Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

High Prevalence Of Toxigenic Clostridium Difficile In Public Space Lawns In Western Australia, Peter Moono, Su Chen Lim, Thomas V. Riley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Clostridium difficile is a well-established hospital pathogen. Recently, it has been detected increasingly in patients without hospital contact. Given this rise in community associated infections with C. difficile, we hypothesized that the environment could play an important role in transmission of spores outside the hospital. Lawn samples (311) collected in public spaces in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia, from February to June 2016 were cultured for C. difficile. C. difficile was isolated from the samples by direct and enrichment culture, and characterized by standard molecular methods using toxin gene PCR and ribotyping. The overall prevalence of …

Toward A Collaborative Ai Framework For Assistive Dementia Care, Tze-Yun Leong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We envision an integrated framework for supporting the development and deployment of human-aware, general artificial intelligence (AI) that needs to collaborate in uncertain, changing environments. We examine the technology and system requirements of building assistive care agents for dementia or cognitive impaired patients through the continuum of care. We summarize the new AI capabilities and show examples of how an evolving, adaptive development approach would be able to support the basic functionalities and applications in a sound, practical, and scalable manner. We highlight the challenges and the opportunities involved in realizing the proposed framework, and call for future research and …

Further Advances For The Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (Smart), Tianjiao Dai

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

ABSTRACT

FURTHER ADVANCES FOR THE SEQUENTIAL MULTIPLE ASSIGNMENT RANDOMIZED TRIAL (SMART)

Tianjiao Dai, M.S.

Advisory Professor: Sanjay Shete, Ph.D.

Sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART) designs have been developed these years for studying adaptive interventions. In my Ph.D. study, I mainly investigate how to further improve SMART designs and optimize the interventions for each individual in the trial. My dissertation has focused on two topics of SMART designs.

1) Developing a novel SMART design that can reduce the cost and side effects associated with the interventions and proposing the corresponding analytic methods. I have developed a time-varying SMART design in …

Novel Compound, 84f2, Inhibits Calmodulin Deficient Ryr2, Robert Carl Klipp

Dissertations and Theses

The cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) plays a key role in excitation-contraction coupling (ECC). Mutations in RyR2 are known to be linked to the arrhythmogenic disorder, catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), a deadly disease which is characterized by a leak of calcium from sarcoplasmic reticulum and a decrease in calmodulin (CaM) binding. A novel drug, 84F2, shown to inhibit arrhythmias in RyR2-R176Q heterozygous CPVT mouse hearts (2.5 µg/kg), decrease spark frequency in cells derived from CPVT mice (IC₅₀ = 35 nM), and inhibit RyR2 single channel activity at low nanomolar concentrations (IC₅₀ = 8 nM). When CaM is added …

Tsu Faculty Research Database-Jan 2017, David Owerbach

Office of Research Institutional Research and Scholarship

Research interests and selected publications from 230 Texas Southern University faculty have been updated in Jan 2017. Faculty from Public Affairs, the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the College of Education, the College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences, the Law School and the School of Communications are included.

Calcium Transient Assays For Compound Screening With Human Ipsc-Derived Cardiomyocytes: Evaluating New Tools, Neil J. Daily, Radleigh Santos, Joseph Vecchi, Pinar Kemanli, Tetsuro Wakatsuki

Mathematics Faculty Articles

Calcium (Ca2+) plays a central role in regulating many biological processes in the cell from muscle contraction to neurotransmitter release. The need for reliable fluorescent calcium indicator dyes is of vast importance for studying many aspects of cell biology as well as screening compounds using phenotypic high throughput assays. We have assessed two of the latest generation of calcium indicator dyes, FLIPR Calcium 6 and Cal-520 AM for studying calcium transients (CaTs) in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) -derived human cardiomyocytes. FLIPR Calcium 6 and Cal-520 dyes both displayed robust CaTs with a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and were non-toxic …

A Comparison Of The Quality Of Informed Consent For Clinical Trials Of An Experimental Hookworm Vaccine Conducted In Developed And Developing Countries., David J. Diemert, Lucas Lobato, Ashley Styczynski, Maria Zumer, Amanda Soares, Maria Flávia Gazzinelli

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Informed consent is one of the principal ethical requirements of conducting clinical research, regardless of the study setting. Breaches in the quality of the informed consent process are frequently described in reference to clinical trials conducted in developing countries, due to low levels of formal education, a lack of familiarity with biomedical research, and limited access to health services in these countries. However, few studies have directly compared the quality of the informed consent process in developed and developing countries using the same tool and in similar clinical trials. This study was conducted to compare the quality of the informed …

