Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

No Association Between An Oxytocin Receptor Genetic Variant And Depressive Symptoms, Rachel Sisley, Grace Sullivan, Scott Stoltenberg

UCARE: Research Products

• Depression has the greatest impact on daily functioning capability of all diseases and adversely effects individuals globally (Flint & Kendler, 2014). • Human capital value of these losses has been about $40 billion dollars annually (Kessler, 2012). • Analysis of the genetic and biological systems associated with depressive symptoms, such as the oxytocin system, could lead to identifying risk variants and possible treatment development. • Genetic Variation in OXTR is associated with a variation in depressive symptoms including low selfesteem, pessimism, and low self-efficacy, etc. (Conner et al., 2018). • The A allele of the SNP rs53576 is considered …

Examining Phenotypic Structural Traits As Indicators For Reproductive Longevity Success In Sows, Lindsay Kate Peters, Melanie Dawn Trenhaile-Grannemann, Benny Edd Mote

UCARE: Research Products

The objective of this study was to examine structure and body conformation traits of 494 gilts/sows as a prediction of reproductive longevity in sows. This study focused on specific traits including body length, body depth, front and rear pastern angles, knee angle, and hock angle. The primary method of data collection was based on videos. Still images were pulled from the videos when the sow was standing in a natural stance. The images were analyzed and interpreted objectively with Image J which gives the availability to measure distance and angles given known references in the images. The structural data was …

De Novo Frameshift Variants In The Neuronal Splicing Factor Nova2 Result In A Common C-Terminal Extension And Cause A Severe Form Of Neurodevelopmental Disorder, Francesca Mattioli, Gaelle Hayot, Nathalie Drouot, Bertrand Isidor, Jérémie Courraud, Maria-Victoria Hinckelmann, Frederic Tran Mau-Them, Chantal Sellier, Alica Goldman, Aida Telegrafi, Alicia Boughton, Candace Gamble, Sebastien Moutton, Angélique Quartier, Nolwenn Jean, Paul Van Ness, Sarah Grotto, Sophie Nambot, Ganka Douglas, Yue Cindy Si, Jamel Chelly, Zohra Shad, Elisabeth Kaplan, Richard Dineen, Christelle Golzio, Nicolas Charlet-Berguerand, Jean-Louis Mandel, Amélie Piton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The neuro-oncological ventral antigen 2 (NOVA2) protein is a major factor regulating neuron-specific alternative splicing (AS), previously associated with an acquired neurologic condition, the paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus ataxia (POMA). We report here six individuals with de novo frameshift variants in NOVA2 affected with a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability (ID), motor and speech delay, autistic features, hypotonia, feeding difficulties, spasticity or ataxic gait, and abnormal brain MRI. The six variants lead to the same reading frame, adding a common proline rich C-terminal part instead of the last KH RNA binding domain. We detected 41 genes differentially spliced after NOVA2 …

The Era Of Commercialized Genetics: Examining The Intersection Of Dna, Identity, And Personal Origin, Joanna Hutchins 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Mitochondrial Dna Diversity And Evolutionary History Of Native Human Populations Of Northwest Patagonia (Argentina), María Bárbara Postillone, Virginia Agustina Cobos, Celmira Urrutia, Cristina Beatriz Dejean, Paula N. Gonzalez, Sergio Ivan Perez, Valeria Bernal

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The genetic composition of Amerindian descendants from Patagonia has long been a focus of interest, although the information available is still scarce for many geographic areas. Here, we report the first analysis of the variation in the mtDNA control region for an area of northwestern Patagonia, the North of Neuquén, with the aim of studying the processes and historical events that modeled the evolutionary history of these human groups. We analyzed 113 individuals from two localities of northern Neuquén, along with 6 from southern Neuquén and 223 mtDNA sequences previously published from neighboring areas from Argentina and Chile. We estimated …

Full Issue-- Volume 3 Issue 1, 2020, Issue 1 Volume 3

Pursue: Undergraduate Research Journal

PURSUE: Undergraduate Research Journal

Volume 3 Issue 1, 2020

Article 1 - Harvesting Electrical Energy Produced by Electrogenic Bacteria in Microbial Fuel Cells

Article 2 – The Effects of Fertilizer Rate on the Growth of Egyptian Spinach in a Greenhouse

Article 3 – Exploring the Association Between Nutrition and Mental Health in Adolescence: A Systematic Literature Review

Article 4— Biological Pathways Associated with Wild and Domestic Animals

Transcriptomic Profiling Of Postmortem Prefrontal Cortex And Nucleus Accumbens From Chronic Alcohol Abusers., Eric S. Vornholt

