Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Microdialysis Studies Using Porcine Pancreatic Elastase To Guide Mathematical Modeling Of Microdialysis Sampling For In Vivo Measurements., Mason W. Young

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Microdialysis sampling uses a semi-permeable membrane to allow solute collection by diffusion. When used in conjunction with other instruments, analytes in question can be quantified. Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs) are enzymes involved in numerous biological processes where they serve the role of degrading extracellular matrix. Microdialysis sampling, in coordination with further analysis methods, can be used in order to measure the activity of these enzymes in a region of the body instantaneously. The intention of this project is to determine ways of measuring in vitro activity of elastase from porcine pancreas using determined activity values and the collection of elastase products. …

Aberrant Dna Methylation: Implications In Racial Health Disparity, Xuefeng Wang, Ping Ji, Yuanhao Zhang, Joseph F. Lacomb, Xinyu Tian, Ellen Li, Jennie L. Williams

Department of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Background Incidence and mortality rates of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) are higher in African Americans (AAs) than in Caucasian Americans (CAs). Deficient micronutrient intake due to dietary restrictions in racial/ethnic populations can alter genetic and molecular profiles leading to dysregulated methylation patterns and the inheritance of somatic to germline mutations. Materials and Methods Total DNA and RNA samples of paired tumor and adjacent normal colon tissues were prepared from AA and CA CRC specimens. Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS) and RNA sequencing were employed to evaluate total genome methylation of 5’-regulatory regions and dysregulation of gene expression, respectively. Robust analysis was …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2016, 136th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Sixth Annual Meeting

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Earth Science

Biological and Medical Sciences

Anthropology

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Environmental Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

Maiben Memorial Lecture: Juliane Soukup, “Riboswitches Turn Students onto Research” Teaching of Science and Mathematics

Applied Science and Technology

History and Philosophy of Science

2016 - The Twenty-First Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Twenty-first Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 21, 2016. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Molecular Mechanism Of Protein Kinase Recognition And Sorting By The Hsp90 Kinome-Specific Cochaperone Cdc37, Dimitra Keramisanou, Adam Aboalroub, Ziming Zhang, Wenjun Liu, Devon Marshall, Andrea Diviney, Randy W. Larsen, Ralf Landgraf, Ioannis Gelis

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Despite the essential functions of Hsp90, little is known about the mechanism that controls substrate entry into its chaperone cycle. We show that the role of Cdc37 cochaperone reaches beyond that of an adaptor protein and find that it participates in the selective recruitment of only client kinases. Cdc37 recognizes kinase specificity determinants in both clients and nonclients and acts as a general kinase scanning factor. Kinase sorting within the client-to-nonclient continuum relies on the ability of Cdc37 to challenge the conformational stability of clients by locally unfolding them. This metastable conformational state has high affinity for Cdc37 and forms …

Swosu Research And Scholarly Activity Fair 2016, Lisa Appeddu

SWOSU Research and Scholarly Activity Fair Programs

Welcome to the Twenty-Third SWOSU Research and Scholarly Activity Fair! On display today are 117 presentations involving 187 student researchers, writers, presenters, and artists, and 45 faculty sponsors encompassing scholarly activity from the SWOSU School of Nursing and the SWOSU Departments of Art, Communication, and Theatre; Biological Sciences; Business & Computer Science; Chemistry and Physics; Education; Engineering Technology; Language and Literature; Music; Pharmaceutical Sciences; Psychology; and Social Sciences. In addition, there are poster presentations from the Western Technology Center Biomedical Academy.

From Mollusks To Medicine: A Venomics Approach For The Discovery And Characterization Of Therapeutics From Terebridae Peptide Toxins, Aida Verdes, Prachi Anand, Juliette Gorson, Stephen Jannetti, Patrick Kelly, Abba Leffler, Danny Simpson, Girish Ramrattan, Mandë Holford

Publications and Research

Animal venoms comprise a diversity of peptide toxins that manipulate molecular targets such as ion channels and receptors, making venom peptides attractive candidates for the development of therapeutics to benefit human health. However, identifying bioactive venom peptides remains a significant challenge. In this review we describe our particular venomics strategy for the discovery, characterization, and optimization of Terebridae venom peptides, teretoxins. Our strategy reflects the scientific path from mollusks to medicine in an integrative sequential approach with the following steps: (1) delimitation of venomous Terebridae lineages through taxonomic and phylogenetic analyses; (2) identification and classification of putative teretoxins through omics …

