Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons^™

Sigma-Metric Analysis To Evaluate Quality Management Of Analytical Processes Using Rca And Qgi In A Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory, South India, Sathish Raju Nilakantam, Kusuma Kasapura Shivashankar, Akila Prashant, Melanahalli Dayananda, Suma Maduvanahalli Nataraj, Namratha G Dayananda

International Journal of Health and Allied Sciences

Introduction: This study aimed to identify laboratory errors at the earliest through Sigma-metric analysis and to evaluate quality management of analytical processes. Methods: Sigma-metrics and Quality Goal Indices (QGI) were calculated by harvesting the IQC and EQC data of an accredited laboratory for 31 biochemical parameters run on Roche Cobas6000 and e411. Those with Sigma 2 were further analysed by applying the various Westgard rules, as suggested. Results: Nearly 13 chemistry analytes showed world-class performance with Sigma > 6 and most of the immunoassay parameters showed marginal performance with sigma > 2 6. Sodium, Chloride, Total T4, Beta-HCG and TSH were found …

Hydrocarbons In Seawater And Fish, With A Special Focus On 16 Epa-Pahs In Marsa Matruh Sediments, Egyptian Mediterranean Sea, Tarek O. Said, Mohamed A. Okbah, Gehan M. El Zokm

Blue Economy

More emphasis is being paid to monitoring hydrocarbon levels and assessing their risk in various marine environmental matrices since they may pose a threat to biodiversity. This research highlighted hydrocarbons in the Marsa Matrouh coastal area of Egypt as the first comprehensive effort to provide a technical basis to assess and address pollution. Surficial sediments and seawater samples (in duplicate) were collected from 10 sites, Triplicate samples of nine fish species were collected from five stations (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) for THC determination. In addition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) residues (16E PA-PAHs) were evaluated in the sediment. THC recorded …

The Miacomet Movement, Charles Duce

Masters Theses

Nantucket MA, is an island that has failed to refine and regulate the unreasonable uses of freshwater supply, and re-establish the purification processes involved with filtering our wastewater. The validity in claiming re-evaluation for Nantucket’s immoderacies in freshwater consumption and implausibility's in existing wastewater treatments, is seemingly irrefutable. Along with these detriments, Nantucket experiences harsh coastal erosion conditions that are rapidly altering beach profiles and diminishing irreplaceable habitats. Similarly, coastal flooding is causing ecological displacement and in some instances ecological degradation.

The relentlessness and fleetingness sparked by Nantucket’s climatic realities require willing and able action to mitigate impacts; but our …

Estimating The Minimum Number Of Individuals (Mni) For Skeletal Collections With Consideration To The Introduction Of Procurement Bias, M. Elizabeth Dyess, T. Heil

2023 Symposium

Of the competing methods for the estimation of the number of individuals represented within a skeletal assemblage, variations of the calculation of MNI (Minimum Number of Individuals) are most often employed. This presentation provides the preliminary results of an exhaustive study designed to determine the minimum number of individuals represented within a collection of 1,065 skeletal elements and fragments, belonging to the Eastern Washington University Anthropology Program. Results produced by established methods of computation were reinterpreted to account for the introduction of Procurement Bias in the calculation of MNI.

Differential Degeneration Of Neurons In A Mouse Model Of Canavan Disease, Vibha Chauhan, Quy Nguyen, Jeremy Francis, Paola Leone

Stratford Campus Research Day

Canavan disease (CD) is an inherited leukodystrophy caused by inactivating mutations to the glial enzyme aspartoacylase (ASPA). ASPA catabolizes neuronal N-acetylaspartate (NAA) into free acetate and aspartate and loss of this function results in the chronic elevation of non-catabolized NAA and the failure of developmental myelination. Elevated NAA is thought to cause damage to myelin and myelin-producing cells (oligodendrocytes, but the viability of neurons in CD is relatively unexplored. We compare here the progressive degeneration of neurons in two regions of the CD mouse brain, the thalamus and the cortex, distinguished by differing degrees of vacuolation, and show that the …

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

Stratford Campus 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 …

The Involvement Of Ubiquitin In Med13 Cyclin C Degradation Following Cellular Stress, Ayesha Gurnani, Brittany Friedson, Katrina Cooper

Stratford Campus Research Day

The Cdk8 Kinase Module is a dissociable regulator of cellular stress response genes, with degradation of its components Med13 and cyclin C eventually determining cell fate decisions such as engaging cell survival or cell death mechanisms. We aimed to explore the roles of ubiquitin in degradation of the Cdk8 Kinase Module following nitrogen starvation, with respect to the potential involvement of deubiquitinating enzyme Doa4, lysine linkage at position K63, and E2 ubiquitin conjugating enzymes Ubc4 and Ubc5. We utilized Western blot analysis to observe nitrogen starvation-induced degradation of Med13-HA in wild-type, doa4 mutant, and K63R yeast strains; degradation of cyclin …

Comparative Analysis Of The Effects Of Actual Versus Assumed Opioid Experience On The Regulation Of Ventral Striatal Opioid Receptor Gene Expression, Indu Mithra Madhuranthakam, Martin Job

Stratford Campus Research Day

Rationale: We conducted experiments to assess the effect of prior opioid experience on gene expression changes. We compared the current experimenter-imposed short versus extended-access conditions of opioid self-administration and developed a new quantitative method to determine their effectiveness in identifying the role of opioid experience in regulating opioid receptor expression levels in the ventral striatum (VS) using an oxycodone self-administration/abstinence model.

Methods: In this study, male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=36) were trained for 20 days to self-administer oxycodone at 0.1 mg/kg/infusion under short access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, for 3h/day) or extended access (n=15, or saline as controls n=3, …

Identifying Co-Factors That Drive Tra-1 Activator Function, Jibran Imtiaz, Youngquan Shen, Ronald Ellis

Stratford Campus Research Day

Gli proteins are involved in cell fate determination, proliferation, and patterning in many species and are major effectors of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling. There are three Gli proteins in humans, and mutations or errors in their regulation lead to a variety of developmental disorders or cancer. However, the mechanisms by which they interact with co-factors are poorly understood. We are analyzing co-factors of Gli proteins using TRA-1 in Caenorhabditis nematodes. The TRA-1 zinc fingers are structurally like those of other Gli proteins, and TRA-1 can be cleaved like other Gli proteins to form a repressor. However, its function has changed during …

Swallowing Disrupts Tongue-Jaw Coordination During Chewing In A Rat Model Of Parkinson's Disease, Meejan Palhang, N. Charles, Francois Gould

Stratford Campus Research Day

The primary motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, including bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor, are associated with difficulties regulating transitions between motor behaviors due to basal ganglia dysfunction. Chewing and swallowing, which are disordered in most patients with Parkinson’s disease, are two complex motor behaviors which overlap in time and share some neuromuscular components. The objective of this study is to identify how Parkinson’s disease affects the coordination of chewing and swallowing. We hypothesize that as a result of impaired regulation of shift between motor patterns, chewing cycles that occur with a swallow will be more affected that chewing cycles occurring in …

The Study Of A Generalized Fitness Education Program's Effect On Personality Traits, Garrett Schliep

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

This longitudinal study was to measure the influence of a generalized fitness education program on the percentile of individuals’ personality traits in college aged individuals. The personality traits are those determined in the Five Factor Model of Personality. The Five Factor Model of Personality is a beneficial tool used in exercise psychology that refers to a broad domain of personality traits often referred to as the “Big Five”. The findings reject the hypothesis that a fitness education program would shift an individual’s personality a statistically significant amount.

Dengue Virus And Blood Safety: A Mini-Review Of Research Publications, Festus Mulakoli, George Gachara, Eric Ndombi, Samoel Khamadi

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

The growing demand for donated whole blood and blood products to save lives has both health benefits and health risks for blood recipients at the same time. Dengue virus, a re-emerging viral disease poses a threat to blood safety, and it has spread to over 128 countries in the world. Several studies have documented transfusion-transmitted (TT) dengue, with the first cases being reported in China in 2002 and Singapore in 2008. To understand the magnitude and broader picture of the dengue virus and blood safety, we conducted a mini-review of published literature from the Scopus database. The review focused on …

Csp Athlete's Who Live On Campus Have A Higher Percentage Of Staphylococcus Aureus Compared To Those Who Live Off Campus, Casni Lee

Research and Scholarship Symposium Posters

In order to get more information about S. aureus, nasal swab participants were willingly swabbed for samples. For this research we were looking to see who was negative or positive for having S. aureus. Each participant filled out a survey, which included a variety of questions. One of the questions asking if they are a student athlete at Concordia University. The purpose of this study was to look at the difference between the student athlete results, compared to those that are not.

An Epimetabolomics Approach To Understanding Alzheimer's Disease, Stewart F. Graham

Conference Presentation Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Localization Of Ctg-Repeat-Containing Transgenes In Drosophila Melanogaster Myotonic Dystrophy Models, Andrea Waltrip

Student Research Submissions

Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, DM1, is a multi-systemic muscle wasting disorder that results from expression of expanded CTG repeats in the DMPK gene in humans. Three transgenic Drosophila melanogaster lines have been created containing 60, 250, or 480 CTG repeats to model DM1. The transgenic repeats are expressed using the GAL4/UAS system. Expression of long-repeat transgenes ((CTG)₂₅₀ and i(CTG)₄₈₀) produces phenotypes consistent with DM1, relative to control lines ((CTG)₆₀). The precise chromosomal location of insertion of the transgenes has not been reported. We used classical genetic approaches to localize CTG-repeat transgene insertion to a specific …

Comparison Of Globalfiler Pcr Amplification Inhibition Due To Humic Acid And Canine Dna, Mckinzie Bundy

Honors Projects

To obtain a DNA profile from a crime scene sample, the DNA must undergo amplification through the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The PCR process can be inhibited by factors that increase DNase I activity or by factors that interfere with Taq polymerase binding to the DNA. This study compares inhibition to the PCR process caused by dog DNA with inhibition caused by humic acid. The GlobalFiler PCR Amplification Kit was tested using mixtures of dog DNA and human control DNA and mixtures of humic acid and human control DNA. The profiles obtained from these mixtures were then analyzed for instances …

Promoting Engagement Through Socioscientific Inquiry At The Middle School Level, Kaitlyn Kalehuawehe

Undergraduate Theses

Learning science is not just about facts. It is an area that has the potential to expand beyond the classroom. There is a concern for students having negative associations with science, and not seeing the relevance it plays within their lives. The curriculum should reflect science's value within society and its influence on complex issues. Learning science in the context of socioscientific issues (SSI) can promote an understanding that connects science to society and everyday life. The main objective of this thesis is the see how the use of SSI in the middle school classroom can promote student engagement and …

Stretch Activation During Fatigue Improves Relative Force Production In Fast-Contracting Mouse Skeletal Muscle Fibers, Philip C. Woods

Masters Theses

Stretch activation (F_SA) is the delayed increase in fiber specific tension (force per cross-sectional area) following a rapid stretch and can improve muscle performance during repetitive cyclical contractions. Historically considered minimal in skeletal muscle, our recent work showed the ratio ofstretch- to calcium-activated specific tension (F_SA/F₀) increased from 10 to 40% with greater inorganic phosphate (Pi) levels in soleus muscle fibers (Straight et al., 2019). Given Pi increases with muscle fatigue, we hypothesize that F_SA helps maintain force generation during fatigue. To test this, F_SA, induced by a stretch of 0.5% …

Bifidobacterial Metabolism Of Fucosylated Human Milk Oligosaccharides Influences Structure And Function Of The Infant Gut Microbiome

Doctoral Dissertations

Human milk contains human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) that are indigestible and pass intact through the infant gastrointestinal tract where they are available for microbial metabolism. HMOs incorporate the same monosaccharide building blocks but vary structurally in primary sequence of monomeric components. Primary sequences are further diversified by degree of polymerization, branching, and secondary modifications such as fucosylation. Fucosylated HMOs (fHMOs) are highly abundant and can account for over 30% of total HMOs. Infant-colonizing Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) possesses a specialized gene cluster conveying the ability to metabolize fHMOs. This study presents an in-depth analysis of B. …

The Effects Of Specialized Pro-Resolving Mediator Lipoxin A4 On Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms And Interactions With Monocytes, Julianne M. Thornton

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is an opportunistic pathogen known as a major cause of hospital-acquired secondary infections, commonly causing chronic respiratory infections in immunocompromised individuals, especially those with cystic fibrosis, and often found in wound infections. P. aeruginosa uses the quorum sensing pathway to readily form protective biofilms, which reduce the efficacy of antibiotics and access by host immune cells to eradicate the pathogen. Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) are lipids endogenously produced by the host immune response to infection to aid in infection resolution. One SPM, Lipoxin A4 (LxA4), has been shown to be a robust quorum sensing inhibitor.

The …