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Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

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Purdue University

Conference

2015

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Collecting And Acquiring In Earnest (The 14th Annual Health Sciences Lively Lunch), Wendy Bahnsen, Yumin Jiang, Ramune K. Kubilius, Emma O'Hagan, Andrea Twiss-Brooks Sep 2015

Collecting And Acquiring In Earnest (The 14th Annual Health Sciences Lively Lunch), Wendy Bahnsen, Yumin Jiang, Ramune K. Kubilius, Emma O'Hagan, Andrea Twiss-Brooks

Charleston Library Conference

In this year's sponsored but no holds barred lunch, host Wendy Bahnsen (substituting for colleague Nicole Gallo) offered a brief greeting, and Ramune Kubilius provided the traditional “year in review” synopsis of developments since the last Charleston Conference. Panelists then shared insights and led discussion on earnest attempts to meet users’ information needs and satisfy administrations’ budget and other expectations. No matter how information has become repackaged, two formats remain important in health sciences communication: books and journals (articles). Speakers focused on library experiments with these formats. Is PDA a solution? Bahnsen contributed highlights and findings from a survey by …


Quantification Of Analyte Concentration From A Paper-Based Lateral Flow Assay Device Using Reflective Sensors, Megan Z. Chiu, Jacqueline Linnes Aug 2015

Quantification Of Analyte Concentration From A Paper-Based Lateral Flow Assay Device Using Reflective Sensors, Megan Z. Chiu, Jacqueline Linnes

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Paper-based point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is a growing field in global health due to the extreme portability, accuracy, affordability, and ease of use of these tests. Advancements in recent years have led to more accurate detection and improved functionality using multistep molecular diagnostics. Many such assays utilize lateral flow detection strips for visualization of diagnostic results by eye, which limits the results to qualitative Yes/No readouts. This project focused on combining recent developments in paper-based POC diagnostics to develop and optimize an in-house built quantitative paper-based diagnostic reader for lateral flow detection in low-resource settings. Initially different sensors, including photocell sensors, …


Meta-Analysis Of Dna Methylation And Expression In Liver Cancer Patients, Daniele Todorov, Barbara Stefanska, Katarzyna Lubecka-Pietruszewska Aug 2015

Meta-Analysis Of Dna Methylation And Expression In Liver Cancer Patients, Daniele Todorov, Barbara Stefanska, Katarzyna Lubecka-Pietruszewska

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common liver cancer, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. HCC is often diagnosed at late stages, for which there are no effective chemotherapies. Biomarkers unique to HCC patients could be used to detect HCC early and improve treatment. In the present project, we have performed a meta-analysis to compare the gene-specific DNA methylation and gene expression patterns of HCC patients as reported by four independent studies. Our goal was to discover the strongest changes that distinguish HCC from normal tissue. The relationship between methylation and expression in HCC was examined and genes …


Development Of A Scalable Synthesis Of Hp-Β-Cd Pluronic Polyrotaxanes, Joseph L. Skulsky, Elizabeth A. Slepko, Bradley P. Loren, David H. Thompson Aug 2015

Development Of A Scalable Synthesis Of Hp-Β-Cd Pluronic Polyrotaxanes, Joseph L. Skulsky, Elizabeth A. Slepko, Bradley P. Loren, David H. Thompson

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Polyrotaxanes are polymers that have macrocycles threaded onto them, analogous to beads threaded onto a string. These materials are used for a variety of different biomedical applications.1-3 The Thompson group has been developing 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) polyrotaxanes as therapeutics for the treatment of Niemann-Pick Type C (NPC) disease. NPC is a debilitating genetic disorder where cholesterol accumulates in the lysosomes of cells.4 Developing a scalable process is crucial for the advancement of these materials as NPC therapeutics. The goal of this project is to optimize the only protocol for the synthesis of HP-β-CD/Pluronic polyrotaxanes in order to develop a …


Implantable Device For Wireless Regulation Of The Bladder Through Pelvic Nerve Stimulation, Kelsey C. Bayer, Chris Quinkert, Pedro Irazoqui Aug 2015

Implantable Device For Wireless Regulation Of The Bladder Through Pelvic Nerve Stimulation, Kelsey C. Bayer, Chris Quinkert, Pedro Irazoqui

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Urinary incontinence (UI) is the involuntarily urination that usually effects older people or is the result of an injury. UI affects more than eleven million people and the cost of incontinence management in the United States in 2000 was $19.5 billion. Where conventional physical therapies have failed, pelvic nerve stimulation is a promising form of regulating the bladder long term. Piezoresistive pressure sensors consist of two variable resistance values and two known resistance values that are represented on a daughterboard. This unknown resistance represents the change in pressure. The filling and voiding of the bladder was characterized through acute surgeries. …


Behavioral Outputs Of Fragile-X Autistic Mice Exposed To Open-Field, Randomized, Short-Term Visual Stimuli, Nicholas M. Dicola, Alexander A. Chubykin Aug 2015

Behavioral Outputs Of Fragile-X Autistic Mice Exposed To Open-Field, Randomized, Short-Term Visual Stimuli, Nicholas M. Dicola, Alexander A. Chubykin

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Animal models of different neurological disorders are required for studying the pathophysiology of these diseases, and for potential development of pharmacological and behavioral treatments. The scientific community often uses mouse models for behavior studies due to their powerful genetic tools and low cost. However, subjective measurement techniques are often used when analyzing mice for behavioral traits which often results in discrepancies in results. An automated tracking software would aim to eliminate these discrepancies and subjective analysis. This lab has developed a software program which offered an ability to automatically collect open-field behavioral data with simultaneous on-line analysis. Python, an open …


