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Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interactions And Stress Tolerance In Maize, Saroj Burlakoti, Ananta R. Devkota, Shital Poudyal, Amita Kaundal

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Beneficial microbes are crucial for improving crop adaptation and growth under various stresses. They enhance nutrient uptake, improve plant immune responses, and help plants tolerate stresses like drought, salinity, and heat. The yield potential of any crop is significantly influenced by its associated microbiomes and their potential to improve growth under different stressful environments. Therefore, it is crucial and exciting to understand the mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions. Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the primary staple foods worldwide, in addition to wheat and rice. Maize is also an industrial crop globally, contributing 83% of its production for …

Methylene Blue As An Adjuvant Analgesic Postoperative Anal Fistula: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Wifanto S. Jeo, Muhammad Fa Irsal, Riana P. Tamba, Yefta Moenadjat, Dewi Friska

The New Ropanasuri Journal of Surgery

Introduction. Anal fistula is a pathological condition that connects the anorectal mucosa to the perianal skin, requiring various types of surgical procedures. However, surgery often causes postoperative pain. The use of methylene blue is being studied as a potential analgetic adjuvant in anal fistula surgery. Previous studies have shown that methylene blue can effectively reduce postoperative pain in various types of anorectal surgery. This study aims to determine methylene blue's clinical efficacy as an analgetic adjuvant.

Methods. A double-blind, randomized controlled trial was conducted. Subjects consisting of subjects with simple anal fistula to undergo fistulectomy were randomly allocated into two …

Efficacy Of Full Dose And Sandwich Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy In Breast Cancer: A Literature Review, I Gusti Ng Wibisana, Shandy V. Putra

The New Ropanasuri Journal of Surgery

Introduction. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in productive-age women, and that needs to be addressed with systemic medication. There has been a big-scale success using adjuvant chemotherapy; however, the optimal method of chemotherapy administration has yet to be determined. Two methods have been introduced today: full dose and sandwich methods. In full dose, we administer chemotherapy before surgical intervention, whereas in the sandwich method, we administer chemotherapy before and after surgical intervention. In this literature review, we aim to observe the effectiveness of chemotherapy administration through both full-dose and sandwich methods.

Method. In the initial phase, 51 …

Three Gardner-Webb Students Receive Summer Scholar Fellowships, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Through Summer Scholar Fellowships (formerly Summer Undergraduate Research Scholars), Gardner-Webb University students have an opportunity to conduct focused research outside the boundaries of the classroom. During the second summer session, three Fellows will be working with their faculty mentors on projects that involve extracting essential oils, examining books, and explaining nonverbal behavior.

Foster Parents Assisting Transitioning Foster Care Youth In Maintaining Stable Housing, Cecilann Morrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Vibrational Dynamics Of The Intramolecular H-Bond In Β-Diketones And Intermolecular H Bonding In Halide-Receptor Complexes Investigated With Transient And 2d Ir Spectroscopy, Jessika Lira-Santos Dean

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Hydrogen bonding (H-bond) interactions are essential in dictating structures and properties of chemical and biological systems and are pivotal mediators in charge transport reactions and chemical recognition. Accurate description of H-bonds requires thorough characterization of the shared proton’s potential energy surface (PES) and molecular dynamics. Ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopic techniques, in particular, transient absorption (TA) and two dimensional infrared (2D IR) spectroscopy, have proven themselves valuable tools for probing molecular structures and dynamics mediated by H-bonding interactions. Herein, I describe the implementation of TA and 2D IR experiments to investigate the vibrational dynamics of the intramolecular H-bond in a series of …

From Graph Theory For Robust Deep Networks To Graph Learning For Multimodal Cancer Analysis, Asim Waqas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intersection of graph theory and deep learning, focusing on enhancing the robustness of deep neural networks (DNNs) and applying these advancements to complex problems like cancer diagnosis and treatment. We investigate the structural properties of graphs and their influence on neural network performance, particularly in multimodal learning. The work delves into the design space of DNN architectures using graph-theoretic measures, transforming graphs into DNN architectures for various tasks, and examining their robustness against noise and adversarial attacks. The study extends to medical imaging, highlighting advanced DNN architectures like U-Net for brain tumor segmentation. It addresses the …

How Did Cognitive Status Impact Health Care Use Among Older Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic?, Katarina Sako, Janet Wilmoth

Population Health Research Brief Series

Physical distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the lives of older adults. Older adults experiencing dementia and other forms of cognitive decline have impaired executive functioning that made it even more difficult to contend with these disruptions. This brief presents findings from research that used data from the 2021 Health and Retirement Study to examine differences in health care delays and health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic among a nationally representative sample of U.S. older adults (ages 50+) with versus without cognitive decline. Results show that most older adults did not delay getting health care and did not experience …

Adipose Derived Stem Cell Exosomes And Uses Thereof, Denise R. Cooper, Lisa Gould, Niketa Patel, Mack Wu

USF Patents

Provided herein are exosomal compositions and exsosomal lncRNA compositions and formulations thereof. Also provided herein are methods of treating a wound in a subject in need thereof that can contain the step of administering an exosomal composition and/or exsosomal lncRNA compositions or formulation thereof to a wound in a subject in need thereof.

