Digital Commons Network^™

The Evolutionary Ecology Of Reproductive System Variation In Haploid-Diploid Freshwater Red Macroalgae, Sarah Connelly

All ETDs from UAB

Reproductive systems describe the relative rates of sexual versus asexual reproduction and selfing versus outcrossing, governing the transmission of genetic diversity between generations and shaping evolutionary responses to environmental change. Though sex has inherent costs, it contributes to the reproductive system for most eukaryotes, generating incredible life cycle diversity. Life cycles are expected to be correlated with different reproductive systems. Diploid life cycles should be associated with outcrossing, whereas life cycles with a long-lived haploid phase are hypothesized to be associated with selfing and asexual reproduction. To test this hypothesis, we used ten polymorphic microsatellite loci to genotype 311 gametophytes …

Targeted Exon Skipping Of Nf1 Exon 52 As A Mutation Specific Therapeutic For Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Cameron Lee Church

All ETDs from UAB

Modification of pre-mRNA splicing using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) can be used to skip one or more exons carrying pathogenic DNA sequence variants. Our previ-ously published data indicates NF1 exon 52 is a good target for exon skipping as a cDNA screen indicates an NF1 isoform lacking exon 52 maintains both high neurofi-bromin expression and the ability to suppress Ras activity. To develop an exon skipping approach, we designed antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers (PMOs) to skip exon 52. Our lead PMO has a low IC50 of 45nM and is able to restore NF1 expres-sion and Ras-suppression in a cell line with …

Scalable Resonance-Based Multi-Coil Inductive Links For Wireless Power Transmission And Passive Sensing In Biomedical Applications, Reepa Saha

All ETDs from UAB

Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) has become a major health crisis, affecting up to 95% of the 38.4 million diabetes cases in the United States and costing approximately $327 billion annually. Current treatments mainly focus on symptom management rather than reversing the disease. However, clinical observations suggest a promising link between certain stomach surgeries, such as the removal of the upper stomach, and diabetes reversal within a year. This raises the possibility of anatomical changes influencing diabetes outcomes, though the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. This dissertation is organized into three interconnected research segments, each contributing to a platform that deepens …

Diurnal Function And Expression Of Aquaporins In The Mouse Kidney, Phi Hung Nguyen

All ETDs from UAB

Aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of proteins that play a major role in maintaining water homeostasis. Aquaporin 2 (AQP2) and aquaporin 3 (AQP3) are expressed in the collecting duct and regulated by the antidiuretic hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) through the AVPR2 receptor. It is well known that biological circadian rhythms are critical for maintaining homeostasis. In both humans and rodents, the kidneys exhibit time-of-day-dependent changes in function. We hypothesized that there is a diurnal pattern in urine and/or plasma osmolality, and that this may reflect changes in kidney aquaporins in mice. Male and female C57BL/6J mice (10-11 weeks old) were …

Elucidating The Role Of The Secondary Coordination Sphere In Tuning Reactivity Of Synthetic Heme Superoxide Complexes And Other Biologically Relevant Intermediates, Garrett B. Tolbert

All ETDs from UAB

Tryptophan catabolizing human heme-dioxyganase enzymes have been linked to a multitude of disease conditions; therefore, understanding the mechanistic details of their function is of great interest to facilitate the design of effective inhibitors for therapeutic applications. Synthetic model systems have demonstrated dioxygenation of indole moieties, elucidating key mechanistic details of the overall reaction. However, the contrastingly low reactivity of the synthetic heme-superoxide intermediates compared to those of dioxygenase enzymes necessitates the revaluation of these models with direct relevance to their biological mode of action. Herein, we report detailed mechanistic studies on the reactivity of model porphyrin systems with installed non-covalent …

Predictors Of Everyday Function Among Older Adults Using Data From The Active Clinical Trial., Deborah Awusuah Dadson

All ETDs from UAB

The nature of the lifespan causes a decrease in the bodily functioning of people as they age which affects the ability to engage in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), mostly amongst older adults. A reduction in the individual’s abilities combined with environmental changes can lead to functional decline impacting everyday function. The aim of this study was to examine the association between visual, cognitive and physical factors with everyday function (IADL/ADL) among older adults and assess whether social determinants of health (SDoH) measures moderate the associations of vision, cognitive and physical function with …

Metabolic And Physiological Characteristics Of Diet Manipulation And Genetic Modification In Two Rat Models Of Aging, Soe Maung Maung Phone Myint

