Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Isocaloric Substitution Of Plant-Based And Animal-Based Protein In Relation To Aging-Related Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review, Jiali Zheng, Tianren Zhu, Guanghuan Yang, Longgang Zhao, Fangyu Li, Yong-Moon Park, Fred K. Tabung, Susan E. Steck Phd, Mph, Rd, Xiaoguang Li, Hui Wang

Faculty Publications

Plant-based and animal-based protein intake have differential effects on various aging-related health outcomes, but less is known about the health effect of isocaloric substitution of plant-based and animal-based protein. This systematic review summarized current evidence of the isocaloric substitutional effect of plant-based and animal-based protein on aging-related health outcomes. PubMed and Embase databases were searched for epidemiologic observational studies published in English up to 15 March 2021. Studies that included adults ≥18 years old; use of a nutritional substitution model to define isocaloric substitution of plant protein and animal protein; health outcomes covering mortality, aging-related diseases or indices; and reported …

Using A Stochastic Continuous-Time Markov Chain Model To Examine Alternative Timing And Duration Of The Covid-19 Lockdown In Kuwait: What Can Be Done Now?, Mustafa Al-Zoughool, Tamer Oraby, Harri Vainio, Janvier Gasana, Joseph C. Longenecker, Walid Al Ali, Mohammad Alseaidan, Susie Elsaadany, Michael G. Tyshenko

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Kuwait had its first COVID-19 in late February, and until October 6, 2020 it recorded 108,268 cases and 632 deaths. Despite implementing one of the strictest control measures-including a three-week complete lockdown, there was no sign of a declining epidemic curve. The objective of the current analyses is to determine, hypothetically, the optimal timing and duration of a full lockdown in Kuwait that would result in controlling new infections and lead to a substantial reduction in case hospitalizations.

Methods

The analysis was conducted using a stochastic Continuous-Time Markov Chain (CTMC), eight state model that depicts the disease transmission and …

Lncrnafunc: A Knowledgebase Of Lncrna Function In Human Cancer, Mengyuan Yang, Huifen Lu, Jiajia Liu, Sijia Wu, Pora Kim, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The long non-coding RNAs associating with other molecules can coordinate several physiological processes and their dysfunction can impact diverse human diseases. To date, systematic and intensive annotations on diverse interaction regulations of lncRNAs in human cancer were not available. Here, we built lncRNAfunc, a knowledgebase of lncRNA function in human cancer at https://ccsm.uth.edu/lncRNAfunc, aiming to provide a resource and reference for providing therapeutically targetable lncRNAs and intensive interaction regulations. To do this, we collected 15 900 lncRNAs across 33 cancer types from TCGA. For individual lncRNAs, we performed multiple interaction analyses of different biomolecules including DNA, RNA, and protein levels. …

Fusiongdb 20: Fusion Gene Annotation Updates Aided By Deep Learning, Pora Kim, Hua Tan, Jiajia Liu, Haeseung Lee, Hyesoo Jung, Himanshu Kumar, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A knowledgebase of the systematic functional annotation of fusion genes is critical for understanding genomic breakage context and developing therapeutic strategies. FusionGDB is a unique functional annotation database of human fusion genes and has been widely used for studies with diverse aims. In this study, we report fusion gene annotation updates aided by deep learning (FusionGDB 2.0) available at https://compbio.uth.edu/FusionGDB2/. FusionGDB 2.0 has substantial updates of contents such as up-to-date human fusion genes, fusion gene breakage tendency score with FusionAI deep learning model based on 20 kb DNA sequence around BP, investigation of overlapping between fusion breakpoints with 44 human …

Upregulation Of Cd36, A Fatty Acid Translocase, Promotes Colorectal Cancer Metastasis By Increasing Mmp28 And Decreasing E-Cadherin Expression, James Drury, Piotr G. Rychahou, Courtney O. Kelson, Mariah E. Geisen, Yuanyuan Wu, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Eun Y. Lee, B. Mark Evers, Yekaterina Y. Zaytseva

