Health and Biomedical Sciences

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Adriatic Sea
(Yale University Press, 1992) Stefanović, Zdravko
Another Plan for Daniel’s Book: A Proposal
(Universidad Peruana Union, 2015) Stefanović, Zdravko
The Aramaic of Daniel in the light of Old Aramaic
(JOST Press, 1992) Stefanović, Zdravko
Assessing the Spatial Pattern of Iron in Well Water from a Small Central Florida Community
(Journal of water and health, 2018-02) Hudgins, Jason; Lambert, Nicholas; Duranceau, Steven; Butler, J. Russell
Iron is one of the most common elements in the Earth's crust, which corresponds to it being a common constituent in drinking water supplies. Residents of Bithlo, an unincorporated community in east-central Florida, have observed that their drinking water tastes like metal and stains clothing and teeth. An evaluation of water samples collected from over 200 private drinking water wells revealed iron concentrations that exceeded the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) secondary standard of 0.3 mg/L. Households with and without point-of-entry treatment were found to have over three times (0.92 mg/L) and ten times (3.86 mg/L) more iron than the EPA's secondary standard, respectively. The human health-based threshold of 4.2 mg/L established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was exceeded in 38.6% of untreated residences. Community-wide statistical and spatial water-quality trends were developed by combining the collected well water quality data with historically available water quality reports. Spatial analyses revealed that greater than 99% of the Bithlo community's private household supplies would exceed the EPA's drinking water secondary standard.
Atypical Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase Implicated in Regulating Transition from Pre-S-Phase Asexual Intraerythrocytic Development of Plasmodium falciparum
(Eukaryotic Cell, 2013) Balu, Bharath; Campbell, Christopher; Sedillo, Jennifer; Maher, Steven; Singh, Naresh; Thomas, Phaedra; Zhang, Min; Pance, Alena; Otto, Thomas D.; Rayner, Julian C.; Adams, John H.
Intraerythrocytic development of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum appears as a continuous flow through growth and proliferation. To develop a greater understanding of the critical regulatory events, we utilized piggyBac insertional mutagenesis to randomly disrupt genes. Screening a collection of piggyBac mutants for slow growth, we isolated the attenuated parasite C9, which carried a single insertion disrupting the open reading frame (ORF) of PF3D7_1305500. This gene encodes a protein structurally similar to a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphatase, except for two notable characteristics that alter the signature motif of the dual-specificity phosphatase domain, suggesting that it may be a low-activity phosphatase or pseudophosphatase. C9 parasites demonstrated a significantly lower growth rate with delayed entry into the S/M phase of the cell cycle, which follows the stage of maximum PF3D7_1305500 expression in intact parasites. Genetic complementation with the full-length PF3D7_1305500 rescued the wild-type phenotype of C9, validating the importance of the putative protein phosphatase PF3D7_1305500 as a regulator of pre-S-phase cell cycle progression in P. falciparum.
Behavior of Model Ionic Compounds under Thermospray Liquid/Liquid Extraction Conditions
(1997) Farrell, E. Sebastian; Pacey, Gilbert E.
Our previously reported procedure for the extraction of semivolatile and nonvolatile organic compounds from aqueous samples by thermospray liquid/liquid extraction was extended to the extraction of charged organic compounds from water. By thermally disrupting or extricating the solvation shell of hydrated ions, the thermospray process facilitates the extraction of these analytes from the aqueous matrix. The effects of probe temperature, probe flow rate, and sample pH on the extraction efficiency of model compounds such as phenylalanine, benzoate ion, p-toluenesulfonate ion, and naphthalenetrisulfonic acid trisodium salt were investigated. Under optimized conditions, the percent recoveries for these compounds were 95, 97, 91, and 13%, respectively.
