Digital Commons Network^™

Life As An Intern For Njit Stem For Success, Christopher Tava

STEM Month

I joined the STEM for Success Team in May 2023 with two main goals. The first goal was to reach 100 hours worth of contributions, as part of a mandatory internship requirement to graduate from the Academy for Mathematics, Science, & Engineering (AMSE). I reached that goal by early October 2023, although I have been motivated to continue my work with NJIT beyond that hour target. The second goal was to accomplish something that I was proud of with the resources that the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) provided me. I had heard of former students of AMSE that …

Cv: Philip Blankenship (Behavioral Neuroscience), Philip Blankenship

Psychology Department Faculty Curricula Vitae

No abstract provided.

Epigenetic Landscape In Lysosomal Storage Disorders: Mechanisms And Modulation, Andrés Felipe Leal, Harry Pachajoa, Shunji Tomatsu

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are rare substrate-accumulating diseases primarily characterized by mutations in genes encoding proteins involved in lysosomal function, most of which have enzymatic activity. Resulting lysosomal dysfunction leads to the overaccumulation of non- or partially degraded substrates. While it is true that enzyme deficiency is the primary cause of LSDs, the epigenetic alterations in DNA methylation, miRNA expression, and histone modifications appear to be critical mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of LSDs. As epigenetic marks are, in most cases, reversible, their study becomes vital to developing strategies aimed at reversing epigenome alterations. Although classical therapeutic alternatives aim to …

Heritage-Based City Branding Case Study Of Fayoum City, Menna Mounir, Sameir Hammad

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Uniqueness and distinction have become fundamental requirements in promoting and branding cities. Influencing people's perceptions is best achieved by reinforcing the city's identity. This identity is the main component that can transform any ‘space’ into a ‘place’. Promoting a city should extend to highlighting the Heritage, landscape, religious sites, pathways, cuisine, inhabitants, activities, and personal experiences. These elements collectively express the city spirit and enrich visitors’ experience.

This study aims to enhance the image of heritage-based cities by exploring the potential for city branding and leveraging heritage to boost the national economy.

Fayoum was selected as a case study for …

Reprogramming Tumor Microenvironment Via Systemic Delivery Of Tlr3 Agonist And Manganese Nanoparticle, Young Seok Cho, Xingwu Zhou, Xiaoqi Sun, Ziye Wan, Julia Crowther, Swetha Kodamasimham, May Thazin Phoo, Youngseo Na, Kai Han, Zaiye Li, Anna Schwendeman, Steven P Schwendeman, Yu Leo Lei, James J Moon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists, as potent immunostimulatory adjuvants, play a critical role in linking the innate and adaptive immune responses. However, their antitumor effects as cancer immunotherapeutic agents have been limited. Here, we report our finding that manganese ion (Mn2+) potentiates various TLR agonists, leading to robust activation of the TLR pathway and the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) pathway among innate immune cells. In particular, we have observed robust antitumor efficacy after intratumoral administration of a TLR3 agonist and Mn2+. To achieve systemic codelivery of TLR3 agonist and Mn2+, we have developed a low-molecular-weight poly(inosinic:cytidylic acid)-Mn2+ coordination lipid nanoparticle …

Seagrass Persistence In The Indian River Lagoon And Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida, Kelly Kibler, Melinda Donnelly, Vincent Encomio, Madison Giuntoli, Manisha Thenuwara, Brice Bennett, Laura Andrade Barron, Mariam Sonbol, Wynter Raine Seppala, Namritha Ramakrishnan, Jennifer Jordan Báez, Beth Orlando, Irene Arpayoglou, Melissa Meisenburg

Indian River Lagoon Shorelines

The spatial dataset: UCF_seagrasspersistence_IRL_LWL.shp was created with support from the Indian River Lagoon National Estuaries Program and Florida Sea Grant. These projects cumulatively led to creation of a living shoreline restoration prioritization model and hydrodynamic habitat suitability models for 1,550 km (963 miles) of estuarine shorelines in Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Lake Worth Lagoon (LWL). The dataset presented herein represents persistence of seagrass throughout waters of the IRL and LWL.