15th Annual Undergraduate Student Symposium, Farquhar Honors College

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Undergraduate Student Symposium, sponsored by the Farquhar Honors College, presents student projects through presentations, papers, films, and poster displays. The event serves as a “showcase” demonstrating the outstanding scholarship of undergraduate students at NSU. The symposium is open to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Projects cover areas of student scholarship ranging from the experimental and the applied to the computational, theoretical, artistic, and literary. They are taken from class assignments and independent projects. Project presentations can represent any stage in a concept’s evolution, from proposal and literature review to fully completed and realized scholarly work. As in past symposia, …

Power And Sample Size Calculations For Interval-Censored Survival Analysis, Hae-Young Kim, John M. Williamson, Hung-Mo Lin

NYMC Faculty Publications

We propose a method for calculating power and sample size for studies involving interval-censored failure time data that only involves standard software required for fitting the appropriate parametric survival model. We use the framework of a longitudinal study where patients are assessed periodically for a response and the only resultant information available to the investigators is the failure window: the time between the last negative and first positive test results. The survival model is fit to an expanded data set using easily computed weights. We illustrate with a Weibull survival model and a two-group comparison. The investigator can specify a …

Finding Specific, Topic Related Information From A Sea Of Social Media Posts, Scott J. Duberstein, Daniel Asamoah, Derek Doran, Shu Z. Schiller

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

As social media continues to become an incredible mode of communication in daily life dealing with the exchange of information, these systems provide authors a platform where they can share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences about a number of topics. Harnessing the information expressed publicly through these modes can be incredibly powerful: public perceptions, signals, and data about a variety of specific topics could be extracted and studied from these posts. However, there is a common trade-off in collecting information about a topic from social media: the more specific the topic, generally, the more challenging it is to extract meaningful …

Titanocene−Gold Complexes Containing N‑Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands Inhibit Growth Of Prostate, Renal, And Colon Cancers In Vitro, Yiu Fung Mui, Jacob FernáNdez-Gallardo, Benelita T. Elie, Ahmed Gubran, Irene Maluenda, Mercedes Sanau, Marıá Contel

Publications and Research

We report on the synthesis, characterization, and stability studies of new titanocene complexes containing a methyl group and a carboxylate ligand (mba = −OC(O)-p-C6H4-S−) bound to gold(I)−N-heterocyclic carbene fragments through the thiolate group: [(η5-C5H5)2TiMe(μ-mba)Au(NHC)]. The cytotoxicities of the heterometallic compounds along with those of novel monometallic gold−N-heterocyclic carbene precursors [(NHC)Au(mbaH)] have been evaluated against renal, prostate, colon, and breast cancer cell lines. The highest activity and selectivity and a synergistic effect of the resulting heterometallic species was found for the prostate and colon cancer cell lines. The colocalization of both titanium and gold metals (1:1 ratio) in PC3 prostate cancer …

Agonist-Mediated Activation Of Sting Induces Apoptosis In Malignant B Cells, Chih-Hang Anthony Tang, Joseph A. Zundell, Sujeewa Ranatunga, Cindy Lin, Yulia Nefedova, Juan R. Del Valle, Chih-Chi Andrew Hu

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress responses through the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway are required for the function of STING (TMEM173), an ER-resident transmembrane protein critical for cytoplasmic DNA sensing, IFN production, and cancer control. Here we show that the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway functions downstream of STING and that STING agonists selectively trigger mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in normal and malignant B cells. Upon stimulation, STING was degraded less efficiently in B cells, implying that prolonged activation of STING can lead to apoptosis. Transient activation of the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway partially protected agonist-stimulated malignant B cells from undergoing apoptosis. In Eμ-TCL1 mice with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, injection of …

Wright State University's Celebration Of Research, Scholarship And Creative Activities Book Of Abstracts From Friday, April 15, 2016, Wright State University Office Of Undergraduate Research And Stemm Activities

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The student abstract booklet is a compilation of abstracts from students' oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's Annual Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 15, 2016.

Comparing Network Centrality Measures Of Non-Traditional Students In An Introductory Physics Class, Emily N. Sandt, Adrienne L. Traxler

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The goal of this research was to compare different models of network influence for students. Two research questions were composed: 1. How do common centrality measures compare when ranking students' network influence? 2. Do centrality values of non-traditional students show different trend than traditional students?

