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AHS 029 Elizabeth Dale Schwarz 6-26-2024
Get PDFElizabeth Dale Schwarz attended the University of South Alabama in the early 1970s and earned a bachelor’s degree in speech and hearing sciences. She then returned to pursue a master’s degree in speech pathology in the 1980s. Ms. Schwarz recounts her time living in the Alpha Halls during her undergraduate years, noting the snack bar and the picnic tables as popular social places on campus. She highlights that music was very big at the time, and that almost every student had a record player and would listen to different albums for hours. Ms. Schwarz explains the layout of the dorm rooms, describing the day beds and built-in desks that each student was given. She also marvels at how much the school has grown, and says that the campus feels like home
Effect of Short-Term Supplementation with Pure, Biosynthetic Salidroside on Exercise Performance, Blood Markers, and Mood State
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the effects of salidroside ingestion on mood state, oxygen uptake, time-to-exhaustion, local muscular endurance, erythropoietin, and markers of inflammation and muscle damage in healthy, young adults. Fifty subjects (30M, 20F; Age: 21 ± 4 y) completed this double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Subjects were randomized to a Salidroside (SAL; 30 mg/2x/day of SAL) or Placebo (PLA; 30 mg/2x/day of rice flour) group. Subjects completed an entry session followed by pre- (PRE) and post-testing (POST), which were 14 days apart and consisted of 3 visits at each timepoint. During the entry session, demographic information was collected and informed consent was obtained. Testing session 1 consisted of a mood state assessment (POMS assessment), venous blood sampling, a treadmill test to determine peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak), and a one-repetition maximum test of the elbow flexors. Subjects began ingesting their supplement the following day (Day 2). During testing session 2 (Day 3), subjects returned to perform a time-to-exhaustion (TTE) test on a treadmill having consumed their supplement 30 min prior. During the TTE test, subjects had their oxygen consumption measured during a protocol that consisted of 1.5-min work bouts at the speed associated with their VO2 peak at 10% grade followed by active recovery for 1.5 min at 2 mph at 8% grade. Intervals were completed until volitional exhaustion, and lactate was measured immediately following, 3, 7, and 10 minutes following the conclusion of the TTE test. After the conclusion of testing session 2 of pre-testing subjects continued supplementation throughout the remainder of the study. Subjects returned to the lab for post-testing 14 days after their first testing session of PRE. All procedures were repeated at POST, however, subjects consumed their supplement 30 min prior to each of their testing sessions and instead of a one-repetition maximum test of the elbow flexors performed on the first visit, a local muscular endurance test of the elbow flexors was performed instead. During the TTE tests, the percentage of predicted VO2 peak that was achieved during the trial was recorded. Every subject was able to complete at least three intervals, thus the first three intervals were compared individually between groups. Beyond that, subjects completing 5 or more intervals had their remaining intervals split in half and averaged as middle intervals and final intervals for analyses. The main finding of the study was that SAL was able to reach a significantly higher percentage of VO2 peak during all work intervals (SAL vs. PLA; Interval 1: 74.7 ± 5.5% vs. 71.0 ± 5.4%, p \u3c 0.001; Interval 2: 82.3 ± 5.5% vs. 79.4 ± 5.0%, p \u3c 0.001; Interval 3: 84.9 ± 5.6% vs. 81.9 ± 5.4%, p = 0.001; Middle Intervals: 86.4 ± 5.2% vs. 82.9 ± 5.4%, p \u3c 0.001; Final Intervals: 85.6 ± 5.0% vs. 83.4 ± 5.6%, p = 0.016). Salidroside supplementation may beneficially alter oxygen uptake in healthy, young adults performing high-intensity interval training
Development and Validation of a Noninvasive, Portable, and Low-Cost Device to Detect Peripheral Artery Disease
Get PDFPeripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a progressive cardiovascular condition characterized by atherosclerosis in the extremities. It affects up to 10 million adults in the United States and is associated with an elevated risk of heart attack and stroke. Up to 50% of people with PAD are asymptomatic and undiagnosed. This presents the need for a rapid, inexpensive, and noninvasive screening tool that can be easily used to diagnose PAD. We developed a device, REFLO (Rapid Electromagnetic FLOw device), to detect low blood flow and diagnose PAD. The device uses lowpower radio frequency energy (35 GHz) to heat the skin and measure the subsequent temperature change. There is a relationship between skin surface temperature and volumetric blood flow in the skin, and we hypothesized that the rate of skin heating in response to millimeter wave irradiation is a function of the underlying volumetric blood flow.
This work presents the results of two cohorts of controlled flow experiments on humans. Each experiment was performed as a series of 3-minute heating periods followed by 3-minute natural cooling periods during baseline, occluded, and post-occluded hyperemic flow. Nonlinear regression analysis was used to fit temperature data and obtain a thermal constant, k. In the pilot study, N = 7 and each subject volunteered for 1 visit. During the heating period, significance was observed between the k-values in the baseline and post-occlusion periods (p = 0.0039). During the cooling period, significance was observed between the baseline and occlusion periods (p = 0.0014), as well as between the occlusion and post-occlusion periods (p = 0.0469). In the reliability study, N = 5 and each subject returned for 3 visits. During the heating period, significance was observed between the baseline and post-occlusion period (p = 0.0128), as well as between the occlusion and post-occlusion periods (p = 0.0160). During the cooling period, significance was observed between the baseline and occlusion periods (p = 0.0004), as well as between the baseline and post-occlusion periods (p = 0.0044). Two-way ANOVA revealed that flow and subject had a significant effect on the rate of skin heating and cooling, while visit had no effect.
