IUPUI Research Day 2014

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https://hdl.handle.net/1805/4256

A program book describing the Research Day 2014 events and posters is available from: http://hdl.handle.net/1805/4257.

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1H NMR of Deep Eutectic Solvents
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Wallis, J. Lincoln; Sapir, Liel; Harries, Daniel; Petrache, Horia I.; Ray, Bruce D.
Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) form between a variety of quaternary ammonium or phosphonium salts and hydrogen-bond donors. Over the past decade, DESs have been studied as green solvents with potential applications in industrial processes, chemical extractions, and pharmaceuticals. The recent suggestion that many plants produce natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) from primary metabolites led to investigation of the potential uses of DESs in biophysics research. This study examined the 1H NMR spectra of the choline chloride:urea 1:2, and choline chloride:ethylene glycol 1:3 molar ratio DES. Spectra of the choline chloride:urea 1:2 with various solutes were acquired to see what effect these solutes had on the DESs NMR spectrum. For both DESs tested, the NMR spectra were a superposition of the spectra of the components. DES-solute spectra showed that interaction between components persisted, indicating the solvent properties of the DESs were not lost upon addition of solutes.
3D Assessment of Nasopharyngeal and Craniofacial Phenotypes in Ts65Dn Down Syndrome Mice Treated with a Dyrk1a Inhibitor
(2014-04-11) Starbuck, John M.; Harrington, Emily; Kula, Katherine S.; Ghoneima, Ahmed A.; Roper, Randall J.
Background: Down syndrome (DS) originates from having three copies of chromosome 21 (i.e. Trisomy 21). DS is associated with many detrimental phenotypes including intellectual disabilities, heart defects, abnormal craniofacial development, and obstructive sleep apnea, which develops from restricted nasopharyngeal airways and an underdeveloped mandible. Ts65Dn mice are trisomic for about half of the orthologs on human chromosome 21 and display many phenotypes associated with DS including craniofacial abnormalities. Dyrk1a is found in three copies in Ts65Dn mice and individuals with DS, and thought to be a root cause of the craniofacial phenotypes. Epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) is a green tea polyphenol and inhibitor of Dyrk1a activity. Purpose: We hypothesize that decreased Dyrk1a activity in Ts65Dn mice will ameliorate craniofacial dysmorphology. Methods: To test our hypothesis we compared Ts65Dn mice with two or three copies of Dyrk1a and compared Ts65Dn mice with and without prenatal EGCG treatment. EGCG treated mothers were fed 200mg/kg EGCG on gestational day 7. Six week old mice were sacrificed and their heads imaged using micro-computed tomography (μCT). From μCT images, we measured nasopharyngeal airway volume and anatomical landmarks (n = 54) from the facial skeleton, cranial vault, cranial base, and mandible. Mean nasopharyngeal airway volumes were graphically compared, and a landmark-based multivariate geometric morphometric approach known as Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis (EDMA) was carried out to assess local differences in craniofacial morphology between trisomic mouse samples. Results: Our preliminary results indicate that EGCG treatment and reduced Dyrk1a copy number increases mean nasopharyngeal airway volume in Ts65Dn mice. Craniofacial morphometric differences were found among all samples. EGCG treatment increased portions of the mandible and decreased portions of the cranial vault and cranial base. Conclusion: Preliminary analyses suggest that both EGCG treatment and reduced Dyrk1a copy number affect craniofacial morphology.
Activation of Dendritic Cells by Soypeptide Lunasin: Implication in Vaccine Adjuvant
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Flores, Sarah; Dong, Melissa; Tung, Chun-Yu; Chang, Hua-Chen
Adjuvants enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines and improve the immune responses. Although many adjuvants are currently used in research, FDA approved aluminum salt (Alum) remains the most often used in human vaccines. Alum is known to promote the Th2 immune response and enhance antibody production, but is less efficient on eliciting Th1 and CTL cellular responses. Thus, it is prudent to improve the effectiveness of current adjuvants or to develop a novel alternative adjuvant. We have recently identified lunasin, a seed peptide from soybeans, as a novel immune modulator. The objective is to define the effectiveness of lunasin peptide as an adjuvant that can enhance the protective immunity of vaccines. Our studies have revealed stimulatory effects of lunasin on dendritic cells (DCs) by regulating expression of a number of genes that are important for immune responses. Lunasin-treated human conventional DCs (cDCs) not only expressed elevated levels of co-stimulatory molecules (CD86) but also exhibited up-regulation of chemokines (CCL2, CCL3, CCL4) and cytokine (IL-1β). To determine the function of lunasin-treated cDCs, these cells were co-cultured with allogeneic human peripheral blood CD4+ T cells for 7 days in the mixed lymphocyte reaction. Lunasin-treated cDCs induced almost 2-fold higher proliferation of allogeneic CD4+ T cells when comparing with a sham treatment. To verify the in vivo effects, lunasin was administered into mice. Increased CD86 expression was found in cDCs from spleens of mice treated with lunasin. Furthermore, mice vaccinated with lunasin-adjuvanted ovalbumin (OVA) had reduced tumor growth following challenging with OVA-expressing A20 B-lymphoma cells. Taken together, our data suggest that lunasin may act as a vaccine adjuvant by targeting DCs to enhance and modulate the immune responses to antigens.
