Junior Recital: London Duszynkski, Saxophone; Kendall Carter, Guitar; Jameel Stephens, Drums; April 16, 2022

Kemp Recital Hall April 16, 2022 Saturday Evening 7:30 p.m

Senior Recital: London Duszynski, Saxophone; Kendall Carter, Guitar; Jameel Stephens, Drums; John St. Cyr, Bass; Trevor Gould, Trumpet; April 1, 2023

Kemp Recital Hall April 1st, 2023Saturday Evening8:00 p.m

Exact solution of a two-type branching process: Clone size distribution in cell division kinetics

We study a two-type branching process which provides excellent description of experimental data on cell dynamics in skin tissue (Clayton et al., 2007). The model involves only a single type of progenitor cell, and does not require support from a self-renewed population of stem cells. The progenitor cells divide and may differentiate into post-mitotic cells. We derive an exact solution of this model in terms of generating functions for the total number of cells, and for the number of cells of different types. We also deduce large time asymptotic behaviors drawing on our exact results, and on an independent diffusion approximation.Comment: 16 page

Literature review of the traditional use of tobacco as a cultural practice and harm reduction effort for Indigenous communities

This literature review aims to highlight cultural strengths and protective health factors associated with traditional/ceremonial tobacco (versus commercial tobacco) use among Indigenous communities. While commercial cigarette smoking rates have decreased over the past 50+ years in the US, Indigenous communities continue to smoke commercial tobacco at higher rates compared to other racial/ethnic groups, and thus, experience significantly higher tobacco-related health inequities. Traditional use of the tobacco plant, most often Nicotiana rustica or Nicotiana tabacum, may include smoking (but not inhaling), burning for offering, smudging in ceremonies, or sprinkling on the bed of an ill person for healing among Indigenous communities. Unlike traditional tobacco, commercial tobacco refers to a product (i.e., cigarettes, chewing tobacco) containing thousands of added chemical compounds associated with cancer-related disparities. Furthermore, the negative health outcomes associated with commercial tobacco use, such as premature death, remain a significant cause for concern in public health efforts. Contemporarily, an issue arises from the use of commercial tobacco use in traditional practices, out of convenience or lack of knowledge about the cultural significance, which can result in earlier initiation of tobacco use, and reduce cultural respect for the plant. Interventions developed with predominantly non-Hispanic White (NHW) populations are typically less effective for Indigenous populations due to a lack of cultural considerations. Recent research suggests that Indigenous populations benefit from culturally inclusive adaptations for tobacco control and tobacco dependence interventions. This literature review will identify effective ways to address the need for culturally inclusive efforts to reduce tobacco-related health disparities while also acknowledging the unique difference between using traditional tobacco and commercial tobacco use. In addition, it will discuss results from previous studies that suggest protective factors associated with engaging in these cultural practices. These findings will inform future studies that investigate whether traditional tobacco use could be promoted for Indigenous communities as a way that supports traditional tobacco use in tandem with reducing the harm of commercial cigarette smoking and chewing tobacco for Indigenous communities.Psycholog

Concise Review: Stem Cells As an Emerging Platform for Antibody Therapy of Cancer

Monoclonal antibodies are important tools for cancer therapy, however, three factors limit their effectiveness: toxicity, poor tumor penetration, and inability to cross the blood-brain barrier. This review discusses the emerging field of stem cell-mediated antibody delivery and how this approach may improve antibody therapy of cancer by overcoming these obstacles. STEM CELLS 2010;28:2084–208

Enhanced Potency of Nucleotide−Dendrimer Conjugates as Agonists of the P2Y 14 Receptor: Multivalent Effect in G Protein-Coupled Receptor Recognition

