Digital Commons Network^™

Testing Different Methods Of Total Rna Extraction From Candida Albicans For Effective Pcr, Sara Tewoldemedhin, George Gundelach, Patrice Bouyer

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Candida albicans is a commensal fungal pathogen, and to infect the human body, it must penetrate the intestinal mucosal barrier by changing its morphology from yeast to filamentous. The risk of candida infections increases during pregnancy and estrogen levels are high during pregnancy. Thus, we hypothesized that estrogen could act as a signal for C. albicans to become filamentous. In an ongoing study, we have looked at the effect of estrogen on filamentation, but our approach was qualitative rather than quantitative and could not clearly establish the effect of estrogen on filamentation. To get a better understanding of the effect …

Antimicrobial Activities Of Several Argemone Mexicana-Inspired Phytocompounds, Caleb Vanarragon, Lanna Sirhan, Danielle Orozco-Nunnelly, Jeffrey Pruet

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

The creation of novel antimicrobial agents is currently at the forefront of modern healthcare due to a stark decrease in antimicrobial drug development in recent years and due to the increasing rise of “superbugs” that are resistant to more than one type of antimicrobial treatment, which are predicted by 2050 to cause 10 million deaths/year. Our research is focused on testing bacterial and fungal pathogens against methanolic and hexane extracts of various medicinal plants, such as Argemone mexicana. From previous work by our group, several antimicrobial compounds were isolated from the roots and leaves of A. mexicana, including berberine, chelerythrine …

Nanoplastics Are Common In Water: Types Of Formation And Molecular Interactions, Abigail Valicevic, Noah Durlam, Emily Broniewicz

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Plastics are synthetic polymers currently present in nearly every aspect of life. From bottles, foam packaging, and food containers to clothes, electronics, medical equipment, and more, plastic usage has become commonplace. Plastics are widespread, lasting pollutants in all ecosystems. Nanoplastics, defined as plastic pieces less than a micrometer in diameter, are readily formed from the fragmentation of larger plastic pieces. Nanoplastics formed or present in water were studied to determine sources, sizes and quantities as well as interactions with other substances. Polyethylene (PE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastics were mixed with pure water and a liquid organic compound to create …

Using Agent-Based Modeling To Reduce Traffic Emissions, Caleb Vanarragon

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Reducing CO2 emissions is currently one of the most pressing challenges in the effort to prevent climate change. In the United States, transportation accounts for 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that decreasing CO2 emissions from automobiles should be a priority. In this analysis, I examine the factors that influence traffic CO2 emissions using a traffic model built in NetLogo, an agent-based modeling language. Although other studies have sought to understand the factors that influence traffic emissions, most have done so using observational methods. Although there are certain benefits to these observational studies, my traffic model is advantageous because …

The Genetics Of Salt Stress Tolerance In Arabidopsis, Alyssa Suprenant, Jodie Brasseur, Lilli Goss-Peirce

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Rising soil salinity levels are emerging as a significant challenge due to factors such as irrigation practices, climate change-induced sea level rise, soil degradation, and anthropogenic factors such as road salting. Investigating salt tolerance mechanisms in plants is crucial for agricultural sustainability, as high soil salinity inhibits crop growth and reduces yield, threatening global food security. We wondered if certain genes within the plant Arabidopsis thaliana could be linked to higher salt tolerance as understanding the genetic and physiological basis of salt tolerance in an extensively studied plant could guide the development of resilient crop varieties capable of thriving in …

The Quantitative Genetics Of Plant Growth Response To Precipitation Extremes In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Simranjit Kaur, Abby Boyle, Cassidy Eckstein, Grace Peterson, Marilyn Ives, Sydney Martens, Jane Kenney-Hunt

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Spring floods, summer droughts, and other unpredictable climate events are becoming increasingly common in the Midwestern United States with climate change. Rapid changes in precipitation create challenges to plant life in the region, with impacts on conservation and agriculture. We stimulated the effects of these extremes in precipitation on 100 Arabidposis thaliana recombinant inbred lines (RIL) to investigate gene-by-environment interactions on five growth and development phenotypes. We calculated the genetic variance, correlation, and heritability of the phenotypes. We also preformed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis to identify regions of the genome that have effects on the timing of growth …

