Vehicle emissions-exposure alters expression of systemic and tissue-specific components of the renin-angiotensin system and promotes outcomes associated with cardiovascular disease and obesity in wild-type C57BL/6 male mice (open access)

Vehicle emissions-exposure alters expression of systemic and tissue-specific components of the renin-angiotensin system and promotes outcomes associated with cardiovascular disease and obesity in wild-type C57BL/6 male mice

This article investigates the hypothesis that exposure to engine emissions increases systemic and local adipocyte RAS signaling, promoting the expression of factors involved in cardiovascular disease and obesity.
Date: April 15, 2021
Creator: Phipps, Benjamin L.; Suwannasual, Usa; Lucero, JoAnn; Mitchell, Nicholas A. & Lund, Amie K.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Production of tocotrienols in seeds of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) enhances oxidative stability and offers nutraceutical potential (open access)

Production of tocotrienols in seeds of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) enhances oxidative stability and offers nutraceutical potential

This article generates transgenic cotton lines expressing the barley (Hordeum vulgare) homogentisate geranylgeranyl transferase coding sequence under the control of the Brassica napus seed-specific promoter, napin. Findings may provide new opportunities for cottonseed co-products with enhanced vitamin E profile for improved shelf life and nutrition.
Date: January 25, 2021
Creator: Salimath, Shanmukh S.; Romsdahl, Trevor B.; Konda, Anji Reddy; Zhang, Wei; Cahoon, Edgar B.; Dowd, Michael K. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Disentangling Orbital and Valley Hall Effects in Bilayers of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (open access)

Disentangling Orbital and Valley Hall Effects in Bilayers of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

This article shows that a bilayer of 2H-MoS₂ is an orbital Hall insulator that exhibits a sizeable orbital Hall effect in the absence of both spin and valley Hall effects. The results are based on density functional theory and low-energy effective model calculations and strongly suggest that bilayers of TMDs are highly suitable platforms for direct observation of the orbital Hall insulating phase in two-dimensional materials.
Date: February 5, 2021
Creator: Cysne, Tarik P.; Costa, Marcio; Canonico, Luis M.; Buongiorno Nardelli, Marco; Muniz, R. B. & Rappoport, Tatiana G.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Calculation of the Vapour Pressure of Organic Molecules by Means of a Group-Additivity Method and Their Resultant Gibbs Free Energy and Entropy of Vaporization at 298.15 K (open access)

Calculation of the Vapour Pressure of Organic Molecules by Means of a Group-Additivity Method and Their Resultant Gibbs Free Energy and Entropy of Vaporization at 298.15 K

Article presenting the calculation of the vapour pressure of organic molecules at 298.15 K using a commonly applicable computer algorithm based on the group-additivity method. The standard entropy of vaporization ΔS°vap has been determined and compared with experimental data of 1129 molecules, exhibiting excellent conformance with a correlation coefficient R2 of 0.9598, a standard error σ of 8.14 J/mol/K and a medium absolute deviation of 4.68%.
Date: February 17, 2021
Creator: Naef, Rudolf & Acree, William E. (William Eugene)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Editorial Feature: Meet the PCP Editor—Ana Paula Alonso (open access)

Editorial Feature: Meet the PCP Editor—Ana Paula Alonso

This article is an editorial feature highlighting editor of Plant & Cell Physiology Dr. Ana Paula Alonso. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and serves as the Director of the BioAnalytical Facility at the University of North Texas.
Date: January 13, 2021
Creator: Alonso, Ana Paula
System: The UNT Digital Library
Self-reporting molecularly imprinted polymer with the covalently immobilized ferrocene redox probe for selective electrochemical sensing of p-synephrine (open access)

Self-reporting molecularly imprinted polymer with the covalently immobilized ferrocene redox probe for selective electrochemical sensing of p-synephrine