Surgery Faculty Publications

Altered fatty acid metabolism continues to be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in cancer. We previously found that colorectal cancer (CRC) cells with a higher metastatic potential express a higher level of fatty acid translocase (CD36). However, the role of CD36 in CRC metastasis has not been studied. Here, we demonstrate that high expression of CD36 promotes invasion of CRC cells. Consistently, CD36 promoted lung metastasis in the tail vein model and GI metastasis in the cecum injection model. RNA-Seq analysis of CRC cells with altered expression of CD36 revealed an association between high expression of CD36 and upregulation …

Disinformation About Mental Health On Tiktok, Dani Graber, Anne Perrotti (Mentor)

Computer & Information Science: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Disinformation Detection and Analytics

No abstract provided.

Cardiovascular Applications Of Artificial Intelligence In Research, Diagnosis, And Disease Management, Viswanathan Rajagopalan, Houwei Cao

Center for No Boundary Thinking

Despite significant advancements in diagnosis and disease management, cardiovascular (CV) disorders remain the No. 1 killer both in the United States and across the world, and innovative and transformative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly employed in CV medicine. In this chapter, the authors introduce different AI and machine learning (ML) tools including support vector machine (SVM), gradient boosting machine (GBM), and deep learning models (DL), and their applicability to advance CV diagnosis and disease classification, and risk prediction and patient management. The applications include, but are not limited to, electrocardiogram, imaging, genomics, and drug research in different …

Sure 2022 Undergraduate Science Conference Booklet, Sure Network

Group Reports

The SURE 2022 Conference was the fifth series of Science Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Conferences. The conference took place on Friday, 14th October, 2022, co-hosted by SETU – Carlow campus and TU Dublin as a live Face2Face event running simultaneously in both venues on the same day. Students from throughout Ireland completing their Final Year Project in a science discipline in 2021-22 presented their undergraduate research work to this conference.

The aims of each of the SURE conferences are to:

• Provide current students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the work which has been undertaken by recent graduates, …

Development And Validation Of A Raman Spectroscopic Classification Model For Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia (Cin), Damien Traynor, Shiyamala Duraipandian, Ramya Bhatia, Kate Cuschieri, Prerna Tewari, Padraig Kearney, Tom D'Arcy, John J. O'Leary, Cara M. Martin, Fiona Lyng

Articles

The mortality associated with cervical cancer can be reduced if detected at the precancer stage, but current methods are limited in terms of subjectivity, cost and time. Optical spectroscopic methods such as Raman spectroscopy can provide a rapid, label-free and nondestructive measurement of the biochemical fingerprint of a cell, tissue or biofluid. Previous studies have shown the potential of Raman spectroscopy for cervical cancer diagnosis, but most were pilot studies with small sample sizes. The aim of this study is to show the clinical utility of Raman spectroscopy for identifying cervical precancer in a large sample set with validation in …

An Exploration In Health Analytics: Pediatric Burns, Care Policy Assessment And Interrupted Time Series, Chao Wang

2022

Healthcare systems globally face multiple challenges in the face of population growth and changes in disease pathology. With regard to the rising demand of the healthcare and the global threats of the pandemic, the medical datasets can be trained further to develop preventive methods. Meanwhile, policy reforms of health systems could be a critical aspect to deal with the public crisis and concerns. However, two basic problems must be addressed first: identification of key factors on a priority basis and evaluation of changes.