All ETDs from UAB

As society and human civilization advances, humans have begun to live longer and most people live to be longer than 60, which was not the case several decades ago. According to the World Health Organization(WHO), by the turn of the next decade at 2030, 1 in 6 people will be 60 years or older, accounting for almost 1.4 billion people. Aging affects people differently but in general, it has a propensity to induce widespread and progressive molecular and cellular damage which leads to a myriad of diseases and eventually death. The greatest risk factor for most of the chronic diseases …

Unraveling The Kinetic Mechanisms Of Protein Unfolding And Translocation Catalyzed By Hsp100 Unfoldases, Jaskamaljot Kaur Banwait

All ETDs from UAB

Escherichia coli ClpB and Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hsp104 are part of the Hsp100 family of proteins responsible for maintaining protein homeostasis in a cell during heat-stress conditions. Structurally, ClpB and Hsp104, in their active state, assemble into hexameric ring complexes with a hollow axial channel. Functionally, these enzymes are hypothesized to couple energy from ATP binding and hydrolysis to unfold protein substrates and translocate them through their axial channel. However, the molecular mechanisms of protein unfolding and translocation catalyzed by both ClpB and Hsp104 are not well understood. In this dissertation, we report the development of a single-turnover transient state kinetics …

The Relationship Between Molten Iron Chemistry Of A Cupola Furnace And Airborne Contaminants, Darkeya D. Rowe

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this research was to understand the potential relationship between the molten iron chemistry of a cupola furnace and airborne contaminants. Three-day air sampling was performed for the emissions of a cupola furnace using 37 mm mixed cellulose ester (MCE) filter cassettes at an iron foundry. The samples were analyzed for 21 elements and compounds by a commercial laboratory using the modified National Institude for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Method 7303, most of which were metals. The concentrations of 13 out of 21 elements and compounds were compared to the corresponding elements in molten metal/iron stream analyzed …

Processing, Testing, Failure Analysis, And Modeling Of Elementary Natural Fiber-Reinforced Composites, Shuo Sun

All ETDs from UAB

Natural fiber reinforced composites have garnered significant interest as potential substitutes for conventional materials because of their eco-friendly attributes and favorable physical and mechanical properties. Typically, natural fibers undergo chemical treatments to enhance their compatibility with the polymer matrix prior to composite production. However, these treatments primarily affect the surface of the fiber bundles and have a limited impact on the inner elementary fibers within the bundle. This research work introduced a mechanical treatment method for hemp fiber by using an elevated temperature aqueous condition and mechanical force, which broke down the technical fiber bundles into elementary fibers and created …

Dimensionality Reduction For Visualizing Spatially Resolved Profiling Data Using Spasne, Yuansheng Zhou, Chen Tang, Xue Xiao, Xiaowei Zhan, Tao Wang, Guanghua Xiao, Lin Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Spatially resolved profiling technologies to quantify transcriptomes, epigenomes, and proteomes have been emerging as groundbreaking methods for comprehensive molecular characterizations. Dimensionality reduction and visualization is an essential step to analyze and interpret spatially resolved profiling data. However, state-of-the-art dimensionality reduction methods for single-cell sequencing data, such as the t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) and uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP), were not tailored for spatially resolved profiling data.

Results: Here we developed a spatially resolved t-SNE (SpaSNE) method to integrate both spatial and molecular information. We applied it to a variety of public spatially resolved profiling datasets that were …

Intrinsic Adaptive Plasticity In Mouse And Human Sensory Neurons, Lisa A Mcilvried, John Smith Del Rosario, Melanie Y Pullen, Andi Wangzhou, Tayler D Sheahan, Andrew J Shepherd, Richard A Slivicki, John A Lemen, Theodore J Price, Bryan A Copits, Robert W Gereau

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In response to changes in activity induced by environmental cues, neurons in the central nervous system undergo homeostatic plasticity to sustain overall network function during abrupt changes in synaptic strengths. Homeostatic plasticity involves changes in synaptic scaling and regulation of intrinsic excitability. Increases in spontaneous firing and excitability of sensory neurons are evident in some forms of chronic pain in animal models and human patients. However, whether mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity are engaged in sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is unknown. Here, we show that sustained depolarization (induced by 24-h incubation in 30 mM KCl) induces compensatory …

The Association Of The Chemotherapy Response Score And Homologous Recombination Deficiency In Patients Undergoing Interval Tumor Reductive Surgery Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, Roni Nitecki Wilke, Jinsong Liu, Shannon Neville Westin, Bryan M Fellman, Travis T Sims, Melissa Pham, Kelly Rangel, Esther Sey, Jose Alejandro Rauh-Hain, Karen H Lu, Anil K Sood, Nicole D Fleming

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: In patients undergoing interval tumor reductive surgery, a good response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy may limit available tumor for homologous recombination deficiency testing. The objective of this study was to assess whether the chemotherapy response score predicts homologous recombination status.

