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Item Adult Ossabaw Pigs Prefer Fermented Sorghum Tea over Isocaloric Sweetened Water(MDPI, 2023-10-18) Nelson, Catherine E.; Aramouni, Fadi M.; Goering, Mikayla J.; Bortoluzzi, Eduarda M.; Knapp, Laura A.; Herrera-Ibata, Diana M.; Li, Ka Wang; Jermoumi, Rabia; Hooker, Jane A.; Sturek, Joshua; Byrd, James P; Wu, Hui; Trinetta, Valentina; Alloosh, Mouhamad; Sturek, Michael; Jaberi-Douraki, Majid; Hulbert, Lindsey E.; Cellular and Integrative Physiology, School of MedicineOssabaw pigs (n = 11; 5-gilts, 6-barrows; age 15.6 ± 0.62 SD months) were exposed to a three-choice preference maze to evaluate preference for fermented sorghum teas (FSTs). After conditioning, pigs were exposed, in four sessions, to choices of white FST, sumac FST, and roasted sumac-FST. Then, pigs were exposed, in three sessions, to choices of deionized H2O (-control; avoidance), isocaloric control (+control; deionized H2O and sucrose), and blended FST (3Tea) (equal portions: white, sumac, and roasted sumac). When tea type was evaluated, no clear preference behaviors for tea type were observed (p > 0.10). When the 3Tea and controls were evaluated, pigs consumed minimal control (p < 0.01;18.0 ± 2.21% SEM), and they consumed great but similar volumes of +control and 3Tea (96.6 and 99.0 ± 2.21% SEM, respectively). Likewise, head-in-bowl duration was the least for -control, but 3Tea was the greatest (p < 0.01; 5.6 and 31.9 ± 1.87% SEM, respectively). Head-in-bowl duration for +control was less than 3Tea (p < 0.01; 27.6 vs. 31.9 ± 1.87% SEM). Exploration duration was the greatest in the area with the -control (p < 0.01; 7.1 ± 1.45% SEM), but 3Tea and +control exploration were not different from each other (1.4 and 3.0 ± 1.45% SEM, respectively). Regardless of tea type, adult pigs show preference for FST, even over +control. Adult pigs likely prefer the complexity of flavors, rather than the sweetness alone.Item Chronic kidney disease and peripheral nerve function in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study(Oxford University Press, 2019-04) Moorthi, Ranjani N.; Doshi, Simit; Fried, Linda F.; Moe, Sharon M.; Sarnak, Mark J.; Satterfield, Suzanne; Schwartz, Ann V.; Shlipak, Michael; Lange-Maia, Brittney S.; Harris, Tamara B.; Newman, Anne B.; Strotmeyer, Elsa S.; Medicine, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with poor mobility. Peripheral nerve function alterations play a significant role in low mobility. We tested the hypothesis that early CKD is associated with altered sensory, motor and autonomic nerve function. METHODS: Participants in the Health, Aging and Body Composition cohort who had kidney function measures in Year 3 (1999-2000) and nerve function measurements at Year 4 (2000-01) were analyzed (n = 2290). Sensory (vibration threshold, monofilament insensitivity to light and standard touch), motor [compound motor action potentials (CMAPs), nerve conduction velocities (NCVs)] and autonomic (heart rate response and recovery after a 400-m walk test) nerve function as well as participant characteristics were compared across cystatin C- and creatinine-based estimated glomerular filtration rate categorized as ≤60 (CKD) or >60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (non-CKD). The association between CKD and nerve function was examined with logistic regression adjusted for covariates. RESULTS: Participants with CKD (n = 476) were older (77 ± 3 versus 75 ± 3 years; P < 0.05) and had a higher prevalence of diabetes (20.6% versus 13.1%; P < 0.001). CKD was associated with higher odds for vibration detection threshold {odds ratio [OR] 1.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.7]} and light touch insensitivity [OR 1.4 (95% CI 1.1-1.7)]. CMAPs and NCVs were not significantly different between CKD and non-CKD patients. In adjusted analyses, participants with CKD had higher odds of an abnormal heart rate response [OR 1.6 (95% CI 1.1-2.2)] and poor heart rate recovery [OR 1.5 (95% CI 1.1-2.0)]. CONCLUSIONS: CKD is associated with changes in sensory and autonomic nerve function, even after adjustment for demographics and comorbidities, including diabetes. Longitudinal studies in CKD are needed to determine the contribution of nerve impairments to clinically important outcomes.Item Identification of Aedes aegypti cis-regulatory elements that promote gene expression in olfactory receptor neurons of distantly related dipteran insects(BMC, 2018-07-11) Mysore, Keshava; Li, Ping; Duman-Scheel, Molly; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Sophisticated tools for manipulation of gene expression in select neurons, including neurons that regulate sexually dimorphic behaviors, are increasingly available for analysis of genetic model organisms. However, we lack comparable genetic tools for analysis of non-model organisms, including Aedes aegypti, a vector mosquito which displays sexually dimorphic behaviors that contribute to pathogen transmission. Formaldehyde-assisted isolation of regulatory elements followed by sequencing (FAIRE-seq) recently facilitated genome-wide discovery of putative A. aegypti cis-regulatory elements (CREs), many of which could be used to manipulate gene expression