Digital Commons Network^™

The Unfolding Story Of Protein Misfolding Causing Alzheimer Disease In Recipients Of Human Pituitary Growth Hormone, Evan G. Graber, Sayed M. Hadi Hosseini, Darrell M. Wilson, Alan D. Rogol

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Faculty Papers

Human growth hormone (hGH) has been in clinical use for children with GH deficiency (GHD) since the late 1950s. The original formulations were considered very safe with few adverse events reported. That changed remarkably in 1985 when the first patients with GHD, who had been treated with cadaveric hGH, were diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Fortunately, that same year a robust supply of recombinant hGH was released to the market whose adverse event profile did not include CJD. Patients who had received National Hormone and Pituitary Program hGH have been continuously followed since 1985. It is clear that prions are …

Mitochondrial Dysfunction Is A Hallmark Of Woody Breast Myopathy In Broiler Chickens, Elizabeth S. Greene, Paula R. Chen, Carrie Walk, Mike Bedford, Sami Dridi

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The woody breast (WB) myopathy poses significant economic and welfare concerns to the poultry industry, however, there is no effective strategy to mitigate this pathology due to its unknown etiology. After showing previously that hypoxia is a key factor in WB progression, we used here various techniques demonstrating dysregulated mitochondria (morphology, biogenesis, tethering, function, and bioenergetics) in WB-affected muscles and in hypoxic myoblasts compared to healthy tissues and normoxic cells, respectively. The increased levels of calcium (Ca2+) in both WB-affected tissues and hypoxic myoblasts suggested that mitochondrial Ca2+ overload is likely a leading cause for mitochondrial dysfunction that merits further …

Chimes: February 17, 2025, Calvin University

Chimes

Confusion, apprehension run high among faculty as gravamen decision still up in the air by McKenna Wilkinson, Sarah Sparling & Ethan Meyers

Mayor David LaGrand, Calvin alum, shares his vision for Grand Rapids by McKenna Wilkinson & Sarah Sparling

The future and past of interdisciplinary minors by Elisabeth Stevens

Valentine's Week In A Nutshell by Natasha Jayaputra

"Team One": Women's acrobatics and tumbling makes history with first varsity match by Zach Kern

Late-Night concert sparks excitement for performing at Calvin by Stella Stachowiak

Rna Methyltransferase Spout1/Cenp-32 Links Mitotic Spindle Organization With The Neurodevelopmental Disorder Spadmiss, Avinash V Dharmadhikari, Maria Alba Abad, Sheraz Khan, Reza Maroofian, Tristan T Sands, Farid Ullah, Itaru Samejima, Yanwen Shen, Martin A Wear, Kiara E Moore, Elena Kondakova, Natalia Mitina, Theres Schaub, Grace K Lee, Christine H Umandap, Sara M Berger, Alejandro D Iglesias, Bernt Popp, Rami Abou Jamra, Heinz Gabriel, Stefan Rentas, Alyssa L Rippert, Christopher Gray, Kosuke Izumi, Laura K Conlin, Daniel C Koboldt, Theresa Mihalic Mosher, Scott E Hickey, Dara V F Albert, Haley Norwood, Amy Feldman Lewanda, Hongzheng Dai, Pengfei Liu, Tadahiro Mitani, Dana Marafi, Hatice Koçak Eker, Davut Pehlivan, Jennifer E Posey, Natalie C Lippa, Natalie Vena, Erin L Heinzen, David B Goldstein, Cyril Mignot, Jean-Madeleine De Sainte Agathe, Nouriya Abbas Al-Sannaa, Mina Zamani, Saeid Sadeghian, Reza Azizimalamiri, Tahere Seifia, Maha S Zaki, Ghada M H Abdel-Salam, Mohamed S Abdel-Hamid, Lama Alabdi, Fowzan Sami Alkuraya, Heba Dawoud, Aya Lofty, Peter Bauer, Giovanni Zifarelli, Erum Afzal, Faisal Zafar, Stephanie Efthymiou, Daniel Gossett, Meghan C Towne, Raey Yeneabat, Belen Perez-Duenas, Ana Cazurro-Gutierrez, Edgard Verdura, Veronica Cantarin-Extremera, Ana Do Vale Marques, Aleksandra Helwak, David Tollervey, Sandeep N Wontakal, Vimla S Aggarwal, Jill A Rosenfeld, Victor Tarabykin, Shinya Ohta, James R Lupski, Henry Houlden, William C Earnshaw, Erica E Davis, A Arockia Jeyaprakash, Jun Liao

