Investigative Techniques Commons^™

The Role Of Food Accessibility In Weight Loss In A Rat Model Of Parkinson’S Disease, Anjali Kikkisetti, Nicole Charles, Francois Gould

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes a variety of motor and non-motor symptoms. The goal of this project was to understand whether the weight loss seen with Parkinson’s disease was due to the lack of being able to access the food because of the food placement or because of inability to chew the food due to degeneration of muscles required for chewing food. Both treatment groups, Adjusted Diet and Unadjusted Diet, lost weight after injections started, whereas control weights were stable throughout the experiment. There is no statistically significant difference in weight loss between adjusted and unadjusted …

Extravasated Brain-Reactive Autoantibodies Perturb Neuronal Surface Protein Expression In Alzheimer's Pathology, Wardah Bajwa, Mary Kosciuk, Randel L. Swanson, Anuradha Krishnan, Venkat Venkataraman, Robert Nagele, Nimish Acharya

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Background: Increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability is reported in both the neuropathological and in vivo studies in both Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and age matched cognitively normal, no cognitive impairment (NCI), subjects. Impaired BBB allows various vascular components such as immunoglobulin G (IgG) to extravasate into the brain and specifically bind to various neuronal surface proteins (NSP), also known as brain reactive autoantibodies (BrABs). This interaction is predicted to further enhance deposition of amyloid plaques.

Hypothesis: Interaction between extravasated BrABs and its cognate NSPs lower the expression of that NSPs in AD patients.

Methods: We selected Western blotting technique to study …

Human Airway Mucociliary Tissue Cultures Chronically Exposed To E-Cigarette Vapors Exhibit Altered Cell Populations And Increased Secretion Of Immunomodulatory Cytokines, Vanessa Pizutelli, Vincent Manna, Shannon Dwyer, Salvatore Caradonna

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Vape-pens or electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are handheld battery powered devices that use a vape-liquid to produce a vapor that is inhaled by the user. The active ingredients in commercial vape-liquids are commonly nicotine, tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabidiol. A consequence of the rise in e-cigarette usage was the 2019 emergence of a vaping-induced respiratory disease denoted ‘e-cigarette or vaping use-associated lung injury’ (EVALI). One of the suspected causes of EVALI is Vitamin E Acetate (VEA), which was found to be a diluent in certain illicit tetrahydrocannabinol vape-pens, whereas nicotine is commonly diluted in equal parts propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin (PG:VG). The …

Tcf4 Is A Key Mediator Of Cell Identity And Oncogenesis In Neuroblastoma, Nour Aljouda

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Neuroblastomas (NB) are embryonal childhood tumors that derive from the multipotent neural crest cells (NCCs) of the peripheral nervous system. NB accounts for more than 15% of all childhood cancer-related deaths. Despite the most intensive multimodal therapy, more than 50% of patients with high-risk NB relapse with often fatal, resistant disease. Novel therapies are desperately needed to improve cure rates. Previous studies proposed that the deregulation of normal neural crest developmental programs contributes to NB oncogenesis by retaining the highly migratory and proliferative traits of NCCs. Thus, activation or repression of neural crest developmental pathways have been implicated in NB …

Head And Neck Tumor Histopathological Image Representation With Pre- Trained Convolutional Neural Network And Vision Transformer, Ranny Rahaningrum Herdiantoputri, Daisuke Komura, Tohru Ikeda, Shumpei Ishikawa

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

Image representation via machine learning is an approach to quantitatively represent histopathological images of head and neck tumors for future applications of artificial intelligence-assisted pathological diagnosis systems. Objective: This study compares image representations produced by a pre-trained convolutional neural network (VGG16) to those produced by a vision transformer (ViT-L/14) in terms of the classification performance of head and neck tumors. Methods: W hole-slide images of five oral t umor categories (n = 319 cases) were analyzed. Image patches were created from manually annotated regions at 4096, 2048, and 1024 pixels and rescaled to 256 pixels. Image representations were …

The Effects Of Exosomal Derived Tsg-6 On Microglia Activation, Jonathan A. Martinez, Rajashekhar Gangaraju Md

Longitudinal Scholar's Project

Following a traumatic brain injury, microglia become overactive for long periods and display pathologic behavior. We have shown that concentrated conditioned media from adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-CCM) can suppress microglial activation. In this pilot study, we evaluated the efficacy of exosomes containing TNF-stimulated gene 6 (TSG6) derived from MSC-CCM on decreasing microglial activation in vitro via phagocytic activity and pro-inflammatory microglial gene expression.