Global Stability Of Nonlinear Stochastic Sei Epidemic Model With Fluctuations In Transmission Rate Of Disease, Olusegun Michael Otunuga

Mathematics Faculty Research

We derive and analyze the dynamic of a stochastic SEI epidemic model for disease spread. Fluctuations in the transmission rate of the disease bring about stochasticity in model. We discuss the asymptotic stability of the infection-free equilibrium by first deriving the closed form deterministic (R₀) and stochastic (R₀) basic reproductive number. Contrary to some author’s remark that different diffusion rates have no effect on the stability of the disease-free equilibrium, we showed that even if no epidemic invasion occurs with respect to the deterministic version of the SEI model (i.e., R₀ < 1), epidemic can still grow initially (if R₀ > 1) …

One Ion To Rule Them All: Combined Antibacterial, Osteoinductive And Anticancer Properties Of Selenite-Incorporated Hydroxyapatite, Vuk Uskoković, Maheshwar Adiraj Iyer, Victoria M. Wu

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Although hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been doped with dozens of different ions, the quest for an ion imparting a combination of properties conducive to bone healing is still ongoing. Because of its protean potency and the similarity in size and shape to the phosphate tetrahedron, the selenite ion presents a natural ionic substitute in HAp. The incorporation of selenite into synthetic HAp using two different methods – co-precipitation and ion-exchange sorption – was studied for its effect on crystal properties and on a triad of biological responses: antibacterial, anticancer and osteoinductive. Co-precipitation yielded HAp with a higher selenite content than sorption …

Computational Analysis Of Residue Interaction Networks And Coevolutionary Relationships In The Hsp70 Chaperones: A Community- Hopping Model Of Allosteric Regulation And Communication, Gabrielle Stetz, Gennady M. Verkhivker

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Allosteric interactions in the Hsp70 proteins are linked with their regulatory mechanisms and cellular functions. Despite significant progress in structural and functional characterization of the Hsp70 proteins fundamental questions concerning modularity of the allosteric interaction networks and hierarchy of signaling pathways in the Hsp70 chaperones remained largely unexplored and poorly understood. In this work, we proposed an integrated computational strategy that combined atomistic and coarse-grained simulations with coevolutionary analysis and network modeling of the residue interactions. A novel aspect of this work is the incorporation of dynamic residue correlations and coevolutionary residue dependencies in the construction of allosteric interaction networks …

Longitudinal Measurement And Hierarchical Classification Framework For The Prediction Of Alzheimer's Disease, Meiyan Huang, Wei Yang, Qianjin Feng, Wufan Chen, Michael Weiner, Paul Aisen, Ronald Petersen, Clifford R. Jack Jr., William Jagust, John Trojanowki, Arthur W. Toga, Laurel Beckett, Robert C. Green, Andrew Saykin, John Morris, Leslie M. Shaw, Jeffrey Kaye, Joseph Quinn, Lisa Silbert, Betty Lind, Raina Carter, Sara Dolen, Lon S. Schneider, Sonia Pawluczyk, Mauricio Beccera, Liberty Teodoro, Bryan Spann, James Brewer, Helen Vanderswag, Adam Fleisher, Charles D. Smith, Greg A. Jicha, Peter A. Hardy, Partha Sinha, Elizabeth Oates, Gary Conrad

Neurology Faculty Publications

Accurate prediction of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is important for the early diagnosis and treatment of this condition. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an early stage of AD. Therefore, patients with MCI who are at high risk of fully developing AD should be identified to accurately predict AD. However, the relationship between brain images and AD is difficult to construct because of the complex characteristics of neuroimaging data. To address this problem, we present a longitudinal measurement of MCI brain images and a hierarchical classification method for AD prediction. Longitudinal images obtained from individuals with MCI were investigated to acquire important …

Correlation Of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography Scan With Smoking, Tumor Size, Stage And Differentiation In Head And Neck Cancer Patients, Jordan L. Pleitz, Partha Sinha, Emily V. Dressler, Rony K. Aouad

Otolaryngology--Head & Neck Surgery Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to identify associations between positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) in patients presenting with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with tumor site, size, histologic differentiation, smoking, and diabetes. Charts of patients with oropharyngeal and laryngeal SCC who underwent ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET/CT scans were reviewed between May 2007 and August 2013. Statistical analyses included modeling log-transformed SUVmax values by tumor site, size, histologic differentiation, smoking status, and diabetes using unadjusted linear regressions. Differences were considered statistically significant for P< 0.05. A total of 111 patients (54 with oropharynx and 57 with larynx cancers) were included, 83 men and 28 women with an average age of 57.5 years old. There was a significantly higher pack-year smoking history (P = 0.005) in the larynx cancer group. While tumor …

Design Of Radio-Frequency Arrays For Ultra-High Field Mri, Ian R O Connell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an indispensable, non-invasive diagnostic tool for the assessment of disease and function. As an investigational device, MRI has found routine use in both basic science research and medicine for both human and non-human subjects.

