Development of cross-disciplinary course material

Different bridging models are discussed, as well as the motivation for bridging disciplines. The focus of discussion is on the importance of computer science education to students of all majors. Several labs were developed for an introductory computer science course to help students apply computing knowledge to other fields

Computer simulation of C. elegans embryogenesis

This project involved gathering detailed information regarding the development of C. elegans from fertilization to 100 cells. The research helped create a three-dimensional computer simulation. Information regarding cellular interactions, division timing, orientation, and cell positions were translated into an expandable database form. Cells were represented as metaballs, and intercellular forces were modeled using collision detection and momentum equations. This simulation contained known and hypothesized information and produced an accurate representation of cell division timing and orientation, regionalization, and interactions

Analysis of dog training in Switzerland.

Sponsored by the Foundation for the Well-being of the Dog, this project analyzed the current status of the dog training industry in Switzerland. Through personal interviews we identified prevalent characteristics of dog trainers and common practices we found and were able to make recommendations on how to improve its program to further benefit the dog training community

Redox-dependent regulation of the Na+-K+ pump: new twists to an old target for treatment of heart failure

By the time it was appreciated that the positive inotropic effect of cardiac glycosides is due to inhibition of the membrane Na-K pump, glycosides had been used for treatment of heart failure on an empiric basis for ~200years. The subsequent documentation of their lack of clinical efficacy and possible harmful effect largely coincided with the discovery that a raised Na concentration in cardiac myocytes plays an important role in the electromechanical phenotype of heart failure syndromes. Consistent with this, efficacious pharmacological treatments for heart failure have been found to stimulate the Na-K pump, effectively the only export route for intracellular Na in the heart failure. A paradigm has emerged that implicates pump inhibition in the raised Na levels in heart failure. It invokes protein kinase-dependent activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase (NADPH oxidase) and glutathionylation, a reversible oxidative modification, of the Na-K pump molecular complex that inhibits its activity. Since treatments of proven efficacy reverse the oxidative Na-K pump inhibition, the pump retains its status as a key pharmacological target in heart failure. Its role as a target is well integrated with the paradigms of neurohormonal abnormalities, raised myocardial oxidative stress and energy deficiency implicated in the pathophysiology of the failing heart. We propose that targeting oxidative inhibition of the pump is useful for the exploration of future treatment strategies. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "NaRegulation in Cardiac Myocytes"

Breast cancer risk variants at 6q25 display different phenotype associations and regulate ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170.

We analyzed 3,872 common genetic variants across the ESR1 locus (encoding estrogen receptor α) in 118,816 subjects from three international consortia. We found evidence for at least five independent causal variants, each associated with different phenotype sets, including estrogen receptor (ER(+) or ER(-)) and human ERBB2 (HER2(+) or HER2(-)) tumor subtypes, mammographic density and tumor grade. The best candidate causal variants for ER(-) tumors lie in four separate enhancer elements, and their risk alleles reduce expression of ESR1, RMND1 and CCDC170, whereas the risk alleles of the strongest candidates for the remaining independent causal variant disrupt a silencer element and putatively increase ESR1 and RMND1 expression