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a debilitating psychiatric illness that develops from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While it is well documented that AUD is heritable, the shift from recreational alcohol use to abuse/dependence is poorly understood. In this dissertation, using postmortem brain tissue from individuals with alcohol dependence (AD), we profiled the genome-wide expression of circular RNA (circRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and messenger RNA (mRNA) to better understand the impact of gene expression on the development of AUD. To achieve this, we performed two independent studies that explore transcriptome differences between AD cases and controls. The first of …

The Effects Of Parental Factors And Personal Attributes On Birth Control Use Under The Genetic Influences Of 5-Httlpr Among Adolescents, Hyun-Jin Cho

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was (a) to examine relationships between parental influences and personal attributes on birth control use and (b) to identify genetic influences on such relationships by comparing the frequencies of common genetic variants—short allele vs. long allele—in 5-HTTLPR among adolescents (N = 5,852). Data from the Wave 1 and Wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to examine the birth control use of adolescents who were in 7th through 12th grade in 1994–1995. Multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analyses were used to identify the relationship among factors. Results did not find significant …

Association Between Maoa U Vntr Genetic Polymorphism And Aggression, Gender, And Race In Adolescents, Almaz Adair Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A genetic polymorphism found in the upstream region of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene upstream variable number tandem repeat (u VNTR) has been shown to have an influence on aggression with mixed results. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the association between the u VNTR genetic polymorphism of the MAOA gene and aggression in an adolescent population 13–18 years of age. The conceptual framework was based on the biosocial model of antisocial behavior that indicates genes can influence aggressive behaviors with or without environmental influences. Data (N = 2506) from the National Longitudinal Adolescents and Adult …

Sampling The Local Fare: Fishes At The Sam Israel House Pit (45gr76), Soap Lake, Washington, Adam Fruge

All Master's Theses

The Sam Israel site is a precontact archaeological complex with numerous fish bones at the north end of Soap Lake, Washington. Excavated in 1976, the fish remains recovered from there were never fully analyzed prior to this research. Since this inland Columbia Plateau site had thousands of fish bones, it contained untapped potential for our understanding of ancient local fish procurement. As such, I conducted a detailed analysis of 2,862 fish bone specimens from the Sam Israel House Pit locus to: study a larger sample of fish bones in greater detail than was done before; compare the distribution of fishes …

Genetic Evidence, Maoa, And State V. Yepez, Nita A. Farahany, Roderick T. Kennedy, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Foot And Udder Scoring On Cow And Calf Performance, Clayton Lee Mcguire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Foot soundness and udder conformation are essential for longevity in beef cattle. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of foot angle (FA), claw set (CS), teat size (TS) and udder suspension (US) scores on cowherd performance. Data were analyzed for 1,685 observations on Angus-based cows over a four-year period. At weaning FA, CS, TS, and US were evaluated. Scores are based on nine-point scales. A score of one indicates straight pasterns, divergent toes, enlarged bottle shaped teats, and absence of a median suspensory ligament; nine indicates weak pasterns, curled toes, small symmetrical teats, and a tight …

Aberrant Epigenomic Modulation Of Glucocorticoid Receptor Gene (Nr3c1) In Early Life Stress And Major Depressive Disorder Correlation: Systematic Review And Quantitative Evidence Synthesis, Laurens Holmes Jr., Emily Shutman, Chinacherem Chinaka, Kerti Deepika, Lavisha Palaez, Kirk W. Dabney

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Early life stress (ELS) induced by psychological trauma, child maltreatment, maternal separation, and domestic violence predisposes to psycho-behavioral pathologies during adulthood, namely major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, and bipolar affective disorder. While environmental data are available in illustrating this association, data remain to be established on the epigenomic underpinning of the nexus between ELS and MDD predisposition. Specifically, despite the observed aberrant epigenomic modulation of the NR3C1, a glucocorticoid receptor gene, in early social adversity and social threats in animal and human models, reliable scientific data for intervention mapping in reducing social adversity and improving human health is required. We …

How The Atacama Skeleton Might Advance Discussion Of Responsible Conduct Of Research Responsibilities, Thomas May, Mariko Nakano-Okuno

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Controversies resulting from genetic testing on skeletal remains of disputed stewardship raise important questions about obligations inherent on genetic researchers to assure ethical chain of custody. In this paper, we analyze and evaluate several proposed positions on whether such research should be published. Following jurisprudential standards for legitimate regulatory systems, we argue that responsible conduct of research requires reasonable attention to chain of custody, but cannot require guarantees, particularly in cases of ancient remains.