Due to the potential increase in spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the ability to exploit novel tissue contrasts, the main magnetic field strength of human MRI scanners has steadily increased since inception. Beginning in the early 1980’s, 0.15 T human MRI scanners have steadily risen in main magnetic field strength with ultra-high field (UHF) 8 T MRI systems deemed to …

Older Adult Health: National Library Of Medicine Resources For Health Care Providers And For Patients And Families, Elizabeth Dyer, Barbara Swartzlander, Marilyn R. Gugliucci, Laura Taylor

Library Services Faculty Publications

This list of resources was designed to complement a project funded by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) New England Region (NER) entitled “Empathy Learned Through an Extended Medical Education Virtual Reality Project." The project used a virtual reality (VR) experience for 1st year medical students developed by Embodied Labs. The interactive “Alfred Lab” immerses users in the story of a 74-year-old patient who has macular degeneration and hearing loss, allowing users to experience these conditions from the patient’s perspective as he interacts with his family and doctor.

Parts Of The Whole: Error Estimation For Science Students, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

It is important for science students to understand not only how to estimate error sizes in measurement data, but also to see how these errors contribute to errors in conclusions they may make about the data. Relatively small errors in measurement, errors in assumptions, and roundoff errors in computation may result in large error bounds on computed quantities of interest. In this column, we look closely at a standard method for measuring the volume of cancer tumor xenografts to see how small errors in each of these three factors may contribute to relatively large observed errors in recorded tumor volumes.

University Of Nebraska At Omaha 2017-2018 Course Catalog, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Graduate Catalogs

The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a premier metropolitan university that combines the resources of a doctoral research institution with a thriving community in the heart of Omaha.

With a global reach and vision, UNO is large enough to provide opportunities students seek, yet personal enough to include the mentorship they need to achieve academic excellence, creativity, and engaged learningat competitive tuition rates.

UNO is committed to and engaged with the city surrounding it, allowing students unique hands-on opportunities, internships, service learning,applied research, and other collaborative activities that enhance time in the classroom.

This is the ”O” we want …

Unusual Acylation Of Chloramphenicol In Lysobacter Enzymogenes, A Biocontrol Agent With Intrinsic Resistance To Multiple Antibiotics, Wei Zhang, Justin Huffman, Shengying Li, Yuemao Shen, Liangcheng Du

Liangcheng Du Publications

Background: The environmental gliding bacteria Lysobacter are emerging as a new group of biocontrol agents due to their prolific production of lytic enzymes and potent antibiotic natural products. These bacteria are intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics, but the mechanisms behind the antibiotic resistance have not been investigated.

Results: Previously, we have used chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) as a selection marker in genetic manipulation of natural product biosynthetic genes in Lysobacter, because chloramphenicol is one of the two common antibiotics that Lysobacter are susceptible to. Here, we found L. enzymogenes, the most studied species of this genus, could …

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Agriculture Without Compromising Food Security?, Stefan Frank, Petr Havlík, Jean François Soussana, Antoine Levesque, Hugo Valin, Eva Wollenberg, Ulrich Kleinwechter, Oliver Fricko, Mykola Gusti, Mario Herrero, Pete Smith, Tomoko Hasegawa, Florian Kraxner, Michael Obersteiner

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

To keep global warming possibly below 1.5◦C and mitigate adverse effects of climate change, agriculture, like all other sectors, will have to contribute to efforts in achieving net negative emissions by the end of the century. Cost-efficient distribution of mitigation across regions and economic sectors is typically calculated using a global uniform carbon price in climate stabilization scenarios. However, in reality such a carbon price would substantially affect food availability. Here, we assess the implications of climate change mitigation in the land use sector for agricultural production and food security using an integrated partial equilibrium modelling framework and explore ways …

