Life Sciences Commons^™

Directed Carbapenemase Testing Is No Longer Just For Enterobacterales: Cost, Labor, And Workflow Assessment Of Expanding Carbapenemase Testing To Carbapenem-Resistant P. Aeruginosa, Fred C. Tenover, Christian M. Gill, Poonam Rajkotia, Amity L. Roberts, David P. Nicolau

Biology Faculty Publications

Molecular carbapenem-resistance testing, such as for the presence of carbapenemases genes, is commonly implemented for the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales. Carbapenemase-producing P. aeruginosa is also associated with significant morbidity and mortality, although; prevalence may be underappreciated in the United States due to a lack of carbapenemase testing. The present study sought to compare hands-on time, cost and workflow implementation of carbapenemase gene testing in Enterobacterales and P. aeruginosa isolates versus sending out isolates to a public health laboratory (PHL) for testing to assess if in-house can provide actionable results. The time to carbapenemase gene results were compared. Differences in cost …

Positive Health Outcomes Associated With Live Microbe Intake From Foods, Including Fermented Foods, Assessed Using The Nhanes Database, Colin Hill, Daniel J. Tancredi, Christopher J. Cifelli, Joanne L. Slavin, Jaime Gahche, Maria L. Marco, Robert Hutkins, Victor L. Fulgoni Iii, Daniel Merenstein, Mary Ellen Sanders

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: Live dietary microbes have been hypothesized to contribute to human health but direct evidence is lacking.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether the dietary consumption of live microbes is linked to improved health outcomes.

Methods: Data from the NHANES 2001–2018 were used to assess microbial intake and their adjusted associations with selected physiological parameters (e.g., blood pressure, anthropometric measures, and biomarkers) among adults aged 19 y and older. Regression models were constructed to assess the microbial intake with each physiological parameter and adjusted for demographics and other covariates. Microbial intake was assessed as both a …

Influence Of County-Level Geographic/Ancestral Origin On Glioma Incidence And Outcomes In Us Hispanics, Kyle M Walsh, Corey Neff, Melissa L Bondy, Carol Kruchko, Jason T Huse, Jill S Barnholtz-Sloan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Glioma incidence is 25% lower in Hispanics than White non-Hispanics. The US Hispanic population is diverse, and registry-based analyses may mask incidence differences associated with geographic/ancestral origins.

METHODS: County-level glioma incidence data in Hispanics were retrieved from the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States. American Community Survey data were used to determine the county-level proportion of the Hispanic population of Mexican/Central American and Caribbean origins. Age-adjusted incidence rate ratios and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) quantified the glioma incidence differences across groups. State-level estimates of admixture in Hispanics were obtained from published 23andMe data.

RESULTS: Compared to predominantly …

Response Assessment In Pediatric Craniopharyngioma: Recommendations From The Response Assessment In Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (Rapno) Working Group, Lindsey M Hoffman, Camilo Jaimes, Kshitij Mankad, David M Mirsky, Benita Tamrazi, Cassie Kline, Fatema Malbari, Ross Mangum, Holly Lindsay, Vincent Horne, David J Daniels, Sameer Keole, David R Grosshans, Tina Young Poussaint, Roger Packer, Sergio Cavalheiro, Brigitte Bison, Todd C Hankinson, Hermann L Müller, Ute Bartels, Katherine E Warren, Murali Chintagumpala

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Craniopharyngioma is a histologically benign tumor of the suprasellar region for which survival is excellent but quality of life is often poor secondary to functional deficits from tumor and treatment. Standard therapy consists of maximal safe resection with or without radiation therapy. Few prospective trials have been performed, and response assessment has not been standardized.

METHODS: The Response Assessment in Pediatric Neuro-Oncology (RAPNO) committee devised consensus guidelines to assess craniopharyngioma response prospectively.

