Physiology Commons^™

Multisystem Predictors Of Dynamic Gait Stability Across Fall Risk In Older Adults, Ashwini Kulkarni, Neda Moghim, Ross Gore, Soumya Banerjee, Christopher K. Rhea, Brittany Samulski

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Gait stability arises from interactions between physiological, cognitive, and psychological systems, yet these domains are often assessed in isolation. This study examined multisystem predictors of anteroposterior margin of stability during walking (MoSAP) in community-dwelling older adults. Of 340 participants, 143 were retained after data quality screening (105 females; age: 70.8 ± 7.8 years). Participants completed the Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA), cognitive testing using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), fear-of-falling evaluations using Modified Falls Efficacy Scale (MFES) and a biomechanical gait assessment during preferred and fast speeds. Participants were stratified into four PPA-based fall-risk groups: low, mild, moderate, and high risk. MoSAP …

Considerations For The Analysis Of Urinary Environmental Chemical Concentrations During Pregnancy, Danielle R. Stevens, Kaleigh Hinton, Katie M. O'Brien, Jessie P. Buckley, Barrett M. Welch, Jason A. Watts, Antonia M. Calafat, Julianne C. Botelho, Elena Sinkovskaya, Ann Przybylska, George Saade, Alfred Abuhamad, Kelly K. Ferguson

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Background:

Pregnancy physiology may impact indicators of hydration, affecting exposure assessment in gestational studies with urinary chemical biomarkers.

Methods:

We aimed to characterize hydration and demonstrate the impact of different methods for standardizing urinary chemical biomarker concentrations on exposure descriptives in the Human Placenta and Phthalates Study (n = 303, 2017-2020), a prospective pregnancy cohort with eight study visits between 12 and 38 weeks of gestation. We assessed trajectories and predictors of hydration using urine flow rate (UFR) and specific gravity (SG). Likewise, we examined trajectories and predictors of mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP), for which concentrations were unstandardized or standardized via …

Feeding Mode Is Associated With Infant Night Sleep Trajectories During The First Postnatal Year, Magdalena Olson, Li Liu, Elizabeth Reifsnider, Dean V. Coonrod, Sarada S. Panchanathan, Megan E. Petrov, Corrie M. Whisner

Ellmer School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: Short sleep and formula feeding during infancy are associated with increased risk of childhood obesity. Feeding practices and sleep arrangements vary during infancy and may also be dynamic, yet their impact on infant night sleep duration remains unclear. Understanding these relationships is crucial for formulating recommendations to support breastfeeding and address sleep concerns. Objective: We examined the association between feeding mode and parent-reported infant night sleep duration during the first postnatal year, while additionally evaluating night-weaning and bedsharing as contextual sleep-related practices. Methods: Infants in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area (n = 193) were followed up at 3, 8, 13, …

Estrogen Deprivation During Primate (Papio Anubis) Pregnancy: Impact On Systemic Microvascular Flow And Cardiovascular Development And Function After Birth In Offspring, Sifa Turan, Jeffery S. Babischkin, Graham W. Aberdeen, Gerald J. Pepe, Eugene D. Albrecht

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Suppressing estradiol (E₂) during baboon pregnancy lowers offspring skeletal muscle capillary density, vital for insulin-mediated glucose uptake, and induces insulin resistance. We examined whether E₂ deprivation also impairs microvascular flow and cardiac function.

Methods

Offspring of untreated baboons, letrozole-treated baboons, or letrozole plus E₂ (maternal s.c. injections during the second half of gestation) underwent contrast-enhanced microbubble ultrasonography to quantify microvessel flow and echocardiography to assess cardiac performance.

Results

Letrozole reduced maternal serum E₂ by 95% (p <  0.01). In letrozole offspring, microbubble flux rate (β) fell 55% (p <  0.02), replenishment was 5 s slower (p <  0.03), and microvessel flow declined 40% (p = 0.05); all were restored by added E₂. Indices of systolic (isovolumic contraction), diastolic (isovolumic relaxation), global performance (Tei index), and cardiac output were unchanged.