Characterizing Drug Loading And Release In Liposomes, Ashley Velasquez, Lauren Sestito

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Lymphatic filariasis (LF) remains a significant global health burden, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Current treatment methods have many limitations such as variable efficacy and adverse effects, underscoring the need for new and innovative approaches. The utilization of liposomes as drug delivery vehicles is a promising strategy for the treatment of LF, as they offer unique advantages including lymphatic targeting, biocompatibility, controlled drug release, and the ability to encapsulate hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs simultaneously. This study aims to characterize drug loading efficiency in and release rates from liposomes composed of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol by using dye molecules as proxies for …

Antimicrobial And Cytotoxic Effects Of Bothrops Atrox Snake Venom, Daryush Mansuri, Jeffrey Pruet, Patrice Bouyer, Danielle Orozco-Nunnelly

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

Bothrops atrox, a snake species endemic to South America, is often associated with traditional medicinal practices due to its therapeutic potential against various diseases. Recent studies have identified the presence of unique peptides, enzymes, and proteins in the venom of similar snake species, suggesting their roles in inhibiting the growth of specific bacteria and showing cytotoxic effects against certain mammalian cell lines. Therefore, this research project aims to explore the antimicrobial and cytotoxic properties specifically of B. atrox venom by screening aqueous venom extract against twelve distinct prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms (using a Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assay), in addition …

Probing Medicinal Plants For Novel Antimicrobial Compounds, Nolan Brezina, Gracie Holt, Daileen Serrano, Jenna Yehyawi

Symposium on Research and Creative Expression (SORCE)

According to the W.H.O., infectious diseases account for three of the top ten global causes of death. Antimicrobial drug discovery surged in the mid-twentieth century but has sharply declined in recent years. At the same time, antimicrobial-resistant “superbug” infections are on the rise. Plants produce a robust supply of novel metabolic compounds, including many antimicrobial agents. However, with the advent of modern antibiotic drugs, natural plant-derived antibiotic sources have largely been left unexplored. Therefore, our work is focused on screening poorly explored medicinal plants in the hopes of discovering novel antimicrobial drugs. To do this, we have been testing extracts …

Disordered Clock Protein Interactions And Charge Blocks Turn An Hourglass Into A Persistent Circadian Oscillator, Meaghan S Jankowski, Daniel Griffith, Divya G Shastry, Jacqueline F Pelham, Garrett M Ginell, Joshua Thomas, Pankaj Karande, Alex S Holehouse, Jennifer M Hurley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Organismal physiology is widely regulated by the molecular circadian clock, a feedback loop composed of protein complexes whose members are enriched in intrinsically disordered regions. These regions can mediate protein-protein interactions via SLiMs, but the contribution of these disordered regions to clock protein interactions had not been elucidated. To determine the functionality of these disordered regions, we applied a synthetic peptide microarray approach to the disordered clock protein FRQ in Neurospora crassa. We identified residues required for FRQ's interaction with its partner protein FRH, the mutation of which demonstrated FRH is necessary for persistent clock oscillations but not repression of …

Type 2 Cannabinoid Receptor Expression On Microglial Cells Regulates Neuroinflammation During Graft-Versus-Host Disease, Alison Moe, Aditya Rayasam, Garrett Sauber, Ravi K. Shah, Ashley Doherty, Cheng-Yin Yuan, Aniko Szabo, Bob M. Moore Ii, Marco Colonna, Weiguo Cui, Julian Romero, Anthony E. Zamora, Cecilia J Hillard, William R. Drobyski

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neuroinflammation is a recognized complication of immunotherapeutic approaches such as immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment, chimeric antigen receptor therapy, and graft versus host disease (GVHD) occurring after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. While T cells and inflammatory cytokines play a role in this process, the precise interplay between the adaptive and innate arms of the immune system that propagates inflammation in the central nervous system remains incompletely understood. Using a murine model of GVHD, we demonstrate that type 2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2R) signaling plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of neuroinflammation. In these studies, we identify that CB2R expression on …

