Life Sciences Commons^™

Differential Progression Of Unhealthy Dietinduced Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Obese And Non-Obese Mice, Emma Hymel, Elizabeth M. Vlock, Kurt W. Fisher, Parashevi A. Farazi

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranks first among liver diseases in Western countries. NAFLD is typically associated with obesity and diabetes, however it also develops in lean individuals without metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of lean NAFLD is 7 percent in the U.S. and 25–30 percent in some Asian countries. NAFLD starts with excess liver fat accumulation (NAFL), progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The pathogenesis of lean NASH-HCC and how it differs from obese NASH-HCC is not well understood.

Methods

In this work, we generated a mouse model of lean and obese NASH-HCC using a …

Understanding Community Assembly Processes Of Foundation Species Within Hyper-Diverse Ecosystems, Carrie Barker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Foundation species provide the structure for other species and can significantly affect the composition and overall diversity within a community. Multiple foundation species can coexist within a community, and each can have differential impacts. My dissertation aims to understand the effects different foundation species have on diversity and the community assembly processes responsible for structuring diversity within their respective communities.

First, I quantified the diversity of groundcover plants within the prominent foundation species, bunchgrasses, (dominated by Shizachyrium scoparium) compared to groundcover plant diversity within patches of the alternative foundation species bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) and gallberry ( …

Whole Genome Association Study Of The Plasma Metabolome Identifies Metabolites Linked To Cardiometabolic Disease In Black Individuals, Usman A. Tahir, Daniel H. Katz, Julian Avila-Pachecho, Alexander G. Bick, Akhil Pampana, Jeremy M. Robbins, Zhi Yu, Zsu-Zsu Chen, Mark D. Benson, Daniel E. Cruz, Debby Ngo, Shuliang Deng, Xu Shi, Shuning Zheng, Aaron S. Eisman, Laurie Farrell, Michael E. Hall, Adolfo Correa, Russell P. Tracy, Peter Durda, Mark A. Sarzynski Ph.D., Faha, Facsm, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

Integrating genetic information with metabolomics has provided new insights into genes affecting human metabolism. However, gene-metabolite integration has been primarily studied in individuals of European Ancestry, limiting the opportunity to leverage genomic diversity for discovery. In addition, these analyses have principally involved known metabolites, with the majority of the profiled peaks left unannotated. Here, we perform a whole genome association study of 2,291 metabolite peaks (known and unknown features) in 2,466 Black individuals from the Jackson Heart Study. We identify 519 locus-metabolite associations for 427 metabolite peaks and validate our findings in two multi-ethnic cohorts. A significant proportion of these …

Differential Progression Of Unhealthy Dietinduced Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Obese And Non-Obese Mice, Emma Hymel, Elizabeth Vlock, Kurt W. Fisher, Paraskevi A. Farazi

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranks first among liver diseases in Western countries. NAFLD is typically associated with obesity and diabetes, however it also develops in lean individuals without metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of lean NAFLD is 7 percent in the U.S. and 25–30 percent in some Asian countries. NAFLD starts with excess liver fat accumulation (NAFL), progresses to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The pathogenesis of lean NASH-HCC and how it differs from obese NASH-HCC is not well understood.

Methods In this work, we generated a mouse model of lean and obese NASH-HCC using a …

Behavioural Support And Nicotine Replacement Therapy For Smokeless Tobacco Cessation: Protocol For A Pilot Randomised-Controlled Multi-Country Trial, Faraz Siddiqui, Linda Bauld, Ray Croucher, Cath Jackson, Ian Kellar, Mona Kanaan, Subhash Pokhrel, Rumana Huque, Romaina Iqbal, Javaid Ahmed Khan

Community Health Sciences

Background: Smokeless tobacco (ST) is consumed globally by more than 350 million people, with approximately 85% of all users based in South and Southeast Asia. In this region, ST products are cheap and easily accessible. Evidence-based interventions to people quit ST use are lacking. This study aims to test the feasibility of conducting a future definitive trial of ST cessation, using a culturally adapted behavioural intervention, and/or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in three South Asian countries.
Methods: We will conduct a factorial design, randomised-controlled pilot trial in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Daily ST users will be recruited from primary health …

Snapping Shrimp Have Helmets That Protect Their Brains By Dampening Shock Waves, Alexandra C.N. Kingston, Sarah A. Woodin, David S. Wethey, Daniel Isaac Speiser

