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Environmental Degradations In Images: Analysis, Restoration, And Applications, Harsh Bhandari

Doctoral Theses

This thesis investigates computational models and methodologies for restoring images degraded by challenging environmental conditions such as haze and underwater environments. It further explores the analysis and estimation of particulate matter (PM) concentration from both day and night scenes under varying weather conditions, using degraded visual data as a primary input. Each environment introduces distinct forms of visual degradation, making image restoration a critical challenge that directly impacts applications including visibility enhancement, weather analysis, particulate concentration estimation, and object detection. By addressing these challenges, this thesis aims to develop adaptable, data-driven solutions that enhance image clarity and improve information extraction …

Disease Burden Of Asthma Patients Utilizing Short-Acting Beta-2 Agonist-Only Inhalers As Rescue In The United States, Njira Lugogo, Rena C. Moon, Yen Chung, Joy David, Omar Motawakel, Ning A. Rosenthal, Neil Skolnik

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

Purpose: We aimed to describe the disease burden of asthma and examine relationships between short-acting beta-2 agonist (SABA) use and asthma exacerbations. Patients and Methods: This retrospective cohort study used geographically diverse Premier Healthcare Database (PHD) and linked insurance claims (10/01/2021-09/30/2022) for US patients aged ≥18 years with a SABA-only prescription and a history of asthma exacerbation within 12 months before index date (the earliest SABA prescription date). Three asthma control groups were defined based on SABA usage: well controlled-low (0–1 prescriptions), not well controlled-medium (2–3 prescriptions), very poorly controlled-high (≥4 prescriptions). Four asthma severity groups were defined using asthma …

Regeneration Of Swimming Antennae After Partial Amputation In Long- And Short-Lived Daphnia, Charles Schumpert, Rekha C. Patel, Jeffry L. Dudycha

Faculty Publications

Regeneration, the ability of an animal to restart a developmental process and thus rebuild itself following injury or loss, is generally thought to be inversely related to aging, the progressive decline of organismal functions and fitness that occurs as adults get older. We sought to test whether recently evolved differences of aging in the crustacean Daphnia were accompanied by evolutionary divergence of regenerative ability. Using the short-lived D. pulex and the long-lived D. pulicaria, we conducted an assessment of regenerative ability in which we amputated part of the swimming antenna and observed subsequent regeneration. In four clones isolated from …

Understanding Higher-Order Motion Terms In Image Sequences, Fisseha Admasu Ferede

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation presents a comprehensive framework for learning accurate, and physically meaningful representation of motion from image sequences. The central theme of this work lies in advancing optical flow estimation from discrete-time two-frame formulation toward a continuous time multi-frame model capable of learning higher-order motion terms and dynamics, with wide ranging applications including developing structural disease biomarkers from medical images. We first develop SSTM (Spatiotemporal Recurrent Transformer for Multi-Frame Optical Flow Estimation), a deep learning model that leverages a sequence of multi-frames to infer accurate optical flow by learning temporal dependencies across successive motion cues. The architecture integrates recurrent 3D …

Decoupling Of Reproduction And Lifespan Trade-Off In Caenorhabditis Elegans Through Microbial Programming, Nora M. Villafuerte

LSU Master's Theses

The microbiome is increasingly recognized as a major regulator of host physiology. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans model, we investigated how natural commensal bacteria modulate host reproduction and lifespan through internal egg hatching, a phenotype in which retained embryos hatch within the maternal body. Screening strains from the CeMbio collection identified four focal strains Ochrobactrum BH3, Lelliottia JUb66, Pantoea BIGb0393, and Enterobacter CEent1 that significantly increased internal egg hatching during the late reproductive period. This contrasts with pathogenic bacteria, which induce early-onset internal egg hatching. Across the focal strains, worms exhibited reduced total brood size but an expanded reproductive window relative …

Direct Effects Of Capsaicin On Voltage-Dependent Calcium Channels Of Mammalian Skeletal Muscle, Dmytro Isaev, Tatiana Prytkova, Badarunnisa Mohamed, Mohamed Omar Mahgoub, Keun Hang Susan Yang, Murat Oz

