Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Between Standard Habit And Habit-Vr: Hand-Arm Function And Patient Acceptability Differences​, Katelyn Malick, Toluwa Davies, Elizabeth Fortin, Kasey Mueller, Andrea Baraldi Cunha, Sandra L. Willett, James E. Gehringer

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Coding Severe Behaviors In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder To Train Machine Learning Algorithms, Toluwa Davies, Walker Arce, Jordan Debrine, Katelyn Malick, Carter Welch, James E. Gehringer, Seth Walker, Amanda Zangrillo

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

The Formation And Application Of Polymeric Micro- And Nanoparticles, Simon White, Jason P. Stewart, Stephen M. Curran, D. David Smith, Joseph A. Vetro

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Nano- and microparticles are used in the pharmaceutical industry for sustained release drug delivery systems. For example, polymeric particles are currently used as an FDA-approved drug delivery system for leuprolide acetate to treat prostate cancer1. Our drug of interest is CPDI-02 (formerly known as EP67)—a C5a-derived decapeptide agonist of the C5a Receptor (CD88) that activates mononuclear phagocytes to produce an immune response while potentially minimizing neutrophil-mediated toxicity2. Currently in the Vetro Lab, CPDI-02 is being tested on pigs and mice to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and as the adjuvant for a vaccine for cytomegalovirus (CMV). This investigation explored …

Mitochondrial Fusion Promotes Steroidogenesis In Ma10 Leydig Cells, Kimber J. Sprout, Michele R. Plewes, John S. Davis

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Infertility affects 1 out of every 6 couples, worldwide, with male infertility playing a primary factor in a third of all cases. Dysregulation of sex hormones is a major cause of infertility. Male hypogonadism is a condition in which the testis does not produce adequate concentrations of testosterone. Males suffering from hypogonadism can be born with the condition or develop it later in life, often from acute injury or infection. Male hypogonadism is treated with testosterone replacement to return testosterone levels to normal. However, one side effect of testosterone treatment is infertility. Understanding mechanisms that regulate the synthesis of sex …

Buoe And Tbhq Reduces Growth And Viability Of Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer, Jack Mcevoy, Elizabeth A. Kosmacek, Arpita Chatterjee, Molly Myers, Ariel Moats, Joshua Mcdowell, Rebecca E. Oberley-Deegan

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in men. 10-20% of prostate cancer patients develop castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) The median survival for CRPC patients is 14 months following diagnosis1. CRPC can spread to local tissues like the bladder, lymph nodes, and rectum but will also reach bone through distant metastasis. The metastasis of CRPC proves difficult for clinicians to treat. Redox active compounds can reduce growth and induce death of cancerous cells by the creation of ROS, which cannot be broken down by cancerous cells. This allows treatments like radiation and chemotherapy to be more effective …

Quantifying Serum Mirna Using Dna-Gold Nanoparticles: A Modern Approach To Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer, Matthew Salfity, Prakash Kshirsagar Dr., Maneesh Jain Dr., Surinder K. Batra Dr.

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality in America with nearly 50,000 deaths annually. Furthermore, PC’s low 5-year survival rate, 11% overall, is highly dependent on the stage during which it is diagnosed and treated. When confined to the pancreas, the 5-year survival rate has been shown to reach as high as 42%, a nearly four-fold increase. Due to significant mortality differences dependent on PC stage, there is an utmost clinical need to diagnose PC as early as possible to maximize the chance of favorable patient outcomes. Most PC diagnostic methods currently involve imaging techniques including …

Targeting Macrophages To Reduce Colorectal Cancer Metastasis: Diminished Effect In The Alcohol-Injured Liver, Winnie Ladu, Ashley M. Mohr, Heather Richard, Benita Mcvicker

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Risk Analysis To Predict Extubation Failure In The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Kaitlyn M. Hart, Amanda Marshall

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The data collected in this project will be used as a part of a multi-center study conducted by Boston Children’s Hospital to assess if the software Etiometry® can be used to predict extubation success in patients in the CICU. After compiling the data from EPIC, the goals of our analysis were to find any associations with extubation failure rates. Trends in this data could help identify potential areas of focus to mitigate extubation failures. Some specific hypotheses that were explored included the associations between extubation failure and delayed sternal closure, increased length of stay, length of post-op stay, ECMO, and …

Optimization Of Tick Attachment And Detection Of B. Burgdorferi Transmission Into In Vitro Generated Skin Rafts, Carley M. Conover, Amanda J. Brinkworth

