User:TinaYLi/sandbox

Evaluating Acid-base extraction Article

Evaluating Content

The contents of the article stayed focused upon the topic and addressed key components of both the theory and technique. However, the last sentence of the introduction of the topic makes a statement without providing an adequate explanation or citation. As this is the introduction, this would mean that even a cursory glance could confuse readers.

Evaluating Tone

The article's tone stays largely neutral - nothing stands out as being heavily biased. However, it does make claims that certain things are "usually" or "routinely" done and does not indicate who or necessarily why.

Evaluating Sources

The only source in the article links to a book source page that I am not entirely sure how to use. Cannot tell if the source supports the material, but each fact is not supported with a reliable citation, let alone multiple citations for the entire article.

Checking the Talk Page

The talk page includes two main conversations, one that express uncertainty about the meaning of a statement. The other provides reasoning for a diagram to improve readability of the article.

The article is rated C with mid-level importance

List of possible articles to improve

They all look fine to edit. Sex hormone receptor is a bit broad and the sub types have developed pages so it might get redundant, and native state is quite broad as well. -Dr. Tienson-Tseng

Enzyme activators, Native state, Folding funnel, Sex hormone receptor

All of these articles while relevant and neutral in tone, lack detail and/or organization in addition to adequate sources. The last three are classified as stubs.

In particular, the article on native state lacks sources entirely. Those that do have citations appear to have reliable citations.

Two of the talk pages (Native state and Sex hormone receptor) only include how the article is rated, while the other talk pages are relatively short.

Bibliography

I have decided to instead choose the woman scientist Cassandra Quave.

• "Could Ancient Remedies Hold the Answer to the Looming Antibiotics Crisis?"
  • This is a secondary source (New York Times Feature article) giving an in-depth overview of research centering around antibiotic resistance and ethnobotany.
• "New Way to Fight Superbugs Found in Noxious Weed"
  • This is a secondary source (National Geographic) giving an in-depth overview of new compound discovered regarding antibiotic resistance.
• "Anti-infectives derived from botanical natural products: an interview with Cassandra Quave"
• "A reservoir of ethnobotanical knowledge informs resilient food security and health strategies in the Balkans"
  • Primary literature. Highly-cited (for its academic field) key publication with notable press coverage
• "Castanea sativa (European Chestnut) leaf extracts rich in ursene and oleanene derivatives block Staphylococcus aureus virulence and pathogenesis without detectable resistance"
  • Primary literature. Another key publication with notable press coverage
    • Example of press coverage with Science Daily research-focused news source: "Chestnut leaves yield extract that disarms deadly staph bacteria"
• BBC February 2018 Focus Magazine Article
• Dr. Quave's Web Page

Rough Draft for Cassandra Quave Article

Cassandra Quave
Born	(1978-06-02)June 2, 1978 Arcadia, Florida
Citizenship	United States of America
Alma mater	Emory University (BS) Florida International University (PhD)
Children	3
Scientific career
Fields	Ethnobotany
Institutions	Emory University School of Medicine Emory University PhytoTEK LLC
Thesis	An ethnopharmacological approach to multidrug -resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Evaluation of Italian plants used in the traditional healing of skin disease (2008)
Doctoral advisor	Dr. Bradley C. Bennett
Website	www.etnobotanica.us

Cassandra Leah Quave (born June 2, 1978) is an American ethnobotanist, herbarium curator, and assistant professor at Emory University. Her research focuses on analyzing natural, plant-based medicine of indigenous cultures to help combat infectious disease and antibiotic resistance. In particular, she has studied bacterial biofilm inhibition and quorum-sensing inhibition of botanical extracts for inflammatory skin conditions.

Early Life and Education

Born in Arcadia, Florida, Quave’s interest in science and medicine began early, stemming from the extended time she spent in hospitals. At age three, congenital birth defects prompted an amputation below the knee in her right leg. After surgery, she required follow-up treatment for complications from an MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) infection. This experience would provide the basis of her adolescent science fair project about drug resistance in Escherichia coli, as well as her later research projects.

