Digital Commons Network^™

Responses Of Phytoplankton Communities To The Effect Of Both River Plume And Coastal Upwelling, Zhuyin Tong, Lingqi Ma, Shujie Cai, Lei Wang, Wupeng Xiao, Bangqin Huang, Edward A. Laws

Faculty Publications

River plumes and coastal upwelling systems are both nutrient-abundant habitats compared to the open ocean, and the mechanisms that structure the phytoplankton community when these occur together are unclear. In this study we investigated the dynamics and drivers of phytoplankton biomass and community composition in the Pearl River plume-coastal upwelling system on the northern South China Sea shelf during summer. We found that phytoplankton biomass was lower in the plume than in upwelled water. Diatoms were the only dominant group in the upwelled water. In contrast, diatoms and Synechococcus were co-dominant in the plume, and the negative correlation between the …

Widespread Sympatry In A Species-Rich Clade Of Marine Fishes (Carangoidei), Jessica R. Glass, Richard C. Harrington, Peter F. Cowman, Brant C. Faircloth, Thomas J. Near

Faculty Publications

A universal paradigm describing patterns of speciation across the tree of life has been debated for decades. In marine organisms, inferring patterns of speciation using contemporary and historical patterns of biogeography is challenging due to the deficiency of species-level phylogenies and information on species' distributions, as well as conflicting relationships between species' dispersal, range size and co-occurrence. Most research on global patterns of marine fish speciation and biogeography has focused on coral reef or pelagic species. Carangoidei is an ecologically important clade of marine fishes that use coral reef and pelagic environments. We used sequence capture of 1314 ultraconserved elements …

Exposing The Error Hidden In Plain Sight: A Critique Of Calder's (1983) Group Selectionist Seed-Dispersal Hypothesis For Mistletoe “Mimicry” Of Host Plants, Kyle E. Harms, David M. Watson, Luis Y. Santiago-Rosario, Sarah Mathews

Faculty Publications

Some mistletoe species (Loranthaceae) resemble their host plants to a striking degree. Various mechanisms have been proposed for the developmental origins of novel traits that cause mistletoes to appear similar to their hosts, as well as for the adaptive phenotypic evolution of such traits. Calder (1983) proposed a logically flawed group selectionist seed-dispersal hypothesis for mistletoes to resemble their hosts. Calder's (1983) hypothesis does not provide a viable potential explanation for mistletoe resemblance to hosts.

A Target Enrichment Probe Set For Resolving Phylogenetic Relationships In The Coffee Family, Rubiaceae, Laymon D. Ball, Ana M. Bedoya, Charlotte M. Taylor, Laura P. Lagomarsino

Faculty Publications

Premise: Rubiaceae is among the most species-rich plant families, as well as one of the most morphologically and geographically diverse. Currently available phylogenies have mostly relied on few genomic and plastid loci, as opposed to large-scale genomic data. Target enrichment provides the ability to generate sequence data for hundreds to thousands of phylogenetically informative, single-copy loci, which often leads to improved phylogenetic resolution at both shallow and deep taxonomic scales; however, a publicly accessible Rubiaceae-specific probe set that allows for comparable phylogenetic inference across clades is lacking. Methods: Here, we use publicly accessible genomic resources to identify putatively single-copy nuclear …

Influences Of Yogurt With Functional Ingredients From Various Sources That Help Treat Leaky Gut On Intestinal Barrier Dysfunction In Caco-2 Cells, Ricardo S. Aleman, Ryan Page, Roberto Cedillos, Ismael Montero-Fernández, Jhunior Abraham Marcia Fuentes, Douglas W. Olson, Kayanush Aryana

Faculty Publications

The impact of yogurts made with starter culture bacteria (L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus) and supplemented with ingredients (maitake mushrooms, quercetin, L-glutamine, slippery elm bark, licorice root, N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, zinc orotate, and marshmallow root) that can help treat leaky gut were investigated using the Caco-2 cell monolayer as a measure of intestinal barrier dysfunction. Milk from the same source was equally dispersed into nine pails, and the eight ingredients were randomly allocated to the eight pails. The control had no ingredients. The Caco-2 cells were treated with isoflavone genistein (negative control) and growth media (positive control). Inflammation was stimulated using an …

