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Physiology

Expert in reproductive physiology becomes newest TTU SVM faculty Member – KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

LUBBOCK, Texas (PRESS RELEASE) The following is a press release from Texas Tech University:

ForJohn Gibbons, growing up in a military family and moving from place to place is etched in his memories. However, it was his familys summer vacations away from military activities that changed his life forever.

During those visits to East Texas, where his uncle raised beef cattle, Gibbons first gained experience in animal agriculture that would spark his interest in animal science.

That spark eventually turned into three decades of distinguished academic research, and the development of novel reproductive techniques and protocols across six different continents. He now brings his expertise and knowledge to the Texas Tech School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo (SVM) as an associate professor of reproductive physiology. In this role, he will continue what he enjoys the most, training graduate and veterinary students, and watching them develop into successful scholars and veterinarians.

I am excited to be involved with the inaugural class of theTexas Tech UniversitySchool of Veterinary Medicine, Gibbons said. I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of the team here at Texas Tech, which has an obvious and dedicated interest in veterinary education and research that will benefit the people of Texas and beyond.

Reproductive physiology is so vitally important for our animal industries, saidGuy Loneragan, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. Whether it be horses, pigs or cattle, everything starts with reproduction. Advances in reproductive physiology help add to the sustainability and resiliency of so many producers. But discoveries can also directly benefit society by helping families who may be struggling to have children. The students of our School, whether they be focused on becoming a veterinarian or earning a Ph.D., will benefit so very much from Dr. Gibbons. We are thrilled he is part of this wonderful program.

Prior to joining the SVM, Gibbons spent the last three years as an associate and assistant professor of physiology at the DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and was on joint appointment in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. He was heavily involved in the program at DeBusk by being part of many service activities such as a faculty adviser to the Anesthesia Club and co-director for Boehringer Ingelheim Summer Scholars Program at Lincoln Memorial. He also was Lincoln Memorials representative for both the International Embryo Transfer Society and American Embryo Transfer Association in 2019.

Currently, Gibbons is collaborating individually with undergraduate and graduate students at Lincoln Memorial, the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine and the National Foundation for Fertility Research on several different research projects.

Gibbons earned his bachelors degree in animal science from Texas A&M University in 1988 and, in 1989, found himself working as a laboratory technician for Granada, a cattle embryo transfer and cloning company in Marquez, Texas. While there, he realized a desire to focus his research on the reproductive anatomy and physiology of cattle and develop reproductive techniques.

As his research developed, he earned his masters degree in dairy science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University in 1994 and his doctorate in endocrinology-reproductive physiology program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998.

Gibbons is a member of the American Embryo Transfer Association, International Embryo Technologies Society and American Society of Animal Sciences.

I have had the pleasure of working with John at a previous university. He is very student-focused, always willing to help, and a great researcher, saidJohn Dascanio, senior associate dean for academic and student affairs. Dr. Gibbons has a research focus in bovine reproduction working with oocytes and embryos. His work will bring together many partners in industry and local agriculture to improve reproductive efficiency.

Gibbons joins a growing and vibrant team of faculty and staff at the School of Veterinary Medicine. Additional team members will continue to be added as the school prepares to welcome its inaugural class.

Thanks to the generosity of Amarillo and communities across Texas, and the commitment of legislators from around the state, the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo was established in 2018. In March 2021, the school was granted the all-important status of Provisional Accreditation, from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Council on Education (COE) and is set to welcome its first class of students in August.

The School of Veterinary Medicine will recruit and select students with a passion to serve rural and regional communities. Its curriculum is focused on the competencies and skills necessary for success in practice types that support these communities. Texas Techs innovative and cost-efficient model partners with the wider community of veterinary practices across the state to provide clinical, real-world experiential learning.

(Press release from Texas Tech University)

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Expert in reproductive physiology becomes newest TTU SVM faculty Member - KLBK | KAMC | EverythingLubbock.com

Physiology

Vale Roger Short – The Science Show – ABC News

After studying veterinary science at Bristol University, Roger completed a Masters in genetics at the University of Wisconsin as a Fulbright Scholar and then his PhD at Cambridge. He remained at Cambridge until 1972 when he was appointed Director of the Medical Research Council Unit of Reproductive Biology and honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh. In 1982 Roger moved to Australia to take up a personal Chair as Professor of Reproductive Biology at the Department of Physiology at Monash University. Roger's interest in the growing global impact of HIV/AIDS, saw him seconded to the World Health Organization (Geneva) in 1989. In 1995 Roger left Monash and joined the Department of Obstetrics at the University of Melbourne. In 2006 Roger was made an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Melbourne University, where he continued to teach and conduct research for many years.

Roger received many prizes and awards in recognition of this work throughout his career, including Honorary Doctorates of Science from Guelph (Canada), Edinburgh and Bristol. He was awarded scientific medals from the Zoological Society of London (1969) and the Society for Endocrinology (1970). Roger was made a Fellow of the Royal Society (1974), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1974) and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (1976). He also received honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (1991) and Foreign Membership of the Royal Society of Sciences of Uppsala (1993). Roger received the Marshall Medal of the Society for Reproduction and Fertility (UK) (1995) and the Carl G Hartman Award from the Society for the Study of Reproduction (USA) (1995). He also received a Centenary medal (2001) and was made a member of the Order of Australia (2004).

Roger spoke to Robyn Williams at length in a program replayed recently. Professor Roger Short, reproductive biologist The Science Show 15th May 2021

SpeakerRoger Short

PresenterRobyn Williams

ProducerDavid Fisher

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Vale Roger Short - The Science Show - ABC News

Physiology

Resistance training helps in burning fat? Here’s what a new study says – Hindustan Times

Findings from a new University of Kentucky College of Medicine and College of Health Sciences study add to growing evidence that resistance exercise has unique benefits for fat loss.

The Department of Physiology and Centre for Muscle Biology study published in the FASEB Journal found that resistance-like exercise regulates fat cell metabolism at a molecular level.

The study results in mice and humans show that in response to mechanical loading, muscle cells release particles called extracellular vesicles that give fat cells instructions to enter fat-burning mode.

Extracellular vesicles were initially understood as a way for cells to selectively eliminate proteins, lipids and RNA. Recently, scientists discovered that they also play a role in intercellular communication.

The study adds a new dimension to how skeletal muscle communicates with other tissues by using extracellular vesicles, says John McCarthy, Ph.D., study author and associate professor in the UK Department of Physiology.

"To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of how weight training initiates metabolic adaptations in fat tissue, which is crucial for determining whole-body metabolic outcomes," McCarthy said. "The ability of resistance exercise-induced extracellular vesicles to improve fat metabolism has significant clinical implications."

McCarthy's research team was led by post-doc Ivan Vechetti, now at the University of Nebraska, in collaboration with the Center for Muscle Biology, directed by Joseph Hamburg Endowed Professor Charlotte Peterson, Ph.D.

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Resistance training helps in burning fat? Here's what a new study says - Hindustan Times

Physiology

LI knife-thrower cut path from teacher, preacher and pool hall owner – Newsday

Job jokes fly fast and furiously when youre a professional knife thrower. "He aims to miss!" is the most common zinger.

David Adamovich, 74, a gleaming star of the impalement arts a term for hurling knives near, not at, a human target has heard that one before.

The Great Throwdini, as Adamovich calls himself on stage, has told it, too.

"It goes with the territory," said the Freeport resident who was 50 when he discovered, to his surprise and delight, his near-superpower knack for knives.

By then hed already received a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University and taught graduate classes in exercise physiology at schools including LIU Post. Hed also pursued emergency medicine management and dipped into theology.

"Its a clich, but David is like an onion," according to Dix Hills magician TJ Tana, 28, who has shared a bill with Throw and become a friend. "He has so many layers."

"People say Im a Renaissance man," said Adamovich, whose onstage banter, like a LinkedIn bio, deftly tells his story.

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Heres his spiel: "My name is Rev. Dr. David Adamovich, a retired professor with a doctorate in exercise physiology, a paramedic, a professionally trained chef, an ordained minister and in my spare time I throw knives. My friends call me Throw."

Adamovich smiled while reciting that on a Sunday afternoon in his backyard overlooking Woodcleft Canal. He chills out here chatting with his eclectic group of friends and fishing for striped bass.

The spacious deck is as colorful as he is. A Wheel of Death, a wooden spinning disk painted red and white thats used in his act, occupies one space.

A life-size cow sculpture bows toward his boat gently bobbing in the canal. Adamovich saw the bovine wonder in a shop in the Hamptons and had to have it; he custom-colorized it in red, gold and black.

Across the way an airy gazebo surrounded by benches that seat 30 is where he performs weddings. "Ive done thousands," he insisted, adding that hed performed one days earlier.

After getting laid off from managing a medical practice in his late 40s, "I did the most logical thing," he said. "I opened a pool hall Docs Billiard Emporium in Bay Shore."

"One night a customer came in with a throwing knife," said Adamovich, who took to it instantly. "Nine months later," he added, "I was winning world championships."

And breaking records now more than a few dozen of them, by his count. "Competitions pay you in bragging rights, not big cash prizes," he said. In the early 2000s, after five years in the national competition circuit, he carved a path into performing.

At Adamovichs request, "Wild West" performer Chris McDaniel, a former East Hampton resident now living in New Orleans, showed him the ropes about putting together a show.

McDaniel shared videotapes of notable names in the impalement arts. "A couple of weeks later, David sent me a videotape of him throwing knives at a knife board with a volunteer standing in front of it," McDaniel told Newsday. "He was doing everything he had seen in the tapes. His skill is incredible.

"Hes very calm, and thats worked well for him," McDaniel said. "I helped him map out the basics of what to say in his act."

For the most part, Throw lets his sharp instruments knives, axes, machetes, tomahawks do the talking. "Chriss advice was to be myself," said Adamovich, whose first performing gig was in 2002. It was a small art space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Hes fuzzy on the name of the place, but he recalls what he wore a black tuxedo, his go-to costume ever since. "Ive worn a tux and tails since my first day of performing," Adamovich said.

He added that years of teaching had prepared him for being in front of an audience, whether in a club, sideshow, a theater or on TV.

On Aug. 5, 2002, after a recommendation by McDaniel, Adamovich debuted at "Monday Night Magic," a long-running off-Broadway production. Since then he has performed in it 85 more times, most recently just before the COVID-19 outbreak.

"Im hopeful hell be back," said Michael Chaut, founding producer of the magic showcase currently set to reopen on Sept. 20 at the Players Theater in Manhattan. "Hes got sheer and amazing skill. Hes also a go-getter."

While Adamovich, whos self-taught in knife-throwing, makes tossing blades that land within inches of a person look easy-peasy, its perilous doings.

"My partner said, Make sure you get a copy of his insurance," recalled Chaut. Adamovich assured that hes covered by required liability insurance.

A memorable appearance came in 2007, when Adamovich made the cut in the early rounds of Season 2 of "Americas Got Talent." Before being eliminated, he was christened a "dangerous creepy reverend" by judge Piers Morgan.

"The judges were trying to make fun of me," said Adamovich. "Thats their style. I took it in stride."

Throwdinis flesh-and-blood targets have taken minor mishaps in stride over the years. "Ive never hit someone in the sense of impaling them, but I have scraped them on the arm or the leg," he said.

Lynn Wheat, 37, confirmed that. "Thereve been scrapes," she said. "The worst is when the knife hits a knot and doesn't actually stick into the board. Thats when it'll bounce down. It can land between my toes."

Wheat recalled meeting Adamovich when she was managing the theater scene shop at Hofstra University. She needed an expert to create a knife illusion for a stage production and sought him out. They became a couple. Wheat, whose work as a technical director for corporate events dried up amid the pandemic, has lived with Adamovich for 10 years. She is also one of his targets.

"Throwdini Centrale" is the nickname for the third floor of their home, where the dcor is best described as Contemporary Knives Out.

Walls here are crammed with photographs from past performances, a poster for "Girl on the Bridge," a film about a knife thrower, plus cherished certificates and awards.

Adamovich has won a Merlin Award, an Oscar in the world of magic, which is among his proudest achievements. He holds a Guinness World Record for the most knives 102 of them thrown in 2007 around a human target in one minute. He later beat that record and threw 144 in 60 seconds, as certified by Record Holders Republic.

Adamovich called hurling knives "a source of intermittent income." Like many performers, he was sidelined by the pandemic for a year and a half. Last November in Los Angeles he shot an episode of "Game of Talents," a TV guessing game that aired on Fox in May.

When host Wayne Brady exclaimed, "David, show us your talent," Throw obliged. Last month, he wowed the crowd at the Coney Island Circus Sideshow. "I was thrilled to do it," said Adamovich, who spent his childhood in Brooklyn and Queens before moving to Long Island as an adult.

In "Throwdini Centrale," reached by climbing a ladder from a second-floor bedroom, Adamovich eyeballed a 6-by-4-foot pine impalement board stippled with gouges from where knives have stuck.

His signature diamond-headed blades, which he maintains to keep sharp and are marked with a telltale "TGT," measure 14 inches long and weigh 12 ounces. Replicas made by Western Trade Props sell for $44 apiece.

Wheat backed up to the board, centered herself, raised an arm Statue of Liberty-style, smiled and froze. Adamovich tossed knives around her. She never flinched. He never paused.

Wheat rotated 90 degrees, then pursed a drinking straw with a frilly end facing out tight between her lips. In a flash, Adamovich chucked a blade and nipped off the frill. His aim was true.

"Im never afraid. Its exciting," Wheat said. "I trust him completely, and he trusts himself."

Adamovichs wish for his 75th birthday in December? Performing as The Great Throwdini.

"Its just a natural skill for me," he said. And thats no joke.

By Joe Dziemianowicz Special to Newsday

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LI knife-thrower cut path from teacher, preacher and pool hall owner - Newsday

Physiology

More than 800 Fall 2021 SRJC classes will be in-person – The Oak Leaf

Santa Rosa Junior College will offer 806 inperson sections this Fall 2021 semester after offering about 100 in spring, according to SRJC President Dr. Frank Chong.

The remaining 1,635 sections will take place online, some with mandatory synchronous Zoom meetings and others independently paced.

Classes begin on Aug. 17. Check the list of important deadlines and the schedule of classes for more information.

SRJC published a detailed plan for safely returning to campus amidst the ongoing pandemic. Most student services will continue to operate remotely or on campus by appointment only.

COVID-19 vaccines are strongly recommended but are not required for students, faculty or staff. Students can make an appointment with the Student Health Center to receive a free vaccine.

Sections with in-person components include classes from health sciences and public safety, which were previously offered on-campus during the pandemic, as well as classes from a wider variety of departments listed in a recent college press release:

Art, history, English, math, career education, agriculture and natural resources, communications, culinary, biological sciences, anatomy, physiology, administration of justice, microbiology, chemistry, music, theatre arts, physics, floristry, horticulture, auto tech, machine tech, welding, counseling, kinesiology/dance, astronomy, anthropology, animal health, business administration and sociology.

Seats are widely available and our faculty are ready to meet students in whatever way best suits their needs, said Dr. Jane Saldaa-Talley, vice president of Academic Affairs, in the press release.

Other COVID-19 safety plans include mandatory indoor masking regardless of vaccination status, daily symptom checks, limited in-person class sizes, frequent disinfection of shared spaces and improved air filtration.

Dr. Chong said about 50 safety monitors, mostly students, will help guide people through new protocols, such as signing in before entering a building for contact tracing and completing symptom checks.

Were trying to create a safe campus and were doing everything the Centers for Disease Control has advised in order to open safely, Dr. Chong said.

People need to realize were over COVID, but COVIDs not over us. We thought the light was at the end of the tunnel; now the tunnel seems like its been a little elongated, he said.

Dr. Chong asks students to be patient with SRJC and encourages everyone to lead with kindness.

Know the people at the JC care deeply about providing educational opportunities, but we cant be so-called COVID-proof. It would be less than honest to say if you come to campus youre not going to get COVID, he said. The best way [to prevent that], based on science, is to get vaccinated.

Students taking classes in-person or online can attend Virtual Welcome Week Aug. 1223 featuring workshops about transferring, financial aid, health services and how to get involved on campus. There will be a free food giveaway featuring Shone Farm produce from 911 a.m. Aug. 23 at the Santa Rosa Campuss Emeritus parking lot.

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More than 800 Fall 2021 SRJC classes will be in-person - The Oak Leaf

Physiology

Rep. Katko Announces Over $600K in Federal Funding for SUNY Upstate Medical University to Support Research on Dementia – Congressman John Katko

SYRACUSE, NY U.S. Rep. John Katko (NY-24)today announced $682,211 in federal funds will be distributed to SUNY Upstate Medical University to support research on one of the leading forms of dementia.

SUNY Upstate Medical University has adedicated team of researchersworking to advance treatments and cures for neurological disorders. The new funds SUNY Upstate received are available through the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institute of Health (NIH), and will allow SUNY Upstate to continue important research on neurological disorders. Since coming to Congress, Rep. Katko has successfully advocated for additional funding for the NIH, and most recently urged the House Appropriations Committee to authorize over $46 billion for the NIH in fiscal year 2022.

Im proud to announce SUNY Upstate Medical University will be receiving over $600,000 in federal funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to support research on one of the leading forms of dementia,said Rep. Katko. Having witnessed my father develop and ultimately pass away from Alzheimers, I understand the physical, financial, and emotional burden dementia can have on those who suffer, their caretakers, and their families. In Congress Ive consistently supported efforts to robustly fund the NIH, which provides critical federal funding to support the development of the next generation of treatment and cures. Im glad this new funding will be used to help the dedicated neurology research team at SUNY Upstate continue their work to prevent, diagnose, and treat neurological disorders.

The new funding for SUNY Upstate will specifically support research by Wei-Dong Yao, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and, Neuroscience and Physiology. Yao is researching frontotemporal dementia (FTD), the leading dementia most prevalent before age 65 and the most common form of dementia after Alzheimers disease.

Yaos study represents the first attempt to investigate the role of a new disease gene in FTD pathogenesis. The proposed studies are fundamentally important and highly significant because they have the potential to uncover novel pathogenic mechanisms and treatment strategies for FTD and related neurodegenerative diseases.

I am grateful for the support of the NIH in funding this important study, said Professor Yao.I also want to thank U.S. Rep. Katko for continuing to push for additional federal funding into treatments for neurological disorders. This additional funding is important to continue important research into diseases of today.

Yao is an Empire Scholar and joined Upstate from Harvard University in 2014 through the SUNYs Empire Innovation Program.

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Rep. Katko Announces Over $600K in Federal Funding for SUNY Upstate Medical University to Support Research on Dementia - Congressman John Katko

Physiology

Study identifies molecule that stimulates muscle-building – University of Illinois News

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. In a randomized control study of 10 healthy young men, researchers compared how consuming the single amino acid leucine or its two-molecule equivalent, dileucine, influenced muscle-building and breakdown. They found that dileucine boosts the metabolic processes that drive muscle growth 42% more than free leucine does.

They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Leucine, isoleucine and valine all are branched-chain amino acids, famous among body builders and health enthusiasts for their purported muscle-enhancing benefits. Like other amino acids, they are the building blocks of proteins. But leucine also acts as a signaling molecule that triggers muscle-building pathways in cells, said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign kinesiology and community health professor Nicholas Burd, who led the new research with kinesiology graduate student Kevin Paulussen.

Digestion breaks the chemical bonds between the amino acids that make up proteins, resulting in a stew of shorter molecules, including free amino acids and dipeptides. Previous studies have suggested that the small intestine absorbs dipeptides like dileucine more rapidly than their single-molecule counterparts, Burd said.

But few studies have examined whether dileucine in the diet makes it into the blood as a dipeptide or is first broken down into two leucine molecules, he said. And no studies have examined its effects on acute muscle-building and breakdown. Burds laboratory is one of a small number of research facilities set up to study muscle protein metabolism in human participants.

Graphic by Diana Yates

Edit embedded media in the Files Tab and re-insert as needed.

For the new study, participants came to the lab after a 12-hour fast and were infused with stable isotopes, chemical probes that allow researchers to track the process of muscle protein synthesis and breakdown. Then biopsies of muscle tissue were taken from the upper leg.

After that, we fed them either 2 grams of leucine or 2 grams of dileucine, Burd said. And we studied their muscle-remodeling response for three hours. This was a double-blind study, meaning that the data were coded to prevent participants and researchers from knowing who received leucine or dileucine in the initial phases of the study. Three more muscle biopsies were taken, at 30, 60 and 180 minutes after participants ingested the leucine or dileucine.