Salt Pollution Reduces Turbidity, Dissolved Organic Matter, And Cyanobacteria In Experimental Vernal Pool Communities, Jared P. Vigil, Matthew S. Schuler

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Anthropogenic activities such as the over-application of road deicers are causing an increase in the concentration of salts in historically fresh waters. Experimental and field investigations demonstrate that freshwater salinization disrupts ecosystem functions and services, causing the death of freshwater organisms and changes to nutrient conditions. Wetland habitats are one system negatively affected by salt pollution, including ephemeral wetlands (vernal pools) that fill with salt-polluted water after snowmelt. In urbanized areas, the degradation of these ecosystems could result in irreversible ecological damage including reduced water quality and a reduction in biodiversity. To investigate the effects of freshwater salinization on vernal …

University Lands Prestigious T32 Award For Graduate Student Training, Natalie Ehrhardt

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – In a historic development for the University of Mississippi, the National Institutes of Health has awarded the university a prestigious grant to help support and train graduate students from groups underrepresented in STEM fields.

Optimized Cytogenetic Risk-Group Stratification Of Kmt2a-Rearranged Pediatric Acute Myeloid Leukemia., Romy E. Van Weelderen, Christine J. Harrison, Kim Klein, Yilin Jiang, Jonas Abrahamsson, Todd Alonzo, Richard Aplenc, Nira Arad-Cohen, Emmanuelle Bart-Delabesse, Barbara Buldini, Barbara De Moerloose, Michael N. Dworzak, Sarah Elitzur, José M. Fernández Navarro, Alan S. Gamis, Robert B. Gerbing, Bianca F. Goemans, Hester A. De Groot-Kruseman, Erin M. Guest, Shau-Yin Ha, Henrik Hasle, Charikleia Kelaidi, Hélène Lapillonne, Guy Leverger, Franco Locatelli, Takako Miyamura, Ulrika Norén-Nyström, Sophia Polychronopoulou, Mareike Rasche, Jeffrey E. Rubnitz, Jan Stary, Anne Tierens, Daisuke Tomizawa, C Michel Zwaan, Gertjan J L Kaspers

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

A comprehensive international consensus on the cytogenetic risk-group stratification of KMT2A-rearranged (KMT2A-r) pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is lacking. This retrospective (2005-2016) International Berlin-Frankfurt-Münster Study Group study on 1256 children with KMT2A-r AML aims to validate the prognostic value of established recurring KMT2A fusions and additional cytogenetic aberrations (ACAs) and to define additional, recurring KMT2A fusions and ACAs, evaluating their prognostic relevance. Compared with our previous study, 3 additional, recurring KMT2A-r groups were defined: Xq24/KMT2A::SEPT6, 1p32/KMT2A::EPS15, and 17q12/t(11;17)(q23;q12). Across 13 KMT2A-r groups, 5-year event-free survival probabilities varied significantly (21.8%-76.2%; P < .01). ACAs occurred in 46.8% of 1200 patients with complete karyotypes, correlating with inferior overall survival (56.8% vs 67.9%; P < .01). Multivariable analyses confirmed independent associations of 4q21/KMT2A::AFF1, 6q27/KMT2A::AFDN, 10p12/KMT2A::MLLT10, 10p11.2/KMT2A::ABI1, and 19p13.3/KMT2A::MLLT1 with adverse outcomes, but not those of 1q21/KMT2A::MLLT11 and trisomy 19 with favorable and adverse outcomes, respectively. Newly identified ACAs with independent adverse prognoses were monosomy 10, trisomies 1, 6, 16, and X, add(12p), and del(9q). Among patients with 9p22/KMT2A::MLLT3, the independent association of French-American-British-type M5 with favorable outcomes was confirmed, and those of trisomy 6 and measurable residual disease at end of induction with adverse outcomes were identified. We provide evidence to incorporate 5 adverse-risk KMT2A fusions into the cytogenetic risk-group stratification of KMT2A-r pediatric AML, to revise the favorable-risk classification of 1q21/KMT2A::MLLT11 to intermediate risk, and to refine the risk-stratification of 9p22/KMT2A::MLLT3 AML. Future studies should validate the associations between the newly identified ACAs and outcomes and unravel the underlying biological pathogenesis of KMT2A fusions and ACAs.