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

SPOUT1/CENP-32 encodes a putative SPOUT RNA methyltransferase previously identified as a mitotic chromosome associated protein. SPOUT1/CENP-32 depletion leads to centrosome detachment from the spindle poles and chromosome misalignment. Aided by gene matching platforms, here we identify 28 individuals with neurodevelopmental delays from 21 families with bi-allelic variants in SPOUT1/CENP-32 detected by exome/genome sequencing. Zebrafish spout1/cenp-32 mutants show reduction in larval head size with concomitant apoptosis likely associated with altered cell cycle progression. In vivo complementation assays in zebrafish indicate that SPOUT1/CENP-32 missense variants identified in humans are pathogenic. Crystal structure analysis of SPOUT1/CENP-32 reveals that most disease-associated missense variants are …

Impulsivity Facets And Substance Use Involvement: Insights From Genomic Structural Equation Modeling, Laura Vilar-Ribó, Alexander S Hatoum, Andrew D Grotzinger, Travis T Mallard, 23andme Research Team, Sarah Elson, Pierre Fontanillas, Abraham A Palmer, Daniel E Gustavson, Sandra Sanchez-Roige

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Impulsivity is a multidimensional trait associated with substance use disorders (SUDs), but the relationship between distinct impulsivity facets and stages of substance use involvement remains unclear.

METHODS: We used genomic structural equation modeling and genome-wide association studies (

RESULTS: We found that the SU and SUD factors were strongly genetically inter-correlated (

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show that specific impulsivity facets confer risk for distinct stages of substance use involvement, with potential implications for SUDs prevention and treatment.

Recruiting Rules Of Tort Liability To Compensate Thoseaffected By The Terrorist Act, Faris Kamil Hasan

Imam Ja'afar Al-Sadiq University Journal of Legal Studies

Terrorist acts represents one of the most dangerous crimes nowadays because of the physical, financial, or moral damage they cause. This damage does not affect one personbut hundreds of people. What complicates the situation is the fact that these actions are carried out by unknown persons whose lives end upon the execution of the terrorist act, which is why the injured does not get a compensation from the perpetrator of the terroristact. Concerning the failure of general rules to compensate those affected by terrorist acts,the Iraqi legislator emphasized in the revised law of compensation for those affected by war operations, …

Breaking Boundaries: A Critical Trans Framework Analysis Of Anti-Transgender Sports Policies In Education, Tori Porter, Briana A. Savage, Dresden June Frazier

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This policy analysis examines the impacts of anti-transgender sports legislation on K-20 transgender students through a critical trans framework. We investigate how anti-transgender laws enforce gender norms and intersect with other forms of oppression, such as racism and ableism, affecting multi-marginalized transgender students in sports and limiting access to a well-rounded education. Epistemic injustice is revealed, as these policies disregard transgender students' experiential knowledge and involvement in decision-making processes. Findings indicate that anti-transgender sports policies impact students at individual, institutional, and cultural levels, perpetuating discriminatory practices and reducing access to gender-affirming spaces and supportive adults. We argue for inclusive, evidence-based …

The Effect Of Education Policy On Crime: An Intergenerational Perspective, Ulrika Ahrsjö, Costas Meghir, Mårten Palme, Marieke Schnabel

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We study the intergenerational effect of education policy on crime. We use Swedish administrative data that links outcomes across generations with crime records, and we show that the comprehensive school reform, gradually implemented between 1949 and 1962, reduced conviction rates both for the generation directly affected by the reform and for their sons. The reduction in conviction rates occurred in many types of crime. The key mediators of this reduction in child generation are an increase in education and household income and a decrease in crime among their fathers.

