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Terrapin Station: Individual, Sex, And Site Factors Related To Turtle Growth Variability, Leigh Anne Harden, Stephen R. Midway, J. Whitfield Gibbons Dec 2021

Terrapin Station: Individual, Sex, And Site Factors Related To Turtle Growth Variability, Leigh Anne Harden, Stephen R. Midway, J. Whitfield Gibbons

Faculty Publications

For many turtle species, life history traits such as body size, age at maturity, and somatic growth rate can vary among individuals and habitats and between the sexes. Therefore, it is important to consider factors that may influence growth when modeling (somatic) growth for turtles. Long-term capture-mark-recapture studies lend themselves to studying somatic growth in turtles due to the repeated measurements of individuals over time. We used a long-term dataset to examine growth patterns of philopatric Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, USA. We used a hierarchical three-parameter von Bertalanffy model to estimate individual growth of 44 …

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Shark Side Of The Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related To Lunar Phase?, Lindsay A. French, Stephen R. Midway, David H. Evans, George H. Burgess Dec 2021

Shark Side Of The Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related To Lunar Phase?, Lindsay A. French, Stephen R. Midway, David H. Evans, George H. Burgess

Faculty Publications

Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results have been preliminary or lacking relationships. We used nearly 50 years of shark attack data from across the globe to test for a relationship between shark attacks and moon phase. We examined factors of geography, shark species, and outcome of attack. From 12 relationships that we tested (totaling 120 comparisons), we found 12 …

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The Comparison Of Data Collection Methods In Evaluating Drivers’ Responses To Speed Message Signs, Abigail Musser Dec 2021

The Comparison Of Data Collection Methods In Evaluating Drivers’ Responses To Speed Message Signs, Abigail Musser

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

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Commentary: The Past, Present, And Future Of The Global Raptor Impact Network, James R. Belthoff, Julie A. Heath Dec 2021

Commentary: The Past, Present, And Future Of The Global Raptor Impact Network, James R. Belthoff, Julie A. Heath

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Most raptor populations are declining and nearly a fifth are threatened with extinction; thus there is a need to increase collaboration to ensure efficient and effective research, management, and conservation. Here, we introduce the Global Raptor Impact Network (GRIN; www.globalraptors.org), a tool to enhance collaboration and conservation impact of the raptor research community. We provide an overview of the history and current state of GRIN, including plans for expansion. Predecessors to GRIN include The African Raptor DataBank, which was launched in 2012 to ascertain the conservation status of raptors across Africa; and the Global Raptor Information Network, which was launched …

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The Journey Towards Critical Self-Authorship For Native Lacrosse Athletes At Ncaa Division I Institutions., Brandon C. Joseph Dec 2021

The Journey Towards Critical Self-Authorship For Native Lacrosse Athletes At Ncaa Division I Institutions., Brandon C. Joseph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an examination of contemporary collegiate lacrosse as a symptom of settler colonialism and the experiences of Native lacrosse athletes at NCAA Division I historically white institutions. It begins with a brief historical overview of Native lacrosse and Native education through a lens of settler colonial theory and Tribal Critical Race Theory. It uses Critical Indigenous Research Methods to examine the experiences of contemporary Native collegiate lacrosse players and their journey towards critical self-authorship. The ultimate goal was to explore the extent to which Native lacrosse athletes felt they could show up as their authentic Native self in …

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Eye-Transcriptome And Genome-Wide Sequencing For Scolecophidia: Implications For Inferring The Visual System Of The Ancestral Snake, David J. Gower, James F. Fleming, Davide Pisani, Freek J. Vonk, Harald M.I. Kerkkamp, Leo Peichl, Sonja Meimann, Nicholas R. Casewell, Christiaan V. Henkel, Michael K. Richardson, Kate L. Sanders, Bruno F. Simões Dec 2021

