Life Sciences Commons^™

Characteristics Influencing Enrollment Choices: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Factors That Influence Black Students' Decision To Enroll In College Of Agriculture Programs, Jennifer L. Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study aims to identify the barriers that affect Minority enrollment in agriculture, particularly focusing on increasing the enrollment of Black students. There is a significant concern regarding the gap between Black individuals and agriculture enrollment in post-secondary agriculture programs at land-grant institutions. The purpose of this mixed method phenomenology was to (1) identify factors that influence the decision of Black students to enroll in the College of Agriculture and (2) uncover the societal and economic influences that continue to serve as barriers to Black students’ enrolling in agriculture. The quantitative portion of the investigation utilized a web-based instrument structured …

Rain And Potential Evapotranspiration Are The Main Drivers Of Yield For Wheat And Barley In Southern Australia: Insights From 12 Years Of National Variety Trials, Edward G. Barrett-Lennard, Nicholas George, Mario D'Antuono, Karen W. Holmes, Phillip R. Ward

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Context
Water is widely assumed to be the factor most limiting the growth of annual crops in rainfed environments, but this is rarely tested at sub-continental scale. Aims
Our study aimed to determine the key environmental and management variables influencing the yield of wheat and barley in the grain-production regions of southern Australia, using data from National Variety Trials. Methods
We used generalised additive models to determine the importance of climatic and management variables on wheat and barley grain yield. We determined the effects of the best one, two or three variables and their interactions. Key results
The aridity index, …

Smokejumper Obituary: Whitmire, Scott Frederick (Redding 1987), National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper Obituaries

No abstract provided.

Impact Of The Department Of Defense Maternity Leave Policy Change On Retention And Postpartum Depression And The Air Force Postpartum Physical Fitness Policy Change On Physical Readiness Outcomes, Minette S. R. Herrick

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Understanding the implications of health policy is paramount to support continued execution and further wide-spread distribution. The Department of Defense has made many recent family friendly policy changes in effort to improve the health and morale of the force. Two such policies were analyzed in this study. The first was the change in maternity leave, in 2016, from allotting women six weeks time off to twelve weeks time off in the postpartum period. The second was executed by the Air Force to permit postpartum women a longer duration for their required physical fitness assessment (an increase from six months to …

Research Review On The Detection Of Bpa By Electrochemical Sensors Modified With Carbon-Based Composites, Ren Huimin, Zhang Bo, Yin Shixian, Rong Zhixing, Wang Jianhui

Food and Machinery

As one of the most widely used plasticizers, BPA is often used in various types of food packaging. However, the leaching of BPA from food and water and the emission of BPA in the manufacturing process can harm human health. In recent years, carbon-based composites have shown excellent performance in the detection of BPA due to their unique physical and chemical properties. The rapid detection of BPA by electrochemical sensors based on carbon-based composites has become a research hotspot. This article provides an overview of BPA and the application of carbon-based materials modified electrochemical sensors in the detection of BPA, …

The Influence Of Stage Of Ripeness On Consumer Perceptions Regarding Selected Aspects Of Non-Astringent Asian Persimmons (Diospyros Kaki Thunb), Robert A. Mirabello Jr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Asian Persimmon (Diospyros kaki Thunb.) is an important fruit crop in Asia and in recent decades has experienced expanding production around the world. Non-astringent cultivars are highly desirable in world markets. In the United States the Asian Persimmon is lesser known and consumed although it can be successfully grown in California and the Southeastern United States.This novel study examined the physical/chemical properties of the non-astringent Asian Persimmon ‘Jiro’ grown in Southern Louisiana at three distinct stages of ripeness described as Green (mid-September harvest), Light Orange (mid-October harvest) and Dark Orange (mid-November harvest). Data collected included color, weight, size, soluble …

Lacl3-Based Sodium Halide Solid Electrolytes With High Ionic Conductivity For All-Solid-State Batteries, Chengyu Fu, Yifan Li, Wenjie Xu, Xuyong Feng, Weijian Gu, Wenwen Deng, A M Milinda Abeykoon, Laisuo Su, Lingyun Zhu, Xiaojun Wu, Hongfa Xiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To enable high performance of all solid-state batteries, a catholyte should demonstrate high ionic conductivity, good compressibility and oxidative stability. Here, a LaCl3-based Na+ superionic conductor (Na1−xZrxLa1−xCl4) with high ionic conductivity of 2.9 × 10−4 S cm−1 (30 °C), good compressibility and high oxidative potential (3.80 V vs. Na2Sn) is prepared via solid state reaction combining mechanochemical method. X-ray diffraction reveals a hexagonal structure (P63/m) of Na1−xZrxLa1−xCl4, with Na+ ions forming a one-dimensional diffusion channel along the c-axis. First-principle calculations combining with …