Nondestructive Evaluation & Radar Imaging Using Terahertz Signals, D. Amal Mirando, Michael D. Higgins, Sonya Sokhey, Matthew Larson, Douglas T. Petkie

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Nondestructive imaging is a method of examining a material without direct contact that additionally does not alter the properties of the material. The terahertz imaging system currently in development uses the principle of interferometry (a Michelson Interferometer) such that frequency modulated terahertz signals are split and directed to the object under study and a reference mirror; then the detector will acquire the intensity of the combined reflected signals that contains information about the objects in the path of the beam.

Evaluation Of A Brief Marriage Intervention For Internal Behavioral Health Consultants In Military Primary Care, Ashley L. Evans, Jeffrey A. Cigrang, Tatiana D. Grey, James V. Cordova, Elizabeth Najera, Rosalyn S. Pace, Abby D. Fields, Michael A. Glotfelter, Jennifer A. Mitchell, Jolyn Tatum

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Military couples face significant challenges to their relationships including demanding schedules, multiple deployments, and frequent moves. Despite the high costs of chronic marital distress, very few military (or civilian) couples seek marriage therapy. The military services and the VA system have implemented collaborative care models in primary care where internal behavioral health consultants are integrated into primary care. Integrated primary care can reduce the stigma of behavioral health services and may increase the odds that couples would seek help earlier. There are no established couple interventions designed for use in primary care. The purpose of this presentation is to describe …

Synthesis Of Functionalized Peek Analogues Via “One-Pot” Synthesis, Zachary B. Ewing, Eric A. Fossum

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Poly(arylene ether)s, PAEs

• High performance engineering thermoplastic materials

• Excellent mechanical properties and thermal stability

• Resistant to hydrolysis and oxidation

• Many prepared via nucleophilic aromatic substitution (NAS)

• Electron withdrawing groups (EWG) typically in para positions

• PAEs can also be synthesized with an EWG in the meta positions, creating easily functionalized systems, with no change in the backbone

Investigating The After-Effects Of Stochastic Resonance For Use In Laparoscopic Surgery, Muhammad S. Hamdan, Caroline G. L. Cao

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Laparoscopic surgery is a modern surgical technique in which surgeons insert tools through small incisions in the abdomen to perform a surgical procedure.

City360: Visualizing Multimodal City Events For Decision Support, Vaikunth Sridharan, Tanvi Banerjee, Pramod Anantharam, Archana Sheshadri, Roopteja Muppalla, Amit P. Sheth, Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

Cities are increasingly outfitted with sensors for monitoring various conditions such as traffic, weather, air quality, and infrastructure related issues. Such well outfitted cities are generating massive amounts of multi-modal data leading to daunting challenges in assimilating, visualizing, and making sense of this data by city authorities and citizens. We propose City360 to address these challenges and provide decision support to city authorities and citizens. We demonstrate the utility of our system through concrete use cases for San Francisco Bay area that utilize heterogeneous data from various open city data sources.

High Performance Bayesian Applications In Medical, Economics And Climate Sciences, Ahmed Almulihi

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

We apply high performance numerical integration to problems in Bayesian statistics. These are applied to data arising in the analysis of problems in such areas as medical statistics (birth weight data, heart transplant data, photocarcinogen data, radio therapy data), climate (global weather, tornado data), and general statistics applications (multivariate logistic distribution, multivariate normal, nonlinear regression). We compute Bayesian moment integrals using the ParInt integration software that runs efficiently on computer clusters. We compare our results to those in the literature and show excellent performance with respect to accuracy and execution time.

The Role Of Mathematical Modeling In Designing And Evaluating Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, Lester Caudill, Joanna R. Wares

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Antimicrobial agent effectiveness continues to be threatened by the rise and spread of pathogen strains that exhibit drug resistance. This challenge is most acute in healthcare facilities where the well-established connection between resistance and sub-optimal antimicrobial use has prompted the creation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Mathematical models offer tremendous potential for serving as an alternative to controlled human experimentation for assessing the effectiveness of ASPs. Models can simulate controlled randomized experiments between groups of virtual patients, some treated with the ASP measure under investigation, and some without. By removing the limitations inherent in human experimentation, including health risks, study …

The Role Of Mathematical Modeling In Designing And Evaluating Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, Lester Caudill, Joanna R. Wares