A Design, Development, And Evaluation Of Bio-Patch For Myocardial Tissue Repair, Yaya Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a major concern of human health issue. The structural repair and functional recovery of injured hearts is a major challenge in the clinical setting. Preclinical studies over last 10 years have demonstrated the potential of using stem cells to treat IHD, but the efficacy of this therapy is jeopardized by uncontrollable migration and low survival of the injected stem cells. An approach based on tissue engineering enabling target-specific stem cell delivery such as cardiac patches has emerged as an alternative solution for stem cell therapy for IHD. It employs scaffold materials to engulf various …

Investigation Of Clinically Relevant Fluconazole Resistance Mechanisms In The Fungal Pathogen Candida Parapsilosis, Laura Anne Doorley

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Invasive candidiasis is a severe fungal infection associated with significant morbidity and mortality, particularly among the critically ill and immunocompromised. Candida parapsilosis is the most common non-albicans species causing invasive Candida infections in pediatric and neonatal populations worldwide and is particularly common in the countries of South America, Western Asia, Mediterranean Europe, and Southern Africa. For many of these countries, fluconazole and other triazoles are the first line antifungal agents used for effective treatment of invasive Candida infection. Until recently, rates of fluconazole resistance among C. parapsilosis isolates were relatively low, therefore the determination of clinically relevant resistance mechanisms in …

Modulation Of Cerebral Artery Smooth Muscle Bk Channel Function By Neurosteroids, Kelsey Caroline Cleland North

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Voltage-gated and Ca2+ activated K+ channels of large conductance (BK) channels are essential for many key physiological processes, such as controlling the contraction of smooth muscle, including cerebrovascular smooth muscle. Importantly, BK channels are made up of a homotetramer of α subunits which associate with accessory β subunits. These β subunits alter the activity of the channel; this modulation is subunit-specific. Moreover, these accessory subunits have tissue-specific expression, such that the β1 subunit is highly expressed within cerebrovascular smooth muscle and greatly increases the open probability of BK channels. Increased BK channel open probability is linked to increased dilation of …

Vascular Mechanisms Of Rhabdomyolysis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury, Jeremiah Moyinolu Afolabi

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

In patients with rhabdomyolysis, the overwhelming release of myoglobin into circulation is the primary cause of kidney injury. Myoglobin causes direct kidney injury as well as severe renal vasoconstriction. An increase in renal vascular resistance (RVR) results in renal blood flow (RBF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) reduction, tubular injury, and acute kidney injury (AKI). The mechanisms that underlie rhabdomyolysis-induced AKI are not fully understood but may involve the local production of vasoactive mediators in the kidney. Myoglobin stimulated endothelin-1 (ET-1) production in proximal tubular cells, an effect driven by NADPH oxidase-dependent oxyradical generation. Rats subjected to glycerol-induced rhabdomyolysis also …

Molecular Detection Of Entamoeba Histolytica In Diarrheic Fecal Samples From Patients Attending National Hepatology And Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Azza Hasan Abbas, El Shahat Ahmed Elshahat, Heba Mohamed Abdelglil

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Background: Amoebiasis is a worldwide disease caused by Entamoeba histolytica infection. The true prevalence is unknown due to the difficulty in distinguishing Entamoeba histolytica from non-pathogenic amoebas especially when microscopic diagnosis is performed, to overcome microscopy misidentification. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay is necessary as a highly sensitive and specific technique. Objective: To determine the value of Real-Time PCR (RT.PCR) in the diagnosis of Entamoeba histolytica in the stool samples of diarrheic patients attending NHTMI versus microscopy, copro- antigen, and serum antibodies detection techniques. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 diarrheic patients. Their stool samples were …

One In Every Twenty-Six, Rey'na Riggans

Capstone Showcase

There is a disorder that is rather common within the world and yet is not well known. It is a something that affects one in every twenty-six individuals. It is called epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder in which a person to experience bursts of random electrical activity within their brains, these bursts being called "seizures." This article discusses this disorder and goes into detail about the forms of it, procedures that are done to try and help those living with epilepsy, and artwork that is inspired by this disorder.

