Amplify Your Teaching Impact: Capitalizing on 1-on-1 Instruction

The objective of this essay, which is based on a keynote presentation delivered at the 2016 Empowering Teaching Excellence Conference at Utah State University, is to address this central question: how faculty can make a positive, substantive impact on students through 1-on-1 instruction? The consensus answer derived from experiences and anecdotes offered by this author, her colleagues, and students is to be deliberate in 1-on-1 interactions with students. This simple message is expanded through discussion of 10 key concepts that can help faculty amplify their teaching impact: 1) be available, 2) help students feel comfortable, 3) be a model, 4) set individual goals, 5) maintain expectations, 6) trust, but verify, 7) provide individual feedback, 8) make every interaction count, 9) be aware, and 10) build relationships. By approaching 1-on-1 instruction with deliberate care, faculty can help set students on a trajectory for professional success while also being sensitive to student needs. Ultimately, these interactions can blossom into professional relationships that are rewarding for both the students and faculty

Consumption of Black Raspberries Altered the Composition of the Fecal Microbiome in Mice Fed a Western Type Diet (OR04-01-19)

Dietary strategies to reduce colonic inflammation and promote gut homeostasis may markedly reduce the risk of colitis-associated colorectal cancer. Previously, we showed that dietary supplementation with black raspberries significantly suppressed colitis and colon tumorigenesis promoted by the consumption a Western type diet in mice. In this study, our goal was to assess the impact of consumption of the TWD with and without black raspberry supplementation on the composition of the fecal microbiome over the course of disease development

Food Matrix and the Microbiome: Considerations for Preclinical Chronic Disease Studies

Animal models of chronic disease are continuously being refined and have evolved with the goal of increasing the translation of results to human populations. Examples of this progress include transgenic models and germ-free animals conventionalized with human microbiota. The gut microbiome is involved in the etiology of several chronic diseases. Therefore, consideration of the experimental conditions that may affect the gut microbiome in preclinical disease is very important. Of note, diet plays a large role in shaping the gut microbiome and can be a source of variation between animal models and human populations. Traditionally, nutrition researchers have focused on manipulating the macronutrient profile of experimental diets to model diseases such as metabolic syndrome. However, other dietary components found in human foods, but not in animal diets, can have sizable effects on the composition and metabolic capacity of the gut microbiome and, as a consequence, manifestation of the chronic disease being modeled. The purpose of this review is to describe how food matrix food components, including diverse fiber sources, oxidation products from cooking, and dietary fat emulsifiers, shape the composition of the gut microbiome and influence gut health

CO Sense and Release Flavonols: Progress toward the Development of an Analyte Replacement PhotoCORM for Use in Living Cells

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a signaling molecule in humans. Prior research suggests that therapeutic levels of CO can have beneficial effects in treating a variety of physiological and pathological conditions. To facilitate understanding of the role of CO in biology, molecules that enable fluorescence detection of CO in living systems have emerged as an important class of chemical tools. A key unmet challenge in this field is the development of fluorescent analyte replacement probes that replenish the CO that is consumed during detection. Herein, we report the first examples of CO sense and release molecules that involve combining a common CO-sensing motif with a light-triggered CO-releasing flavonol scaffold. A notable advantage of the flavonol-based CO sense and release motif is that it is trackable via fluorescence in both its pre- and postsensing (pre-CO release) forms. In vitro studies revealed that the PdCl2 and Ru(II)-containing CORM-2 used in the CO sensing step can result in metal coordination to the flavonol, which minimizes the subsequent CO release reactivity. However, CO detection followed by CO release is demonstrated in living cells, indicating that a cellular environment mitigates the flavonol/metal interactions

Data on the Effect of In Utero Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons on Genome-Wide Patterns of DNA Methylation in Lung Tissues

Data in this article depict patterns of methylation in lung tissues obtained from the offspring of B6129SF1/J dams and 129S1/SvImJ sires exposed in utero to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) or dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC) as compared to non-exposed offspring. Genome-wide methylation of lung tumors in adult offspring was determined using methylated DNA immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) with the NimbleGen mouse DNA methylation CpG island array. This data article refers to the research article “DNA methylation in lung tissues of mouse offspring exposed in utero to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,” in which comprehensive data interpretation and analysis are provided

Dietary Intervention with Black Raspberries to Reduce Colitis Symptoms in Mice Fed Either Standard AIN93G Diet or the Total Western Diet (P05-021-19)

Approximately 1.4 million people suffer from inflammatory bowel disease, which is a major risk factor for developing colitis associated colorectal cancer (CAC). Dietary interventions with the goal to reduce colon inflammation and encourage gut microbiome homeostasis may be a strategy to reduce the risk of CAC. The antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds present in black raspberries (BRB) have demonstrated protective effects in the colon epithelium and may alter the composition of the gut microbiome. Previously, we showed that dietary supplementation with black raspberries significantly suppressed colitis and colon tumorigenesis promoted by the consumption of a Western type diet in mice. The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of dietary intervention with whole, freeze-dried black raspberries on colitis and colon tumorigenesis in mice consuming either a standard diet or a Western type diet that emulates typical U.S. nutrient intakes

Basal Diet Determined Long-Term Composition of the Gut Microbiome and Mouse Phenotype to a Greater Extent than Fecal Microbiome Transfer from Lean or Obese Human Donors

The Western dietary pattern can alter the gut microbiome and cause obesity and metabolic disorders. To examine the interactions between diet, the microbiome, and obesity, we transplanted gut microbiota from lean or obese human donors into mice fed one of three diets for 22 weeks: (1) a control AIN93G diet; (2) the total Western diet (TWD), which mimics the American diet; or (3) a 45% high-fat diet-induced obesity (DIO) diet. We hypothesized that a fecal microbiome transfer (FMT) from obese donors would lead to an obese phenotype and aberrant glucose metabolism in recipient mice that would be exacerbated by consumption of the TWD or DIO diets. Prior to the FMT, the native microbiome was depleted using an established broad-spectrum antibiotic protocol. Interestingly, the human donor body type microbiome did not significantly affect final body weight or body composition in mice fed any of the experimental diets. Beta diversity analysis and linear discriminant analysis with effect size (LEfSe) showed that mice that received an FMT from obese donors had a significantly different microbiome compared to mice that received an FMT from lean donors. However, after 22 weeks, diet influenced the microbiome composition irrespective of donor body type, suggesting that diet is a key variable in the shaping of the gut microbiome after FMT