Eye-Transcriptome And Genome-Wide Sequencing For Scolecophidia: Implications For Inferring The Visual System Of The Ancestral Snake, David J. Gower, James F. Fleming, Davide Pisani, Freek J. Vonk, Harald M.I. Kerkkamp, Leo Peichl, Sonja Meimann, Nicholas R. Casewell, Christiaan V. Henkel, Michael K. Richardson, Kate L. Sanders, Bruno F. Simões

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

Molecular genetic data have recently been incorporated in attempts to reconstruct the ecology of the ancestral snake, though this has been limited by a paucity of data for one of the two main extant snake taxa, the highly fossorial Scolecophidia. Here we present and analyze vision genes from the first eye-transcriptomic and genome-wide data for Scolecophidia, for Anilios bicolor, and A. bituberculatus, respectively. We also present immunohistochemistry data for retinal anatomy and visual opsin-gene expression in Anilios. Analyzed in the context of 19 lepidosaurian genomes and 12 eye transcriptomes, the new genome-wide and transcriptomic data provide evidence for a much …

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Nest Sanitation Behavior Does Not Increase The Likelihood Of Parasitic Egg Rejection In Herring Gulls, James B. Stratton, Donald C. Dearborn Dec 2021

Nest Sanitation Behavior Does Not Increase The Likelihood Of Parasitic Egg Rejection In Herring Gulls, James B. Stratton, Donald C. Dearborn

All Faculty Scholarship

Birds’ behavioral response to brood parasitism can be influenced not only by evolution but also by context and individual experience. This could include nest sanitation, in which birds remove debris from their nests. Ultimately, nest sanitation behavior might be an evolutionary precursor to the rejection of parasitic eggs. Proximately, the context or experience of performing nest sanitation behavior might increase the detection or prime the removal of parasitic eggs, but evidence to date is limited. We tested incubation-stage nests of herring gulls Larus argentatus to ask whether nest sanitation increased parasitic egg rejection. In an initial set of 160 single-object …

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Mathematical Modelling Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Ruaa Rifaat Al-Shykhly, Lamyaa Mohammed Hameed Dec 2021

Mathematical Modelling Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Ruaa Rifaat Al-Shykhly, Lamyaa Mohammed Hameed

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

This research includes the use of an artificial intelligence algorithm, which is one of the algorithms of biological systems which is the algorithm of genetic regulatory networks (GRNs), which is a dynamic system for a group of variables representing space within time. To construct this biological system, we use (ODEs) and to analyze the stationarity of the model we use Euler's method. And through the factors that affect the process of gene expression in terms of inhibition and activation of the transcription process on DNA, we will use TF transcription factors. The current research aims to use the latest methods …

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An Assessment Of The Neurovascular Structures Of The Trigeminal Nerve And Their Relationship To Diet In Primates, Caitlin Yoakum Dec 2021

An Assessment Of The Neurovascular Structures Of The Trigeminal Nerve And Their Relationship To Diet In Primates, Caitlin Yoakum

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) enters the mandible via the mental foramen, supplies nervous sensation to the mandibular teeth as it travels through the mandibular canal, and exits the mandibular foramen to send information to the brain to maintain chewing cycles and protect the teeth from damage. Although bony canals and foramina have been shown to form around soft-tissue structures, there are some examples (e.g., the hypoglossal nerve/canal) where the nervous structures do not comprise most of the canal/foramina space. It is important to know the size of nerves because it has been established that larger nerves convey more information …

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Canine Microwear In Relation To Diet In Sumatran Primates And African Great Apes, Putu Pujiantari Dec 2021

Canine Microwear In Relation To Diet In Sumatran Primates And African Great Apes, Putu Pujiantari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers canine microwear in relation to diet in five Sumatran primates (Pongo abelii, Hylobates lar, Hylobates agilis, Presbytis thomasi, and Macaca fascicularis) and two African great apes (Pan paniscus and Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) using both microwear texture analysis and microwear feature analysis techniques. Statistical results for texture analysis show that there are significant differences in scale of maximum and heterogeneity. This indicates that some species have large pits on their canine surfaces, having these dominated by deep features at coarse scale yet have a slight microwear heterogeneity. For feature analysis, all variables show statistically significant variation. Variance in …