Lifestyle Eco-Influencers Advertising: Is Engagement Driven By Content Or Fandom?, Bárbara Mercedes Castillo Abdul Hadi, Luis Miguel Romero Rodríguez, Carlos Fernández-Rodríguez

Artículos científicos

This research examines the main common characteristics among the contents of five eco- -influencer accounts from different Western countries. A quantitative content analysis was performed on 187 Instagram posts published by eco-influencers from the United Kingdom, United States, Belgium, Spain, and Peru. The topics that eco-influencers deal with the most are promoting veganism, spirituality, environmental and political claims, product advertising (their own and third-party), and personal life, generating the most interactions in the accounts. Carousels win on engagement for eco-influencers on Instagram despite videos being sponsors’ favorite format. Both sponsored content and sponsors themselves are well-received, with over half of …

Factors Associated With Functioning In Older Black Adults, Katrail D. Davis

LSU Master's Theses

Activities of daily living can be simple tasks such as bathing, showering, toileting or as complex as managing finances, driving, and preparing meals. Independence in everyday functioning has been associated with successful aging and declines in functioning may be indicative of pathological cognitive decline. Social determinants of health, like economic status and access to health care, also play a role in everyday functioning. Understanding these factors are of particular importance for older Black adults who have had long-standing disparate access to care, education, and treatments. The current study aimed to evaluate social determinants of health, more specifically social engagement, as …

Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Association Between Household Food Insecurity And Mental Health Conditions In Children Aged 5–11 Years In Canada, Justin Thielman, Sarah Orr, Saranya Naraentheraraja, Daniel Harrington, Sarah Carsley

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Children living in food insecure households have poorer mental health outcomes compared with their food-secure peers; however, the relationship between the severity of food insecurity and diagnosed mental health conditions in young children remains unknown. This study examined the association between household food insecurity and reported diagnosed mental health conditions among children aged 5-11 years in Canada.

METHODS: This study included 16 216 children aged 5-11 years living in Canada, from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth. We measured household food insecurity using the Household Food Security Survey Module. We measured diagnosed mental health conditions by …

Make It Funny! Developing A Novel Humor-Based Digital Positive Psychology Intervention To Investigate The Influence Of Duchenne Laughter And Mirth On Psychological Distress In Daily Life, Joshua Semko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the present research was to develop a novel digital humor-based PPI (Make it Funny!) to investigate the influence of Duchenne laughter and mirth on psychological distress in daily life. Participants (N = 159; Age_­median­ = 39 years; 47.77% biologically female; 68.15% White) were tasked with completing Make it Funny! or a placebo activity every day for 7 days. Duchenne laughter frequency had a small negative cross-sectional moderation effect on the relationship between the occurrence of stressful events psychological distress (t(79.71) = -2.33, b = -10.89, p = .022). Within participants, Duchenne laughter …

Impact Of Rural Location On Receipt Of Standard Of Care Treatment And Survival For Locally Advanced Bladder Cancer In Louisiana, Megan Escott, Yong Yi, Ashley Foret, Ting Ting Li, Mei Chin Hsieh, Scott E. Delacroix, Xiao Cheng Wu, Mary E. Westerman

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Objective: We aim to determine the effect of region of residence (urban vs. rural) on the odds of receiving standard of care treatment for locally advanced BCa in Louisiana and its impact on survival outcomes. Methods: Using the Louisiana Tumor Registry, we identified American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage II or III, BCa diagnoses in Louisiana residents between 2010 and 2020. Treatment received was classified as standard or non-standard of care according to American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines and location of residence was determined using Rural Urban Commuting Area-Tract-level 2010 (RUCA). Multivariable logistic regression analyses and multivariate cox proportional …

Innate And Adaptive Immune Responses That Control Lymph-Borne Viruses In The Draining Lymph Node, Carolina R. Melo-Silva, Luis J. Sigal

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

The interstitial fluids in tissues are constantly drained into the lymph nodes (LNs) as lymph through afferent lymphatic vessels and from LNs into the blood through efferent lymphatics. LNs are strategically positioned and have the appropriate cellular composition to serve as sites of adaptive immune initiation against invading pathogens. However, for lymph-borne viruses, which disseminate from the entry site to other tissues through the lymphatic system, immune cells in the draining LN (dLN) also play critical roles in curbing systemic viral dissemination during primary and secondary infections. Lymph-borne viruses in tissues can be transported to dLNs as free virions in …

