Glycation as an endogenous process may alter the structure and biological functions of macromolecules, thus playing an important role in cell growth retardation. This study was conducted to evaluate the levels of glycation precursors, advanced glycation end products, and cell viability under effects of kaempferol, myricetin, and azaleatin in the HGC-27 cell line.

Selective pressure generated by the misuse of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has resulted in antimicrobial resistance and the subsequent reemergence of several pathogenic bacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MT), the etiological agent of tuberculosis (TB) disease. Increased resistance of MT to previously-effective antibiotics is associated with greater incidence rates and burden of TB disease. Novel approaches to infection mitigation must be explored if we are to attenuate the destructive force of this pathogen.

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) uses experimental designs which include exposing rodents to chemicals from in utero through two years of age. Each cohort consists of pups from various litters, suggesting that within-litter correlations should be considered when conducting statistical analyses as statistical significance of the dose-effect may be impacted by this litter effect. When the response under study, such as tumor occurrence, is a normally distributed continuous measure, to adjust for the within-litter correlation, a nested analysis of variance can be implemented. However, this is more difficult when the response is dichotomous and rare, such as the occurrence of less common tumors. When analyzing common tumors, within-litter correlations can be included into the mixed effects logistic regression models used to test for dose-effects. In contrast, when studying less common tumors, these models often fail to converge, and thus prevent testing for dose effects. The objective of this study is to determine the conditions under which mixed effects logistic regression models fail to converge using SAS procedures with litter correlations.

Automatic medical diagnosis is extremely important for skin cancer, as patient survival rates for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, dramatically increase if the malignant skin lesion is identified early. This paper presents an original, fully automatic skin cancer segmentation algorithm. Segmentation is the process of extracting and labeling objects in an input image. The extracted objects, or features, can be used to automatically produce a diagnosis. The proposed segmentation algorithm has an average accuracy of 0.88 and a median accuracy of 0.94, giving it the potential to make a widespread impact in the clinical diagnosis of skin cancer. This new algorithm represents a more accurate and efficient diagnostic tool than the current clinical standard and is a significant improvement over well-known baseline segmentation methods. 

Smoking represents one of the greatest preventable causes of death globally, and pharmacological treatments of higher efficacy targeting smoking cessation are necessary. Current drug interventions show only modest success rates and do not adequately address nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety that is heavily implicated in relapse and failed quit attempts. The purpose of this paper is to highlight that nicotine dependence is at least partially maintained through the negative reinforcing effect of avoiding abstinence-induced anxiety. This paper presents findings which suggest that this effect is mediated by the activation of the Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) system are presented and the implications of a therapeutic agent containing a CRF_1 antagonistare discussed.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes epidemic levels of tuberculosis each year and more strains of the disease are becoming resistant to the medications used to treat it. Alanine racemase is a convenient target for new drug candidates for tuberculosis as this enzyme is not found in human cells and in M. tuberculosis is only active when in the dimer form. To elucidate the dimerization process, the equilibrium association constants for monomer-dimer equilibrium were determined using high-performance size-exclusion liquid chromatography in a variety of mobile phases.

Recovery following stroke is dependent on several factors, including neuroplasticity. Dietary supplementation with folic acid impacts neuroplasticity. Folic acid is a B-vitamin and is a major component of one-carbon metabolism. The aim of this study is to determine the impact of one-carbon supplementation on neuroplasticity after ischemic stroke using a mouse model. 

This laboratory procedure highlights neurophysiology exercises in synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions in relation to a practical problem. The exercise is left open-ended in several ways so instructors and students can modify it to tackle new questions. This is an ideal exercise as a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to address authentic research questions.  The research hypothesis states that muscle injury would result in a pathological increase in K+ concentration within muscle tissue, which would affect surrounding healthy cells.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition that presents with a tendency to experience sensory overload as well as deficits in social cognition and communication which may be associated with differences in facial processing strategies. Previous studies have shown that, when viewing a facial image, participants with ASD spend less time on the eyes and lips—which contain more emotional and social information than other areas of the face. This study investigates whether individuals with an autism-related phenotype avoid the eyes of facial images in order to reduce their risk of experiencing sensory overload.

