Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Environmental Insights From A Utah Pilot Study On Well-Being, Casey Trout

Research on Capitol Hill

This project focuses on the importance of the natural environment to the well-being of those surveyed during a 2018 pilot study. The pilot study marked the beginning of the Utah Well-being Project, a 5-year study to assess well-being across Utah communities.

The survey asked participants questions about their overall well-being and their well-being in relation to twelve commonly articulated “domains”, including those that are listed in Figures 1 and 2.

Effects Of Chronic Ethanol Exposure On Stress Coping Style And Genetic States Of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Alexander Goodman

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Neurotransmitter systems are important in regulating the stress response. If a behavioral response is disproportional to a stressor it is characterized as anxiety-like behavior. Many anxiolytic compounds, such as ethanol, increase stressor engagement, but how these compounds interact with an organism on a neurogenetic level is less understood. In this study, I assessed the impact of chronic ethanol treatment on behavior and gene expression of GABA_Areceptors subunits on two strains of zebrafish. Each strain was selectively bred to display the proactive or reactive stress coping style where proactive individuals will actively engage a stressor more than reactive individuals. …

Request For Applications: Neuroscience Summer Research Education Program, University Of Mississippi. Brain Wellness Constellation

Brain Wellness

The Brain Wellness Undergraduate Summer Research Program is an initiative of the UM-UMMC Flagship Constellations. The program will provide stipends to undergraduate students for collaborative research experiences in neuroscience related to brain wellness. In this way it will serve to develop new pipelines for pre-graduate and pre-medical students interested in neuroscience to gain research experience and develop collaborative connections between neuroscience faculty at the Oxford and Jackson campuses.

Saturated Fatty Acid Activates T Cell Inflammation Through A Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase (Nnt)-Dependent Mechanism, Grace Mccambridge, Madhur Agrawal, Alanna Keady, Philip A. Kern, Hatice Hasturk, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, Leena P. Bharath

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Circulating fatty acids (FAs) increase with obesity and can drive mitochondrial damage and inflammation. Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is a mitochondrial protein that positively regulates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), a key mediator of energy transduction and redox homeostasis. The role that NNT-regulated bioenergetics play in the inflammatory response of immune cells in obesity is untested. Our objective was to determine how free fatty acids (FFAs) regulate inflammation through impacts on mitochondria and redox homeostasis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). PBMCs from lean subjects were activated with a T cell-specific stimulus in the presence or absence of generally pro-inflammatory …

Description Of An Innovative Pediatric Individualized Therapeutics Clinic: Working Toward Precision Drug Therapy., Tracy L. Sandritter, Jean C. Dinh, Jennifer A. Wagner, Jennifer Lowry

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The GOLDILOKs® (Genomic and Ontogeny-Linked Dose Individualization and cLinical Optimization for KidS) Clinic aims to provide families and physicians with data to make more informed decisions with regard to pharmacological therapy by using innovative therapy and genomic technologies. The objectives are two-fold: (1) To describe the utility of the GOLDILOKs® Clinic to referring prescribers by evaluating the type of referrals made to the GOLDILOKs® Clinic and (2) to assess the most often utilized technologies (e.g., genotyping) completed to formulate therapy recommendations. Patient data from July 2010 to June 2016 was retrospectively reviewed following Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. The GOLDILOKs® …

A Critical Evaluation Of Trpa1-Mediated Locomotor Behavior In Zebrafish As A Screening Tool For Novel Anti-Nociceptive Drug Discovery, Meejung Ko, Logan C. Ganzen, Emre Coskun, Arbaaz Mukadam, Yuk Fai Leung, Richard Van Rijn

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Current medications inadequately treat the symptoms of chronic pain experienced by over 50 million people in the United States, and may come with substantial adverse effects signifying the need to find novel treatments. One novel therapeutic target is the Transient Receptor Potential A1 channel (TRPA1), an ion channel that mediates nociception through calcium influx of sensory neurons. Drug discovery still relies heavily on animal models, including zebrafish, a species in which TRPA1 activation produces hyperlocomotion. Here, we investigated if this hyperlocomotion follows zebrafish TRPA1 pharmacology and evaluated the strengths and limitations of using TRPA1-mediated hyperlocomotion as potential preclinical screening tool …

