Digital Commons Network^™

Free-Living Allen’S Hummingbirds (Selasphorus Sasin) Rarely Use Torpor While Nesting, Erich R. Eberts, Glenn J. Tattersall, Peter J. Auger, Maria Curley, Melissa I. Morado, Eric G. Strauss, Don Powers, Noemi C. Soveral, Bret W. Tobalske, Anusha Shankar

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

For reproducing animals, maintaining energy balance despite thermoregulatory challenges is important for surviving and successfully raising offspring. This is especially apparent in small endotherms that exhibit high mass-specific metabolic rates and live in unpredictable environments. Many of these animals use torpor, substantially reducing their metabolic rate and often body temperature to cope with high energetic demands during non-foraging periods. In birds, when the incubating parent uses torpor, the lowered temperatures that thermally sensitive offspring experience could delay development or increase mortality risk. We used thermal imaging to noninvasively explore how nesting female hummingbirds sustain their own energy balance while effectively …

February 2023 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Novel Mathematical Model That Explains Sars-Cov-2 Infection Dynamics In Caco-2 Cells, Vladimir Staroverov, Stepan Nersisyan, Alexei Galatenko, Dmitriy Alekseev, Sofya Lukashevich, Fedor Ployakov, Nikita Anisimov, Alexander Tonevitsky

COVID-19 Papers, Posters, and Presentations

Mathematical modeling is widely used to study within-host viral dynamics. However, to the best of our knowledge, for the case of SARS-CoV-2 such analyses were mainly conducted with the use of viral load data and for the wild type (WT) variant of the virus. In addition, only few studies analyzed models for in vitro data, which are less noisy and more reproducible. In this work we collected multiple data types for SARS-CoV-2-infected Caco-2 cell lines, including infectious virus titers, measurements of intracellular viral RNA, cell viability data and percentage of infected cells for the WT and Delta variants. We showed …

Forage News [2023-02], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

Novel Smad3 Variant Identified In A Patient With Familial Aortopathy Modeled Using A Zebrafish Embryo Assay, Mary Burchett Sheppard, Jeffrey D. Smith, Lisa L. Bergmann, Jakub Konrad Famulski

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

In human, pathogenic variants in smad3 are one cause of familial aortopathy. We describe a novel SMAD3 variant of unknown significance (VUS), V244F, in a patient who presented with aortic root dilation, right coronary artery ectasia, abdominal aortic aneurysm, right vertebral artery atresia, and cavernoma. Determination of variant pathogenicity impacted multiple aspects of the patient’s care, including the most appropriate surgical threshold for which to recommend a valve-sparing aortic root replacement. To determine whether the newly identified SMAD3 variant, and whether SMAD3 induced aortopathy in general, can be assayed in a zebrafish embryo model, we injected smad3a mRNA into Tg[kdrl:mCherry] …

Subclonal Evolution And Expansion Of Spatially Distinct Thy1-Positive Cells Is Associated With Recurrence In Glioblastoma., Wajd N Al-Holou, Hanxiao Wang, Visweswaran Ravikumar, Sunita Shankar, Morgan Oneka, Ziad Fehmi, Roel G W Verhaak, Hoon Kim, Drew Pratt, Sandra Camelo-Piragua, Corey Speers, Daniel R Wahl, Todd Hollon, Oren Sagher, Jason A Heth, Karin M Muraszko, Theodore S Lawrence, Ana C De Carvalho, Tom Mikkelsen, Arvind Rao, Alnawaz Rehemtulla

Faculty Research 2023

PURPOSE: Glioblastoma(GBM) is a lethal disease characterized by inevitable recurrence. Here we investigate the molecular pathways mediating resistance, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic opportunities.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: We developed a longitudinal in vivo recurrence model utilizing patient-derived explants to produce paired specimens(pre- and post-recurrence) following temozolomide(TMZ) and radiation(IR). These specimens were evaluated for treatment response and to identify gene expression pathways driving treatment resistance. Findings were clinically validated using spatial transcriptomics of human GBMs.