We found that leucine got into the blood more quickly when participants consumed dileucine than if they had just free leucine, Burd said. That means that some of that dileucine is getting hydrolyzed, or cut up, before it gets into the bloodstream. But we also saw that dileucine was getting into the bloodstream intact.

The next question was whether dileucine had any effect on muscle-building processes, he said.

So, we looked at pathways that signal the muscle-building process, including protein breakdown as part of the remodeling process. And we found no difference in protein breakdown between the leucine alone and the dileucine condition, Burd said. But on the protein synthesis side, we saw that dileucine turns up the muscle-building process more than leucine does.

Those who consumed dileucine had 42% more synthesis of new muscle proteins than those who ingested only leucine.

To put that in perspective, exercise alone can cause a 100-150% increase in the muscle-building response, Burd said.

The researchers also showed that animal-based proteins are the best source of dileucine in the diet. But Burd does not think people should start ingesting large amounts of animal protein or taking dileucine supplements to enhance their muscle metabolism. The study is only a first step toward understanding how the body uses dipeptides, and focusing on a single nutrient doesnt provide a perspective on how the overall diet and eating pattern impacts muscle growth, he said.

We dont yet know the mechanism by which dileucine works, Burd said. This is just a first attempt to understand how these types of peptides are playing a role in human physiology.

Ingenious Ingredients, L.P. supported this research.

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Study identifies molecule that stimulates muscle-building - University of Illinois News

Physiology

WVU Today | WVU researcher develops copper-infused mask for hospitality and tourism industry – WVU Today

Adrea Welsh, WVU Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab student, tests the efficacy of the Hygenmask, developed by Ajay Aluri of the Chambers College of Business and Economics. Karen Woodfork, of the WVU Center for Inhalation Toxicology, oversees the technology. (WVU Photo/Brian Persinger)

Employees manning the frontlines of customer service, whether behind the hotel front desk or the restaurant counter, come face-to-face with folks from all walks of life for hours on end.

With the delta variant on the rise, the lambda variant taking hold and an upswing in COVID-19 cases, the hospitality business is seeing staffing issues as people weigh their personal safety against their employment as the pandemic rages on.

Masking up is one safe precaution. But its also an uncomfortable gesture, as some masks may inflict wear and tear on the face or not provide an adequate level of protection for the worker, explained Ajay Aluri, founding director of the Hospitality Innovation and Technology Lab at West Virginia University.

As a native of India, where copper is king and touted for its antimicrobial properties, Aluri thought, Why not make a safer, more comfortable mask infused with copper when using for a longer period of time?

Copper has a special place in the culture and tradition of India, said Aluri, also associate professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Chambers College of Business and Economics. People wear copper bracelets and use copper utensils for cooking. And theres a notion, from the COVID standpoint, that copper is antimicrobial.

From the HIT Lab was born Hygenmask, a three-layered facemask containing a copper-infused nano-coated fabric, a sustainable bamboo fabric and an ePTFE (a biomaterial) filter. Wearers also dont have to worry about elf ears since the masks lack ear loops. Elastic head loops go over the head and can be tightened for a customized fit.

WVU HIT Lab is a platform for both industry and academia to come together to solve the problems of the hospitality and tourism industry. Before Hygenmask, Aluri and his students created Hygenkey, a copper touch tool with antiviral and antibacterial qualities, in response to the pandemic in 2020.

The mask is ideally for people who are always at the front desk or talking to people six to eight hours at a time, whether in restaurants, resorts, airports, or any hospitality and tourism industry, Aluri said. Some of these masks out there, if you wear them for a long time, it can be really rough on your skin. So we strived to make it more hygienic and sustainable from a fabric standpoint.

One of Aluris partners recommended a sustainable bamboo fabric, which offers a smooth feel but still fits tight around the face, he said.

But you dont have to take his word for it. Aluri reached across campus to ask scientists with the WVU School of Medicines Center for Inhalation Toxicology (iTOX) to test the product. Since the onset of the pandemic, the Center has been at the forefront of testing all sorts of masks from N95 alternatives to WVU gaiters to the Singers Mask to double masks.

The Center found that Aluris mask blocked up to 93% of droplets being respired.

The Hygenmask offers good protection to its users, said Timothy R. Nurkiewicz, director of the Center and E.J. Van Liere Endowed Professor and chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology. Combined with physical distancing, good HVAC, limiting time in a crowd and limiting the crowd size, the mask should afford the users some confidence.

Researchers conducted fit testing, which evaluates how well a mask protects the person wearing the mask. A score of 100 is necessary to pass a N95 mask. Gaiters and saggy disposable masks typically score a one.

Aluris mask ranged from six-to -15 on the study participants.

Those numbers are substantially better than what you would find with your average cloth masks, which usually gets a fit factor of two, said Karen Woodfork, a teaching associate professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology who was part of the research team.

People send us all kinds of masks and most of them get ones or twos, Nurkiewicz said. When we saw Ajays mask scoring in that range, that tells you theres a bit of protection there.

Nurkiewiczs lab did not test the copper properties of the mask.

Perhaps theres no better way to test a product than actually using it.

Aluri donned the mask during a 14-hour flight to India.

Im only taking it down when Im eating or drinking, Aluri said. I had no marks on my face and Hygenmask was quite comfortable.

Most of all, Nurkiewicz and his team believe that Aluris mask accomplishes its purpose and will be of benefit to its target audience those who serve the public day-to-day.

The mask sits away from your mouth enough so you can articulate better, Nurkiewicz said. Also, in terms of regular breathing, you will labor more with a mask that sits right on your lips. Theres some space there, making it more comfortable and making the wearer more likely to keep it on for a longer period of time.

-WVU-

js/08/09/21

CONTACT: Heather RichardsonAssistant Dean of Communications, Engagement & Impact|John Chambers College of Business and Economics304-293-9625; hrichard@mail.wvu.edu

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Jake StumpDirectorWVU Research Communications304-293-5507; jake.stump@mail.wvu.edu

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WVU Today | WVU researcher develops copper-infused mask for hospitality and tourism industry - WVU Today

Cell Biology

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor redux: Discovery of accessories opens therapeutic vistas – Science

Accessory proteins and nicotinic receptors

Acetylcholine was the first neurotransmitter identified, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) were the first neurotransmitter receptors isolated. Recent studies have identified a multitude of molecules and mechanisms that regulate nAChRs in different tissues. In a Review, Matta et al. discuss these discoveries and their implications for the cell biology and medicinal pharmacology of nACHRs. Many accessory factors promote the assembly and function of diverse nAChRs. Some factors are small molecules, some are proteins, some control receptor biogenesis, and some regulate channel gating. These protein chaperones and auxiliary subunits elucidate the pharmacological and physiological processes regulated by acetylcholine.

Science, abg6539, this issue p. eabg6539

One hundred years ago, experiments on beating frog hearts identified acetylcholine (ACh) as the seminal neurotransmitter. Sixty years later, fractionation of the eel electroplax isolated nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs) as the first purified ion channel. We now appreciate that a family of nAChRs are differentially expressed in numerous tissues, including the brain, skeletal muscle, white blood cells, and cochlear hair cells. Paralleling this wide distribution, nAChRs mediate diverse physiological functions, including cognition, muscle contraction, immunomodulation, and sound discrimination. Neuronal nAChRs also account for the psychoactive and addictive properties of tobacco and are the primary genetic risk factors for lung cancer. Therapeutically, nAChRs provide pharmacological targets of approved medicines for cardiovascular and neurological disorders.

Nicotinic AChRs comprise multiple subunits whose molecular folding and surface trafficking involve complex and tightly regulated processes. As nAChRs often require tissue-specific factors for functional expression, many subtypes fail to create receptor channels in recombinant systems. Our limited understanding of nAChR assembly has impeded basic research and drug development.

Studies in the 1970s found that smokers have increased nAChR density in the brain owing to receptor stabilization by nicotinea process that likely contributes to tobacco addiction. Recent applications of proteomics, genetics, and expression cloning have identified a bevy of partner proteins and metabolites essential for nAChR function. These accessories act at multiple steps in nAChR biogenesis. Within the endoplasmic reticulum, chaperones mediate nAChR subunit folding and assembly. Other factors then promote nAChR trafficking to the plasma membrane. Finally, auxiliary subunits associated with surface nAChRs modulate channel activation. These chaperones and auxiliary subunits include both nAChR-specific regulators and more pleiotropic factors. On the one hand, NACHO (a neuronal endoplasmic reticulumresident protein) serves as a client-specific chaperone for neuronal nAChRs. By contrast, transmembrane inner ear protein contributes to both hair cell nAChRs and mechanosensitive channels, which modulate cochlear amplification and transduce sound waves, respectively. Interplay between nAChR accessory components can further regulate receptor distribution and function.

Discovery of these molecules and mechanisms is transforming basic and translational science concerning nAChRs. Inclusion of appropriate chaperones during protein production is enabling structural studies of nAChR subtypes. Accessory components are also permitting biophysical studies of nAChR channel properties. Furthermore, understanding mechanisms that control trafficking and subunit composition is defining roles for nAChRs in biological processes and disease.

This research also provides therapeutic opportunities. The dearth of pharmacological agents for certain nAChRs results from challenges in recombinant expression of many receptor types. The ability to express complex nAChR subunit combinations in cell lines unlocks them for the chemical screening that initiates drug discovery. Auxiliary subunits can themselves provide pharmacological targets. Furthermore, drugging chaperone pathways may benefit myasthenia gravis and other diseases associated with aberrant nAChR levels.

Despite being the archetypal neurotransmitter receptor, much remains unknown about nAChRs. The identification of molecular partners and elucidation of regulatory mechanisms provide a cell biological renaissance and can suggest avenues for treating diseases associated with nAChR dysfunction.

Throughout the body, nAChRs are differentially expressed in neurons, myocytes, leukocytes, and cochlear and vestibular hair cells. An array of nAChR chaperones and auxiliary subunits (inset) mediate endoplasmic reticulum folding and assembly, intracellular trafficking, and plasma membrane activation. The recent identification of receptor accessories enables drug discovery for these nAChRs, which provide compelling targets for neurological, psychiatric, immunological, and auditory disorders.

The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) acts in part through a family of nicotinic ACh receptors (nAChRs), which mediate diverse physiological processes including muscle contraction, neurotransmission, and sensory transduction. Pharmacologically, nAChRs are responsible for tobacco addiction and are targeted by medicines for hypertension and dementia. Nicotinic AChRs were the first ion channels to be isolated. Recent studies have identified molecules that control nAChR biogenesis, trafficking, and function. These nAChR accessories include protein and chemical chaperones as well as auxiliary subunits. Whereas some factors act on many nAChRs, others are receptor specific. Discovery of these regulatory mechanisms is transforming nAChR research in cells and tissues ranging from central neurons to spinal ganglia to cochlear hair cells. Nicotinic AChRspecific accessories also enable drug discovery on high-confidence targets for psychiatric, neurological, and auditory disorders.

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Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor redux: Discovery of accessories opens therapeutic vistas - Science

Cell Biology

UNM names 10 faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor – UNM Newsroom

The University of New Mexicorecently announced the promotion and honor of 10faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor. They include Lisa Broidy, Alexander Buium, Joseph Cook, Laura Crossey, Jeremy Edwards, Fernando Garzon, Kerry Howe, Mary Ann Osley, Nina Wallerstein and Douglas Ziedonis.

The rank of Distinguished Professor is the highest title that UNM bestows upon its faculty. It is awarded to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievements, and are nationally and internationally renowned as scholars.

College of Arts and Sciences

Lisa Broidy

Lisa BroidyBroidys research focuses on how gender frames the structural, individual, and situational processes associated with violence and antisocial behavior. Building primarily from General Strain Theory and Developmental & Life Course Theories, her work contributes to the growing theoretical and empirical literature that account for gender differences in criminal involvement while also recognizing the significant heterogeneity that characterizes womens pathways into and out of crime.

She examines the relationship between gender and crime in both contemporary and historical contexts in the U.S. and cross-nationally. In investigating why women offend at much lower rates than men, her work suggests that the structural and social contexts women navigate limit their opportunities and motivations for serious offending. At the same time, her work illustrates that throughout the life course, girls and women confront a range of challenges that, for some, do prove criminogenic and can have both short and long-term consequences for their offending trajectories. Her work also examines the implications of these gendered processes for criminal justice policy and practice, particularly around female incarceration and domestic violence.

Alexandru Buium

Alexandru BuiumBuium was born in 1955, in Bucharest, Romania. He holds an M.S. from the University of Bucharest, Romania (1980) and a Ph.D. from the University of Bucharest, Romania (1983). From 1990 to 1995, he was a senior researcher at the Institute of Mathematics of the Romanian Academy. From 1995 to 1997, he was an associate professor at UNM. He has been a professor of mathematics at The University of New Mexico since 1997. He was awarded the Titeica Prize of the Romanian Academy of Science (1987), a Humboldt Fellow (1992/93), a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (1993/94) and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (class of 2016).

His visiting positions include at Columbia University (NYC), University of Paris 7 (Paris), Max Planck Institute (Bonn), Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton) and Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques (Bures, France).

Buiums research areas include algebra, number theory and geometry. He has written several publications (6 research monographs and over 80 research papers) including the 2013 textbookMathematics: a Minimal Introduction, and the research monographsDifferential Function Fields and Moduli of Algebraic Varieties, Lecture Notes in Math(1986),Differential Algebraic Groups of Finite Dimension, Lecture Notes in Math(1992), andDifferential Algebra and Diophantine Geometry(1994).

Joseph Cook

Joseph CookAfter dropping out of high school in Silver City, Cook received his GED, and later B.S. in Biology at Western New Mexico University (1980), and M.S. (1982), and Ph.D. in Biology (1990) at UNM. He then moved to the University of Alaska and was promoted to Professor of Biology, Chief Curator, and Curator of Mammals and Cryogenic Collections at the University of Alaska Museum of the North. He later served as Professor (1990-2000) and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University (2000-2003). Subsequently, he returned to New Mexico as Professor of Biology and Curator of Mammals of the Museum of Southwestern Biology, where he also served as Director (2011-2017) and Curator of Genomic Resources (2007-2017). He was named Regents Professor in 2018.

Over the past two decades, he and his staff and students have built the UNM museum into the second largest collection of mammals worldwide, recently surpassing the British Museum in London. Critical biodiversity infrastructure, this resource is now the basis for >100 publications annually and is used widely in efforts to study emerging zoonotic pathogens, wildlife conservation, environmental pollutants, climate change, and the biological diversity of our planet. Cook has chaired national conservation committees (American Society of Mammalogists); led multiple international consortia and communities of practice (e.g., AIM-UP! Research Coordinating Network, Project Echos Museums and Emerging Pathogens in the Americas); was President of a national museum association (Natural Science Collections Alliance), and served on the National Academy of Sciences panel that reviewed U.S. bio-collection infrastructure.

Laura Crossey

Laura CrosseyCrossey works with aqueous and sedimentary geochemistry, and applications of low-temperature geochemistry to problems in hydrochemistry, diagenesis, geomicrobiology and geothermal processes. Her research approach combines field examination of modern environments (biogeochemistry of water and sediments) with laboratory analysis as well as core and outcrop evaluations applied to evaluate paleohydrology, spring sustainability and reservoir/aquifer characteristics.

She is an MSL Expert Consultant for the ChemCam Team, Mars Science Laboratory Rover. Other activities include geoscience outreach, K-12 outreach, and science education research as well as programs to increase the participation of under-represented groups in the science disciplines. She is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Geological Society of America (GSA) and served as the Birdsall Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for 2019 (sponsored by the Hydrogeology Division of GSA).

Jeremy Edwards

Jeremy EdwardsEdwards has worked at the interface of biology, bioinformatics, and engineering since the beginning of his scientific career. His graduate advisor was Dr. Bernhard Palsson, where he was the first person to take genome sequence information and develop predictive mathematical models of bacterial metabolism. His research started a significant global effort and many papers from his graduate work have over 800 citations. His graduate work sparked an intense interest in genomics technology and thus he worked with Dr. George Church at Harvard Medical School for his post-doctoral studies. He has worked on the development of genome technologies since that time.

Now, his laboratory is in the NCI designated Cancer Research and Treatment Center at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. He has a very active group of engineers, biologists, and chemists, all working together toward the development of ultrahigh-throughput DNA sequencing technology and computational biology.

UNM School of Engineering

Fernando Garzon

Fernando Garzon joined UNM in 2014 as a jointly-appointed faculty member with Sandia National Laboratories, coming from Los Alamos National Laboratory. He is currently the director of the Center for Microengineered Materials and is an Academic Alliance Professor and continues to conduct joint research with Sandia.

His research interests include low-environmental impact electro-synthesis of fuels, the development of advanced gas sensors, fuel-cell materials technology, upgrading of light hydrocarbons, advanced manufacturing of ceramic materials technology, solid-state ionic devices for reconfigurable electronics, and sensors with ultralow detection limits for uranium and arsenic groundwater contamination.

Garzon is a fellow and past president of the Electrochemical Society and received the Department of Energy Fuel Cell Program Research Award in 2009. He is also the winner of Scientific Americans Top 50 Science and Technology Achievements for 2003 award and received the LANL Fellows Prize for Research Leadership.

Kerry Howe

Kerry Howe has been the director of the Center for Water and the Environment since 2013, where he leads the $5 million National Science Foundation-sponsored Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Center for Water and the Environment project.

First funded in 2014, it was renewed for another $5 million over five years in 2020. Phase 1 of the CREST project focused on generating new knowledge about watersheds, treatment technologies for contaminated water, and interactions between water and energy production. Phase 2 is building on previous successes while expanding and redirecting the water-related research with new research questions, new partnerships with institutions, and a new emphasis on recruiting and retaining Native American students, a population that may be under-represented even among CREST centers.

Howe joined UNM in 2002 and is the recipient of awards including the Harrison Faculty Recognition Award, Stamm Outstanding Faculty Award and Regents Lecturer.

UNM Health Sciences Center

Mary Ann Osley

Mary Ann Osley is a professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology in the School of Medicine. She studies the processes that regulate the replication, transcription and repair DNA in chromosomes. Her work, which focuses on the role of histone proteins and chromatin in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has important implications in the context of cancer genomics.

Her more recent work on cellular quiescence has important implications for how stem cells prevent aberrant proliferation as occurs in cancer cells. She has 63 peer-reviewed publications and has published in high-impact journals including Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Journal of Cell Biology, Molecular Cell Biology and Nucleic Acids Research.

She has received multiple grants from NIH including 3 R01 grants for her own research, and currently holds an NIH grant for her project Functional Analysis of Quiescence.

Nina Wallerstein

Nina Wallerstein is a professor of Public Health in the College of Population Health. She studies interventions in communities to promote improved health (health education, health promotion), alcohol prevention as well as other risky behaviors with an emphasis on adolescents, and methodologies for community-based participatory research.

Her work emphasizes empowerment-based, culture-centered interventions that have proven highly effective. Much of her work has engaged with the Jemez Pueblo, the Navajo Nation, and the Mescalero Apache community. Wallerstein has also worked internationally, especially in Brazil where she has formed sustained collaborations and promoted the adoption of community-based participatory research approaches throughout Brazil.

She has published more than 170 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, 7 authored, co-authored, or edited books including Community-Based Research for Health: Advancing Social and Health Equity, which is viewed as a field-defining work. She has been awarded more than $25 million in funding for her research, and currently has some $2.5 million in annual support.

Douglas Ziedonis

Douglas Ziedonis is a professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the UNM Health Sciences Center and the CEO of the UNM Health System. His research focuses on the intersection of mental illness and substance abuse and has been particularly impactful for the prevalence of tobacco use and associated health harms among schizophrenic patients.

His work has been continuously funded for over 25 years with 118 grants and has produced 328 publications/scholarly works including 146 original research articles, 21 invited articles, 9 books, 42 chapters in edited volumes, 20 behavioral therapy manuals, 12 organizational change and leadership development manuals, etc.

His work has been placed in the most prestigious journals in his field. Dr. Ziedonis research has not only examined methods of treating substance abuse that co-occurs with serious and persistent mental illness but has promoted organizational change within the medical and mental health provider communities to challenge widespread de facto acceptance of tobacco use among patients with some forms of mental illness.

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UNM names 10 faculty to the rank of Distinguished Professor - UNM Newsroom