RESULTS: Magnetic resonance imaging is the recommended radiologic modality for baseline and follow-up assessments. Radiologic response is defined by 2-dimensional measurements of both solid and cystic tumor …

Ambient Oxygen Levels Regulate Intestinal Dysbiosis And Gvhd Severity After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation, Keisuke Seike, Anders Kiledal, Hideaki Fujiwara, Israel Henig, Marina Burgos Da Silva, Robert Hein, Chen Liu, Katherine Oravecz-Wilson, Emma Lauder, Lu Li, Yaping Sun, Thomas M Schmidt, Yatrik M Shah, Robert R Jenq, Gregory Dick, Pavan Reddy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The severity of T cell-mediated gastrointestinal (GI) diseases such as graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and inflammatory bowel diseases correlates with a decrease in the diversity of the host gut microbiome composition characterized by loss of obligate anaerobic commensals. The mechanisms underpinning these changes in the microbial structure remain unknown. Here, we show in multiple specific pathogen-free (SPF), gnotobiotic, and germ-free murine models of GI GVHD that the initiation of the intestinal damage by the pathogenic T cells altered ambient oxygen levels in the GI tract and caused dysbiosis. The change in oxygen levels contributed to the severity of intestinal pathology in …

Staphylococcus Aureus Breast Implant Infection Isolates Display Recalcitrance To Antibiotic Pocket Irrigants, Jesus M Duran Ramirez, Jana Gomez, Blake M Hanson, Taha Isa, Terence M Myckatyn

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Breast implant-associated infections (BIAIs) are the primary complication following placement of breast prostheses in breast cancer reconstruction. Given the prevalence of breast cancer, reconstructive failure due to infection results in significant patient distress and health care expenditures. Thus, effective BIAI prevention strategies are urgently needed. This study tests the efficacy of one infection prevention strategy: the use of a triple antibiotic pocket irrigant (TAPI) against Staphylococcus aureus, the most common cause of BIAIs. TAPI, which consists of 50,000 U bacitracin, 1 g cefazolin, and 80 mg gentamicin diluted in 500 mL of saline, is used to irrigate the breast implant …

Perennial Ryegrass Variety Differences In Nutritive Value Characteristics, T. J. Gilliland, R. E. Agnew, A. M. Fearson, F. E. A. Wilson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Animal grazing performance at grass is predominately determined by herbage intake rates, with high yielding dairy cows requiring up to 20 kg/d DM within a limited grazing time (Gibb, 1998). Grass nutritional factors such as seasonal patterns in digestibility and water-soluble carbohydrate levels have been linked to animal productivity (Davies et al., 1991), while sward surface height, herbage mass, bulk density and green leaf mass have been shown to promote high grazing intake (Barrett et al., 2001). Furthermore, fatty acid profiles have been shown to improve the unsaturated fatty acid composition of milk, with potential human health benefits …

Management Of Pasture Quality For Sheep On New Zealand Hill Country, D. I. Gray, J. I. Reid, P. D. Kemp, I. M. Brookes, D. Horne, P. R. Kenyon, C. Matthew, S. T. Morris, I. Valentine

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The control of pasture quality over spring is central to the achievement of high levels of sheep performance on hill country. Despite this, with the exception of the work of Lambert et al. (2000), little is known about how farmers actually manage pasture quality. The purpose of this research was to describe how a high performing hill country farmer manages pasture quality on their sheep area over spring and from this develop a framework that will assist other farmers improve their pasture management.

Production And Plant Density Of Sulla Grazed By Sheep At Three Growth Stages, H. Krishna, P. D. Kemp

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Sulla is one of the few temperate forage legumes that contain enough condensed tannins to improve the efficiency with which livestock use protein (Marshall et al., 1979). However, it usually is productive only for approximately 14 months in New Zealand, and little is known of its response to grazing. This paper reports on the production and persistence of Sulla cv. Necton, when using growth stage as the criterion for time of grazing by sheep in a maritime, temperate environment.

Spring Calving Suckler Beef Systems: Influence Of Grassland Management System On Herbage Availability, Utilisation, Quality And Cow And Calf Performance To Weaning, M. J. Drennan, M. Mcgee, S. Kyne, B. O'Neill

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Suckler beef systems in Ireland are primarily based on grass. Suckler systems vary in intensity but many operate low input systems and participate in REPS (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme). As there is a considerable cost associated with second-cut silage this research compared a two-cut system with a simplified low input one-cut system.