Transmission Competence Of B. Burgdorferi Infected Ixodes Ticks And Development Of An Ospc-Based Lyme Disease Vaccine, Samanta Kamalika

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Introduction. Lyme disease, otherwise called Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb). Studying the increase in overall Lyme disease incidence requires understanding the role of the vector Ixodes scapularis (I. scapularis) as the agent that carries the spirochete which is important to limit the occurrence of Lyme disease. Once we understand the vector-pathogen response, it also becomes important to determine the remedies for Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics if detected early, but the major obstacle lies in the early detection process. Therefore, it is important to investigate alternative preventive …

Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (Pbpk) Modeling For The Preclinical Development Of Spectinamide Antibiotics, Keyur R. Parmar

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Despite being an ancient disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and after decades of research, tuberculosis (TB) still affects millions of people every year worldwide. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 10 million people developed tuberculosis and 1.5 million died of the disease. With the increase in the multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) cases, the treatment for TB with the standard first and second-line therapy is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new anti-TB drugs as combination partners of existing and experimental classes of antimicrobial agents to shorten and simplify the …

Precision Medicine Approach To Alzheimer’S Disease: Rationale And Implications, Dale E. Bredesen, Kat Toups, Ann Hathaway, Deborha Gordon, Henrianna Chung, Cyrus Raji, Alan Boyd, Benjamin D. Hill, Sharon Hausman-Cohen, Mouna Attarha, Won Jong Chwa, Alexei Kurakin, Michael Jarrett

University Faculty and Staff Publications

The neurodegenerative disease field has enjoyed extremely limited success in the development of effective therapeutics. One potential reason is the lack of disease models that yield accurate predictions and optimal therapeutic targets. Standard clinical trials have pre-determined a single treatment modality, which may be unrelated to the primary drivers of neurodegeneration. Recent proof-of-concept clinical trials using a precision medicine approach suggest a new model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as a chronic innate encephalitis that creates a network insufficiency. Identifying and addressing the multiple potential contributors to cognitive decline for each patient may represent a more effective strategy. Here we review …

Computer-Aided Drug Discovery For Helicobacter Pylori, Nicole Ann Vita

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Helicobacter pylori is a high-priority drug-resistant pathogen and is currently the only bacteria considered to be a class I carcinogen and there is a critical need to identify novel chemical matter to treat H. pylori infections. Hp is responsible for greater than 60% of gastric cancer related deaths and 89% of all gastric cancer morbidities. In a previous study, our lab identified novel Hp thienopyrmidine inhibitors that target respiratory complex I, an essential enzyme in respiration. Respiratory complex I is a large asymmetric multidomain and membrane bound enzyme and due to these innate features, it is not practical for biophysical …

Methods Development In Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Andrew B. Steimke

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease that is classified into two subtypes: ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Symptoms can range from mild discomfort to requiring surgical intervention and affects approximately 1-in-200 adults in America alone, with global incidence rates increasing. While many treatments exist for IBD, perhaps the main reason for the lack of a cure is that there are many different pathogeneses that all lead to a very similar expression of symptoms. Over 240 IBD loci have been identified to date, yet the causative allele that drives the association has only been identified in ~60 of …

Helical Remodeling Augments 5-Lipoxygenase Activity In The Synthesis Of Proinflammatory Mediators, Eden M. Gallegos, Tanner D. Reed, Forge A. Mathes, Nelson V. Guevara, David B. Neau, Wei Huang, Marcia E. Newcomer, Nathaniel C. Gilbert

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The synthesis of proinflammatory leukotrienes implicated in asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atherosclerosis is initiated by the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX). The crystal structure of human Stable-5-LOX revealed a conformation where the catalytic iron was inaccessible to bulk solvent as two aromatic residues on a conserved helix-α2 (Hα2) plugged the substrate access portal. Whether 5-LOX can also adopt a more open conformation has not been resolved. Here, we present a new conformation of 5-LOX where Hα2 adopts an elongated conformation equivalent to that described in other animal lipoxygenase structures. Our observation of the sigmoidal kinetic behavior of 5-LOX, which is indicative of …

Healthy Exosomes And Their Effects On Diabetic Cardiomyocytes, Miguel A. Garza, Genaro A. Ramírez-Correa, Maria Lourdes Garza-Rodríguez, Andres J. Medina