Faculty Publications

Shock waves are supersonic high-amplitude pressure waves that cause barotrauma when they transfer kinetic energy to the tissues of animals.1, 2, 3, 4 Snapping shrimp (Alpheidae) produce shock waves and are exposed to them frequently, so we asked if these animals have evolved mechanisms of physical protection against them. Snapping shrimp generate shock waves by closing their snapping claws rapidly enough to form cavitation bubbles that release energy as an audible “snap” and a shock wave when they collapse.5, 6, 7, 8 We tested if snapping shrimp are protected from shock waves by a helmet-like extension of their exoskeleton termed …

Lysyl Hydroxylase 2 Mediated Collagen Post-Translational Modifications And Functional Outcomes, Masahiko Terajima, Yuki Taga, Tomoyuki Nakamura, Hou-Fu Guo, Yukako Kayashima, Kshitij Parag-Sharma, Antonio L Amelio, Kazunori Mizuno, Jonathan M Kurie, Mitsuo Yamauchi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lysyl hydroxylase 2 (LH2) is a member of LH family that catalyzes the hydroxylation of lysine (Lys) residues on collagen, and this particular isozyme has been implicated in various diseases. While its function as a telopeptidyl LH is generally accepted, several fundamental questions remain unanswered: 1. Does LH2 catalyze the hydroxylation of all telopeptidyl Lys residues of collagen? 2. Is LH2 involved in the helical Lys hydroxylation? 3. What are the functional consequences when LH2 is completely absent? To answer these questions, we generated LH2-null MC3T3 cells (LH2KO), and extensively characterized the type I collagen phenotypes in comparison with controls. …

Precision Irrigation Guide For Center Pivots, Elisa Flint, Matt Yost, Troy Peters, Clara Anderson, Burdette Barker, Neil Hansen

All Current Publications

This factsheet discusses the different variable rate irrigation (VRI) options for center pivots, when they might reduce water use and energy, produce higher crop yields, and when it might be unreasonable to expect these kinds of benefits.

Niche Overlap In Sympatric Rocio (Teleostei: Cichlidae) Of Guatemala, Cesar Estuardo Fuentes Montejo

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Rocio is a small genus of Neotropical freshwater fishes that is distributed in Atlantic drainages of northern Middle America. Two species in the genus exhibit sympatry in the Río Dulce basin (in Izabal, Guatemala), where one species is endemic (R. spinosissima), while the other only includes this area as part of a larger geographic range (R. octofasciata). Unfortunately, the ecology of these species has been poorly studied. This study sought to determine the ecological and morphological differences between these two closely related sympatric freshwater fishes. We hypothesized that R. octofasciata would exhibit greater ecological and morphological …

Temperature Effects On The Development Of The Axial Skeleton And Body Shape In Astyanax Mexicanus (Teleostei: Characidae), Joseph David Forberg

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Humans are causing large-scale changes in environmental conditions across the planet including in temperature. Changes in the environmental conditions can lead to phenotypic changes in ectotherms that affect adaptively important traits like body shape and the axial skeleton. Previous studies have shown that temperature changes during development significantly affects body shape and vertebral number in the Mexican tetra Astyanax mexicanus. How these changes arise early in development is not clear. In this study, I examine how changes in developmental temperature affect body shape in larval and juvenile fish, the order of ossification of elements of the axial skeleton, the size …

Characterization Of A Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia Bacteriophage, Edward Eshoo

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous Gram-negative, multidrug resistant, opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes various infections in humans. Recently, the use of bacteriophages as therapeutic agents, has gained interest as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. This thesis describes the isolation, purification, and characterization of S. maltophilia bacteriophage Bfi2 and discusses its activity against related, and often co-isolated, bacterial pathogens. Amplification of the phage resulted in clear, well-defined plaques and a titer of 1.73 ± 0.38 x 1011 PFU/ml. Bfi2 demonstrated the ability to lyse 55% of the S. maltophilia strains tested, suggesting that it has a moderate host range. However, the …

Analysis On Development And Risks Of China’S Food Production During 14th Five-Year Plan Period, Cuihong Yang, Kang Lin, Xiang Gao, Xikang Chen, Shouyang Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Food security is crucial to national security. Thus, it is an urgent task to figure out the potential risks that threaten China's food security during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and how to cope with those risks. This paper provides an outlook for the development of China's food production during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and then points out the potential risks faced by food production. The paper demonstrates that China's food production will achieve a steady development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and the grain output will reach more than 690 Mt by the end of the 14th …

