The Student Movement Volume 105 Issue 6: AU Infused with New Cultural Perspectives

NEWS Andrews University Wind Symphony Performs Songs of the Sea Concert, Jenae Rogers Dr. Marilyn McEntyre Speaks at John O. Walker Lecture, Taylor Uphus Students Worship Together at Infusion Vespers, Caralynn Chan PULSE Interest and Apathy Towards Politics, Wambui Karanja Memories of Chuseok: Celebrating Community, Jessica Rim Pumpkin Spice: Deconstructed, Masy Domecillo HUMANS Explaining the Letter: Talking with Kelli Coffen, Interviewed by Abigail Lee Holly Sharp, AFIA Cultural VP, on Filipino American History Month, Interviewed by Terika Williams Thoughts on the Last Presidential Debate, Interviewed by Alyssa Henriquez ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Another Fall Playlist!, Created by Evin N. Musgrove Artist Spotlight: Courtney Saunders, Interviewed by Pearl Parker Unorthodox, Hannah Cruse IDEAS Get Your Flu Shot! Now More Than Ever, Sung Been Han Just This Once , Evin N. Musgrove LAST WORD Apoliticism in Election Season, Daniel Selfhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-105/1006/thumbnail.jp

The Student Movement Volume 105 Issue 1: Back with a Bang

NEWS Suicide Awareness Month in the Chaos of 2020, Kavya Mohanram AUSA Lighthouse Vespers: The Gospel in Motion, Caralynn Chan IDEAS A Summer Recap, Alannah Tjhatra How to Survive a Pandemic, Solana Campbell Writing Cards to Senior Citizens, Sung Been Han PULSE Change Day at Michiana Fil-Am: Dual Perspectives from a Student and an Organizer, Masy Domecillo Honors Agape Feast, Jessica Rim HUMANS Chef Linda Brinegar, Interviewed by Alyssa Henriquez Summer During a Global Pandemic, Interviewed by Ben Lee Teaching During COVID-19, Interviewed by Celeste Richardson The Wellness Center Reopening, Interviewed by Terika Williams ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT A Tribute to Chadwick Boseman, Megan Napod Corn and Watermelon for Everyone!, Megan Napod Local Hotspots: (but not the coronavirus kind), Hannah Cruse Radiant Recitals, Isabella Koh THE LAST WORD Where is Home?, Daniel Selfhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-105/1001/thumbnail.jp

The Student Movement Volume 105 Issue 10: One Dose Down, One to Go!: President Luxton Vaccinated

NEWS Andrews University Holds Employee Awards Virtual Celebration, Jenae Rogers New Life Hosts Black Like Me: Growing Up Black, Caralynn Chan Texas Winter Storm Impacts Families of Students at Andrews, Taylor Uphus The Red Cross Blood Drive Reveals Growing Shortage in Donor Participation, Amanda Cho PULSE Favorite Meals: Café Edition, Interviewed by Alec Bofetiado The Wellness Column: Decluttering your Room and Mind, HeeYun Oh The Wellness Column: Decluttering Your Room and Mind, Jessica Rim HUMANS AUSA Candidate Interviews, Interviewed by Abigail Lee Freshman Spotlight: Rekha Isaac, Interviewed by Celeste Richardson Trusting the Science, Interviewed by Pearl Parker ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Creative Spotlight: Karla Torres, Interviewed by Megan Napod Current Favorites: March, Megan Napod Signal Boost: Canvas, Hannah Cruse IDEAS A Woman and Her God, Evin N. Musgrove COVID-19 Updates: The Variants, the Vaccines, and Other News, Sung Been Han Parler, QAnon, and the Freedom of Speech: What Should be Done?, Abigail Lee THE LAST WORD Taking Stock, Masy Domecillohttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-105/1013/thumbnail.jp

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Laboratory information management system for COVID-19 non-clinical efficacy trial data

Background : As the number of large-scale studies involving multiple organizations producing data has steadily increased, an integrated system for a common interoperable format is needed. In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a number of global efforts are underway to develop vaccines and therapeutics. We are therefore observing an explosion in the proliferation of COVID-19 data, and interoperability is highly requested in multiple institutions participating simultaneously in COVID-19 pandemic research. Results : In this study, a laboratory information management system (LIMS) approach has been adopted to systemically manage various COVID-19 non-clinical trial data, including mortality, clinical signs, body weight, body temperature, organ weights, viral titer (viral replication and viral RNA), and multiorgan histopathology, from multiple institutions based on a web interface. The main aim of the implemented system is to integrate, standardize, and organize data collected from laboratories in multiple institutes for COVID-19 non-clinical efficacy testings. Six animal biosafety level 3 institutions proved the feasibility of our system. Substantial benefits were shown by maximizing collaborative high-quality non-clinical research. Conclusions : This LIMS platform can be used for future outbreaks, leading to accelerated medical product development through the systematic management of extensive data from non-clinical animal studies.This research was supported by the National research foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (2020M3A9I2109027 and 2021M3H9A1030260)