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The Effects Of Cost, Level Of Safety, And Severity Of Injury On Manager Decisions To Implement A Safety Solution, Jonathan M. Hochmuth Dec 2021

The Effects Of Cost, Level Of Safety, And Severity Of Injury On Manager Decisions To Implement A Safety Solution, Jonathan M. Hochmuth

Dissertations

Workplace injuries continue to be a source of substantial human and financial costs each year. Behavioral safety processes have been effective in reducing workplace injuries by increasing safety-related behaviors. In recent years, the focus in behavioral safety has shifted towards the role of managers in establishing and maintaining safe behaviors and conditions in the workplace. Understanding how managers make decisions to allocate resources is critical to improving safety. The field of behavioral economics has developed methods for studying decision-making. While there have been calls to apply these methods to occupational safety, there are only two empirical studies which have done …

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One Pint At A Time: Documenting The Black Experience In American Craft Beer, Aaron Hose Dec 2021

One Pint At A Time: Documenting The Black Experience In American Craft Beer, Aaron Hose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

One Pint at a Time is a documentary feature by Aaron Hosé, created as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Feature Film Production from the University of Central Florida. This is the first documentary film in history to focus exclusively on the stories of African American beermakers and brewery owners, their ties to ancient Egyptian and African brewing traditions, and how they are trying to make their mark within the business of craft beer; a multi-billion-dollar industry in which merely one percent of breweries are Black-owned and operated. Following the guidelines of UCF's program, …

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A Proposed Study To Explore The Relationships Of Methionine Restriction, The Mitochondrial Upr, And Animal Lifespan Determination, Joanne Mai Dec 2021

A Proposed Study To Explore The Relationships Of Methionine Restriction, The Mitochondrial Upr, And Animal Lifespan Determination, Joanne Mai

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The determination of chronological age is complex and can be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Mitochondria, essential organelles that generate the vast amount of cellular energy, are closely associated with the aging process. While many studies have been performed, we still lack a complete understanding of how animal lifespan is determined. In the following research proposal, a strategy is outlined to uncover the mechanism of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) and extended lifespan resulting from restriction of the amino acid methionine. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and a forward genetic screening strategy will be used to identify …

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Collected Data And Research Into Turtle Populations In The Fort Worth Area, My Dung Nguyen Dec 2021

Collected Data And Research Into Turtle Populations In The Fort Worth Area, My Dung Nguyen

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The turtle population within Fort Worth has been observed to be in danger. Turtles of all species were washing up on lakes and rivers deceased or incapacitated, often diseased and lacking any sense of innate self-preservation that would otherwise be present in the species. The research conducted aimed to trap and track the turtle population using Passive Integrated Transponders, or PITs. These techniques were utilized to further solidify any potential new disease outbreak or trend in turtle deaths so that further action could be taken in the future. The turtles were each measured for circumference, weight, and sex while the …

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A Practical Moral Theory The Failed State Of Normative Ethics, Gage Martinez Dec 2021

A Practical Moral Theory The Failed State Of Normative Ethics, Gage Martinez

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Normative ethics can be described as the investigation into how one ought to act, morally speaking. The state of contemporary normative ethics is, essentially, a split between consequentialist (the idea that things are morally right or wrong based on their consequence) and non-consequentialist thought. Yet in practice, no one seems to be able to live by these moral theories, and I argue that it would be bizarre to do so as well. I examine reasons to believe that neither theory provides a complete account of real moral life, and how they fail at being prescriptive in practice. I provide a …

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Personality Assessment In Cloned Equines, Alexis Erickson Dec 2021

Personality Assessment In Cloned Equines, Alexis Erickson

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The nature versus nurture debate of personality has been widely researched, yet it has seldom used cloned animals. Since cloned animals are genetically identical to their donors, this avenue of research provides a unique opportunity to understand the genetic and environmental factors of personality. To explore these influences of personality, a donor polo pony and her cloned offspring were analyzed. The trainers of the horses rated each horse based on its personality traits and physical characteristics. A positive correlation was found between the personality of the donor horse and her cloned offspring. Moreover, the personality of the donor positively predicted …