Conclusion

Prolonged gestational E₂ deprivation programs a reduction in microvascular flow without altering cardiac function; maternal E₂ prevents this, supporting E₂'s role in …

Comparative Mass Spectrometry Analysis Of High And Low Centrifugation Extracellular Vesicle (Ev) Pellets From Healthy Urine Following Tamm-Horsfall Protein Removal, Dana Bielopolski, Luca Musante, Henrik Molina, Douglas Barrows, Samantha Upson, Lifang Yang, Thomas Carrol, Jonathan N. Tobin, Rhonda G. Kost, U. Erdbrügger

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Objectives

Urinary extracellular vesicles (uEVs) are potential biomarkers for renal physiology and disease. Their isolation is challenged by Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP) contamination, particularly in high-speed ultracentrifugation (P100) fractions. Low-speed (P20) fractions contain biologically relevant uEVs, yet their proteomic composition is underexplored. This study evaluates strategies for THP removal to optimize mass spectrometry analysis and characterizes P20 and P100 uEV proteomes and its combination in healthy urine.

Methods

Urine from a healthy volunteer was processed via sequential centrifugation at 21,200 g (P20) and 164,244 g (P100). THP removal was performed using low ionic strength buffer (P20) and size-exclusion chromatography (P100). Western …

Eeg Signatures Of Motor Development In Early Childhood: A Systematic Review, Sonia Khurana, Ashwini Kulkarni, Thomas C. Bulea, Hunter J. Bennett

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Early identification of motor developmental disorders is limited due to lack of objective neural markers that characterize typical neurodevelopmental patterns. This systematic review interprets and synthesizes existing evidence to propose a framework of EEG signatures associated with motor development in children aged 0-5 years, which may help inform future benchmarks for early assessment and intervention.

Methods

Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched published and gray literature across five databases between 2000 and 2025 (registered protocol). Included studies examined EEG during task-based, resting-state, or sleep studies linked to motor milestones, task performance, or standardized motor assessments. Study quality was assessed using …

Systematics Of Disk-Winged Bats (Thyroptera), Courtney L. Klumpp

Capstone Showcase

This thesis investigates the evolutionary relationships among disk-winged bats in the genus Thyroptera, a small group of Neotropical bats known for the adhesive suction disks on their wings and feet that allow them to roost inside tightly rolled leaves. The distinctive morphology and behavior of these bats have not been extensively documented, and their phylogenetic relationships remain only partially resolved. The goal of this research is to better understand how these species are related to one another and to determine whether the five recognized species of Thyroptera form a single monophyletic group. To address this question, morphological and genetic …

Effect Of Jet Lag And Nighttime Shifts On The Circadian Rhythm Of Humans, Mahd Adrees

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project reviews the circadian rhythm and its disruption by jet lag and nighttime shifts. It discusses the effects on melatonin, sleep quality, and physiological symptoms using articles from Google Scholar. Key studies, mechanisms, and statistics will support these points. A discussion follows, comparing and contrasting the various literature sources. This review aims to raise awareness and summarize strategies to reduce jet lag and nighttime shift effects, improving wellbeing.

Physiological Development Of Hypertension As A Result Of High-Fat Diet Induced Obesity, Michael Nguyen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This literature review focuses on the physiological development of obesity due to the consumption of diets rich in fats and the resulting pathophysiological development of hypertension. This review aims to identify causes of obesity and hypertension as well as current treatments to propose future areas of study. The literature review analyzed a wide variety of literature sources on obesity and hypertension published between the years 1995 and 2025. The review identifies high-fat diets as a cause of obesity and the resulting health effects of elevated leptin, insulin, and nervous system activity as contributors to the development of hypertension. Future areas …

Toadally Not A Frog: A Neuromuscular Physiology Study, Iris Renna

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Upper-level physiology labs in undergraduate education use freshly isolated bullfrog and/or leopard frog tissue to teach core concepts in nerve and muscle physiology. Sourcing live animals for routine educational use raises ethical and conservation concerns. Cane toads (Rhinella marina) are an invasive species that are routinely culled, can provide a potential source of laboratory animals which would remove pressure to native amphibian populations. This study tested the hypothesis that cane toads can serve as a functional substitute for bullfrogs and/or leopard frogs in the muscle and nerve physiology lab. Isolated sciatic nerve and gastrocnemius muscle preparations from cane …

