Digital Commons Network^™

Nanoparticle Carriers Enhance The Prophylactic Antiviral Effects Of Dsrna In Vitro And Ex Vivo, Shayne Oberhoffner, Stephanie Dewitte-Orr, Starla Richardson, Leah Haile, Dominique Daniels, Erin Cooper, Aizah Ijaz, Janet Velasquez Perez, Mathilde Peruzzi, Bertrand Collet, Paul Craig, Kristof Jenik

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Aquaculture now outpaces traditional capture fisheries as the world population and demand for sustainable protein sources increases. Wild and farmed species are increasingly susceptible to pathogen spread as global temperatures rise and stocking densities increase. Despite the devastating losses experienced by aquaculture due to viral infections, there remain few effective prophylactic antiviral therapeutics. Long double-stranded (ds)RNA is a uniquely viral molecule produced by nearly all viruses during their replication cycle, and its detection by salmonids like rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytsha) leads to the establishment of a defensive antiviral state. Previous in vitro studies demonstrated a …

Michael Ruse, Evolution And Christianity, Samuel Mckee

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

No Ghost In The Machine: Doubting Ai Ensoulment, Bálint Békefi

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Mouse Alport Podocytes Are Susceptible To Aav9 Transduction In Vivo, Meei-Hua Lin, Kohei Omachi, Joshua F Begin, Jennifer L Richardson, Jeffrey H Miner

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Alport syndrome features a defective glomerular basement membrane (GBM) due to variants in COL4A3, COL4A4, and COL4A5. The most severe forms, which lack the GBM's collagen α3α4α5(IV) network, progress from hematuria in early childhood to proteinuria, chronic kidney disease, and kidney failure by the age of ∼30. As a monogenic disease without specific treatments, and with podocytes being the only glomerular cells that synthesize collagen α3α4α5(IV), the ability to efficiently deliver genes to Alport podocytes could open up new possibilities for treatment.

METHODS: As a proof-of-concept study, we investigated whether podocytes in X-linked Alport mice were susceptible to transduction …

Cgrp Expression And Signaling Sensitization In A Mouse Model Of Chronic Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy, Junwei Du, Leland C Sudlow, Margaret H Johnson, Kanishk Satish, Abraham Villagomez, Hongzhen Hu, Mikhail Y Berezin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a frequent and dose-limiting side effect of oxaliplatin treatment, yet its molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Calcitonin gene-related peptide alpha (CGRPα, encoded by

Mapping Functional Connectivity In The Pigeon Brain With Wide-Field Optical Imaging, Kathryn C Chenard, Annie R Bice, Seana H Bice, Joseph P Culver, Paula Gerliz, Xavier Helluy, Onur Güntürkün, Jason W Trobaugh, Mehdi Behroozi, Carlos A Botero

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SIGNIFICANCE: Adapting optical imaging technology to avian models can overcome many limitations imposed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which currently restricts the number of species used to study functional connectivity. Developing advanced technology to expand the diversity of species that can be effectively imaged is crucial for addressing significant questions that are currently unreachable, such as understanding the evolution of cognition from a comparative perspective.

AIM: We assessed the potential of optical imaging technology to measure functional connectivity in birds, utilizing pigeons as an avian model. We evaluated whether we could partition the dorsal surface of the pigeon brain …

Promptable Segmentation For Adaptive And Data-Efficient Medical Image Analysis, Tyler Ward

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Image segmentation is a fundamental task in computer vision. While segmentation models have traditionally been trained in a fully-supervised manner, recent approaches have leveraged large-scale pre-training and prompting mechanisms to great effect. However, the performance of such approaches often degrades when applied to domain-specific tasks like medical image analysis. A major reason for this lies is that these models are trained on large, labeled datasets of natural images, which have drastically different characteristics compared to medical images, limiting the generalizability of the methods when applied to medical data. This dissertation presents several data-efficient, adaptive, and promptable medical image segmentation models. …

Adapting To Uncertainty: Effects Of Environmental Instability On Zebrafish Behaviour, Britney Sekulovski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis addresses how animals cope with unpredictability by testing how environmental stability changes the behaviour of zebrafish (Danio rerio) in two complementary experiments. In Experiment 1, fish lived for three months in either a Dynamic environment (water temperature, feeding times, habitat complexity, group size, and membership fluctuated) or a Stable environment (all factors constant). Across seven behavioural assays, measuring individual behavioural differences, collective movement, social memory, and information use, Dynamic condition fish were found to be more sensitive to social cues and more likely to conform to recent social information, independent of the quality of the information …