Black Art Posters, an Incentive to Increase Study Enrollment Among Blacks in a Large Cohort Study
(2008) Yancey, Antronette K.; Herring, Patti; Fraser, Gary E.; Yan, Ru; Baker, Phyllip; Lampkin, Andy; Kyle, James
Objective: Black art posters were offered to replace or augment the established $10 incentive for questionnaire completion in a longitudinal cohort study. Method: Eighty-one churches located in the US southern region were divided between two intervention groups, with a control group of 24 churches from the same region. Primary outcome measures were study enrollment rates and questionnaire return rates between December 2003 and July 2004 as a proportion of church goal. Results: 9.3% of participants returning questionnaires selected a poster in preference to $10. Half of participants offered both monetary and art incentives indicated a poster selection. Crude questionnaire return rates were 57.4% for the pooled intervention churches and 38.2% for the control churches. Enrollment rates among those offered both incentives were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than when monetary incentives alone were offered after adjustment for church size, promotional dates, and average income of church members. Survey return rates were also higher in the churches offered both incentives (p = 0.04). Conclusion: These data suggest that the black art posters improved study enrollment and survey return rates. The relatively low rate of poster selection suggests that the art primarily influenced participation indirectly, by creating a more culturally inclusive image of the study.
Bridging East and West: Joseph Wolff’s Vision of a Global Advent Mission
(1000 Missionary Movement Publications, 1992) Stefanović, Zdravko; Fernandez, Gil G.
Change in the Ileum Bacterial Population of Turkey Fed Different Diets and after Infection with Salmonella as Setermined with Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis Analysis of Amplified 16S Ribosomal DNA
(2008) Santos, Anael A. Jr; Ferket, P. R.; Santos, F. B. O.; Nakamura, N.; Collier, C.
Changes in ileal bacterial populations of Salmonella-infected turkeys fed different diets were analyzed by using 16S-V3 PCR denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Turkeys raised on litter flooring were fed wheat- and corn-based diets with and without enzyme preparations (XY1 and XY2, respectively) from 0 to 126 d. Preparation XY1 contained exclusively endoxylanase, whereas preparation XY2 contained endoxylanase, protease, and α-amylase (Danisco, Wiltshire, UK). The dietary activity levels of XY1 and XY2 were 2,500 and 650 endo-1,4-β-xylanase units/kg of feed, respectively. Microbial DNA was extracted from the ileal content of 16-wk-old turkeys, and the 16S rDNA gene was amplified by PCR and analyzed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Diversity indexes, including richness (number of species, S), evenness (relative distribution of species, EH), diversity (using Shannon's index, H′), and Sorenson's pairwise similarities coefficient (measures the species in common between different habitats, Cs) were calculated. Additionally, diversity indexes were associated with Salmonella prevalence determined from fresh fecal droppings collected from each pen. On the basis of contrast analysis, the wheat-based diets resulted in higher microbial diversity indexes than the corn-based diets (S = 10 vs. 12; EH = 0.9 vs. 0.8; H′ = 2.2 vs. 1.9, P < 0.05). Likewise, enzyme supplementation stimulated growth of the microbiota and increased the diversity indexes in comparison with unsupplemented treatments (S = 13 vs. 10; EH = 0.9 vs. 0.8; H′ = 2.2 vs. 1.9, P < 0.05). Salmonella prevalence was higher (P < 0.05) at 15 wk in turkeys fed the corn-based diet (Salmonella prevalence = 50%) than in turkeys fed the corn-enzyme (Salmonella prevalence = 13%) and wheat-based (Salmonella prevalence = 0%) dietary treatments. Therefore, contrast analysis showed that birds fed the corn control diet had lower microbiota diversity but higher Salmonella prevalence than birds fed the enzyme-supplemented and wheat-based diets. In contrast, birds fed the wheat-based diets had higher diversity but lower Salmonella prevalence than birds fed the corn-based diets. High dietary nonstarch polysaccharides from wheat and dietary exogenous enzyme supplementation promoted microbial community diversity and apparently discouraged Salmonella colonization through competitive exclusion. Nonstarch polysaccharides and dietary exogenous enzyme supplementation may be practical tools to control enteric pathogens and benefit the intestinal health and food safety of the birds.
A Computational Tool Integrating Host Immunity with Antibiotic Dynamics to Study Tuberculosis Treatment
(Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2015) Pienaar, Elsje; Clifone, Nicholas A.; Lin, Philana Ling; Dartois, Veronique; Mattila, Joshua; Butler, J. Russell; Flynn, JoAnne L.; Kirschner, Denise E.; Linderman, Jennifer J.
