Browsing by Author "Gao, Weimin"
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Item Analyses of relationships of human West Nile virus, confined livestock operations, and playa lakes in the Texas Panhandle and South Plains region(2010-12) Stephens, Christena; Presley, Steven; Dixon, Ken; Gao, Weimin; Salice, Christopher J.A total of 432 human West Nile virus (WNV) cases have occurred with 28 fatalities in the Panhandle and South Plains region from 2002 to 2008 in 41 counties. Of significant interest was determining if these WNV cases were spatially clustered near major ecological and economic features of playa lakes and confined livestock operations (CLOs). Another research interest was to identify chemicals used in mosquito control in regional cities to determine if mosquito control increased during the years of the initial WNV outbreak in the region. An important role of spatial statistics is to account for spatial dependence and search for spatial patterns in geographical data. Cluster investigations have long been an important tool in epidemiology and spatial statistics. To quantify WNV prevalence in the region for clustering around CLOs and playa lakes, SaTScan™ and ArcGIS™ were used in conjunction to determine spatial clustering. Spatial clustering results indicate that a spatial correlation and dependence exists in the geographical data between human WNV cases, beef cattle operations and playa lakes. Malathion was identified as the most common pesticide used in the region from 2002 – 2009.Item Apoptotic and antiproliferative effect of nanoencapsulated (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate in human estrogen receptor positive breast cancer cells MCF 7(2011-05) Castillo-Cohen, Rita; Wang, Shu; Boylan, Lee M.; Gao, WeiminConsumption of green tea has been associated with many different health benefits; from weight loss to heart disease and different types of cancer. The chemopreventive actions exerted by green tea are thought to be due to its major polyphenol, (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Studies in human cancer cell lines and some animal models have demonstrated that EGCG can have chemopreventive activities without affecting their normal healthy cell counterpart. EGCG has a relative low bioavailability and stability, and studies have shown that the concentrations humans are able to absorb are five to fifty times less than the concentrations which seem to be responsible for the chemopreventive actions in past studies. Nanotechnology offers the means by which the bioavailability of EGCG can be improved to a level at which it can be useful in the fight against different diseases, including breast cancer. Breast cancer is considered to be the second most common type of cancer among women in the United States, accounting for more than one in four cancers in women (about 28%). Although current treatments for breast cancer have improved over the past several years, the side effects which accompany current cancer treatments (such as system toxicity stemming from chemotherapy) are still devastating, even potentially life threatening, to the patient. This study studied different nanoparticles and demonstrated that chitosan-coated nanoliposome at a dose of 10µM has a significant effect on decreasing proliferation and some apoptotic effect on MCF 7 breast cancer cells.Item In vitro evaluation of the cytotoxic potential of Brickellia cavanillesi (Asteraceae) using HepG2 cells(Texas Tech University, 2007-05) Viñas, René; Smith, Ernest E.; Tang, Lili; Gao, WeiminCharacterization of the potential toxicity and biological mechanisms of alternative herbal medicine offer significant benefits for people using them to treat chronic diseases or symptoms. The Latin American tea "prodigiosa" (Brickellia cavanillesi), a member of the Asteraceae botanical family is traditionally consumed as an herbal remedy to treat diabetes and other chronic diseases in several underdeveloped countries. However, there is limited data on the potential toxicity or mechanism of action for B. cavanillesi. Consequently, in this study we used an in vitro cell culture approach to evaluate cellular toxicity of an aqueous extract of B. cavanillesi. Hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) were submitted to both a dose- (IC50) and a time-dependent toxicity evaluation in the presence or absence of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). Herbal extracts (1-35%) were used for the IC50 study. In the time course study, cells were exposed to 1-10% extract solutions of B. cavanillesi for 48hrs. Cell viability was determined with the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay. No significant differences were observed when cells were cultured with or without FBS. In this study the IC50 ranged from 5-10% in the absence and presence of FBS. At doses exceeding 10%, cellular viability decreased significantly (p