Research toward the development of a protocol to electrotransform Bacillus megaterium through exploration of parameters and variables that have been used to successfully electrotransform other gram-positive bacteria

Includes bibliographical references.This project was proposed to develop a protocol to electrotransform Bacillus megaterium (B. megaterium) through investigation of techniques that have been used to electrotransform other species of gram-positive bacteria. Electrotransformation is a process by which exogenous DNA can be introduced into a recipient cell through the application of an electric pulse. It was decided that successful protocols be studied and applied as closely as possible to B. megaterium. Specific areas of inquiry included; finding the machine settings on the apparatus needed to achieve electric pulse times that have been found to be optimum in successful protocols, constructing a table of applied voltage vs incidence of cell death in the range of applied voltages used in other protocols, and investigating the effect of adding various substances, such as glycine and polyethelene glycol, to the growth medium or the electrotransformation buffer to assess whether damage to, or reconfiguration of the cell wall and capsule could be induced. It was found that similar, but not identical, voltages and pulse times as those utilized in the protocols studied could be achieved using the available apparatus. Surprisingly, applying similar pulse times and voltages to B. megaterium did not result in any significant or even measurable level of cell death -- a condition thought to be critical to successful electrotransformation. The most promising procedure proved to be the addition of glycine to the growth medium. Significant morphological changes were observed after growing a culture in varying concentrations of glycine to a stage that showed a 75-90% reduction in optical density when compared to a control grown without glycine. In addition, when an electric pulse was applied to these cells they appeared to have been damaged. In spite of this progress, when the procedure was followed using plasmid DNA as the donor, it yielded no transformants. There is some question as to the suitability of the plasmid that was used,(pHV 33) as an electrotransformation vector, adding complexity to the problem. In addition to the work described above, two plasmid DNA extractions using cesium chloride gradients were performed and another plasmid, the 8.1kb plasmid of B. megaterium was isolated using electroelution.B.S. (Bachelor of Science

\u3ci\u3eThe World Abounds with Beasties?\u3c/i\u3e

The first time I saw a Beastie I was in my little efficiency kitchen unloading groceries

Influence of Student Characteristics, Class Size, and Instructor Characteristics in Online Student Success

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative case study was to compare the academic success of community college students over three academic years (2016-17 through 2018-19) before the onset of COVID-19 based on final grades and the influence of student factors, class size, and faculty characteristics using archival data from selected online and on-ground classes at a Middle Tennessee community college. Student factors reviewed include gender, full-time or part-time status, and age (traditional or non-traditional status). Instructor characteristics reviewed included full-time or part-time (adjunct) teaching status and tenure or non-tenure status of faculty. Institutional data for this study consisted of 44,568 student records comprising 34,006 on-ground classes and 10,562 online classes. For the percentages provided, audit and incomplete or missing data were excluded. In this study, the mean grade point average (GPA) of all students with prior GPAs was 2.7. Unique student registrations totaled 13,400 students and unique instructors totaled 198. Eight research questions were answered from these data using Chi-square statistical tests. The final study showed a variety of results. When comparing student success for online and on-ground, online students were generally more likely to be successful, while on-ground students were generally more likely to be unsuccessful. In online courses, female students, part-time students, and non-traditional students were more likely to be successful. Class sizes fewer than 11 were generally more likely to produce successful students. Successful students were generally more likely to be taught by full-time faculty and tenured faculty

Metabolic and Cardiovascular Responses on a Novel, Whole Body Exercise Device Compared to a Cycle Ergometer

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(2): 1206-1215, 2019. The purpose of this study was to compare the metabolic effects during a similar bout of exercise on a novel, whole body exercise device (Fish and Kangaroo Machine; FKM) and a cycle ergometer. Recreationally active men and women (n =13) completed two exercise sessions. The exercise protocol included intervals alternating between exercise (3-min) and rest (3-min) for a total duration of 39-min. The exercise intensity between the two modes was matched based on heart rate response. Heart rate, cardiac output, and stroke volume were measured using a wireless telemetry technique (Physioflow Enduro). Oxygen consumption (VO2) was measured via breath-by-breath automated analysis of expired respiratory gas (MGC Diagnostics Ultima). Capillary blood lactate was measured using a handheld meter (LactatePlus). While maintaining the heartrate response, stroke volume presented at a higher-level during rest periods, although not significant. There was also higher cardiac output at the end of the exercise bout with the FKM. VO2 was lower at the same heart rate and peak lactate was higher during FKM exercise. Cardiovascular recovery was improved following FKM exercise compared to cycling. The observed responses demonstrated that for a similar heart rate response, the FKM has an enhanced anaerobic metabolic component compared to cycling. These findings demonstrate the FKM may represent a novel exercise device comparable to cycling with unique anaerobic training potential

Does perception of hospitality employment change post internship?