Synergistic In Vitro Antiviral Effect Of Combinations Of Ivermectin, Essential Oils, And 18-(Phthalimid-2-Yl)Ferruginol Against Arboviruses And Herpesvirus, Liliana Betancur-Galvis, Orlando José Jimenez-Jarava, Fatima Rivas, William E. Mendoza-Hernández, Miguel A. González-Cardenete

Faculty Publications

Combining antiviral drugs with different mechanisms of action can help prevent the development of resistance by attacking the infectious agent through multiple pathways. Additionally, by using faster and more economical screening methods, effective synergistic drug candidates can be rapidly identified, facilitating faster paths to clinical testing. In this work, a rapid method was standardized to identify possible synergisms from drug combinations. We analyzed the possible reduction in the antiviral effective concentration of drugs already approved by the FDA, such as ivermectin (IVM), ribavirin (RIBA), and acyclovir (ACV) against Zika virus (ZIKV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), and herpes virus type 2 (HHV-2). …

Towards Critical Reflexivity In Gifted Education Teacher Preparation, Inna Kruvi

Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the emergence of gifted education in the United States in the beginning of the twentieth century, the concept of giftedness has been used to marginalize, segregate, and exclude students of particular backgrounds from specialized academic programs. Among the factors that contribute to unequal access to gifted education for ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (ECLED) students, teacher bias, deficit thinking, and insufficient teacher preparation have been identified as especially significant (Coleman et al., 2015; DeWet & Gubbins, 2011; Mansfield, 2015). Among various approaches to mitigate underrepresentation of ECLED students, the concept of cultural humility (Tervalon and Murray-Garcia, 1998) …

Limited Clinical Utility Of Routine Mycobacterial Cultures For The Management Of Diabetic Foot Infections, Laila M. Castellino, Clare Mccormick-Baw, Tyler Coye, Peter A. Crisologo, John J. Hanna, Francesca Lee, Andrew Clark, Michael Fanning, Amanda L. Killeen

School of Podiatric Medicine Publications

Mycobacterial infections of the foot and ankle are uncommon. In a cohort of 2340 patients with diabetic foot infection (DFI) in a region with increased prevalence of mycobacterial disease, we identified no clinically significant positive cultures over a 3-year period. Routine mycobacterial culture of DFIs is of limited clinical utility.

Andrews Receives Title Iii Continuation Grant, Sara Hamstra

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

Motif-Cluster: A Spatial Clustering Package For Repetitive Motif Binding Patterns, Mengyuan Zhou

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Previous efforts in using genome-wide analysis of transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) have overlooked the importance of ranking potential significant regulatory regions, especially those with repetitive binding within a local region. Identifying these homogenous binding sites is critical because they have the potential to amplify the binding affinity and regulation activity of transcription factors, impacting gene expression and cellular functions. To address this issue, we developed an open-source tool Motif-Cluster that prioritizes and visualizes transcription factor regulatory regions by incorporating the idea of local motif clusters. Motif-Cluster can rank the significant transcription factor regulatory regions without the need for experimental …

Oglethorpe University Welcomes Amo Ikiror, Chamyre Hynson, Amo Ikiror

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Lumberjack, November 01, 2023

Cal Poly Humboldt's Student Newspaper

The student newspaper of Humboldt State University.

2023-November-01-A Trailblazer For Change, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

George Nichols has made an indelible mark on the history of East Tennessee State University.

Mr. Nichols was born and grew up in Johnson City and graduated from Langston High School as Salutatorian of his class. After graduating from Langston, he was one of four African American undergraduate students who integrated East Tennessee State College, now ETSU, in the fall of 1958 and was one of the first Black members of ETSU's ROTC program.