The Database Of The Predicts (Projecting Responses Of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) Project, Lawrence N. Hudson, Tim Newbold, Sara Contu, Samantha L.L. Hill, Igor Lysenko, Adriana De Palma, Helen R.P. Phillips, Tamera I. Alhusseini, Felicity E. Bedford, Dominic J. Bennett, Hollie Booth, Victoria J. Burton, Charlotte W.T. Chng, Argyrios Choimes, David L.P. Correia, Julie Day, Susy Echeverría-Londoño, Susan R. Emerson, Di Gao, Morgan Garon, Michelle L.K. Harrison, Daniel J. Ingram, Martin Jung, Victoria Kemp, Lucinda Kirkpatrick, Callum D. Martin, Yuan Pan, Gwilym D. Pask-Hale, Edwin L. Pynegar, Alexandra N. Robinson, Katia Sanchez-Ortiz

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in …

Forest Carbon Projects In The Ukrainian Carpathians: An Assessment Of Potential Community Impacts And Benefits, Amanda R. Egan, William S. Keeton, Cecilia M. Danks, Ihor Soloviy, Asim Zia

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) is a frequently promoted climate change mitigation strategy. As forest carbon projects proceed, we are learning how they affect local sovereignty and resource access, particularly in developing economies. Central and Eastern Europe’s temperate forests offer potential for projects, yet little is known about how the sociopolitical context of these transitional economies may influence project success. In this article, we enhance understanding of potential community impacts and explore opportunities for fair benefit distribution in Ukraine’s Carpathian Mountain region. Through a thematic qualitative and interpretive analysis of interviews and observational data, we: (1) describe what …

When, Where, And How Nature Matters For Ecosystem Services: Challenges For The Next Generation Of Ecosystem Service Models, Jesse T. Rieb, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Armsworth, Katrin Böhning-Gaese, Aletta Bonn, Graeme S. Cumming, Felix Eigenbrod, Volker Grimm

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Many decision-makers are looking to science to clarify how nature supports human well-being. Scientists' responses have typically focused on empirical models of the provision of ecosystem services (ES) and resulting decision-support tools. Although such tools have captured some of the complexities of ES, they can be difficult to adapt to new situations. Globally useful tools that predict the provision of multiple ES under different decision scenarios have proven challenging to develop. Questions from decision-makers and limitations of existing decision-support tools indicate three crucial research frontiers for incorporating cutting-edge ES science into decision-support tools: (1) understanding the complex dynamics of ES …

Bis(N-Amidinohydrazones) And N-(Amidino)-N'-Aryl-Bishydrazones: New Classes Of Antibacterial/Antifungal Agents, Sanjib K. Shrestha, Liliia M. Kril, Keith D. Green, Stefan Kwiatkowski, Vitaliy M. Sviripa, Justin Robert Nickell, Linda Phyliss Dwoskin, David S. Watt, Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The emergence of multidrug-resistant bacterial and fungal strains poses a threat to human health that requires the design and synthesis of new classes of antimicr obial agents. We evaluated bis(N-amidinohydrazones) and N-(amidino)-N'-aryl-bishydrazones for their antibacterial and antifungal activities against panels of Gram-positive/Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungi. We investigated their potential to develop resistance against both bacteria and fungi by a multi-step, resistance-selection method, explored their potential to induce the production of reactive oxygen species, and assessed their toxicity. In summary, we found that these compounds exhibited broad-spectrum antibacterial and antifungal activities against most of …

Social-Ecological Enabling Conditions For Payments For Ecosystem Services, Heidi R. Huber-Stearns, Drew E. Bennett, Stephen Posner, Ryan C. Richards, Jenn Hoyle Fair, Stella J.M. Cousins, Chelsie L. Romulo

Peer-Reviewed Studies

The concept of “enabling conditions” centers on conditions that facilitate approaches to addressing social and ecological challenges. Although multiple fields have independently addressed the concept of enabling conditions, the literature lacks a shared understanding or integration of concepts. We propose a more synthesized understanding of enabling conditions beyond disciplinary boundaries by focusing on the enabling conditions that influence the implementation of a range of environmental policies termed payments for ecosystem services (PES). Through an analysis of key literature from different disciplinary perspectives, we examined how researchers and practitioners refer to and identify enabling conditions within the context of PES. Through …

Naloxone Therapy In Opioid Overdose Patients: Intranasal Or Intravenous?, Leiah Carney

Natural Sciences Student Research Presentations

This slide presentation for the Natural Science Poster Session at Parkland College describes the chemical makeup and effect of Naloxone, an opioid antagonist used in the treatment opioid overdose and summarizes a study comparing intravenous and intranasal delivery methods. Concludes that although there are conflicting studies, evidence supports intranasal delivery.