Practical Approaches To Improve Vancomycin-Related Patient Outcomes In Pediatrics- An Alternative Strategy When Auc/Mic Is Not Feasible, Kashif Hussain, Muhammad Sohail Salat, Shahzad Rauf, Manoj Rathi, Midhat Khan, Fizzah Naz, Wasif Ahmed Khan, Rahila Ikram, Gul Ambreen

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background: Anecdotal experience and studies have shown that most pediatric patients fail to reach target therapeutic vancomycin trough levels (VTLs) and required higher total daily doses (TDD). This retrospective study aims to evaluate the frequency of hospitalized children who achieved target VTLs with a vancomycin (VNCO) dosing regimen of 40-60 mg/kg/d q6h and to assess the VNCO-TDD required to attain the target and their effects on clinical outcomes in pediatric patients.
Methods: After ethical approval, patients of 3 month-12 years were evaluated in this chart review study who received ≥ 3 intravenous-VNCO doses and appropriately drawn blood samples of VTLs …

Obesity As A Risk Factor For Covid-19, Gabriela Hermes, Mir Saleem

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

The coronavirus pandemic has presented a wide range of challenges for healthcare systems in the world. COVID-19 has infected millions of people, with approximately 90% of the population showing mild or no symptoms. The disease has some risk factors that increase its severity, such as obesity, age, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, suppressed immune system, and pulmonary disorders. Obese individuals have higher chances of having symptomatic COVID-19 infection with excessive rates of hospitalization and ICU admission. Understanding the mechanisms defining the link between COVID-19 and obesity is necessary to develop preventive measures and therapeutic interventions for people with obesity. Patients with obesity …

The Transcriptional Regulator Ctra Controls Gene Expression In Alphaproteobacteria Phages: Evidence For A Lytic Deferment Pathway, Elia Mascolo, Satish Adhikari, Steven M. Caruso, Tagide Decarvalho, Anna Folch Salvador, Joan Serra-Sagristà, Ry Young, Ivan Erill, Patrick D. Curtis

Faculty and Student Publications

Pilitropic and flagellotropic phages adsorb to bacterial pili and flagella. These phages have long been used to investigate multiple aspects of bacterial physiology, such as the cell cycle control in the Caulobacterales. Targeting cellular appendages for adsorption effectively constrains the population of infectable hosts, suggesting that phages may have developed strategies to maximize their infective yield. Brevundimonas phage vB_BsubS-Delta is a recently characterized pilitropic phage infecting the Alphaproteobacterium Brevundimonas subvibrioides. Like other Caulobacterales, B. subvibrioides divides asymmetrically and its cell cycle is governed by multiple transcriptional regulators, including the master regulator CtrA. Genomic characterization of phage vB_BsubS-Delta identified the presence …

