Energy from Active Galactic Nuclei and the Effects on Host Spiral Galaxies

I have investigated the energy output of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in order to understand how these objects evolve and the impact they may have on host galaxies. First, I looked at a sample of 96 AGN at redshifts $z \sim 2, 3,$ and $4$ which have imaging and thus luminosity measurements in the $griz$ and $JHK$ observed wavebands. For these galaxies, I have co-epochal data across those bands which accounted for variability in AGN luminosity. I used the luminosity measurements in the five bands to construct spectral energy distributions (SED) in the emitted optical-UV bands for each AGN. I compared the SED to assumptions previously made about quasars and looked for correlations between SED and other AGN and galaxy properties. Second, I used spectra of the broad line region (BLR) of Type 1 AGN to estimate the mass of the central supermassive black hole ($M_{BH}$). I found a sample of Type 1 AGN that reside in spiral galaxies in order to explore the relationship between $M_{BH}$ and pitch angle ($\phi$), a measurement of how tightly wound the spiral arms are. Type 1 AGN offer a method to estimate $M_{BH}$ at higher redshift than previous studies of the $M_{BH}$-$\phi$ relation. I was able to look at the evolution in the $M_{BH}$-$\phi$ relation which has implications for galaxy formation as well as AGN feedback

Response to chemotherapy, reexposure to crizotinib and treatment with a novel ALK inhibitor in a patient with acquired crizotinib resistance

The treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has dramatically changed over the last decade. It has developed from an unspecific approach based on platinum doublet chemotherapy to a personalized, molecularly targeted therapy. Crizotinib is a new tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of NSCLC with gene rearrangement of EML4 and ALK. Despite good initial responses, patients treated with crizotinib relapse after an average of 10 months. In this case report, we present a patient with acquired crizotinib resistance whose adenocarcinoma responded to a second course of crizotinib following a drug holiday and chemotherapy with pemetrexed. This is the second case report to suggest that retreatment with crizotinib is an option for patients with initial benefit from ALK inhibition

An Open Access Data Workshop Curriculum for Researchers

OU Libraries recently began offering research data workshops. These workshops focus on skills and tools needed by students, staff, and faculty who are involved in research. In this talk we will discuss how we developed weekly, 1 - 2.5-hour workshops to improve research efficiency and reproducibility on campus. We organized the workshops into three categories to reflect researcher needs: Survival Skills 101 to teach research data basics (such as backups, data formatting, and file organization); Better Practices to teach data practices that many researchers will use but may not be applicable to all individuals (such as version control and data management plans); and Workflow Tools to teach specific beginner and intermediate tools (such as graphing in R and Python and formatting documents in LaTeX). We make our slides, instructor notes, and workshop materials open to the community at OU and beyond through Open Science Framework with a CCBY license to facilitate curriculum sharing. We are in year one of this initiative and our future plans include developing new beginner and intermediate topics and expanding campus partnerships with interested departments.UT Librarie

Data workshops in support of researchers at the University of Oklahoma

OU Libraries is in their third semester of offering research data workshops that focus on the skills and tools needed by students, staff, and faculty who are involved in research. We developed curriculum based on The Carpentries lessons in order to offer shorter, 1 – 2.5-hour workshops more frequently than the typical two-day Carpentries workshops. We organized the workshops into three categories to reflect researcher needs: Survival Skills to teach research data basics (such as backups, data formatting, and file organization); Better Practices to teach data practices that many researchers will use but may not be applicable to all individuals (such as version control and data management plans); and Workflow Tools to teach specific beginner and intermediate tools (such as graphing in R and Python and formatting documents in LaTeX). Slides, instructor notes, and workshop materials are available to the community at OU and beyond through Open Science Framework with a CC-BY license to facilitate curriculum sharing. This poster will outline the various workshops we offer, campus participation thus far, and some feedback from learners

Avoiding URL Reference Degradation in Scientific Publications

Arguments are presented concerning the deposit of Internet-based information into the Internet Archive, a digital library of Internet sites and other digital dat

Lysimeter-based full fertilizer 15N balances corroborate direct dinitrogen emission measurements using the 15N gas flow method