Bmal1 Mediates Sex-Specific Circadian Regulation Of Cardiac Ion Channels And Temporal Arrhythmia Vulnerability, Brian P. Delisle, Ezekiel Rozmus, Abhilash Prabhat, Spencer B. Procopio, Xiping Zhang, Emilia Entcheva, Karyn A. Esser, Elizabeth Schroder

Physiology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

C/Ebpα Is Essential For Gonadal But Not Inguinal White Adipose Tissue Formation In Mice, Krista Y. Hu, Yu-Lin Ma, Esme A. Dodge, Olivia A. B. Maguire, Caio V. Matias, Ryan K. Barney, Hector S. Himede, Juliana Gomez Pardo, Miriam Cepeda, Scott M. Gordon, Robert C. Bauer

Physiology Faculty Publications

Objective: The distribution of excess white adipose tissue (WAT) in obesity correlates with risk for comorbidities. Thus, understanding depot-specific WAT developmental mechanisms is translationally relevant. SNPs near the gene CEBPA associate with waist to hip ratio, and while C/EBPα is a recognized regulator of adipogenesis, there is no previously known role for C/EBPα in regulating adipose distribution.

Methods: We crossed Cebpa floxed mice to the AdipoQ-Cre transgenic mouse strain, generating mice with adipocyte-specific knockout of Cebpa (Cebpa_ASKO). Mice were phenotyped on a chow diet and after prolonged high-fat diet (HFD) feeding.

Results: Cebpa_ASKO mice almost entirely lack gonadal …

Dim Light At Night Worsens Cardiac Autonomic Dysregulation In Female Diabetic Mice, Abhilash Prabhat, Shrishti Naidu, Isabel G. Stumpf, Tanya S. Seward, Elizabeth A. Schroder, Brian P. Delisle

Physiology Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. CAN is characterized by impaired cardiovascular autonomic control and is associated with increased mortality, especially among women with type 2 diabetes. Identifying environmental factors that exacerbate the CAN-associated phenotype may reveal modifiable strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk.

Nighttime light exposure is a novel cardiovascular risk factor. Among ∼90,000 individuals, greater nighttime light exposure correlated with increased atrial fibrillation and heart failure risk. Light at night disrupts sympathovagal balance and elevates nocturnal heart rate in humans. Dim light at night similarly disrupts autonomic regulation of heart rate in mice. We …

Early Microglial Response To Amyloid Plaques Drives Sleep Loss In Alzheimer’S Disease, Nicholas J. Constantino, Riley E. Irmen, Matthew J. Lanning, Sierra M. Turner, Clair C. Ashley, Caitlin M. Carroll, Evan M. Neary, Dave Rubinow, J. Andy Snipes, Shannon L. Macauley

Physiology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Sleep disruption is an early feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the cellular mechanisms linking amyloid pathology to sleep loss remain unclear.

Methods: Electroencephalography/electromyography (EEG/EMG) recordings, quantitative EEG analysis, and sleep deprivation were performed in APPswe/PSEN1dE9 (APP/PS1) mice at different stages of pathology relative to normal aging. Amyloid burden and microglial density were quantified with whole-brain light-sheet microscopy. CSF1R-mediated microglial depletion explored effects of microglia on sleep loss.

Results: Amyloid plaques caused non–rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep loss that did not worsen with increased plaque burden. Aging reduced REM sleep and eliminated sleep rebound. Amyloid pathology was associated with …

Spiders In The World Of Pesticides: A Review, Jackson L. Mendillo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Pesticides and other agrochemicals have varying effects on spiders depending on their mechanism of action and dosage, ranging from behavioral changes and ataxia, to reproductive changes and physiological stress, to lethal non-target effects. Additionally, peptide Hv1a has promising effects as a more narrow-spectrum pesticide.