Geographic And Socio-Economic Variation In Markers Of Indoor Air Pollution In Nepal: Evidence From Nationally-Representative Data, Saruna Ghimire, Shiva Raj Mishra, Abhishek Sharma, Adugna Siweya, Nipun Shrestha, Bipin Adhikar

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Background In low-income countries such as Nepal, indoor air pollution (IAP), generated by the indoor burning of biomass fuels, is the top-fourth risk factor driving overall morbidity and mortality. We present the first assessment of geographic and socio-economic determinants of the markers of IAP (specifically fuel types, cooking practices, and indoor smoking) in a nationally-representative sample of Nepalese households. Methods Household level data on 11,040 households, obtained from the 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, were analyzed. Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the use of fuel types, indoor cooking practices, indoor smoking and IAP with respect to …

Sharing The Gift Of Water: A Hoosier-Haitian Partnership, Lauren Ward

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

Engagement Methods for International Food Security (YDAE 49100) provided an opportunity for enrolled students to travel abroad to Cap-Haitïen, Haiti. As both a course in agriculture and a service-learning study abroad, the overarching goal was to inspire, engage, and teach Purdue and Haitian students through service learning in agriculture. This was done by developing a project with teammates during the fall semester that was then presented to students in Haiti during the International Agri-Symposium at Université Antenor Firmin over winter break.

Residues Of Thiamethoxam And Mefenoxam In Vegetative And Floral Tissue Of Soybean At The Early Reproductive Stage Resulting From Seed Treatments, Carolina Camargo, Daniel D. Snow, Sathaporn Onanong, Thomas Hunt, Blair Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Thiamethoxam with mefenoxam is the most widely used neonicotinoid insecticide/fungicide mixture applied to soybean (Glycine max [L]) as seed treatments. Based on the systemic nature of thiamethoxam and mefenoxam, residues of this insecticide/fungicide mixture may be present in soybean vegetative and floral tissue and negatively impact beneficial insects. Although neonicotinoids are often applied in combination with systemic fungicides, the research on ecological risks of neonicotinoids has been focused on the analysis of these compounds without considering their interaction with other agrochemicals. The objective of this study was to identify the concentration of thiamethoxam and mefenoxam in soybean flowers and …

Air Quality And Health Burden Of 2017 Northern California Wildfires, Susan O’Neill, Minghui Diao

Faculty Publications, Meteorology and Climate Science

No abstract provided.

Environmental And Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Coral Health, Kristin Jones

2019 Symposium

Plastic pollution is a large and growing problem in our ever producing world. Not only does it litter our cities, but it is cluttering up the natural world as well, the largest being our oceans. Plastic is dumped into the seas where it floats and slowly breaks down into microplastics that are then ingested by marine animals. I will conduct an experiment to test the effects of micro plastics on coral health by subjecting palythoa corals to different plastic levels in a controlled environment. I hypothesize that corals will ingest micro plastics and will suffer health consequences, leading to a …

Effects Of Harvest Time On The Aroma Of White Wines Made From Cold-Hardy Brianna And Frontenac Gris Grapes Using Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction And Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry-Olfactometry, Somchai Rice, Madina Tursumbayeva, Matthew Clark, David Greenlee, Murlidhar Dharmadhikari, Anne Fennell Dr, Jacek A. Koziel

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

The Midwest wine industry has shown a marked increase in growers, hectares planted, wineries, and wine production. This growth coincides with the release of cold-hardy cultivars such as Brianna and Frontenac gris, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. These white grape varieties account for one-third of the total area grown in the state of Iowa. It is generally accepted that the wine aroma profile plays a crucial role in developing a local, sustainable brand. However, the identity of Brianna/Frontenac Gris-based wine aromas and their link to the grape berry chemistry at harvest is unknown. This study aims to preliminarily characterize key …

Is There A Correlation Between Epstein - Barr Virus (Mononucleosis) And Hodgkin’S Lymphoma?, Rooth Cohen

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Symptoms of acute Infectious Mononucleosis (IM), which develops after Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in half the cases, is strikingly like those of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (HL). This, combined with the findings that many patients with HL had a history of EBV and/or IM, triggered an interest in scientists to learn if the two were biochemically related. Many studies in this field unanimously concluded that the development of IM after EBV infection presented a higher risk of developing HL. However, whether this relationship is coincidental or pathological remains a matter of controversy until this day. In the last decade, there has been a …

Endorphins, Endocannabinoids And Runners’ High, Elisheva Winiarz

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Modern science takes at face value the fact that exercise is beneficial for man’s health. In recent years, medical health professionals have begun to harness exercise as a treatment for a broader range of maladies. Since various studies found increased exercise to correlate with higher levels of endorphins, most believed that the endorphins were directly responsible for what the vernacular dubbed “Runner’s High.” Scientists have sought to either augment or wholly disprove the endorphin hypothesis with further studies. Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is an affective condition affecting a significant portion of the general population. Aerobic exercise is increasingly being …

Is A Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet The Most Effective Treatment Of Arthritis?, Elisheva Liberman

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Arthritis is a debilitating disease where joint inflammation occurs. There are different types of arthritis, such as Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the destruction of the articular cartilage that usually comes with age, whereas Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease. They both have symptoms which include reduced range of motion, pain and swelling. There are various treatments to alleviate the pain and reduce the inflammation of arthritis. Among them are medication, physical therapy, surgery and a whole food, plant-based diet. The whole food, plant-based diet yields the best results and is the most effective and practical.

Biogenic Volatiles Emitted From Four Cold-Hardy Grape Cultivars During Ripening, Somchai Rice, Devin L. Mauer, Anne Fennell, Murlidhar Dharmadhikari, Jacek A. Koziel

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

In this research dataset, we summarize for the first time volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted in vivo from ripening wine grapes. We studied four cold-hardy cultivars grown in the Midwestern U.S.: St. Croix, Frontenac, Marquette, and La Crescent. These cultivars have gained popularity among local growers and winemakers, but still very little is known about their performance compared with long-established V. vinifera grapes. Volatiles were collected using two novel approaches: biogenic emissions from grape clusters on a vine and single grape berries. A third approach was headspace collection of volatiles from crushed grapes. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was used to collect …

Full Issue: Volume 13, Number 1

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Complete .pdf file of Volume 13, Number 1 of The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences.

Are Health Problems In Adulthood Linked To Our Experiences In The Womb? An Epigenetic Approach, Simone Tendler

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The origins of adult disease have been a prime topic for research, as deciphering causes can lead to strategies for preventions and cures. There has been recent intrigue focused on the environment in the womb. Records from England and Wales in 1911 show that those who suffered from cardiovascular disease were geographically correlated with regions high in infant mortality in the past, seventy years before the study. When looking into the cause of the neonatal death rates, low birth weight, poor maternal health, and high maternal death rates during childbirth were clearly associated. Barker inferred that there is much happening …

Impact Of Physical Activity On Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Marshall Schwartz

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Type 2 diabetes mellites has become an increasingly prevalent worldwide epidemic. The tremendous economic burden, coupled with the numerous secondary risks associated with the disease, have encouraged researchers to search for causes as well as treatment methods. This research paper focuses on the effect of physical activity as a preventative measure for those at risk for diabetes and as a treatment method for those already diagnosed with the disease. The articles collected included meta-analysis, randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, surveys, etc. The studies that were analyzed have indicated an inverse relationship between physical activity and type 2 diabetes. Since there …

Tree Density And Diversity In Hong Kong’S Public Housing Estates: Fromprovision Injustice To Socio-Ecological Inclusiveness., Louis Shing Him Lee, C.Y. Jim, Allen Hao Zhang

Faculty of Design & Environment (THEi)

Socio-economically underprivileged urban communities might suffer from restricted access to urban forests. Environmental injustice research on urban greenery in Asian cities is lacking. Public housing estates in Hong Kong, accommodating low-income households and over half of the 7.45 million population, were investigated for injustice in tree provision. Two clustering schemes used socio-economic and ecological characteristics to classify 93 estates. Factor analysis of 14 socio-economic variables identified four factors related to deprivation, namely ageing population, overcrowding, working poor with high academic qualifications, and marginalised language minorities. Principal component analysis of six ecological indices returned two components related to tree density and …