Unraveling The Influence Of Structural Complexity,Environmental, And Geographic Factors On Multi-Trophicbiodiversity In Forested Landscapes, Ayanna St Rose, Kusum Naithani

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Multi-trophic diversity is often overlooked in land management decisions due to the absence of cost- and time-effective assessment methods. Here, we introduce a new method to calculate a combined terrain and canopy structural complexity metric using LiDAR data, enabling the prediction of multi-trophic diversity-a combined diversity metric that integrates diversity across trophic levels. We selected 34 forested sites of the National Ecological Observatory Network to test the model by using observed data on plant presence, beetle pitfall trap, and bird count to calculate multi-trophic diversity. Our results show that multi-trophic diversity increases with increasing structural complexity, but this relationship differs …

Sowing The Seeds Of Confusion To Reap Content Mastery, Rebecca Mcgrail

Greater Faculties: A Review of Teaching and Learning

No abstract provided.

Enabling Improved Hand Function In Disabled Individuals Via Intention Estimation And Suppression Of Disrupted Central Drive, Hendrik Adriaan Dewald

Staff Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Endowment To Assist Aspiring Medical Professionals Reach Goals, Bill Dabney

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Dr. Thomas Houston, a University of Mississippi alumnus with a 45-year career as a family medicine educator and tobacco control advocate, has made a major gift in support of Ole Miss students who want to similarly devote their lives to careers in health professions.

Freshwater Mussels Of Kansas: Register Of Taxa, Synonyms, And Assumed Misidentifications, Mark E. Eberle

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The literature on freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Margaritiferidae and Unionidae) of Kansas includes a collection of names of species and subspecies that makes it difficult for even experienced malacologists to decipher which taxa actually were collected. Compounding this problem is the absence of voucher specimens for some of the studies conducted in the state. This list was compiled to aid those who are conducting research and want to assess their results with reference to the earlier accounts. The alphabetical list of valid taxa, synonyms, and assumed misidentifications of freshwater mussels of Kansas is drawn from the literature and not an examination …

My Art Is Garbage, Beth Shepherd

The Goose

In “My Art is Garbage,” I describe three recent art projects where garbage is both a theme and an artistic medium used to critique the overuse of and inability to reuse or safely dispose of plastics we use every day. The first work, Untitled (Plastic Film Balls), uses non-recyclable single-use household plastic made to form an installation of shimmering balls and alludes to the environmental footprint of the artworld. Plastic Shores, a series of monotype prints, reminds us that plastics in the environment are deleterious to species that we see every day. Finally Plastic Pests, a series …

Few-Shot Transfer Learning For Individualized Braking Intent Detection On Neuromorphic Hardware, Nathan A. Lutes, V. Sriram Siddhardth Nedendla, K. Krishnamurthy

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work explores use of a few-shot transfer learning method to train and implement a convolutional spiking neural network (CSNN) on a Brain Chip Akida AKD1000 neuromorphic system-on-chip for developing individual-level, instead of traditionally used group-level, models using electroencephalographic data. The efficacy of the method is studied on an advanced driver assist system related task of predicting braking intention. Approach. Data are collected from participants operating an NVIDIA JetBot on a testbed simulating urban streets for three different scenarios. Participants receive a braking indicator in the form of: (1) an audio countdown in a nominal baseline, stress-free environment; (2) an …

The Effect Of Age Of Acquisition On The Development Of Lexical Attainment And Oral Proficiency In English As L2 In Adult Native Arabic Speakers, Mona Ahmed Kamar El-Zaman