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) is a Lyme Disease causing pathogen that is transmitted via tick-bite by blacklegged (deer) ticks (Ixodes scapularis). These ticks tend choose hosts such as rabbits and mice to feed on, sometimes transmitting harmful pathogens to these animals such as B. burgdorferi, which cycles between rodents and large animals to complete its enzootic cycle. Humans are accidental dead-end hosts for B. burgdorferi. Those infected with B. burgdorferi can develop Lyme Disease, which includes symptoms such as neurological, cardiac, and joint-related complications which are exacerbated by increased feeding time on the host1. Due to the many negative affects …

The New Standard In Town: An Updated Look At Computer-Aided Surgery Metrology, Alexander C. Eischeid, Sylvain Bernhardt Phd, Arvind Natarajan Ms, Hani Haider Phd

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Computer-aided surgery capabilities for arthroplasty interventions emerged in the late 1990s with limited capabilities and use in the field. The goal of computer-aided surgery in the field of arthroplasty remains to reduce the need for excessive drilling tissue damage to the surgical site by reducing the need for cutting guides and related jigs. In order to assess the capabilities of computer-aided surgery systems in terms of both their accuracy and precision, the development and adherence to an industry standard for testing is necessary. A phantom device with divots of a known coordinate location was used in conjunction with proprietary software …

Relaxin And The Immune Landscape Of Benign And Malignant Thyroid Disease, Joshua Nguyen, Anupam Kotwal, Robert Bennett, Abbey Fingeret, Benjamin Swanson, Oleg Shats, Nicholas Whiteman, Whitney Goldner

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer, and its incidence has significantly increased over the last 40 years. Recent studies have suggested relaxin—a peptide hormone secreted by the ovaries during pregnancy with anti-fibrotic actions in chronic inflammation—as a potential marker of thyroid cancer occurrence and progression. However, it is unknown how relaxin behaves in benign versus malignant thyroid tissue. We hypothesized that relaxin levels would be decreased in benign and normal cancer-adjacent thyroid tissue relative to malignant tissue and increased in patients with lymphocytic thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder involving chronic inflammation of the thyroid. Using the Integrated Cancer Repository …

Nerve Growth Factor Receptor Kinase Inhibitor Ag-879 Decreases Cell Viability In Glioblastoma Cell Lines, Blake M. Kidder, Raghupathy Vengoji Ph.D., Poonam Yadav, Surinder K. Batra Ph.D., Nicole Shonka Md

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Glioblastoma (GBM), a grade IV astrocytoma, is the most aggressive primary brain tumor and the mean adult survival time is a mere 14.6 months. Current treatment options include gross tumor resection, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy. Temozolomide is the standard drug utilized for chemotherapy, but it has a limited effectiveness, as patients commonly develop resistance after two and a half months. With no significant cures or treatments, it is pertinent to explore alternative avenues for disease mitigation. One possible pathway lies in the expression of Nerve Growth Factor Receptor (NGFR). Normally, NGFR is responsible for the differentiation of neurons, and it …

Representation And Outcome Of Catheter Ablation For Treatment Of Atrial Fibrillation Among Patients With Obesity: A Systematic Review Of Randomized Control Studies, Eh M. Khaing, Danielle Dircks, Ahmad Aroudaky, Muaaz Almerstandi, James Aguto, Jmaylia Mimms, William Schleifer, Jason Payne, Arthur Easley, Faris Khan, John Windle, Shane Tsai, Daniel Anderson, Gleb Haynatzki, Niyada Naksuk

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Coding Severe Behaviors In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder To Train Machine Learning Algorithms, Daniel T. Davies

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Dolutegravir Reduces Migration And Invasion Abilities Of Trophoblasts By ​Decreasing Hif-1Α Expression And Mmps Activities, Brianna Speakar, Emma Foster, Aditya N. Bade

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Dolutegravir (DTG) is a first-line antiretroviral drug used in combination therapy for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection. Due to roll out of generic DTG-based regimen and rising pretreatment resistance to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors in resource limited countries, 15 million HIV-1 infected people will be treated with DTG by year 2025. This includes women of child-bearing age who remain a significant infected population. However, growing data have suggested that DTG is associated with birth defects. Thus, uncovering an underlying mechanism for DTG-associated adverse fetal development outcomes has gained research interest. To this end, there is a …

Measuring Physiological Responses And Emotional Expression During Treatment Of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: A Pilot Study, Margaret A. Kramer, Laura Elizabeth Phipps, James E. Gehringer, Walker Arce

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Our study aimed to identify possible associations between measures of physiological and behavioral data in children with feeding disorders during treatment. We found that all children demonstrated an average normal heart rate during the feeding appointments, all children demonstrated a primarily neutral emotion, and that three out of four participants had a brief elevation in heart rate that exceeded the normal range. In the future we would like to further investigate the possible effects of environmental factors at play (i.e., food, electronics) during meals that may correlate with elevations in heart rate.

Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis (Cvst): Long-Term Single-Center Experience, Nia Acharya, Krishna Gundabolu, Vijaya R. Bhatt, Alex B. Nester, Laxmi Narayana Buddharaju, Pierre Fayad, Daniel Surdell, William E. Thorell

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

CVST is a rare location of thrombosis involving Dural/ cerebral venous sinuses. It affects around 5-10 people per million population annually.

It is an uncommon but life-threatening form of stroke affecting younger individuals. Therefore, identifying and treating in a timely manner is critical.

Rarer thrombotic disorders like paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) or Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2) mutation positive myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) can rarely present with CVST. It can also present during pregnancy for the first time.

Diagnosis is often established by Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

Infections, certain medication use (asparaginase or birth control pills) could lead …

Thermodynamic Contributions Of Deoxyuridine Loops To The Folding Of Dna Straight Hairpin Loops With D(Gcgc/Gcgc) Stems, Benjamin G. Dodson, Luis Marky

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The global stability of DNA molecules depends on base stacking, base-pairing, ionic and hydration contributions. To understand the mechanisms that govern the many biological roles of nucleic acids, it is essential to have a complete physical description of the folding of nucleic acids, including ion and water binding. We used a combination of temperature-dependent UV spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry to investigate the effect of the loop length on the unfolding thermodynamics of a set of DNA stem-loop motifs with the following sequence: d(5’-GCGCUnGCGC), where n = 3, 5, 7, and 9.

The folding of each hairpin loop resulted in …

Investigation Of Cxcr4 Chemokine Receptor Involvement In The Uptake And Penetration Of Sirna Nanoparticles In Pancreatic Cancer Cell Lines And 3d Tumor Spheroids, Helen Yoo, Ling Ding, Ekta Kapoor, David Oupicky

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

With the urgency of developing novel therapies for pancreatic cancer, the Oupický lab designed a polymer, PAMD-Toc, that incorporates AMD3100, an antagonist of the most widely expressed chemokine receptor in cancer cells, CXCR4. This study seeks to determine if the CXCR4 receptor is involved in the uptake and penetration of siRNA-carrying PAMD-Toc nanoparticles into pancreatic cancer cells and tumors. Findings suggest that the presence of CXCR4 increases the efficacy of PAMD-Toc nanoparticle uptake and tumor penetration, which makes PAMD-Toc nanoparticles a promising siRNA delivery vector for pancreatic cancer gene therapy.

Research In Hospital Medicine, Cole M. Simmons, Jana Wardian

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Ubeats Data Shows Opportunity For E-Learning Module Improvement, Samantha Stuck, Andi Zhang, Peggy Moore, Dele Davies Dr

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

UNMC’s uBEATS program (UNO & UNMC Building Excellence in Academics Through STEM) is a series of free e-learning modules about various health science subjects that was launched by the University of Nebraska Medical Center in August of 2020. They were designed to supplement health science topics in schools, especially for students without access to regular education in health sciences. Statistics collected from the uBEATS data dashboard, and from data provided by Dr. Gwen Nugent on uBEATS average assessment scores and student completion rates suggest that engagement is low. Upon review of literature, it was found that uBEATS does have some …

Novel Interaction Between Ecd And Eif4a1 Indicates Ecd Regulates Eukaryotic Translation, Natalie Holding, Mohsin Raza, Vimla Band, Bhopal C. Mohapatra, Hamid Band

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

ECD, Ecdysoneless protein, is evolutionarily conserved. It was identified as a human homologue of Drosophila ecdysoneless, interacting with HPV16 E6 in a yeast two-hybrid assay. ECD has been proven to be essential for cell cycle progression from G1 to S phase, mitigating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and embryogenesis. ECD KO mice are embryonic lethal as it halts the cell cycle at G1. ECD interacts with p53 and Rb. ECD also associates with pre-mRNA splicing factor PRPF8. ECD is over-expressed in breast, pancreatic, gastric, and Human Papilloma-driven cancers and is correlated with shorter patient survival. ECD interacts with co-chaperone complex R2TP …

The Effects Of Age And Alcohol On Lipid Metabolism In The Liver, Jessica S. Yoon, Sundararajan Mahalingam, Jacy L. Kubik, Ramesh Bellamkonda, Carol A. Casey, Kusum K. Kharbanda, Karuna Rasineni

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Background: Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) encompasses the liver manifestation of chronic alcohol abuse, characterized by different stages of liver damage that progresses from fat accumulation to steatohepatitis, fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis. The severity of liver damage is influenced by age, which is also a predictor for ALD-related mortality. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how aging and alcohol affect lipid metabolism in the liver. Methods: Rats aged 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, and 22 months-old were pair-fed Lieber-DeCarli control or ethanol diet for 6 weeks. Serum and liver were collected for analyses when rats were euthanized. …