Thus, the paper presents a series of trials on the application of data analytics to health-related problems, …

Inflammatory Response To Sleep Fragmentation In Skeletal, Cardiac, And Smooth Muscle Tissues In Female Mice, Patton Allen

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Sleep is a critical process that the body undergoes. When sleep is interrupted, so that an individual is awakened for some period before going back into sleep, the sleep can be described as fragmented. Studies in the past have shown that sleep fragmentation (SF) promotes an inflammatory environment, especially in the brain and peripheral tissue. However, studies have not been conducted to observe inflammatory responses in muscle. To examine this, C57BL/6J female mice were subjected to either a control group (no SF) or a SF group which involved using an automated SF chamber to disrupt sleep every 2 min over …

Liability For Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Medicine, W. Nicholson Price, Sara Gerke, I. Glenn Cohen

Law & Economics Working Papers

While artificial intelligence has substantial potential to improve medical practice, errors will certainly occur, sometimes resulting in injury. Who will be liable? Questions of liability for AI-related injury raise not only immediate concerns for potentially liable parties, but also broader systemic questions about how AI will be developed and adopted. The landscape of liability is complex, involving health-care providers and institutions and the developers of AI systems. In this chapter, we consider these three principal loci of liability: individual health-care providers, focused on physicians; institutions, focused on hospitals; and developers.

Electroencephalogram Classification Of Brain States Using Deep Learning Approach, Hrishitva Patel

Computer Science Faculty Scholarship

The oldest diagnostic method in the field of neurology is electroencephalography (EEG). To grasp the information contained in EEG signals, numerous deep machine learning architectures have been developed recently. In brain computer interface (BCI) systems, classification is crucial. Many recent studies have effectively employed deep learning algorithms to learn features and classify various sorts of data. A systematic review of EEG classification using deep learning was conducted in this research, resulting in 90 studies being discovered from the Web of Science and PubMed databases. Researchers looked at a variety of factors in these studies, including the task type, EEG pre-processing …

Root Phenotyping Of Peptide-Treated Glycine Max, Salem Jackson, Fiona Goggin

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Plant elicitor peptides (Peps) – endogenous chains of amino acids involved in natural plant defense – have been shown to decrease damage from herbivores and pathogens by inducing an immune response, increasing the emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCS), transcripts, and metabolites. Exogenous treatment of soybean seeds with plant elicitor peptide GmPep3 has been shown to induce these broad-spectrum defenses and offers a new method for increasing crop yield. However, the effects of GmPep3 on indicators of soybean health – root characteristics, growth stages, etc. – have not been fully realized. Using the root-phenotyping platform RhizoVision Explorer, several root traits …

Peptidomics Analysis Reveals Changes In Small Urinary Peptides In Patients With Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome, Md Shadman Ridwan Abid, Haowen Qiu, Bridget Tripp, Aline De Lima Leite, Heidi E. Roth, Jiri Adamec, Robert Powers, James W. Checco

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a chronic and debilitating pain disorder of the bladder and urinary tract with poorly understood etiology. A definitive diagnosis of IC/BPS can be challenging because many symptoms are shared with other urological disorders. An analysis of urine presents an attractive and non-invasive resource for monitoring and diagnosing IC/BPS. The antiproliferative factor (APF) peptide has been previously identified in the urine of IC/BPS patients and is a proposed biomarker for the disorder. Nevertheless, other small urinary peptides have remained uninvestigated in IC/BPS primarily because protein biomarker discovery efforts employ protocols that remove small endogenous peptides. …

Long-Read Sequencing Of The Zebrafish Genome Reorganizes Genomic Architecture, Yelena Chernyavskaya, Xiaofei Zhang, Jinze Liu, Jessica Blackburn

Biostatistics Publications

Background

Nanopore sequencing technology has revolutionized the field of genome biology with its ability to generate extra-long reads that can resolve regions of the genome that were previously inaccessible to short-read sequencing platforms. Over 50% of the zebrafish genome consists of difficult to map, highly repetitive, low complexity elements that pose inherent problems for short-read sequencers and assemblers.