Remarkably, exposures to hospitality workplaces through internships have been found to rather dissuade students from envisaging hospitality career. However, knowledge of this phenomenon remains inconclusive. Consequently, this study explored the effect of internship work experience on undergraduate students’ commitment and perception of the nature of hospitality work using before-and-after design. A convenience sample of 171 hospitality management students in a Ghanaian technical university completed paper- and-pencil questionnaires, and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The majority of the students indicated positive perceptions of hospitality employment and were accordingly willing to work in hospitality-related jobs after graduation. Contrary to the commonly held view, commitment, attitude, and perceptions of hospitality work do not undergo significant reconsiderations post-internships

Predictors of Language Service Availability in U.S. Hospitals

Background: Hispanics comprise 17% of the total U.S. population, surpassing African-Americans as the largest minority group. Linguistically, almost 60 million people speak a language other than English. This language diversity can create barriers and additional burden and risk when seeking health services. Patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) for example, have been shown to experience a disproportionate risk of poor health outcomes, making the provision of Language Services (LS) in healthcare facilities critical. Research on the determinants of LS adoption has focused more on overall cultural competence and internal managerial decision-making than on measuring LS adoption as a process outcome influenced by contextual or external factors. The current investigation examines the relationship between state policy, service area factors, and hospital characteristics on hospital LS adoption. Methods:We employ a cross-sectional analysis of survey data from a national sample of hospitals in the American Hospital Association (AHA) database for 2011 (N= 4876) to analyze hospital characteristics and outcomes, augmented with additional population data from the American Community Survey (ACS) to estimate language diversity in the hospital service area. Additional data from the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) facilitated the state level Medicaid reimbursement factor. Results:Only 64%of hospitals offered LS. Hospitals that adopted LS were more likely to be not-for-profit, in areas with higher than average language diversity, larger, and urban. Hospitals in above average language diverse counties had more than 2-fold greater odds of adopting LS than less language diverse areas [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.26, P< 0.01]. Further, hospitals with a strategic orientation toward diversity had nearly 2-fold greater odds of adopting LS (AOR: 1.90, P< 0.001). Conclusion:Our findings support the importance of structural and contextual factors as they relate to healthcare delivery. Healthcare organizations must address the needs of the population they serve and align their efforts internally. Current financial incentives do not appear to influence adoption of LS, nor do Medicaid reimbursement funds, thus suggesting that further alignment of incentives. Organizational and system level factors have a place in disparities research and warrant further analysis; additional spatial methods could enhance our understanding of population factors critical to system-level health services research

Patient-Reported Needs, Non-Motor Symptoms, and Quality of Life in Essential Tremor and Parkinson’s Disease

Background: Non‐motor symptoms, quality of life, service needs, and barriers to care of individuals with movement disorders are not well explored. This study assessed these domains within a sample of individuals with essential tremor (ET) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods: A survey exploring symptoms, needs, and barriers to care was disseminated to a convenience sample (N = 96) of individuals with a primary diagnosis of ET (N = 19) or PD (N = 77). Results: Similarities in overall quality of life and impact on daily functioning were found across individuals with ET and PD. Noteworthy differences included endorsement of different types of service needs and utilization patterns and fewer non‐motor symptoms reported among those with ET (M = 6.1, SD = 2.4) than those with PD (M = 10.4, SD = 3.4). Non‐motor symptoms significantly impacted movement disorder‐related quality of life for both diagnostic groups, but this relationship was stronger for individuals with ET, t(12) = 3.69, p = 0.003, β = 0.73 than with PD, t(56) = 4.00, p less than 0.001, β = 0.47. Individuals with ET also reported higher rates of stigma (31.6% vs. 7.8%) and greater impact of non‐motor symptoms on emotional well‐being, R2 = 0.37, F(1, 13) = 7.17, p = 0.020. Discussion: This is the first study to describe and compare the needs, barriers to care, and impact on quality of life of two distinct movement disorder groups. Our results support the recent efforts of the field to identify interventions to address the non‐motor symptoms of movement disorders and indicate need for greater appreciation of the specific differences in symptoms and quality of life experienced across movement disorder diagnoses