Methods: We identified patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (diagnosed January 2019 to 20 June 2023) who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, underwent interval surgery, and for whom a chemotherapy response score was reported (1=no or minimal tumor response, 2=appreciable tumor response, 3=complete or near complete response with no residual tumor). Comparisons were made using ANOVAs or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous variables …

Circakb: A Comprehensive Knowledgebase Of Circadian Genes Across Multiple Species, Xingchen Zhu, Xiao Han, Zhijin Li, Xiaobo Zhou, Seung-Hee Yoo, Zheng Chen, Zhiwei Ji

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Circadian rhythms, which are the natural cycles that dictate various physiological processes over a 24-h period, have been increasingly recognized as important in the management and treatment of various human diseases. However, the lack of sufficient data and reliable analysis methods have been a major obstacle to understanding the bidirectional interaction between circadian variation and human health. We have developed CircaKB, a comprehensive knowledgebase of circadian genes across multiple species. CircaKB is the first knowledgebase that provides systematic annotations of the oscillatory patterns of gene expression at a genome-wide level for 15 representative species. Currently, CircaKB contains 226 time-course transcriptome …

Land-Use Effects On Soil Organic Matter And Related Soil Properties In A Mixed Agricultural–Forest Landscape Of Central Wisconsin, Usa, Kathryn L. Hofmeister, Gwen Feitl, Kaylee Tackett, Leah Fleury, Lucas E. Nave

Michigan Tech Publications

Soil organic matter (SOM) influences a wide range of ecosystem processes, including nutrient cycling, water movement, plant productivity, and biodiversity. In agricultural landscapes, adjacent land uses often differ in SOM contents and related soil properties, such as soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, but the direction and magnitude of these effects are inconsistent across studies. We assessed how land uses differed in SOM and related properties in a representative US Midwest agricultural–forest landscape to support land-use and management decisions by local landowners and producers. We measured SOM, bulk density (Db), root biomass, and pH, and estimated SOC stocks, in a Typic …

Monitoring And Assessment Of Population, Reproductive, And Health Effects In Colonial Waterbirds Breeding At Contaminated Great Lakes Sites In Michigan, Keith A. Grasman, Mandy Annis, Carly Eakin, Jeremy Moore, Lisa L. Williams

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Immunological, reproductive, and population endpoints were assessed in fish-eating birds during 2010–2019 in the Saginaw River and Bay and River Raisin Areas of Concern (AOCs) and Grand Traverse Bay, which are ecosystems historically contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, dibenzo-p-dioxins, and dibenzofurans. Reference sites were in the lower St. Marys River (herring gulls and Caspian terns), eastern Lake Superior (terns), and eastern Lake Huron (black-crowned night herons). Relative risk ratios for embryonic nonviability (from both infertility and mortality) in gull embryos were 2–3-fold higher than the reference site in both AOCs and Grand Traverse Bay. Twelve of 13 deformed embryos and chicks …

Metal-Rich Lacustrine Sediments From Legacy Mining Perpetuate Copper Exposure To Aquatic-Riparian Food Webs, Brittany G. Perrotta, Karen A. Kidd, Kate M. Campbell, Marie-Noële Croteau, Tyler J. Kane, Amy Marcarelli, R Blaine Mccleskey, Gordon Paterson, Craig A. Stricker, David M. Walters

Michigan Tech Publications

Historic copper mining left a legacy of metal-rich tailings resulting in ecological impacts along and within Torch Lake, an area of concern in the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan, USA. Given the toxicity of copper to invertebrates, this study assessed the influence of this legacy on present day nearshore aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. We measured the metal (Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, Cd) and metalloid (As) concentrations in sediment, pore water, surface water, larval and adult insects, and two riparian spider taxa collected from Torch Lake and a nearby reference lake. Overall, elevated metal and metalloid concentrations, particularly Cu, were measured in all …