Activation of Natural Killer Cell by Lunasin and Cytokine
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Kyazike, Sharifah; Lewis, David; Tung, Chun-Yu; Han, Ling; Chang, Hua-Chen
Cancer immunotherapy is one of the emerging therapeutic strategies to harness the immune system to eradicate chemotherapy-resistant cancerous cells. NK cells can recognize and eliminate cancer cells before adaptive immunity is developed. Human NK cells can be divided into 2 major subsets based on their surface expression of CD56. NK cells with CD56 bright populations are major cytokine producers, while NK cells expressing CD56 dim have higher lytic activity. Due to the role of NK cells in cancer surveillance, any approach to enhance their activity may augment cancer treatment. We have recently shown that soypeptide Lunasin is a novel immune modulating agent that, together with cytokines, enhances IFN- γ and Granzyme B expression by NK cells. This synergism augments the natural cytotoxicity of NK cells against various tumors in vitro as well as in the xenograft model. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of Lunasin on antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity of NK cells against Rituximab-coated human B-lymphoma Raji cells. We also evaluated the expression of several markers involved in NK-mediated tumorcidal activity using flow cytometry. Together, these results suggest that Lunasin could enhance the efficacy of NK cell-based immunotherapy for cancer.
Advanced Dynamic Vehicle Simulation
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Hylton, Pete; Russomanno, David; Lawrence, Christopher
The Motorsports Engineering Program within the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) has partnered with Dallara Automobili to conduct basic and applied research involving dynamic vehicle simulation to advance motorsports engineering techniques and motorsports related economic development opportunities for the State of Indiana and beyond. The project includes completion and operation of the world’s most advanced vehicle dynamic simulator at Dallara’s IndyCar facility in Speedway, Indiana. This facility supports assembly of the racecars used for the IZOD IndyCar series, America’s foremost open-wheel racing series. The basic and applied research to be conducted by IUPUI using the advanced vehicle dynamic simulator at Dallara, includes the following aims: i) Correlation of empirical simulator data to both track-test empirical data and driver qualitative feedback; ii) Correlation of driver head and chest acceleration data between corresponding simulator and track-test situations; and iii) Extend simulator capabilities to other applications, including short track stock cars, sprint cars, etc., by developing new physics models to simulate appropriate track conditions.
Advanced Materials for Rechargeable Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Fu, Yongzhu
Rechargeable batteries are essential power supplies for our daily life, and they are widely used in portable electronics, hybrid electric vehicles, and grid energy storage. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, which have the highest energy density among rechargeable batteries, have reached the capacity limits of current electrode materials, such as transition metal oxides (e.g., LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, and LiFePO4). To meet the increasing demand of high energy density batteries, rechargeable lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are considered as one of the most promising systems with significant potential for many practical applications. Sulfur has a theoretical capacity of 1,672 mAh/g by taking two electrons per atom, which is an order of magnitude higher than those of transition metal oxides. However, several challenges impede practical application of Li-S batteries, such as high resistivity of sulfur, dissolution of intermediate polysulfides, and shuttle of these polysulfides from cathode to anode in Li-S batteries. Significant improvements have been achieved over the past years, but further improvements and better understanding of Li-S batteries are still needed. This poster will present several strategies that have been developed including sulfur-conductive polymer nanocomposites, lithium/dissolved polysulfide cells, sandwiched Li2S electrodes, and in situ formed Li2S cathodes. A nanolayer of conductive polypyrrole was fabricated on sulfur particles, which can enhance electrical conductivity and reduce dissolution of polysulfides. Binder-free carbon nanotube current collector was used in lithium/dissolved polysulfide cells, which exhibit unprecedented capaciteis of 1,600 mAh/g in the first cycle and over 1,400 mAh/g after 50 cycles. Lithium metal anode is used in current Li-S batteries since the sulfur cathodes do not have any lithium in the initial stage, which is a safety hazard. Lithium-rich sulfur cathode materials such as Li2S can allow a variety of non-lithium metal anodes to be used, which can advance the Li-S battery technology to an unprecedented level. However, the high reactivity of Li2S results in limited approaches that have been explored. A sandwiched Li2S electrode consisting of two layers of carbon nanotube paper has been developed which shows high capacities and high rate capabilities. In addition, a novel in situ formed Li2S cathode is developed, which utilizes lithiated graphite as a lithium donor to convert lithium polysulfide Li2S6 to the end discharge product Li2S. These materials and strategies are promising for practical applications.
Advocating the Well-Being of Children and Families Through a Culturally Responsive Community-University Partnership
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Elfreich, Alycia M.; Helfenbein, Robert J.
This poster presents a mixed-methods research study that focuses on school- community collaborative organizations in the promotion of child-rights and well-being of students, and utilizes an asset-based holistic approach to child development in education. The Westfield community-university partnership aims to properly identify needs and assets of the children in order to explore ways to empower children to excel in life after school, as well as provide an evaluation tool to support community partners to more effectively communicate across programs and schools. In order for schools to develop their programs in response to the needs of the children and those that work with them, the voice of children becomes a necessary component of this partnership. Few programs or evaluation tools foster the involvement of young people in the early stages of mental health, even though children have the capability of expressing distinct views and personal barriers to well-being. This projects uses a case study design as this inquiry concentrates on a contemporary phenomenon within a real-world context. Case study methodology also incorporates many variables of interest, as opposed to specified data points, and relies on the application and combination of multiple sources of evidence to reinforce the study’s findings (Yin, 2008). Qualitative data sources include school staff, students, parents, and community members involved in the Westfield Youth Initiative. Methods of data collection include interviews, focus groups, and school climate surveys, which will be coded and themed, reinforced through team member consensus, and entered into Nvivo © transcript analysis. Quantitative data analysis includes descriptive statistics on demographic variables and a comparison of results from school achievement data. We expect our research to indicate that children who experience a greater sense of well-being assimilate information in more effective ways, engage in healthy and fulfilling social behaviors, and invest in others’ well-being as they advance into adulthood. Thus, the anticipated final results will include a culturally responsive evaluation tool that illustrates the methods in which we incorporate the shared life experience and understanding of children and the community out of respect to the cultural context in which they live. This partnership strives to recognize and appreciate differences between gender, race, language, and class, while maintaining a firm commitment to the well-being of each and every student. Finally, we point to challenges of cross-cultural work, barriers to implementation, and lessons learned unique to this research study.
AFM-Based Fabrication of Nanofluidic Device for Medical Application
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Promyoo, Rapeepan; El-Mounayri, Hazim; Karingula, Varun Kumar
Recent developments in science and engineering have advanced the atomic manufacture of nanoscale structures, allowing for improved high-performance technologies. Among them, AFM-based nanomachining is considered a potential manufacturing tool for operations including machining, patterning, and assembling with in situ metrology and visualization. In this work, atomic force microscope (AFM) is employed in the fabrication of nanofluidic device for DNA stretching application. Nanofluidic channels with various depths and widths are fabricated using AFM indentation and scratching techniques. To introduce the fluid inside the nanochannels, microchannels are made on both sides of the nanochannels. Photolithography technique is used to fabricate microfluidic channels on silicon wafers. A 3D Molecular Dynamics (MD) model is used to guide the design and fabrication of nanodevices through nanoscratching. The correlation between the scratching conditions, including applied force, scratching depth, and distant between any two scratched grooves and the defect mechanism in the substrate/workpiece is investigated. The MD model allows proper process parameter identification resulting in more accurate nanochannel size.
Airway dimensions and pathologies of trumpet players vs. non-trumpet players.
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Kula, Katherine S.; Imburgia, A.; Halum, S.; Van Dis, M.; Ghoneima, Ahmed A.