The Effects Of Environmental Complexity On Brain Development And Personality Expression In Western Hognose Snakes, Gokulan Nagabaskaran

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

There is growing interest in snake cognition, personality, and welfare as more snakes are kept as pets, yet little research has been conducted. The effects of enrichment and environmental factors have been well documented in other taxa, and recent evidence suggests that snakes may benefit in similar ways. This dissertation investigated the impact of environmental and social enrichment on personality expression, personality stability, and brain development. Western hognose snakes (Heterodon nasicus) were used as the model species, as they are a popular choice in the pet trade. This allows the research to be readily translatable to husbandry practices of many …

Envisioning The Role Of Community-Owned Stores & Aligning Federal Food Policies: A Participatory Approach To Food Security And Food Sovereignty In Sambaa K’E, Denendeh (Northwest Territories, Canada), Narayan Subramoniam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Northern Indigenous communities have relied on traditional food systems for meaningful, nutritious diets since time immemorial. But many Indigenous communities in remote northern regions of Canada still face disproportionately elevated levels of food insecurity due to climate change radically altering the availability for traditional foods, colonial food policies imposing Western diets, and the high costs of transporting store-bought foods. Extreme weather events such as wildfires further isolate fly-in remote communities increasing both the costs of transporting store-bought foods and the difficulties of harvesting traditional foods. There are many examples of community-based initiatives for supporting traditional and locally grown foods, however, …

Religious And Spiritual Struggles: The Stories Of Nigerian, Immigrant, Christian Women In Waterloo Region, Halima D. Fuller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

ABSTRACT This research investigates religious and spiritual struggles among Nigerian, immigrant, Christian women in Waterloo Region. Twelve women settled in the region for six months to 11 years participated in the study. Qualitative methodology, narrative inquiry, and a storytelling paradigm informed the research. Semi-structured, in-depth interview questions were used to explore the experiences of religious and spiritual struggles. A meticulous review identifies a scarcity of literature on religious and spiritual struggles in the context of immigration. However, immigration challenges such as language barriers, precarious employment, and mental health issues are well-documented (Bauder, 2012; Beiser & Hou, 2016; Berry et al., …

Investigating The Impact Of Winter Exposure To Natural Environments On Perceived Health And Well-Being Using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment: A Case Study At Arrowhead Provincial Park, Faith M. Laing

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined how winter exposure to specific natural environments influenced perceived health and well-being outcomes using Geographic Ecological Momentary Assessment (GEMA) in Arrowhead Provincial Park. Studies performed in the wintertime are limited, as is our understanding of how specific park features and/or activities impact health and well-being. To address this, GEMA was used with a video component to capture participants’ real-time experience and emotional responses in specific park locations defined by polygon boundaries. Two surveys were administered through participants mobile devices, one being an in-situ engagement survey triggered by entering a bounded location, which included a video and …

Science Fiction Cinema And The Technological Sublime: Spectacle And The Infinite From Early Cinema To Digital, David Jackson Dr.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation examines how science fiction cinema constructs and reimagines the technological sublime in the twentieth century: the experience of awe, terror, and admiration provoked by human-made power and scale. Drawing on the philosophical foundations of the sublime in Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant and extending through Leo Marx’s and David E. Nye’s theorization of the technological sublime, I propose an aesthetic mode in which representation inflected with affect translates technological spectacle into examinations of humanity’s role and agency in the face of overwhelming technologized worlds and in some cases, even the universe itself.

