Time to Ovary-Act

The “Time to Ovary-Act'' project creates opportunities for East Carolina University’s student population to gain understanding of women’s reproductive health, especially Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS. A group of Honors students from ECU observed the lack of general knowledge in women’s reproductive health. If the student community is unaware of these health issues or the resources available for them, the resources will not be used and students may never have the opportunity to be diagnosed or treated, which could cause many long-term effects regarding their health. Student Health Services at East Carolina University has many available resources in addition to the numerous medical practices in the Greenville area that can be utilized by students. This project seeks to make students aware of these resources in order to keep students and their peers healthy.B.A

Therapeutic effect of an intensive, comprehensive aphasia program: Aphasia LIFT

The development of intensive, comprehensive aphasia programs (ICAPs) is increasing due to evidence in favour of greater treatment intensity (Cherney, Patterson, Raymer, Frymark, & Schooling, 2008), the adoption of a broad, holistic, biopsychosocial approach in aphasia rehabilitation (Byng & Duchan, 2005; Kagan et al., 2008; Martin, Thompson, & Worrall, 2008; Simmons-Mackie & Kagan, 2007), and the desire to meet the needs of people with aphasia and their family members in therapy (Howe et al., 2012; Worrall et al., 2012). ICAPs comprise a range of therapy approaches (individual therapy, group therapy, patient/family education, technology), delivered at high intensity (minimum of three hours per day over at least two weeks), to a defined group of participants within a specified amount of time (Cherney, Worrall, & Rose, 2012). Aphasia LIFT (Language Impairment and Functioning Therapy) is a research-based ICAP that uses evidence-based therapy approaches to target language and functioning across the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) domains (WHO, 2001). The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic effect of Aphasia LIFT on language impairment, functional communication, and communication-related quality of life (QOL)

Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops

publishedVersio

Biological action at a distance: correlated pattern formation in adjacent tessellation domains without communication

Tessellations emerge in many natural systems, and the constituent domains often contain regular patterns, raising the intriguing possibility that pattern formation within adjacent domains might be correlated by the geometry, without the direct exchange of information between parts comprising either domain. We confirm this paradoxical effect, by simulating pattern formation via reaction-diffusion in domains whose boundary shapes tessellate, and showing that correlations between adjacent patterns are strong compared to controls that self-organize in domains with equivalent sizes but unrelated shapes. The effect holds in systems with linear and non-linear diffusive terms, and for boundary shapes derived from regular and irregular tessellations. Based on the prediction that correlations between adjacent patterns should be bimodally distributed, we develop methods for testing whether a given set of domain boundaries constrained pattern formation within those domains. We then confirm such a prediction by analysing the development of ‘subbarrel’ patterns, which are thought to emerge via reaction-diffusion, and whose enclosing borders form a Voronoi tessellation on the surface of the rodent somatosensory cortex. In more general terms, this result demonstrates how causal links can be established between the dynamical processes through which biological patterns emerge and the constraints that shape them

The Genomic Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationship in the Family Iridoviridae

The Iridoviridae family are large viruses (∼120–200 nm) that contain a linear double-stranded DNA genome. The genomic size of Iridoviridae family members range from 105,903 bases encoding 97 open reading frames (ORFs) for frog virus 3 to 212,482 bases encoding 211 ORFs for Chilo iridescent virus. The family Iridoviridae is currently subdivided into five genera: Chloriridovirus, Iridovirus, Lymphocystivirus, Megalocytivirus, and Ranavirus. Iridoviruses have been found to infect invertebrates and poikilothermic vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, and fish. With such a diverse array of hosts, there is great diversity in gene content between different genera. To understand the origin of iridoviruses, we explored the phylogenetic relationship between individual iridoviruses and defined the core-set of genes shared by all members of the family. In order to further explore the evolutionary relationship between the Iridoviridae family repetitive sequences were identified and compared. Each genome was found to contain a set of unique repetitive sequences that could be used in future virus identification. Repeats common to more than one virus were also identified and changes in copy number between these repeats may provide a simple method to differentiate between very closely related virus strains. The results of this paper will be useful in identifying new iridoviruses and determining their relationship to other members of the family

miRNA contributions to pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis inferred from GWAS.

ObjectiveOnset of multiple sclerosis (MS) occurs in childhood for approximately 5% of cases (pediatric MS, or ped-MS). Epigenetic influences are strongly implicated in MS pathogenesis in adults, including the contribution from microRNAs (miRNAs), small noncoding RNAs that affect gene expression by binding target gene mRNAs. Few studies have specifically examined miRNAs in ped-MS, but individuals developing MS at an early age may carry a relatively high burden of genetic risk factors, and miRNA dysregulation may therefore play a larger role in the development of ped-MS than in adult-onset MS. This study aimed to look for evidence of miRNA involvement in ped-MS pathogenesis.MethodsGWAS results from 486 ped-MS cases and 1362 controls from the U.S. Pediatric MS Network and Kaiser Permanente Northern California membership were investigated for miRNA-specific signals. First, enrichment of miRNA-target gene network signals was evaluated using MIGWAS software. Second, SNPs in miRNA genes and in target gene binding sites (miR-SNPs) were tested for association with ped-MS, and pathway analysis was performed on associated target genes.ResultsMIGWAS analysis showed that miRNA-target gene signals were enriched in GWAS (P = 0.038) and identified 39 candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs, including immune and neuronal signaling genes. The miR-SNP analysis implicated dysregulation of miRNA binding to target genes in five pathways, mainly involved in immune signaling.InterpretationEvidence from GWAS suggests that miRNAs play a role in ped-MS pathogenesis by affecting immune signaling and other pathways. Candidate biomarker miRNA-target gene pairs should be further studied for diagnostic, prognostic, and/or therapeutic utility

Assessing Phototoxicity in a Mammalian Cell Line: How Low Levels of Blue Light Affect Motility in PC3 Cells.

Phototoxicity is a significant constraint for live cell fluorescence microscopy. Excessive excitation light intensities change the homeostasis of the observed cells. Erroneous and misleading conclusions may be the problematic consequence of observing such light-induced pathophysiology. In this study, we assess the effect of blue light, as commonly used for GFP and YFP excitation, on a motile mammalian cell line. Tracking PC3 cells at different light doses and intensities, we show how motility can be used to reliably assess subtle positive and negative effects of illumination. We further show that the effects are a factor of intensity rather than light dose. Mitotic delay was not a sensitive indicator of phototoxicity. For early detection of the effect of blue light, we analysed the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress. This study addresses the need for relatively simple and sensitive methods to establish a dose-response curve for phototoxicity in mammalian cell line models. We conclude with a working model for phototoxicity and recommendations for its assessment