in mosquito neurons and other tissues. The goal of this investigation was to identify FAIRE DNA elements that promote gene expression in the olfactory system, a tissue of vector importance. RESULTS: Eight A. aegypti CREs that promote gene expression in antennal olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) were identified in a Drosophila melanogaster transgenic reporter screen. Four CREs identified in the screen were cloned upstream of GAL4 in a transgenic construct that is compatible with transformation of a variety of insect species. These constructs, which contained FAIRE DNA elements associated with the A. aegypti odorant coreceptor (orco), odorant receptor 1 (Or1), odorant receptor 8 (Or8) and fruitless (fru) genes, were used for transformation of A. aegypti. Six A. aegypti strains, including strains displaying transgene expression in all ORNs, subsets of these neurons, or in a sex-specific fashion, were isolated. The CREs drove transgene expression in A. aegypti that corresponded to endogenous gene expression patterns of the orco, Or1, Or8 and fru genes in the mosquito antenna. CRE activity in A. aegypti was found to be comparable to that observed in D. melanogaster reporter assays. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide further evidence that FAIRE-seq, which can be paired with D. melanogaster reporter screening to test FAIRE DNA element activity in select tissues, is a useful method for identification of mosquito cis-regulatory elements. These findings expand the genetic toolkit available for the study of Aedes neurobiology. Moreover, given that the CREs drive comparable olfactory neural expression in both A. aegypti and D. melanogaster, it is likely that they may function similarly in multiple dipteran insects, including other disease vector mosquito species.Item Installation as a Sensory Vessel(2017) Sciore-Jones, Elizabeth J.; Winship, AndrewThe tectonic plates of earth are in constant movement, floating on magma. The earth cracks and presses, creating mountain ranges and valleys. Water rushes in filling the crevasses, changing jagged bedrock into smooth curves, turning the seabed into a dry salt covered desert. The shift of the earth can be felt and the object-hood of a mountain range cannot be denied. Our origins are buried deep in the earth, creating a relationship between the self and the flesh of existence. The sensing matter of humanity is apodictic; confirmation is received from the nervous system as it interacts with primal environments, symbols, textures, and sounds. This information is processed phenomenologically, shaping how we think, communicate, and develop. As our contemporary minds grow further away from our intuition, we must look to the roots of our origin stories and how they merge withour modern sense of the sublime. I connect our contemporary phenomenological awareness to the primal origins of Earth, and humanity by utilizing video mapping, sound, sculptural paper-making and installation. Through this connection, I create sensory experiences to increase the viewer's awareness to their physical body and its causation.Item Sensorimotor Activity Partially Ameliorates Pain and Reduces Nociceptive Fiber Density in the Chronically Injured Spinal Cord(Mary Ann Liebert, 2018-09-15) Sliwinski, Christopher; Nees, Timo A.; Puttagunta, Radhika; Weidner, Norbert; Blesch, Armin; Neurological Surgery, School of MedicineA large proportion of patients suffering from spinal cord injury (SCI) develop chronic central neuropathic pain. Previously, we and others have shown that sensorimotor training early after SCI can prevent the development of mechanical allodynia. To determine whether training initiated in the subchronic/chronic phase remains effective, correlates of below-level neuropathic pain were analyzed in the hindpaws 5-10 weeks after a moderate T11 contusion SCI (50 kDyn) in adult female C57BL/6 mice. In a comparison of SCI and sham mice 5 weeks post-injury, about 80% of injured animals developed mechanical hypersensitivity to light mechanical stimuli, whereas testing of noxious stimuli revealed hypo-responsiveness. Thermal sensitivity testing showed a decreased response latency after injury. Without intervention, mechanical and thermal hyper-responsiveness were evident until the end of the experiment (10 weeks). In contrast, treadmill training (2 × 15 min/day; 5 × /week) initiated 6 weeks post-injury resulted in partial amelioration of pain behavior and this effect remained stable. Analysis of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)-labeled fibers in lamina III-IV of the lumbar dorsal horn revealed an increase in labeling density after SCI. This was not due to changes in the number or size distribution of CGRP-labeled lumbar dorsal root ganglion neurons. Treadmill training reduced the CGRP-labeling density in the spinal cord of injured mice, whereas the density of non-peptidergic isolectin-B4 (IB4)+ fibers showed no changes in lamina IIi and a slight reduction of sparse IB4 labeling in laminae III-IV. Thus, sensorimotor activity initiated in the subchronic/chronic phase of SCI remains effective in ameliorating pain behavior and influencing structural changes of the nociceptive system.