The Importance Of Patch Size In Estimating Steady-State Bite Rate In Grazing Cattle, E. D. Ungar, N. Ravid, T. Zada, E. Ben-Moshe, R. Yonatan, S. Brenner, H. Baram, A. Genizi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Since the pioneering work of Black and Kenney (1984), various intake studies have been conducted at the spatial scale of a single feeding station ("patch") to elucidate the processes that determine instantaneous intake rate (e.g. Laca et al., 1994). While these are well-suited for patch depletion studies, it is less clear how well they represent non-patchy and relatively homogeneous environments (Ungar & Griffiths, 2002). Clearly, grazing should be restricted to the upper grazing horizon (i.e. layer of bites), but sample duration may be insufficient to characterize steady-state behaviour, especially when grazing commences on an empty mouth. We examined the …

Performance Of Meat Goats Grazing Winter Annual Grasses In The Piedmont Of The Southeastern Usa, J-M. Luginbuhl, J. P. Mueller

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the Southeastern United States, meat goats (Capra hircus hircus) are becoming increasingly important contributors to the income of many small producers. Meat goats perform well in grazing situations if grazing management practices match their grazing behavior. Nevertheless, little research data are available from the region specifically directed toward forage feeding programs for goats reared for meat production. Hart et al. (1993) reported that growing Alpine, Angora and Nubian kids grazed on high quality Triticum aestivum forage gained 50 g/d, whereas Kiesling et al. (1994) reported gains ranging from 65 to 141 g/d in growing Angora …

The Effect Of Early And Delayed Spring Grazing On The Milk Production, Grazing Management And Grass Intake Of Dairy Cows, E. Kennedy, M. O'Donovan, J. P. Murphy, L. Delaby, F. P. O'Mara

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Earlier access to pasture can increase the overall proportion of grazed grass in the diet of the spring calving dairy cow. Further benefits can also be achieved from early turnout, including improved animal production, increased sward utilisation and enhanced sward quality (O’Donovan et al., 2004). The objective of this study was to compare the effect of initial spring grazing date and stocking rate on the performance of spring calving dairy cows.

Intake Characteristics Of Diploid And Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass Varieties When Grazed By Simmental X Holstein Yearling Heifers Under Rotational Stocking Management, R. J. Orr, J. E. Cook, K. L. Young, R. A. Champion, A. J. Rook

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Orr et al. (2003) measured large differences in dry matter (DM) intake rate between 15 intermediate-heading perennial ryegrass varieties when they were continuously stocked with sheep and subsequently explored the extent to which, for 5 of these varieties, these differences could be explained by chemical and morphological traits (Orr et al., 2004a) which could be targeted in grass breeding programmes. Here, four of the 15 varieties, which within ploidy had low or high intake characteristics when grazed by sheep, were rotationally stocked with cattle and intake and sward factors were measured.

Optimising Financial Return From Grazing In Temperate Pastures, P. Dillon, J. R. Roche, L. Shalloo, B. Horan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key Points

1. The increased interest in pasture-based systems of milk production in recent years has been largely generated through lower product prices and rising costs of production.

2. Pasture based systems of milk production decrease unit production costs, through lower feed and labour expenses, and reduced capital investment.

3. Systems utilising grazed pasture will be optimised in regions where pasture production potential is high, variability in seasonal pasture supply and quality is low, manufacturing milk accounts for a large proportion of total production, and where large areas of land are available at relatively low cost.

4. Pasture based systems may allow greater global …

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Challenges And Opportunities For Animal Production From Temperate Pastures, D. A. Clark

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Temperate pastures offer a major opportunity to reduce the feed costs associated with ruminant production.

2. Pastures offer unique opportunities for producing high value components in feedstuffs that are beneficial to human health.

3. The increased use of pasture will not automatically lead to improved environmental outcomes – difficult challenges exist in reducing nitrogen and greenhouse gas pollution.

4. Grazed pasture systems offer advantages in animal welfare, provided management avoids the problems associated with climatic extremes, and the toxins associated with some pastures.

5. To remain competitive with total mixed ration systems, and environmentally acceptable, pastures with higher intake characteristics that allow …

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Decision Support For Temperate Grasslands: Challenges And Pitfalls, J. R. Donnelly, L. Salmon, R. D. H. Cohen, Zl. Liu, Xp. Xin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Successful adoption of decision support tools (DS tools) to address grassland management issues requires careful attention in design to ensure ease-of-use, accuracy in prediction and the flexibility to simulate actual practices.

2. DS tools must handle spatial variability and where possible include facilities for automatic sourcing of essential information for initialisation.

3. Advances in the development of DS tools will depend on resolution of scientific issues in grassland biology including investment in dedicated experiments to determine parameter values for model equations.

4. The use of mechanistic models, the integration of remote sensing technology and cooperation between research groups to develop modular …

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Modelling Of Herbage Intake And Milk Production By Grazing Dairy Cows, Rémy Delagarde, M. O'Donovan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key-points

1. Models predicting intake and performance of grazing ruminants from animal, sward, grazing and supplements characteristics are rare, but they are now included in several decision support systems (DSS).

