Antibiotic production in the Gymnoascaceae with reference to the nitrogen source

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Designing a Neighboring Guide for the Hickory Grove Baptist Church Small Group Leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina

ABSTRACT DESIGNING A NEIGHBORING GUIDE FOR THE HICKORY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH SMALL GROUP LEADERS IN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Justin Michael Paslay, D.Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2018 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. Adam W. Greenway This project sought to provide a neighboring guide (GO:Guide) for the small group leaders of Hickory Grove Baptist Church. Chapter 1 gives the context of ministry at Hickory Grove and the rationale and goals for this project. Chapter 2 offers the biblical perspective on the redeemed people of God engaging the lost through the loving declaration and demonstration of the gospel. Chapter 3 examines the sinful nature of humanity and suggests ways in which believers can love their neighbors with cultural sensitivity and gospel clarity. Chapter 4 gives a detailed outline of the project, including an explanation of the critical components of the GO:Guide. Chapter 5 provides an evaluation of the project and its goals. This project provides the church with the means to effectively engage their neighbors with the love of Jesus Christ

Biological and Biologically Inspired Polymers for Interface Modification

Naturally occurring macromolecules are produced for a specific function and have the selectivity to accomplish objectives with little waste in energy. The scientific community strives to develop smart, efficient molecules on an economical scale, thus lessons can be learned from nature and applied to cost effective synthetic systems. First, the mimicry of naturally occurring antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) will be described. AMPs show great potential as alternatives to conventional antibiotics as they can selectively bind and eliminate pathogenic bacteria without harming eukaryotic tissues. Aqueous reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was utilized to prepare primary and tertiary amine containing AMP polymer mimics with precise polymerization control. The detailed synthetic strategy along with an outline of in vitro cell studies will be discussed in order to elucidate the effect of polymer composition on antimicrobial activity and selectivity. The second section of this work will discuss a highly surface active protein from filamentous fungi called hydrophobin. Hydrophobins are small proteins that spontaneously self-assemble into polymeric films at interfaces. They are amphipathic in nature and form tightly bound membranes that shift the polarity of interfaces at which they assemble. This research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms and driving forces for assembly of the ABH1 hydrophobin protein from the edible white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus

The Advocate

The yearbook of the University of Mississippi\u27s School of Law, 1986. Editor: Harry M. Paslayhttps://egrove.olemiss.edu/law_yearbooks/1009/thumbnail.jp

Factors affecting luteal oxytocin synthesis and/or secretion by the ovine and bovine corpus luteum

Experiments were conducted to determine whether endogenous progesterone regulates synthesis and/or secretion of luteal oxytocin (OT). In experiment 1, mature ewes (n=5 per group) were assigned randomly to control or mifepristone (RU 486) treatment groups. Ewes were injected twice daily s.c. with vehicle or 10 mg RU 486 from days 5-7 of the estrous cycle (estrus=day 0). On day 8, following an i.v. prostaglandin F₂α (250 μg cloprostenol) challenge, venous samples were collected at frequent intervals to determine plasma OT concentrations. Plasma OT in RU 486-treated animals did not differ significantly from those of the control animals (P>0.05). In Experiment 2, ewes were injected s.c. daily with vehicle or 175 mg RU 486 from days 2-5 of the estrous cycle followed by a prostaglandin F₂α (250 μg cloprostenol) challenge on day 6. Four of five RU 486-treated ewes exhibited "split-estrus" (estrous behavior through 36 hours and again 84 to 108 hours after the onset of initial estrus). There was no significant difference in mean plasma OT or progesterone levels between treatment groups (P>0.05). Mean mature corpus luteum (CL) weights of control and RU 486-treated ewes on day 6 did not differ (394.8 ± 28.8 vs. 319.5 ± 48.3 mg; P>0.05). Mifepristone-treated ewes contained mature CL, new CL (2 of 4 ewes), and/or preovulatory follicles (≥ 10 mm, 2 of 4 ewes). Average interestrous interval for RU 486-treated ewes was 9 days longer than that of control animals (26.2 ± 2.9 vs. 17 ± 0.5 days; P<0.025). A subsequent study was conducted to determine the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-stimulated release of luteinizing hormone (LH) on luteal OT and progesterone production in beef heifers. Ten heifers with normal estrous cycles were assigned randomly in equal numbers to a control and treatment group. On day 2 of the estrous cycle (estrus=day 0) heifers were injected with either physiological saline or 100 pg GnRH every 4 hours for 56 hours. Samples were collected 0 min pre- and 180 min post-GnRH challenge for progesterone analysis. Sixty hours after the initial injection of GnRH or saline, heifers were challenged with an i.v. injection of 500 pg prostagland in F₂α (cloprostenol) and blood was collected at frequent intervals for OT analysis. Luteal OT synthesis was suppressed (P<0.01) in heifers receiving repeated injections of GnRH compared to saline-treated control animals. Progesterone secretion was significantly greater in saline-treated animals compared to GnRH-treated animals pre- and post-challenge (1.0 ± 0.06 vs. 0.93 ± 0.11 ng/ml and 1.16 ± 0.05 vs. 0.96 ± 0.13 ng/ml, respectively; P<0.05)