Genetic Overview Of The Maya Populations: Mitochondrial Dna Haplogroups, Angélica González-Oliver, Dircé Pineda-Vázquez, Ernesto Garfias-Morales, Isabel De La Cruz-Laina, Luis Medrano-González, Lourdes Márquez-Morfín, Allan Ortega-Muñoz

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

We identified the mitochondrial DNA haplogroups A, B, C and D in 75 present-day Maya individuals, 24 Maya individuals of the colonial period and one pre-Columbian Maya individual from Quintana Roo, Mexico. We examined these data together with those of 21 Maya populations accounting for 647 present-day Maya individuals and 104 ancient Maya individuals. A demographic study based on the analysis of fertility and endogamy was carried out in two modern Maya populations to identify cultural factors that influence the mitochondrial haplogroup genetic diversity. Most present-day and ancient Maya populations show a distribution pattern of mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies A, C, …

Genetic Variants Of Duffy And Hemoglobin S Genes In An Afrodescendent Population From Columbia, Diana C. Ortega, Heiber Cardenas, Guillermo Barreto

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Malaria is an endemic disease in a large part of Colombia, and the city of Buenaventura reports one of the highest malaria infection rates. Some genetic variants confer resistance to malaria, such as the heterozygote for hemoglobin S (HbS) and the homozygous variant FYB^ES/FYB^ES of the Duffy gene. The aim of this work was the molecular characterization of these genes in an afrodescendent population from the urban area of Buenaventura. A total of 819 individuals from a stratified random sampling in each of the 12 communities of this city were analysed. Molecular analysis was performed using PCR-RFLP, …

Complexity, Genetic Causation, And Hereditarianism, Charles Roseman

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Hereditarians have claimed that recent advances in psychological and psychiatric genetics support their contention that individual and group socially important aspects of behavior and cognition are largely insensitive to environmental context. This has been countered by anti- hereditarians who (correctly) claim that the conclusion of genetic ineluctability is false. Anti- hereditarians, however, sometimes use problematic arguments based on complexity and the ignorance that comes with complexity and a demand for mechanistic, as opposed to variational, explanations for the ways in which genes affect phenotype. I argue here, as a committed anti-hereditarian, that the complexity gambit and the demand for mechanisms …

Ontogenesis Of The Sella Turcica Among Egyptians: Forensic And Radiological Study, Wafaa Mohamed El-Sehly, Fatma Mohamed Magdy Badr El Dine, Mohamed Samir Shaban

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Introduction: The sella turcica has gained importance as a stable bony landmark in cephalometric studies.
Aim of the work: The aim of the work was to explore the changes that accompany postnatal ontogeny of the sella turcica until full development, and to verify its contribution in age estimation and sexual assignment among Egyptians.
Subjects and methods: Six selected measurements of the sella turcica of 215 Egyptian patients were assessed using Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT). The patients represented different ages and were referred to the Radiodiagnosis and Intervention Department. The gathered data were then subjected to statistical analysis including correlation and …

9th Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium, University Of Texas Md Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association

Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium Abstracts

The mission of the Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) is to provide a platform for talented postdoctoral fellows throughout the Texas Medical Center to present their work to a wider audience. The MD Anderson Postdoctoral Association convened its inaugural Annual Postdoctoral Science Symposium (APSS) on August 4, 2011.

The APSS provides a professional venue for postdoctoral scientists to develop, clarify, and refine their research as a result of formal reviews and critiques of faculty and other postdoctoral scientists. Additionally, attendees discuss current research on a broad range of subjects while promoting academic interactions and enrichment and developing new collaborations.

Decline In Telomere Length By Age And Effect Modification By Gender, Allostatic Load And Comorbidities In National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002), Saruna Ghimire, Carl V. Hill, Francisco S. Sy, Rachelle Rodriguez

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Background: This study aims to assess the decline in telomere length (TL) with age and evaluate effect modification by gender, chronic stress, and comorbidity in a representative sample of the US population. Methods: Cross-sectional data on 7826 adults with a TL measurement, were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, years 1999–2002. The population rate of decline in TL across 10-year age categories was estimated using crude and adjusted regression. Results: In an adjusted model, the population rate of decline in TL with age was consistent and linear for only three age categories: 20–29 (β = -0.0172, 95% …

