Studies examining the anti-aging effects of fullerenes

Research on aging has been invigorated by recent findings suggesting certain mutations in various invertebrate models (yeast, worms, and flies) can slow down aging and improve healthspan. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production and manipulation of the nutrient-sensing [mammalian (originally) or mechanistic target of rapamycin] mTOR signaling pathway have all been linked to aging and age-related diseases. Thus, identifying ways to interfere in these pathways may represent a promising avenue to increase longevity and improve healthspan in mammals. Fullerenes are a class of nanomaterials best known for their ability to significantly extend mammalian lifespan and cognitive function as shown in both mice and rats. Thus, the goal of this proposal is to determine possible mechanisms of how fullerenes extend lifespan focusing on mTOR signaling pathways and anti-oxidant capabilities to slow down aging and improve healthspan

Isolation of fungal secondary metabolites: leporin B, benzoisoquinoline and related compounds

Natural products have proven to be a good source of anticancer drugs since the 1940’s. In fact, they have influenced the creation of 65% of all 246 anticancer drugs since that time. Fungi in particular provide an almost untapped source of compounds with promising bioactivity. To access compounds from natural products, an extraction and purification process using flash chromatography, and high performance liquid chromatography is needed. Characterization of those compounds is done using high-resolution mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. These methods were used to isolate and characterize six known compounds that were added to an in-house database. Leporin B, leporin C, austdiol and 7-epi-austdiol were all isolated from Scytalidium cuboideum strain 68345. Leporin B has specifically proven to be effective in different aspects of research including, its effect on hexokinase II and it has shown potential as a cytotoxic compound towards cancer cells. The re-isolation of leporin B has increased the in-house supply for use in future experimentation. Through the re-isolation of leporin B, leporin C was found. Leporin C is new to natural product; however, the compound has been previously synthesized, and it only differs from the structure of leporin B by one oxygen atom. Austdiol and 7-epi-austdiol were also isolated during the search for leporin B. Fungal strain MSX74367 was also studied, and yielded, 9-O-methylbostrycoidin and 8-O-methylfusarubin. The benzoisoquinoline structure, the core structure of 9-O-methylbostrycoidin and 8-O-methylfusarubin, is new to the current in-house database of over 300 compounds isolated from fungi. Mass defect analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry were used in an effort to isolate other benzoisoquinoline type compounds through mass guided fractionation; however, the process was unsuccessful in finding additional analogues. In total, six compounds were found from two different strains of fungi, all of which were new to an in-house database. The fungus Scytalidum cuboideum, in particular, produced leporin B and leporin C, which was isolated for the first time from a natural source

An analysis of rater effects in reviews of scientific manuscripts

In the peer review process used by scientific journals, ratings of manuscripts are obtained and used to make publication decisions. Though concerns have been raised about reviews given to scientific manuscripts, little has been done to address the effects of reviewer severity bias on decision making. In other settings, the methods of Generalizability Theory and Many-Facet Rasch Measurement often have been used to investigate and address such effects. The purpose of this study is to use Generalizability Theory and Many-Facet Rasch Measurement to examine the effects of reviewer severity on the ratings and decisions made during the peer review of scientific manuscripts. The merits of each method and their utility in this novel context also are assessed. Deidentified peer reviews (N = 635) that used a five-item rating scale were included in a two-facet, partially nested Generalizability Theory analysis and subsequent Decision Studies. Many-Facet Rasch Measurement analysis of the data produced reviewer severity measures and manuscript publishability measures corrected for reviewer severity. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to compare manuscript decision categories predicted by average raw scores and Many-Facet Rasch Measurement corrected scores. Reviewer severity rankings also were compared using raw and adjusted methods. The results of the Generalizability Theory analysis revealed that reviewers nested within manuscripts account for 35.48% of the variance in publishability scores. Manuscripts accounted for 12.21% of the total variance, and items accounted for 15.22% of the total variance. Decision Studies indicated that an unrealistic number of reviewers and items would be needed to increase the generalizability coefficient and index of dependability to acceptable levels and that other methods of improving reliability should be employed. When the average raw total score was used to predict manuscript decision category, the overall percentage of manuscripts that were correctly classified using the average raw total score was 55.15%. Using the manuscript publishability measure (theta), the percentage of manuscripts that were correctly classified when the publishability measure was used was 52.49%, suggesting differences in classification, if a manuscript publishability measures corrected for reviewer severity were used. The reviewers’ average raw ratings and the reviewers’ severity measures had a Spearman rank-order correlation of -0.6083, which demonstrates differences likely attributable to the adjustment for manuscript quality in the severity measure. These findings indicate that reviewers are inconsistent in their reviews of manuscripts. Reviewer severity bias can be addressed with Many-Facet Rasch Measurement adjustments, but additional reviewer training may be needed to improve the reliability of manuscript scores. Both Generalizability Theory and Many-Facet Rasch Measurement contributed to the findings of the study and to understanding reviewer behavior. These methods show potential for increasing the capacity for more fair and accurate rating methods in the peer review of scientific manuscripts

Comparing two appraisal models of interest

"Interest is an emotion associated with curiosity, exploration, and knowledge-seeking (Fredrickson, 1998; Izard, 1977; Silvia, 2005a, 2005b, 2006; Tomkins, 1962). The first researchers to propose an appraisal structure of interest were Smith and Ellsworth (1985). An alternative appraisal structure of interest was proposed by Silvia (2005a, 2005b). Experiment 1 tested these competing models. Participants viewed copies of calming and disturbing classical and contemporary paintings, rated each picture for appraisals, and reported their experienced interest, pleasantness/enjoyment, and disturbingness. Experiment 2 aimed to replicate the appraisal structures for the emotion of interest and measured viewing time. Results showed (1) interest and pleasantness were unrelated; (2) novelty-complexity positively predicted interest; (3) disturbing pictures were highly interesting; (4) and viewing time positively predicted interest."--Abstract from author supplied metadata