While active tuberculosis (TB) is a treatable disease, many complex factors prevent its global elimination. Part of the difficulty in developing optimal therapies is the large design space of antibiotic doses, regimens and combinations. Computational models that capture the spatial and temporal dynamics of antibiotics at the site of infection can aid in reducing the design space of costly and time-consuming animal pre-clinical and human clinical trials. The site of infection in TB is the granuloma, a collection of immune cells and bacteria that form in the lung, and new data suggest that penetration of drugs throughout granulomas is problematic. Here we integrate our computational model of granuloma formation and function with models for plasma pharmacokinetics, lung tissue pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics for two first line anti-TB antibiotics. The integrated model is calibrated to animal data. We make four predictions. First, antibiotics are frequently below effective concentrations inside granulomas, leading to bacterial growth between doses and contributing to the long treatment periods required for TB. Second, antibiotic concentration gradients form within granulomas, with lower concentrations toward their centers. Third, during antibiotic treatment, bacterial subpopulations are similar for INH and RIF treatment: mostly intracellular with extracellular bacteria located in areas non-permissive for replication (hypoxic areas), presenting a slowly increasing target population over time. Finally, we find that on an individual granuloma basis, pre-treatment infection severity (including bacterial burden, host cell activation and host cell death) is predictive of treatment outcome.
Correlated Effect of the Use of Organic Acid and Nucleotide (saccharomyces cerevisiae) in the Diet of Newly Weaned Piglets
(2011) Santos, Anael A. Jr; Oliveira, M. T.; Santana, D. S.; Carrazza, L. G.; Carrazza, T. G.
Counselor and Workplace Wellness Programs: A Conceptual Model
(2017) Saliba, Yvette; Barden, Sejal
Occupational stress is a top source of stress for over 65% of Americans due to extended hours in the workplace. Recent changes in health care have encouraged employers to build workplace wellness programs to improve physical and mental health for employees to mitigate the effects of occupational stress. Wellness programs focus on either disease management; treating chronic illnesses, such as hypertension and diabetes; lifestyle management; or preventing chronic illnesses through health promotion. This manuscript provides an overview of recent changes in health care and describes a conceptual framework, Steps to Better Health (S2BH), that counselors can use in workplace wellness programs. S2BH is an 8-week psychoeducational group based on the combination of motivational interviewing (MI) and the transtheoretical model of change (TTM).
Daniel: A Book of Significant Reversals
(1992) Stefanović, Zdravko
Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise; Commentary on the Book of Daniel
(Nampa, Idaho Pacific Press Pub. Association, 2007) Stefanovic, Zdravko
Design and Evaluation of a New Thermospray Liquid/Liquid Extractor for the Extraction of Semivolatile and Nonvolatile Organic Compounds from Water
(1996) Farrell, E. Sebastian; Pacey, Gilbert E.
The recovery of several semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) using a new thermospray liquid/liquid extractor (TSLLE) was investigated. The base system includes a 300 mL multiport extraction vessel, jacketed in a 500 mL cooling flask, a dual-stage condenser for progressive cooling, several thermospray probes, and solvent/sample delivery systems. Aqueous mixtures of SVOCs were used to evaluate the TSLLE. For most compounds, recovery values of 80−100% were obtained during a single cycle in <1 h. The design, evaluation, and extraction capability of the TSLLE are discussed.
Determination of Ileum Microbial Diversity of Broilers Fed Triticale- or Corn-based Diets and Colonized by Salmonella
(2007) Santos, F. B. O.; Sheldon, B. W.; Santos, Anael A. Jr; Ferket, P. R.; Lee, M. D.; Smith, D.