Hear more about his story and the history he lived in this special episode of Primary Sources hosted by Dr. Daryl A. Carter, associate dean and …

Enhancing Brain-Computer Interface (Bci)-Based Color Vision Assessment Subtitle : A New Protocol For Using Steady-State Visual Evoked Potentials To Identify Metamers, Marc Diraimo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis describes work to design, optimize, and perform initial validation of an enhancedbrain-computer interface (BCI)-based color vision (CV) assessment protocol. Our overall goal was to enhance the speed, precision, and interpretability of BCI-based CV assessment. We drew inspiration from the design of the anomaloscope, the “gold-standard” of CV assessment, and eliminated differences in luminance between test stimuli that require existing BCI-based CV assessment protocols to complete a multidimensional search during BCI-based CV assessments. Following the protocol design phase, we completed three pilot experiments: (1) We analyzed the effect of ambient lighting on the new protocol; (2) We compared the …

The Trifluoromethyltetrafluoro-Λ6-Sulfanyl Group In Organic And Polymer Chemistry, Muqian Deng

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Fluorine atom was widely applied in the organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry due to its strong electronegativity and lipophilicity. Fluorine atom, trifluoromethyl (CF3) moiety, trifluoromethyl sulfenyl (CF3S) moiety, pentafluoromethylsulfenyl (SF5) moiety have already been applied in the medicinal chemistry. These fluorinated groups brought the good chemical stability, oral stability, low toxicity, and longer half-life compared with the analogs. Fluorine containing compounds can be synthesized via radical reaction, electrophilic fluorinated source as well as nucleophilic sources. Additionally, the fluorinated compounds can also be synthesized via chlorofluoro-oxidation and SN2 reactions. In our lab, we introduced the super fluorine rich moiety (trans-CF3SF4 group) …

Normative Auditory Brainstem Evoked Response Characteristics In Puppies, Lauren E. James

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

The brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) is a potential recorded from the brainstem when an acoustic stimulus is presented (Kramer & Brown, 2019). In humans, the BAER is typically used to evaluate the integrity of the auditory pathway or to assist in estimating hearing sensitivity in newborns and difficult to test populations. The BAER waveforms are evaluated based on components such as the overall morphology, absolute peak latencies, interpeak latencies, and peak amplitudes. When analyzing these characteristics, normative data are utilized to evaluate if the response is considered to represent normal auditory function. The BAER test can be used to …

Experimentally Induced Active And Quiet Sleep Engage Non-Overlapping Transcriptional Programs In Drosophila, Niki Anthoney, Lucy Tainton-Heap, Hang Luong, Eleni Notaras, Amber B Kewin, Qiongyi Zhao, Trent Perry, Philip Batterham, Paul J Shaw, Bruno Van Swinderen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Sleep in mammals can be broadly classified into two different physiological categories: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow-wave sleep (SWS), and accordingly REM and SWS are thought to achieve a different set of functions. The fruit fly

Disrupting Actin Filaments Enhances Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion Independent Of The Cortical Actin Cytoskeleton, Alexander J Polino, Xue Wen Ng, Rebecca Rooks, David W Piston

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Just under the plasma membrane of most animal cells lies a dense meshwork of actin filaments called the cortical cytoskeleton. In insulin-secreting pancreatic β cells, a long-standing model posits that the cortical actin layer primarily acts to restrict access of insulin granules to the plasma membrane. Here we test this model and find that stimulating β cells with pro-secretory stimuli (glucose and/or KCl) has little impact on the cortical actin layer. Chemical perturbations of actin polymerization, by either disrupting or enhancing filamentation, dramatically enhance glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Using scanning electron microscopy, we directly visualize the cortical cytoskeleton, allowing us to …

Dominant Negative Variants In Kif5b Cause Osteogenesis Imperfecta Via Down Regulation Of Mtor Signaling, Ronit Marom, Anika Lindsey, Jacob Lesinski, Michael L. Nonet, Jian Chen, Dustin Baldridge, Gary A. Silverman, Stephen C. Pak, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Kinesin motor proteins transport intracellular cargo, including mRNA, proteins, and organelles. Pathogenic variants in kinesin-related genes have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders and skeletal dysplasias. We identified de novo, heterozygous variants in KIF5B, encoding a kinesin-1 subunit, in four individuals with osteogenesis imperfecta. The variants cluster within the highly conserved kinesin motor domain and are predicted to interfere with nucleotide binding, although the mechanistic consequences on cell signaling and function are unknown.