Viewing The Extracellular Matrix: An Imaging Method For Tissue Engineering, Michael Drakopoulos, Sarah Calve Aug 2015

Viewing The Extracellular Matrix: An Imaging Method For Tissue Engineering, Michael Drakopoulos, Sarah Calve

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The field of regenerative medicine seeks to create replacement tissues and organs, both to repair deficiencies in biological function and to treat structural damage caused by injury. Scaffoldings mimicking extracellular matrix (ECM), the structure to which cells attach to form tissues, have been developed from synthetic polymers and also been prepared by decellularizing adult tissue. However, the structure of ECM undergoes significant remodeling during natural tissue repair, suggesting that ECM-replacement constructs that mirror developing tissues may promote better regeneration than those modeled on adult tissues. This work investigated the effectiveness of a method of viewing the extracellular matrix of developing …


Changes In Vessel Properties During Early Progression Of Murine Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms From In Vivo Ultrasound, Luis R. Avila Murati, Evan H. Phillips, Craig J. Goergen Aug 2015

Changes In Vessel Properties During Early Progression Of Murine Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms From In Vivo Ultrasound, Luis R. Avila Murati, Evan H. Phillips, Craig J. Goergen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are a common and frequently fatal disease characterized by the weakening and dilation of the aorta. The larger the aneurysm, the higher the chances are of rupturing and life-threatening hemorrhage. The aim of this study is to apply the angiotensin II (AngII) model of AAAs in male apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice (apoE-/- C57Bl/6J), in order to analyze, quantify, and understand the pathologies and characteristics associated with early AAA development. To date, many studies focusing on the evaluation of AAA characteristics have been performed ex vivo. Therefore, we focused on in vivo assessment, through the use of …


A Non-Invasive Method Of Measuring Respiration While Providing Wireless Power For Rodents With Implantable Devices, Jynx O. Boyne, Daniel J. Pederson, Zhi Wang, Pedro Irazoqui Dr. Aug 2015

A Non-Invasive Method Of Measuring Respiration While Providing Wireless Power For Rodents With Implantable Devices, Jynx O. Boyne, Daniel J. Pederson, Zhi Wang, Pedro Irazoqui Dr.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Respiratory measurements can be used as diagnostic and research tools. Spirometry is the gold standard for gaining these measurements, but is difficult to use in rodents as it requires an invasive procedure. Total Body Plethysmograpy (TBP) is a non-invasive way to measure respiration rates that does not cause stress to the rodent. In this system, the subject is encased in a solid, constant volume chamber with measurements determining the subject’s respiration. When using TBP in medical or research settings, challenges occur in powering devices within the TBP chamber as wires and other recording equipment compromise the airtightness of the chamber. …


Bio-Inspired Composite Hydrogels For Osteochondral Regenerative Engineering, Grant N. Gellert, Liangju Kuang, Chunhui Jiang, Nur P. Damayanti, Joseph Irudayaraj, Meng Deng Aug 2015

Bio-Inspired Composite Hydrogels For Osteochondral Regenerative Engineering, Grant N. Gellert, Liangju Kuang, Chunhui Jiang, Nur P. Damayanti, Joseph Irudayaraj, Meng Deng

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Treatment of osteochondral defects encompassing injury or degeneration to both the articular cartilage as well as the underlying subchondral bone presents a significant medical challenge. Current treatment options including autografts and allografts suffer from limited availability and risk of immunogenicity, respectively. The long term goal of this work is to develop an integrated scaffold system for treatment of osteochondral defects via in situ regeneration of bone, cartilage and the bone-cartilage interface. Hydrogels composed of polymer networks swollen in water provide an attractive biomaterial platform for regeneration of cartilage. In the present study, we have developed a novel composite hydrogel consisting …


Fluorescein Dye For Exploring Anti-Cancer Drug Dissolution Kinetics, Connor Davis, Tonglei Li, Wei Gao Aug 2015

Fluorescein Dye For Exploring Anti-Cancer Drug Dissolution Kinetics, Connor Davis, Tonglei Li, Wei Gao

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Nanocrystalline formulations of anti-tumor drugs have been shown to improve desirable characteristics as well as increase the efficacy of delivery. However, the improvements seen are not strong enough to eradicate tumors and there exists a need to better understand how the drug particles move about and release in the body. The use of fluorophores incorporated into substrates allows for highly sensitive and resolute imaging in the body without the need for radioisotopes. This research aims to utilize quenching characteristics of fluorescein in order to provide pharmacokinetic information to aid in the improvement of nanoparticulate delivery formulations. Nanocrystal formulations of paclitaxel …


The Effects Of Vagus Nerve Stimulation On Neuroinflammation In Epilepsy, Elizabeth A. St. Clair, Gabriel O Albors, Pedro Irazoqui Dr., Amy Brewster Aug 2015

The Effects Of Vagus Nerve Stimulation On Neuroinflammation In Epilepsy, Elizabeth A. St. Clair, Gabriel O Albors, Pedro Irazoqui Dr., Amy Brewster

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by chronic, unexplainable seizures. Recurring epileptic seizures are associated with long-term structural damage and cognitive deficits, and can even lead to sudden, unexplainable death. Approximately 30% of epilepsy cases are not responsive to medication. Epileptic seizures often induce inflammation in the brain and may increase the frequency of future seizures, resulting in a detrimental cycle. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a non-pharmaceutical treatment method for epilepsy that has been shown to reduce inflammation in peripheral pathways. The role of VNS in the modulation of neuroinflammation has yet to be demonstrated experimentally. To explore this, …