This article uses a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) to form a redox self-reporting MIP film-based chemosensor applied for p-synephrine determination.
Date: June 10, 2021
Creator: Lach, Patrycja; Cieplak, Maciej; Noworyta, K.; Pieta, Piotr; Lisowski, Wojciech; Kalecki, Jakub et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Long-Term Effects of Developmental Hypoxia on Cardiac Mitochondrial Function in Snapping Turtles (open access)

The Long-Term Effects of Developmental Hypoxia on Cardiac Mitochondrial Function in Snapping Turtles

This article investigates the long-term effects of developmental hypoxia on mitochondrial function in a species that regularly encounters hypoxia during development. Findings speculate that adjustments might improve mitochondrial hypoxia tolerance, which would be beneficial for turtles during breath-hold diving and overwintering in anoxic environments.
Date: June 28, 2021
Creator: Galli, Gina L. J.; Ruhr, Ilan M.; Crossley, Janna & Crossley, Dane A., II
System: The UNT Digital Library
Model checking via testing for direct effects in Mendelian Randomization and transcriptome-wide association studies (open access)

Model checking via testing for direct effects in Mendelian Randomization and transcriptome-wide association studies

This article proposes a new and general goodness-of-fit (GOF) test, called TEDE (TEsting Direct Effects), applicable to both correlated and independent SNPs/IVs as commonly used in transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) and Mendelian randomization (MR) respectively.
Date: August 2, 2021
Creator: Deng, Yangqing & Pan, Wei
System: The UNT Digital Library
Development of Neutral Red as a pH/pCO2 Luminescent Sensor for Biological Systems (open access)

Development of Neutral Red as a pH/pCO2 Luminescent Sensor for Biological Systems

This article demonstrates for the first time that Neutral Red (NR) can also serve as a CO2 sensor, because of NR’s unique optical properties, which change with dissolved carbon dioxide (dCO2) concentrations. In this article optical sensitivity of NR was quantified as a function of changes in absorption and emission spectra to dCO2 in a pH 7.3 buffer medium at eight dCO2 concentrations.
Date: August 5, 2021
Creator: Ericson, Megan N.; Shankar, Sindhu K.; Chahine, Laya M.; Omary, Mohammad A.; Hunt von Herbing, Ione & Marpu, Sreekar
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of nine condensed-phase force fields of the GROMOS, CHARMM, OPLS, AMBER, and OpenFF families against experimental cross-solvation free energies (open access)

Evaluation of nine condensed-phase force fields of the GROMOS, CHARMM, OPLS, AMBER, and OpenFF families against experimental cross-solvation free energies

This article builds on a previous study [Kashefolgheta et al., J. Chem. Theory. Comput., 2020, 16, 7556–7580] by extending the comparison to five additional force fields, GROMOS-54A7, GROMOS-ATB, OPLS-LBCC, AMBER-GAFF2, and OpenFF.
Date: April 30, 2021
Creator: Kashefolgheta, Sadra; Wang, Shuzhe; Acree, William E. (William Eugene) & Hünenberger, Philippe H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The impact of multifactorial stress combination on plant growth and survival (open access)

The impact of multifactorial stress combination on plant growth and survival

Article studying seedlings of wild-type and different mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana plants subjected to a multifactorial stress combination of six different stresses, each applied at a low level, and their survival, physiological and molecular responses. Findings reveal that further polluting our environment could result in higher complexities of multifactorial stress combinations that in turn could drive a critical decline in plant growth and survival.
Date: January 26, 2021
Creator: Zandalinas, Sandra I.; Sengupta, Soham; Fritschi, Felix B.; Azad, Rajeev K.; Nechushtai, Rachel & Mittler, Ron
System: The UNT Digital Library
Green synthesis of olefin-linked covalent organic frameworks for hydrogen fuel cell applications (open access)

Green synthesis of olefin-linked covalent organic frameworks for hydrogen fuel cell applications

