vitro.

Dogs were chosen as the model organism because testes are readily available. Canine testes were obtained from a local veterinary clinic. Thin sections were generated using a commercial electric slicer. They then were cleaned using Dulbecco’s Phosphate-Buffered Saline (DPBS) supplemented with antibiotics then cultured in a modified Tissue Culture Medium 199 (TCM-199). Sections were …

Paradigms Or Toolkits? Philosophical And Methodological Positions As Heuristics For Mixed Methods Research, Joseph A. Maxwell

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Point/Counterpoint

Do We Need Paradigms? A Mixed Methods Perspective, R. Burke Johnson

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Point/Counterpoint

Impact Of Integrating A Unified Population Health And Systems Thinking Curriculum Into A Pa Program, Halley Barke, Georgia Luckey, Christy Hamilton, Taylor Sutton, Tracey Smith, Janet Albers

SIU Journal of Medical Science Scholarly Works

Purpose

This study shows the impact of a 3-part population health and interprofessional education (IPE) curriculum on Physician Assistant (PA) students’ knowledge and experience of population health and systems thinking (PHST) and to promote a team-based approach to patient care and improve patient health and preventative services.

Methods

Human Resources and Services Administration funded a 5-year Primary Care and Training Enhancement grant in PHST. With this funding, the Department of Family and Community Medicine developed a three-part plan emphasizing interprofessional learning. The impact was measured using a 22-item survey measuring knowledge and experience of PHST delivered to PA students annually. …

Introducing Hānai Pedagogy: A Call For Equity In Education Through An Aanapi Lens, Robin Brandehoff

Spect-actor: A Journal of Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed

This paper introduces a novel pedagogical framework titled Hānai Pedagogy which embraces cultural identity, language, and familial relationships to counter dominant narratives around historical and colonial educational systems. Derived from a larger study on informal mentorships (Brandehoff, 2020) and Indigenous concepts of familial connectedness and community, Hānai Pedagogy is Hands-on; builds Alliances with students, families, and community members; Navigates racial, cultural, and economic oppressions; centers Authenticity among educators and learning practices; and encourages explorative teaching through Interrelations of cultural tradition and modern modes of learning. Using an Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander (AANAPI) lens, this new pedagogical framework …