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Photobiomodulation Enhances Blood Oxygenation And Tissue Metabolism By Near Infrared Laser And Light Emitting Diode, Caroline Carter Dec 2021

Photobiomodulation Enhances Blood Oxygenation And Tissue Metabolism By Near Infrared Laser And Light Emitting Diode, Caroline Carter

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

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Socialismo Mulato: Soviet Fascination With Race In Cuba, Damaris Puñales-Alpízar Dec 2021

Socialismo Mulato: Soviet Fascination With Race In Cuba, Damaris Puñales-Alpízar

PALARA: Publication of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association

In the Soviet imaginary, the Cuban mulato represented not only an exotic other but also the realization of another kind of socialism, possible in other conditions and at other coordinates, (almost) far from Soviet reach. In general terms, Cubans came to fulfill a multilevel imaginary aspiration of Soviet identity related to Black and exploited people, Latin America, the United States, and the dissemination of the socialist ideology around the world. The Soviet fascination with, commitment to, and admiration for people of color was reinforced in this case by the added bonus that Cubans were comrades from a socialist island just …

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The Effectiveness Of A Web-Based Motor Intervention Program On Motor And Psychosocial Abilities Of Children With Dcd: A Preliminary Study, Karyssa Nelson Dec 2021

The Effectiveness Of A Web-Based Motor Intervention Program On Motor And Psychosocial Abilities Of Children With Dcd: A Preliminary Study, Karyssa Nelson

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Group intervention programs are known to improve motor and psychosocial skills in children with motor difficulties, however, many programs were suspended due to COVID-19. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of a web-based asynchronous intervention on the motor and psychosocial abilities of children with DCD. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, and Motor Ability Questionnaire were completed before and after eight sessions. No significant differences were seen on the DCDQ, but effect sizes were found for the MAQ in jumping (d= .28), grasping (2= .27), lacing (d= .70) and overall ability (d= .30). For the SDQ, small effect …

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Altering The Genome Of The Microcrustacean, Daphnia, With Exposure To The Mutagen, Proflavine, Eesha Khan Dec 2021

Altering The Genome Of The Microcrustacean, Daphnia, With Exposure To The Mutagen, Proflavine, Eesha Khan

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

DNA can be altered by introducing mutagens that can induce mutations and alter the genomes of organisms. The microcrustacean, Daphnia, was exposed to Proflavine, a mutagenic disinfectant, and the effects were seen by breeding the organisms and sequencing their genomes. Isolates of Daphnia were collected, and then solutions with the mutagen were prepared to determine the adequate concentration to utilize for exposure. After successive reproductions, the babies were monitored, then sent to sequencing to examine mutations present in the DNA. After many trials, the optimal concentration for Proflavine was determined to be 35 ug/mL, showing the ability of Daphnia to …

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Development And Characterization Of Novel A Tcrm Antibody And Its Application As An Immune Checkpoint Blocker, Soroush Ghaffari Dec 2021

Development And Characterization Of Novel A Tcrm Antibody And Its Application As An Immune Checkpoint Blocker, Soroush Ghaffari

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Immunotherapy, the treatment of diseases via targeted immune system activation, has recently shown extraordinary success in clinical trials for multiple malignancies. In contrast to a routine therapeutic regimen for cancer, effective immunotherapies can stimulate the innate and adaptive immune system to marsh specific and durable responses against tumors. Immunotherapies come in many shapes and forms. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is an example of immunotherapy that revolutionized the field of immuno-oncology. Considering the recent success of ICB therapies, the scientific community tried to discover new inhibitory molecules and pathways as a new target for cancer immunotherapy. Indeed, CD94/NKG2A receptor is an …

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Development Of New Techniques To Dissect The Genetic Basis Of Population-Level Variation Of Recombination Rates In The Daphnia Model System, Swatantra Neupane Dec 2021