Structured Staff Education On Incorporating Social Determinants Of Health Into Phq-9 Depression Screening For Improved Patient Outcomes, Gbemisola Elizabeth Mojelope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This doctor of nursing (DNP) project addressed a significant practice gap in an outpatient community healthcare setting, where staff lacked knowledge related to patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression screening. The project’s focus question addressed whether staff education increased knowledge pertaining to the PHQ-9 depression screening. The initiative aimed to equip healthcare providers with the skills needed to incorporate social determinants of health in routine depression screenings, enhancing early identification of depressive symptoms and supporting targeted interventions. Fifteen healthcare workers voluntarily participated in the education. The in-person education initiative highlighted the importance of integrating social determinants of health (SDoH) into PHQ-9 …

Distinct Properties And Activation Of Hexameric And Heptameric Pannexin 1 Channel Concatemers, Smriti Gupta, Yu-Hsin Chiu, Mohan C Manjegowda, Bimal N Desai, Kodi S Ravichandran, Douglas A Bayliss

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pannexin 1 (PANX1) is a member of a topologically related and stoichiometrically diverse family of large pore membrane ion channels that support the flux of signaling metabolites (e.g., ATP) and fluorescent dyes. High-resolution structural analyses have identified PANX1 as a heptamer despite early evidence suggesting that it might be a hexamer. To determine if PANX1 channel activity is supported in both hexameric and heptameric conformations, we examined properties of concatenated PANX1 constructs comprising either six or seven subunits with intact or truncated C-termini (the latter to mimic caspase-cleavage activation). In whole-cell recordings from PANX1-deleted cells, the C-tail-truncated hexameric and heptameric …

Can Trichoderma Spp. Contribute To The Bioremediation And Biostimulation Of Plants In Soil Contaminated With Herbicides?, Elaine Damiani Conte, Elton José Da Rosa, Gabriel Rieth Silvestrini, Daiane Da Silva Motta, Christiane Fernandes De Oliveira, Carine Cocco, Gabriel Fernandes Pauletti, Taísa Dal Magro, Joséli Schwambach

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

This work aimed to evaluate the potential of Trichoderma spp. in the bioremediation of herbicides and biostimulation of plants in herbicide-contaminated soils. In the first phase, the experiment followed a completely randomized design in a 4 × 3 × 4 factorial scheme with five replications, four strains of Trichoderma spp., three herbicides, and four herbicide doses. The mycelial growth speed index (MGSI) of Trichoderma spp. was obtained by growing it in a Petri dish with PDA associated with different doses of herbicides and evaluated every 24 h for 10 days. Results indicated the selection ofTrichoderma harzianumT1A to continue …

Fluorescence Lifetime Sorting Reveals Tunable Enzyme Interactions Within Cytoplasmic Condensates, Leyla E Fahim, Joshua M Marcus, Noah D Powell, Zachary A Ralston, Katherine Walgamotte, Eleonora Perego, Giuseppe Vicidomini, Alessandro Rossetta, Jason E Lee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) condensates partition RNA and protein into multiple liquid phases. The multiphasic feature of condensate-enriched components creates experimental challenges for distinguishing membraneless condensate functions from the surrounding dilute phase. We combined fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) with phasor plot filtering and segmentation to resolve condensates from the dilute phase. Condensate-specific lifetimes were used to track protein-protein interactions by measuring FLIM-Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). We used condensate FLIM-FRET to evaluate whether mRNA decapping complex subunits can form decapping-competent interactions within P-bodies. Condensate FLIM-FRET revealed the presence of core subunit interactions within P-bodies under basal conditions and the disruption of …

Myo5b And The Polygenic Landscape Of Very Early-Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease In An Ethnically Diverse Population, Ashleigh Watson, R Alan Harris, Amy C Engevik, Numan Oezguen, Maribeth R Nicholson, Sarah Dooley, Rachel Stubler, Lisa Forbes Satter, Lina B Karam, Richard Kellermayer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Genetic discovery in very early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (VEO-IBD) can elucidate not only the origins of VEO-IBD, but also later-onset inflammatory bowel disease. We aimed to investigate the polygenic origins of VEO-IBD in a cohort with a high proportion of Hispanic patients.