Selective Refueling Of Car T Cells Using Ada1 And Cd26 Boosts Antitumor Immunity, Yue Hu, Abhijit Sarkar, Kevin Song, Sara Michael, Magnus Hook, Andras Heczey

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy is hindered in solid tumor treatment due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and suboptimal T cell persistence. Current strategies do not address nutrient competition in the microenvironment. Hence, we present a metabolic refueling approach using inosine as an alternative fuel. CAR T cells were engineered to express membrane-bound CD26 and cytoplasmic adenosine deaminase 1 (ADA1), converting adenosine to inosine. Autocrine secretion of ADA1 upon CD3/CD26 stimulation activates CAR T cells, improving migration and resistance to transforming growth factor β1 suppression. Fusion of ADA1 with anti-CD3 scFv further boosts inosine production and minimizes tumor …

Age-Specific Induction Of Mutant P53 Drives Clonal Hematopoiesis And Acute Myeloid Leukemia In Adult Mice, Rasoul Pourebrahim, Rafael Heinz Montoya, Hiroki Akiyama, Lauren Ostermann, Shayuan Khazaei, Natalia Baran, Tom Lesluyes, Bin Liu, Joseph D Khoury, Mihai Gagea, Peter Van Loo, Michael Andreeff

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The investigation of the mechanisms behind p53 mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been limited by the lack of suitable mouse models, which historically have resulted in lymphoma rather than leukemia. This study introduces two new AML mouse models. One model induces mutant p53 and Mdm2 haploinsufficiency in early development, showing the role of Mdm2 in myeloid-biased hematopoiesis and AML predisposition, independent of p53. The second model mimics clonal hematopoiesis by inducing mutant p53 in adult hematopoietic stem cells, demonstrating that the timing of p53 mutation determines AML vs. lymphoma development. In this context, age-related changes in hematopoietic stem …

Caffeine’S Impact On Heart Rate Variability During Short-Term Exercise In University Students, Maya J. Spinler, Morgan M. Payne, Christopher Carroll Dr.

Applied Health Sciences Student Works

The primary objective is to explore the physiological effects of caffeine on intra-bout exercise-induced blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) deceleration resulting from repeated anaerobic exercise cycling in active university students. Use of caffeinated stimulants has increased in recent years, particularly in the exercise setting. The cardiovascular system (CS) is an essential piece of exercise physiology and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Caffeine has a known effect on the CS during acute exercise. What is not well solidified is the connection between caffeine and exercise-induced markers, such as heart rate recovery (HRR) and BP. Participants underwent …

Ankle Mobility And Balance In A Healthy College-Aged Population: A Correlational Study, Anna G. Johnson, Madelyn M. Roiger, Elisa M. Stewart

Applied Health Sciences Student Works

A review of current literature shows a relationship between ankle mobility and balance in an older population, with limited evidence in younger, healthy populations. To bridge this gap, this study aims to explore this relationship in a healthy, college-aged population. Maintaining upright balance is an integrated effort by the vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems. Regaining a loss of balance happens with three strategies: an ankle strategy for small perturbations, a hip strategy for moderate perturbations, and a stepping strategy for the largest loss to regain a new base of support. Taking these sequential responses into account, the investigators specifically looked …

Big Life-Science: Study Of Omics From Microscopic To Mesoscopic Scales, Jiarui Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The human genome project at the turn of the century opened a new era of life science research and formed various omics characterized by holistic high-throughput research. The initial omics research was mainly carried out at the molecular level, such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, etc., showing a new paradigm of data-driven research. With the development of research technologies, the omics research has risen to the mesoscopic level, the representative is the “Human Cell Atlas” project launched in 2017. At present, researchers have been able to carry out omics research at the level of tissues, organs, and even individuals, and resulted …