The P2Y14 receptor is a G protein-coupled receptor activated by uridine-5′-diphosphoglucose and other nucleotide sugars that modulates immune function. Covalent conjugation of P2Y14 receptor agonists to PAMAM (polyamidoamine) dendrimers enhanced pharmacological activity. Uridine-5′-diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA) and its ethylenediamine adduct were suitable functionalized congeners for coupling to several generations (G2.5–6) of dendrimers (both terminal carboxy and amino). Prosthetic groups, including biotin for avidin complexation, a chelating group for metal complexation (and eventual magnetic resonance imaging), and a fluorescent moiety, also were attached with the eventual goals of molecular detection and characterization of the P2Y14 receptor. The activities of conjugates were assayed in HEK293 cells stably expressing the human P2Y14 receptor. A G3 PAMAM conjugate containing 20 bound nucleotide moieties (UDPGA) was 100-fold more potent (EC50 2.4 nM) than the native agonist uridine-5′-diphosphoglucose. A molecular model of this conjugate docked in the human P2Y14 receptor showed that the nucleotide-substituted branches could extend far beyond the dimensions of the receptor and be available for multivalent docking to receptor aggregates. Larger dendrimer carriers and greater loading favored higher potency. A similar conjugate of G6 with 147 out of 256 amino groups substituted with UDPGA displayed an EC50 value of 0.8 nM. Thus, biological activity was either retained or dramatically enhanced in the multivalent dendrimer conjugates in comparison with monomeric P2Y14 receptor agonists, depending on size, degree of substitution, terminal functionality, and attached prosthetic groups

SB04-22/23: Resolution Authorizing Approval of Staff Senate Signature of Bear Necessities Statement to University Administration

Passed during May 10, 2023 Staff Senate meeting. Documents from the May 10, 2023 meeting of the University of Montana S by University of Montana--Missoula. Staff Senate (umt.edu) Resolution authorizing approval of Staff Senate to sign support to the ASUM Bear Necessities statement to the University of Montana Administration. Resolution Authored by Kat Cowley. Additional Authors, including Cowley, listed for letter. Letter discusses concerns regarding the status of marginalized and vulnerable student populations and offers suggestions on some ways the University of Montana can support students at a basic human level. These include continued advocacy for increase support from the State of Montana, increased housing availability, meal plan affordability, open education resources, campus accessibility, and addressing staffing issues

Hybridising heuristics within an estimation distribution algorithm for examination timetabling

This paper presents a hybrid hyper-heuristic approach based on estimation distribution algorithms. The main motivation is to raise the level of generality for search methodologies. The objective of the hyper-heuristic is to produce solutions of acceptable quality for a number of optimisation problems. In this work, we demonstrate the generality through experimental results for different variants of exam timetabling problems. The hyper-heuristic represents an automated constructive method that searches for heuristic choices from a given set of low-level heuristics based only on non-domain-specific knowledge. The high-level search methodology is based on a simple estimation distribution algorithm. It is capable of guiding the search to select appropriate heuristics in different problem solving situations. The probability distribution of low-level heuristics at different stages of solution construction can be used to measure their effectiveness and possibly help to facilitate more intelligent hyper-heuristic search methods

Fairness in examination timetabling: student preferences and extended formulations

Variations of the examination timetabling problem have been investigated by the research community for more than two decades. The common characteristic between all problems is the fact that the definitions and data sets used all originate from actual educational institutions, particularly universities, including specific examination criteria and the students involved. Although much has been achieved and published on the state-of-the-art problem modelling and optimisation, a lack of attention has been focussed on the students involved in the process. This work presents and utilises the results of an extensive survey seeking student preferences with regard to their individual examination timetables, with the aim of producing solutions which satisfy these preferences while still also satisfying all existing benchmark considerations. The study reveals one of the main concerns relates to fairness within the students cohort; i.e. a student considers fairness with respect to the examination timetables of their immediate peers, as highly important. Considerations such as providing an equitable distribution of preparation time between all student cohort examinations, not just a majority, are used to form a measure of fairness. In order to satisfy this requirement, we propose an extension to the state-of-the-art examination timetabling problem models widely used in the scientific literature. Fairness is introduced as a new objective in addition to the standard objectives, creating a multi-objective problem. Several real-world examination data models are extended and the benchmarks for each are used in experimentation to determine the effectiveness of a multi-stage multi-objective approach based on weighted Tchebyceff scalarisation in improving fairness along with the other objectives. The results show that the proposed model and methods allow for the production of high quality timetable solutions while also providing a trade-off between the standard soft constraints and a desired fairness for each student