Fiction facilitates the attribution of unrealistic character traits to scientists, and skews general understanding of the scientific process-- a fatal flaw resulting in self-doubt within undergraduate scientists, and apprehension and distrust in several communities. Misconceptions and the absence of significant ideas were identified by analyzing novels within the “Lab Lit”...
Brewers' spent grain (BSG), the byproduct from beermaking, is a good source of protein and dietary fiber and may be utilized as a functional ingredient for food applications such as bakery goods. Starch-based film is well-known for its safety, edibility, and renewability. Starch films with the incorporation of cellulose nanofiber...
Vitamin E (vitE) is a group of lipid-soluble antioxidants- of which alpha-tocopherol is the most biologically active and only form considered to be an essential nutrient. Through preferential binding and trafficking, the alpha-tocopherol transfer protein (α-TTP) regulates the concentration of vitE in the body. The impact of vitE deficiency on...
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AdrianGombart, Committee Member, representing Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics
This work sought to characterize a link between Vitamin C and nitroglycerin at the level of enzymatic bioactivation. Before we could proceed, we needed to develop a method that sensitively and selectively identified the product of bioactivation, nitrite. We successfully adapted traditional diaminonaphthalene derivatization with the use of stable isotope...
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB), an important group of organisms in modern food production, are known to secrete a unique compound called exopolysaccharide (EPS). EPS is economically important because it enhances functional properties in food and may confer beneficial health effects to consumers. Novel strains of Lactococcus lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, and...
The bioavailability of chemical compounds in the marine environment fundamentally influences the growth and physiology of microorganisms. Organic and inorganic chemicals that are produced by some marine plankton can be consumed by other plankton for energy production, growth, or to initiate essential physiological processes. Cultures of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana,...
The overall objective of this dissertation study was to develop and validate the performance of cellulose nanomaterials (CNs) incorporated fruit coatings for improving the storability of postharvest pears and bananas under various storage conditions. Four specific studies were conducted to fulfill the research objectives as stated below.
First, cellulose nanocrystal...
Ovarian cancer, “the silent killer,” is one of the deadliest gynecological diseases due to delayed diagnosis, leading to a heavily disseminated and aggressive metastatic cancer. Therapeutic options are limited at stages III-IV of ovarian cancer, in which debulking surgery and cytotoxic chemotherapy remain the mainstays of
intervention. However, these therapeutic...
The discovery of new antibiotics reached its peak during the golden era of antibiotics in the mid 20th century and continued to thrive until the 1980s. However, after more than 50 years of fruitful exploration and exploitation of microbial natural products the discovery rate of new antibiotics has dropped drastically...
DNA is often described as the “blueprint for life”. In eukaryotes this information is contained within linear chromosomes of varying size and number. During cell division, the chromosomes must be faithfully segregated into each daughter cell to avoid disease and sustain life. This process is carried out by the kinetochore...
Nitric oxide (NO) is a signaling molecule that regulates blood pressure and vascular tone. Humans produce NO by endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), which is impaired in patients with cardiovascular disease leading to increased blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction, and an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Maintaining optimal levels of...
Memory is essential to everyday life. As we age, deficits in memory become apparent. The toll of age-related cognitive impairment can be devastating to families and costly to society. The NMDA receptor is a molecule in the brain that is instrumental in the formation of memories. The receptor is particularly...
The integumentary system is the largest organ system of the body that comprises of skin and its appendages such as hair follicles, sebaceous and sweat glands. Skin is divided into three distinct structural layers: the epidermis, dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis originates from the ectoderm and is composed of four...
Nuclear Factor, Erythroid Derived 2, Like 2 (NFE2L2 or Nrf2) is the primary transcription factor in cellular defense against oxidative and xenobiotic stresses in higher eukaryotes. This basic leucine zipper transcription factor regulates over 200 antioxidant, detoxification, and lipid metabolizing genes by binding to the Antioxidant Response Element (ARE; a...
Bcl11b (B-cell lymphoma/leukemia 11b), also known as Ctip2 (Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor (COUP-TF)-interacting protein 2), is a C2H2 zinc finger transcriptional regulatory protein, which is an essential protein for post-natal life in the mouse and plays crucial roles in the development, and presumably function, of several organ systems,...
Streptococcus pneumoniae and Influenza A Virus both primarily infect the upper respiratory tract, with more severe disease occurring during coinfection than would be caused by either pathogen independently. Until recently, characterization of the interactions between these two pathogens has occurred exclusively in the context of a host or using host-derived...
Agricultural and companion animals are integral to our way of life as they provide us with nourishment, financial resources, transportation, and companionship. However, pets, managed animals in the agricultural industry, as well as wild populations of food animals are all subject to health and mortality risks. The gut microbiome is...
Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of ischemic heart disease and stroke and is the leading cause of death worldwide, especially in developed countries. As an inflammatory disease of arteries in a hyperlipidemic milieu, expression of adhesion molecules, such as endothelial-leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (E-selectin) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), on endothelial...