Synthetic Biology Enablement: From Academic Development To Industrial Transformation, Yan Xiong, Xueqing Ma, Daming Chen, Xiao Liu, Guoping Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Synthetic biology revolutionizes the comprehension of life systems from an engineering perspective, employing a “bottomup” approach in life science research. It adopts an iterative research paradigm of “design-build-test-learn” in life science research and creates engineered new life systems grounded in genomics and systems biology. This provides a new pathway of “from creation to understanding” for life sciences, departing from the traditional reductionist research strategy of “study the whole to understand the parts” and opening up a new culture of “building to understand” the essence of life. Additionally, synthetic biology elevates existing biotechnologies previously based on “simulating natural processes” and “genetic …

Advances In Data-Driven Life Sciences Research, Haiping Jiang, Chunchun Gao, Wenhao Liu, Yungui Yang, Xin Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The field of life sciences is rapidly evolving, driven by advancements in experimental techniques and vast biological big data which gradually arise and play an increasingly important role in life science research. First of all, biological big data has diversity and complexity, including genomic data, epigenomic data, proteomic data and other types. These data provide researchers with more comprehensive information and help reveal the laws behind life phenomena. Second, new data-driven developments and applications in life sciences cover many fields such as gene editing, precision medicine, drug development, etc., providing unprecedented possibilities for human health and quality of life. However, …

Condition Scoring Of Sheep, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock factsheets

Condition scoring sheep is an easy and accurate method of estimating the condition or 'nutritional wellbeing' of your sheep flock. It requires an assessment of the amount of muscle and fat covering the backbone and the short ribs of each sheep. This gives a picture of the sheep’s store of energy. It is the best method for monitoring pregnant and lactating ewes but is also useful for monitoring the growth of weaners.

Revealing Microbial Community Composition And Disinfection Efficacy Evaluation In Wholesale Pork Markets Through 16s Rdna Sequencing, Miao He, Lingyan Ma, Wentao Lv, Yingping Xiao, Hua Yang, Xiofan Wang, Jiangchao Zhao, Hangzhen Lan, Wen Wang, Xingning Xiao

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study has employed 16S rDNA analysis to elucidate the characteristics of the microbial community in the surroundings, facilities, and meat samples collected from a pork wholesale market with the aim of revealing bacterial contamination. In addition, the efficacy of sodium hypochlorite disinfectant was assessed by comparing the bacterial communities in the viable samples before and after disinfection. The bacterial abundances in meat, chopping boards, and knives were positively correlated (r > 0.95, p <  .05), suggesting potential cross-contamination risks during market transactions. The species richness indices for the external transport vehicles, pork hooks, and floors were significantly different from those of the samples taken after decontamination (p <  .05). Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe) analyses showed that Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Chloroflexi were significantly more abundant in the transaction period, whereas Bacteroidetes levels decreased compared to the clean-up period. NaClO disinfection …

Flexible Biosensors For Food Pathogen Detection, Sonatan Biswas, Md Shariful Islam, Fei Jia, Yunteng Cao, Yanbin Li, Changyong Cao

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Food contamination poses a significant threat to public health, the economy, and human health worldwide, occurring at any stage of the food supply chain, from farm to fork. Efficient and effective real-time monitoring methods for the early identification and rapid detection of pathogen contamination are critical to preventing possible food safety issues. In the past decade, flexible electrochemical biosensors have rapidly expanded in the detection of foodborne pathogens, owing to their ability to function well at biological interfaces that may be soft, intrinsically curvy, irregular, or deformable. The most important features of flexible sensors are their flexibility, multifunctionality, low cost, …

05.20.2024 Orsp Connect, Liz Williamson

ORED Newsletter

NIH RPPR Update (Research Performance Progress Report)

Generalizing Parkinson’S Disease Detection Using Keystroke Dynamics: A Self-Supervised Approach, Luca Giancardo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Passive monitoring of touchscreen interactions generates keystroke dynamic signals that can be used to detect and track neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and psychomotor impairment with minimal burden on the user. However, this typically requires datasets with clinically confirmed labels collected in standardized environments, which is challenging, especially for a large subject pool. This study validates the efficacy of a self-supervised learning method in reducing the reliance on labels and evaluates its generalizability.