Multi-Polygenic Risk Score Prediction Model For Bipolar Disorder, Travis Mize

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bipolar disorder (BP), a severe mental disorder characterized by recurring manic and depressive episodes, has been shown to have a strong genetic underpinning. Current theory suggests that it is the summation of risk alleles, spread across the entirety of the genome, which contributes to the development of BP, as well as other polygenic traits. The comorbid nature of these polygenic traits are often problematic for diagnosticians as the symptomology of the disorders may vary substantially between individuals and can create diagnostic confusion. To alleviate issues such as these, a more objective measure, to be used alongside current diagnostic procedures, is …

Probability, Populations, Phylogenetics And Hominin Speciation, Niccolo Caldararo

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

A number of recent articles have appeared on the hominin Denisova fossil remains. Many of them focus on attempts to produce DNA sequences from the extracted samples. Often these project mtDNA sequences from the fossil remains of a number of Neandertal fossils and the Denisovans in an attempt to understand the evolution of Mid Pleistocene human ancestors. These papers, introduce a number of problems in the interpretation of speciation in hominins. One concerns the degradation of the ancient DNA and its interpretation as authentic genetic information. Another concerns the idea of “species” versus that of “population” and the use of …

The Development And Use Of Computational Tools In Forensic Science, Dennis E. Slice

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Modern computational resources make available a rich toolkit of statistical methods that can be applied to forensic questions. This toolkit is built on the foundation of statistical developments dating back to the 19th century. To fully and effectively exploit these developments, both the makers and users of software must be keenly aware of the quality, i.e., the accuracy and precision, of the data being modeled or analyzed, and end-users must be sufficiently familiar with the underlying theory to understand the process and results of any analysis or software they use. This is especially important for medico-legal personnel who might be …

Engineering Mankind: The Sociopolitical Impact Of Eugenics In America, Megan Lee

Voces Novae

During the early twentieth century, the American eugenics movement prospered, spreading its influence within the sociopolitical framework of the United States. The notion of eugenics – the control of human breeding to increase desirable traits, was extensively propagated through the creation of sterilization laws and public programs. Eventually, the public came to view eugenics as a necessity in order to preserve and improve the quality of mankind for the future.

Rising Rural Body-Mass Index Is The Main Driver Of The Global Obesity Epidemic In Adults, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Et Al

Publications

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3,4,5,6. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to …

What Can We Do? Puzzling Over The Interpretation Of Heredity And Variation From Galton To Genetic Engineering, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

First six chapters of a book motivated as follows: When I had mentioned to colleagues that I was exploring some significant issues overlooked by both sides in nature-nurture debates, the typical response was “we know, of course, that nature and nurture are intertwined”; they never asked “which nature-nurture science are you referring to?” It occurred to me that, in the long history of nature-nurture debates, opposing sides had always assumed or implied that these different scientific approaches were speaking to the same issues. If that were the case, then the challenge—something I was already puzzling over—was how best to draw …

Dna Methylation Methods For Donor Age Prediction Using Touch Dna, Emily Neverett

Master's Theses

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated over 30 million individuals fall victim to human trafficking each year, of which, 50% are children below the age of 16. In 2012, the ILO reported there to be 168 million child laborers worldwide, with many trafficked into hazardous conditions to manufacture consumer products that are sold in developed countries. This is a modern form of slavery with poor working conditions, no access to education, and low wages. The hidden nature of this crime, however, makes it extremely difficult to identify and locate victims of forced child labor, and thus making it challenging to …

Racial Becoming: How Agentic (Self-Initiated) Encounter Events Inform Racial Identity Refinement, Devin A. Heyward

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Racial identity literature has typically focused on identity formation through a series of stages. It also has centered how the experience of negative encounter events informs racial identity formation. With the advent of new genealogical and genomic technology, it is imperative to expand the focus of identity literatures to include encounter events, which participants elect to experience (i.e. self-initiated or agentic encounter events). By using this frame, identity processes become fluid and informed by individual life experiences. In the context of this study, direct to consumer genetic ancestry tests (DTC-GAT) are operationalized as a self-initiated encounter event. Participants were …

Genetic Modification Of Animals: Scientific And Ethical Issues, Jarrod Bailey

Genetic Engineering and Cloning Collection

No abstract provided.

The Sucking Louse Fauna Of Mongolian Rodents: Host Associations, Molecular Phylogenetics And Description Of Two New Species, Chase N. Robinson

Honors College Theses

This study aimed to screen Mongolian rodents for sucking lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Anoplura) to better understand host-parasite associations for this understudied region. Nine species, including 3 previously undescribed, from 4 genera were identified. A molecular phylogeny based on 2 mitochondrial genes of collected louse specimens is included.