11.10.2025 Ored Connect, Liz Williamson

ORED Newsletter

• Sherilyn Hulugalla winds Biosafety and Biosecurity Month Challenge

An Integrated Ca–Markov Modeling Framework For Forecasting Land Use And Land Cover Dynamics In Arkansas, Usa, Rasool Vahid, Mohamed H. Aly

Environmental Dynamics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes significantly shape urban environments and directly impact ecological and socioeconomic systems. This study aims to explore these interconnections by employing the Cellular Automata–Markov (CA–Markov) model to assess and predict LULC dynamics in Arkansas. Historical LULC datasets from 2001 to 2021, obtained from the National Land Cover Database, were simplified from 11 into 5 classes to facilitate analysis and effectively map transitions. The model was validated by predicting LULC for 2016 and 2021 and comparing the predictions with the real maps, achieving an overall accuracy of approximately 91.9%, using model validation metrics, including precision, …

Nanofiber-Enabled Rapid And Non-Destructive Sensors For Meat Quality And Shelf-Life Monitoring: A Review, Karna Ramachandraiah, Elizabeth M. Martin, Alya Limayem

Food Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The meat industry faces significant economic losses and environmental impacts due to spoilage and waste, much of which results from inadequate, delayed, or inefficient quality assessment. Traditional methods used for assessing meat quality are often time-consuming, labor-intensive, and lack the ability to provide real-time information, making them insufficient for modern supply chains that demand safety, freshness, and minimal waste. Recent advances in nanotechnology position nanofibers (NFs) as promising materials for addressing these challenges through smart sensing and active packaging. NFs, characterized by their high surface-to-volume ratio, tunable porosity, and small diameter, enable superior encapsulation and immobilization of sensing agents. These …

Whole-Exome Sequencing-Based Linkage Analysis Of Multiple Myeloma (Mm) And Monoclonal Gammopathy Of Undetermined Significance (Mgus) Pedigrees, Alyssa I Clay-Gilmour, Nicola J Camp, Xiaomu Wei, Angel Earle, Aaron Norman, Delphine Demangel, Charles Dumontet, James Mckay, Ken Offit, Vijai Joseph, Siwei Chen, Daniel O'Brien, Vincent Rajkumar, Robert Klein, Shaji Kumar, Steve Lipkin, Celine M Vachon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/objectives: Family history is a known risk factor for multiple myeloma (MM) and its precursor condition, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified 35 common loci associated with MM risk and 21 associated with MGUS. The objective of this study was to identify less common and rare genetic loci predisposing to MM/MGUS through whole-exome sequencing (WES)-based linkage analysis.

Methods: Multipoint linkage analysis was conducted using the Multipoint Engine for Rapid Likelihood Inference (MERLIN) with the Lander-Green algorithm on germline WES data from 79 pedigrees with 2 or more affected relatives (120 MM, 86 MGUS, …

Genome-Wide Crispr Screens Identify Critical Targets To Enhance Car-Nk Cell Antitumor Potency, Alexander Biederstädt, Rafet Basar, Jeong-Min Park, Nadima Uprety, Rejeena Shrestha, Merve Dede, Sunil Acharya, Donghai Xiong, Bin Liu, May Daher, Hind Rafei, Pinaki Banerjee, Ping Li, Sanjida Islam, Huihui Fan, Mayra Shanley, Jingling Jin, Bijender Kumar, Vernikka Woods, Paul Lin, Silvia Tiberti, Ana Karen Nunez Cortes, Xin Ru Jiang, Inci Biederstädt, Patrick Zhang, Ye Li, Seema Rawal, Enli Liu, Luis Muniz-Feliciano, Gary M Deyter, Elizabeth J Shpall, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Ken Chen, Katayoun Rezvani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Adoptive cell therapy using engineered natural killer (NK) cells is a promising approach for cancer treatment, with targeted gene editing offering the potential to further enhance their therapeutic efficacy. However, the spectrum of actionable genetic targets to overcome tumor and microenvironment-mediated immunosuppression remains largely unexplored. We performed multiple genome-wide CRISPR screens in primary human NK cells and identified critical checkpoints regulating resistance to immunosuppressive pressures. Ablation of MED12, ARIH2, and CCNC significantly improved NK cell antitumor activity against multiple treatment-refractory human cancers in vitro and in vivo. CRISPR editing augmented both innate and CAR-mediated NK cell function, associated with enhanced …

[Kyda] The Behavioral Spillover Effect: Modeling Behavioral Interdependencies In Multi-Pathogen Dynamics, Leah Lejeune, Omar Saucedo, Lauren M. Childs, Navid Ghaffarzadegan

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Modeling Synaptic Dysfunction As Neural Contagion: A Graph-Based Sedr Framework For Simulating Signal Spread, Michelle Marfo, Dr. Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, Alonso Ogueda-Oliva

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Immune Dysregulation In Covid-19: Mathematical Modeling Of The Within-Host Dynamics, Pagnapech Ngoun, Nicolas Alvarez, Ayesh Awad, Hwayeon Ryu

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Mathematical Model Of Ovarian Cancer Tumor Growth In Mice, Jessica A. Hoffman

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Reconstructing Gene Regulatory Networks From Time-Series Data In Knime, Raina Robeva