RESULTS: These studies reveal in replicate cohorts, a gene expression profile characterized by upregulation of mesenchymal and stem-like genes at recurrence. Analyses of clinical databases …

Canagliflozin Retards Age-Related Lesions In Heart, Kidney, Liver, And Adrenal Gland In Genetically Heterogenous Male Mice., Jessica M Snyder, Kerriann M Casey, Andrzej Galecki, David E Harrison, Hashan Jayarathne, Navasuja Kumar, Francesca Macchiarini, Nadia Rosenthal, Marianna Sadagurski, Adam B Salmon, Randy Strong, Richard A Miller, Warren Ladiges

Faculty Research 2023

Canagliflozin (Cana), a clinically important anti-diabetes drug, leads to a 14% increase in median lifespan and a 9% increase in the 90th percentile age when given to genetically heterogeneous male mice from 7 months of age, but does not increase lifespan in female mice. A histopathological study was conducted on 22-month-old mice to see if Cana retarded diverse forms of age-dependent pathology. This agent was found to diminish incidence or severity, in male mice only, of cardiomyopathy, glomerulonephropathy, arteriosclerosis, hepatic microvesicular cytoplasmic vacuolation (lipidosis), and adrenal cortical neoplasms. Protection against atrophy of the exocrine pancreas was seen in both males …

Diagnostic Metabolomic Profiling Of Parkinson's Disease Biospecimens, Peter A. Lewitt, Jia Li, Kuan-Han H. Wu, Mei Lu

Neurology Articles

BACKGROUND: Reliable and sensitive biomarkers are needed for enhancing and predicting Parkinson's disease (PD) diagnosis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate comprehensive metabolomic profiling of biochemicals in CSF and serum for determining diagnostic biomarkers of PD.

METHODS: Fifty subjects, symptomatic with PD for ≥5 years, were matched to 50 healthy controls (HCs). We used ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography linked to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) for measuring relative concentrations of ≤1.5 kDalton biochemicals. A reference library created from authentic standards facilitated chemical identifications. Analytes underwent univariate analysis for PD association, with false discovery rate-adjusted p-value (≤0.05) determinations. Multivariate analysis (for identifying a panel of biochemicals …

Humanized Patient-Derived Xenograft Models Of Disseminated Ovarian Cancer Recapitulate Key Aspects Of The Tumor Immune Environment Within The Peritoneal Cavity, Mara P. Steinkamp, Irina Lagutina, Kathryn J. Brayer, Fred Schultz, Danielle Burke, Vernon S. Pankratz, Sarah F. Adams, Laurie G. Hudson, Scott A. Ness, Angela Wandinger-Ness

Pathology Research and Scholarship

UNLABELLED: The importance of the immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer progression, metastasis, and response to therapies has become increasingly clear, especially with the new emphasis on immunotherapies. To leverage the power of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models within a humanized immune microenvironment, three ovarian cancer PDXs were grown in humanized NBSGW (huNBSGW) mice engrafted with human CD34

SIGNIFICANCE: huPDX models are ideal preclinical models for testing novel therapies. They reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the patient population, enhance human myeloid differentiation, and recruit immune cells to the tumor microenvironment.

Humanized Patient-Derived Xenograft Models Of Disseminated Ovarian Cancer Recapitulate Key Aspects Of The Tumor Immune Environment Within The Peritoneal Cavity, Mara P. Steinkamp, Irina Lagutina, Kathryn J. Brayer, Fred Schultz, Danielle Burke, Vernon S. Pankratz, Sarah F. Adams, Laurie G. Hudson, Scott A. Ness, Angela Wandinger-Ness

Pathology Research and Scholarship

UNLABELLED: The importance of the immune microenvironment in ovarian cancer progression, metastasis, and response to therapies has become increasingly clear, especially with the new emphasis on immunotherapies. To leverage the power of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models within a humanized immune microenvironment, three ovarian cancer PDXs were grown in humanized NBSGW (huNBSGW) mice engrafted with human CD34

SIGNIFICANCE: huPDX models are ideal preclinical models for testing novel therapies. They reflect the genetic heterogeneity of the patient population, enhance human myeloid differentiation, and recruit immune cells to the tumor microenvironment.

2023-February-01-David Brooks To Headline Etsu's 'Festival Of Ideas'.Pdf, Iversity Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University’s Festival of Ideas, an annual event that draws nationally known speakers to campus, will be held the week of Feb. 27.

Headlining this year’s festival, with a theme of curiosity, connection and community, is the bestselling author and well-known commentator David Brooks, as well as Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, the co-hosts of the popular “Pantsuit Politics” podcast. Holland and Silvers will speak on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. in the D.P. Culp Student Center Ballroom. Brooks is set to speak on Wednesday, March 1, at 7 p.m. in the Martin …

2023-February-01-Celebrating Unity- Etsu Recognizing Art Installation.Pdf, Iversity Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

JOHNSON CITY – East Tennessee State University will formally recognize an art installation, part of the global Peace Crane Project, on the walls of the D.P. Culp Student Center. 
 
The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, on the first floor of the Culp near the Cave. 
 