Long-Term Outcomes In Patients Using Protocol-Directed Active Surveillance For Prostate Cancer, Lisa F. Newcomb, Jeannette M. Schenk, Yingye Zheng, Menghan Liu, Kehao Zhu, James D. Brooks, Peter R. Carroll, Atreya Dash, Claire M. De La Calle, William J. Ellis, Christopher P. Filson, Martin E. Gleave, Michael A. Liss, Frances Martin, Jesse K. Mckenney, Todd M. Morgan, Maria S. Tretiakova, Andrew A. Wagner, Peter S. Nelson, Daniel W. Lin

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE: Outcomes from protocol-directed active surveillance for favorable-risk prostate cancers are needed to support decision-making.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the long-term oncological outcomes of patients receiving active surveillance in a multicenter, protocol-directed cohort.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Canary Prostate Active Surveillance Study (PASS) is a prospective cohort study initiated in 2008. A cohort of 2155 men with favorable-risk prostate cancer and no prior treatment were enrolled at 10 North American centers through August 2022.

EXPOSURE: Active surveillance for prostate cancer.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Cumulative incidence of biopsy grade reclassification, treatment, metastasis, prostate cancer mortality, overall mortality, and recurrence after …

Sunlight Solutions: Optimizing 25(Oh)D Concentrations In Global Maternal Health Strategies To Improve Maternal Outcomes And Preserve Healthcare Resources, Beth Sanford

Global Advocacy

In 2020, the World Health Organization identified the Global maternal mortality rate was a staggering 223 per 100,000. As a result, the United Nations created Sustainable Development Goal 3.1, with the hope of "reducing the global MMR to less than 70 per 100 000 births, with no country having a maternal mortality rate of more than twice the global average" by 2030.

Optimizing 25(OH)D serum concentrations to a minimum of 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L) has been proven to be a safe, affordable, and effective way to improve perinatal outcomes such as decreasing maternal mortality as well as morbidities such as …

Foster Parents Assisting Transitioning Foster Care Youth In Maintaining Stable Housing, Cecilann Morrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Foster Parents Assisting Transitioning Foster Care Youth in Maintaining Stable Housing by Cecilann Morrison MA, National University, 2013 BS, Fresno Pacific University, 2011 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Human and Social Service Walden University June 2024

Manufacturing Companies’ Strategies To Mitigate Supply Chain Disruptions, Trisha L. George

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supply chain disruption has the potential for adverse business outcomes. In manufacturing facility settings, leaders are concerned that supply chain disruption decreases the quality of productivity and profitability. Grounded in dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies leaders used to mitigate supply chain disruptions. The participants were six supply chain leaders from three manufacturing facilities located in Mexico who mitigated supply chain disruption. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and public records. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (a) cultural differences, (b) communication, (c) organizational structures, and (d) disciplines. A key recommendation …

Manufacturing Companies’ Strategies To Mitigate Supply Chain Disruptions, Trisha L. George

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Supply chain disruption has the potential for adverse business outcomes. In manufacturing facility settings, leaders are concerned that supply chain disruption decreases the quality of productivity and profitability. Grounded in dynamic capability theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies leaders used to mitigate supply chain disruptions. The participants were six supply chain leaders from three manufacturing facilities located in Mexico who mitigated supply chain disruption. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and public records. Through thematic analysis, four themes were identified: (a) cultural differences, (b) communication, (c) organizational structures, and (d) disciplines. A key recommendation …

Who Helps Tsimane Children And Adults?, Eric Schniter, Daniel K. Cummings, Paul L. Hooper, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Hillard S. Kaplan, Michael D. Gurven

ESI Working Papers

We examine various forms of helping behavior among Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia, focusing on the provision of shelter, childcare, food, sickcare, cultural influence, and traditional story knowledge. Kin selection theory traditionally explains nepotistic nurturing of youth by closely related kin. However, less attention has been given to understanding the help provided by individuals without close genetic relatedness. To explain who provides various forms of help, we evaluate support for several predictions derived from kin selection theory. Our results show that helpers who are most often closely related and from an older generation tend to provide more costly forms of help …

Molecular Docking Of The Interaction Between Citrus Amblycarpa Extract Contents And Inflammatory Proteins Of Hepatic Steatosis, Lena Rosida, Dewi Indah Noviana Pratiwi, Roselina Panghiyangani, Juliyatin Putri Utami, Nasrul Idhafi, Muhammad Febriansyah, Andi Azizah Maulidia Budiarman