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

[Kadel] A Multilevel Extension Of Boolean Networks Captures Topologically-Stable Hybrid Attractors, Kishore Hari

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Durability Performance Of Sustainable Fly Ash-Based Geopolymer Concrete Incorporating Waste Glass, El-Said Abdelsalam Maaty, Mariam Farouk Ghazy, Mohamed Gamal Eldmarny

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The cement and concrete industries contribute significantly to environmental degradation through high CO₂ emissions and extensive resource consumption. Cement manufacturing accounts for nearly 8% of global CO₂ emissions, primarily from limestone calcination, while raw material extraction leads to resource depletion and ecological disruption. Increasing attention is being directed toward the use of recycled glass as an eco-friendly substitute in geopolymer concrete, offering a sustainable solution to existing challenges. This study investigates the effectiveness of replacing fly ash with waste glass powder (WGP) at 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30%, and substituting natural sand with waste glass sand (WGS) at 0%, 15%, …

Analysis Of An Effective Training Curriculum: Solutions Toincrease Participants' Interest In Training Teachingmaterials, Maulidya Husnul Khatimah, Yoto Yoto

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

This research is important because it analyzes the curriculum as a primary tool for generating and maintaining participant interest. Curricula that are irrelevant, monotonous, or misaligned with participant needs are often the main causes of low motivation and participation. Furthermore, this research encourages the exploration and implementation of more innovative teaching methods and materials in training curricula. External pressure in the form of demands or instructions, rather than internal motivation, drives most training activities. This can reduce engagement and learning effectiveness. To overcome this, training institutions need to design programs that are relevant, flexible, and able to encourage participants' intrinsic …

Augmented Reality-Assisted E-Module On Temperature Andheat Content (Emarks), Tetri Sabrina, Ika Mustika Sari, Dedi Sasmita

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

Temperature and heat content (calor) material in physics often involves concepts and phenomena that are difficult to observe directly or are abstract (such as energy transfer, particle movement, and changes in state). EMARKS (AR-based E-modules) are important because Augmented Reality (AR) allows the visualization of these abstract concepts in the form of interactive 3D models in the user's real environment. This helps students understand the concepts more concretely and easily. The development of E-modules is an innovation in learning media that is relevant to the demands of the digital era and the needs of modern students. The use of advanced …

The Effect Of Guided Inquiry Model With Deep Learningapproach On Student’S Hots In Elements, Compounds,And Mixtures At Junior High School, Friska Pakpahana, Retno Dwi Suyanti

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

The current education curriculum places a strong emphasis on developing HOTS skills (such as analyzing, evaluating, and creating) to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century. School learning often focuses on lower-level cognitive domains (memorizing and understanding). This research seeks to address this gap by offering a potentially effective learning model. The guided inquiry model positions students as active participants in learning, encouraging them to investigate, discover, and formulate concepts independently with teacher guidance. This strongly supports the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of the guided inquiry model …

Guided Inquiry Learning Assisted By Crossword Puzzlemedia: Student Scientific Literacy And Critical Thinkingability For Middle School, Agis Putri Niswa, Mariati Purnama Simanjuntak, Ramlan Silaban, Fauziyah Harahap, Ridwan Abdullah Sani

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

Scientific literacy and critical thinking skills are two fundamental competencies that students need in the 21st century. Scientific literacy is essential for students to understand and use scientific knowledge to make informed decisions, while critical thinking trains students to analyze information, evaluate arguments, and solve problems logically. Therefore, the intent of this study was to determine the effect of the guided inquiry learning model assisted by crossword puzzle media on students’ scientific literacy and critical thinking skills. The type of research used was quasi-experimental with a two-group pretest-posttest design. The sample consisted of two classes: class VII-8 as the control …

Humoral Immune Responses Following Immunization With Sars-Cov-2 Variant Vaccines, Chieh-Yu Liang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Viruses are infectious agents that depend on host cells for replication and can cause diseases ranging from mild illness to severe outcomes, including cancer and death. In the 21st century, several major viral outbreaks have occurred, including the 2002 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS), the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak, and most recently, the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019. SARS-CoV-2 is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus of the Betacoronavirus genus in the Coronaviridae family. First identified in Wuhan, China, the virus quickly spread …

Program Transition Success: A Practical Guide For Educators Moving Sbae Programs, Evey Choat

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

What tools, strategies, and support systems can help agriculture educators navigate leadership transitions and sustain program success when moving between schools or communities? Teacher mobility and leadership transitions within School-Based Agricultural Education (SBAE) present unique challenges to program continuity, community relations, and professional sustainability. Unlike other subject areas, SBAE teachers often manage multifaceted responsibilities—as classroom instructors, FFA advisors, and community liaisons—making transitions between programs especially complex. This project addresses the lack of structured support for educators navigating these transitions by developing a Program Transition Guide specifically tailored to the needs of agricultural educators in Nebraska.

