Digital Commons Network^™

Grey To Green: The Impact Of Environmental Policy On Us Crime Rates, Kassandra Gonzalez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the social implications of climate change and environmental degradation on deviant and criminal behavior. This study employs general strain theory to examine the effectiveness of city-level climate change mitigation actions in reducing crime rates. Through a systematic approach, this study reviews literature on environmental harms and community strain and explores the impact of local pro-environmental policies on crime reduction. Focusing on the United States, UCR crime rate reports and UN-guided Sustainable Development Goal data are analyzed at the US county level. The findings suggest that sustainable practices, especially those related to local infrastructure and community engagement, could …

I. Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of The Human Phoshodiesterase-4 And Fungal Acetyl Coa Synthetase Enzyme Inhibitors Ii. Evaluation Of Biological Activity Of Kenyan Medicinal Plants, Chaitanya Kondam

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) enzyme mainly present in immune cells, epithelial cells, and brain cells that regulate inflammation and epithelial integrity in cells. Inhibition of PDE4 enzyme leads to regulation of various inflammatory mechanisms by elevation of cyclic adenosine monophosposphate (cAMP) levels in the cells. PDE4 enzyme is promising target for treatment of pulmonary, dermatological, and neurological inflammatory diseases. Several PDE4 inhibitor drugs Roflumilast, Apremilast, and Crisaborole were approved and marketed as Dalsirep, Otezla and Eucrisa for the treatment of inflammatory pulmonary diseases, psoriatic arthritis, and atopic dermatitis. However, these drugs have adverse effects such as nausea, emesis, and gastrointestinal effects. Benzothiazole …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel Antibiotics And Anticancer Agents Targeting Pharmaceutically Relevant Enzymes, Sebastian Flieger

Dissertations

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a binary radiotherapeutic modality for cancer treatment, in which delivery agents containing 10B atoms are transported into tumor cells and then irradiated with low-energy thermal neutrons. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc-dependent endopeptidases that are involved in the remodeling and degradation of all components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). Overexpressed levels of MMP activity have been implicated in several disease states including tumor growth and metastasis. We have appended a borane-rich carborane cluster onto MMP-targeting pharmacophores to enable delivery of 10B atoms to a tumor. Herein, we describe the molecular docking experiments …

Assessing The Impacts Of Household Contacts In Covid-19 Transmission Dynamic Modeling Through Small-World Network, Thanagun Dheravijaranayankul

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, understanding household transmission has become crucial for formulating effective intervention strategies. This research investigated the impact of considering heterogeneous contact patterns in household settings by leveraging the small-world network (SWN) concept, characterized by high local clustering and short average path length. The methodology involved developing an agent-based simulation model with a two-layer contact network, distinguishing between household and non-household contacts. This simulation aimed to explore the impact of contact patterns on transmission dynamics as well as provide insights into tailored intervention strategies. We evaluate seven Non-Pharmaceutical Intervention (NPI) scenarios focusing on reducing …

Design, Synthesis, And Biological Evaluation Of Darunavir Analogs As Hiv-1 Protease Inhibitors, Muhammad Asad Ur Rehman

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Darunavir, a potent inhibitor for HIV protease (PR) for the treatment of HIV infection, encounters limitations due to the emergence of multi-drug resistance HIV strains, imposing the development of darunavir analogs as new HIV protease inhibitors (PI) with enhanced efficacy. In this study, a combinatorial in silico method was used to at first design a several HIV-1 PI analogs with variations at key sites, P1' and P2', to improve the interactions with HIV-1 PR. Fifteen analogs with encouraging binding score were selected for synthesis and assessed for the inhibition activity of HIV-1 PR. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of P2' …

Volatile Compound Profiles In Human Sweat Before And After Covid-19 Vaccination, Sorachar Phusrisom

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Vaccines have been reported to be effective at preventing people from getting the coronavirus (COVID-19) as well as reducing the harmful levels. This led to incorporation of the vaccinations into the protection protocol worldwide. The vaccinations could influence metabolisms, microbiome and metabolite distribution throughout human bodies including skin. This thesis applied gas chromatography ion mobility spectrometry (GC-IMS) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to differentiate the population with COVID-19 vaccination based on their different sweat volatile compound profiles. This involves tentative identification of 160 axillary swab samples obtained from 20 healthy volunteers before or after the COVID-19 vaccination at different …

The Future Of Meat Substitutes For Sustainable Food System: Insights From Chinese Consumer Preference And Role Of Agenda Setting, Wenxuan Guo

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The future of meat substitutes for China's sustainable food system was examined in this dissertation. Influence of media agenda-setting, consumer perception, preferences, and experts' opinions towards sustainable meat systems were investigated by text mining, online questionnaire survey, and stakeholder in-depth interviews. Integration of the agenda-setting concerning meat substitutes with the 2022 Chinese government dietary policy and the influence of articles in mainstream news is recommended. The research findings contribute to bridging the gap between policy formulation, agenda-setting, and public perception and suggest that media provide information consistently with the national food policy and provide education and knowledge correctly and clearly. …

The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

All organisms occur within spatial and temporal environments to maximize proximate fitness (health) and thus life history outcomes. Previous work has examined the temporal and behavioral aspects of proximate fitness on life history outcomes particularly regarding highly perturbed environments (i.e., climate and land use change, resource extraction, agricultural erosion, etc.). My work focuses on the less examined spatial aspect of these perturbed environments. More specifically, this dissertation examines habitat selection and quality as the basis for understanding stress response (negative and positive feedback mechanisms) to environmental stressors within the larger context of regional or gamma (ɣ) biodiversity. Through the lens …

