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Book chapterAptamer-based Stimuli-Responsive Surfaces(CRC Press, 2024-07-18)This book chapter provides an overview of aptamer-based stimuli-responsive surfaces, which are functional materials that exhibit dynamic changes in their surface properties in response to specific external stimuli by employing aptamers, the engineered oligonucleotides which can specifically bind to their target molecules, as the essential sensing unit. Earlier research focused on stimuli-responsive surfaces made from DNA and proteins, which paved the path for the implementation of aptamer-based stimuli-responsive surfaces. The stimuli-responsive systems harness various stimuli to trigger desired responses, such as metal ions, small molecules, enzymes, pH value, temperature, electrical fields, and light exposure. In the field of molecular sensing and targeting, electrostatic stimuli are scalable and easily reversible but lack specificity. In contrast, aptamer-target interactions present remarkable specificity at nanoscale. Hence, the performance of smart surfaces with combination of aptamer and electrostatic stimuli could be optimized. In the field of cellular targeting and regulation, conformational transition of either the aptamer structure itself, or its conjugated structure in the biointerface in response to various types of stimuli serve as the essential mechanism to govern or modulate the performance of the smart surfaces. Overall, this book chapter covers the design and synthesis of aptamer-based stimuli surfaces, and their broad applications in biosensing, drug delivery, cell capture and release, and other potential fields; prospective challenges and future directions are also briefly discussed.
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ArticleTimely ICU Outcome Prediction Utilizing Stochastic Signal Analysis and Machine Learning Techniques with Readily Available Vital Sign Data(IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2024-06-18)The ICU is a specialized hospital department that offers critical care to patients at high risk. The massive burden of ICU-requiring care requires accurate and timely ICU outcome predictions for alleviating the economic and healthcare burdens imposed by critical care needs. Existing research faces challenges such as feature extraction difficulties, low accuracy, and resource-intensive features. Some studies have explored deep learning models that utilize raw clinical inputs. However, these models are considered non-interpretable black boxes, which prevents their wide application. The objective of the study is to develop a new method using stochastic signal analysis and machine learning techniques to effectively extract features with strong predictive power from ICU patients' real-time time series of vital signs for accurate and timely ICU outcome prediction. The results show the proposed method extracted meaningful features and outperforms baseline methods, including APACHE IV (AUC = 0.750), deep learning-based models (AUC = 0.732, 0.712, 0.698, 0.722), and statistical feature classification methods (AUC = 0.765) by a large margin (AUC = 0.869). The proposed method has clinical, management, and administrative implications since it enables healthcare professionals to identify deviations from prognostications timely and accurately and, therefore, to conduct proper interventions.
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ArticlePre-pubertal obesity compromises ovarian oxidative stress, DNA repair and chemical biotransformation(Elsevier, 2024-06-15)Obesity in adult females impairs fertility by altering oxidative stress, DNA repair and chemical biotransformation. Whether prepubertal obesity results in similar ovarian impacts is underexplored. The objective of this study was to induce obesity in prepubertal female mice and assess puberty onset, follicle number, and abundance of oxidative stress, DNA repair and chemical biotransformation proteins basally and in response to 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) exposure. DMBA is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that has been shown to be ovotoxic. Lactating dams (C57BL6J) were fed either a normal rodent containing 3.5% kCal from fat (lean), or a high fat diet comprised of 60% kCal from fat, and 9% kCal from sucrose. The offspring were weaned onto the diet of their dam and exposed at postnatal day 35 to either corn oil or DMBA (1 mg/kg) for 7 d via intraperitoneal injection. Mice on the HFD had reduced (P < 0.05) age at puberty onset as measured by vaginal opening but DMBA did not impact puberty onset. Heart, spleen, kidney, uterus and ovary weight were increased (P < 0.05) by obesity and liver weight was increased (P < 0.05) by DMBA exposure in obese mice. Follicle number was largely unaffected by obesity or DMBA exposure, with the exception of primary follicle number, which were higher (P < 0.05) in lean DMBA exposed and obese control relative to lean control mice. There were also greater numbers (P < 0.05) of corpora lutea in obese relative to lean mice. In lean mice, DMBA exposure reduced (P < 0.05) the level of CYP2E1, EPHX1, GSTP1, BRCA1, and CAT but this DMBA-induced reduction was absent in obese mice. Basally, obesity reduced (P < 0.05) the abundance of CYP2E1, EPHX1, GSTP1, BRCA1, SOD1 and CAT. There was greater (P < 0.05) fibrotic staining in obese DMBA-exposed ovaries and PPP2CA was decreased (P < 0.05) in growing follicles by both obesity and DMBA exposure. Thus, prepubertal obesity alters the capacity of the ovary to respond to DNA damage, ovotoxicant exposure and oxidative stress.
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ArticleDepartment Chairs as Change Agents: A Virtual Cross-Institutional Professional Development Model for Chairs(Springer, 2024-06-14)Department chairs are crucial in impacting departmental climate, conveying expectations, and providing merit assessments. Therefore, they have the most influence in retaining highly qualified faculty. Most department chairs come from the faculty ranks and lack formal training in key management, communication, and administrative skills, including performance reviews, resource allocation and budgeting, legal and compliance issues, promotion and tenure determinations, conflict resolution, and the inclusive management of people with diverse identities. Recognizing the critical role of department chairs and the evident gap in their training, we developed a series of chair workshops to provide ongoing professional development for department chairs across multiple semesters. These workshops were designed as part of a multi-university collaboration funded by the National Science Foundation to create more inclusive environments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) units. However, the offerings were expanded to include all units on all campuses. This paper outlines our approach to developing these professional development workshops and describes the workshop designs and how we incorporated participant feedback. Additionally, we offer suggestions for others designing and implementing chair professional development workshops together with areas for future advancements in chair professional development.
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ArticleIntegrative systematic revision of the Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi), with the description of a new subspecies(PeerJ Inc, 2024-06-13)The Montseny brook newt (Calotriton arnoldi), a glacial relict endemic to a small, isolated massif in northeast Spain, is considered the only Critically Endangered urodele in Europe. Its restricted range is divided by a deep valley that acts as an impassable barrier to dispersal, separating two isolated metapopulations (Western and Eastern) that correspond to independent lineages with different evolutionary trajectories, based on genetic and genomic data. Here, we address the ecological differentiation between lineages and discuss its potential effect on the phenotypic distinctness of each lineage. Based on multiple lines of evidence, we formally describe the Western Montseny brook newt as a new subspecies: Calotriton arnoldi laietanus ssp. nov. Finally, our study underscores the importance of considering taxonomic progress in the conservation policies of endangered species, ensuring appropriate management and protection of the newly described taxa.