University Of Colorado-Denver Research Articles

Evaluation of a charge nurse leadership development program.

Evaluation of a charge nurse leadership development program.

Editorial introduction: Punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, environmental governance, and many more

Editorial introduction: Punctuated equilibrium, multiple streams, environmental governance, and many more

165 Colorado Immersion Training: Ten years of lessons learned and accomplishments

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The Colorado Immersion Training in Community Engagement (CIT) provides experiential training in community-based participatory research (CBPR). We summarized evaluations from the first ten years on program outcomes and lessons learned to inform future programming and the field of community research. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: CIT is a six-month program that includes didactic sessions, group readings and reflections and a one week immersion experience in a Colorado community experiencing health disparities. The Evaluation Center - University of Colorado Denver provides external evaluation services to the Colorado Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CCTSI). Evaluators used three primary methods to collect data to evaluate the program; Document review, interviews, and surveys. Evaluation data were analyzed using the framework of CBPR Principles and the CBPR conceptual logic model to understand potential shifts in researchers’ thinking and actions, as well as to identify the potential for longer-term impact. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: As of 2020, CIT trained 122 researchers. 25 CIT alumni went on to receive 33 CCTSI Pilot Grants. Out of these 33 grants, an additional $8,723,000 of external grant funding was awarded to continue projects. Community Research Liaisons are a crucial component of the program through their efforts to bridge academic researchers and communities. Survey results indicated that community partners reported high levels of satisfactions with the program and shared stories about the impact they have seen in their community. Common challenges for researchers remain 1) protected time and institutional value and, 2) funding opportunities. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: CIT has grown CBPR researchers. Similar programs should consider contributing factors: establishing institutional value and funding for CBPR initiatives with protected time for developing and maintaining community relationships. CIT offers a crucial connection between academia and community.

The POKY suite: The revolutionized platform for biomolecular studies.

We develop the POKY suite which is the revolutionized platform with boundless possibilities for advancing research and technology development in biomolecular studies. Now, the new software suite “POKY” is the core of the Integrative NMR platform providing a fully integrated professional-grade cyberinfrastructure. The next level automation and visualization maximizing the quality of user experience and productivity will be enabled by the ¯full-stack development’ of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), computer vision (CV), and other modern technologies. As well as routine automated studies on well-behaving proteins, it also keeps up with the recent advances in the field such as 13C-detected solution NMR for intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and 1H/13C/19F detected solid-state NMR for large, insoluble and membrane proteins. Different level users will be able to use different interface tools such as step-by-step guided automations (POKY Automation Guide), high-level push buttons (POKY Extensions), intermediate-level Jupyter notebooks (POKY Notebooks), and low-level customizable scripts (POKY Notepad). The POKY suite is available from https://poky.clas.ucdenver.edu. Supported by NSF DBI-2051595, DBI-1902076 and University of Colorado Denver.

SsPINE/ssPINE-POKY: Automated chemical shift assignment with an intuitive graphical user interface for solid-state NMR data from complex protein systems.

In structural biology, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an important method when studying biological complexes with high resolution. Compared with solution NMR, solid-state NMR (ssNMR) has increased the possibility of studying large macromolecular assemblies with high structural complexity mainly related to low solubility. However, computational tools for the analysis of complex multidimensional ssNMR data have lagged behind those for solution NMR. Before a structure can be determined, thousands of signals from individual types of multidimensional ssNMR spectra of samples must be recognized, correlated, categorized, and eventually assigned to atoms in the chemical structure. To address these tedious steps, we have developed an automated algorithm for ssNMR spectra called “ssPINE”. The ssPINE software accepts the sequence of the protein plus peak lists from a variety of ssNMR experiments as inputs and offers automated backbone and side-chain assignments. To lower the bar of using ssPINE, we have developed a graphical user interface called ssPINE-POKY as a plugin to POKY that provides seamless communication between POKY and ssPINE webserver. The user only needs to select experiments in POKY to run a job and import results with just a few mouse clicks. Supported by NSF DBI-2051595, DBI-1902076 and University of Colorado Denver.