In fall 2022, students in a course at ETSU titled “Special Topics: Art in Public Space” worked to permanently document some of ETSU’s core values of unity and diversity. The design celebrated International Day of Peace, highlighting the Peace Crane Project with a mural depicting the region’s mountainous landscape and …

The Process Of Sexual Misconduct By Male Teachers And Staff In K-12 Institutions, Mollee Steely Smith

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Despite the increased media attention of teachers who engage in sexual misconduct with their students, research on such incidents remains limited, specifically on how these incidents are initiated and evolve. The purpose of the current study was to examine the nature of sexual abuse incidents by K-12 teachers who engaged in sexual misconduct with students by focusing on the onset, progression, and conclusion of these cases. Data included 10 secondary narrative interviews with male sex offenders who used their position as school employees to target and engage in sexual misconduct with their students in 2014 in a southern state. All …

Planktonic Prey Size Selection Reveals An Emergent Keystone Predator Effect And Niche Partitioning, Darcy A.A. Taniguchi, Michael J. Follows, Susanne Menden-Deuer

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Marine herbivorous protists are often the dominant grazers of primary production. We developed a size-based model with flexible size-based grazing to encapsulate taxonomic and behavioral diversity. We examined individual and combined grazing impacts by three consumer sizes that span the size range of protistan grazers– 5, 50, and 200 μm—on a size-structured phytoplankton community. Prey size choice and dietary niche width varied with consumer size and with co-existence of other consumers. When all consumer sizes were present, distinct dietary niches emerged, with a range of consumer-prey size ratios spanning from 25:1 to 0.4:1, encompassing the canonical 10:1 often assumed. Grazing …

What Rises To The Surface, Kelly R. Samuels

The Lindenwood Review: a journal of literary prose

No abstract provided.

Anaerobic Digestion Reduces Seed Germination And Viability Of Six Plant Species From The Upper Nile Valley, Egypt, Ahmed M. Abbas, Mohamed Abdelazeem, Stephen J. Novak

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anaerobic digestion (AD) involves the breakdown of a substrate by mixed microbial communities in the absence of free oxygen. This process has many benefits leading to the production of bioenergy (biogas) and fertilizers (bio-fertilizers). Unfortunately, the bio-fertilizer made using AD may be contaminated with weed seeds and may have the potential of infesting the fields to which it is applied. Thus, the goal of this study is to determine the effects of AD on seed germination and viability of two undesirable crop plants (Triticum aestivum and Sorghum bicolor) and four weed species of reclaimed agricultural land near Qena, …

The Impact Of Dapagliflozin On Aldosterone Hormone In Rats With Heart Failure, Skala Mamand Jawhar, Zana Ahmed Mustafa

Polytechnic Journal

Background: The latest anti-diabetic medication sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitor along with the lowering of blood glucose has a cardioprotective and reno-protective effect, it has the ability to reduce the development of heart failure and decrease hospitalization in heart failure subjects with and without diabetes. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitor dapagliflozin alone and in combination with eplerenone on the aldosterone hormone in the treatment of rats with experimentally induced heart failure. Method: Thirty Wister rats were randomly divided into five groups each of six rats, the first group served as a control group. The heart …

Aortic Stress Activates An Adaptive Program In Thoracic Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells That Maintains Aortic Strength And Protects Against Aneurysm And Dissection In Mice, Chen Zhang, Yanming Li, Abhijit Chakraborty, Yang Li, Kimberly R. Rebello, Pingping Ren, Wei Luo, Lin Zhang, Hong S. Lu, Lisa A. Cassis, Joseph S. Coselli, Alan Daugherty, Scott A. Lemaire, Ying H. Shen

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: When aortic cells are under stress, such as increased hemodynamic pressure, they adapt to the environment by modifying their functions, allowing the aorta to maintain its strength. To understand the regulation of this adaptive response, we examined transcriptomic and epigenomic programs in aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during the adaptive response to AngII (angiotensin II) infusion and determined its importance in protecting against aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD).

METHODS: We performed single-cell RNA sequencing and single-cell sequencing assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (scATAC-seq) analyses in a mouse model of sporadic AAD induced by AngII infusion. We also examined the direct …

What Is Pedagogy?: Discovering The Hidden Pedagogical Dimension, Norm Friesen, Hanno Su

Educational Technology Faculty Publications and Presentations

What is pedagogy, exactly? Merriam-Webster defines it simply as “the art, science, or profession of teaching.” In contemporary academic discourse, however, pedagogy is generally left undefined — with its apparent implicit meanings ranging anywhere from a specific “model for teaching” (e.g., behaviorist or progressivist instruction) to a broadly political philosophy of education in general (most famously, a “pedagogy of the oppressed”). In this paper, Norm Friesen and Hanno Su follow the Continental pedagogical tradition in giving pedagogy a general but explicit definition. They do so by looking at how pedagogy arises both in everyday life and in school as unavoidably …

Noble Little King, Laura Alberts

Landshark Literary Review

No abstract provided.

