Developing a strategy for the national coordinated soil moisture monitoring network

Soil moisture is a critical land surface variable, affecting a wide variety of climatological, agricultural, and hydrological processes. Determining the current soil moisture status is possible via a variety of methods, including in situ monitoring, remote sensing, and numerical modeling. Although all of these approaches are rapidly evolving, there is no cohesive strategy or framework to integrate these diverse information sources to develop and disseminate coordinated national soil moisture products that will improve our ability to understand climate variability. The National Coordinated Soil Moisture Monitoring Network initiative has developed a national strategy for network coordination with NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System. The strategy is currently in review within NOAA, and work is underway to implement the initial milestones of the strategy. This update reviews the goals and steps being taken to establish this national-scale coordination for soil moisture monitoring in the United States

Genomic Survey of E. coli From the Bladders of Women With and Without Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common human bacterial infections. While UTIs are commonly associated with colonization by Escherichia coli, members of this species also have been found within the bladder of individuals with no lower urinary tract symptoms (no LUTS), also known as asymptomatic bacteriuria. Prior studies have found that both uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) strains and E. coli isolates that are not associated with UTIs encode for virulence factors. Thus, the reason(s) why E. coli sometimes causes UTI-like symptoms remain(s) elusive. In this study, the genomes of 66 E. coli isolates from adult female bladders were sequenced. These isolates were collected from four cohorts, including women: (1) without lower urinary tract symptoms, (2) overactive bladder symptoms, (3) urgency urinary incontinence, and (4) a clinical diagnosis of UTI. Comparative genomic analyses were conducted, including core and accessory genome analyses, virulence and motility gene analyses, and antibiotic resistance prediction and testing. We found that the genomic content of these 66 E. coli isolates does not correspond with the participant’s symptom status. We thus looked beyond the E. coli genomes to the composition of the entire urobiome and found that the presence of E. coli alone was not sufficient to distinguish between the urobiomes of individuals with UTI and those with no LUTS. Because E. coli presence, abundance, and genomic content appear to be weak predictors of UTI status, we hypothesize that UTI symptoms associated with detection of E. coli are more likely the result of urobiome composition

2015 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1002/thumbnail.jp

2016 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp

Investigating the function of the microtubule binding protein SAXO1 of the malaria parasite Plasmodium

Like most eukaryotic organisms, the malaria parasite Plasmodium relies on microtubules for cell organization, cell division and cell morphology. The complex functions of microtubules are regulated by Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs). Our lab has identified the first MAP in Plasmodium and demonstrated that it stabilizes the microtubules at low temperatures and in the presence of certain drugs to prevent depolymerization. This new putative MAP called PbSAXO1 is related to the human MAP-6 class of proteins. It is my objective to further characterize the microtubule-binding activity of Plasmodium SAXO1 using a mammalian model system. I will utilize molecular cloning techniques, cell culturing, immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Because PbSAXO1 has already been shown to bind and stabilize microtubules in low temperatures, my next step will be to expand upon this by analyzing the effects of specific repeat units on binding, using a wider range of temperatures to more accurately mimic natural conditions, and incorporating drugs such as colchicine and vinblastin

Cell Death Facilitated by Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is a form of cancer treatment which utilizes photosensitizers in order to create reactive oxygen species and trigger cell death. Mammalian cells possess folate receptors and will thus take up a photosensitizer attached to folate. After immersing cells in a compound composed of BSA, folic acid, and the photosensitizer, we exposed them to light which activated the photosensitizer and facilitated cell death. In addition to investigating the efficacy of BSA-FA-ce6, we demonstrated the effects of concentration and time of exposure, hypothesizing that higher concentrations and longer exposure to light are most effective at producing cell death