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Crystal surface and reflector optimization for the SiPM-based dual-ended readout TOF-DOI PET detector

Silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) are now widely used for positron emission tomography (PET) applications because of their high gain and low noise characteristics. The PET image quality has been improved with the advancement of time-of-flight (TOF) and depth-of-interaction (DOI) measurement techniques. For brain-dedicated PET systems, both TOF and DOI information are beneficial for enhancing the reconstructed PET image quality. In a previous study, we proposed SiPM-based dualended readout PET detectors that used a mean time method to achieve coincidence timing resolution (CTR) of 349 ps and DOI resolution of 2.9 mm. However, the coincidence timing resolution (CTR) was worse than 300 ps since the crystal surface and the reflector type were not optimized. This study aimed at investigating the optimal crystal surface treatment and the reflector material to achieve a sub- 200 ps CTR and sub-3mmDOI resolution with a dual-ended readout PET detector using an LYSO crystal (2.9×2.9×20mm3). The scintillation light inside the LYSO crystal was read out by two SiPMs using the dual-ended readout method. The CTR and DOI resolution were measured with two different crystal surfaces (polished and saw-cut) and three different reflector material scenarios of ESR without grease (i.e., air coupling), ESR with optical grease and Teflon. Wedigitized the timing and energy signals by using a V775NTDCmodule (35 ps bit−1) and V965QDCmodule, respectively. The combination of the saw-cut LYSO crystal and the ESR with air coupling resulted in the best CTR (188±32 ps) and DOI resolution (2.9±0.2mm) with the dual-ended readout configuration. We concluded the dual-ended readout method in combination with the saw-cut crystal and the ESR reflector with air coupling can provide a sub-200 ps CTR and sub-3.0mmDOI resolution simultaneously

Optimization of Crystal Surface Treatment and Reflector for SiPM-Based Dual-Ended Readout TOF-DOI PET Detector

In a previous study, we proposed a silicon photomultiplier-based (SiPM-based) dual-ended readout positron emission tomography (PET) detector that used a mean time method to achieve excellent time-of-flight (TOF) and depth-of-interaction (DOI) resolution simultaneously. However, the coincidence timing resolution (CTR) was greater than 300 ps since the crystal surface and reflector type were not optimized. The aim of this study was to investigate the optimal crystal surface treatment and reflector material to achieve a sub-200 ps CTR and sub-3 mm DOI resolution with a dual-ended readout PET detector using an LYSO crystal (2.9×2.9×20 mm3). The scintillation light inside the LYSO crystal was read out by two SiPMs (S11064-050P, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) using the dual-ended readout method. The CTR and DOI resolution were measured with two different crystal surfaces (polished and saw-cut) and three different reflector material scenarios of ESR (Air), ESR (Optical grease), and Teflon. We digitized the timing and energy signals by using a V775N TDC module (35 ps/bit) and V965 QDC module, respectively. The combination of the saw-cut LYSO crystal and ESR (Air) resulted in the best CTR (190 ± 4 ps) and DOI resolution (2.9 ± 0.2 mm) with the dual-ended readout configuration. We concluded the dual-ended readout method in combination with the saw-cut crystal and ESR (Air) reflector can provide a sub-200 ps CTR and sub-3.0 mm DOI resolution simultaneously.2019 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conferenc

P-18 Chinese Medicinal herb Scutellaria barbata Modulates Apoptosis via Induction of Pro-apoptotic and Anti-apoptotic Proteins in MDA-MB-157, 93A, and 93B Breast Cancer Cells

Scutellaria barbata (SB has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for treating liver, lung, and rectal cancers. It is included in most of the herbal cancer treatment formulas in Taiwan hospitals. We previously showed that aqueous extracts of SB inhibited mutagenesis, DNA binding, and metabolism of aflatoxin B1 and benzo(apyrene in carcinogenesis. A fraction of it was studied in a preliminary clinical trial in breast cancer patients. Breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-157, 93A, and 93B are drug-resistant APC-mutants. In this study, the effectiveness of SB in the modulation of apoptosis of breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-157, 93A, and 93B was investigated. Assessments were performed using green/red/blue fluorescent Apoptosis/Necrosis Detection Kit and the Human Apoptosis Antibody Array - Membrane (43 Targets test by the Abcam cooperation. Our data demonstrated that 1-hour treatment with 2 mg aqueous extract of SB induced a statistically significant percentage of apoptosis in MDA-MB- 157 (46.5 ± 7.5% \u3e 16%± 1.0% , p \u3c 0.05 ; 93A (54.5 ± 2.5% \u3e 0%, p \u3c 0.05; and 93 B (65.5 ± 13.5% \u3e 0%, p \u3c 0.05. Similar results were obtained with the 3-hour incubation period. Modulation of various apoptosis markers such as pro-apoptotic Bad, Bax, p53; and anti-apoptotic markers BcL-2, p21, and FasL also observed. These results suggest that SB contains phytochemicals that induce apoptosis in MDA-MB-157, 93A, and 93B by modulating these pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins