Bachelor of Liberal Studies Degree Option for Pre-Dental Undergraduates at Bowling Green State University

Admission to professional school programs has become more competitive than ever. There are a lot of applicants with competitive GPAs and test scores. These “numbers” are no longer adequate for professional school matriculation. Admissions teams are now also looking for well-rounded students who have shown a commitment to service, leadership positions, commitment to their field of interest, and more. Students who are aware of these expectations become extremely busy attempting to fulfill all of these requirements. One of the most difficult aspects of my dental school journey was to select an appropriate major. If I were able to redo my college experience, then I would have chosen to pursue a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree, hereafter BLS. This degree would have benefited me in my application to dental school. The dental school requirements are very specific, and do not directly align with any majors offered at Bowling Green State University, hereafter BGSU. Along with the obvious science courses that students would expect to have to take, dental schools are also looking for students who have completed psychology, sociology, art, business, and others types of courses. The creation of a BLS degree that fulfills all of these expectations allows for pre-dental students to focus on developing themselves as well-rounded applicants outside of the classroom because they can be confident that their coursework is consistent with what admissions counselors are looking for

The use of urea in limiting supplemental feed intake and efficiency of urea utilization by cattle on high roughage rations

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1965 W531Master of Scienc

Konstruktivismus und Psychologie

Konstruktivistische Ansätze finden zunehmend Beachtung in der Psychologie. Hier wird auf drei Varianten des Konstruktivismus in der Psychologie näher eingegangen: (1) den individuumbezogenen Konstruktivismus der Theorie der persönlichen Konstrukte von George Kelly, (2) den radikalen Konstruktivismus im Sinne von Ernst von Glasersfeld und Heinz von Foerster, (3) den sozialen Konstruktivismus, wie er u.a. von Kenneth Gergen vertreten wird. Der Beitrag stellt die Theorie der persönlichen Konstrukte als den ersten subjektwissenschaftlichen und konstruktivistischen Ansatz in der Psychologie in ihren Grundzügen dar, geht auf einige Gründe für die eher zwiespältige Aufnahme des radikalen Konstruktivismus in der Psychologie ein und erläutert den sozialen Konstruktivismus als gegenwärtig für die Psychologie wohl interessanteste Variante des Konstruktivismus an zwei Beispielen: der sozialen Konstruktion psychischer Störungen und der sozialen Konstruktion von Kreativität. Die gerade für den Konstruktivismus zentrale Frage nach dem empirischen Gehalt psychologischer Theorien wird so beantwortet, daß empirische Forschung in der Psychologie auch aus sozial-konstruktivistischer Sicht weiterhin sinnvoll und möglich bleibt. Am Ende wird kurz auf kritische Stimmen zum sozialen Konstruktivismus eingegangen. (DIPF/Orig.

MRI-Based Detection of Alkaline Phosphatase Gene Reporter Activity Using a Porphyrin Solubility Switch

The ability to map patterns of gene expression noninvasively in living animals could have impact in many areas of biology. Reporter systems compatible with MRI could be particularly valuable, but existing strategies tend to lack sensitivity or specificity. Here we address the challenge of MRI-based gene mapping using the reporter enzyme secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP), in conjunction with a water-soluble metalloporphyrin contrast agent. SEAP cleaves the porphyrin into an insoluble product that accumulates at sites of enzyme expression and can be visualized by MRI and optical absorbance. The contrast mechanism functions in vitro, in brain slices, and in animals. The system also provides the possibility of readout both in the living animal and by postmortem histology, and it notably does not require intracellular delivery of the contrast agent. The solubility switch mechanism used to detect SEAP could be adapted for imaging of additional reporter enzymes or endogenous targets.Raymond and Beverley Sackler FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (New Innovator Award Grant DP2-OD2441)MIT-Germany Seed Fund (Grant

Photoacoustic Neuroimaging - Perspectives on a Maturing Imaging Technique and its Applications in Neuroscience