Through three distinct historical periods …

Immortalization And Characterization Of Schwann Cell Lines Derived From Nf1-Associated Cutaneous Neurofibromas, Hua Li, Angela Hirbe, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant condition in which patients are heterozygous for a disruptive pathogenic variant in the NF1 gene. The most characteristic feature of the condition NF1 is the neurofibroma, a benign, multi-cellular tumor which initiates when a cell of the Schwann cell lineage gains a somatic pathogenic variant of the other NF1 allele. Neurofibromas developing at nerve termini in the skin are termed "cutaneous" neurofibromas (cNFs), while those developing within larger nerves are termed "plexiform." Most patients develop cNFs beginning in late childhood or early adulthood, continuing throughout life at variable rates. Some patients may …

Reliability Of Remote Self-Administered Web-Based Digital Cognitive Measures And Comparison To In-Person Neuropsychological Tests: Stricker Learning Span, Symbols Test, And The Mayo Test Drive Screening Battery Composite, Morgan A Hughes, Jason Hassenstab, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: We describe the reliability of remote self-administered digital cognitive measures completed via the Mayo Test Drive (MTD) web-based platform.

METHODS: A total of 1846 participants (mean age = 70, SD = 12, range 31-101; 48% male; 96% White; 99% non-Hispanic; 97% cognitively unimpaired) with two to four complete MTD sessions at ∼7.5-month intervals were included. Test-retest reliability was assessed using single-rating, absolute-agreement, and two-way mixed intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) with 95% confidence intervals. ICCs for in-person-administered traditional neuropsychological measures were compared to MTD for a subset of 244 participants. Analyses also compared reliability across demographic, residential, and session context …

The Association Between Major Depressive Disorder, Plasma Biomarkers Of Alzheimer's Disease, And Mild Behavioral Impairment Among Older Adults, Yiqi Zhu, Jean-Francois Trani, Ramkrishna K Singh, Semere Bekena, Jonathan Williams, Eric J Lenze, Ganesh M Babulal

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Plasma biomarkers and mild behavioral impairment (MBI) are associated with dementia risk, but their relationships with major depressive disorder (MDD) are understudied. This study aimed to examine associations between plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and MBI among older adults with and without MDD.

METHODS: Older adults aged ≥65 were recruited from longitudinal studies of depression and AD (

RESULTS: Older adults with MDD were more likely to endorse MBI. After adjustment, Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau217/np-tau217 positivity were associated with MBI among those with MDD but not among those without.

DISCUSSION: Neuropsychatric symptoms (NPS) and biomarkers are AD risk factors. …

Antihypertensive Medications And Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease: Evidence For Specific Medication Use, Osvaldo J. Laurido-Soto, Alejandra Camacho-Soto, Irene M. Faust, Kassu M. Beyene, Aaron Katz, Jordan A. Killion, Brad A. Racette

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Eligibility For Anti-Amyloid Treatment In A Multiethnic Community-Based Study, Lydia Trudel, Joseph Therriault, Arthur C Macedo, Karin L Meeker, Meredith N Braskie, Arthur W Toga, Serge Gauthier, Paolo Vitali, Suzanne E Schindler, Sid E O'Bryant, Pedro Rosa-Neto

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: The approval of anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), including lecanemab and donanemab, represents a significant advance in disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for early Alzheimer's disease (AD). While appropriate use recommendations (AURs) have been established to guide clinical decision-making, the proportion of individuals with cognitive impairment in real-world, multiethnic populations meeting eligibility criteria remains unknown, as do potential differences in treatment-related risks across ethnic groups.

METHODS: We included 513 cognitively impaired individuals from the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities study, a multiethnic community-based cohort. Eligibility for lecanemab and donanemab was determined using published AUR criteria. Counts of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities were …

Focused Ultrasound-Enhanced Nose-To-Brain Delivery Of A Therapeutic Antibody In A Large-Animal Model, Siaka Fadera, Cristian Antonio Wieczorek Villas Boas, Yimei Yue, Zhaoning Gu, Jinyun Yuan, Debolina De, Buck E Rogers, Arash Nazeri, Hong Chen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Cutibacterium Adaptation To Life On Humans Provides A Potential C Acnes Infection Biomarker, Md Shafiuddin, Wen-Chi Huang, Gabriel William Prather, Jeffrey Ryan Anton, Andrew Lawrence Martin, Sydney Brianna Sillart, Jonathan Z Tang, Michael R Vittori, Michael J Prinsen, Jessica Jane Ninneman, Chandrashekhara Manithody, Jeffrey P Henderson, Alexander W Aleem, Ma Xenia Garcia Ilagan, William H Mccoy 4th