Materials and methods: We propose a new type of self-supervised loss combining Barlow Twins loss, which attempts to create similar feature representations with reduced …

Reassignment Of Some Caryospora Species (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) To Eumonospora (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) And A Summary, Donald W. Duszynski

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

This review was crafted to clear up some of the current confusion regarding the correct taxonomic placement of those apicomplexan coccidians that produce unique monosporocystic octosporozoic (1 sporocyst with 8 sporozoites) oocysts during the sexual phase of their life history in vertebrate hosts. Currently, such oocysts have been placed in 1 of 4 genera, Avispora, Caryospora, Karyospora, or Eumonospora, 2 of which are no longer accepted or useful (Avispora and Karyospora). My review suggests that to present (2023) there are 62 valid Caryospora and 26 valid Eumonospora species. Caryospora species are recorded from a bird …

Brain Science And Brain-Inspired Intelligence In Intelligent Era, Xu Zhang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

With intelligence technology as the core technology and intelligent computing power as the productive force, the intelligent era has once again pushed brain science to the forefront of world science and technology. Brain science is the science that studies the nature and rule of cognition and intelligence of human, animal, and machine. A comprehensive analysis of the structure and functional connection rule of the nervous system will eventually draw the functional connectivity map of the brain. In the past decade, neuroscience research has been committed to systematically analyzing the types of neurons and neural structural connections of the nervous system, …

Some Reflections On Developing Trend Of Gravimetry In China, Heping Sun

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

With the development of modern science and technology, gravimetry is growing vigorously and is increasingly becoming an interdisciplinary subject that is closely related to many others such as geology, fundamental physics, geodynamics, hydrology, oceanography, and astronomy. It is now a key subject in giving service to demands in national strategy and fundamental researches in geoscience such as fiducial surveying and mapping, resource exploration, military security, and hazard monitoring. Therefore, owning the core gravimetric techniques is one of the pivots which reflect national core competitiveness. This study first briefly overviews the history and actuality of the growth of gravimetry subject in …

Promoting Ecosystem Based Marine Management Through A Marine Ecological Classification And Zoning System, Wenhai Lu, Xiao Li, Meng Cui

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Ecosystem based ocean management is an important means of building marine ecological civilization. The current marine ecological classification and zoning in China comprehensively sorts out the types and natural geographical characteristics of marine ecosystems, divided the Chinese seas and adjacent waters into several levels of ecological spatial units according to different scales, effectively characterizes the geographical distribution features of marine biological communities and their habitats, and provides effective support for ecosystem based marine management. This study analyzed the practical significance of marine ecological classification and zoning. Based on a review of the development of marine ecological classification and zoning, this …

Proteomic Characterization And Cytotoxic Potential Of Proteins From Cuscuta (Cuscuta Epithymum (L.) Crude Herbal Product Against Mcf-7 Human Breast Cancer Cell Line, Umaima Akhtar, Yamna Khurshid, Bishoy El-Aarag, Basir Syed, Ishtiaq A. Khan, Keykavous Parang, Aftab Ahmed

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background

The burden of breast cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide, is increasing at an alarming rate. Cuscuta, used in traditional medicine for different ailments, including cancer, is known for containing phytochemicals that exhibit anticancer activity; however, the bioactivities of proteins from this plant remain unexplored. This study aimed to screen the cytotoxic potential of proteins from the crude herbal product of Cuscuta epithymum(L.) (CE) harvested from the host plants Alhagi maurorum and Medicago sativa.

Methods

The proteins from CE were extracted using a salting-out method, followed by fractionation with a gel filtration chromatography column. Gel-free shotgun …

Il-2-Free Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte Therapy With Pd-1 Blockade Demonstrates Potent Efficacy In Advanced Gynecologic Cancer, Jing Guo, Chunyan Wang, Ning Luo, Yuliang Wu, Wei Huang, Weihui Shi, Yao Ge, Chunhong Liu, Zhen Lu, Robert C Bast, Guihai Ai, Weihong Yang, Rui Wang, Caixia Li, Rong Chen, Shupeng Liu, Huajun Jin, Binghui Zhao, Zhongping Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy has been restricted by intensive lymphodepletion and high-dose intravenous interleukin-2 (IL-2) administration. To address these limitations, we conducted preclinical and clinical studies to evaluate the safety, antitumor activity, and pharmacokinetics of an innovative modified regimen in patients with advanced gynecologic cancer.

METHODS: Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) were established from a local recurrent cervical cancer patient. TILs were expanded ex vivo from minced tumors without feeder cells in the modified TIL therapy regimen. Patients underwent low-dose cyclophosphamide lymphodepletion followed by TIL infusion without intravenous IL-2. The primary endpoint was safety; the secondary endpoints included objective response rate, …

Developing A Membrane-Proximal Cd33-Targeting Car T Cell, Ruby Freeman, Sanam Shahid, Abdul G Khan, Serena C Mathew, Sydney Souness, Jasmine S Um, Winson Cai, Sarah Yoo, Andrew Dunbar, Young Park, Devin Mcavoy, Kinga K Hosszu, Ross L Levine, Jaap Jan Boelens, Ivo C Lorenz, Renier J Brentjens, Anthony F Daniyan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: CD33 is a tractable target in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, but clinical success is lacking.