Health Behaviors And Their Impact On Bariatric Surgery, Miguel Israel Martinez Nava, Melissa A. Leon, Sarah Maki, Tiffany Tanner, Crystal Krause

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Bariatric surgery is a long-term solution when dealing with obesity. The two most performed surgeries are sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB). Both surgeries required a long-term follow-up with the patients as well as drastic changes in their lifestyle due to the alterations in their digestive system. For that reason, it is important to track health-related behaviors to keep a record of the patient’s health. In addition to a drastic change in the patient’s life, some of the health-related behaviors such as nocturnal eating and binge eating can lead to poorer surgical outcomes such as less weight loss. …

Effect Of Muc16 Blockade Using The Humanized Ar9.6 Antibody In Patient Derived Organoid Models Of Pdac, Jordan N. Muirhead, Satish Sagar, Christabelle Rajesh, Adrian Black, Prakash Radhakrishnan

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) represents nearly 90% of all pancreatic cancer cases. 49,830 of the 62,210 patients diagnosed in 2022 are estimated to succumb to the malignancy. Early diagnosis of the disease is uncommon as most patients present with symptoms when the cancer is late-stage and metastatic. This decreases the likelihood of successful surgical resection and increases the dependency on standard of care chemotherapy leads to which is met with therapeutic resistance, demonstrated by the 5-year post-diagnosis survival rate of a mere 11.5%. Mucin-16, a heavy glycosylated transmembrane protein is overexpressed in more than 65% PDAC cases. AR9.6 is an …

Nuclear And Metabolic Quantification For Enhanced Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Risk Stratification, Nicholas J. Lovick, Heather Jensen Smith, David G. Wagner, Daphne Ly

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is currently considered an early and localized form of ductal breast cancer stemming from the epithelial ductal cells. These lesions are largely heterogenous, categorized by their morphologies, amount of necrosis, and stromal changes. Even though 10-year mortality rate for DCIS is 1-2.6% while that of early invasive breast cancer is 7-10%. Yet, current recommended treatment for DCIS is breast-conserving surgery and radiation or mastectomy – the same treatment regimen recommended for early invasive breast cancer. This assumes that all DCIS will progress to invasive breast cancer if left untreated. However, mounting evidence indicates that a …

Degradation Of Airway Secretory Cell Mucin Granules Is Dependent On Lysosome Activity, Erik A. Sillaste, Paul G. Thomes, Elizabeth B. Staab, John D. Dickinson

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Inflammatory airway diseases (e.g. COPD and asthma) are associated with mucous cell metaplasia and mucin hypersecretion, resulting in symptoms such as shortness of breath and cough. However, how secretory cells remove excess mucin granules is poorly understood. Previous research suggests that intracellular degradation pathways, such as autophagy, are involved in the degradation of mucin granules during resolution of mucous cell metaplasia. We thus hypothesized that the elimination of excess mucin granules is dependent on lysosome-mediated degradation in airway secretory cells. Calu-3 cells, an airway epithelial cell line containing abundant mucin granules, were treated with inhibitors of lysosome acidification (Bafilomycin A1) …

Porcine Models Of Pancreatic Cancer: Current Status And Future, Moo Law Eh Soe, Pinaki Mondal, Carlos P. Jara, Mark A. Carlson

Posters: 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The KRAS^G12D and TP53^R172H mutations are the leading causes of pancreatic cancer, with the third deadliest cancer mortality rate. Majority of the pancreatic cancer research utilizes mouse models. Our lab is currently studying porcine as a suitable model to study pancreatic cancer due to the comparative anatomy and genomic similarities between humans and porcine. Our first approach to develop the porcine pancreatic cancer model was to orthotopically implant the transformed and mutated primary pig pancreatic epithelial cells into the pig pancreas. The second approach was using the Oncopig model with KRAS^G12D and TP53^R172H genetic mutations. The …

Summer 2022: Your Magazine Online, St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Magazine 2019-2023

The Summer 2022 magazine was one for making and revisiting memories. Members of the first class of women admitted to the college set the tone with their video interview, and there are more multimedia exclusives to whet your appetite for further trips down Memory Lane.

Summer 2022: Federal Grant Funds New Opportunities In Mexico For Snc Business Students, St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Magazine 2019-2023

A $33,292 IDEAS Program grant from the U.S. Department of State will allow St. Norbert College business students to participate in a two-week international case competition in Mexico, fostering new academic partnerships, global experience, and diversified study-abroad participation.