Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child'... more Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child's reading skill. But little is known about parent beliefs about reading to infants and toddlers. To fill this gap, three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) studied 43 English-and Spanish-speaking parents of children 9-18 months of age. The three UCEDDs were working on a project to create a children's book that had tips for parents about how their 1-year-old learns and grows. The UCEDD study survey asked about parent beliefs regarding reading to young children (4 questions) and factors related to those beliefs (2 questions). Parents were also asked to give feedback about the book. Nearly all parents agreed that children should be read to as infants and that this helps children develop reading skills. Most (62%) parents said it was "very common" for friends and family to read with children of this age. Parents said that reading the board-book together was useful for "promot[ing] language," "help[ing] my baby's development," and "help[ing] my child speak." More research like this can identify ways to help parents of young children develop reading skills.
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Dec 17, 2021
Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in bio... more Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in biofilms are more tolerant to antibiotic treatment due to the inability of antibiotics to permeate to the bottom layers of cells in a biofilm and the creation of altered microenvironments of bacteria deep within the biofilm. Despite the abundance of information we have about E. coli biofilm growth and maturation, we are still learning how manipulating different signaling pathways influences the formation and fitness of biofilm. Understanding the impact of signaling pathways on biofilm formation may narrow the search for novel small molecule inhibitors or activators that affect biofilm production and stability. Here, we study the influence of the minor sigma transcription factor FliA (RpoF, sigma-28), which controls late-stage flagellar assembly and chemotaxis, on biofilm production and composition at various temperatures in the E. coli strain PHL628, which abundantly produces the extracellular structural protein curli. We examined FliA's influence on external cellular structures like curli and flagella and the biomolecular composition of the biofilm's extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) using biochemical assays, immunoblotting, and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). At 37°C, FliA overexpression results in the dramatic growth of biofilm in polystyrene plates and more modest yet significant biofilm growth on silica slides. We observed no significant differences in curli concentration and carbohydrate concentration in the EPS with FliA overexpression. Still, we did see significant changes in the abundance of EPS protein using CLSM at higher growth temperatures. We also noticed increased flagellin concentration, a major structural protein in flagella, occurred with FliA overexpression, specifically in planktonic cultures. These experiments have aided in narrowing our focus to FliA's role in changing the protein composition of the EPS, which we will examine in future endeavors.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication trea... more Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD), methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, is widely used to treat OUD in the community. Despite MOUD's well-documented effectiveness in improving health and social outcomes, its use in American jails and prisons is limited. Several factors are used to justify limited access to MOUD in jails and prisons including: "uncertainty" of MOUD's effectiveness during incarceration, security concerns, risk of overdose from MOUD, lack of resources and institutional infrastructure, and the inability of people with OUD to provide informed consent. Stigma regarding MOUD also likely plays a role. While these factors are relevant to the creation and implementation of addiction treatment policies in incarcerated settings, their ethicality remains underexplored. Using ethical principles of beneficence/non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy, in addition to public health ethics, we evaluate the ethicality of the above list of factors. There is a twofold ethical imperative to provide MOUD in jails and prisons. Firstly, persons who are incarcerated have the right to evidence-based medical care for OUD. Secondly, because jails and prisons are government institutions, they have an obligation to provide that evidence-based treatment. Additionally, jails and prisons must address the systematic barriers that prevent them from fulfilling that responsibility. According to widely accepted ethical principles, strong evidence supporting the health benefits of MOUD cannot be subordinated to stigma or inaccurate assessments of security, cost, and feasibility. We conclude that making MOUD inaccessible in jails and prisons is ethically impermissible.
Targeting sigma factor controlled signaling pathwats to modulate biofilm growth and composition
Stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) and alternative sigma factor TFs control a multitud... more Stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) and alternative sigma factor TFs control a multitude of downstream targets, some of which may have a direct impact on the formation of bacterial biofilm and the composition of the extracellular polymeric matrix (EPS) surrounding the biofilm. We explore the effect of moderate overexpression of several different alternative sigma factor TFs on biofilm growth using a variety of biochemical and analytical assays. Biofilm growth is monitored by a dye-binding microtiter plate assay, and the EPS composition, specifically the concentration of proteins and polysaccharides, is monitored by colorimetric assays and FT-IR spectroscopy. We monitor the known downstream targets of these TFs using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to confirm TF overexpression. Currently, we are exploring the impact of overexpressing sigma factors rpoH, normally upregulated upon heat shock, and rpoF, an alternative sigma factor responsible for the expression of chemotaxis...
Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child'... more Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child's reading skill. But little is known about parent beliefs about reading to infants and toddlers. To fill this gap, three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) studied 43 English-and Spanish-speaking parents of children 9-18 months of age. The three UCEDDs were working on a project to create a children's book that had tips for parents about how their 1-year-old learns and grows. The UCEDD study survey asked about parent beliefs regarding reading to young children (4 questions) and factors related to those beliefs (2 questions). Parents were also asked to give feedback about the book. Nearly all parents agreed that children should be read to as infants and that this helps children develop reading skills. Most (62%) parents said it was "very common" for friends and family to read with children of this age. Parents said that reading the board-book together was useful for "promot[ing] language," "help[ing] my baby's development," and "help[ing] my child speak." More research like this can identify ways to help parents of young children develop reading skills.
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2021
Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in bio... more Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in biofilms are more tolerant to antibiotic treatment due to the inability of antibiotics to permeate to the bottom layers of cells in a biofilm and the creation of altered microenvironments of bacteria deep within the biofilm. Despite the abundance of information we have about E. coli biofilm growth and maturation, we are still learning how manipulating different signaling pathways influences the formation and fitness of biofilm. Understanding the impact of signaling pathways on biofilm formation may narrow the search for novel small molecule inhibitors or activators that affect biofilm production and stability. Here, we study the influence of the minor sigma transcription factor FliA (RpoF, sigma-28), which controls late-stage flagellar assembly and chemotaxis, on biofilm production and composition at various temperatures in the E. coli strain PHL628, which abundantly produces the extracellu...
Article Commentary: An Ethical Analysis of Medication Treatment for Opioid use Disorder (MOUD) for Persons who are Incarcerated
Substance Abuse, 2019
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication trea... more Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD), methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, is widely used to treat OUD in the community. Despite MOUD's well-documented effectiveness in improving health and social outcomes, its use in American jails and prisons is limited. Several factors are used to justify limited access to MOUD in jails and prisons including: “uncertainty” of MOUD's effectiveness during incarceration, security concerns, risk of overdose from MOUD, lack of resources and institutional infrastructure, and the inability of people with OUD to provide informed consent. Stigma regarding MOUD also likely plays a role. While these factors are relevant to the creation and implementation of addiction treatment policies in incarcerated settings, their ethicality remains underexplored. Using ethical principles of beneficence/non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy, in addition to publi...
Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child'... more Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child's reading skill. But little is known about parent beliefs about reading to infants and toddlers. To fill this gap, three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) studied 43 English-and Spanish-speaking parents of children 9-18 months of age. The three UCEDDs were working on a project to create a children's book that had tips for parents about how their 1-year-old learns and grows. The UCEDD study survey asked about parent beliefs regarding reading to young children (4 questions) and factors related to those beliefs (2 questions). Parents were also asked to give feedback about the book. Nearly all parents agreed that children should be read to as infants and that this helps children develop reading skills. Most (62%) parents said it was "very common" for friends and family to read with children of this age. Parents said that reading the board-book together was useful for "promot[ing] language," "help[ing] my baby's development," and "help[ing] my child speak." More research like this can identify ways to help parents of young children develop reading skills.
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Dec 17, 2021
Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in bio... more Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in biofilms are more tolerant to antibiotic treatment due to the inability of antibiotics to permeate to the bottom layers of cells in a biofilm and the creation of altered microenvironments of bacteria deep within the biofilm. Despite the abundance of information we have about E. coli biofilm growth and maturation, we are still learning how manipulating different signaling pathways influences the formation and fitness of biofilm. Understanding the impact of signaling pathways on biofilm formation may narrow the search for novel small molecule inhibitors or activators that affect biofilm production and stability. Here, we study the influence of the minor sigma transcription factor FliA (RpoF, sigma-28), which controls late-stage flagellar assembly and chemotaxis, on biofilm production and composition at various temperatures in the E. coli strain PHL628, which abundantly produces the extracellular structural protein curli. We examined FliA's influence on external cellular structures like curli and flagella and the biomolecular composition of the biofilm's extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) using biochemical assays, immunoblotting, and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). At 37°C, FliA overexpression results in the dramatic growth of biofilm in polystyrene plates and more modest yet significant biofilm growth on silica slides. We observed no significant differences in curli concentration and carbohydrate concentration in the EPS with FliA overexpression. Still, we did see significant changes in the abundance of EPS protein using CLSM at higher growth temperatures. We also noticed increased flagellin concentration, a major structural protein in flagella, occurred with FliA overexpression, specifically in planktonic cultures. These experiments have aided in narrowing our focus to FliA's role in changing the protein composition of the EPS, which we will examine in future endeavors.