Development of constrained fuzzy logic for modeling biological regulatory networks and predicting contextual therapeutic effects

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biological Engineering, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-213).Upon exposure to environmental cues, protein modifications form a complex signaling network that dictates cellular response. In this thesis, we develop methods for using continuous logic-based models to aide our understanding of these signaling networks and facilitate data interpretation. We present a novel modeling framework called constrained fuzzy logic (cFL) that maintains a simple logic-based description of interactions with AND, OR, and NOT gates, but allows for intermediate species activities with mathematical functions relating input and output values (transfer functions). We first train a prior knowledge network (PKN) to data with cFL, which reveals what aspects of the dataset agree or disagree with prior knowledge. The cFL models are trained to a dataset describing signaling proteins in a hepatocellular carcinoma cell line after exposure to ligand cues in the presence or absence of small molecule inhibitors. We find that multiple models with differing topology and parameters explain the data equally well, and it is crucial to consider this non-identifiability during model training and subsequence analysis. Our trained models generate new biological understanding of network crosstalk as well as quantitative predictions of signaling protein activation. In our next applications of cFL, we explore the ability of models either constructed based solely on prior knowledge or trained to dedicated biochemical data to make predictions that answer the following questions: 1) What perturbations to species in the system are effective at accomplishing a clinical goal? and 2) In what environmental conditions are these perturbations effective? We find that we are able to make accurate predictions in both cases. Thus, we offer cFL as a flexible modeling methodology to assist data interpretation and hypothesis generation for choice of therapeutic targets.by Melody K. Morris.Ph.D

Black Perspectives on Creativity, Trustworthiness, Welcome and Well-Being--Findings From a Qualitative Study

Culture + Community in a Time of Transformation: A Special Edition of Culture Track is a collaborative effort to keep the cultural sector in dialogue with its communities and participants during the pandemic and inform deeper equity and justice in the years to come. The project pivoted from examining public attitudes and behaviors in a "time of crisis" in 2020 to doing so in a "time of transformation" in 2021, with a crucial focus around racialized experiences in connection with cultural participation and cultural organizations.The first phase of the research, conducted in Spring 2020, was a large-scale survey intended to inform not just resilience but also innovation and progress toward equity in the cultural sector, and to give the U.S. public a voice in the future of cultural engagement. But that first phase was designed and conducted before the murder of George Floyd ignited a national upswell of anger, sadness, and activism and the Movement for Black Lives began to reshape the discourse around racism in every aspect of American life. In a follow-up statistical analysis of the same (early 2020) data published in December as "Centering the Picture," we and our colleagues explored respondents' experiences in relation to their racial and ethnic identities to highlight and amplify what people of color have been going through and what they would like to see changed in the future. The report revealed some unique experiences and perspectives that Black and African American adults in the U.S. have in relation to cultural engagement, digital connection with arts and culture, and social change. The Slover Linett team, knowing that qualitative methods would be necessary to understand those perspectives in a more nuanced and holistic way, advocated for an additional phase of research in 2021 that would offer a triangulation with — as well as departure point from — the twowave quantitative survey.To that end, and in order to authentically amplify Black voices and stories, we dedicated this qualitative phase of the research solely to Black and African American participants' perspectives, since those viewpoints have historically been excluded or sidelined in most research studies and planning efforts in the cultural field. We intentionally took a broad approach to this inquiry, exploring general dynamics of creativity, trustworthiness, welcome, and community support rather than focusing narrowly on arts and culture organizations and attendance. This allowed us to hear and explore how culture and community experiences and organizations naturally fit into peoples' lives, and it led to rich insights that can inform practice, funding, and policy