Diving Into The Vertical Dimension Of Elasmobranch Movement Ecology, Samantha Andrzejaczek, Tim C. D. Lucas, Maurice C. Goodman, Nigel E. Hussey, Amelia J. Armstrong, Aaron B. Carlisle, Daniel M. Coffey, Adrian C. Gleiss, Charlie Huveneers, David M. P. Jacoby, Mark G. Meekan, Johann Mourier, Lauren R. Peel, Katya Abrantes, Andre S. Afonso, Matthew J. Ajemian, Brooke N. Anderson, Scot D. Anderson, Gonzalo Araujo, Asia O. Armstrong, Pascal Bach, Adam Barnett, Mike B. Bennett, Natalia P. A. Bezerra, Ramon Bonfil, Andre M. Boustany, Heather D. Bowlby, Ilka Branco, Carmin D. Braun, Edward J. Brooks, Judith Brown, Patrick J. Burke, Paul Butcher, Michael Castleton, Taylor K. Chapple, Olivier Chateau, Maurice Clarke, Rui Coelho, Enric Cortes, Lydie I. E. Couturier, Paul D. Cowley, Donald A. Croll, Juan M. Cuevas, Tobey H. Curtis, Laurent Dagorn, Jonathan J. Dale, Ryan Daly, Heidi Dewar, Philip D. Doherty, Andres Domingo, Alistair D. M. Dove, Michael Drew, Christine L. Dudgeon, Clinton A. J. Duffy, Riley G. Elliott, Jim R. Ellis, Mark V. Erdmann, Thomas J. Farrugia, Luciana C. Ferreira, Francesco Ferretti, John D. Filmalter, Brittany Finucci, Chris Fischer, Richard Fitzpatrick, Fabien Forget, Kerstin Forsberg, Malcolm P. Francis, Bryan R. Franks, Austin J. Gallagher, Felipe Galva-Magana, Mirta L. Garcia, Troy F. Gaston, Bronwyn M. Gillanders, Matthew J. Gollock, Jonathan R. Green, Sofia Green, Christopher A. Griffiths, Neil Hammerschlag, Abdi Hasan, Lucy A. Hawkes, Fabio H.V. Hazin, Matthew Heard, Alex Hearn, Suzanne M. Henderson, John C. Holdsworth, Kim N. Holland, Lucy A. Howey, Robert E. Hueter, Nicolas E. Humphries, Melanie Hutchinson, Fabrice R. A. Jaine, Salvador J. Jorgensen, Paul E. Kanive, Jessica Labaja, Fernanda O. Lana, Hugo Lassauce, Rebecca S. Lipscombe, Fiona Llewellyn, Bruno C. L. Macena, Ronald Mambrasar, Jaime D. Mcallister, Sophy R. Mccully Phillips, Frazer Mcgregor, Matthew N. Mcmillan, Lianne M. Mcnaughton, Sibele A. Mendonça, Carl G. Meyer, Megan Meyers, John A. Mohan, John C. Montgomery, Gonzalo Mucientes, Michael K. Musyl, Nicole Nasby-Lucas, Lisa Natanson, John B. O'Sullivan, Paulo Oliveira, Yannis P. Papastamatiou, Toby A. Patterson, Simon J. Pierce, Nuno Queiroz, Craig A. Radford, Andy J. Richardson, Anthony J. Richardson, David Righton, Christoph A. Rohner, Mark A. Royer, Ryan A. Saunders, Matthias Schaber, Robert J. Schallert, Michael C. Scholl, Andrew C. Seitz, Jayson M. Semmens, Edy Setyawan, Brendan D. Shea, Rafid A. Shidqi, George Shillinger, Oliver N. Shipley, Mahmood Shivji, Abraham B. Sianipar, Joana F. Silva, David W. Sims, Gregory B. Skomal, Lara L. Sousa, Emily J. Southall, Julia L. Y. Spaet, Killian M. Stehfest, Guy Stevens, Joshua D. Stewart, James Sulikowski, Ismail Syakurachman, Simon R. Thorrold, Michele Thums, David Tickler, Mariana T. Tolloti, Kathy A. Townsend, Paulo Travassos, John P. Tyminski, Jeremy Vaudo, Drausio Veras, Laurent Wantiez, Sam B. Weber, R.J. David Wells, Kevin C. Weng, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Jane E. Williamson, Matthew J. Witt, Serena Wright, Kelly Zilliacus, Barbara A. Block, David J. Curnick

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Knowledge of the three-dimensional movement patterns of elasmobranchs is vital to understand their ecological roles and exposure to anthropogenic pressures. To date, comparative studies among species at global scales have mostly focused on horizontal movements. Our study addresses the knowledge gap of vertical movements by compiling the first global synthesis of vertical habitat use by elasmobranchs from data obtained by deployment of 989 biotelemetry tags on 38 elasmobranch species. Elasmobranchs displayed high intra- and interspecific variability in vertical movement patterns. Substantial vertical overlap was observed for many epipelagic elasmobranchs, indicating an increased likelihood to display spatial overlap, biologically interact, and …

Mechanisms Of Carbapenemase-Mediated Resistance Among High-Risk Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Lineages In Peru, Isabella A. Tickler, Juan Carlos Gomez De La Torre, Luis Alvarado, Anne E. Obradovich, Fred C. Tenover

Biology Faculty Publications

Objectives: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections globally. High-risk carbapenemase-encoding P. aeruginosa clones are disseminating in many regions. The aim of this study was to learn more about the lineages and mechanisms of resistance of P. aeruginosa circulating in Peru.

Methods: A total of 141 carbapenemase-producing isolates recovered from hospitalized and ambulatory patients in Lima were sequenced and analyzed to infer their lineages through whole-genome sequence typing (wgST) and to identify their antimicrobial resistance genes.