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Antimicrobial agent effectiveness continues to be threatened by the rise and spread of pathogen strains that exhibit drug resistance. This challenge is most acute in healthcare facilities where the well-established connection between resistance and suboptimal antimicrobial use has prompted the creation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Mathematical models offer tremendous potential for serving as an alternative to controlled human experimentation for assessing the effectiveness of ASPs. Models can simulate controlled randomized experiments between groups of virtual patients, some treated with the ASP measure under investigation, and some without. By removing the limitations inherent in human experimentation, including health risks, study …

Combatting Biases: Illusory Imagery In Us News Coverage On Central American Immigration, Katharine Poor

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

This paper comprises of original research and analysis of contemporary news media discourse surrounding Central American immigration in the United States. Subjects of study included more than 50 news articles, images, and videos from a variety of major politically-unaffiliated news outlets for English-speaking audiences. Rhetoric was analyzed in representations of the Central American immigration “crisis” that sparked a trend of media coverage in 2014, as well as several articles that covered events leading up to the “crisis.” Common rhetorical analogies ascertained through media analyses include the representation of immigrants as aliens, diseases, parasites, floods, criminals, natural disasters, terrorists, and drug …

Moderate Ethanol Consumption Results In Cognitive Protection From Alzheimer’S Disease, Dementia, And Related Cognitive Decline: A Critical Review, Sean P. Coffinger

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Moderate ethanol preconditioning, a result of prolonged moderate alcohol intake, serves as a protective process by staving off cognitive decline while providing neuronal protection through several mechanisms. These individual mechanisms are relatively well known, however a comprehensive and integrated conversation of ethanol’s protective tendencies is lacking from literature and the field of neuroscience. First, a review of the leading theories behind moderate ethanol preconditioning’s biological and cognitive benefits is presented, including overviews of neuroprotective, antioxidant, and neurotropic mechanisms responsible for neurological benefit. Secondly, an integrative model is presented, incorporating all research into a novel collaborative model. An additional discussion regarding …

Table Of Contents

Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research

Front cover, a list of the article contents in this issue, and editorial information.

Evaluation Of Pulmonary Function Among Workers Engaged In The Manufacture Of Hydraulic Fracking Ceramic Proppant, Humairat H. Rahman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Workers involved in hydraulic fracking processes are exposed to various types of chemicals and dusts in their workplaces, such as proppants, which hold open the fissures created in the fracking process. Recently, ceramic proppants have been developed that may be less hazardous to workers than traditional proppants. Pulmonary function testing of workers producing ceramic proppant was used to assess the potential inhalation hazards of ceramic proppant. Male workers (n = 100) from a producer of ceramic proppant were evaluated with pulmonary function test data collected and evaluated using The American Thoracic Society (ATS) acceptability criteria. A comparison group was selected …

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level Re-Examined: Creating A Uniform Method For Calculating Readability On A Certification Exam, Emily Neuhoff, Kristiana M. Feeser, Kayla Sutherland, Thomas Hovatter

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

Abstract

Objective: This study attempted to establish a consistent measurement technique of the readability of a state-wide Certified Nursing Assistant’s (CNA) certification exam. Background: Monitoring the readability level of an exam helps ensure all test versions do not exceed the maximum reading level of the exam, and that knowledge of the subject matter, rather than reading ability, is being assessed. Method: A two part approach was used to specify and evaluate readability. First, two methods (Microsoft Word^® (MSW) software and published readability formulae) were used to calculate Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) and Flesch-Kincaid Reading Grade Level (FKRGL) for multiple …

Human Health Risk Characterization Of Petroleum Coke Calcining Facility Emissions, Davinderjit Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Calcined coke is a high quality carbon material produced by calcining green petroleum coke. Calcining is the process of heating green petroleum coke in a kiln to remove excess moisture, extract all remaining hydrocarbons, and modify the crystalline structure of the coke into a denser, electrically conductive product. The final product, calcined coke, is primarily used to make carbon anodes for the aluminum industry and recarburizing agent for industries such as the steel industry. If not appropriately controlled, the calcining process could lead to excess production of particulate emissions from either handling or storing of raw coke, or from the …

2016 Abstract Book, Undergraduate Creative Activities And Research Forum

Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Forum Abstract Books

This booklet contains all the abstracts from the 2016 forum held at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Coordinated by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, a unit in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

46th Annual Wku Student Research Conference, Student Research Council

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

See document below for project abstracts