Induction of IDH2 R140Q Mutation in Stem Cells with Doxycycline Increases Rate of Cell Death

From the Washington University Office of Undergraduate Research Digest (WUURD), Vol. 12, 05-01-2017. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: David Spence

Supporting Performance in the Face of Age-Related Neural Changes: Testing Mechanistic Roles of Cognitive Reserve

Age impacts multiple neural measures and these changes do not always directly translate into alterations in clinical and cognitive measures. This partial protection from the deleterious effects of age in some individuals is referred to as cognitive reserve (CR) and although linked to variations in intelligence and life experiences, its mechanism is still unclear. Within the framework of a theoretical model we tested two potential mechanistic roles of CR to maintain task performance, neural reserve and neural compensation, in young and older adults using functional and structural MRI. Neural reserve refers to increased efficiency and/or capacity of existing functional neural resources. Neural compensation refers to the increased ability to recruit new, additional functional resources. Using structural and functional measures and task performance, the roles of CR were tested using path analysis. Results supported both mechanistic theories of CR and the use of our general theoretical model

Toward the Next Generation of Air Quality Monitoring Indicators

This paper introduces an initiative to bridge the state of scientific knowledge on air pollution with the needs of policymakers and stakeholders to design the "next generation" of air quality indicators. As a first step this initiative assesses current monitoring and modeling associated with a number of important pollutants with an eye toward identifying knowledge gaps and scientific needs that are a barrier to reducing air pollution impacts on human and ecosystem health across the globe. Four outdoor air pollutants were considered e particulate matter, ozone, mercury, and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) e because of their clear adverse impacts on human and ecosystem health and because of the availability of baseline data for assessment for each. While other papers appearing in this issue will address each pollutant separately, this paper serves as a summary of the initiative and presents recommendations for needed investments to provide improved measurement, monitoring, and modeling data for policyrelevant indicators. The ultimate goal of this effort is to enable enhanced public policy responses to air pollution by linking improved data and measurement methods to decision-making through the development of indicators that can allow policymakers to better understand the impacts of air pollution and, along with source attribution based on modeling and measurements, facilitate improved policies to solve it. The development of indicators represents a crucial next step in this process

What Do Healthy Rural Economies Look Like in the U.S., and How Might Conservation Organizations Help Support Them?

Report of the 2012 Berkley Workshop Held at the Wingspread Conference Center, Racine,WI - July 201

Construct Validity of Cognitive Reserve in a Multiethnic Cohort: The Northern Manhattan Study

Cognitive reserve is a hypothetical construct that has been used to inform models of cognitive aging and is presumed to be indicative of life experiences that may mitigate the effects of brain pathology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the construct validity of cognitive reserve by examining both its convergent and its discriminant validity across three different samples of participants using structural equation modeling. The cognitive reserve variables were found to correlate highly with one another (thereby providing evidence of convergent validity), but demanding tests of discriminant validity indicated that, in two of the samples, the cognitive reserve construct was highly related to an executive functioning construct

Task Difficulty Modulates Young-Old Differences in Network Expression

The extent of task-related fMRI activation can vary as a function of task difficulty. Also the efficiency or capacity of the brain networks underlying task performance can change with aging. We asked whether the expression of a network underlying task performance would differ as a function of task demand in old and young individuals. 26 younger and 23 older healthy adults performed a delayed item recognition task that used the response signal method to parametrically manipulate the extrinsic difficulty of the task by imposing five different deadlines for recognition response. Both age groups showed a speed-accuracy trade-off, but the younger group achieved greater discriminability at the longer deadlines. We identified a spatial pattern of fMRI activation during the probe phase whose expression increased as the response deadline shortened and the task became more difficult. This pattern was expressed to a greater degree by the old group at the long deadlines, when the task was easiest. By contrast, this pattern was expressed to a greater degree by the younger group at the short deadlines, when the task was hardest. This suggests reduced efficiency and capacity of this network in older subjects. These findings suggest that neuroimaging studies comparing task-related activation across groups with different cognitive abilities must be interpreted in light of the relative difficulty of the task for each group

Types of Temperature Sensors

There are three main types of temperature sensors: thermometers, resistance temperature detectors and thermocouples. These sensors measure a physical property that changes as a function of temperature, and temperature sensors are classified into contact and non-contact sensors. Contact sensors detect the degree of hotness or coldness of an object when placed in direct contact with the object. It can be used to sense the degree of hotness or coldness in liquids, solids or gases in a wide range of temperatures. Contact temperature sensors include thermometers, thermocouples and thermistors. A thermometer detects the body temperature of human beings, and a thermocouple is a thermoelectrical thermometer that works on the principle of the Seebeck effect; they are cheap; hence, their model and basic materials are easy to get, and non-contact sensors are not placed in contact with the object that it measures; however, they measure the temperature by utilizing the radiation of the heat source. IR sensors detect the energy of an object remotely and emit a sign to an electronic circuit that senses the object’s temperature by a specific calibration diagram. Other types of temperature sensors are available and produced based on the working principle, size, temperature range and their function and application

Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Sodium Stibogluconate (SSG), a Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitor, Combined with Interferon Alpha for Patients with Solid Tumors

Purpose: Sodium stibogluconate (SSG), a small molecule inhibitor of protein tyrosine phosphatases, combined with IFN-alpha-2b (IFN-α) inhibited solid tumor cell line growth in vitro. We conducted a phase I clinical trial with SSG plus IFN-α in advanced cancer patients to assess tolerance, maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and immune system effects