Results: wgST identified nine sequence types (STs); ST111 and ST357 were the most frequently encountered (44.0% and 38.3%, respectively), followed …

Intermediates In Sars-Cov-2 Spike–Mediated Cell Entry, Tara C. Marcink, Thomas Kicmal, Emily Armbruster, Zhening Zhang, Gillian Zipursky, Kate L. Golub, Mohab Idris, Jonathan Khao, Jennifer Drew-Bear, Gael Mcgill, Tom Gallagher, Matteo Porotto, Amédée Des Georges, Anne Moscona

Advanced Science Research Center

SARS-CoV-2 cell entry is completed after viral spike (S) protein–mediated membrane fusion between viral and host cell membranes. Stable prefusion and postfusion S structures have been resolved by cryo–electron microscopy and cryo–electron tomography, but the refolding intermediates on the fusion pathway are transient and have not been examined. We used an antiviral lipopeptide entry inhibitor to arrest S protein refolding and thereby capture intermediates as S proteins interact with hACE2 and fusion-activating proteases on cell-derived target membranes. Cryo–electron tomography imaged both extended and partially folded intermediate states of S2, as well as a novel late-stage conformation on the pathway to …

Editorial: Mitochondria, Metabolism And Cardiovascular Diseases, Jun-Ichiro Koga, Xinghui Sun, Masuko Ushio-Fukai

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) Ecology In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico And The Effect Of Variable River Outflow Using Stable Isotope Analysis Of The Food Web And Eye Lenses, Caitlin C. Slife

Dissertations

In the Mississippi Bight and surrounding waters, river outflow impacts the basal resources of the Red Snapper food web, altering carbon sources and impacting prey and predator isotopes. In this study, the impact of riverine outflow on nutrients, particulate organic matter (POM), and physical water parameters on Red Snapper and their food web was analyzed using stable isotope and stomach content analysis over 5 years. The Mississippi, Pearl, Pascagoula, and Mobile rivers were included in the analysis of river impact. The Mississippi and Mobile rivers were found to significantly impact nutrients and POM in the region. River outflow was also …

Consequences Of Biofilm Architecture On Vibrio Cholerae Ecology And Life History, Benjamin Ray Wucher

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The diversity of microbes and the environments they inhabit are staggering. In many of these environments, bacteria have evolved to form sessile surface attached communities called biofilms. These biofilms have wide reaching impacts from importance in global carbon cycling, to persistent catheter infections, to biofouling and wastewater treatment. While many species of microbes form biofilms to survive in their environment, the architectures of these structures vary widely between organisms. Even though a great deal of work has been done to understand bacterial communities and their functions, little work has examined how the spatial aspects of biofilm architecture can affect the …

Genome Architecture And Diverged Selection Shaping Pattern Of Genomic Differentiation In Wild Barley, Wenying Zhang, Cong Tan, Haifei Hu, Rui Pan, Yuhui Xiao, Kai Ouyang, Yong Jia, Xiao-Qi Zhang, Camilla Hill, Penghao Wang, Brett Chapman, Yong Han, Gaofeng Zhou, Le Xu, Yanhao Xu, Tefera Angessa, Hao Luo, Sharon Westcott, Darshan Sharma, Eviatar Nevo, Roberto Barrero, Matthew I. Bellgard, Tianhua He, Xiaohai Tian, Chengdao Li

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Divergent selection of populations in contrasting environments leads to functional genomic divergence. However, the genomic architecture underlying heterogeneous genomic differentiation remains poorly understood. Here, we de novo assembled two high-quality wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum K. Koch) genomes and examined genomic differentiation and gene expression patterns under abiotic stress in two populations. These two populations had a shared ancestry and originated in close geographic proximity but experienced different selective pressures due to their contrasting micro-environments. We identified structural variants that may have played significant roles in affecting genes potentially associated with well-differentiated phenotypes such as flowering time and drought response between …

Human Total, Basal And Activity Energy Expenditures Are Independent Of Ambient Environmental Temperature, Xueying Zhang, Yosuke Yamada, Hiroyuki Sagayama, Philip N Ainslie, Ellen E Blaak, Maciej S Buchowski, Graeme L Close, Jamie A Cooper, Sai Krupa Das, Lara R Dugas, Michael Gurven, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Sumei Hu, Noorjehan Joonas, Peter Katzmarzyk, William E Kraus, Robert F Kushner, William R Leonard, Corby K Martin, Erwin P Meijer, Marian L Neuhouser, Robert M Ojiambo, Yannis P Pitsiladis, Guy Plasqui, Ross L Prentice, Susan B Racette, Eric Ravussin, Leanne M Redman, Rebecca M Reynolds, Susan B Roberts, Luis B Sardinha, Analiza M Silva, Eric Stice, Samuel S Urlacher, Edgar A Van Mil, Brian M Wood, Alexia J Murphy-Alford, Cornelia Loechl, Amy H Luke, Jennifer Rood, Dale A Schoeller, Klaas R Westerterp, William W Wong, Herman Pontzer, John R Speakman, Iaea Dlw Database Consortium

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Lower ambient temperature (Ta) requires greater energy expenditure to sustain body temperature. However, effects of Ta on human energetics may be buffered by environmental modification and behavioral compensation. We used the IAEA DLW database for adults in the USA (n = 3213) to determine the effect of Ta (−10 to +30°C) on TEE, basal (BEE) and activity energy expenditure (AEE) and physical activity level (PAL). There were no significant relationships (p > 0.05) between maximum, minimum and average Ta and TEE, BEE, AEE and PAL. After adjustment for fat-free mass, fat mass and age, statistically significant (p < 0.01) relationships between TEE, BEE and Ta emerged in females but the effect sizes were not biologically meaningful. Temperatures inside buildings are regulated at 18–25°C independent of latitude. Hence, adults in the US modify their environments to keep TEE constant across a wide range of external ambient temperatures.

Phase 2 Of Extracellular Rna Communication Consortium Charts Next-Generation Approaches For Extracellular Rna Research, Bogdan Mateescu, Jennifer C Jones, Roger P Alexander, Eric Alsop, Ji Yeong An, Alex Boomgarden, Alfonso Cayota, Hsueh-Chia Chang, Al Charest, Daniel T Chiu, Robert J Coffey, Saumya Das, Peter De Hoff, Andrew Demello, Crislyn D'Souza-Schorey, David Elashoff, Kiarash R Eliato, Jeffrey L Franklin, David J Galas, Mark B Gerstein, Ionita H Ghiran, David B Go, Stephen Gould, Tristan R Grogan, James N Higginbotham, Florian Hladik, Tony Jun Huang, Xiaoye Huo, Elizabeth Hutchins, Dennis K Jeppesen, Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman, Betty Y S Kim, Sung Kim, Kyoung-Mee Kim, Yong Kim, Robert R Kitchen, Vaughan Knouse, Emily L Laplante, Carlito B Lebrilla, L James Lee, Kathleen M Lennon, Guoping Li, Feng Li, Tieyi Li, Tao Liu, Zirui Liu, Adam L Maddox, Kyle Mccarthy, Bessie Meechoovet, Nalin Maniya, Yingchao Meng, Aleksandar Milosavljevic, Byoung-Hoon Min, Amber Morey, Martin Ng, John Nolan, Getulio P De Oliveira Junior, Michael E Paulaitis, Tuan Anh Phu, Robert L Raffai, Eduardo Reátegui, Matthew E Roth, David A Routenberg, Joel Rozowsky, Joseph Rufo, Satyajyoti Senapati, Sigal Shachar, Himani Sharma, Anil K Sood, Stavros Stavrakis, Alessandra Stürchler, Muneesh Tewari, Juan P Tosar, Alexander K Tucker-Schwartz, Andrey Turchinovich, Nedyalka Valkov, Kendall Van Keuren-Jensen, Kasey C Vickers, Lucia Vojtech, Wyatt N Vreeland, Ceming Wang, Kai Wang, Zeyu Wang, Joshua A Welsh, Kenneth W Witwer, David T W Wong, Jianping Xia, Ya-Hong Xie, Kaichun Yang, Mikołaj P Zaborowski, Chenguang Zhang, Qin Zhang, Angela M Zivkovic, Louise C Laurent

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The extracellular RNA communication consortium (ERCC) is an NIH-funded program aiming to promote the development of new technologies, resources, and knowledge about exRNAs and their carriers. After Phase 1 (2013-2018), Phase 2 of the program (ERCC2, 2019-2023) aims to fill critical gaps in knowledge and technology to enable rigorous and reproducible methods for separation and characterization of both bulk populations of exRNA carriers and single EVs. ERCC2 investigators are also developing new bioinformatic pipelines to promote data integration through the exRNA atlas database. ERCC2 has established several Working Groups (Resource Sharing, Reagent Development, Data Analysis and Coordination, Technology Development, nomenclature, …

Computational Study On The Effectiveness Of Flavonoids From Marsilea Crenata C. Presl As Potent Sirt1 Activators And Nfκb Inhibitors, Sri Rahayu, Sasangka Prasetyawan, Sri Widyarti, Mochammad Fitri Atho’Illah, Gatot Ciptadi

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Ovarian aging is a natural process in females, and it occurs due to an elevated ROS-induced inflammation caused by oxidative stress. SIRT-1 is a metabolic sensor that tightly regulates oxidative and inflammatory responses. However, this regulative function is antagonized by NFκB. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the pathways involved in aging and identify the flavonoid compounds from Marsilea crenata that might be useful as SIRT1 activators and NFκB inhibitors. The screening began with exploring the protein-protein interaction in the experimental process using BioGrid, and the role of the flavonoid was evaluated using STITCH. The interaction between …

Molecular Characterization Of Esbls And Ampc Β-Lactamases In Bacteria Isolated From Currency Notes Circulating In Mosul City, Iraq, Mahmood Zeki Al-Hasso, Shakir Ghazi Gergees, Zahraa Khairialdeen Mohialdeen

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The Iraqi currency notes circulating in Mosul city were evaluated for the occurrence of ESBLs and AmpC b-lactamaseproducing bacteria. Four hundred and twenty-two Gram-positive and negative bacterial isolates with different antimicrobial resistance profiles were recovered from 250 samples collected during the period from April to July 2021, among which 150 isolates (35.5%) were multi-drug resistant (MDR). The study found that 16.4% and 14.8% of Gram negative isolates were positive for ESBLs and AmpC phenotypic detection tests, respectively. Interestingly, 6.6% of the isolates were simultaneously positive for both tests. Molecular characterization was carried out using PCR technique to determine the prevalent …

Molecular Docking And Dynamics Simulation Studies To Predict Multiple Medicinal Plants’ Bioactive Compounds Interaction And Its Behavior On The Surface Of Denv-2 E Protein, Arief Hidayatullah, Wira Eka Putra, Muhaimin Rifa’I, Sustiprijatno Sustiprijatno, Diana Widiastuti, Muhammad Fikri Heikal, Hendra Susanto, Wa Ode Salma, Hilal Mulyadi

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The envelope protein (E) is a fusion class II protein that is essential for DENV fusion. We use two active compounds derived from commonly used plants in Indonesia: galangin and kaempferide. We ran a docking and 1000 ps molecular dynamic analysis with normal physiological parameters. During the simulation, galangin and kaempferide binding sites fluctuated. But chloroquine has lesser ligand mobility, hence keeping contact with fusion loops, whereas both drugs lose contact with hydrophobic pockets. However, the two active compounds have a more stable ligand configuration. Less than 2 Å alterations were seen in the RMSF simulation of the protein E …

Alfalfa Establishment And Management In South Carolina, Liliane Silva, Michael Mrshall, Jeremy Greene, Matias Aguerre

Livestock and Forages

Alfalfa is a perennial legume with high forage quality that can be used under grazing or hay management. This publication outlines establishment and management recommendations for alfalfa plantings in South Carolina.

Understanding Across The Senses: Cross-Modal Studies Of Cognition In Cetaceans, Jason N. Bruck, Adam A. Pack

Faculty Publications

Cross-modal approaches to the study of sensory perception, social recognition, cognition, and mental representation have proved fruitful in humans as well as in a variety of other species including toothed whales in revealing equivalencies that suggest that different sensory stimuli associated with objects or individuals may effectively evoke mental representations that are, respectively, object based or individual based. Building on established findings of structural equivalence in the form of spontaneous recognition of complex shapes across the modalities of echolocation and vision and behavior favoring identity echoic–visual cross-modal relationships over associative echoic–visual cross-modal relationships, examinations of transitive inference equivalencies from initially …

Microbial Dimension Of Symbiosis And Dysbiosis In Fungus–Gardening Ants, Blake S. Bringhurst

Biology Theses

With symbiotic partners, the means by which a host obtain a symbiont influence the specificity between the host and the symbiont. One such system where symbiont specificity is seen to varying degrees is with higher attine ants. Higher attine ants have symbiotic relationships with the fungal cultivar they grow and the bacterial symbionts in their microbiomes. Among the higher attines, there are two broad groups of fungi. Most ants in the genus Trachymyrmex tend to grow Clade–B fungi, which are a group of undescribed Leucocoprinus species, while leaf–cutting ants in the genera Acromyrmex and Atta tend to grow Clade–A fungi …