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of the age of acquisition (AoA) on the development of lexical attainment and oral proficiency in English as a second language (L2) among adult native Arabic speakers, focusing on classroom foreign language learners within the Egyptian context. AoA, a critical variable in second language acquisition (SLA) research, is explored in relation to two key domains: lexical knowledge and oral proficiency. The study examines the role of AoA and AoA related effects, such as the order of bilingualism and the length of exposure to rich language input (LoE) as a confounding factor. Through a mixed-methods approach, …

Tailor-Designed Oxalic Acid-Crosslinked Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)/Chitosan Biodegradable Films For Active Food Packaging Applications, Reem Hazem Fathy Anwar Elaasar

Theses and Dissertations

Food packaging plastic waste is posing great threats to ecosystems, human health, and the planet's overall sustainability; therefore, research has been directed towards the fabrication of biodegradable food packaging materials. In this study, active and biodegradable oxalic acid (OA) crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan (CS) composite films of different weight ratios were synthesized via the solvent casting technique and their food packaging properties were investigated. Owing to its water resistance and antibacterial superiority, the composite film with the ratio of OA chemically crosslinked PVA/CS 80:20 was elected to be coated with green tea extract (GTE) to ameliorate its antibacterial and antioxidant …

Single-Cell Rna Sequencing Identifies Molecular Biomarkers Predicting Late Progression To Cdk4/6 Inhibition In Patients With Hr+/Her2- Metastatic Breast Cancer, Linjie Luo, Peng Yang, Sofia Mastoraki, Xiayu Rao, Yan Wang, Nicole M Kettner, Akshara Singareeka Raghavendra, Debasish Tripathy, Senthil Damodaran, Kelly K Hunt, Jing Wang, Ziyi Li, Khandan Keyomarsi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6is) in combination with endocrine therapy are the standard treatment for patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Despite the efficacy of CDK4/6is, intrinsic resistance occurs in approximately one-third of patients, highlighting the need for reliable predictive biomarkers.

Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing analyzed metastatic tumors from HR+/HER2- mBC patients pre-CDK4/6i treatment at baseline (BL) and/or at disease progression. BL samples were from CDK4/6i responders (median progression-free survival [mPFS] = 25.5 months), while progressors were categorized as early-progressors (EP, mPFS = 3 months) and late-progressors (LP, mPFS = 11 months). Metastatic sites included liver, …

Outcomes Of Arteriovenous Malformation Patients With Multiple Versus Single Feeders: A Multicenter Retrospective Study With Propensity-Score Matching, Basel Musmar, Nimer Adeeb, Hammam Abdalrazeq, Joanna M Roy, Stavropoula I Tjoumakaris, Hamza Adel Salim, Douglas Kondziolka, Jason Sheehan, Christopher S Ogilvy, Howard Riina, Sandeep Kandregula, Adam A Dmytriw, Kareem El Naamani, Ahmed Abdelsalam, Natasha Ironside, Deepak Kumbhare, Cagdas Ataoglu, Muhammed Amir Essibayi, Abdullah Keles, Sandeep Muram, Daniel Sconzo, Arwin Rezai, Omar Alwakaa, Salem M Tos, Ufuk Erginoglu, Johannes Pöppe, Rajeev D Sen, Christoph J Griessenauer, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, Robert M Starke, Mustafa K Baskaya, Laligam N Sekhar, Michael R Levitt, David J Altschul, Malia Mcavoy, Assala Aslan, Abdallah Abushehab, Christian Swaid, Adib A Abla, Saman Sizdahkhani, Sravanthi Koduri, Elias Atallah, Spyridon Karadimas, M Reid Gooch, Robert H Rosenwasser, Christopher Stapleton, Matthew Koch, Visish M Srinivasan, Peng R Chen, Spiros Blackburn, Joseph Cochran, Omar Choudhri, Bryan Pukenas, Darren Orbach, Edward Smith, Pascal J Mosimann, Ali Alaraj, Mohammad A Aziz-Sultan, Aman B Patel, Hugo H Cuellar, Michael Lawton, Bharat Guthikonda, Jacques Morcos, Pascal Jabbour

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: The impact of multiple feeding arteries on clinical outcomes of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) is not well understood. This study aims to compare outcomes between AVMs with multiple versus single feeding arteries.