METHODS: To understand the in vivo genetic mechanism of KIF5B variants, we modeled the p.Thr87Ile variant that was found in two patients in the C. elegans ortholog, …

Foot And Ankle Soft Tissue Sarcomas-Treatment And Oncologic Outcomes: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Juan Pretell

All Publications

Background: Foot and ankle soft tissue sarcomas (STSs) are rare neoplasms associated with a high risk of local recurrence and metastasis. Although amputation is often performed, its impact on prognosis remains unknown. The aims of our systematic review were identifying risk factors for (1) disease-specific death, (2) local recurrence, (3) metastasis, and assessing (4) whether the type of surgery (amputation or limb-salvage) affected disease-specific survival.

Methods: This systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines. The PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. Our study was registered in PROSPERO (ID: 415624). Quality appraisal was done using STROBE guidelines.

Results: A total …

The Evolutionary Responses Of Life-History Strategies To Climatic Variability In Flowering Plants, James Boyko, Eric R. Hagen, Jeremy M. Beaulieu, Thais Vasconcelos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

• The evolution of annual or perennial strategies in flowering plants likely depends on a broad array of temperature and precipitation variables. Previous documented climate life-history correlations in explicit phylogenetic frameworks have been limited to certain clades and geographic regions.
• To gain insights which generalize to multiple lineages we employ a multi-clade approach analyzing 32 groups of angiosperms across eight climatic variables. We utilize a recently developed method that accounts for the joint evolution of continuous and discrete traits to evaluate two hypotheses: annuals tend to evolve in highly seasonal regions prone to extreme heat and drought; and annuals tend to …

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Derived From Patients Carrying Mitochondrial Mutations Exhibit Altered Bioenergetics And Aberrant Differentiation Potential, Fibi Meshrkey, Kelly M. Scheulin, Christopher M. Littlejohn, Joshua Stabach, Bibhuti Saikia, Vedant Thorat, Yimin Huang, Thomas Laframboise, Edward J. Lesnefsky, Raj R. Rao, Franklin D. West, Shilpa Iyer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Human mitochondrial DNA mutations are associated with common to rare mitochondrial disorders, which are multisystemic with complex clinical pathologies. The pathologies of these diseases are poorly understood and have no FDA-approved treatments leading to symptom management. Leigh syndrome (LS) is a pediatric mitochondrial disorder that affects the central nervous system during early development and causes death in infancy. Since there are no adequate models for understanding the rapid fatality associated with LS, human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology has been recognized as a useful approach to generate patient-specific stem cells for disease modeling and understanding the origins of the …

The Association Between Reasons For First Using Cannabis, Later Pattern Of Use, And Risk Of First-Episode Psychosis: The Eu-Gei Case-Control Study, Edoardo Spinazzola, Emma C Johnson, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: While cannabis use is a well-established risk factor for psychosis, little is known about any association between reasons for first using cannabis (RFUC) and later patterns of use and risk of psychosis.

METHODS: We used data from 11 sites of the multicentre European Gene-Environment Interaction (EU-GEI) case-control study. 558 first-episode psychosis patients (FEPp) and 567 population controls who had used cannabis and reported their RFUC.We ran logistic regressions to examine whether RFUC were associated with first-episode psychosis (FEP) case-control status. Path analysis then examined the relationship between RFUC, subsequent patterns of cannabis use, and case-control status.

RESULTS: Controls (86.1%) …

Cux1-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder: Deep Insights Into Phenotype-Genotype Spectrum And Underlying Pathology, Henry Oppermann, Christina A Gurnett, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Heterozygous, pathogenic CUX1 variants are associated with global developmental delay or intellectual disability. This study delineates the clinical presentation in an extended cohort and investigates the molecular mechanism underlying the disorder in a Cux1

Targeted Proteomic Quantitation Of Nrf2 Signaling And Predictive Biomarkers In Hnscc, Nathan T Wamsley, Emily M Wilkerson, Kyle M Lapak, Robert W Sprung, Petra Erdmann Gilmore, Sophie P Gerndt, Ryan S Jackson, Randal C Paniello, Patrik Pipkorn, Sidharth V Puram, Jason T Rich, Reid R Townsend, José P Zevallos, Paul Zolkind, Dennis Goldfarb, Michael B Major, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The NFE2L2 (NRF2) oncogene and transcription factor drives a gene expression program that promotes cancer progression, metabolic reprogramming, immune evasion, and chemoradiation resistance. Patient stratification by NRF2 activity may guide treatment decisions to improve outcome. Here, we developed a mass spectrometry-based targeted proteomics assay based on internal standard-triggered parallel reaction monitoring to quantify 69 NRF2 pathway components and targets, as well as 21 proteins of broad clinical significance in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We improved an existing internal standard-triggered parallel reaction monitoring acquisition algorithm, called SureQuant, to increase throughput, sensitivity, and precision. Testing the optimized platform on …