Development Of New Techniques To Dissect The Genetic Basis Of Population-Level Variation Of Recombination Rates In The Daphnia Model System, Swatantra Neupane

Biology Dissertations - Archive

We know very little about the determining genetic factors that control the recombination events within a genome. Moreover, the cause of recombination rate variation in population-level remains poorly understood, especially in non-mammalian species. The scarcity of population-level recombination rate data makes pinpointing genetic loci responsible for recombination rate variation even more challenging. Due to a lack of population-level recombination data, this hypothesis remains untested mainly in natural systems, like Daphnia. In response to the limitation of genetic tools used to dissect the genetic determinant of a trait in Daphnia, we put an effort to address these shortcomings in the Daphnia …

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The Effects Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy On Pain Thresholds And Anxiodepressive Behaviors In A Pre-Clinical Fibromyalgia Pain Model, Cassie Mae Argenbright Dec 2021

The Effects Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy On Pain Thresholds And Anxiodepressive Behaviors In A Pre-Clinical Fibromyalgia Pain Model, Cassie Mae Argenbright

Psychology Theses - Archive

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic, widespread pain disorder generally of a non-inflammatory nature. FM has many known affective and cognitive comorbidities, including fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive deficits, and mood disturbances. As a result, FM treatment approaches are mixed in nature and lack a robust characterization that address symptoms on a sensory, affective, and cognitive level. However, there is promise in the implementation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for alleviating fibromyalgia pain and comorbidities, despite no work investigating the efficacy of this treatment in prominent preclinical FM models. Thus, this project aims to investigate the affective components, specifically anhedonia and anxiety, …

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Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai Dec 2021

Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

In the past decade, many universities have started to ascertain their emissions and benchmark their progress towards sustainability and climate control. The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is no exception in working toward the goal of carbon neutrality. While UTA continues to grow and transform, its goal is to simultaneously reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To this end, the Office of Sustainability is maintaining a carbon inventory for each year to track GHG emissions and provide information to guide reduction strategies. The primary objectives of this research were: 1. To update UTA’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory …

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I Want You To Panic: Leveraging The Rhetoric Of Fear And Rage For The Future Of Food, Iselin Gambert Dec 2021

I Want You To Panic: Leveraging The Rhetoric Of Fear And Rage For The Future Of Food, Iselin Gambert

Journal of Food Law & Policy

"Humanity Is About to Kill 1 Million Species in a Globe-Spanning Murder-Suicide. Only 11 Years Left to Prevent Irreversible Damage from Climate Change." Doomsday headlines like these are terrifying. But are they enough to make us act? The causes of the current climate crisis are many, but the science is clear that the meat and dairy industry shoulders much of the blame. Given the role the animal agriculture industry plays in perpetuating the climate crisis, combined with the harms the industry imposes on the animals and workers within it, politicians and governments—given their degree of power and influence—should ostensibly be …

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The Right To Food Comes To America, Wendy Heipt Dec 2021

The Right To Food Comes To America, Wendy Heipt

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The people of Maine recently exercised an opportunity no citizen of this country has ever had before: the ability to vote on whether to enshrine a right to food in their state constitution. This Essay provides an overview of Maine’s experience with food rights in order to explain how the state came to occupy this unique position.

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France's Organisme De Défense Et De Gestion: A Model For Farmer Collective Action Through Standard Development And Brand Management, Christopher J. Bardenhagen, Philip H. Howard, Marie-Odile Noziéres-Petit Dec 2021

France's Organisme De Défense Et De Gestion: A Model For Farmer Collective Action Through Standard Development And Brand Management, Christopher J. Bardenhagen, Philip H. Howard, Marie-Odile Noziéres-Petit

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Quality-based food production, often with a regional dimension, can provide farmers with new, value added markets. It can also provide consumers with access to place based high-quality products, and may benefit local economies through increased commerce. French Organismes de Défense et de Gestion (ODGs) illustrate a mode of quality-based agri-food business organization. ODGs focus on the development of production standards, as well as management of the intellectual property related to those standards. This mode, which is commonly used in Europe, has not often been used in the United States, despite its potential for regional food system development. The ODG mode …