Patients and methods: Data from the Multicenter International Study for Treatment of Brain AVMs (MISTA) consortium were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance cohorts. Subgroup analysis was conducted for ruptured and unruptured AVMs and different treatment options, and multivariable logistic regression was applied to assess the impact of feeding artery origin.

Results: Among 953 patients, 661(69.4%) had multiple feeding arteries, and 292 (30.6%) had …

Patient Perception Of Delays In The Dermatology Clinic, Emily Hunter, Safiyyah Bhatti, Lauren N. Mcgrath, Stephanie R. Jackson Cullison, Elizabeth Jones

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

A Manifesto To Young Activist Scientists And Science Educators: Toward Pluriversal Sciences And Science Educations Within Bioregions And Communities, James C. Jupp

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

What follows is a manifesto to substantiate four theses. First, science and science education are not what they purport to be and require recategorization as technoscience and technoscience education. Second, technoscience and technoscience education are constituted in the pernicious whiteness of coloniality and need to be understood as mechanisms of domination. Third, pluriversal sciences and science educations toward bioregion and community are emerging and require leveraging. Fourth, the notion of contextual mitigating factors provides an essential analytic for pluriversal sciences and science educations. The manifesto is a clarion call for affinity …

Genome-Wide Transcriptome Differences Associated With Perceived Discrimination In An Urban, Community-Dwelling Middle-Aged Cohort, Natasha L. Pacheco, Nicole Noren Hooten, Sharon Wu, Maame Mensah-Bonsu, Yongqing Zhang, Kumaraswamy Naidu Chitrala, Supriyo De, Nicolle A. Mode, Ngozi Ezike, Danielle L. Beatty Moody, Alan B. Zonderman, Michele K. Evans

Student Publications

Discrimination is a social adversity that is linked to several age-related outcomes. However, the molecular drivers of these observations are poorly understood. Social adverse factors are associated with proinflammatory and interferon gene expression, but little is known about whether additional genes are associated with discrimination among both African American and White adults. In this study, we examined how perceived discrimination in African American and White adults was associated with genome-wide transcriptome differences using RNA sequencing. Perceived discrimination was measured based on responses to self-reported lifetime discrimination and racial discrimination. Differential gene expression and pathway analysis were conducted in a cohort …

Proximity Proteomics Provides A New Resource For Exploring The Function Of Afadin And The Complexity Of Cell-Cell Adherens Junctions, Wangsun Choi, Dennis Goldfarb, Feng Yan, Michael B Major, Alan S Fanning, Mark Peifer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The network of proteins at the interface between cell-cell adherens junctions and the actomyosin cytoskeleton provides robust yet dynamic connections that facilitate cell shape change and motility. While this was initially thought to be a simple linear connection via classic cadherins and their associated catenins, we now have come to appreciate that many more proteins are involved, providing robustness and mechanosensitivity. Defining the full set of proteins in this network remains a key objective in our field. Proximity proteomics provides a means to define these networks. Mammalian Afadin and its Drosophila homolog Canoe are key parts of this protein network, …

Promoting Equity: Embracing Food Justice In The Transformation Of The Food Systems For Bipoc Communities, Frank Yeboah Adusei

Journal of Extension

The food justice movement addresses systemic food inequities impacting BIPOC communities, rooted in civil rights and environmental justice movements. It advocates for fair access to culturally relevant food, combating food deserts, and promoting food sovereignty. Recognizing intersectionality, it emphasizes collaboration to dismantle systemic barriers. This study aims to understand BIPOC communities' challenges and effective strategies, stressing the importance of collaborative efforts for lasting systemic change. Extension professionals face challenges but can contribute through equity-focused strategies, community engagement, and partnerships, advancing food justice and fostering inclusive food systems.

