Appalachian College of Pharmacy

Abstract Terrestrial environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques have been proposed as a means of sensitive, non-lethal pollinator monitoring. To date, however, no studies have provided evidence that eDNA methods can achieve detection densities on par with traditional pollinator surveys. Using a large-scale dataset of eDNA and corresponding net surveys, we show that eDNA methods enable sensitive, species-level characterization of whole bumble bee communities, including rare and critically endangered species such as the rusty pathed bumble bee (RPBB; Bombus affinis ). All species present in netting surveys were detected within eDNA surveys, apart from two rare species in the socially parasitic subgenus Psithyrus (cuckoo bumble bees). Further, for rare non-parasitic species, eDNA methods exhibited similar sensitivity relative to traditional netting. Relative to flower eDNA samples, sequenced field negative controls resulted in significantly lower rates of Bombus detection, and these detections were likely attributable to high rates of background eDNA on environmental surfaces. Lastly, we found that eDNA-based frequency of detection across replicate surveys was strongly associated with net-based measures of abundance across site visits. We conclude that the method is cost-effective and highly scalable for semi-quantitative characterization of at-risk bumble bee communities, providing a new approach for improving our understanding of species habitat associations.

Mountaintop removal mining, and other surface mining operations have severe, large‐scale impacts on the communities and ecosystems of Appalachia. The impact of this disturbance surpasses that of other land clearing events, such as fire or timber harvesting; mines remove both established vegetation and soil, but also alter landscape topography. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act legally mandates restoration of former mines after the end of mining activity, yet the long‐term outcomes of restoration efforts across Central Appalachia are unknown. We conducted the first regionwide analysis of the lands mined between 1985 and 2015 in Central Appalachia, and explore post‐mining ecological trajectories. Pairing mine‐footprint and remote sensing data, we characterize the vegetation trends and site health at 71,140 mine sites across Central Appalachia. We use first order autoregressive models to describe the rates of recovery, expected long‐term ecological state, and probability of recovery to reference state for former mines. We found that only 7.9% of sites recover to 95% of the forest reference condition in all remote sensing indices. Overall only 0.10% of sites have a 95% probability of reaching or exceeding reference forests in all remote sensing indices. While much of these mined lands are intentionally not being reforested, 19% of mines in Kentucky, 81% of mines in Virginia, and 46.5% of mines in West Virginia have declared forestry as the primary land use for post‐mining operations. Our results indicate that post‐mining forests are not recovering to a level that is consistent with average forest conditions in similar unmined sites.

BackgroundHousing is an important social determinant of health and substandard housing is linked to physical, mental, and social health problems.PurposeThe purpose of the study was to qualitatively assess the impacts of repairs to substandard housing in rural East Tennessee through twenty-eight interviews.MethodsZoom was utilized for recording phone interviews in January–February 2021 and NVivo software was used for thematic analysis in May–July 2021.ResultsThemes that emerged included environmental risk reduction, impacts on physical health, impacts on mental health, impacts on financial well-being, and willingness to receive future assistance from service organizations.ImplicationsFurther research is recommended to quantify impacts including effects on utilization of health care and community services, school and work attendance, and mental health impacts.

Statins are potent inhibitors of the mevalonate/cholesterol biosynthetic pathway and are widely prescribed for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Here, we carried out a comprehensive analysis of the effects of three statins, simvastatin, atorvastatin, and lovastatin, on six different cancer cell lines that include a P-glycoprotein-expressing, multidrug resistant variant of an ovarian cancer cell line. Incubation of all cancer cell lines with statins resulted in suppression of cell proliferation without inducing apoptotic cell death. The cell proliferation arrest could be reversed upon transfer of cells to statin-free growth media as well as by the supplementation of the growth media with mevalonate. Further analysis suggested that statins induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase in four cancer cell lines and the loss of c-Myc protein in three cancer cell lines. The c-Myc expression and the progression of cell division cycle were restored upon the addition of mevalonate to the culture media containing statins. Finally, cells incubated with statins contained an increased level of phosphorylated histone H2AX, an observation previously correlated to cellular senescence. Together, these data demonstrate that statins inhibit the mevalonate pathway which is tightly coupled to oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway, c-Myc expression, cell division cycle progression, and cellular senescence. Implications of these observations in the application of statins as cancer therapeutics are discussed.

The art and the skill set of compounding fulfill the important need of tailor-made pharmaceuticals for use by both institutions and individual patients. Over the last 20 years, there have been more than 200 adverse events involving compounded products; infections, poisonings, contaminations, and dosing inaccuracies have been problematic. The probability of a correlation between the lack of institutional training and number of serious events could be significant. This survey was an endeavor at fundamental cause analysis and proactive managementin relation to the PharmD Curricula as a means of error prevention. A questionnaire was sent to the pharmacy school faculty (department chairs, dean/assistant deans, and pharmaceutical science faculty) across the country. The survey responses were received from 78 participants. The questionnaire evaluated the respondent's overall knowledge and approach toward the subject in their curriculum. The survey results show 38.9% faculty agree that their college's curricula lacks sufficient training in microbiologicaltesting, and 16.7% faculty agree their college does not provide sufficient training in nonsterile and sterile compounding (as per United States Pharmacopeia Chapters <795> and <797>). A majority of faculty agree on the implementation of quality assurance in compounding courses (as per United States Pharmacopeia Chapter <1163>) as either an elective (62.5%) or mandatory class (43.3%), and most of the participants (85.1%) think there is a need to teach quality assurance as continuing education to practicing pharmacists. The survey data suggest a general desire for enhancement of compounding course curriculum, which could reduce the number of adverse events related to compounding. The data also suggests a necessity for the implementation of continuing education programs for practicing pharmacists and academic faculty across the country.