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China's Food Pagodas: Looking Forward By Looking Back?, Yifei Li, Dale Jamieson Dec 2021

China's Food Pagodas: Looking Forward By Looking Back?, Yifei Li, Dale Jamieson

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In this Article we provide a close analysis of the Chinese Dietary Guidelines – the Food Pagoda. Our focus on the dietary guidelines is motivated by two main considerations. First, the guidelines represent the most comprehensive, nationwide, state sponsored effort to educate the people of China about food. Like citizens in most countries, Chinese people are presented with numerous, often competing, messages from scientists, food gurus and online influencers. The dietary guidelines are different in that they are backed by an entire suite of governmental resources for nationwide dissemination through hospitals, schools, public billboards, TV and radio ads, among others. …

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Mif But Not Mif-2 Recruits Inflammatory Macrophages In An Experimental Polymicrobial Sepsis Model, Pathricia Veronica Tilstam, Wibke Schulte, Thomas Holowka, Bong-Sung Kim, Jessica Nouws, Maor Sauler, Marta Piecychna, Georgios Pantouris, Elias Lolis, Lin Leng, Jürgen Bernhagen, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, Richard Bucala Dec 2021

Mif But Not Mif-2 Recruits Inflammatory Macrophages In An Experimental Polymicrobial Sepsis Model, Pathricia Veronica Tilstam, Wibke Schulte, Thomas Holowka, Bong-Sung Kim, Jessica Nouws, Maor Sauler, Marta Piecychna, Georgios Pantouris, Elias Lolis, Lin Leng, Jürgen Bernhagen, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, Richard Bucala

Pacific Faculty Work

Excessive inflammation drives the progression from sepsis to septic shock. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is of interest because MIF promoter polymorphisms predict mortality in different infections, and anti-MIF antibody improves survival in experimental models when administered 8 hours after infectious insult. The recent description of a second MIF superfamily member, D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT/MIF-2), prompted closer investigation of MIF-dependent responses. We subjected Mif-/- and Mif-2-/- mice to polymicrobial sepsis and observed a survival benefit with Mif but not Mif-2 deficiency. Survival was associated with reduced numbers of small peritoneal macrophages (SPMs) that, in contrast to large peritoneal macrophages …

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Identification Of Disease-Linked Hyperactivating Mutations In Ube3a Through Large-Scale Functional Variant Analysis, Kellan P. Weston, Xiaoyi Gao, Jinghan Zhao, Kwang Soo Kim, Susan E. Maloney, Jill Gotoff, Sumit Parikh, Yen Chen Leu, Kuen Phon Wu, Marwan Shinawi, Joshua P. Steimel, Joseph S. Harrison, Jason J. Yi Dec 2021

Identification Of Disease-Linked Hyperactivating Mutations In Ube3a Through Large-Scale Functional Variant Analysis, Kellan P. Weston, Xiaoyi Gao, Jinghan Zhao, Kwang Soo Kim, Susan E. Maloney, Jill Gotoff, Sumit Parikh, Yen Chen Leu, Kuen Phon Wu, Marwan Shinawi, Joshua P. Steimel, Joseph S. Harrison, Jason J. Yi

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

The mechanisms that underlie the extensive phenotypic diversity in genetic disorders are poorly understood. Here, we develop a large-scale assay to characterize the functional valence (gain or loss-of-function) of missense variants identified in UBE3A, the gene whose loss-of-function causes the neurodevelopmental disorder Angelman syndrome. We identify numerous gain-of-function variants including a hyperactivating Q588E mutation that strikingly increases UBE3A activity above wild-type UBE3A levels. Mice carrying the Q588E mutation exhibit aberrant early-life motor and communication deficits, and individuals possessing hyperactivating UBE3A variants exhibit affected phenotypes that are distinguishable from Angelman syndrome. Additional structure-function analysis reveals that Q588 forms a regulatory site …

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