Methods: Patients with VEO-IBD who underwent whole exome sequencing at our center were included. Genes were categorized as genes of interest (GOIs) (129 genes previously described to be associated with VEO-IBD) or non-GOIs. VEO-IBD "susceptibility" single nucleotide variants (SNVs) were identified through enrichment compared with gnomAD (Genome Aggregation Database) and ALFA (Allele Frequency Aggregator) and were scored …

Label Free, Capillary-Scale Blood Flow Mapping In Vivo Reveals That Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Evokes Persistent Dilation In Cortical Microvasculature, Yubing Y Shen, Jyoti V Jethe, Ashlan P Reid, Jacob Hehir, Marcello Magri Amaral, Chao Ren, Senyue Hao, Chao Zhou, Jonathan A N Fisher

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Non-invasive, low intensity focused ultrasound is an emerging neuromodulation technique that offers the potential for precision, personalized therapy. An increasing body of research has identified mechanosensitive ion channels that can be modulated by FUS and support acute electrical activity in neurons. However, neuromodulatory effects that persist from hours to days have also been reported. The brain's ability to provide blood flow to electrically active regions involves a multitude of non-neuronal cell types and signaling pathways in the cerebral vasculature; an open question is whether persistent effects can be attributed, at least partly, to vascular mechanisms. Using an in vivo optical …

Intrinsic Adaptive Plasticity In Mouse And Human Sensory Neurons, Lisa A Mcilvried, John Smith Del Rosario, Melanie Y Pullen, Andi Wangzhou, Tayler D Sheahan, Andrew J Shepherd, Richard A Slivicki, John A Lemen, Theodore J Price, Bryan A Copits, Robert W Gereau

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In response to changes in activity induced by environmental cues, neurons in the central nervous system undergo homeostatic plasticity to sustain overall network function during abrupt changes in synaptic strengths. Homeostatic plasticity involves changes in synaptic scaling and regulation of intrinsic excitability. Increases in spontaneous firing and excitability of sensory neurons are evident in some forms of chronic pain in animal models and human patients. However, whether mechanisms of homeostatic plasticity are engaged in sensory neurons of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is unknown. Here, we show that sustained depolarization (induced by 24-h incubation in 30 mM KCl) induces compensatory …

Ambient Writing In A Terrain Of Threatened Subjectivity: Unfolding Codes, Tainted Models And Holey Spaces, Phil Smith

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Geometric Morphological Analysis Of The Edfu Temple, Yara M. Soliman, Ashraf H. Ibrahim, Ahmed M. Awad

Journal of Art, Design and Music

The paper discusses the influence of nature on the design principles utilized by ancient Egyptian civilization, emphasizing how philosophers and artists learned from natural forms. It introduces the concept of Morphology, which examines the structures and forms of living and inanimate objects, categorized into eight types: Geometric, Chaotic, Plant, Animal, Human, Motor, Ecological, and Symbolic. The research focuses on applying the Geometric Morphological system to Edfu Temple, highlighting the need for contemporary designers to consider both form and content, rather than merely aesthetic shapes. The study aims to create an analytical framework using geometric determinants—unity, balance, scale, rhythm, proportion, abstraction, …

Vol. 13 Iss. 2

Discussions

No abstract provided.

Vol 18. Iss. 1

Discussions

No abstract provided.

Global Scientific Production On Stakeholder Engagement In Community Forestry: A Bibliometric Analysis, Whisnu Febry Afrianto

Jurnal Penelitian Kehutanan Wallacea

Community forestry is a concept that presents management and utilization rights to local communities through empowering communities in sustainably managing forest resources and engaging them in forest conservation movements. This study aims to investigate the scope of stakeholder engagement in community forestry using a bibliometric review. Understanding stakeholders' participation in community forest management through a 30-year bibliometric analysis is essential for achieving historical insights, deciding conflicts, and discussing global forest landscape topics. The data was obtained from the Scopus database. Analysis of references with 808 publications and an annual publication growth rate of 6.49% (1981 – 2023) was used to …

Potential Of Native Tree Species For Post-Nickel Mining Land Restoration, Fadly Suhati, Putu Oka Ngakan, Risma Illa Maulany, Nasri Nasri, Andi Siady Hamzah, Putu Supadma Putra

Jurnal Penelitian Kehutanan Wallacea

Due to the absence of topsoil, low pH, and contamination by various heavy metals, revegetation of post-nickel mining land, which is generally carried out by planting economically valuable species, is usually unsuccessful. This study aims to identify tree species suitable for revegetation on post-nickel mining land in Kolaka Regency, Indonesia. Nine plots measuring 20 m x 20 m were distributed in the revegetated post-nickel mining land at three different age categories (1, 5, and 10 years) to observe the growth of revegetation trees, which are introduced species and native tree species that naturally invade the revegetation area. In total, there …