All Works

Capsaicin, a naturally occurring polyphenol, is known to affect energy expenditure and muscle fatigue and modulate contractions in skeletal muscle. The L-type Ca²⁺ channels are known to be an important ion channel involved in the various muscle functions and the effect of capsaicin on the skeletal L-type Ca²⁺ channels is currently unknown. In this study, the effects of capsaicin and capsaicin analogs on depolarization-induced Ca²⁺ effluxes through L-type Ca²⁺ channels in transverse tubule membranes from rabbit skeletal muscle and L-type Ca²⁺ currents recorded using the whole-cell patch clamp technique in rat myotubes were examined. Capsaicin, …

Insights On Global Rangeland Ecosystem Services Shaped By Grazing And Fertilization, Laura Yahdjian, Sofía Campana, Pedro M. Tognetti, Juan Alberti, Pamela Graff, Cecilia Molina, Elizabeth T. Borer, Eric W. Seabloom, Suzanne M. Prober, Andrew S. Macdougall, Anita C. Risch, Jodi N. Price, Sally A. Power, Isabel C. Barrio, Erika Hersch-Green, Philip A. Fay, Sumanta Bagchi, Jonathan D. Bakker, Dana Blumenthal, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Cynthia S. Brown, Miguel N. Bugalho, Marc Cadotte, Maria C. Caldeira, Jane A. Catford, Clinton Carbutt, Qingqing Chen, Scott L. Collins, Thomas W. Crowther, Carla D’Antonio, Christopher R. Dickman

Michigan Tech Publications

Rangelands are crucial to human well-being, but their ability to provide ecosystem services is threatened. We (1) quantified key ecosystem services provided by rangelands, (2) assessed short- and long-term impacts of fertilization (nutrient addition) and the exclusion of large grazing herbivores with fences (herbivore exclusion) on services, and (3) identified synergies and trade-offs among services. We measured indicators of ecosystem services and plant diversity at 79 sites across six continents in the global Nutrient Network. Short-term herbivore exclusion increased forage quantity and soil fertility, but longer-term herbivore exclusion decreased both along with plant richness and pollination. Nutrient addition improved forage …

Respiratory Health And Environmental Risks Among California Children: The Role Of Socioeconomic Status, Wen Chieh Chia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract Air pollution has been cited as a factor in the development of respiratory illness in children. Socioeconomic differences can intensify the effects of air pollution exposure on low-income children compared to higher-income children. This correlational study examined the relationship between air pollution exposure and respiratory health outcomes among California children, as well as the moderating role of socioeconomic status. The study was guided by the environmental health disparities framework and used secondary data from the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, analyzing data from 49 California counties (n = 49). Independent variables were PM2.5 concentrations and the number of ozone …

Dynamic Changes Of Main Enzyme Activities During Processing Of Jiangxi Gougunao Black Tea, Hou Sitong, Li Donghuang, Huang Yanting, Guo Wenjuan, Teng Jie

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To investigate the trends in enzyme activity and structural changes during black tea processing, and to analyze the functional expression of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), peroxidase (POD), β-glucosidase (β-GC), and protease, aiming to optimize the processing technology of Gougunao black tea. [Methods] Using one bud and one leaf of the Gougunao population as raw materials, Gougunao black tea was prepared by traditional processing technology. The relative browning degree and tea polyphenol content during processing were measured. The activity and structural changes of PPO, POD, β-GC, and protease were analyzed, and the enzyme functional expression mechanisms were explored. [Results] The relative …

Effect Of Microwave Treatment On Structure , Physicochemical Properties , And Digestibility Of Oat Starch, Sun Huijun, Xu Yixuan, Wang Jiameng, Zhou Yibin, Yu Zhenyu

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To investigate the effect of microwave treatment on the structure, physicochemical, and digestibility of oat starch. [Methods] Oat starch (OAT) is taken as the research object to analyze the effects of different microwave treatment times on the particle size distribution, microstructure, crystalline structure, short-range ordered structure, thermodynamics, rheology, and digestibility of OAT. [Results] With the prolongation of microwave treatment time, OAT granules are expanded, and the particle size is significantly increased. Additionally, the crystallinity is decreased from 12.32% to 5.33%, the infrared absorption ratio R1 047 cm-1/1 022 cm-1 is decreased from 0.73 to 0.62, and the half width …

Construction Of A Laozao-Suansun Composite Fermentation System And Its Nutritional Components And Flavor Analysis, Zhao Yiying, Cheng Hao, Tian Yi, Zhou Chunhong, Du Haiping, Tian Yan