Game On!: Creating Community And Engagement Through Team Trivia At The Library, Margaret Mcguire, Jennifer Pate

Alabama Libraries

No abstract provided.

Getting Our Tutors Back On Track: An Examination Of The Perceptions Of Small Group Instruction And Engagement Strategies And The Professional Development Required, Kimberly Nicole Moore

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Research has shown that teachers and tutors are facing what they are calling the COVID-19 slide, a decline in achievement gains made during the previous school year and school closures due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. There is not only a loss of learning, but also a substantial impact on children’s development. Teachers and tutors are now facing such prolific deficits that they are trying to find solutions to provide more assistance for those struggling students. One solution is tutoring.

This literature review offers information on the increased need for tutoring programs over the past few years and discusses the need …

The Business Case For Social And Behavior Change For Breastfeeding And Complementary Feeding, Avenir Health

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Choices

In global health, a business case analyzes the costs and benefits of investing in a particular health area or intervention. Breakthrough RESEARCH used this evidence-based approach to answer questions about the effectiveness, cost, and cost-effectiveness of SBC interventions on improving and maintaining key breastfeeding (BF) and complementary feeding (CF) behaviors. The model was applied to two different illustrative SBC investment scenarios; one in Kebbi state, Nigeria and one in Nepal. This business case highlights the benefits of investing in BF and CF SBC activities; the intended audience includes international donors funding or potentially funding SBC activities, health and finance ministries, …

Who's Afraid Of Universals?, Atreyee Majumder, Manhar Bansal

Popular Media

In this episode, a professor-student pair, Dr. Atreyee Majumder and Manhar Bansal, provide a glimpse into their ongoing conversation on the enduring role of universal categories and their relationship to anthropological knowledge. In light of the discomfort around universals in contemporary social sciences, they offer the provocation: can there be universals beyond those of capitalist modernity? They talk about the dominant time-space compression account of modernity, the possibility of uncovering other, more liberating and revolutionary temporalities, and the fun of doing theory in anthropology. They argue for the need to revisit the question of universal categories to think through our …

Artz 351.01: Sculpture Ii, Karl Y. Schwiesow

University of Montana Course Syllabi, 2021-2025

No abstract provided.

Spectrum, Volume 50, Issue 1, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: Marijuana Officially Legal in Connecticut -- A Week of Service for 16 Sacred Heart Students -- US Soccer announces program to ensure player safety -- Morgan Craig: Proud to (Finally) Be an American -- Avatar Sequel Grosses Over $2 Billion -- Pio’s On The Rise as Mannetti Pins 100 NEC Wins.

Communication During Covid-19 Crisis: A Case Of Hotels In Turkey, Ayse Selin Dulger, Ayse Bas Collins, Aysegul Gunduz Songur, Cihan Cobanoglu

Journal of Global Hospitality and Tourism

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which has spread all over the world, the importance of communication in terms of knowledge sharing has increased even more in the tourism sector, as in all sectors. Each hotel business has benefited from various communication tools in the pandemic crisis. The aim of this study is to provide an understanding of the crisis communication strategy tackled by the hotels in Turkey during this unprecedented period, via both conventional and internet based public relations and communication platforms within the framework of crisis communication management. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 hotel managers in …

Latest Research: Summary 2. Importance Of Food-Demand Management For Climate Mitigation

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

As the global population rises, demand for food increases across the globe. This demand simultaneously expands unsustainable agriculture practices, which contribute significant amounts of carbon emissions to the atmosphere, primarily through the increase in the number of livestock and production of livestock feed.

February 1, 2023 Faculty Senate Minutes, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Developing New Church Leaders In A Digital Age, Roy Gruber

Doctor of Leadership

Massive cultural and technological shifts usher in a new digital age, creating a leadership crisis in the American church. In a time of decline, how can the church thrive in the future? The answer to that question resides in future leadership in the church. The NPO for the Project states: The church needs to develop digital learners into new leaders for the next generation. The Project was developed to offer one tool to onboard new Christians toward future leadership. A few essential insights emerged from the research for the Project. First, in addition to significant cultural changes, there is emerging …