Objective: The objective of this retrospective, 3-dimensional cone beam computed tomography study was to determine if there is a significant difference between the most constricted area of the airway, the prevertebral soft tissue thickness and airway dimensions (length and volume) of the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and maxillary sinuses of university trumpet players versus non-trumpet playing controls. The second objective was to determine significant differences in the prevalence of airway pathologies between university trumpet players and controls. Method: Following IRB approval and consent and reliability studies, measurements of airway parameters and pathology were compared between 66 Caucasian trumpeters and 22 ethnicmatched controls. An analysis of covariance, with age and sex included as covariates, was used to compare the airway measures. Since there was a significant difference in gender and age, comparisons between groups for the presence of any airway pathologies was made using logistic regression including age and sex as covariates. A 5% significance level was used for all comparisons. Result: The trumpet players had significantly smaller nasal cavity volume (18028 + 595 mm3 vs. 25266 + 1116 mm3; p<0.0001) and significantly greater soft tissue thickness at CV2ia (3.29 + 0.10 mm vs 2.70 + 0.10 mm; p=0.03) and CV3sa (4.55 + 0.13 mm vs 3.74 + 0.14 mm; p=0.005) than the controls. No other airway measure demonstrated a significant difference between the two groups. Trumpeters had significantly (p=0.002) more airway pathology (n=33; 50%) than the controls (n=4; 18%). Antral pseudocysts or polyps composed 52% of trumpeter pathologies as compared with 0% controls. Conclusion: The only significant differences in airway dimensions between trumpet players and controls were decreased nasal cavity volume and some areas of prevertebral soft tissue thickness. Trumpeters were almost three times as likely to exhibit airway pathology when compared with controls. Funding: IUPUI Signature Center Initiative – 3D Imaging of the Craniofacial Complex Center and the Joseph and Aida Jarabak Endowed Professorship.
Alfred Kantorowicz: Writing and Exile
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Carstensen, Thorsten
My research project seeks to reconstruct the life and work of the German-Jewish journalist-cum-academic Alfred Kantorowicz (1899-1979), a major figure in twentieth-century intellectual history whose writings are mostly forgotten today. I have embarked on a book-length study that re-examines Kantorowicz in the context of what could be called his nearly lifelong status as an émigré. Based on his unpublished papers, which are housed at the Hamburg State and University Library, my book traces Kantorowicz’ evolution from one of the foremost cultural critics of the Weimar Republic to his prominent role in the German-speaking exile community in New York during World War II to his wanderings in the intellectual minefield between West-German reconstruction and GDR Communism after 1945. Alfred Kantorowicz thus emerges as the tragic representative of the ideological struggles that shaped the twentieth century and continue to frame German’s position in the world today. Alfred Kantorowicz’s biography demonstrates the experience of exile in the twentieth century in a exemplary manner. After working as a cultural correspondent for well-known liberal German newspapers such as the Vossische Zeitung throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Kantorowicz left Germany when the Nazi party rose to power in 1933. He spent the next thirteen years in exile, publishing frantically, deepening friendships with fellow emigrants, and promoting anti-fascist German culture abroad. First, he settled in Paris, where he established the “Library of the Burned Books.” In 1937, he enlisted as a volunteer in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. After the fall of France in 1940 and a brief period of incarceration, he managed to escape. Finally, he obtained an American visa and secured passage on a boat out of Marseille; in June 1941, he arrived in the United States. For the next five and a half years, Kantorowicz lived in New York, where he once again worked as a journalist while dedicating himself to the plight of German writers under the Nazis. Upon his return to East Germany in 1947, Kantorowicz initially became a respected figure in intellectual circles. He founded Ost und West (1947-1949), a journal devoted to reconciling the ideological differences between West and East Germany, served as the editor of Heinrich Mann’s collected works, and was eventually appointed Professor of German Literature at Berlin’s Humboldt University in 1950. Soon enough, however, his skepticism regarding the Socialist Party began to affect his tenure at Humboldt. In 1957, unwilling to succumb to the regime’s idea of conformity, Kantorowicz defected to West Germany, where he, his precarious position as a renegade Communist notwithstanding, carved out a niche for himself as a scholar of German exile literature, an academic field virtually uncharted at the time. Conceived as both an intellectual biography and a comprehensive study of Kantorowicz’ writings on the nexus of exile and literature, my book focuses primarily on the time between his departure for New York in 1941 and his death in 1979. Currently, I am researching the unpublished lectures he gave during his tenure at Humboldt University in the 1950s. Here, my interest lies in how Kantorowicz approaches German writers such as Goethe, Keller, and Rilke by subjecting their texts to the state-mandated practice of Marxist literary criticism. I will submit an early version of this chapter to one of the leading German Studies journals this summer.

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