Results

We used long-read nanopore sequencing to generate a de novo assembly of the zebrafish genome and compared our assembly to the current reference genome, GRCz11. The new assembly identified 1697 novel insertions and deletions over one kilobase in length and placed …

Biomedical Applications Of Lanthanide Nanomaterials, For Imaging, Sensing And Therapy, Qize Zhang, Stephen O'Brien, Jan Grimm

Publications and Research

The application of nanomaterials made of rare earth elements within biomedical sciences continues to make significant progress. The rare earth elements, also called the lanthanides, play an essential role in modern life through materials and electronics. As we learn more about their utility, function, and underlying physics, we can contemplate extending their applications to biomedicine. This particularly applies to diagnosis and radiation therapy due to their relatively unique features, such as an ultra-wide Stokes shift in the luminescence, variable magnetism and potentially tunable properties, due to the library of lanthanides available and their multivalent oxidation state chemistry. The ability to …

No Panacea Attractant For Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa), But Season And Location Matter, Nathan P. Snow, Caitlin A. Kupferman, Michael J. Lavelle, Kim M. Pepin, Madeline H. Melton, Whitney J. Gann, Kurt C. Vercauteren, James C. Beasley

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a prolific invasive species throughout many regions of the world that cause extensive economic and environmental damage. Trapping is a common strategy for reducing their populations with baits (i.e., food) and attractants (e.g., scents) used to lure wild pigs into traps. However, there is little information on which scent attractants may attract wild pigs more readily and rapidly across regions and seasons. We examined 60 scent attractants for wild pigs that could be used to increase trapping success across three seasons (winter, spring, and fall) and in two geographic regions, including a warm …

Predation Thresholds For Reintroduction Of Native Avifauna Following Suppression Of Invasive Brown Treesnakes On Guam, Robert M. Mcelderry, Eben H. Paxton, Andre V. Nguyen, Shane R. Siers

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The brown treesnake (BTS) (Boiga irregularis) invasion on Guåhan (in English, Guam) led to the extirpation of nearly all native forest birds. In recent years, methods have been developed to reduce BTS abundance on a landscape scale. To help assess the prospects for the successful reintroduction of native birds to Guåhan following BTS suppression, we modeled bird population persistence based on their life history characteristics and relative sensitivity to BTS predation. We constructed individual-based models and simulated BTS predation in hypothetical founding populations for each of seven candidate bird species. We represented BTS predation risk in two steps: …

Conserving Endangered Black-Footed Ferrets: Biological Threats, Political Challenges, And Lessons Learned, Travis M. Livieri, Steven C. Forrest, Marc R. Matchett, Stewart Breck

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

There may be few stories in the annals of wildlife management that are as dramatic as the near demise and comeback of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). Endemic only to North America, this charming little carnivore found only in the continent’s central grasslands was hardly known to science until the mid-20th century. By then, vast colonies of the prey it depended on for food and shelter, the prairie dog (Cynomys spp.), had been wiped out through disease (sylvatic plague) and an agricultural industry with little tolerance for burrowing and grazing rodents. At its low point, the species’ …

A Multidisciplinary Collaboration Between Graphic Design And Physics Classes Responding To Covid-19, Szilvia Kadas, Eric M. Edlund

The SUNY Journal of the Scholarship of Engagement: JoSE

Students from graphic design and physics classes at SUNY Cortland collaborated during the spring semester of 2020 on a multidisciplinary project related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In these collaborations, the students’ individual contributions were part of a larger project that required a diverse skill set, through which students learned how different skills can complement their own disciplines. The graphic design and physics instructors applied a project-based learning philosophy applying the Common Problem Pedagogy (CPP) framework to construct student-teams composed of both disciplines. This project explored how coordinated social actions can allow the public to exercise control in uncertain times. Students …

Evaluation Of A Shortened Redon Fit Test Protocol For Half-Mask Respirators, Olivia Dawson, Riley Duncan, Leshan J. Kimbrough

Scholar's Day

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a shortened REDON method is as effective and accurate compared to the reference method when measuring respirator fit for elastomeric half-mask respirators using the Quantifit® CNP instrument.