This article creates a green strategy to fabricate a highly crystalline olefin-linked pyrazine-based covalent organic framework (COF) with high robustness and porosity under solvent-free conditions. This study opens up new possibilities for the green synthesis of advanced materials and provides important guidance for the rational design and synthesis of polymeric materials for proton-exchange membrane fuel cell applications.
Date: March 31, 2021
Creator: Wang, Zhifang; Yang, Yi; Zhao, Zhengfeng; Zhang, Penghui; Zhang, Yushu; Liu, Jinjin et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Beyond the Chicken: Alternative Avian Models for Developmental Physiological Research (open access)

Beyond the Chicken: Alternative Avian Models for Developmental Physiological Research

This article is a review examining the characteristics that make an animal model attractive for developmental research and explores opportunities presented by the embryo to adult continuum of alternative bird models including quail, ratites, songbirds, birds of prey, and corvids.
Date: October 21, 2021
Creator: Flores-Santin, Josele & Burggren, Warren W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ice imaging in aircraft anti-icing fluid films using polarized light (open access)

Ice imaging in aircraft anti-icing fluid films using polarized light

Article presents how to enhance ice contrast in the visible spectrum by using ice birefringence and polarized light reflection. The method can be used for both visual inspection and automatic ice detection systems.
Date: December 13, 2021
Creator: Grishaev, Viktor G.; Usachev, Igor A.; Drachev, Vladimir P.; Gattarov, Ramil K.; Rudenko, Nadezhda I.; Amirfazli, Alidad et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (RubisCO) Is Essential for Growth of the Methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus Strain Bath (open access)

Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (RubisCO) Is Essential for Growth of the Methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus Strain Bath

This article demonstrates that shows both CO2 and RubisCO are essential for M. capsulatus Bath growth. CO2 tracing experiments supported that RubisCO mediates CO2 fixation and that a noncanonical Calvin cycle is active in this organism. The study provides insights into the expanding knowledge of methanotroph metabolism and implicates dually CH4/CO2-utilizing bacteria as more important players in the biogeochemical carbon cycle than previously appreciated. In addition, M. capsulatus and other methanotrophs with CO2 assimilation capacity represent candidate organisms for the development of biotechnologies to mitigate the two most abundant greenhouse gases, CH4 and CO2.
Date: August 26, 2021
Creator: Henard, Calvin; Wu, Chao; Xiong, Wei; Henard, Jessica M.; Davidheiser-Kroll, Brett; Orata, Fabini D. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elucidating the multifunctional role of the cell wall components in the maize exploitation (open access)

Elucidating the multifunctional role of the cell wall components in the maize exploitation

Article on the composition of the four cell wall fractions in diverse maize genotypes and to understand how this composition influences the resistance to pests, ethanol capacity and digestibility. Results evidence that there is no maize cell wall ideotype among the tested for optimal performance for various uses, and maize plants should be specifically bred for each particular application.
Date: June 2, 2021
Creator: López-Malvar, Ana; Malvar, Rosa Ana; Souto, Xose Carlos; Gomez, Leonardo Dario; Simister, Rachael; Encina, Antonio et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Targeting hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase for lignin modification in Brachypodium distachyon (open access)

Targeting hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase for lignin modification in Brachypodium distachyon

This article conducts a study to evaluate the utility of Hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) as a target for lignin modification in a species with an “incomplete” shikimate shunt. Results imply that this gene is a preferred target for biotechnological improvement of grasses for bioprocessing.
Date: February 27, 2021
Creator: Serrani-Yarce, Juan Carlos; Escamilla-Treviño, Luis; Barros, Jaime; Gallego-Giraldo, Lina; Pu, Yunqiao; Ragauskas, Arthur J. (Arthur Jonas), 1957- et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A rapid thioacidolysis method for biomass lignin composition and tricin analysis (open access)

A rapid thioacidolysis method for biomass lignin composition and tricin analysis

This article developed a modified, rapid higher throughput thioacidolysis method to analyze both lignin monomeric composition and tricin content in the lignin polymer. The results demonstrate that the modified method can be used for rapid, high-throughput, and reliable lignin composition and tricin content analyses for screening transgenic plants for cell wall modifications or in large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
Date: January 11, 2021
Creator: Chen, Fang; Zhuo, Chunliu; Xiao, Xirong; Pendergast, Thomas H. & Devos, Katrien M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A gene-editing/complementation strategy for tissue-specific lignin reduction while preserving biomass yield (open access)