METHODS: We developed 3P14HLh28Z, a novel CD33-directed CD28/CD3Z-based CAR T cell derived from a high-affinity binder obtained through membrane-proximal fragment immunization in humanized mice.

RESULTS: We found that immunization exclusively with the membrane-proximal domain of CD33 is necessary for identification of membrane-proximal binders in humanized mice. Compared with clinically validated lintuzumab-based CAR T cells targeting distal CD33 epitopes, 3P14HLh28Z showed enhanced in vitro functionality as well as superior tumor control and increased overall survival in both …

Analysing An Imbalanced Stroke Prediction Dataset Using Machine Learning Techniques, Viswapriya Subramaniyam Elangovan, Rajeswari Devarajan, Osamah I. Khalaf, Mhd Saeed Sharif, Wael Elmedany

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

A stroke is a medical condition characterized by the rupture of blood vessels within the brain which can lead to brain damage. various symptoms may be exhibited when the brain's supply of blood and essential nutrients is disrupted. To forecast the possibility of brain stroke occurring at an early stage using Machine Learning and Deep Learning is the main objective of this study. Timely detection of the various warning signs of a stroke can significantly reduce its severity. This paper performed a comprehensive analysis of features to enhance stroke prediction effectiveness. A reliable dataset for stroke prediction is taken from …

Potential Enhancement Of Microbial Disinfection Using Oxygen Enriched Cold Atmospheric-Pressure Argon (Ar/O2) Plasma Jet, Waleed O. Younis, Mahmoud M. Berekaa, Mostafa A. Ellbban, Abdel-Sattar S. Gadallah, Jamal Q. Almarashi, Abdel-Aleam H. Mohamed

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Oxygen activated cold-atmospheric-pressure-argon plasma jet (APPJ) has gained prominence over the regular argon plasma especially in disinfection and decontamination. As an objective of the current research, an oxygen-enriched argon system was built, where plasma produced through a vessel metallic tube that is introduced into alumina one. A sinusoidal high voltage signal of 25 kHz was used to generate plasma jet. Potential impact of oxygen enriched APP jet (Ar/O₂) in decontamination of different microbial cells was observed. For examination, suspension of each tested microbe was placed in contact with plasma jet nearly 10 mm away from the jet nozzle …

A Potential Of Watercress Nasturtium Officinale Bioactive Compounds In Inhibiting Infectious Myonecrosis Virus (Imnv) By Targeting Rna-Dependent Rna Polymerase (Rdrp) Virus From Several Countries: In Silico Approach, Qurrota A’Yunin, Fatchiyah Fatchiyah, Maftuch Maftuch, Feri Eko Hermanto, Muhammad Hermawan Widyananda, Narendra Santika Hartana, Muhaimin Rifa’I, Yoga Dwi Jatmiko

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) disease causes mass mortality and decreased shrimp production. The RdRp region projects to the interior, where it may function in transcription. The focus of this study was to determine the effect of amino acid polymorphisms from several countries on the structure of RdRp and identify the potential of watercress in inhibiting IMNV by targeting the RdRp protein of IMNV through an in silico approach. The results showed that the structure of the IMNV RdRp protein from Indonesia was similar to Mexico, and the protein structure from India_QDN was identical to India_QIL. Ligand binding affinity values showed …

Extraction Of Morphometric Features The Shape Of Mangrove Leaves Based On Digital Images And Classification Using The Support Vector Machine, Ishak Ariawan, Della Ayu Lestari, Luthfi Anzani, Tri Yanti, Cakra Rahardjo, M. Saleh, Sahril Angga Permana, Dea Aisyah Rusmawati

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

At present, several botanists still rely on the use of manual estimating methods to assess the carbon content in mangrove. However, these methods have been reported to be extremely time-consuming, showing the need to develop a system for prediction. An effective solution lies in the creation of an artificial intelligence application, which can provide rapid and cost-effective results. In constructing this application, careful consideration must be given to the selection of parameters or attributes. Species is an essential parameter for the assessment of carbon content, but its determination has proven to be challenging due to the similarities of mangrove. The …