Results suggest that millimeter wave irradiation can be used to distinguish between different volumetric blood flow rates in humans. Utilizing the rate of skin cooling rather than skin heating has proven to be more consistent for distinguishing flow rates. Future clinical testing and device modifications will improve REFLO’s ability to distinguish between flow rates and evaluate the device’s ability to discern PAD patients from individuals without cardiovascular disease
Investigating Thin Filament Assembly in C. elegans Muscles
Get PDFAll striated muscles are composed of small units called sarcomeres [1]. Within each sarcomere, there are thin filaments composed of actin and thick filaments composed of myosin. The thin filaments extend from either end of the thick filament towards the middle of the sarcomere. The lengths of thin filaments are correlated to muscle contraction and force production [1], but it is currently unknown what regulates their lengths. Prior hypotheses based on vertebrate models have focused on a nebulin ruler model [2]. However, nebulin is not present within invertebrate muscles, and this has led to a major gap in the field’s knowledge of length regulation. A proposed model of regulation is that the thin filament length is at least partially affected by the myosin in the thick filament chains [3]. To test this model, I made two strains of transgenic C. elegans roundworms. Both strains had the Tmod-capped pointed ends of the thin filaments tagged with ng-GFP, and one of them also had a headless myo-3 mutation marked with mCh. I imaged the strains with a confocal and Nikon Airyscan microscope to determine whether the targeted muscle proteins were visible. The results of these images and genotyping analysis show that the methods used were successful in making the desired model. The images also indicate that the myosin model of thin filament length regulation warrants further investigation
Formation of Diazirine Functionality for Propellant Applications
Get PDFOverall, this research focuses on a cost-effective approach which minimizes synthetic overhead when assembling compounds with diazirine functionality. The goals are to prevent the surplus use of ammonia in the formation of the diaziridines and use electrochemistry to perform the oxidation of diaziridines. In addition, this project will evaluate the efficiency of different diazirine molecules as propellants.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/honors_college_posters/1019/thumbnail.jp
Geomagnetic Substorms Prediction Model Using Combined Physics-Based and Deep Learning Modeling Techniques
Get PDFThis thesis aims to develop a hybrid physics-incorporated neural network model (PINN) for classifying geomangnetic substorms in Earth\u27s Magnetosphere. The model is trained using a comprehensive list of substorm onsets, ground magentometer data from a global network, and solar wind parameters from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite. Two different neural network architectures are used, and the physics model used for training is called WINDMI. The magnetic field components on the ground, which are a function of the ionospheric currents, are captured by the SML index. The methodology involves using 60-minute data segments preceding an event to train the hybrid PINN model to predict and classify substorms in the subsequent 30 minutes. A significant part of this research is predicting substorm occurrences based on substorm onsets from four distinct lists and an aggregated substorm list. The results, based on the performance of 16 adopted cases, show that the hybrid model performs significantly better then the WINDMI model alone. This finding underscores the importance of scrutinizing the physics model alongside the hybrid model
Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - May 2, 2024
Get PDFThis is the May 2, 2024 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine’s newsletter - Watercooler.
Contents Include GME coordinators establish wellness committee to address stress and burnout Ramani selected as CMO for Children’s & Women’s Hospital Six students earn travel scholarships for state pediatrics meeting Molecular lab launches genomic testing for personalized cancer care Resident and Fellow Academic Expo set for May
Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - July 3, 2024
Get PDFThis is the July 3, 2024 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine’s newsletter - Watercooler.
Contents Include Whiddon COM faculty received promotion and awarded tenure USA awarded grant to study race-based disparities in autism care USA neurosurgery selected as site for national joint fusion study Urology conference abstract submissions due Aug. 3
New Insights on Hybridization in Potamogeton Floridanus (the Florida Pondweed)
Get PDFFreshwater ecosystems are some of the most important and highest threatened habitats in the world, and aquatic plants play an important, but often-overlooked, role in maintaining them. Potamogeton is a diverse and ecologically important aquatic plant genus well known for taxonomic difficulty and rampant hybridization. lbis study aimed to 1) test the hypothesis that Potamogeton jloridanus (Florida pondweed) is a hybrid between P. oakesianus and P. pulcher, and 2) to investigate correlations in ecological conditions for the focal species. This study revealed the discovery of a new population of P. jloridanus in Big Coldwater Creek in Santa Rosa Co., FL, and ruled out a suggested population in Baldwin Co., AL as P. jloridanus. In addition, it is the first to estimate the crown age for Potamogeton (1.6266 My). The hypothesis that P. jloridanus is a hybrid, and that the hybridization event likely occurred in the Pleistocene was supported by a combination of molecular methodologies. lbis study has begun to outline ecological variables that could be important for understanding the distributions of the focal species. Ultimately, this study highlights how aquatic plant biodiversity can be underestimated even in biodiversity hotspots and outlines the need for molecular and ecological sampling to resolve taxonomy and habitat preferences in Potamogeton