Diversity of the bacterial communities in the ileum of broilers was characterized using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis separation of polymerase chain reaction amplicons of the V2–V3 variable regions of the 16S rDNA is a common method to profile community diversity and has been used to assess the effects of diet and antibiotics on the ileal bacterial community of chickens. Broilers raised either on litter floor or in cage batteries were fed either a finely ground corn- (control), a finely ground triticale-, or a whole triticale-based diet from 0 to 42 d. Microbial DNA was extracted from the ileum content of 42-d-old broilers, and the 16S rDNA gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction and the amplicons separated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Diversity indexes including richness, evenness, diversity, and pairwise similarity coefficients were calculated. Diversity indexes were related to the dietary treatments, housing designs, and to changes in Salmonella colonization of broiler ceca as characterized by the most probable number method. Higher microbial diversity indexes were observed among birds fed whole triticale-based diets and reared on litter floors. In contrast, finely ground grain treatments had lower diversity and higher Salmonella prevalence than the whole triticale treatment. The data indicated that combination of high dietary fiber content and increased coarseness of the diet by feeding whole triticale stimulated microbial community diversity and discouraged Salmonella colonization, perhaps through a competitive exclusion-type mechanism.
Determination of Particle Size Distributions, Molecular Weight Distributions, Swelling, Conformation, and Morphology of Dilute Suspensions of Cross-linked Polymeric Nanoparticles Via Size-exclusion Chromatography/Differential Viscometry
(2014) Meunier, David M.; Lyons, John W.; Kiefer, Joseph J.; Niu, Q. Jason; DeLong, L. Mark; Li, Yongfu; Russo, Paul S.; Cueto, Rafael; Edwin, Nadia J.; Bouck, Kevin J.; Silvis, H. Craig; Tucker, Christopher J.; Kalantar, Thomas H.
Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), coupled with differential viscometry detection (SEC/DV), is applied to the dilute suspension characterization of solvent-swollen cross-linked polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs). Cross-linked, unimolecular polymeric nanoparticles in the 5–50 nm weight-average diameter (dw) range were prepared by batch and semibatch microemulsion polymerization techniques and isolated. SEC and SEC/DV characterization techniques yield, based on the principle of universal calibration, a wealth of information regarding the structural attributes of PNPs, including apparent and absolute molecular weight distributions, apparent and absolute molecular weight averages, peak and weight-average particle diameters, particle size distributions in both the solvent-swollen and solvent-free states, particle conformation (shape), and an estimate of the volumetric swell factor. These structural parameters are critical to understanding PNP performance, and all are obtained in a single rapid chromatographic experiment, when conducted under conditions where universal calibration applies. Particle sizes determined under such conditions are in excellent agreement with those obtained by dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, hydrodynamic chromatography, and SEC/static light scattering (SEC/SLS). In addition, Mark–Houwink exponents of approximately zero were found across the molecular weight and size distribution of many of these tightly cross-linked PNPs, which is consistent with a spherical particle conformation in these dilute suspensions. The SEC/DV methods are especially valuable to characterize the diameter, volume swell factor, and suspension conformation of small (4–5 nm dw) PNPs.
Dietary Pentosanase Supplementation of Diets Containing Different Qualities of Wheat on Growth Performance and Metabolizable Energy of Turkey Poults
(2004) Santos, Anael A. Jr; Ferket, P. R.; Grimes, J. L.; Edens, F. W.
Wheat varies in apparent metabolizable energy N-corrected (AMEn) due to the presence of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP), which can be improved by dietary enzyme supplementation. Poults from 0-17 d-age were fed diets containing various wheat sources (WS) with or without Natugrain Blend® (NB) (BASF, Germany). Five replicate cages of 10 poults were assigned to each eight-soybean-meal/wheat treatment diets and a control soybean-meal/corn diet. The treatments were a factorial arrangement of 4 WS (A, B, C, D) and 2 enzyme levels (0 and 200 mg NB/kg). The WS differed by the degree of frost damage during seed development. Regardless of the source of wheat, NB increased 17 d BW (351 vs 381 g, P < 0.001), decreased 1-17 d FCR (1.55 vs 1.49, P < 0.05), increased AMEn (2,204 vs 2,455 kcal/kg, P < 0.001), and increased apparent nitrogen retention (ANR) (35.0 vs 41.4 %, P < 0.05). No effects of WS were seen on growth performance, but WS A and B had higher (P < 0.05) AMEn than sources C and D (2,396 and 2,460 vs 2,246 and 2,216 kcal/kg, respectively). Gut viscosity was higher (P < 0.05) in poults fed wheat-based diets than the control diet. Enzyme supplementation to the wheat-based diets decreased viscosity (5.57 vs 3.98 cP, P < 0.05) to a level similar to the corn-based control diet, and it resulted in equivalent growth performance. Viscosities were negatively correlated with AMEn. The results demonstrated a positive effect of enzyme supplementation on nutrient utilization and performance of turkeys.
