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Proteomic Identification of Hemp (Cannabis sativa) Seeds by Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Evaluation of Cytotoxic Activity
Get PDFHemp (Cannabis sativa) has a long history of use globally as a source of traditional medicine, spiritual enlightenment, and recreational enjoyment. While it was commonly consumed for both medical and recreational purposes in the United States, it was classified as a Schedule 1 drug in 1937, severely restricting its use and research opportunities. Although hemp itself lacks psychoactive properties, Cannabis sativa flowers contain THC, the compound responsible for its psychotropic effects. This restriction hindered quality research into cannabis and its constituents. The study employed techniques, including top-down proteomics, size exclusion chromatography, affinity chromatography, high-resolution ESI QTOF LC/MS/MS, and De Novo protein sequencing bioinformatics tools. The process involved defatting cannabis sativa seeds in hexane and extracting protein in PBS buffer over two days at 4°C. The extracted proteins were precipitated in 80% ammonium sulfate, dialyzed, and lyophilized. Protein fractions were separated using size exclusion chromatography and blue Sepharose affinity chromatography. Separated proteins were analyzed via Tris/Glycine SDS-PAGE electrophoresis. Protein modification was carried out using performic acid oxidation, followed by Pepsin and tryptic digestion. The resulting tryptic and pepsin digests were subjected to high-resolution Q-TOF LC/MS/MS analysis, and the bioinformatics tool Peak Studio-X was utilized for the De Novo protein sequencing search against the SwissProt Viridiplantae database. The study revealed many proteins identified in the hemp proteome. Further, investigations assessed the cytotoxic activity of hemp seed crude protein extract using MCF7 human breast cancer cell lines. The results showed that hemp crude protein extract inhibited the proliferation of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The IC50 value was 154 µg/ml, suggesting relatively mild effects. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis was employed to elucidate the biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components associated with trypsin-digested bound Blue Sepharose hemp seed proteins
Postural Control in Young Adults with and without Recurrent Back Pain: Influence of Symptom Characteristics
Get PDFMany individuals with low back pain (LBP) experience episodic symptoms. During symptomatic episodes, individuals with LBP have delayed trunk muscle activation during anticipated postural perturbations, though it\u27s unclear if these postural control changes persist between symptomatic episodes. This study examined anticipatory postural muscle activation in adults with and without recurrent LBP to determine the influence of muscle fatigue and typical symptom characteristics on trunk muscle activation. 55 young adults with a greater than one-year history of recurrent LBP and 30 young adults with no history of LBP were recruited. Electromyography electrodes were placed on their thoracic and lumbar paraspinals, external obliques, internal obliques, and left deltoid. While standing, participants rapidly raised their left (non-dominant) arm as quickly as possible in response to an auditory cue. Ten repetitions were performed before and after paraspinal fatigue was induced using the Sorensen test. Timing and amplitude of anticipatory trunk muscle activation, and abdominal/paraspinal co-contraction were calculated. Effects of fatigue and LBP status were investigated, as well as associations between pain characteristics and postural control. The results found that speed of arm motion did not change post-fatigue nor between groups. Timing, amplitude, and co-contraction did not differ between groups. In adults with and without LBP, adaptations in the timing and amplitude of postural muscle activation occurred in fatigued and non-fatigued muscles in response to fatiguing exercise. In individuals with a history of recurrent LBP, greater pain severity and impact during painful episodes were associated with delayed onset and reduced co-contraction of the trunk musculature during anticipated postural challenges. Due to the heterogeneity and symptom-dependence of postural control impairments in individuals with LBP, the prescription of rehabilitation exercises for the trunk musculature should be tailored for each individual based on their unique symptom-associated motor patterns
Machine Learning and Geostatistical Approaches for Discovery of Weather and Climate Events Related to El Niño Phenomena
Get PDFEl Nino and La Nina are worldwide environmental phenomena brought about by repetitive changes in the water temperature of the Pacific Ocean. Even though the El-Nino impact focuses on a smaller area in the Pacific Ocean near the Equator, these developments have global repercussions, where temperature and precipitation are influenced across the globe, causing droughts and floods simultaneously. In this dissertation, we first derived a drought vulnerability index for the Nile basin, identifying regions with high and low drought risk under ENSO conditions. Next, we evaluated the coherence and periodicity of the ENSO signal to detect its implications on MENA Region using earth observations, machine learning, and advanced signal processing techniques. Moreover, we examined ecological and environmental crises created by global warming and unusual weather patterns caused by El Nino and marine heatwaves in nesting sea turtle habitats. Finally, expanding this study on ENSO yielded novel ways to analyze and understand the underlying processes driving unprecedented global heat waves and their association with ENSO
Global Warming is Not Cool
No full textIn this collage, the background is a clip of outer space, the middle ground is engulfed in flames, and the foreground includes a tiger stuck in a pile of wood. The tiger additionally has a red drop shadow in order to draw attention to the fire. Trees hang upside down and have a fiery red drop shadow. In the middle of the collage, our world, Earth, is on fire. Surrounding the flaming planet are three news articles regarding forest fires, placed on the lines of a rule of thirds grid. In the high center of the piece reads a statement, “Global warming is not cool” in order to draw attention to the focus point of the piece. I sourced my collage assets from Google Search and Adobe Firefly. This collage draws attention to global warming, specifically forest fires. As the planet heats up, wildfires become more common, burning down forests and eliminating habitats for thousands of species of animals. I included a visual of the tiger\u27s death to illustrate its home being burned to the ground. There is an image of the Earth on fire in the center of the piece. It is impossible for the Earth to catch on fire, so it serves as a metaphor that global warming is real and increases the Earth’s temperature by dangerous amounts. Wildfires are becoming too common, the news articles in the collage draw attention to this fact. It is up to our world to work on reducing the pollution we emit into the atmosphere. But until then, the Earth will continue to get hotter and hotter
Banned Books and Educational Censorship: The Necessity of Keeping Queer Books in Schools
Get PDFDespite most parents and students fundamentally disagreeing with the censorship of books, book banning has spiraled out of control in the United States. The number of new book bans rises almost exponentially every school year, and books with queer themes are targeted far more frequently. Pro-ban advocates use deliberately demeaning rhetoric to garner support for their cause, and in doing so, they’ve managed to take away an educational resource from millions of children in both classrooms and school libraries, because queer-themed books help foster a sense of community for queer children and teens, something that is looked down upon by many ultraconservatives; however, despite the increasing prevalence of queer book bans, these books have great value in an educational setting, with statistical and rational evidence proving they are a beneficial student resource.