Manuka Honey Modulates Oxidative Stress In Neuro2-A Cells Through Mitochondrial Regulation, Rachel Abramovici

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Manuka honey is known for its vital usage in wound healing, being an agonist towards fighting infections, and is an acting antioxidant [32]. Its main constituents are flavonoids and phenolic compounds, with methyl syringate (MSYR) being a major active ingredient. The specific compounds responsible for these antioxidant effects, particularly in the CNS, remain unclear. It is hypothesized that pre-treatment of mouse neuroblastoma cells with MSYR followed by hydrogen peroxide exposure will activate the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1a pathway, due to MSYR’s phenolic structure, and thus reduce oxidative stress and improve mitochondrial biogenesis. Hydrogen peroxide is a standard reactive oxygen species (ROS) treatment to …

Research In Progress. Why Physiology Feels Hard: Supporting The Transition To Self-Directed Learning In Post-Secondary Physiology, Jaelyn Zoe Rohrbaugh, Mark Paternostro

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Physiology is widely recognized as one of the most challenging courses for STEM students. Contributing factors include the discipline’s inherent complexity, instructional methods, and student preparedness, with both faculty and students identifying the nature of the discipline as the primary challenge. Many undergraduates enter college having experienced predominantly teacher-directed, pedagogical instruction, whereas success in college-level physiology requires self-directed, andragogical learning strategies. We hypothesize that students’ difficulties arise more from a lack of self-directed learning skills than from content complexity alone. To investigate this, we administered an anonymous survey to 340 students spanning freshman to professional levels, achieving a 93% completion …

Dual Language Learner Status In Relation To Cortisol For Children In Head Start Preschool, Keala Bratsch

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Early childhood education (ECE) has well documented school readiness benefits, especially for children facing economic hardship. Yet preschool context poses challenges that are associated with elevated stress levels and potential long-term tax on physiological systems that respond to stress. The present study examined dual language learner (DLL) status in relation to levels of the stress hormone cortisol among low-income children attending Head Start Preschool programs. Participants included 207 children ages 3- 5 years who attended preschool in 2021-22 (60.9% attending a dual-language learning school, 39.1% attending an English-instruction-only preschool; all participants meeting the criteria for low-income), and their parents or …

Modulating Oran Nitrate-Reducing Bacteria To Enhance Nitric Oxide Bioavailability As A Therapeutic Target For Atherosclerosis, Donovan C. Davidson

CMC Senior Theses

Atherosclerosis remains the primary driver of global cardiovascular disease, yet clinical interventions are largely restricted to high-cost, invasive procedures only after it has reached a critical stage. Recent research has identified a connection between the oral microbiome and vascular health via the enterosalivary nitrate-nitrite-nitic oxide (NO) pathway. Oral nitrate-reducing bacteria (ONRB) drive the synthesization of NO by reducing dietary nitrate into nitrite, which is then converted into bioavailable NO. NO is a potent vasodilator that maintains endothelial health by suppressing inflammation through inhibiting the expression of adhesion molecules VCAM-1 and ICAM-1. However, this pathway is easily compromised by dysbiotic oral …

Evaluating The Mediating Role Of Gestational Phthalate And Replacement Biomarkers In The Associations Between Race/Ethnicity And Birthweight, Amir J. Lueth, Danielle R. Stevens, Sarahna A. Moyd, Elena Sinkovskaya, Ann Przybylska, Antonia M. Calafat, Julianne C. Botelho, George Saade, Alfred Abuhamad, Kelly K. Ferguson

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Publications

Background

Gestational exposure to phthalates is higher among non-Hispanic black (NHB) women than non-Hispanic white (NHW) women and may contribute to racial/ethnic differences in birthweight z-scores.

Objective

We aimed to investigate whether gestational phthalate and replacement biomarkers mediate the association between race/ethnicity and birthweight z-scores.

Methods

We analyzed data from 271 pregnancies in the Human Placenta and Phthalates study, a prospective cohort recruited from 2017 to 2020. Urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations were measured at up to eight time points during pregnancy and averaged to represent gestational exposure. Metabolites were grouped by parent compound. Linear regression models estimated associations in phthalate …