Non-Esterified Fatty Acids Generate Distinct Low-Molecular Weight Amyloid-β (Aβ42) Oligomers along Pathway Different from Fibril Formation

Amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide aggregation is known to play a central role in the etiology of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). Among various aggregates, low-molecular weight soluble oligomers of A beta are increasingly believed to be the primary neurotoxic agents responsible for memory impairment. Anionic interfaces are known to influence the A beta aggregation process significantly. Here, we report the effects of interfaces formed by medium-chain (C9-C12), saturated non-esterified fatty acids (NEFAs) on A beta 42 aggregation. NEFAs uniquely affected A beta 42 aggregation rates that depended on both the ratio of A beta:NEFA as well the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the NEFAs. More importantly, irrespective of the kind of NEFA used, we observed that two distinct oligomers, 12-18 mers and 4-5 mers were formed via different pathway of aggregation under specific experimental conditions: (i) 12-18 mers were generated near the CMC in which NEFAs augment the rate of A beta 42 aggregation towards fibril formation, and, (ii) 4-5 mers were formed above the CMC, where NEFAs inhibit fibril formation. The data indicated that both 12-18 mers and 4-5 mers are formed along an alternate pathway called \u27off-pathway\u27 that did not result in fibril formation and yet have subtle structural and morphological differences that distinguish their bulk molecular behavior. These observations, (i) reflect the possible mechanism of A beta aggregation in physiological lipid-rich environments, and (ii) reiterate the fact that all oligomeric forms of A beta need not be obligatory intermediates of the fibril formation pathway

Sustained antiviral insulin signaling during West Nile virus infection results in viral mutations

Arthropod-borne viruses or arboviruses, including West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus (DENV), and Zika virus (ZIKV) pose significant threats to public health. It is imperative to develop novel methods to control these mosquito-borne viral infections. We previously showed that insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling (IIS)-dependent activation of ERK and JAK-STAT signaling has significant antiviral activity in insects and human cells. Continuous immune pressure can lead to adaptive mutations of viruses during infection. We aim to elucidate how IIS-signaling in mosquitoes selects for West Nile virus escape variants, to help formulate future transmission blocking strategies. We hypothesize that passage of WNV under activation of IIS will induce adaptive mutations or escape variants in the infecting virus. To test our hypothesis, WNV was serially passaged through Culex quinquefasciatus Hsu cells in the presence or absence of bovine insulin to activate IIS antiviral pressure. We sequenced WNV genes encoding for E, NS2B, NS3, and NS5 and identified variants in E and NS5 arising from IIS antiviral pressure. In parallel to the genetic analyses, we also report differences in the levels of virus replication and Akt activation in human cells and mosquitoes using virus passaged in the presence or absence of insulin. Finally, using adult Culex quinquefasciatus, we demonstrated the enhancement of immune response gene expression in virus-infected mosquitoes fed on insulin, compared to control. Notably, virus collected from insulin-fed mosquitoes contained a non-synonymous mutation in NS3. These results contribute towards achieving our long-term goal of manipulating mosquito IIS-dependent antiviral immunity to reduce WNV or other flavivirus transmission to mammalian hosts