This research delves into the content of the most banned queer books, the notable voices behind book bans, student testimony, the proven value of incorporating queer books in an educational environment, and much more. Numerous takes from banned book experts, authors whose books have been banned, nearly 23,000 surveyed students, and even the most notorious pro-ban advocates have been considered to form this analysis, ultimately proving a single fact: queer book bans are harmful to students and challenge their right to a proper education. Statistics prove that queer books help promote a feeling of community in schools and can educate on queer issues that are typically not discussed in classrooms. This thesis reports on the discriminatory practices used to ban queer books, and argues that teachers and librarians have a responsibility to advocate against book banning in school libraries and classrooms, so that they may provide students with the educational resources they need, and seeks to garner the support responsible educators who are hesitant to take a stand against the book banning controversy
Rising from the Abyss: A Grounded Theory Exploration on How Afghani and Ukrainian Mothers Navigate Major Milestones Following the Onset of Political Conflict
No full textThe political conflicts that have erupted around the world have disrupted the lives of millions of people. This constructivist grounded theory study delved into the experiences of ten mothers from Afghanistan and Ukraine who had to overcome three major milestones: conflict in their homelands, liminal places, and resettlement in the United States. Although the wellestablished literature has highlighted the challenges refugee women encounter following the onset of political conflict, limited literature exists on the experiences of refugee mothers and the resources of support available to help them navigate conflict-related challenges. The findings of this study highlighted mothering, community, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations as the main resources that enabled Afghani and Ukrainian mothers to navigate conflict-related challenges. This study presented implications for practice for mothers, community members, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, and educators
Remarks about Cantor\u27s Theorem
No full textIn 1890, Cantor produced his famed theorem about the infinity of infinite cardinalities with the declared intention to give a new, very abstract proof of his other theorem of 1874 about the two distinct cardinalities of the set of natural numbers and of the set of real numbers. And certainly one proof is strikingly different from the other. The earlier result was just a technical lemma to obtain a result about transcendental numbers – a renowned theorem in the mathematical circles, though rarely associated with Cantor.
We present the two proofs in contemporary mathematical language, and show how Cantor\u27s second approach applies directly to several other paradoxical situations
The Long-term Effects of Family Instability During Childhood
Get PDFThe environment in which children are raised greatly influences the person they will grow up to be. Children who experience dysfunctional family relationships, such as constant changes and disruptions to the family structure, are likely to experience long term effects. The purpose of this study is to understand the link between family instability within relationships and the long-term psychological effects in early adulthood. Through the use of family systems theory, the research examines the family as a whole in which interactions within the family affect each member. This study investigated childhood experiences of unstable family relationships, and their likelihood to experience long-term effects such as depressive symptoms, poor emotional regulation, and relational issues. It is hypothesized that experiences of family instability during childhood correlate with symptoms of depression in adulthood. The second hypothesis suggests that experiences of family instability before the age of 5 have an increased risk of symptoms of depression during adulthood. Additionally, the third hypothesis proposes the experience of family instability during childhood to correlate with lower scores on emotional regulation in adulthood. Lastly, it is hypothesized that experiences of family instability during childhood to be associated with relational issues that continue in adulthood. The results of the study found statistical significance between family instability and depression, poor emotional regulation, and relational issues in adulthood. The implications for the findings highlight the importance of early intervention strategies to support individuals in unstable family environments in order to prevent the long-term psychological effects seen in adulthood
Match Stability with a Costly and Flexible Number of Positions
Get PDFOne of the objectives of two-sided matching mechanisms is to pair two groups of agents such that there is no incentive for pair deviation. The outcome of a match can significantly impact participants. While much of the existing research in this field addresses the matching with fixed quotas, this is not always applicable. We introduce the concept of slot stability, recognizing the potential motivation for organizations to modify their quotas after the match. We propose an algorithm designed to create stable and slot stable matches by employing flexible, endogenous quotas to address this issue