Compounding perfection confirms a safe, swift, and efficacious delivery of personalized compounded medication. A large variability of the potency of the finished product may stem from complicated formulation or difficult-to-adopt methods. Also, the formulation and compounding method may adversely affect the amount of time needed to finish the compounding and dispense the medication for the patient. This study involves the development of a novel formulation and compounding method of lidocaine hydrochloride 2% dental gel and compares it with an older, more common formulation which contains five times more alcohol and four times more gelling material. Student-pharmacists were recruited in this study, and the finished products were compared in terms of their intra-group potency uniformity, time needed to finish the compounding, and post-compounding psychometric feedback by the compounders. Each compounder participated in both of the formulation methods in a crossover fashion. Our result indicates that the new formulation and the associated method enables the compounders to produce products with less variation, requiring statistically significantly less compounding time and better acceptability by the compounder.

ObjectivesThe new wave of wireless technologies, fitness trackers, and body sensor devices can have great impact on healthcare systems and the quality of life. However, there have not been enough studies to prove the accuracy and precision of these trackers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy, precision, and overall performance of seventeen wearable devices currently available compared with direct observation of step counts and heart rate monitoring.MethodsEach participant in this study used three accelerometers at a time, running the three corresponding applications of each tracker on an Android or iOS device simultaneously. Each participant was instructed to walk 200, 500, and 1,000 steps. Each set was repeated 40 times. Data was recorded after each trial, and the mean step count, standard deviation, accuracy, and precision were estimated for each tracker. Heart rate was measured by all trackers (if applicable), which support heart rate monitoring, and compared to a positive control, the Onyx Vantage 9590 professional clinical pulse oximeter.ResultsThe accuracy of the tested products ranged between 79.8% and 99.1%, while the coefficient of variation (precision) ranged between 4% and 17.5%. MisFit Shine showed the highest accuracy and precision (along with Qualcomm Toq), while Samsung Gear 2 showed the lowest accuracy, and Jawbone UP showed the lowest precision. However, Xiaomi Mi band showed the best package compared to its price.ConclusionsThe accuracy and precision of the selected fitness trackers are reasonable and can indicate the average level of activity and thus average energy expenditure.

Abstract The inflammatory bowel diseases including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease are chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestine. It is well recognized that a serious long-term complication of chronic inflammation is the development of colorectal cancer (CRC). Although various mechanisms underlying different chronic inflammation conditions are known, it is increasing clear that proinflammatory cytokines produced during immune responses are the key contributing factors to the above disease states. On the other hand, genetic alterations inducing CRC also promote inflammatory responses in the gastrointestinal microenvironment. This interdependent relationship between oncogenesis and inflammation suggests that it is possible to identify a regulatory molecule that links these two cellular processes. The long-term interest of our efforts is to determine the mechanisms of galectin-4 (gal-4) in the normal and disease physiology of the human gastrointestinal tract. Gal-4 is expressed predominantly by the gastrointestinal epithelia. It is secreted and binds to specific oligosaccharide moiety in glycoproteins on the cell surface. We have recently demonstrated that gal-4 down-regulates cell proliferation and its loss of expression coincides with CRC onset and progression, and suggested that gal-4 functions as a tumor suppressor. The purpose of this study is to determine whether gal-4 regulates inflammatory responses in colorectal cells. In this study, we used gal-4 +ve CRC cells, HT-29 and LS-180 and neutralized their surface-bound gal-4 with gal-4 antibodies. Such cells proliferated profusely with concomitant up-regulation of transcription of 47 genes of which 17 are known partners/gene targets of multiple inflammation signaling pathways. Extracellular (spent) media obtained from these experiments were found to contain unique cytokines that are known to be pro-tumorigenic. In converse experiments, exposure of gal-4 -ve HCT116 cells to purified gal-4 resulted in decreased cell proliferation. Concomitantly, there was increased expression of p27, decreased expressions of cyclin D1 and c-Myc. These data suggested that binding of gal-4 to cell surface arrests cell cycle. Finally, analysis of rat colon tissue sections obtained from dextran sulfate-sodium (DSS) induced chronic colitis (kindly given by Dr. Daniel W. Rosenberg, Univ. of Connecticut CT) suggested that the epithelial cells at the colitis regions exhibited loss of gal-4 expression. These data together suggested that surface gal-4 down-regulates inflammatory response pathways, cell proliferation and oncogenic events. These data also suggested that gal-4 protein therapy and re-expression of gal-4 in lesions of chronic inflammation and CRC are potentially attractive methods of controlling these diseases. *A part of this study was carried out by the authors while working at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: U.S. Rao, Prema S. Rao. Galectin-4, a key regulator of inflammation and cancer of the intestine. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3165. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3165

Test-enhanced learning has successfully been used as a means to enhance learning and promote knowledge retention in students. We have examined whether this approach could be used in a biochemistry course to enhance student learning about lipids-related concepts. Students were provided access to two optional learning modules with questions related to the lipids block of the course. The vast majority of students (98.7–100%) used the optional modules. Student performance increased significantly with increased practice attempts (mean: first attempt – 58.3%; high attempt – 89.6%;p&lt; 0.0001). This improvement was observed across all topics for both conceptual and structure recognition questions, and question types. A subset of questions were modified and included on formal assessments, and the results were compared to students that did not have access to modules (previous year). Incorporation of the modules resulted in a significant improvement in performance on the examination (year 1: 63.4%; year 2: 78.6%,p&lt; 0.0001), including an increase in performance on questions requiring students to discriminate between highly similar topics. Importantly, comparison of student performance on quizzes and exams suggests that module use is associated with an increase in knowledge retention compared to restudy alone within the timeframe of the course. These results suggest that test-enhanced learning can be a valuable educational tool for development of metacognitive and test-taking skills that enhance student learning and understanding of course material.