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To explore the optimal process of fermented bamboo shoots (Suansun) with sweet rice wine residue (Laozao) and analyze and compare their nutritional and volatile components. [Methods] Process parameters for co-fermentation of bamboo shoots with sweet rice wine residue are optimized using single-factor analysis, Plackett-Burman design, and Box-Behnken response surface methodology. The nutritional and flavor characteristics of the optimized product are compared with those of naturally fermented bamboo shoots. [Results] The optimized fermentation conditions are as follows:lactic acid bacteria inoculum of 0.20%, salt content of 5.00%, calcium chloride addition of 0.07%, and sweet rice wine residue dosage of 16.00%. Under …

Optimization Of Deep Eutectic Solvent (Des ) Extraction Process For Astaxanthin From Haematococcus Pluvialis And Evaluation Of Its Antioxidant Activity, Wang Fanghong, Wang Meng, Zhao Xiaoyan, Feng Jinghui, Liu Hongkai

Food and Machinery

[Objective] To optimize the extraction process of astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis with deep eutectic solvent (DES) and evaluate the antioxidant activity of the extracted astaxanthin. [Methods] The choline chloride-ethylene glycol system is employed to optimize the astaxanthin extraction process from H.pluvialis through single-factor experiments and response surface methodology, with extraction rate as the key indicator. The DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities of astaxanthin are determined, followed by assessment of preservation effects on fresh-cut apples. [Results] The optimal process parameters for the extraction of astaxanthin from H.pluvialis by choline chloride-ethylene glycol are determined as follows: solvent water content of 10%, …

From Womb To Wallet: Recognizing The Placenta’S Lawful Role In The U.S. Marketplace, Christina Moss

Duke Law Journal

Modern biotechnology has transformed the human placenta from medical waste into a lucrative commercial resource. Placental tissue is used across industries—from cosmetics touting antiaging effects to pharmaceuticals employing it as a raw material for wound therapies. Yet while hospitals and biotechnology companies profit from this growing placenta economy, the women from whom the placentas originate receive neither compensation nor complete information. Federal law provides little guidance, and most states lack explicit regulations, producing a legal vacuum that allows stakeholders to exploit ambiguity. For-profit companies routinely frame their placenta procurement as altruistic donation rather than commercial exchange, citing the federal law …

Where There’S Fire, There’S Smoke: Regulation Of Fine Particulate Air Pollution In The Fairbanks North Star Borough, Caleb T. Anderson

Alaska Law Review

In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency strengthened the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 24-hour fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5). A large portion of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, encompassing the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole, was designated a Clean Air Act nonattainment area under the revised PM2.5 standards. Wood smoke from home heating was found to be one of the primary culprits, particularly during strong inversions that trap air pollution at ground level. This Article reviews the complex legal history of federal, state, and local efforts to bring the Fairbanks area into compliance with the NAAQS. …

Alaska’S Hidden Gems: Advocating For The Protection Of Deep-Sea Corals, Both In The Courtroom And Beyond, Lauren Beizer

Alaska Law Review

Coral reefs are ecologically, financially, and aesthetically one of the world’s greatest resources. Off the coast of Alaska, many unique species of deep-sea cold-water corals exist and provide various public health benefits, contribute vital ecosystem functions to their surrounding environment, and serve as economic tourist attractions. Alaska’s coral reefs are exceedingly valuable to the Earth due to their overall ecological value. However, these unique coral species significantly lack state and federal protections, which have recently been under consideration in several lawsuits at the federal level. American Oceans Campaign v. Daley and Oceana, Inc. v. National Marine Fisheries Service et al., …

Statistics For Social Scientists Who Are A Little Afraid Of Them, Kristie L. Campana

MSU Authors Collection

This is a free textbook aimed at helping advanced undergraduate/beginner graduate students navigate statistics in the social sciences. All resources for this book are released under a creative commons license CC BY-SA 4.0. which means you are able to share, copy, and distribute the material in any medium or format, and that you can adapt and transform upon this content for any purpose. However, this can occur only under the following terms:

You must give appropriate attributions to the text, provide a link to the license, and indicate if any alterations to the text have been made. This can be …