A gene-editing/complementation strategy for tissue-specific lignin reduction while preserving biomass yield

This article develops a method, using a single DNA construct that uses CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing to knock-out expression of an endogenous gene of lignin monomer biosynthesis while at the same time expressing a modified version of the gene’s open reading frame that escapes cutting by the Cas9 system and complements the introduced mutation in a tissue-specific manner. This method is applicable to any plant species in which transformation and gene editing are feasible and validated vessel-specific promoters are available.
Date: September 3, 2021
Creator: Yu, Hasi; Liu, Chang & Dixon, R. A.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Role of ribosomal RNA released from red cells in blood coagulation in zebrafish and humans (open access)

Role of ribosomal RNA released from red cells in blood coagulation in zebrafish and humans

This article identifies that an rRNA released in hemolysis activates clotting in human and zebrafish plasma. Furthermore, it shows that fish Hgfac plays a role in rRNA-mediated activation of coagulation.
Date: November 17, 2021
Creator: Alharbi, Abdulmajeed; Iyer, Neha; Al Qaryoute, Ayah; Raman, Revathi; Burks, David J.; Azad, Rajeev K. et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Microkinetic coagulation assays for human and zebrafish plasma (open access)

Microkinetic coagulation assays for human and zebrafish plasma

This article creates a microkinetic assay for human and zebrafish plasmas using 1 μl plasma under conditions similar to prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTTs). The established microkinetic assay could measure blood coagulation activity in models like zebrafish and human blood samples obtained from a finger prick in adults or heel prick in infants.
Date: January 2021
Creator: Iyer, Neha & Jagadeeswaran, Pudur
System: The UNT Digital Library
Sealing of the universally Baire sets (open access)

Sealing of the universally Baire sets

This article outlines the proof that over some mild large cardinal theory, Sealing is equiconsistent with Largest Suslin Axiom (LSA)-over-uB. Let LSA-over-uB be the statement that in all (set) generic extensions there is a model of LSA whose Suslin, co-Suslin sets are the universally Baire sets.
Date: July 2, 2021
Creator: Sargsyan, Grigor & Trang, Nam
System: The UNT Digital Library
A window-space-directed assembly strategy for the construction of supertetrahedron-based zeolitic mesoporous metal–organic frameworks with ultramicroporous apertures for selective gas adsorption (open access)

A window-space-directed assembly strategy for the construction of supertetrahedron-based zeolitic mesoporous metal–organic frameworks with ultramicroporous apertures for selective gas adsorption

Article presenting a novel window-space-directed assembly strategy for the synthesis of zeolitic mesoporous MOFs with ultramicroporous apertures based on supertetrahedral building units. This article provides an effective and innovative strategy and paves the way for the future design and synthesis of functional, highly connected materials for various applications.
Date: March 5, 2021
Creator: Zhang, Lei; Li, Fangfang; You, Jianjun; Hua, Nengbin; Wang, Qianting; Si, Junhui et al.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Anion-enhanced excited state charge separation in a spiro-locked N-heterocycle-fused push-pull zinc porphyrin (open access)

Anion-enhanced excited state charge separation in a spiro-locked N-heterocycle-fused push-pull zinc porphyrin

This article presents a new type of push–pull charge transfer complex, viz., a spiro-locked N-heterocycle-fused zinc porphyrin, ZnP-SQ, that is shown to undergo excited state charge separation, which is enhanced by axial F⁻ binding to the Zn center. Spectroelectrochemical studies are used to identify the spectra of charge separated states and charge separation upon photoexcitation of ZnP is established.
Date: February 24, 2021
Creator: Chahal, Mandeep K.; Liyanage, Anudradha; Alsaleh, Ajyal Z.; Karr, P. A.; Hill, Jonathan P. & D'Souza, Francis
System: The UNT Digital Library