MEDI 9331 Scholarly Activities Clinical Years

Extracellular Vesicles, and more specifically, exosomes, are essential for effective cell-to-cell communication in a wide variety of tissues. In the last couple of decades, these nanovesicles have been proven to be active participants and regulators in many disease processes; therefore, their therapeutic effects have been widely studied and proven in various cardiovascular diseases both, in vitro and in vivo. Thus, this study aims at assessing the effects of running healthy mice exosomes on cardiomyocyte and cardiac tissue samples obtained from diabetic mice. Here, we successfully extract exosomes from mice plasma and detect their presence through the use of anti-CD9 and …

Inflammatory Response Following Hemorrhagic Stroke: The Role Of Cytokines, Patrick Devlin

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Hemorrhagic stroke is a dangerous form of stroke resulting from the rupturing of weakened blood vessels, releasing blood that increases intracranial pressure and causes the death of surrounding tissue. Treatment options are improving but remain limited, as evidenced by this condition being characterized by high rates of mortality as well as long-term morbidity. Unregulated inflammatory responses that occur following injury may be partially to blame for these poor outcomes. In response to any injury, the immune system releases cytokines to recruit immune cell activation and promote inflammation. But after hemorrhagic stroke, whether aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), …

Neuropsychology Of Primary Headache Disorders: A Meta-Analysis, Jasmin H. Pizer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Objective: A meta-analysis was conducted comparing cognition on clinical measures between individuals with a primary headache disorder (PHD) and healthy controls (HC). Data Selection: The University of South Alabama Libraries’ OneSearch and PubMed, with a uniform search-strategy, were used to locate original research comparing cognition between PHD and HC samples. Analyses were modeled under random effects. Hedge’s g was used as a bias-corrected estimate of effect size. Between-study heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran’s Q and I2. Data Synthesis: The initial search interval spanned inception–May 2021 and yielded 6692 results. Fifty-seven studies were analyzed. Meta-analysis showed a significant combined effect size …

Rates And Perceptions Of Covid-19 Vaccination From University Of Mississippi Students, Josie Parham

Honors Theses

The trials, tribulations and triumphs of the global COVID-19 pandemic are impacted by and are a product of behaviors that occur at the level of nations, states, cities and, ultimately, communities. In the wake of the development of safe and effective vaccines against SARS-CoV2, the virus responsible for the pandemic, the significance of the vaccine is closely linked to the number of individuals that receive the vaccine. To date, surveys have measured sizable variations in vaccination rates between nations, states, cities, and communities. Focusing on events that have transpired in one such local community, the present study (i) measured the …

The Role Of Corticothalamic Projections (Prelimbic Cortex To Nucleus Reuniens) In Working Memory, Phillip Kumpf, Paul C. Kumpf, S. D. Dunn, Evan Ciacciarelli, T. Gohar, Timothy Sloand, Mark Niedringhaus, Elizabeth West

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Working memory (WM) is the ability to store information for short periods of time and is used to execute tasks

WM has been understood to work via the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and dorsal hippocampus (dHPC), but they do not directly project to each other

The nucleus reuniens of the thalamus (Re) is a “middle man” between the mPFC and dHPC

There are projections between the prelimbic cortex (PrL) and Re that may be used during WM

To test the connection of the PrL to Re, a delayed nonmatch to position (DNMTP) task was performed

Interaction Of Fluorescent Probes With Sirtuin Proteins, James Fusco, Brian P Weiser

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Sirtuins are a class of proteins belonging to the Sir2 (Silencing information regulator 2) family of NAD+ dependent protein lysine deacylases. Different Isoforms (SIRT1-SIRT7) differ in their specific deacylase activity and cellular location. They have roles in DNA repair, glucose metabolism, and cellular proliferation which make them highly desirable targets for carcinoma therapeutics. We previously used 1-aminoanthracene’s (AMA) fluorescent properties when bound with SIRT2 (Kd of 37 μM) to develop a high-throughput screen to identify novel ligands that inhibit SIRT2’s enzymatic activities. We hope to reveal other potential probes for future high-throughput screening with all the sirtuin isotopes. 1-AMA’s fluorescence …

A Neurophysiological Investigation Of Listening Effort In Normal Hearing Adults Using Fnirs And Pupillometry, Jessica Defenderfer