2. An evaluation of the performance and accuracy of published models are rarely undertaken by their authors, but this is proposed in this paper.

3. There is still a need for experimental research but also for the development of generic and dynamic models to predict intake and performance over a wide range of grazing conditions.

Grass Growth Modelling: To Increase Understanding And Aid Decision Making On-Farm, P. D. Barrett, A. S. Laidlaw

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Crop and grass growth models have been developed over the last 50 years, or so, but general appreciation of their benefits and potential has been recognised only relatively recently. The most popular application of grass growth models has traditionally been for knowledge understanding.

2. There is growing awareness of the potential of models in decision support systems (DSS) applications to aid pasture management and grassland budgeting on dairy farms.

3. Although some models have been developed for DSS, their widespread uptake in industry has been slow; challenges still exist which need to be addressed in order to improve their precision …

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Genetic Characteristics Required In Dairy And Beef Cattle For Temperate Grazing Systems, F. Buckley, C. Holmes, M. G. Keane

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Only about 10% of the world’s milk is produced from grazing systems. Consequently the majority of dairy cattle have not been selected under grazing, nor on seasonal systems. This is not true for beef cattle, for which the majority, especially the dams, are managed under seasonal grazing systems.

2. In grazing systems daily feed intake is limited to lower levels than are achievable on concentrate plus conserved forage rations. Consequently, cows most suited to grazing environments are likely to have a lower genetic potential for milk production than cows selected in high concentrate systems, to minimise their relative energy …

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New Insights Into The Nutritional Value Of Grass, D. H. Rearte

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. The rumen environment in cattle grazing high quality forage is different to that reported for cattle fed indoors with diets based on processed feedstuffs.
2. Temperate pasture is an excellent source of nutrients for ruminants but a high energy:protein imbalance can occur when it is offered at the stage of optimal digestion.
3. Beef and milk produced on grass in temperate regions have a composition with nutritional advantages over beef or milk produced in indoor systems based on concentrate.
4. Increasing water soluble carbohydrate content of grasses would diminish environmental contamination by reducing the excretion of urea through the urine.
5. Increasing …

Plant And Sward Characteristics To Achieve High Intake In Ruminants, W. J. Wales, C. R. Stockdale, P. T. Doyle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

1. Intake is affected by complex interactions between signals from the digestive tract, intermediary metabolism and energy supply, and behavioural signals associated with learned behaviours or sensory signals.
2. The ideal sward needs to have characteristics that are similar to total mixed rations to achieve high intake and animal performance.
3. Genetic manipulation of plants may offer an accelerated rate of plant improvement, but benefits need to be demonstrated in a systems context.

Overview Of Animal Production From Pastures In Ireland, M. J. Drennan, A. F. Carson, S. Crosse

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Key points

The importance of grassland to agriculture in Ireland is indicated by the fact that:

1. Sixty percent of agricultural output is from grassland as cattle, milk and sheep products.
2. Over 90% of the total farmed area is in grass.
3. Livestock are almost entirely dependent on grazed grass for 200 to 235 days of the year.
4. Grass conserved as silage is the main source of fodder in winter.
5. To improve competitiveness changes are continuously taking place, which include:

• increased suckler herd size and a movement to late maturing continental cattle breeds;
• movement in the dairy herd towards Holstein with increased …

Paternal Ages And Genetic Diseases And Congenital Anomalies, Neda Hamood

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

he purpose of this research is to investigate the link between Advanced Paternal Ages (APA) (i.e., APA ≥ 35 years and APA ≥ 50 years) and genetic diseases and congenital anomalies. Currently, the relationship between both APA and genetic diseases and congenital anomalies remains unclear. There is room for improvement, however, to investigate systematically the relationship between specific congenital anomalies in newborns and APA. More recently, the link between APA (as opposed to existing studies analyzing Advanced Maternal Age alone) and genetic diseases has been recognized by researchers, epidemiologists, and various health experts. Thus, this study serves to examine the …

Acquisition Of New Function Through Gene Duplication In The Metallocarboxypeptidase Family, Daniel Fajardo, Ritchie Saint Jean, Peter J. Lyons