In her undergraduate years at Emory University, she pursued a double bachelor’s of science in Human Biology as well as Anthropology, which she earned in 2000. A college course in tropical ecology coupled with trips to Peru shifted her interest from medical school to instead researching ethnobotany. There, she saw the work of a traditional medicine man on children with parasitic worm infections in villages without access to pharmaceutical drugs. To her, the encounter illustrated how modern Western medicine has undermined the usefulness of traditional medicine.

Afterward, Quave started ethnobotany fieldwork in southern Italy between 2001 and 2003, before pursuing a doctoral program in biology at Florida International University. Under Dr. Bradley C. Bennett's guidance, she completed her doctoral dissertation in 2008, titled "An ethnopharmacological approach to multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureas: Evaluation of Italian Plants used in the Traditional Healing of Skin Disease."

Research Contributions

During a post-doctoral fellowship from 2009-2011, Quave continued her study of medicinal plants in Italy, focusing on their anti-biofilm properties in MRSA. The defensive mechanism of bacterial biofilms in resisting antimicrobial drugs comes from the ability of of microbes to develop and hide within a protective extracellular matrix. Quave’s work focused on the significant biofilm-inhibiting activity of 10 individual botanical extracts from unique species of plants, something she believes could be utilized in new drug therapies. Since then, one of her current research projects has concerned finding the specific compounds in the elmleaf blackberry plant (Rubus ulmifolius) that contribute to the property. In doing so, Quave hopes to translate the biofilm inhibiting extracts into a wound management device such as bandages.

Another major project of Quave's has been studying quorum-sensing inhibiting (QSI) activity in medicinal plants that prevent bacterial cells from effectively communicating, colonizing, and releasing toxins. Her focus has been upon both the Brazilian pepper tree extracts (Schinus terebinthifolia) and the European chestnut (Castanea sativa). According to Quave, these QSI extracts could help in the treatment of atopic dermatitis, although she acknowledges difficulties of the drug development process. Aside from receiving FDA approval, there is the added difficulties of isolating the active compound and understanding the complex pharmacology of multiple extracts if pursuing a mixture.

Key papers

• Khan, M. F., Tang, H., Lyles, J. T., Pineau, R., Mashwani, Z. U. R., & Quave, C. L. (2018). Antibacterial properties of medicinal plants from Pakistan against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens. Frontiers in pharmacology, 9. [1]
• Muhs, A., Lyles, J. T., Parlet, C. P., Nelson, K., Kavanaugh, J. S., Horswill, A. R., & Quave, C. L. (2017). Virulence inhibitors from Brazilian peppertree block quorum sensing and abate dermonecrosis in skin infection models. Scientific reports, 7, 42275. [2]
• Lyles, J.T., Kim, K. Nelson, A. Bullard-Roberts, A. Hajdari, B. Mustafa, C.L. Quave. (2017) The chemical and antibacterial evaluation of St. John’s Wort oil macerates used in Kosovar traditional medicine. Frontiers in Microbiology. [3]
• Quave, C.L., J.T. Lyles, J.S. Kavanaugh, K. Nelson, C.P. Parlet, H.A. Crosby, K.P. Heilmann, A.R. Horswill. (2015) Castanea sativa (European Chestnut) leaf extracts rich in ursene and oleanene derivatives block Staphylococcus aureus virulence and pathogenesis without detectable resistance. PLoS ONE 10(8): e0136486. [4]
• Quave, C.L., L.R.W. Plano, and B.C. Bennett (2010) Quorum sensing inhibitors for Staphylococcus aureus from Italian medicinal plants. Planta Medica, 76: 1-8. [5]
• Quave, C. L., Plano, L. R., Pantuso, T., & Bennett, B. C. (2008). Effects of extracts from Italian medicinal plants on planktonic growth, biofilm formation and adherence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 118(3), 418-428. [6]