Whole Exome Sequencing Identifies A Novel Mutation In Aspm And Ultra-Rare Mutation In Cdk5rap2 Causing Primary Microcephaly In Consanguineous Pakistani Families, Ehtisham Ul Haq Makhdoom, Haseeb Anwar, Shahid Mahmood Baig, Ghulam Hussain

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Background & objectives: Primary Microcephaly (MCPH) is a rare neurogenetic disease, manifesting congenitally reduced head circumference and non-progressive intellectual disability (ID). To date, twenty-eight genes with biallelic mutations have been reported for this disorder. The study aimed for molecular genetic characterization of Pakistani families segregating MCPH.
Methods: We studied two unrelated consanguineous families (family A and B) presenting >2 patients with diagnostic symptoms of MCPH, born to asymptomatic parents. We employed whole-exome sequencing (WES) of probands to find putative causal mutations. The candidate variants were further confirmed and analyzed for co-segregation by Sanger sequencing of all available members of each …

Surface Engineering For Controlled Growth And Deposition Of Nanomaterials - Assembly And Design At The Nano-Microscale, David Fox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Materials with nanoscale dimensions offer several important benefits over bulk materials (e.g. increased surface area, low-cost, deviation from bulk properties, etc.). Such materials are critical components for next-generation energy storage materials, optoelectronic devices, and catalyst systems. However, these materials are often processed in liquid media, and their diminutive structures are fragile in the presence of capillary forces. As such, preparing uniform and stable nanomaterial coatings is a significant challenge. Herein, we discuss an approach where the substrate itself is factored into the assembly and growth of these materials. First, nanoporous surfaces were utilized to achieve a uniform deposition of one-dimensional …

Digital Strategies To Improve The Performance Of Pharmaceutical Supply Chains, Manish Shashi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some supply chain managers at pharmaceutical companies lack strategies to digitalize integrated supply chain systems impacting their profitability. Digitalized supply chain management in a pharmaceutical company can help reduce operation costs, improve assets, enhance shareholders’ value, positively respond to customer demand, and generate profits. Guided by the theory of constraints, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies some pharmaceutical managers use to digitalize integrated supply chain systems to increase their profitability. The participants were five managers from four pharmaceutical companies in New Jersey with strategies to digitalize their integrated supply chain systems. Data collection included …

Tolle Lege Works Published In 2022, Mcquade Library

Bibliographies

Compiled Tolle Lege bibliography of works published by members of the Merrimack College Community in 2022. Works include journal articles, books, book chapters, conference presentations and posters, and more.

Academy Presidents And Institutional Members, Academy Editors

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Academy Editors

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Testicular Histology And Acystic Lobular Spermatogenesis In The Western Lesser Siren, Siren Intermedia Nettingi (Caudata: Sirenidae), Stanley E. Trauth

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

I investigated the seasonal testicular histology and acystic lobular spermatogenesis in the Western Lesser Siren, Siren intermedia nettingi, from periodic sampling of this salamander over a span of 21 yr (1994-2015) in northeastern Arkansas. My results include the following general findings: 1) the largest testicular lobules occurred primarily in January-February during spermiogenesis and spermatozoa maturation; 2) lobular regression and spermatogenic cell recrudescence were underway by late March; 3) proliferation of secondary spermatogonia in lobules was prominent in May; 4) transformation of secondary spermatogonia into primary spermatocytes occurred by mid-July, and these cells became larger in diameter through increased nuclear …

Increasing Nurse Leader Knowledge And Awareness Of Information And Communication Technologies, Cory Stephens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to the recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, rapid technological innovation and nursing practice transformation exposed a deepening divide in the knowledge and awareness of information and communication technologies (ICT) among nurses. This technological skills gap undermines the benefits of ICT to nursing practice such as increased nurse satisfaction, improved care quality, and reduced costs. Nurse leaders are positioned to promote the use of ICT among nurses but may suffer from the same knowledge deficit of ICT as their followers. Guided by Locsin’s technological competencies as caring in nursing theory, Staggers and Parks’ nurse-computer interaction framework, and Covell’s nursing intellectual …