A prominent goal of neuroscience is to improve our understanding of how brain structure and activity interact to produce perception, emotion, behavior, and cognition. The brain’s network activity is inherently organized in distinct spatiotemporal patterns that span scales from nanometer-sized synapses to meter-long nerve fibers and millisecond intervals between electrical signals to decades of memory storage. There is currently no single imaging method that alone can provide all the relevant information, but intelligent combinations of complementary techniques can be effective. Here, we thus present the latest advances in biomedical and biological engineering on photoacoustic neuroimaging in the context of complementary imaging techniques. A particular focus is placed on recent advances in whole-brain photoacoustic imaging in rodent models and its influential role in bridging the gap between fluorescence microscopy and more non-invasive techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We consider current strategies to address persistent challenges, particularly in developing molecular contrast agents, and conclude with an overview of potential future directions for photoacoustic neuroimaging to provide deeper insights into healthy and pathological brain processes

Identification of a BACE dimer and characterization of its biochemical and enzymatic properties

The deposition amyloid β peptide in the brains of patients is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and is thought to play a major pathogenetic role in the development of the demential symptoms of this severe illness. The amyloid β peptide is generated from the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) by cleavage of the “β-site APP-cleaving enzyme” (BACE) followed by cleavage of the "gamma-secretase”. Whereas it has recently been discovered that the gamma-secretase is a multi-protein complex, it has not yet been investigated whether under native conditions, BACE functions in association with other proteins. The present work thus studied BACE by means of blue native gel electrophoresis and found that native BACE has a molecular weight of 140 kDa, whereas BACE under denaturing conditions has a molecular weight of 70 kDa which is only half of its native mass. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments with differently tagged full-length BACE constructs subsequently showed that this higher molecular weight species of BACE corresponds to a BACE homodimer. In contrast, a BACE ectodomain, lacking the C-terminus and the transmembrane domain, is a monomer. A consecutive domain analysis revealed that both the C-terminus and the transmembrane domain of BACE are dispensable for dimerization. In line with this, it could be shown that the ectodomain of BACE can dimerize if it is attached to the membrane by a GPI anchor. In terms of the cellular localization of the dimerization process, it could furthermore be demonstrated that retention of BACE in the ER by addition of a KKXX-motif does not prevent dimerization. This suggests that dimerization can occur prior to full maturation of BACE which takes place in the Golgi apparatus. In addition, kinetic analyses of the purified native BACE dimer revealed a higher affinity and turnover rate for an APP-like substrate in comparison to the monomeric soluble BACE ectodomain. This suggests a putative function of dimerization in improving enzymatic efficiency. The implication of these findings for our understanding of the Amyloid-β synthesis as well as for a putatively alternative therapeutic strategy are discussed

Enabling Exploration Missions Now: Applications of On-orbit Staging

Future NASA Exploration goals are difficult to meet using current launch vehicle implementations and techniques. We introduce a concept of On-Orbit Staging (OOS) using multiple launches into a Low Earth orbit (LEO) staging area to increase payload mass and reduce overall cost for exploration initiative missions. This concept is a forward-looking implementation of ideas put forth by Oberth and Von Braun to address the total mission design. Applying staging throughout the mission and utilizing technological advances in propulsion efficiency and architecture enable us to show that exploration goals can be met in the next decade. As part of this architecture, we assume the readiness of automated rendezvous, docking, and assembly technology

A Secreted Enzyme Reporter System for MRI

An important goal in modern biology is to understand how molecular processes commonly studied at the cellular level give rise to physiological functions in complex tissues and organisms. Non-invasive imaging of gene-expression patterns in whole animals could provide information critical to this end, but current methods lack sensitivity and spatiotemporal precision. Enzymatic reporter systems detectable by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) address these limitations by combining the relatively high spatial and temporal resolution of MRI with the ability of each genetically expressed enzyme to generate many MRI-detectable product molecules.1, 2 A challenge with the imaging-based detection of some of the most popular reporter enzymes is the need to deliver MRI probes to their sites of action within cells. Herein we describe a new reporter-gene system for MRI that relieves this problem by harnessing an extracellular enzyme, the mammalian secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP).National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant DP2-OD002114