Assessing microbial diversity in soil samples along the Potomac River: implications for environmental health.

This study integrates microbial analysis into an undergraduate chemistry class, offering students a hands-on approach to environmental research. We examined the soil along the urbanized Potomac River, discovering a mix of common marine microbes and others that are indicators of urban waste and pollution. Our findings provide valuable insights into the environmental impacts of urbanization on soil health and reveal the effectiveness of using modern genetic tools to teach students about real-world issues.

A card-sorting tool to measure expert versus novice thinking in scientific research.

Undergraduate research and laboratory experiences provide a wide range of benefits to student learning in science and are integral to imbed authentic research experiences in biology labs. While the benefit of courses with research experience is widely accepted, it can be challenging to measure conceptual research skills in a quick and easily scalable manner. We developed a card-sorting task to differentiate between novice and expert conceptualization of research principles.

Optimizing intervention tools to improve nutrition and physical activity for colorectal cancer survivors (Tools To Be Fit): Study protocol of a randomized factorial experiment.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death in the United States. The American Cancer Society (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines are associated with longer survival among CRC survivors, but few report behaviors consistent with the guidelines.

Methods: The Tools To Be Fit study, based on the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) framework, is a full factorial experimental to optimize a remotely delivered 48-week diet and physical activity intervention for non-metastatic CRC survivors.

Aggregate Trends of Apolipoprotein E on Cognition in Transgenic Alzheimer's Disease Mice.

Background: Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes typically increase risk of amyloid-β deposition and onset of clinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, cognitive assessments in APOE transgenic AD mice have resulted in discord.

Objective: Analysis of 31 peer-reviewed AD APOE mouse publications (n = 3,045 mice) uncovered aggregate trends between age, APOE genotype, gender, modulatory treatments, and cognition.

A model selection framework to quantify microvascular liver function in gadoxetate-enhanced MRI: Application to healthy liver, diseased tissue, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: We introduce a novel, generalized tracer kinetic model selection framework to quantify microvascular characteristics of liver and tumor tissue in gadoxetate-enhanced dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI).

Methods: Our framework includes a hierarchy of nested models, from which physiological parameters are derived in 2 regimes, corresponding to the active transport and free diffusion of gadoxetate. We use simulations to show the sensitivity of model selection and parameter estimation to temporal resolution, time-series duration, and noise.