Laser Remote Sensor For Oil Palm Fruit Ripeness Assessment, Sing Lim Kok, Rusik Wan Rushdiah, Abd. Hamid Amirul Al-Hafiz, Weng Ooi Cheong, Udos Waldo, Aris Mohd Shiraz, Mohd Yusof Mohd Zulfahmi, Kulaveerasingam Harikrishsna, Yi Chong Wu, Ismail Mohamad Faizal, Ahmad Harith

Research Publications (2021 to 2025)

The color change of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) is one of the important parameter for harvesting decisions. However, human visual identification is prone to errors due to uncontrolled ambient lighting and the far distance of fruit bunches on tall palm trees. These errors can lead to inaccurate harvesting and significant revenue loss. This study introduces a laser remote sensor for non-destructive FFB ripeness assessment. Based on the unique spectral reflection curves of the FFO at different ripeness, laser modules at three different wavelenghts (visible-NIR region) have been employed for the measurement. The photodetector and laser sources are configured …

Second April 2024 Faculty Senate Packet, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Packets

No abstract provided.

The Trophic Ecology And Vertical Distribution Of The Deep-Pelagic Fish Scombrolabrax Heterolepis (Scombriformes: Scombrolabracidae), An ‘Advanced’ Fish In A World Of ‘Primitive’ Fishes, Kathryn Lim

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

The trophic ecology and vertical distribution of a deep-pelagic predatory fish, the longfin escolar (Scombriformes: Scombrolabrax heterolepis), from the Gulf of Mexico were examined. Deep-pelagic predators remain understudied because their larger size and higher mobility allow them to evade traditional, research-sized (i.e., relatively small) sampling nets. With the use of large midwater trawls, however, a substantial sample set was obtained. Quantitative gut content analysis revealed a wide range of prey types including teleost fishes and crustaceans, as well as a strong selective preference for cephalopods. This species appears to be a true “see it, eat it” generalist, a rarity …

One-Time Broadscale Sctld Intervention Effectiveness On Montastraea Cavernosa In An Endemic Zone, Amanda Zummo

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Disease intervention using CoralCure with amoxicillin is effective at stopping stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) lesion progression, however, it does not provide protection against reinfection. Prolonging colony survival may require regular visits to treat new lesions should they appear. Intervention activities in southeast Florida were allocated between regular treatment and monitoring of selected priority colonies and broadscale disease interventions. The latter involved strike team divers, who worked in small groups to cover large areas of reef treating all SCTLD lesions observed, tagging the colonies, and recording their locations via a floating GPS. Broadscale disease intervention efforts aimed to maximize …

Euhaplorchis Sp. A Effect On Social Behavior And Familiarity Of Gulf Killifish (Fundulus Grandis), Hannah Bauman

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Trophically transmitted parasites may manipulate their hosts’ phenotype (e.g., behavior, physiology, morphology) to increase the likelihood of transmission to the definitive host. In fishes, stable social groups develop familiarity over time through repeated interactions among individuals, and social preferences are often developed due to familiarity. Consequently, fishes often shoal with familiar fishes, a behavior that is likely to be protective against predation. Parasites may alter fish social dynamics in two ways: by decreasing association with familiar individuals, thereby isolating infected fish and making them more susceptible to predation by definitive hosts; and/or by incentivizing uninfected individuals to avoid infected fish …

Vegetation Dieback In The Mississippi River Delta Triggered By Acute Drought And Chronic Relative Sea-Level Rise, Tracy Elsey-Quirk, Austin Lynn, Michael Derek Jacobs, Rodrigo Diaz, James T Cronin, Lixia Wang, Haosheng Huang, Dubravko Justic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Vegetation dieback and recovery may be dependent on the interplay between infrequent acute disturbances and underlying chronic stresses. Coastal wetlands are vulnerable to the chronic stress of sea-level rise, which may affect their susceptibility to acute disturbance events. Here, we show that a large-scale vegetation dieback in the Mississippi River Delta was precipitated by salt-water incursion during an extreme drought in the summer of 2012 and was most severe in areas exposed to greater flooding. Using 16 years of data (2007-2022) from a coastwide network of monitoring stations, we show that the impacts of the dieback lasted five years and …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session ,April 25, 2024, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

• Acceptance of the Agenda
• Approval of the Minutes
• Remarks by the President
• Updates by the Faculty Senate President
• Updates by the Western Student Association President
• Presentation: Bronco Challenge for Sustainable Impact
• Public Comments Regarding Action Items

Sensitive And Accurate Determination Of Oil-Soluble And Water-Soluble Organosulfur Compounds In Garlic Matrix Using Reversed Phase-High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Ümmügülsüm Polat Korkunç, Buse Tuğba Zaman, Sezgi̇n Bakirdere, Emine Karakuş

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Garlic is in the family Liliaceae and has many different constituents such as organic sulfur compounds, amino acids, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. In this work, a simple, sensitive, and accurate analytical method was developed for the determination of selected organosulfur compounds (OSCs) in garlic bulbs using reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). Oil-soluble and water-soluble OSCs were extracted from the garlic samples via acetonitrile and deionized water, respectively. The OSCs were separated on a Phenomenex C18 (250 mm, 4 mm, 5mm) column and the monitoring was performed with a UV detector at 220 nm. An isocratic mobile phase comprising of …

Statistical Genetic Approaches To Investigate Genotype-By-Environment Interaction: Review And Novel Extension Of Models, Vincent P. Diego, Eron G. Manusov, Marcio Almeida, Sandra Laston, David Ortiz, John Blangero, Sarah Williams-Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

Statistical genetic models of genotype-by-environment (G×E) interaction can be divided into two general classes, one on G×E interaction in response to dichotomous environments (e.g., sex, disease-affection status, or presence/absence of an exposure) and the other in response to continuous environments (e.g., physical activity, nutritional measurements, or continuous socioeconomic measures). Here we develop a novel model to jointly account for dichotomous and continuous environments. We develop the model in terms of a joint genotype-by-sex (for the dichotomous environment) and genotype-by-social determinants of health (SDoH; for the continuous environment). Using this model, we show how a depression variable, as measured by the …

Preparation Of Cholesterol-Imprinted Polymer For Selective Adsorption Of Cholesterol From Gastrointestinal Mimicking Solution, Veyi̇s Karakoç, Erol Erçağ

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The purpose of this study is to synthesize a highly selective adsorbent to remove cholesterol, one of the most important causes of cardiovascular diseases, from the intestinal mimic solution (IMS). For this purpose, cholesterol imprinted polymers were synthesized by suspension polymerization method using the molecular imprinting technique. In the first step, the functional monomer MATyr with hydrophobic character was synthesized. Then, the cholesterol-MATyr monomer precomplex was formed and the polymerization process was carried out by adding cross-linkers with the comonomer HEMA. The synthesized polymer poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-methacryloyl-(L)-tyrosine methylester) poly(HEMA–MATyr) was characterized by FTIR and SEM. The cholesterol adsorbing behavior of the …

Focus, 2024, Winter, Andrews University

Focus

FOCUS (ISSN 1077-9345) is published quarterly, free of charge, for alumni and friends of Andrews University, an institution owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The Implications Of Gendered Wording In Job Advertisements At Csb/Sju And Women’S Underrepresentation In Stem, Sidela Nyuga, Majel Baker

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Women's underrepresentation in STEM is due to many factors, one of which includes the mode of STEM job advertising. The scarcity of women in STEM careers might be thought to be their choice, but previous research suggests that wording in job ads influences women’s choices. Job ads can contain masculine-stereotypical wording, which has a negative impact on women’s interest in applying (Gaucher et al., 2011). Moreover, platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn are used to target men for STEM jobs opportunities, reducing women’s opportunity to apply to these jobs (Imana et al., 2021; Tamime et al., 2022).

This present study examined …

Lessening Lacunas: A Genetic Critique And Literary Analysis Of Female Indigenous Characters In Maria Firmina Dos Reis's Gupeva, Xana Furtado

Theses and Dissertations

One year after publishing Úrsula (1860), Maria Firmina dos Reis (Brazil’s first female novelist) published Gupeva, a novella that acts as a continuation of José de Santa Rita Durão’s Caramurú: Poema épico do descubrimento da Bahia (1781). Gupeva depicts the ultimately tragic love between Épica, an indigenous woman, and Gastão, a French sailor. The novella was published twice more during Reis’s lifetime—once in 1863, with minimal orthographic changes, and again in 1865, this time with quite drastic modifications. The editors of Echo da Juventude, where the 1865 version was published, acknowledged these changes by asking readers to be "indulgentes para …