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Propionibacteriaceae appear to have adapted to life on humans during the domestication of cattle. These microbial immigrants formed the genus Cutibacterium, and a descendent of those microbial trailblazers (C acnes) now dominates 25% of human skin. C acnes colonization of human skin requires the protein RoxP. Although all Cutibacteria encode this adaptation to life on humans, nothing like RoxP has been found in any other organism. In this study, we report an extensive assessment of 21 RoxP orthologs, which identified conserved molecular surfaces linked to heme-dependent oligomerization and low pH stability. Our investigation suggests how RoxP helps C acnes dominate …

Diverse Misfolding Mutant Digestive Enzymes Cause Chronic Pancreatitis Through Common Pathways, Steven J Wilhelm, Grace E Curry, Neel Matiwala, Jianguo Lin, Tran Quach, Mark E Lowe, Miklós Sahin-Tóth, Xunjun K Xiao

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Increasing evidence suggests that protein misfolding and proteotoxicity is an important mechanism of chronic pancreatitis (CP) in patients with genetic variants. Two mouse models carrying misfolding digestive enzyme variants, CPA1 N256K and PNLIP T221M, recapitulate the human CP phenotype. We hypothesized that both models develop CP through similar disease mechanisms.

METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of mice aged 1 to 6 months using histology, immunohistochemistry, protein immunoblotting, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis to characterize pancreatic pathological changes.

RESULTS: Both homozygous models exhibited CP hallmarks, including progressive acinar …

Coordinated Regulation Of Capping Protein By Carmil And V-1/Myotrophin, John A Hammer, John A Cooper

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Capping Protein (CP) plays a central role in controlling actin filament dynamics in almost all eukaryotic cell types by virtue of its ability to block monomer addition and loss at the barbed end of the actin filament. Like other proteins that control actin assembly, CP is subject to regulation. Here we focus on two direct regulators of CP-CARMIL and V-1/Myotrophin. Specifically, we review recent biochemical, structural, imaging, and cell biological data that argue these two proteins cooperate to create a regulatory cycle for CP that controls its availability, activity, and site of action in the cell. Finally, we discuss unresolved …

Dysregulated Lactate Metabolism Synergizes With Als Genetic Risk Factors To Accelerate Motor Decline, Shweta Tendulkar, Tong Wu, Amy Strickland, Amber R. Hackett, Yurie Sato-Yamada, Xianrong Mao, Yo Sasaki, Jeffrey Milbrandt, A. Joseph Bloom, Aaron Diantonio

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neurons rely on glial 'lactate shuttling' for metabolic support, which declines with aging and in neurodegenerative disease. Full disruption of lactate shuttling in peripheral nerves causes progressive axon degeneration, but we were interested to understand how partial disruption, a scenario more relevant to aging and disease, contributes to neurodegeneration risk. Pyruvate and lactate are interconverted by lactate dehydrogenases (LDHA and LDHB) in both lactate producing and consuming cells. We therefore began by investigating Ldhb knockout mice (loss of LDHA, the dominant LDH in liver and muscle, caused embryonic lethality), and discovered that they develop progressive neuromuscular junction atrophy and functional …

Oculomics And Ai: The Eye As A Biomarker For Health Span, Joy Le Yi Wong, Rajendra S Apte, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

As the world's population ages, the focus of healthcare is shifting from extending life span to promoting health span. There is an unmet need to identify sensitive and reliable markers of health span through more cost-effective and non-invasive methods, to enable early and effective intervention on modifiable aging factors. The eye offers a unique window into systemic health, providing direct visualization of the body's vascular and neural health. This review presents an overview of how various ocular structures can serve as biomarkers of health span-drawing on insights from ocular imaging, metabolomics, and proteomics, with evidence from basic science, animal models, …

A Catecholamine-Independent Pathway Controlling Adaptive Adipocyte Lipolysis, Xiao Zhang, Sreejith S Panicker, Jordan M Bollinger, Anurag Majumdar, Rami Kheireddine, Lila F Dabill, Clara Kim, Brian Kleiboeker, Fengrui Zhang, Kristann L Magee, Adam Kepecs, Gretchen A Meyer, Irfan J Lodhi, Erica L Scheller, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Several adipose depots, including constitutive bone marrow adipose tissue, resist conventional lipolytic cues. However, under starvation, wasting or cachexia, the body eventually catabolizes stable adipocytes through unknown mechanisms. Here we developed a mouse model of brain-evoked depletion of all fat, including stable constitutive bone marrow adipose tissue, independent of food intake, to study this phenomenon. Genetic, surgical and chemical approaches demonstrated that catabolism of stable adipocytes required adipose triglyceride lipase-dependent lipolysis but was independent of local nerves, the sympathetic nervous system and catecholamines. Instead, concurrent hypoglycaemia and hypoinsulinaemia activated a potent catabolic state by suppressing lipid storage and increasing catecholamine-independent …