Reducing uncertainty in cancer risk estimation for patients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules using an integrated deep learning model

ObjectivePatients with indeterminate pulmonary nodules (IPN) with an intermediate to a high probability of lung cancer generally undergo invasive diagnostic procedures. Chest computed tomography image and clinical data have been in estimating the pretest probability of lung cancer. In this study, we apply a deep learning network to integrate multi-modal data from CT images and clinical data (including blood-based biomarkers) to improve lung cancer diagnosis. Our goal is to reduce uncertainty and to avoid morbidity, mortality, over- and undertreatment of patients with IPNs. MethodWe use a retrospective study design with cross-validation and external-validation from four different sites. We introduce a deep learning framework with a two-path structure to learn from CT images and clinical data. The proposed model can learn and predict with single modality if the multi-modal data is not complete. We use 1284 patients in the learning cohort for model development. Three external sites (with 155, 136 and 96 patients, respectively) provided patient data for external validation. We compare our model to widely applied clinical prediction models (Mayo and Brock models) and image-only methods (e.g., Liao et al. model). ResultsOur co-learning model improves upon the performance of clinical-factor-only (Mayo and Brock models) and image-only (Liao et al.) models in both cross-validation of learning cohort (e.g., AUC: 0.787 (ours) vs. 0.707–0.719 (baselines), results reported in validation fold and external-validation using three datasets from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (e.g., 0.918 (ours) vs. 0.828–0.886 (baselines)), Detection of Early Cancer Among Military Personnel (e.g., 0.712 (ours) vs. 0.576–0.709 (baselines)), and University of Colorado Denver (e.g., 0.847 (ours) vs. 0.679–0.746 (baselines)). In addition, our model achieves better re-classification performance (cNRI 0.04 to 0.20) in all cross- and external-validation sets compared to the Mayo model. ConclusionsLung cancer risk estimation in patients with IPNs can benefit from the co-learning of CT image and clinical data. Learning from more subjects, even though those only have a single modality, can improve the prediction accuracy. An integrated deep learning model can achieve reasonable discrimination and re-classification performance.

The intellectual base and research fronts of IL-37: A bibliometric review of the literature from WoSCC.

BackgroundIL-37 is a recently identified cytokine with potent immunosuppressive functions. The research fronts of IL-37 are worth investigating, and there is no bibliometric analysis in this field. The purpose of this study is to construct the intellectual base and predict research hotspots of IL-37 research both quantitatively and qualitatively according to bibliometric analysis.MethodsThe articles were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database from the inception of the database to 1 April 2022. CiteSpace 5.8.R3 (64-bit, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA) and Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology (https://bibliometric.com/) were used to perform bibliometric and knowledge-map analyses.ResultsA total of 534 papers were included in 200 academic journals by 2,783 authors in 279 institutions from 50 countries/regions. The journal Cytokine published the most papers on IL-37, while Nature Immunology was the most co-cited journal. The publications belonged mainly to two categories of Immunology and Cell Biology. USA and China were the most productive countries. Meanwhile, the University of Colorado Denver in USA produced the highest number of publications followed by Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands and Monash University in Australia. Charles A. Dinarello published the most papers, while Marcel F. Nold had the most co-citations. Top 10 co-citations on reviews, mechanisms, and diseases were regarded as the knowledge base. The keyword co-occurrence and co-citations of references revealed that the mechanisms and immune-related disorders were the main aspects of IL-37 research. Notably, the involvement of IL-37 in various disorders and the additional immunomodulatory mechanisms were two emerging hotspots in IL-37 research.ConclusionsThe research on IL-37 was thoroughly reviewed using bibliometrics and knowledge-map analyses. The present study is a benefit for academics to master the dynamic evolution of IL-37 and point out the direction for future research.