Outcomes Of A 4-H Stem Learning Enrichment Program Using Video Storytelling, Dena Seidel, Marissa Staffen, Lamia Abdallah, Xenia Morin

Journal of Extension

This article shares research outcomes and recommendations for replication of a Food, Agriculture and Marine Ecosystems (FAME) pilot project that successfully supported high school aged youth involved in a new 4-H special interest program. The goal of the program was to recruit and engage underserved youth in STEM learning through the production of food systems video stories in partnership with university plant scientists and science communication researchers and storytellers. This pilot offers an experiential method for underserved youth to engage in STEM learning through science storytelling that features youths' own bio-cultural food system knowledge.

Workshop Wine Wednesdays: Change In Behavior Around Local Wines, Aude Watrelot, Sarah Francis, Sarah Al-Mazroa Smith

Journal of Extension

Wine workshops hosted at local wineries positively impacted the behavior of Iowa wine consumers. Many participants (75%) reported visiting an Iowa winery following the workshop. The percentage of participants consuming Iowa wines increased by 20.6% (p

Offal Wildlife Watching: Connecting Hunters, Wildlife Researchers, And The Public Through Participatory Science, Ellen M. Candler, Grace Milanowski, Amy Rager, Joseph K. Bump

Journal of Extension

Offal Wildlife Watching is a participatory science project that engages deer hunters in wildlife research. The goal of the project is to better understand the ecology of scavenger species that visit deer gut piles across Minnesota. We asked hunters to deploy remote cameras at white-tailed deer gut piles that resulted from their freshly killed deer. Thus far 117 hunters have contributed images and recorded at least 49 different scavenger species. This project is a natural fit in Extension programs and can easily be adapted to other hunted species, biomes, and locations.

Beer And Biology, A Perfect Pairing: Using Beer To Spread Awareness About Invasive Species, Samuel Nutile, Adam Simpson, Sara Stahlman, Lynne E. Beaty

Journal of Extension

Managing the spread of introduced invasive species relies on educating recreationists that currently or potentially harbor such species. By partnering with a local brewery, we developed the Lagers for Lakes Draft Series to facilitate outreach about aquatic invasive species in Erie, Pennsylvania. To date, Lagers for Lakes drafts and associated launch events have reached over 230 individuals and increased awareness of invasive species by 86%. With the materials provided here and the lessons learned from these events, we hope similar outreach efforts can be developed elsewhere to educate and minimize the spread of invasive species.

Genetic And Environmental Contribution To Phenotypic Resemblance Between Iranian Couples: Tehran Cardiometabolic And Genetic Study (Tcgs), Parisa Riahi, Amir Hossein Saeidian, Albert Tenesa, Carolyn T Hogan, Michael March, Kamran Guity, Mahmoud Amiri Roudbar, Asieh Zahedi, Maryam Zarkesh, Farideh Neshati, Mehdi Hedayati, Fereidoun Azizi, Hakon Hakonarson, Maryam S Daneshpour, Mahdi Akbarzadeh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: To provide an applied framework for assessing the genetic contribution to assortative mating (AM) using height as a model trait and disclose the trace of certain pieces of evidence of AM in the form of the shared environmental effects from long-term cohabitation on spouses' anthropometric traits and lipid serum levels.

Methods: 2315 genotyped couples were extracted from the Tehran Cardiometabolic Genetic Study (TCGS). Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between spouses' height. The GCTA-GREML was used to assess the SNP-based heritability of individual and spousal heights with AM adjustments. We used a recent GWAS meta-analysis of …

News From The Chapters 1992-1993, C. Nicholas Raphael

The Geographical Bulletin

This year was another exciting one for the Alpha Chapter. Duri ng National Geography Awareness Week we sold Tshirts and went on a wild weekend canoe and camping trip to Turkey Run in Indiana. The weather and fall colors were beautiful, hiking was fun, and the river was low, making a wet run for 5 out of 6 canoes. In November, the members took an Indianapolis trip to see an ice hockey game and to sightsee.