A Microenvironment-Driven Hla-Ii-Associated Insulin Neoantigen Elicits Persistent Memory T Cell Activation In Diabetes, Neetu Srivastava, Anthony N Vomund, Rongzhen Yu, Orion J Peterson, Yuqing Yang, David P Turicek, Omar Abousaway, Tiandao Li, Pamela Stone, Aisha Ansar, Rima Melhem, Bo Zhang, Chang Liu, Hao Hu, Chyi-Song Hsieh, Laura Campisi, Emil R Unanue, Ana Maria Arbelaez, Cheryl F Lichti, Xiaoxiao Wan, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The antigenic landscape of autoimmune diabetes reflects a failure to preserve self-tolerance, yet how novel neoantigens emerge in humans remains incompletely understood. Here we designed an immunopeptidomics-based approach to probe HLA-II-bound, islet-derived neoepitopes in patients with type 1 diabetes. We uncovered a Cys→Ser transformation, conserved between mice and humans, that reshapes autoreactivity to insulin at the single-residue level. This transformation, which we call C19S, arises from oxidative remodeling of insulin in stressed pancreatic islets and also occurs in cytokine-activated antigen-presenting cells, contributing to a feed-forward loop of neoepitope formation and presentation. Despite involving just one amino acid, C19S is recognized …

Recent Advances In Triboelectric Nanogenerators For Biomedical And Cardiovascular Monitoring, Amit Sarode, Jegan Rajendran, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as versatile self-powered platforms for wearable and implantable biomedical sensing, offering an alternative to battery-dependent electronic devices. By converting biomechanical energy from physiological motion into electrical signals, TENGs enable simultaneous energy harvesting and active sensing within flexible, lightweight, and biocompatible architectures. This review summarizes recent advances from 2020 to 2025 in triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)-based cardiovascular monitoring. The discussion focuses on material systems, device configurations, sensing mechanisms, and applications including pulse detection and cuffless blood pressure estimation. Representative studies are compared to highlight emerging trends in wearable and self-powered sensing technologies. However, differences in experimental conditions, …

Nanofibrous Materials And Nanoparticles For Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: Synthesis, Integration, And Translational Perspectives, Rewati Raman Ujjwal, Ashish Dilip Sutar, Rahul Shukla, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health challenge driven by mechanisms such as biofilm formation, efflux pumps, and genetic mutations. Nanoparticulate and fibrous materials have emerged as promising strategies to overcome these limitations through multimodal antimicrobial action and controlled drug delivery. This review highlights recent advances in electrospun nanofibrous systems, including natural and synthetic polymer-based scaffolds, stimuli-responsive nanofibers, and functionalized patches. Nanoparticle-loaded nanofiber systems demonstrate enhanced performance, including bacterial eradication, sustained drug release, and significant biofilm disruption. Multifunctional systems combining antimicrobial, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory properties further show synergism. Emerging innovations, such as piezoelectric and smart sensing systems, enable self-powered …

2026 Cancelled Titles With Alternate Access, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

A Systematic Review On Niosomes: Composition, Preparation, And Applications, Sanket Gawade Mr., Sunil Attimarad, Vishakha Desai Ms.

Manipal Journal of Medical Sciences

Conventional drug carrier systems are restricted owing to poor bioavailability, weak stability and non-specific localization, which causes systemic toxicities and reduced therapeutic efficacy. Niosomes, one of the nonionic surfactant vesicular systems, have been suggested that value to overcome these constraints. In this review, we give an account of recent progress in niosome research, highlighting their merits, composition, characterization, and applications.

Niosomes offer several advantages including increased drug bioavailability, targeted delivery and reduced toxicity. Bilayered niosomes can entrap both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs, therefore allowing simultaneous delivery of actives components. We provide an overview of various techniques for niosome preparation including …