Faculty Publications

Gene duplication is a key frst step in the process of expanding the functionality of a multigene family. In order to better understand the process of gene duplication and its role in the formation of new enzymes, we investigated recent duplication events in the M14 family of proteolytic enzymes. Within vertebrates, four of 23 M14 genes were frequently found in duplicate form. While AEBP1, CPXM1, and CPZ genes were duplicated once through a large-scale, likely whole-genome duplication event, the CPO gene underwent many duplication events within fsh and Xenopus lineages. Bioinformatic analyses of enzyme specifcity and conservation suggested a greater …

Dysregulation Of Mir-155 Expression In Professional Mixed Martial Arts (Mma) Fighters, Dominick Cabrera, Kayla Thompson, Julius D. Thomas, Corey Peacock, Jose Antonio, Jaime Tartar, Aurelien Tartar

Biology Faculty Articles

Psychological and physical stress can induce dysregulation of gene expression via changes in DNA methylation and microRNA (miRNA) expression. Such epigenetic modifications are yet to be investigated in professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters subject to highly stressful training involving repetitive head impacts. This study examined differences in DNA methylation and miRNA expression in elite MMA fighters compared to active controls. Global methylation differences between groups were assessed via a LINE-1 assay. At the same time, PCR arrays were used to estimate differential expression in samples of 21 fighters and 15 controls for 192 different miRNAs associated with inflammatory diseases. …

Factors Associated With Intensity Of Technology Adoption And With The Adoption Of 4 Clusters Of Precision Livestock Farming Technologies In Irish Pasture-Based Dairy Systems, P. Palma-Molina, T Hennessy, A. H. O'Connor, S. Onakuse, Niall O'Leary, B. Moran, L. Shalloo

Publications

Precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies have been widely promoted as important tools to improve the sustainability of dairy systems due to perceived economic, social, and environmental benefits. However, there is still limited information about the level of adoption of PLF technologies (percentage of farms with a PLF technology) and the factors (farm and farmer characteristics) associated with PLF technology adoption in pasture-based dairy systems. The current research aimed to address this knowledge gap by using a representative survey of Irish pasture-based dairy farms from 2018. First, we established the levels of adoption of 9 PLF technologies (individual cow activity sensors, …

Effect Of Carpobrotus Edulis Invasion History On Plant Communities, Claire Savage, Kelly Savage, Kane R. Keller

Western North American Naturalist

Invasive species can cause drastic changes to plant communities. In many cases, removal of invasive species fails to reverse these changes, perhaps due to side effects of removal strategies, changes that co-occurred with invasion, or legacy effects. Carpobrotus edulis is a notorious invasive species in Mediterranean-type climates around the world that alters plant communities and may generate legacy effects. We investigate the impact of C. edulis invasion, removal, and potential legacy effects on coastal plant communities. We assessed community composition, species richness, diversity, and native and exotic species cover at 5 sites differing in C. edulis invasion and removal history. …

A Diagnostic Framework For Reengineering Soil: Potential Strategies To Manage Combinations Of Soil Constraints For Sands And Texture Contrast Soils, Gaus Azam, Stephen Davies

Natural resources published reports

This report is an output of project DAW1902-003RTX ‘Reengineering soils to improve the access of crop root systems to water and nutrients stored in the subsoil’, supported by a co-investment between the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

Key messages:

• Existing soil amelioration options can generate substantial yield responses. However, further yield gain is possible with further improvement in soil amelioration strategies.

• Mapping of soil constraints and potential yield gaps using the water use efficiency achieved from a pilot reengineering experiment has identified a significant yield gap attributed …

Computational Investigation Of A Series Of Small Molecules As Potential Compounds For Lysyl Hydroxylase-2 (Lh2) Inhibition, Yazdan Maghsoud, Erik Antonio Vázquez-Montelongo, Xudong Yang, Chengwen Liu, Zhifeng Jing, Matthew Harger, Miguel Espinoza, Hou-Fu Guo, Jonathan M Kurie, Kevin N Dalby, Pengyu Ren, G Andrés Cisneros

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The catalytic function of lysyl hydroxylase-2 (LH2), a member of the Fe(II)/αKG-dependent oxygenase superfamily, is to catalyze the hydroxylation of lysine to hydroxylysine in collagen, resulting in stable hydroxylysine aldehyde-derived collagen cross-links (HLCCs). Reports show that high amounts of LH2 lead to the accumulation of HLCCs, causing fibrosis and specific types of cancer metastasis. Some members of the Fe(II)/αKG-dependent family have also been reported to have intramolecular O