Identifying Priority Research Questions For Decentralized Wastewater, Bryan W Brooks, Timothy Callahan, Jacob K Stanley, Jamie Holodak, Kevin M Stroski, Alissa H Cox, Thomas W Groves, Anish Jantrania, Jeff C Moeller, Kris Neset, Christopher Walker, Harry Zhang, Amal Bakchan, Kelly D Alley, Jim Bell, Allison Blodig, Eric Casey, Donna Cosper, Victor D'Amato, Mark A Elliott, Greg Graves, Roxanne Groover, Robert Himschoot, Mary G Lusk, Jillian Maxcy-Brown, David Meints, Rojelio Mejia, Matt Pace, Benjamin J Ryan, Brian Scheffe, Tom Schimelfenig, June E Wolfe, Sara F Heger

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse represent critical infrastructure across the rural-periurban-urban continuum around the world. Effective, efficient, resilient, and equitable implementation of on-premise technologies and management systems is part of a One Water approach and necessary to protect public health and the environment, yet inconsistent delivery of essential public health services persists in many regions, including across states, tribes, and territories of the United States. We initiated a groundbreaking effort to understand challenges and to identify research opportunities related to the science and practice of decentralized wastewater. A horizon scanning exercise using a bottom up and transparent key questions approach …

Efficacy And Safety Of Oral Pcsk9 Inhibitor Enlicitide In Adults With Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Christie M Ballantyne, Laura Gellis, Jean-Claude Tardif, Puja Banka, Ann Marie Navar, Emil Andreas Asprusten, Russell Scott, Erik S G Stroes, Samar Froman, Geraldine Mendizabal, Fan Wang, Alberico L Catapano

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Persons with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) are at increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease due to lifelong elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Many patients with HeFH do not achieve guideline-recommended LDL-C goals with the currently available lipid-lowering therapies.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of enlicitide decanoate (an oral proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor) vs placebo in adults with HeFH requiring further lowering of LDL-C levels despite use of statin therapy.

Design, setting, and participants: This phase 3, randomized clinical trial included persons aged 18 years or older with HeFH currently using lipid-lowering therapy (taking at least …

Single-Molecule Mechanostructural Fingerprinting Of Nucleic Acid Conformations, Prakash Shrestha, Hans T. Bergal, William M. Shih, Wesley P. Wong

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Understanding the three-dimensional structure and mechanical response of biomolecules is key to uncovering their molecular mechanisms, particularly in contexts where force plays a regulatory role. Structural methods such as X-ray crystallography, Cryo-electron microscopy, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy provide high-resolution conformational data, while single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals mechanical properties—but these approaches are rarely integrated. A more comprehensive understanding of structure-function relationships, including nonequilibrium conformations and transitions under force, calls for methods capable of simultaneously resolving structural and mechanical properties at the single-molecule level. To meet this need, we present a DNA nanoswitch calipers platform capable of both measuring multiple …

Genomics Reveal Staphylococcus Aureus Persists During Long-Term Urinary Catheterization Despite Antimicrobial Therapy And Catheter Exchanges, Jesus M Duran Ramirez, Chelsie E Armbruster, Blake M Hanson, Jennifer N Walker

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Urinary catheters, the most frequently placed medical devices in the US, increase the risk of developing symptomatic catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) - the presence of bacteria in the urine - with those requiring long-term urinary catheters (LTUCs) at highest risk. While ASB and CAUTI are caused by a broad range of uropathogens, most remain understudied. We use whole-genome sequencing to investigate the understudied uropathogen, Staphylococcus aureus. Analysis of 153 longitudinal S. aureus isolates previously collected from urinary catheter or urine samples from 20 individuals with LTUCs (average of 8 longitudinal isolates/person) demonstrates that most strains …

Long-Term Trends In Harmful Algal Blooms And Key Environmental Variables Off Southwest-Central Florida, Zayna Sampson, Digna Rueda Roa, Lilly Verrill, F. Muller-Karger

Making Waves REU

• We analyzed long-term trends in satellite Sea Surface Temperature (SST), Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), and Algal Bloom Index (ABI). We compared them with in-situ Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) counts in Southwest-Central Florida.
• Our statistics were based on anomalies to remove the seasonal signal, making it easier to observe inter-annual changes.
• The region experienced significant long-term increases in SST, with offshore areas warming faster than nearshore (offshore: >0.06 °C/year, close to shore: <0.05 °C/year).
• Both Chl-a and ABI showed weak but significant long-term decreases offshore.
• There were no significant correlations between HAB and satellite anomalies of SST, Chl-a, or ABI (p>0.1).