Back to the future: how future choices impact current satisfaction

Experiment 1 tested whether the number of solutions to a proposed policy that did or did not have a direct impact on participants would influence their current satisfaction. Diverse relative to limited future choices enhanced current satisfaction when they had relevance for participants; there was, however, only a tendency for the number of future choices to influence current satisfaction when the choices did not have relevance for participants. Experiment 2 further explored the influence of choice on satisfaction, tested potential underlying processes, and the influence of individual differences. Results showed that (1) people did not show a preference for diverse over limited relevant choices when the policy had a direct effect on them (relevant condition); (2) when the policy did not have a direct effect (nonrelevant condition), people did not show a preference for diverse over limited options; and (3) participants simulated a future alternative world when considering future choices

Geophysical remote sensing of North Carolina’s historic cultural landscapes: studies at house in the Horseshoe State historic site

This dissertation is written in accordance with the three article option offered by the Geography Department at UNC Greensboro. It contains three manuscripts to be submitted for publication. The articles address specific research issues within the remote sensing process described by Jensen (2016) as they apply to subsurface geophysical remote sensing of historic cultural landscapes, using the buried architectural features of House in the Horseshoe State Historic Site in Moore County, North Carolina. The first article compares instrument detection capabilities by examining subsurface structure remnants as they appear in single band ground-penetrating radar (GPR), magnetic gradiometer, magnetic susceptibility and conductivity images, and also demonstrates how excavation strengthens geophysical image interpretation. The second article examines the ability of GPR to estimate volumetric soil moisture (VSM) in order to improve the timing of data collection, and also examines the visible effect of variable moisture conditions on the interpretation of a large historic pit feature, while including the relative soil moisture continuum concepts common to geography/geomorphology into a discussion of GPR survey hydrologic conditions. The third article examines the roles of scientific visualization and cartography in the production of knowledge and the presentation of maps using geophysical data to depict historic landscapes. This study explores visualization techniques pertaining to the private data exploration view of the expert, and to the simplified public facing view

Emerging themes and patterns of information-based teacher education curricula in response to NCATE standards

While technological changes in society and the workplace influence the need for an information literate citizenry with sophisticated abilities to analyze, adapt, and interact in an abstract computing milieu, reforms in teacher education have not been linked to these changes. The purpose of this study was to determine whether themes, interrelationships, or patterns of information-based attributes needed for students to achieve information literacy skills were emerging across selected teacher education programs and individual specialty studies. The study analyzed the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) Standards and the responses of ten Institutional Reports selected for their diverse representation of teacher education models

Factors influencing the occupational aspirations of low-income Southern youth : a longitudinal study

The present longitudinal study investigated the changing importance of factors influencing the occupational aspirations of low-income Southern youth over a 10-year span. Utilizing the status attainment modelling efforts of Blau and Duncan (1967) and Sewell et al. (1969), the present study attempted to determine the explanatory power of their model when applied to the occupational aspirations of a sample of youth over time as well as the changing influence of the designated independent variables. Subjects for the study consisted of a sample (N = 544) of low-income Southern youth from rural and urban settings, who had been followed for 10 years. The total group from six Southern states (Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) included 91 black males, 97 black females, 150 white males, and 206 white females. The basic model was examined by race and sex for each period in the study (i.e., in the preadolescent, adolescent, and post-high-school years). The basic path model included three exogenous variables (sex, family background, and race) and five intervening variables (mental ability, significant others' influence, academic motivation, and educational goals). The dependent variable, occupational aspirations, was measured in terms of the NORC (National Opinion Research Center) status continuum rating

An investigation into teaching games for understanding

The purpose of this study was to test the validity of the games for understanding (GFU) model by comparing it to a technique approach to instruction and to a control group. The technique method focused primarily on skill instruction where the skill taught initially was incorporated into a game at the end of each lesson. The GFU approach emphasized the development of tactical awareness and decision-making in small game situations. Two physical education specialists taught field hockey using these approaches. Both teachers used each approach with different groups. The control group did not receive hockey instruction. Data were collected from 71 middle school children. Pretests and posttests were administered for hockey knowledge, skill and game performance. The treatments lasted for 15 (45 minute) lessons. The teachers recorded their thoughts about the lessons in journals after each class. Student perceptions were also recorded during interviews in the penultimate week of the study

The relationship between two classes of measures examined idiothetically and nomothetically

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between the subjective and physiological measures of sexual arousal. Twenty males were seen individually on four different occasions to view erotic slides and photographs of females and males while two physiological and five subjective measures were taken. The relationship among these measures was evaluated within-subject, across four assessment sessions (idiothetic level of analysis) and between-subject, both within and across the four sessions (nomothetic level of analysis). It was hypothesized that different analyses would result in markedly different conclusions regarding the relationship among these variables. It was expected that different levels of responding would serve to attenuate between measure correlations at the nomothetic level of analysis, while having little or no effects on these relationships at the idiothetic level. A public-private manipulation was included to ensure that subjects would perform differently on the various measures. Differences in the instructions and how these instructions were delivered to subjects distinguished the two conditions. It was hypothesized that in addition to influencing level of responding that these two conditions would also differentially influence intercorrelations