Conservation And Management Of Greater Sage-Grouse In Strawberry Valley: Quantifying Influences On A Traditional Capture Method And Long-Term Trends In Clutch Size, Janae Radke

Theses and Dissertations

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species of conservation concern that has undergone serious declines in the last century. The Strawberry Valley sage grouse population in Utah underwent such a decline from an estimated 3,500 sage grouse in the 1930s to 150 sage grouse in the early 2000s. This decline initiated a long-term conservation and monitoring project in Strawberry Valley with the goal of preserving the sage grouse population. As part of this ongoing conservation project, we investigated factors that impact the success of capturing sage grouse using the night-lighting method (Chapter 1). We found that capture success is …

Trip - Transformer Interatomic Potential Predicts Realistic Energy Surface Using Physical Bias, Bryce Eric Hedelius

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate interatomic energies and forces enable high-quality molecular dynamics simulations, torsion scans, potential energy surface mapping, and geometry optimization. Machine learning algorithms have enabled rapid estimates of energies and forces with high accuracy. Further development of machine learning algorithms holds promise for producing general potentials that support dozens of atomic species. I present my own Transformer Interatomic Potential (TrIP): a chemically sound potential based on the SE(3)-Transformer. TrIP's species-agnostic architecture--using continuous atomic representation and homogenous graph convolutions--encourages parameter sharing between atomic species for more general representations of chemical environments, keeps a reasonable number of parameters, serves as a form of …

Block Copolymers And Chirality: Interplay Between Conformations And Structures, Natalie Buchanan

Theses

Block copolymers can exhibit chirality at three different length scales – molecular chirality at the residue scale, conformational chirality at the molecular scale, and structural chirality at the mesoscale from the self-assembly of thousands of molecules. Unique morphologies have been formed due to chirality transfer, a phenomenon where chirality at smaller length scales imparts chirality to larger length scales. However, chirality does not always transfer, with chiral blocks existing in an achiral phase due to chiral frustration. The thermodynamics of the effects of chirality on block copolymer self-assembly is not well understood. This work demonstrates that coarse-grained models can effectively …

Atoms And Leaves, Patty Tomanovich

Theses

Atoms and Leaves is a photographic project presented as windows into a utopia. The glass images display a potential time and place where the landscape, photography, and transness intertwine and grow from each other. Photography historically harms the landscape- requiring precious metals, releasing pollution into the atmosphere, and creating hazardous water waste. The traditional photographic canon erases the connection between queerness and ecology. Atoms and Leaves rethreads these connections, creating a world where photography collaborates with the landscape and takes on a transgender perspective by reshaping given material. The photographic printing process developed in this project was inspired by the …

Development Of Vasculature Patterns In A Mouse Model Of Supratentorial Ependymoma, Jackson Ayers

Honors Scholar Theses

Supratentorial Ependymoma (ST-EPN) is a subtype of ependymoma, a primary solid tumor found throughout the nervous system. ST-EPN are most commonly caused by an oncogenic fusion between the zinc finger gene ZFTA and the RELA, and this distinct ependymoma subtype is readily modeled in mice by conditional expression of ZFTA-RELA in radial glial cells. ST-EPN are known to have a distinctive arrangement of tumor cells and vasculature forming pseudo-rosettes in which polarized tumor cells surround blood vessels within the tumors. It is not known how these pseudo-rosettes or the tumor vasculature form and develop in ST-EPN, so in this study …

"Salir Adelante": Improving The Quality Of School Entrance Physicals For Immigrant Minors, Jennifer Sternberg, Elizabeth Morse

DNP Projects

The purpose of this QI project was to improve the delivery of school physicals in the setting of an -friendly non-profit safety-net clinic by creating a patient-centered clinical pathway to improve focused screening and referrals for newly arrived migrant children and their families by routinely assessing and addressing behavioral health care (BH) and social determinants of health needs (SDoH).

Using QI methodology and Donabedian’s Structure Process Outcomes framework, the project team implemented a clinical pathway that included an immigration-focused history of present illness, systematic behavioral health (BH), and social determinants of health (SDoH) screenings embedded within an electronic health record …