Supreme Court Arguments Show Skepticism About Letting Trans Girls And Women Play In Women’S Sports, Arthur S. Leonard

Other Publications

No abstract provided.

Public Perspectives On Sharing Profits With Biospecimen Donors, Aaron Eli Segal, Xiaobai Li, David Wendler

Faculty and Staff Publications

Introduction: In current practice, individuals rarely share in the profits of research using their biospecimens. Many commentators defend this practice on the grounds that the contributions donors make are not important enough to merit a share of the profits. Others argue that if researchers and sponsors profit, donors should too. Despite the importance of this debate, there are no data on the public’s views. Methods: Online survey of US adults selected to approximate the 2020 US census on age, gender, race, ethnicity, and geographic region. Respondents were asked whether biospecimen donors should share in the profits or receive payments across …

Investigating Host Factors In Coronavirus Assembly And Egress, Surovi Binte Sharmin Mohona

Dissertations

Coronavirus (CoV) structural proteins congregate at the ER-Golgi intermediate compartments (ERGIC) prior to virus budding into the organelle lumen. Subsequent trafficking and fusion of virus-containing, ERGIC-derived vesicles then release nascent viruses from infected cells. Our findings in this dissertation illuminate mechanisms by which CoV structural proteins coalesce at the virus assembly and budding sites. The cytoplasmic tails of all CoV spike (S) glycoproteins contain variants of a consensus KxKxx coatomer-binding motif. Host coatomer complexes facilitate retrograde trafficking of client cargo proteins via recognition of such motifs. Utilizing reverse genetics methodologies, we introduced variations in the S coatomer motif in a …

Genome-Wide Gene By Sleepiness Interaction Analysis For Sleep Apnea, Pavithra Nagarajan, Nuzulul Kurniansyah, Jiwon Lee, Sina A Gharib, Yushan Xu, Yiyan Zhang, Brian Spitzer, Tariq Faquih, Hufeng Zhou, Eric Boerwinkle, Han Chen, Daniel J Gottlieb, Xiuqing Guo, Nancy L Heard-Costa, Bertha A Hidalgo, Daniel Levy, Peter Y Liu, Hao Mei, Rebecca Montalvan, Sutapa Mukherjee, Kari E North, George T O'Connor, Lyle J Palmer, Sanjay R Patel, Bruce M Psaty, Shaun M Purcell, Laura M Raffield, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Richa Saxena, Albert V Smith, Katie L Stone, Xiaofeng Zhu, Topmed Sleep Trait Working Group, Brian E Cade, Tamar Sofer, Susan Redline, Heming Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Study objectives: Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS), influenced by environmental and social-behavioral factors, is reported by a subset of patients with sleep apnea-a group that may be at elevated cardiovascular risk. However, it is unclear whether sleep apnea with and without EDS have distinct genetic underpinnings. In this study, we perform gene-by-EDS interaction analyses for apnea hypopnea index, a diagnostic marker of sleep apnea severity, to understand EDS's influence on its underlying genetic risk.

Methods: Discovery interaction analyses for common variants and gene-based rare variants were conducted respectively using multi-ethnic Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (N = 11 619) data, followed by …

Molecular Survival Strategies Against Kidney Filtration: Implications For Therapeutic Protein Engineering, William Heaps, Anna Elise Packard, Kristina M. Mccammon, Tyler P. Green, Joseph P. Talley, Bradley C. Bundy, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The glomerular filtration barrier poses a significant challenge for circulating proteins, with molecules below ~60–70 kDa facing rapid renal clearance. Endogenous proteins have evolved sophisticated evasion mechanisms including oligomerization, carrier binding, electrostatic repulsion, and FcRn-mediated recycling. Understanding these natural strategies provides blueprints for engineering therapeutic proteins with improved pharmacokinetics. This review examines how endogenous proteins resist filtration, evaluates their application in protein engineering, and discusses clinical translation including established technologies (PEGylation, Fc-fusion) and emerging strategies (albumin-binding domains, glycoengineering). We address critical challenges of balancing half-life extension with tissue penetration, biological activity, and immunogenicity—essential considerations for the rational design of next-generation …

Perioperative Fluid Management In Pancreaticoduodenectomy In The Era Of Goal-Directed Fluid Therapy: A Review Of The Literature, Meghan D Grim, Richard Zheng, Nader Hanna, Harish Lavu, Charles J. Yeo, Avinoam Nevler

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is the only curative option for localized pancreatic head and periampullary malignancies. However, PD is associated with significant perioperative morbidity. Perioperative fluid management has emerged as an important modifiable factor influencing surgical outcomes in PD.