Guided by Transformational Leadership Theory …

Mechanisms Of Antibody-Mediated Protection In Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection, Samantha Mackin

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Mechanisms of Antibody-Mediated Protection in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection by Samantha Rae Mackin Doctor of Philosophy in Biology and Biomedical Sciences Immunology Washington University in St. Louis, 2025 Professor Michael S. Diamond, Chair Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, non-segmented, positive-sense RNA viruses belonging to the Coronaviridae family. The subfamily Coronavirinae includes four genera: alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and deltacoronaviruses. While gamma- and deltacoronaviruses primarily circulate in wild or domestic birds and have shown the potential for cross-species transmission, alpha- and betacoronaviruses mainly infect mammals, resulting in respiratory illnesses that can be mild or severe. Over …

Adaptation To Nickel Toxicity In Mesorhizobium: From Evolutionary Scale To The Regulatory Response, Kyson Todd Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Microbial adaptation to stressful environments is driven not only by vertical inheritance of genetic material, but also through the rapid acquisition and loss of genes through horizontal gene transfer (HGT). This process allows prokaryotes to quickly adapt to the differing environmental pressures by exchanging genetic information through various processes. Through the balance of gene gain and loss, bacterial populations maintain core essential functions while continuously expanding their accessory genomes, which promotes ecological diversity and niche specialization. We use comparative genomics and genetics to highlight the evolutionary mechanisms of adaptation to stressful serpentine soils in Mesorhizobium bacteria. We identify a genomic …

A Multi-Faceted Study Of Antibiotic-Resistant, Opportunistic Pathogens In Wastewater And Environmental Water, Jeanette Calarco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than 2.8 million infections due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria occur annually in the United States, and more than 35,000 people die as a result. Domestic wastewater (sewage), which contains antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes, is collected at treatment plants for removal of contaminants, e.g. pathogenic microorganisms and nutrients. While wastewater treatment is designed to remove antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other microorganisms through treatment and disinfection, some bacteria may escape treatment. Treated wastewater effluent is generally discharged into surface waters; however, some fraction of the effluent may be used as recycled water. Compromised wastewater collection infrastructure and sewage spills can disseminate …

Improving Coral Restoration Outcomes Through Novel Molecular Applications, Matthew H. Gamache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef ecosystems are declining globally from numerous stressors, including localized pollution, disease, and marine heatwaves induced by climate change. To preserve these ecosystems, it is critical to identify corals that can withstand stressors—primarily future marine heatwaves—and prioritize them for coral restoration efforts until these stressors are mitigated. Coral responses to thermal stress can be influenced by several partners, including mutualistic microalgae and a vast prokaryotic community. Here, I use advanced molecular techniques to examine which partners (coral host, algal symbiont, and microbial communities) are associated with coral health, how they contribute to holobiont physiology, and their potential to increase …

A Study Of Nonlinear Duffing Equations Using The Haar Wavelet Method, Kumbinarasaiah S., Yeshwanth R., Nandeesh K C.

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The main goal of this study is to solve Duffing equations, which are nonlinear differential equations (DEs), using the Haar wavelet technique. The solutions to this equation for an externally pushed and damped oscillator show intriguing dynamic behavior. Mathematicians have recently become more interested in wavelet analysis because of its real-world applications. A few real-world problems have been considered to assess the current methodology. Here, the (OMI) Operational Matrix of Integration and collocation points transform the non-linear ODEs into a system of nonlinear algebraic equations. The resulting system of algebraic equations is then solved using the Newton-Raphson technique to retrieve …

Solvent Extracts Of Pulvigera Papillosa (Orthotrichaceae) Show No Antimicrobial Properties In Disk Diffusion Tests, Ryan A. Solorzano, Justin Paulin, Grayson Prater, Michael Lanier

Humboldt Journal of Microbiology

Abstract As antibiotic-resistant bacteria become more prevalent, the search for novel forms of antibiotics in the natural world has become an increasingly worthwhile endeavor. Many mosses have been found to contain antimicrobial properties, including those in the family Orthotrichaceae. Pulvigera papillosa, an Orthotrichaceous moss native to California, has thus far not been investigated to determine whether it contains antimicrobial properties. Extraction techniques using polar and nonpolar solvents have proven to be effective in extracting the secondary metabolites that allow mosses to defend themselves against a hostile microbial world. This study takes a preliminary look into the antimicrobial properties of P. …