Adult and larval fruit flies cope with cold differently

Being cold can get uncomfortable, but when cold-blooded animals (ectotherms) become chilly, their entire pace of life is at risk as the metabolic processes essential for survival become increasingly sluggish. How resilient an individual is as temperatures fall can even depend on their stage of life. Animals that undergo complex life cycles and change form entirely – think tadpoles versus frogs, or larvae versus flies – often tolerate low temperatures very differently. Fly larvae and adults tend to take different approaches when dealing with the cold. But what is driving these differences? Are the insects depending on entirely different mechanisms for protection as they respond to cold at different life stages? Or do they depend on mechanisms that are largely conserved across life stages but with a few fine-tuned tweaks that bring in additional life-saving mechanisms at specific points of life? To find out, Philip Freda from Kansas State University, USA, with Jantina Toxopeus and Gregory Ragland from the University of Colorado Denver, USA, and colleagues from both universities, set out to find how fruit fly larvae and adults deal with a blast of cold.After nurturing fruit flies and collecting their larvae, Freda, Zainab Ali and Nicholas Heter (Kansas State University) placed 5-day-old adults in a series of vials before plunging the tubes into an ice bath at –5°C for an hour, collecting some of the adults just before their chilly dip, halfway through, right before they emerged from the bath and half an hour later during their recovery. After the trio repeated the same procedure with fruit fly larvae, Rebekah Lambert-Collier (Kansas State University) and Edwina Dowle (University of Colorado Denver) collected the insects’ mRNA to find out which genes the youngsters and their elders activated when cold and during their recovery to determine which strategy the insects’ different incarnations resort to for survival.Analysing the expression patterns of almost 11,000 genes from both the adult flies and larvae, it was clear that both stages were using dramatically different strategies to cope with a chilly dip. Although the adult flies mobilised genes that helped them to deal with stress during the recovery phase, they only activated genes from the immune system early during their cold exposure and then again during their recovery. In contrast, during the cold snap, the larvae activated genes involved in clearing up damage in cells and genes that controlled their development, while switching off the genes responsible for producing and metabolising fats. In addition, the larvae activated their immune response and maintained it throughout the hour-long cold immersion. In short, the larvae and adult flies were using completely different physiological strategies to survive a chill.Toxopeus, Joseph Tucker and Isaiah Sower (University of Colorado Denver) then used a technique to switch off nine genes involved in combating stress, which were also known to respond when the insects get chilly, to find out how their loss affected the adult and larvae's ability to withstand a –5°C dip. Two of the genes were essential for the adults’ survival, yet played little role in the larvae's ability to cope with the cold, while another gene was crucial for the larvae's survival, but made virtually no difference to the adults. ‘Baseline physiology affecting cold performance is distinct between life stages’, says Freda.The team also points out that the hardy adults’ gene expression patterns barely alter when they get cold. In contrast, chilly larvae experience significant gene expression changes, which probably have more to do with the turbulent transformations they are experiencing as they prepare to metamorphose.

414-P: Effects of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes on Cardiac Structure and Arterial Stiffness

T2D is a global epidemic leading to excess cardiovascular (CV) mortality including heart failure (HF) . Strategies are emerging to prevent HF progression, so early detection is needed. We have identified preclinical cardiac dysfunction associated with central arterial stiffness and decreased cardiorespiratory fitness. We hypothesized that cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) would identify changes in diabetes. Methods: Age and BMI-similar premenopausal women and men with (n=24) and without (n=30) uncomplicated T2D were studied. CMR for cardiac function, regionally resolved pulse wave velocity (PWV) via 2D phase-contrast MRI assessed proximal arterial stiffness, and carotid to femoral applanation tonometry PWV (C-F PWV) using SphygmoCor assessed global arterial stiffness. The vascular territories covered by SphygmoCor does not include the ascending aorta. Results: CMR showed significant changes consistent with cardiac dysfunction in T2D (Table 1) . PWV was significantly greater with T2D in the ascending and proximal descending aorta (p<0.05) . Subclinical diastolic cardiac dysfunction (EDVi) correlated with proximal PWV in T2D (p=0.046, r2=0.24) . C-F PWV did not differ between groups. Conclusions: CMR detects early arterial stiffening in people with uncomplicated T2D and mild cardiac dysfunction. These findings support the use of CMR for detecting central arterial stiffness and incipient CV complications. Disclosure D.Enge: None. M.O.Whipple: None. K.S.Hunter: None. K.J.Nadeau: None. J.G.Regensteiner: None. A.J.Barker: None. J.Reusch: Advisory Panel; Medtronic. M.Schäfer: None. T.Fujiwara: None. E.Clark: None. E.Englund: None. R.L.Scalzo: None. D.Rafferty: None. I.E.Schauer: None. L.Abushamat: None. Funding National Institutes of Health (CX001532) University of Colorado Denver (NCT03419195) National Institutes of Health (R01-DK-124344) National Institutes of Health (K25HL119608)

102-OR: Association of Elevated Arterial Stiffness with Cardiac Target Organ Damage in Young Adults with Diabetes: The Search for Diabetes in Youth Study