METHODS: In this qualitative review, PubMed/Medline searches were performed between March and August 2025 to review the terms "pancreaticoduodenectomy," "fluid management," "Enhanced Recovery After Surgery," "complications," and related terms.

RESULTS: Historically, liberal fluid administration was favored to compensate for third-space losses, but contemporary evidence has linked excessive fluid volumes to complications, such as postoperative pancreatic fistula, anastomotic edema, and increased inflammatory responses. …

Safety And Effectiveness Of Bolt-Mounted Versus Tunnelled External Ventricular Drains: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis And Trial-Sequential Analysis, Shaan Patel, Shiva A. Nischal, Ayush Sinha, Kush Kale, Pious D. Patel, Jack Jallo, Srinivas K. Prasad

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: External ventricular drains (EVDs) are fundamental to neurocritical care, yet substantial procedural heterogeneity persists, particularly regarding bolt-mounted versus tunnelled catheter fixation. The relative safety and effectiveness of these approaches remain unclear, with conflicting data from observational studies and a lack of trial-level evidence.

OBJECTIVE: To compare bolt-mounted and tunnelled EVDs across accuracy, reoperation, and key safety outcomes using systematic review, meta-analysis, and trial-sequential analysis.

METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL databases were searched (November 2025) for randomised or observational studies comparing bolt-mounted with tunnelled EVDs in adults. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk …

A Chemogenetic Approach For Temporal And Cell-Specific Activation Of Endogenous Gpcrs In Vivo, Gwendolyn Shingles, Qianqian Pang, Jian Weng, Ryan Singer, Waleed Babar, Jiaqi Shen, Luis Vazquez-Rivera, Yao Chen, Peng Li, Wenjing Wang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cell-specific regulation of endogenous G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is crucial for understanding their roles in physiological processes. We present chemogenetic tools using shield-1-dependent irreversible protein switches to regulate peptide agonist activity. To demonstrate this platform, we engineered chemogenetically regulated pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (cPACAP), which exhibited >15-fold chemical-dependent regulation of endogenous receptor activity. In vivo application of cPACAP allowed neuronal activation via the endogenous receptor for PACAP, engaging neural circuits that control respiratory and feeding behaviors. By integrating cPACAP with transgenic mice, we selectively activated endogenous PACAP receptor signaling in hypocretin-expressing neurons of the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), revealing …

The Biomedical Landscape Of Genomic Structural Variation In The Qatari Population, Elbay Aliyev, Najeeb Syed, Alessia Visconti, Taghi Aliyev, Aziz Belkadi, Mohammadmersad Ghorbani, Niccolò Rossi, Haroon Naeem, Geethanjali Devadoss Gandhi, Gaurav Thareja, Aljazi Al-Maraghi, Waleed Aamer, Amal Abdulsalam Ibrahim, Rulan Shaath, Farooq Omar Al-Ajli, Rozaimi Mohamad Razali, Fritz J Sedlazeck, Sonia Davila, Ammira Akil, Karsten Suhre, Younes Mokrab, Mario Falchi, Khalid A Fakhro

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We present a large-scale study of structural variation (SV) in the Qatari population, based on short-read whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 6,141 individuals, identifying 153,946 variants across 5 classes reflecting the region's diversity and evolutionary history. Leveraging consanguinity and biobank phenotypes, we identify >180 putative gene knockouts, and use proteomics to show functional consequences in homozygotes. Conversely, 52 genes show significant depletion of homozygous deletions, eight of which cause severe pediatric disease or murine embryonic lethality. Examining phenotypic extremes uncovers several non-exonic homozygous deletions with large effect, including in SPIRE2 (creatinine), MAGI2 (leanness) and a chr19 microRNA cluster (extreme obesity). Further, …