4,796 research outputs found

    UMSL Bulletin 2023-2024

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    The 2023-2024 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1088/thumbnail.jp

    Arsenic exposure and developmental neurotoxicity: An evaluation of biomarkers of effect.

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    Revised version. Spelling and formatting errors corrected. Two figures added.Masteroppgave i biomedisinBMED395MAMD-MEDB

    Machine Learning Approaches for the Prioritisation of Cardiovascular Disease Genes Following Genome- wide Association Study

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    Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed thousands of genetic loci, establishing itself as a valuable method for unravelling the complex biology of many diseases. As GWAS has grown in size and improved in study design to detect effects, identifying real causal signals, disentangling from other highly correlated markers associated by linkage disequilibrium (LD) remains challenging. This has severely limited GWAS findings and brought the methodā€™s value into question. Although thousands of disease susceptibility loci have been reported, causal variants and genes at these loci remain elusive. Post-GWAS analysis aims to dissect the heterogeneity of variant and gene signals. In recent years, machine learning (ML) models have been developed for post-GWAS prioritisation. ML models have ranged from using logistic regression to more complex ensemble models such as random forests and gradient boosting, as well as deep learning models (i.e., neural networks). When combined with functional validation, these methods have shown important translational insights, providing a strong evidence-based approach to direct post-GWAS research. However, ML approaches are in their infancy across biological applications, and as they continue to evolve an evaluation of their robustness for GWAS prioritisation is needed. Here, I investigate the landscape of ML across: selected models, input features, bias risk, and output model performance, with a focus on building a prioritisation framework that is applied to blood pressure GWAS results and tested on re-application to blood lipid traits

    Molecular Mechanisms and Therapies of Colorectal Cancer

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    Colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality, with 1.9 million incidence cases and 0.9 million deaths worldwide. The global number of new CRC cases is predicted to reach 3.2 million in 2040, based on the projection of aging, population growth, and human development.In clinics, despite advances of diagnosis and surgical procedures, 20% of the patients with CRC present with metastasis at the time of diagnosis, caused by residual tumor cells that have spread to distant organs prior to surgery, affecting the patient survival rate. Standard systemic chemotherapy, alternative therapies that target mechanisms involved in cancer progression and metastasis, immunotherapy, and combination therapies are the major CRC-treatment strategies. In the advanced stage of CRC the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-Ī²) plays an oncogenic role by promoting cancer cell proliferation, cancer cell self-renewal, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, invasion, tumor progression, metastatic spread, and immune escape. Furthermore, high levels of TGF-Ī²1 confers poor prognosis and is associated with early recurrence after surgery, resistance to chemo- or immunotherapy, and shorter survival. Based on the body of experimental evidence indicating that TGF-Ī² signaling has the potential to be a good therapeutic target in CRC, several anti-TGF-Ī² drugs have been investigated in cancer clinical trials. Here, we presented a comprehensive collection of manuscripts regarding studies on targeting the TGF-Ī² signaling in CRC to improve patientā€™s prognosis and personalized treatments

    Land Use and Land Cover Mapping in a Changing World

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    It is increasingly being recognized that land use and land cover changes driven by anthropogenic pressures are impacting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and their services, human society, and human livelihoods and well-being. This Special Issue contains 12 original papers covering various issues related to land use and land use changes in various parts of the world (see references), with the purpose of providing a forum to exchange ideas and progress in related areas. Research topics include land use targets, dynamic modelling and mapping using satellite images, pressures from energy production, deforestation, impacts on ecosystem services, aboveground biomass evaluation, and investigations on libraries of legends and classiļ¬cation systems

    Faculty Of Education UNHI

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    Faculty Of Education UNH

    Technology Assessment in a Globalized World

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    This open access book explores the relevance of the concept of technology assessment (TA) on an international and global level. Technologies play a key role in addressing global challenges such as climate change, population aging, digitization, and health. At the same time, their use increases the need for coordinated action and governance at the global level in the field of science, technology and innovation (STI). Featuring case studies on STI fields such as energy, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and health technology, as well as TA activities at the national and international levels, this book reflects on the challenges and opportunities of global technology governance. It also provides an in-depth discussion of current governmental STI cultures and systems, societal expectations, and the policy priorities needed to achieve coordinated and effective STI intervention in policymaking and public debate at the global level. Lastly, the book promotes the establishment of a forum for a truly global dialogue of TA practitioners, fostering the articulation of their needs, knowledge and perspectives

    Understanding virus and microbial evolution in wildlife through meta-transcriptomics

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    Wildlife harbors a substantial and largely undocumented diversity of RNA viruses and microbial life forms. RNA viruses and microbes are also arguably the most diverse and dynamic entities on Earth. Despite their evident importance, there are major limitations in our knowledge of the diversity, ecology, and evolution of RNA viruses and microbial communities. These gaps stem from a variety of factors, including biased sampling and the difficulty in accurately identifying highly divergent sequences through sequence similarity-based analyses alone. The implementation of meta-transcriptomic sequencing has greatly contributed to narrowing this gap. In particular, the rapid increase in the number of newly described RNA viruses over the last decade provides a glimpse of the remarkable diversity within the RNA virosphere. The central goal in this thesis was to determine the diversity of RNA viruses associated with wildlife, particularly in an Australian context. To this end I exploited cutting-edge meta-transcriptomic and bioinformatic approaches to reveal the RNA virus diversity within diverse animal taxa, tissues, and environments, with a special focus on the highly divergent "dark matter" of the virome that has largely been refractory to sequence analysis. Similarly, I used these approaches to detect targeted common microbes circulating in vertebrate and invertebrate fauna. Another important goal was to assess the diversity of RNA viruses and microbes as a cornerstone within a new eco-evolutionary framework. By doing so, this thesis encompasses multiple disciplines including virus discovery, viral host-range distributions, microbial-virus and hostā€“parasite interactions, phylogenetic analysis, and pathogen surveillance. In sum, the research presented in this thesis expands the known RNA virosphere as well as the detection and surveillance of targeted microbes in wildlife, providing new insights into the diversity, evolution, and ecology of these agents in nature
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