Arterial stiffness and echocardiograms were assessed in participants with youth-onset DM (N=399, 22.8 ± 5.1 years, duration 10.8 ± 3.2 years, 63% female, 45% non-Hispanic White; 33% non-Hispanic Black, 13.5% Hispanic, 8% Other, 44% type 2 DM (T2D)) . Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) , arterial stiffness and cardiac measures were compared between those with or without elevated arterial stiffness (stiff = Pulse Wave Velocity [PWV] ≥ 90th% for lean controls) . Association between PWV and cardiac parameters after adjusting for CVRF was assessed. Participants with high PWV were 4.6 yrs older, had 0.6 yrs longer diabetes duration, were more likely to be female (71.5 vs. 54.9%) , non-Hispanic White (68.8 v 42.3) , have T2D (72.0 v 20.2%) , higher BMI (35.6 v 26.3 kg/m2) , BP (122/79 v 109/72 mmHg) , LDL-C (113 v 100 mg/dl) , CRP (0.6 v 0.1mg/dL) , and HbA1c (9.6 v 8.9%; all p≤0.04) . Those with high PWV had higher left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and lower systolic and diastolic function. PWV remained a significant predictor of LVMI (R2 0.37) , systolic (EF, R2 0.235) and diastolic (e’/a’, R2 0.461) function after adjustment for CVRF, all p≤0.0002. Higher arterial stiffness is associated with adverse changes in cardiac structure and function and was more prevalent in persons with T2D compared to type 1 DM. Disclosure E.M. Urbina: Advisory Panel; Astellas Pharma Inc. D. Dabelea: None. R. Dagostino Jr: None. S.R. Daniels: None. L.M. Dolan: None. G. Imperatore: None. E. Lustigova: None. S.M. Marcovina: None. A.K. Mottl: Advisory Panel; Bayer AG. Board Member; Bayer AG. Research Support; Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Aurinia, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Pfizer Inc. C. Pihoker: None. A.S. Shah: None. Funding Grant Support (SEARCH 4) : The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Cohort Study (1R01DK127208-01, 1UC4DK108173) is funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Population Based Registry of Diabetes in Youth Study (1U18DP006131, U18DP006133, U18DP006134, U18DP006136, U18DP006138, and U18DP006139) is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (DP-15-002) and supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Grant Support (SEARCH 1, 2, 3) : SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (PA numbers 00097, DP-05-069, and DP-10-001) and supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Kaiser Permanente Southern California (U48/CCU919219, UDP000246, and U18DP002714) , University of Colorado Denver (U48/CCU819241-3, UDP000247, and U18DP000247-06A1) , Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center (U48/CCU519239, UDP000248, and 1U18DP002709) , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (U48/CCU419249, UDP000254, and U18DP002708) , Seattle Children's Hospital (U58/CCU019235-4, UDP000244, and U18DP002710-01] and Wake Forest University School of Medicine (U48/CCU919219, UDP000250, and 200-2010-35171) .

Voting and Political Participation in the Aftermath of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Hani Mansour and James Reeves Hani Mansour is a professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver and a research fellow at IZA and CESifo (hani.mansour{at}ucdenver.edu). James Reeves is a PhD candidate in economics at the University of Michigan.

Application of the Indigenous evaluation framework to a university certificate program for building cultural awareness in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

This paper presents a case example of the Indigenous Evaluation Framework as applied to a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education pilot program. Indigenous methodologies include knowledge and data that are inclusive of historically marginalized groups, are highly meaningful, valid, and useful for all. A paradigm shift from Western evaluation methodologies to Indigenous evaluation is necessary when evaluating STEM programs that are committed to increasing recruitment, retention, and graduation of students from historically marginalized groups. This paper describes the use of the Indigenous Evaluation Framework during the first two years of the newly created Environmental Stewardship of Indigenous Lands program at the University of Colorado Denver. We discuss the importance of the Indigenous Evaluation Framework and how it informs the development and continued improvements to the program that also provides agency to program leads and participants.

Single-molecule kinetics of annexin V membrane binding in an undergraduate physical biochemistry lab course

Single-molecule microscopy methods represent one of the great advances in biophysics over the last 40 years but are rarely taught in undergraduate laboratory courses due to instrumentation costs. Single-molecule measurements also offer a direct glimpse into the stochastic nature of events underlying physical and biochemical processes. We have developed and implemented two modules for teaching total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy and single-molecule analysis into an undergraduate physical biochemistry lab course at the University of Colorado Denver.

Nursing Is the Light in Institutional Darkness: A Dialogue With Dr. Jean Watson.