Moderate-To-Vigorous Intensity Cycling Exercise Immediately After Visual Learning Enhances Delayed Recognition Memory Performance, Andrew C. Venezia, Lauren R. Weiss, Kristy A. Nielson, J. Carson Smith

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

A single bout of acute aerobic exercise has been shown to improve long-term memory, though it is unclear if exercise before learning or after learning is optimal for memory enhancement. Although some research has demonstrated that exercise before learning is ideal, investigations have consistently shown that acute arousal post-learning is a powerful memory enhancer. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to compare the effects of self-perceived hard cycling before or after learning on recognition memory for emotional and neutral images, and examine the relationship between central noradrenergic activity and memory performance. Seventy-two males and females (18–35 years of age) …

Voxelhap: A Toolkit For Constructing Proxies Providing Tactile And Kinesthetic Haptic Feedback In Virtual Reality, M. Feick, C. Biyikli, K. Gani, A. Wittig, Anthony Tang, A. Krüger

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Experiencing virtual environments is often limited to abstract interactions with objects. Physical proxies allow users to feel virtual objects, but are often inaccessible. We present the VoxelHap toolkit which enables users to construct highly functional proxy objects using Voxels and Plates. Voxels are blocks with special functionalities that form the core of each physical proxy. Plates increase a proxy’s haptic resolution, such as its shape, texture or weight. Beyond providing physical capabilities to realize haptic sensations, VoxelHap utilizes VR illusion techniques to expand its haptic resolution. We evaluated the capabilities of the VoxelHap toolkit through the construction of a range …

Background Acoustics In Terrestrial Ecology, Clinton D. Francis, Jennifer N. Phillips, Jesse R. Barber

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The way in which terrestrial organisms use the acoustic realm is fundamentally important and shapes behavior, populations, and communities, but how background acoustics, or noise, influence the patterns and processes in ecology is still relatively understudied. In this review, we summarize how background acoustics have traditionally been studied from the signaling perspective, discuss what is known from a receiver's perspective, and explore what is known about population- and community-level responses to noise. We suggest that there are major gaps linking animal physiology and behavior in noise to fitness; that there is a limited understanding of variation in hearing within and …

Biocrusts Indicators Of Livestock Grazing Effects On Soil Stability In Sagebrush Steppe: A Case Study From A Long-Term Experiment In The Northern Great Basin, Stella M. Copeland, Lea A. Condon, Roger Rosentreter, Jesse E. D. Miller, Maya Kahn-Abrams

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Biocrusts are sensitive to changes in livestock grazing intensity in arid rangelands and may be useful indicators of ecosystem functions, particularly soil properties like soil stability, which may suggest the potential for soil erosion. We compared biocrust community composition and surface soil stability in a big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) steppe rangeland in the northwestern Great Basin in several paired sites, with or without long-term cattle grazing exclusion, and similar soils (mostly sandy loams), climate, and vegetation composition. We found that livestock grazing was associated with both lower surface soil stability and cover of several biocrust morphogroups, especially lichens, compared with …

Effect Of Sampling Method On Detection Of The Equine Uterine Microbiome During Estrus, B. A. Heil, M. Van Heule, S. K. Thompson, T. A. Kearns, E. L. Oberhaus, G. King, P. Daels, P. Dini, J. L. Sones

Faculty Publications

Bacterial endometritis is among the most common causes of subfertility in mares. It has a major economic impact on the equine breeding industry. The sensitivity of detecting uterine microbes using culture-based methods, irrespective of the sample collection method, double-guarded endometrial swab, endometrial biopsy, or uterine low-volume lavage (LVL), is low. Therefore, equine bacterial endometritis often goes undiagnosed. Sixteen individual mares were enrolled, and an endometrial sample was obtained using each method from all mares. After trimming, quality control and decontamination, 3824 amplicon sequence variants were detected in the dataset. We found using 16S rRNA sequencing that the equine uterus harbors …