The $^{15}$N gas flux ($^{15}$NGF) method allows for direct in situ quantification of dinitrogen (N$_2$) emissions from soils, but a successful cross-comparison with another method is missing. The objectives of this study were to quantify N$_2$ emissions of a wheat rotation using the $^{15}$NGF method, to compare these N$_2$ emissions with those obtained from a lysimeter-based $^{15}$N fertilizer mass balance approach, and to contextualize N$_2$ emissions with $^{15}$N enrichment of N$_2$ in soil air. For four sampling periods, fertilizer-derived N$_2$ losses ($^{15}$NGF method) were similar to unaccounted fertilizer N fates as obtained from the $^{15}$N mass balance approach. Total N$_2$ emissions ($^{15}$NGF method) amounted to 21 ± 3 kg N ha− 1, with 13 ± 2 kg N ha− 1 (7.5% of applied fertilizer N) originating from fertilizer. In comparison, the $^{15}$N mass balance approach overall indicated fertilizer-derived N$_2$ emissions of 11%, equivalent to 18 ± 13 kg N ha− 1. Nitrous oxide (N$_2$O) emissions were small (0.15 ± 0.01 kg N ha− 1 or 0.1% of fertilizer N), resulting in a large mean N$_2$:(N$_2$O + N$_2$) ratio of 0.94 ± 0.06. Due to the applied drip fertigation, ammonia emissions accounted for < 1% of fertilizer-N, while N leaching was negligible. The temporal variability of N$_2$ emissions was well explained by the δ$^{15}$N$_2$ in soil air down to 50 cm depth. We conclude the $^{15}$NGF method provides realistic estimates of field N$_2$ emissions and should be more widely used to better understand soil N$_2$ losses. Moreover, combining soil air δ$^{15}$N$_2$ measurements with diffusion modeling might be an alternative approach for constraining soil N$_2$ emissions

Immune modulation by group B Streptococcus influences host susceptibility to urinary tract infection by uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is most often caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). UPEC inoculation into the female urinary tract (UT) can occur through physical activities that expose the UT to an inherently polymicrobial periurethral, vaginal, or gastrointestinal flora. We report that a common urogenital inhabitant and opportunistic pathogen, group B Streptococcus (GBS), when present at the time of UPEC exposure, undergoes rapid UPEC-dependent exclusion from the murine urinary tract, yet it influences acute UPEC-host interactions and alters host susceptibility to persistent outcomes of bladder and kidney infection. GBS presence results in increased UPEC titers in the bladder lumen during acute infection and reduced inflammatory responses of murine macrophages to live UPEC or purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phenotypes that require GBS mimicry of host sialic acid residues. Taken together, these studies suggest that despite low titers, the presence of GBS at the time of polymicrobial UT exposure may be an overlooked risk factor for chronic pyelonephritis and recurrent UTI in susceptible groups, even if it is outcompeted and thus absent by the time of diagnosis

Active site specificity profiling of the matrix metalloproteinase family: Proteomic identification of 4300 cleavage sites by nine MMPs explored with structural and synthetic peptide cleavage analyses

Secreted and membrane tethered matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are key homeostatic proteases regulating the extracellular signaling and structural matrix environment of cells and tissues. For drug targeting of proteases, selectivity for individual molecules is highly desired and can be met by high yield active site specificity profiling. Using the high throughput Proteomic Identification of protease Cleavage Sites (PICS) method to simultaneously profile both the prime and non-prime sides of the cleavage sites of nine human MMPs, we identified more than 4300 cleavages from P6 to P6′ in biologically diverse human peptide libraries. MMP specificity and kinetic efficiency were mainly guided by aliphatic and aromatic residues in P1′ (with a ~ 32–93% preference for leucine depending on the MMP), and basic and small residues in P2′ and P3′, respectively. A wide differential preference for the hallmark P3 proline was found between MMPs ranging from 15 to 46%, yet when combined in the same peptide with the universally preferred P1′ leucine, an unexpected negative cooperativity emerged. This was not observed in previous studies, probably due to the paucity of approaches that profile both the prime and non-prime sides together, and the masking of subsite cooperativity effects by global heat maps and iceLogos. These caveats make it critical to check for these biologically highly important effects by fixing all 20 amino acids one-by-one in the respective subsites and thorough assessing of the inferred specificity logo changes. Indeed an analysis of bona fide MEROPS physiological substrate cleavage data revealed that of the 37 natural substrates with either a P3-Pro or a P1′-Leu only 5 shared both features, confirming the PICS data. Upon probing with several new quenched-fluorescent peptides, rationally designed on our specificity data, the negative cooperativity was explained by reduced non-prime side flexibility constraining accommodation of the rigidifying P3 proline with leucine locked in S1′. Similar negative cooperativity between P3 proline and the novel preference for asparagine in P1 cements our conclusion that non-prime side flexibility greatly impacts MMP binding affinity and cleavage efficiency. Thus, unexpected sequence cooperativity consequences were revealed by PICS that uniquely encompasses both the non-prime and prime sides flanking the proteomic-pinpointed scissile bond

Removing the invisibility cloak: Using space design to influence patron behavior and increase service desk usage

In small branch libraries, patrons seeking assistance from library staff outside of the dedicated single-service desk often results in large staffing inefficiencies. This paper presents a case study in which the authors applied behavioral psychology models to a branch library’s space arrangement to identify possible factors influencing patron service point choices. A subsequent full space rearrangement was instituted which utilized human behavior research, service desk design principles, and low-cost methods to create a space that reduced barriers and influenced patrons back to the main service desk. The paper reports on the 11-month study that followed and the impact the rearrangement had on patron behavior. Results indicate that simple rearrangement of existing furniture and equipment into new configurations have direct influence on service desk usage and can encourage new patron behaviors. Space and human behavior are inherently connected and library managers should establish goals for how they envision their spaces to be used and arrange them in ways that encourage wanted behaviors.Ye