The year 2022 is Nursing Science Quarterly's 35th year in publication, and we are interested in dialoging with some of the discipline's nurse theorists. We hope to uncover some influences and origins of their theoretical thinking and hear about their current projects related to nursing science. In this Scholarly Dialogue column, we dialogue with Dr. Jean Watson, nurse theorist, director of the Watson Caring Science Institute, and Distinguished Professor/Dean Emerita of University of Colorado Denver, College of Nursing.

Retraction notice to “Differential effects of valproic acid on growth, proliferation and metastasis in HTB-5 and HTB-9 bladder cancer cell lines” [Canc. Lett. 281/2 (2009) 196–202

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article is being retracted following correspondence from an Investigation Committee at the University of Colorado Denver. An internal investigation into this manuscript by the University of Colorado Denver, found evidence that there was image manipulation and that these actions warrant retraction to correct the scientific record. Bands on blot obscured or removed, apparent when the images are enhanced (Fig 4A p21 band "C" at 24hr, Fig 4B p21 band "C" at 24hr, and Fig 4B Cyclin A band "10" at 48 hr).

Converting a Dynamic in-Person Experience to Remote Life

This paper explores the work the Student Transitions and Family Engagement (STFE) team did to convert dynamic in-person experiences into virtual programs, advising, and courses. These opportunities were framed through the lenses of Academic and Social Integration (Tinto, 1975; Braxton et al., 2004), Belonging (Strayhorn, 2019), and Transition Theory (Schlossberg, 1981). 
 The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions in every sector of business and higher education and student affairs was not immune to these effects. The unprecedented disturbances to business-as-normal forced student affairs professionals to find innovative ways to welcome new students into their universities. This article details the monumental programmatic changes employed, as well as the challenges faced and lessons learned by the New Student Orientation and First-Year Experiences teams at the University of Colorado Denver. While catalyzed by unfortunate circumstances and necessity, many of the new ideas and methods developed during 2020 will be adopted as mainstays in STFE’s suite of operations and programmatic offerings.

Editorial introductions.

Editorial introductions.

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy and Single-Molecule Kinetics Modules for an Undergraduate Lab Course

The ability to image cellular and molecular phenomena with single-molecule resolution has revolutionized biomedicine and biophysics. Single-molecule methods allow for kinetic analysis of asynchronous processes and for observation of rare events that go undetected in population average measurements. For undergraduate students, single-molecule measurements also offer a direct glimpse into the stochastic nature of events underlying chemical and biophysical processes. We have developed and implemented two modules for teaching advanced microscopy and single-molecule analysis into an undergraduate biophysical chemistry lab course at the University of Colorado Denver.

Making Black Trans Lives Matter

Research Article| February 01 2021 Making Black Trans Lives Matter Mia Fischer Mia Fischer Mia Fischer is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Working at the intersections of critical media, queer, trans and surveillance studies, her work has appeared in various academic journals, among them Feminist Media Studies, Communication, Culture & Critique, and Communication & Sport. She is the author of the award-winning book, Terrorizing Gender: Transgender Visibility and the Surveillance Practices of the U.S. Security State (University of Nebraska Press, 2019). Mia also co-leads the Denver Pen Pal Collaborative (DPPC), a prison-pen-pal project that connects with folks all across the country. You can follow Mia on Twitter with the handle @MiaFischer. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking (2021) 8 (1): 111–118. https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.8.1.0111 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Mia Fischer; Making Black Trans Lives Matter. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 1 February 2021; 8 (1): 111–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.14321/qed.8.1.0111 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveMichigan State University PressQED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2021 Michigan State University2021 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

“Same-Sex Marriage?! What Next Polygamy?”: Mormonism in US Political Culture

Research Article| January 01 2021 “Same-Sex Marriage?! What Next Polygamy?”: Mormonism in US Political Culture K. Mohrman K. Mohrman K. Mohrman is a clinical teaching assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at University of Colorado Denver. Her book, Exceptionally Queer: Mormon Peculiarity and U.S. Exceptionalism, is forthcoming with University of Minnesota Press. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Mormon Studies Review (2021) 8: 57–67. https://doi.org/10.5406/mormstudrevi.8.2021.0057 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation K. Mohrman; “Same-Sex Marriage?! What Next Polygamy?”: Mormonism in US Political Culture. Mormon Studies Review 1 January 2021; 8 57–67. doi: https://doi.org/10.5406/mormstudrevi.8.2021.0057 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveUniversity of Illinois PressMormon Studies Review Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright 2021 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois2021 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.