Makara Journal of Science

Citrus amblycarpa possesses various pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anticancer, antitumor, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal. The main active compounds in C. amblycarpa (including gamma (γ)-aminobutyric acid [GABA], hesperidin, naringin, neoeriocitrin, poncirin, quercetin, and rutin) show potential to interact with the inflammatory proteins in hepatic steatosis (such as nuclear factor kappa beta [NF-kB], tumor necrosis alpha [TNF-alpha], interleukin-6 [IL-6], c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase [JNK], and adiponectin). Molecular docking simulations were performed using Swiss Dock (http://www.swissdock.ch/), and analysis and visualization were conducted using Discovery Studio 4.1. Rutin, poncirin, hesperidin, and neoeriocitrin exhibit high affinities to NF-κB, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and adiponectin …

Individual Differences In The Cognitive-Behavioral Model Of Chronic Back Pain In Patients Receiving Spine Surgery: Towards Precision Phenotypes, Madelyn Frumkin

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Chronic back pain impacts over 20 million adults in the United States and represents the costliest condition in our healthcare system. Treatments for chronic back pain range from cognitive-behavioral therapy to opioid pain medications and spine surgery. At present, it is extremely difficult to determine which treatments are likely to maximize benefit and minimize risk for a given patient. As such, the goal of this study was to examine whether individual differences in the cognitive-behavioral model of chronic back pain were associated with baseline characteristics or surgical outcomes. Patients (N = 95) with chronic back pain who were receiving spine …

Porphyrin Overdrive In Cancer: Unraveling The Mechanisms And Therapeutic Potential, Pravin D. Meshram

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The increased understanding of cancer cell metabolism has shown options for novel treatment strategies. This thesis looks at the role of heme metabolism, specifically "porphyrin overdrive," in cancer progression and treatment. Cancer cells are hypermetabolic and rely on heme synthesis. When treated with δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), they abnormally accumulate heme intermediates. This metabolic weakness presents an opportunity to exploit heme synthesis in targeted cancer therapy. In this study, we suggest a "Bait and Kill" technique that uses exogenous ALA to induce protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) buildup in cancer cells, making them more susceptible to oxidative stress. We investigate the possibility of …

A Model Of Time-Dependent Macromolecular And Elemental Composition Of Phytoplankton, Anne Willem Omta

Faculty Scholarship

Phytoplankton Chl:C:N:P ratios are important from both an ecological and a biogeochemical perspective. We show that these elemental ratios can be represented by a phytoplankton physiological model of low complexity that includes major cellular macromolecular pools. In particular, our model resolves time-dependent intracellular pools of chlorophyll, proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates/lipids, and N and P storage. Batch culture data for two diatom and two prasinophyte species are used to constrain parameters that represent specific allocation traits and strategies. A key novelty is the simultaneous estimation of physiological parameters for two phytoplankton groups of such different sizes. The number of free parameters …

Microencapsulation Of Cosmos Caudatus Kunth Extract Using Sodium Alginate And In Vitro Antioxidant Activity Test, Safina Samara Nur Fadlila, Oktavia Eka Puspita, Zubaidah Ningsih, Anna Safitri

Makara Journal of Science

This study aims to encapsulate Cosmos caudatus K. leaf extract in sodium alginate crosslinked with calcium chloride (CaCl₂) as coating materials through freeze-drying. Antioxidant assays were performed to evaluate the applicability of the microcapsules as antidiabetic medicines. Their characteristics, antioxidant activity, and encapsulation efficiency (EE) were also examined. Results indicated that the concentration of sodium alginate and pH influenced the manufacturing process of the microcapsules. The highest EE was obtained at pH 6 and alginate concentration of 2% (w/v). The IC₅₀ for the antioxidant activity of the microcapsules was 139.96 ± 1.094 μg/mL. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed …

Bio-Synthesis Of Copper Nanoparticles From Indigofera Tinctoria Leaf, Talabi Henry Kayode, Esther Dolapo Adewale, Benjamin Omotayo Adewuyi

Makara Journal of Science

Leaf extracts are known to be rich in phytoconstituent biomolecules, making them a valuable source of medicinal compounds. They also serve as both capping and reducing agents in nanoparticle fabrication. A reaction between CuSO₄.5H₂O aqueous solution and the Indigofera tinctoria leaf extract results in the formation of stable copper nanoparticles. Phytochemical screening of the Indigofera tinctoria leaf extract revealed the presence of various compounds including carbohydrates, terpenoids, phenol, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, and glycosides in the sample. The biosynthesized copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) were subsequently subjected to various forms of analysis. Techniques used included UV–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, Fourier …