Posts tagged student
CU Buffs Place 12
Apr 22nd
University of Colorado’s track and field team placed 12 student-athletes on the 2014 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic teams, announced on Monday by MPSF Executive Director Al Beaird.
The men had three honorees, while the women placed nine on the team. Juniors Lindsy Mattson and Bridget Sweeney had the two highest GPAs on the team. Mattson has recorded a 3.814 GPA while majoring in economics and Sweeney has accumulated a 3.813 GPA while majoring in communication. The other women who were named to the team include: Courtney Bouchet, Maddie Alm, Jenny DeSouchet, Emily Hunsucker, Ewelina Pena, Kelsey English and Shalaya Kipp.
Junior Morgan Pearson, an economics major, led the men’s selections with a 3.470 GPA. Joe Bosshard, a graduate student, also carries an impressive 3.425 and is majoring in business. Blake Theroux was also named to the team.
To be chosen for this distinction, honorees must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00, must be a sophomore academically, must have completed at least one academic year with their institution and must have competed in at least 50 percent of the institution’s competition.
Source: CU Buffs
CU: Stem cells boost aging muscles
Feb 16th
to new methods of mitigating muscle loss
New findings on why skeletal muscle stem cells stop dividing and renewing muscle mass during aging points up a unique therapeutic opportunity for managing muscle-wasting conditions in humans, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.
According to CU-Boulder Professor Bradley Olwin, the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function as we age can lead to sarcopenia, a debilitating muscle-wasting condition that generally hits the elderly hardest. The new study indicates that altering two particular cell-signaling pathways independently in aged mice enhances muscle stem cell renewal and improves muscle regeneration.
One cell-signaling pathway the team identified, known as p38 MAPK, appears to be a major player in making or breaking the skeletal muscle stem cell, or satellite cell, renewal process in adult mice, said Olwin of the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department. Hyperactivation of the p38 MAPK cell-signaling pathway inhibits the renewal of muscle stem cells in aged mice, perhaps because of cellular stress and inflammatory responses acquired during the aging process.
The researchers knew that obliterating the p38 MAPK pathway in the stem cells of adult mice would block the renewal of satellite cells, said Olwin. But when the team only partially shut down the activity in the cell-signaling pathway by using a specific chemical inhibitor, the adult satellite cells showed significant renewal, he said. “We showed that the level of signaling from this cellular pathway is very important to the renewal of the satellite cells in adult mice, which was a very big surprise,” said Olwin.
A paper on the subject appeared online Feb. 16 in the journal Nature Medicine.
One reason the CU-Boulder study is important is that the results could lead to the use of low-dose inhibitors, perhaps anti-inflammatory compounds, to calm the activity in the p38 MAPK cell-signaling pathway in human muscle stem cells, said Olwin.
The CU-Boulder research team also identified a second cell-signaling pathway affecting skeletal muscle renewal – a receptor known as the fibroblast growth factor receptor-1, or FGFR-1. The researchers showed when the FGFR-1 receptor protein was turned on in specially bred lab mice, the renewal of satellite cells increased significantly. “We still don’t understand how that particular mechanism works,” he said.
Another major finding of the study was that while satellite cells transplanted from young mice to other young mice showed significant renewal for up to two years, those transplanted from old mice to young mice failed. “We found definitively that satellite cells from an aged mouse are not able to maintain the ability to replenish themselves,” Olwin said. “This is likely one of the contributors to loss of muscle mass during the aging process of humans.”
Co-authors included first author and CU-Boulder postdoctoral researcher Jennifer Bernet, former CU-Boulder graduate student John K. Hall, CU-Boulder undergraduate Thomas Carter, and CU-Boulder postdoctoral researchers Jason Doles and Kathleen Kelly-Tanaka. The National Institutes of Health and the Ellison Medical Foundation funded the study.
Olwin said skeletal muscle function and mass decline with age in humans beginning at roughly age 40. While there are a variety of muscle-wasting diseases — ranging from muscular dystrophy to Lou Gehrig’s disease — the condition known as sarcopenia can lead to severe muscle loss, frailty and eventual death and is leading to skyrocketing health care costs for the elderly. “If you live long enough, you’ll get it,” he said.
Olwin and his team worked closely on the research with a team from Stanford University led by Professor Helen Blau, which published a companion paper in the same issue of Nature Medicine. “We shared data with the Stanford team during the entire process and we all were very pleased with the study outcomes,” said Olwin. “This is how science should work.”
CU students will do your taxes for free
Jan 29th
tax preparation assistance
Students from the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business will offer free tax preparation services to individuals under the Internal Revenue Service-sponsored Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
Members of the public who make $52,000 or less are eligible for the service, now in its fifth year at the Leeds School.
The assistance will be available only on a walk-in basis Feb. 1 through April 5 on Wednesdays from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Koelbel Business Building, room 375. The building is located at 995 Regent Drive on the CU-Boulder campus, across from the Coors Events Center. Free parking is available after 5 p.m. and during the weekends at lot 436/494, located on Regent Drive north of the Coors Events Center and east of the Koelbel Business Building.
“Not only do student volunteers perform a much needed community service, but their work also is well received by potential employers,” said Susan Morley, senior instructor of accounting at the Leeds School.
Participating Leeds students have passed an IRS certification exam. Community volunteers who are experienced in tax law will review all student-prepared tax returns to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Last year, Leeds School students prepared approximately 380 tax returns and obtained more than $518,000 in refunds for taxpayers. The students also placed an extra $152,000 into the local economy through Earned Income Tax Credits for families.
Taxpayers who are eligible for the assistance should bring the following:
— Social Security cards or Individual Taxpayer Identification Notices/Cards for the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse and dependents.
— Photo identification for the taxpayer and the taxpayer’s spouse if married and filing jointly. Both spouses must be present.
— All W-2 and 1099 forms and other income-related documents.
— Proof of mortgage interest, property taxes, daycare expenses (including provider’s tax ID number), college education expenses (e.g., 1098-T form) and all other applicable deductible expenses.
— A copy of last year’s federal tax return.
— Proof of account for direct deposit of refund (e.g., voided check).
— Proof of foreign status if applying for ITIN.
For more information about the accounting division at CU-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business visit http://leeds.colorado.edu/accounting#overview. For more information about the Leeds School visit http://leeds.colorado.edu/.
-CU-