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Real-world conversations are often accompanied by some sort of interference that challenges the clarity of the speaker’s message, causing listeners to exert more effort to understand speech. Previous research has demonstrated that when listening to speech becomes difficult, various regions of the brain are recruited beyond those which engage during optimal listening conditions. However, the neural correlates that underly listening effort are not fully understood. Importantly, the pupillary response can be used to index listening effort, such that pupil size increases with increasing cognitive demand. I proposed that pupillometry can be used to characterize the cortical response, such that changes …

Breadth Of Vaccinated Cancer Patient Humoral Response To Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein And Rbd Variants, Julia Corman, Joey Breckenridge Jr., Adrienne M. Bushau-Sprinkle, Krystal T. Hamorsky, Joshua L. Fuqua

Posters-at-the-Capitol

SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 of which several variants have emerged, such as the B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variant. The Receptor Binding Domain (RBD), located within the Spike protein is an immunogenic epitope for potent neutralizing antibodies. Current mRNA vaccines encode for the Spike protein, allowing the body to build antigen-specific antibodies. Assays measuring protective antibodies are essential to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and can be used as a platform for variant screening. RBD-foldon 2.2 is a novel antigen produced by fusing RBD with the trimerization domain Fibritin from Bacteriophage T4. Its amino acid sequence is based on the original …

Monitoring The Systemic Immune System To Understand And Improve The Efficacy Of Immunotherapy For Metastatic Osteosarcoma, Justin Edward Markel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a complex tumor with no effective targeted therapies due to its genomic heterogeneity and pleomorphism. The immune response it creates, particularly against metastatic lesions, is considerable; however, various suppressive mechanisms induced by the tumor prohibit its effectiveness. The presence of infiltrating lymphocytes suggests that therapeutic disinhibition through checkpoint blockade could increase antitumor immunity, though none have been successful in clinical trials. The complexities of the immune response to OS tumors have yet to be unraveled; however, there is evidence to suggest that cell-mediated immunity (CMI, specifically T cells, Natural Killer [NK] cells, and myeloid-lineage cells [MLCs]) plays …

Identifying The Molecular Cause Of Extreme Endoplasmic Reticulum Dilation In Pediatric Osteosarcoma And Its Relationship To The Disease, Rachael Wood

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Pediatric osteosarcoma tumors are characterized by an unusual abundance of grossly dilated endoplasmic reticulum and an immense genomic instability that has complicated identifying new effective molecular therapeutic targets. Here we report a novel molecular signature that encompasses the majority of 108 patient tumor samples, PDXs and osteosarcoma cell lines. These tumors exhibit reduced expression of four critical COPII vesicle proteins that has resulted in the accumulation of procollagen-I protein within ‘hallmark’ dilated ER. Using CRISPR activation technology, increased expression of only SAR1A and SEC24D to physiologically normal levels was sufficient to restore both collagen-I secretion and resolve dilated ER morphology …

Ecology Of Hantaviruses In Rodent Reservoirs And Their Early Innate Immune Responses In Human Model Systems, Evan Peter Williams

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The spillover of zoonotic RNA viruses is responsible for a great deal of the disease outbreaks in human populations. These spillover events are set to continue due to anthropogenic and environmental changes that impact the distribution of these viruses. The viruses in the family Hantaviridae are classified as one of these emerging zoonotic RNA viruses. The spillover of the viruses in this family are responsible for two severe human diseases, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). These viruses are distributed across the globe and are responsible for a large number of human disease cases with …

Impact Of Central Line Bundle Care On Reduction Of Central Line Associated-Infections: A Scoping Review, Alisha James-Scott Msn, Fnp-C, Rachel Savoy Msn, Fnp-Bc, Donna Lynch-Smith Dnp, Acnp-Bc, Apn, Ne-Bc, Cnl, Tracy Mcclinton Dnp, Ag-Acnp-Bc, Apn

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose/Background Central venous catheters (CVC) are typical for critically ill patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Due to the invasiveness of this procedure, there is a high risk for central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI). These infections have been known to increase mortality and morbidity, medical costs, and reduce hospital reimbursements. Evidenced-based interventions were grouped to assemble a central line bundle to decrease the number of CLABSIs and improve patient outcomes. This scoping review will evaluate the literature and examine the association between reduced CLABSI rates and central line bundle care implementation or current use.

Methods A literature review was …