Dietary Supplementation of Endoxylanases and Phospholipase for Turkeys Fed Wheat-based Rations
(2004) Santos, Anael A. Jr; Ferket, P. R.; Grimes, J. L.; Edens, F. W.
The adverse effects of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) on turkeys fed wheat-based diets may be alleviated by dietary supplementation of endoxylanase (to reduce the adverse effects of digesta viscosity) or phospholipase (to improve the digestibility of fat). BUTA toms were fed wheat-based diets containing one of 5 enzyme treatments: unsupplemented control, Natugrain Blend® (> 5,500 EXU/kg diet; NB), Lyxasan®-50 (> 2,250 EXU/kg diet; LX50), Lyxasan®-100 (> 5,500 EXU/kg diet; LX100), and Phospholipase (> 500 PLU/kg diet; PL) (BASF, Germany). Each treatment group was assigned to 8 pens containing 12 birds to evaluate growth performance (1-128 d), and 2 pens of 12 birds (excluding LX50) for the apparent metabolizable energy N-corrected (AMEn) and ileum viscosity determination (56-128 d). All enzyme treatments improved growth performance. In comparison to the control, dietary enzyme increased (P < 0.05) BW and decreased 1-128 d feed/gain (2.45 vs 2.37, P < 0.005). PL was most effective in reducing feed/gain during the starting phase and LX100 during the finishing phase, while NB had intermediate benefits throughout the experiment. PL increased AMEn from 9 to 12 wk, while NB and LX-100 resulted in the highest AMEn during the later finishing period. Viscosity was significantly higher for PL than the other treatments (13.5 vs 7.07 cP, P < 0.001). Growth performance and energy utilization of turkeys fed wheat-based diets can be significantly enhanced by phospholipase supplementation of starter feeds and endoxylanase supplementation of growing and finishing feeds. However, enzyme blends may provide a positive response regardless of turkey age.
Dynamics of Poly(styrenesulfonate) Sodium Salt in Aqueous Solution
(2006) Cong, Rongjuan; Temyanko, Elena; Russo, Paul S.; Edwin, Nadia J.; Uppu, Rao M.
The diffusion of poly(styrenesulfonate) sodium salt (NaPSS) was investigated using dialysis dynamic light scattering (DLS) and dialysis fluorescence photobleaching recovery (FPR). Never-dried or “virgin” NaPSS was synthesized directly from 4-styrenesulfonic sodium salt to achieve 100% sulfonation. Upon reducing the ionic strength directly in the DLS cell by dialysis, a clean sample developed clearly distinct fast and slow modes that were first identified as an extraordinary phase in low-salt solutions of poly-l-lysine by Lin, Lee, and Schurr [Biopolymers1978, 17, 1041]. This result complements published polyelectrolyte investigations in a high-dielectric constant organic solvent, and also studies where the degree of ionization was tuned, which confirms that hydrophobic patches along the polymer chain are not required for the extraordinary behavior. The fast mode dominated even at low ionic strength, with scattering amplitude exceeding 70% of the total. For the virgin NaPSS sample in the dialysis cell, there is no convincing evidence of a slow mode at high salt (≥200 mM NaCl). The appearance of distinct slow and fast modes proved reversible upon removing and adding salt by dialysis, without any other perturbation save restoration of the concentration by dialysis centrifugation. This suggests that the behavior represents a thermodynamically equilibrated state. Dialysis FPR measurements of aqueous solutions of a commercial NaPSS that was labeled with fluoresceinamine (LNaPSS) showed no obvious long-range ordering. A reversible decrease in the optical tracer self-diffusion coefficient of LNaPSS as salt is dialyzed out of the solution is instead attributed to chain expansion. Comparison of FPR and DLS on a mixed LNaPSS/NaPSS sample suggests that the residence time of a chain in temporal aggregates [Schmitz et al. Biopolymers1984, 23, 1637] that are thought to be responsible for the DLS slow mode is shorter than the FPR time scale.

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