Anti-Müllerian Hormone And Its Relationships With Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease And Renal Disease In A Longitudinal Cohort Study Of Women With Type 1 Diabetes, Catherine Kim, Yuanyuan Pan, Barbara Braffett, Valerie Arends, Michael Steffes, Hunter Wessells, Aruna V. Sarma

GW Biostatistics Center

Background

Reproductive age may be a risk factor for vascular disease. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is produced by viable ovarian follicles and reflects reproductive age. We examined whether AMH concentrations were associated with markers of subclinical cardiovascular disease (CVD) and kidney disease among women with type 1 diabetes.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications Study. Participants included women with type 1 diabetes and ≥1 AMH measurement (n = 390). In multivariable regression models which adjusted for repeated measures, we examined the associations between AMH with CVD risk factors, estimated glomerular filtration rate, …

Detecting Discordance Enrichment Among A Series Of Two-Sample Genome-Wide Expression Data Sets, Yinglei Lai, Fanni Zhang, Tapan Nayak, Reza Modarres, Norman H. Lee, Timothy A. Mccaffrey

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Background

With the current microarray and RNA-seq technologies, two-sample genome-wide expression data have been widely collected in biological and medical studies. The related differential expression analysis and gene set enrichment analysis have been frequently conducted. Integrative analysis can be conducted when multiple data sets are available. In practice, discordant molecular behaviors among a series of data sets can be of biological and clinical interest.

Methods

In this study, a statistical method is proposed for detecting discordance gene set enrichment. Our method is based on a two-level multivariate normal mixture model. It is statistically efficient with linearly increased parameter space when …

Post-Diagnosis Body Mass Index And Mortality Among Women Diagnosed With Endometrial Cancer: Results From The Women's Health Initiative., Hannah Arem, Ruth M Pfeiffer, Steven C Moore, Melinda L Irwin, Michael J Lamonte, Gloria E Sarto, Rami Nassir, Juhua Luo, Rowan T Chlebowski, Louise A Brinton, Charles E Matthews

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

Higher body mass index (BMI) measured before endometrial cancer diagnosis has been associated with greater risk of developing endometrial cancer and higher mortality, but the association between BMI measured after diagnosis and mortality risk is unclear. We identified 467 women (91 deaths) in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) with information on BMI measured after diagnosis and used Cox proportional hazards regression to generate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for all-cause mortality. Comparing BMI 35+ with/m2, we observed no association with all-cause mortality (HR = 1.02, 95% CI 0.55-1.91). Our study does not support the hypothesis that higher …

Benefit Of Ultrasound Curriculum Development For Family Medicine Residents, Nithin Natwa, Uzair Munshey, Duncan Vos, Robert Baker

Research Day

Introduction/Purpose: Musculoskeletal problems comprise some of the most common reasons for ambulatory care encounters in the United States, accounting for 8.3% of the 1.2 billion visits per year according to the CDC. Musculoskeletal Ultrasound use has become more common in primary care for diagnosis and therapeutics. In Family Medicine Residency (FMR) Programs there is a deficiency of a structured, competency-based musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSK US) training despite its growing popularity. Currently, there is no formalized requirement for Ultrasound education as in other residency programs in spite of its benefit. Methods: We received a positive response on our needs analysis survey for …

Clinical Applications Of Advanced Rotational Radiation Therapy, Adrian Nalichowski

Wayne State University Dissertations

Purpose: With a fast adoption of emerging technologies, it is critical to fully test and understand its limits and capabilities. In this work we investigate new graphic processing unit (GPU) based treatment planning algorithm and its applications in helical tomotherapy dose delivery. We explore the limits of the system by applying it to challenging clinical cases of total marrow irradiation (TMI) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). We also analyze the feasibility of alternative fractionation schemes for total body irradiation (TBI) and TMI based on reported historical data on lung dose and interstitial pneumonitis (IP) incidence rates.

Methods and Materials: An anthropomorphic …

Studying The Optimal Scheduling For Controlling Prostate Cancer Under Intermittent Androgen Suppression, Sunil K. Dhar, Hans R. Chaudhry, Bruce G. Bukiet, Zhiming Ji, Nan Gao, Thomas W. Findley

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

This retrospective study shows that the majority of patients’ correlations between PSA and Testosterone during the on-treatment period is at least 0.90. Model-based duration calculations to control PSA levels during off-treatment are provided. There are two pairs of models. In one pair, the Generalized Linear Model and Mixed Model are both used to analyze the variability of PSA at the individual patient level by using the variable “Patient ID” as a repeated measure. In the second pair, Patient ID is not used as a repeated measure but additional baseline variables are included to analyze the variability of PSA.