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication trea... more Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD), methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, is widely used to treat OUD in the community. Despite MOUD's well-documented effectiveness in improving health and social outcomes, its use in American jails and prisons is limited. Several factors are used to justify limited access to MOUD in jails and prisons including: "uncertainty" of MOUD's effectiveness during incarceration, security concerns, risk of overdose from MOUD, lack of resources and institutional infrastructure, and the inability of people with OUD to provide informed consent. Stigma regarding MOUD also likely plays a role. While these factors are relevant to the creation and implementation of addiction treatment policies in incarcerated settings, their ethicality remains underexplored. Using ethical principles of beneficence/non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy, in addition to public health ethics, we evaluate the ethicality of the above list of factors. There is a twofold ethical imperative to provide MOUD in jails and prisons. Firstly, persons who are incarcerated have the right to evidence-based medical care for OUD. Secondly, because jails and prisons are government institutions, they have an obligation to provide that evidence-based treatment. Additionally, jails and prisons must address the systematic barriers that prevent them from fulfilling that responsibility. According to widely accepted ethical principles, strong evidence supporting the health benefits of MOUD cannot be subordinated to stigma or inaccurate assessments of security, cost, and feasibility. We conclude that making MOUD inaccessible in jails and prisons is ethically impermissible.
Targeting sigma factor controlled signaling pathwats to modulate biofilm growth and composition
Stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) and alternative sigma factor TFs control a multitud... more Stress-responsive transcription factors (TFs) and alternative sigma factor TFs control a multitude of downstream targets, some of which may have a direct impact on the formation of bacterial biofilm and the composition of the extracellular polymeric matrix (EPS) surrounding the biofilm. We explore the effect of moderate overexpression of several different alternative sigma factor TFs on biofilm growth using a variety of biochemical and analytical assays. Biofilm growth is monitored by a dye-binding microtiter plate assay, and the EPS composition, specifically the concentration of proteins and polysaccharides, is monitored by colorimetric assays and FT-IR spectroscopy. We monitor the known downstream targets of these TFs using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) to confirm TF overexpression. Currently, we are exploring the impact of overexpressing sigma factors rpoH, normally upregulated upon heat shock, and rpoF, an alternative sigma factor responsible for the expression of chemotaxis...
Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child'... more Parent beliefs about reading to young children-and factors related to such beliefsaffect a child's reading skill. But little is known about parent beliefs about reading to infants and toddlers. To fill this gap, three University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) studied 43 English-and Spanish-speaking parents of children 9-18 months of age. The three UCEDDs were working on a project to create a children's book that had tips for parents about how their 1-year-old learns and grows. The UCEDD study survey asked about parent beliefs regarding reading to young children (4 questions) and factors related to those beliefs (2 questions). Parents were also asked to give feedback about the book. Nearly all parents agreed that children should be read to as infants and that this helps children develop reading skills. Most (62%) parents said it was "very common" for friends and family to read with children of this age. Parents said that reading the board-book together was useful for "promot[ing] language," "help[ing] my baby's development," and "help[ing] my child speak." More research like this can identify ways to help parents of young children develop reading skills.
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 2021
Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in bio... more Biofilm growth and survival pose a problem in both medical and industrial fields. Bacteria in biofilms are more tolerant to antibiotic treatment due to the inability of antibiotics to permeate to the bottom layers of cells in a biofilm and the creation of altered microenvironments of bacteria deep within the biofilm. Despite the abundance of information we have about E. coli biofilm growth and maturation, we are still learning how manipulating different signaling pathways influences the formation and fitness of biofilm. Understanding the impact of signaling pathways on biofilm formation may narrow the search for novel small molecule inhibitors or activators that affect biofilm production and stability. Here, we study the influence of the minor sigma transcription factor FliA (RpoF, sigma-28), which controls late-stage flagellar assembly and chemotaxis, on biofilm production and composition at various temperatures in the E. coli strain PHL628, which abundantly produces the extracellu...
Article Commentary: An Ethical Analysis of Medication Treatment for Opioid use Disorder (MOUD) for Persons who are Incarcerated
Substance Abuse, 2019
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication trea... more Opioid use disorder (OUD) is highly prevalent among persons who are incarcerated. Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD), methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, is widely used to treat OUD in the community. Despite MOUD's well-documented effectiveness in improving health and social outcomes, its use in American jails and prisons is limited. Several factors are used to justify limited access to MOUD in jails and prisons including: “uncertainty” of MOUD's effectiveness during incarceration, security concerns, risk of overdose from MOUD, lack of resources and institutional infrastructure, and the inability of people with OUD to provide informed consent. Stigma regarding MOUD also likely plays a role. While these factors are relevant to the creation and implementation of addiction treatment policies in incarcerated settings, their ethicality remains underexplored. Using ethical principles of beneficence/non-maleficence, justice, and autonomy, in addition to publi...
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