Psychopathy is a constellation of distinct interpersonal (e.g., pathological lying), affective (e.g., lack of remorse), lifestyle (e.g., need for stimulation), and antisocial (e.g., poor behavioral controls) traits that contribute to a deceptive and exploitive personality profile. Current theoretical models attempting to explain the functional impairments and neural systems behind the behavioral profile of the disorder seem to converge on the idea of a fear deficit. The purpose of this essay was to investigate the positive relationship between psychopathy and fear deficits as well as the dysregulation of the limbic system in adults.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has many applications in the marine sciences field, one of which is proper discrimination between toxic and non-toxic species of phytoplankton. Some key morphological differences between species are often too small to identify without the aid of SEM, and the quality of the images relies heavily on the preservation technique used.

Due to high mortality rates from cancer, it is necessary to discover targeted therapies that decrease side effects and increase drug efficacy.  Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a targeted therapy which uses light to activate therapeutic compounds to promote cell death. In our lab, we have designed, synthesized, and characterized a new photoactive metal complex, which covalently binds to DNA upon light activation. Herein, we discuss the effect that the designed complex has on DNA amplification using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).  The PCR products resulting from reactions between DNA and the metal complex were examined prior to and following light exposure and compared to the widely used anti-cancer drug, cisplatin. The minimum concentration of designed metal complex needed for complete inhibition of DNA amplification was also determined. These results show that the complex inhibits DNA synthesis after exposure to light, indicating its potential as a PDT agent.

Late last year, the world learned of one Chinese scientist named He Jiankui who covertly helped create the world’s first gene-edited babies. While germline modifications in humans are currently prohibited across several countries worldwide, new committees such as the WHO Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing or the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing are being formed in hopes of developing frameworks that offer improved consensus regarding the current international inconsistencies surrounding human germline editing and mitigating the scientific community’s point of concern for the risk of other researchers prematurely engaging in such research (Araki and Ishii, 2014).

Over the past two decades, the quantum mechanical concepts of superposition and entanglement have been applied in game theory to produce novel and interesting results. Quantization offers significant improvements to classical games that cannot be realized using purely classical strategy spaces. Because quantum game theory is a recent development with both merits and limitations, this review attempts to critically evaluate existing research as well as gaps in the literature requiring further research.

Bats are important keystone species which provide ecosystem services by consuming a variety of insects and agricultural pests. Many native bat species are currently threatened with either habitat loss or emerging infectious diseases, including White Nose Syndrome. Therefore, there is a need to develop survey approaches which increase accessibility to citizen scientists and researchers alike to monitor populations, such as with emerging, affordable smartphone enabled technologies.

Cocaine is a widely abused illicit substance and has been gaining global popularity in recent years. It is understood that cocaine alters the normal functioning of the brain’s dopaminergic system to increase the amount of dopamine (DA) available to bind to receptors, subsequently potentiating DA’s euphoric effects. Knowledge regarding cocaine’s long-term addictive qualities is limited. Findings presented in this review demonstrate that DA D1 receptors (D1R) modulate the activity of the transcription factor ΔFosB, a marker of synaptic plasticity. Following cocaine use, dopaminergic activity is increased, subsequently causing the upregulation of ΔFosB. This upregulation of ΔFosB is correlated with an increase in expression of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), which acts as a core component of long-term potentiation (LTP), a process underlying learning and memory. Thus, alterations to the normal synaptic functioning involved in learning and memory could explain the long-term impact of cocaine addiction, such as relapse. Based on the findings discussed in this review, further investigation of the role of these pathways in cocaine addiction is warranted.

Methylphenidate (MP), a drug which blocks dopamine reuptake, is most commonly used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a disorder associated with a disrupted dopamine system in the brain. Though generally effective at treating common ADHD symptomology (e.g. hyperactivity and impulsivity), MP is less effective at treating working memory deficits, which are also associated with ADHD.

Private lands comprise the majority of the land area in the United States and serve as reservoirs for biodiversity conservation. Rivers in watersheds containing privately owned agricultural land often experience agricultural disturbances resulting in increased erosion and siltation. It was hypothesized that stream reaches subjected to agricultural disturbance, primarily from livestock, would exhibit decreased habitat quality and increasingly stressed aquatic communities.