Connecting Antibiotic Resistance To The Environment (Care): Introducing A Novel Framework Integrating Chemical Cross-Resistance And Place-Based Engagement To The Blue Marsh Watershed In Reading, Pennsylvania, Jill Felker

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Antibiotic resistance is a serious health threat around the world. Millions of individuals are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria yearly, and thousands die from previously curable illnesses. Although antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, misuse of antibiotics accelerates the loss of their effectiveness. Public health campaigns focusing on antibiotic awareness have not effectively communicated and educated the public on this health crisis. New efforts to combat antibiotic resistance are urgently needed. This dissertation focuses on the ecological and public health components of antibiotic resistance research that must be addressed to decelerate antibiotic resistance. A new interdisciplinary theoretical framework was developed to Connect Antibiotic …

Removal Of Amoxicillin Via Chromatographic Monolithic Columns: Comparison Between Batch And Continuous Fixed Bed, Mustafa Deni̇z Ağlamaz, Koray Şarkaya, Deni̇z Türkmen, Mustafa Uçar, Adi̇l Deni̇zli̇

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

This study presented a hydrophobic interaction-based poly(HEMA-MATrp) monolithic chromatographic column (MCC) to remove amoxicillin from aqueous solutions. In addition to their porous structure, monolithic-filled columns offer superior properties without loss of performance, which is one of the points that make them unique. The specific surface area of the monolithic column synthesized by the bulk polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate and N-Methacryloyl-L-tryptophan. Also, poly(HEMAMATrp) MCC has been characterized via FTIR, SEM, and elemental analysis. According to BET analysis, the specific surface area of the poly(HEMA-MATrp) monolithic chromatographic column (MCC) is 14.2 mg/g. The adsorption and desorption of amoxicillin in an aqueous solution …

Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease Targeting Potent Fluorescent Inhibitors: Repurposing Thioxanthones, Gönül Saadet Batibay, Eyüp Meti̇n

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is the major focus of the whole world due to insufficient treatment options. It has spread all around the world and is responsible for the death of numerous human beings. The future consequences for the disease survivors are still unknown. Hence, all contributions to understand the disease and effectively inhibit the effects of the disease have great importance. In this study, different thioxanthone based molecules, which are known to be fluorescent compounds, were selectively chosen to study if they can inhibit the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 using various computational tools. All candidate ligands were optimized, molecular …

Comparison Of Permafrost Thaw-Related Changes To Hydrological Response And Land Cover In Subarctic Peatland-Dominated Landscapes, Mikhail Mack

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The hydrological implications of discontinuous permafrost thaw in peatland-dominated basins are not well understood. While there is evidence suggesting that permafrost-thaw-driven land cover change increases annual runoff and the runoff ratio in the Taiga Plains of northwestern Canada, few studies have evaluated the impact on small to medium-sized basins (< 10⁵ km²) outside this ecoregion. Here, we assess runoff, runoff ratio, and precipitation trends for 34 peatland-dominated basins, of which 28 are in the discontinuous and sporadic permafrost zones and 6 in adjacent permafrost-free environments. We calculated annual and monthly trends between 1970 and 2016 using the Mann-Kendall …

Development And Praxis Of Ph Drug Delivery System Contra Zika, Julissa Rodriguez

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

As the effects of global warming continue to spread throughout the world, another critical issue is slowly gaining attention in many urban tropical countries. The Emerging Infectious Diseases/ Pathogens list from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) listed the Zika virus as a potential pandemic threat. In 2015, an outbreak of Zika was noted in several South American countries until the spread reached an all-time high of 87 countries in 2017. During the outbreaks, adults affected were noted to have joint and muscle pains, fevers, and rashes. The worst cases reported would ultimately lead to Guillain-Barre symptoms. Still, pregnant women …

Leveraging Machine Learning To Analyze Sentiment From Covid-19 Tweets: A Global Perspective, Md Mahbubar Rahman, Nafiz Imtiaz Khan, Iqbal H. Sarker, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Muhammad Nazrul Islam

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Since the advent of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing public sentiment has become one of the major concerns for policy and decision-makers. While the priority is to curb the spread of the virus, mass population (user) sentiment analysis is equally important. Though sentiment analysis using different state-of-the-art technologies has been focused on during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reasons behind the variations in public sentiment are yet to be explored. Moreover, how user sentiment varies due to the COVID-19 pandemic from a cross-country perspective has been less focused on. Therefore, the objectives of this study are: to identify the most effective …

Biofilm Formation On The Surface Of Monazite And Xenotime During Bioleaching, Arya Van Alin, Melissa K. Corbett, Homayoun Fathollahzadeh, M. Christian Tjiam, William D. A. Rickard, Xiao Sun, Andrew Putnis, Jacques Eksteen, Anna H. Kaksonen, Elizabeth Watkin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Microbial attachment and biofilm formation is a ubiquitous behaviour of microorganisms and is the most crucial prerequisite of contact bioleaching. Monazite and xenotime are two commercially exploitable minerals containing rare earth elements (REEs). Bioleaching using phosphate solubilizing microorganisms is a green biotechnological approach for the extraction of REEs. In this study, microbial attachment and biofilm formation of Klebsiella aerogenes ATCC 13048 on the surface of these minerals were investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In a batch culture system, K. aerogenes was able to attach and form biofilms on the surface of three phosphate …

Selection And Characterization Of Bacteriocinogenic Lactic Acid Bacteria From The Intestine Of Gilthead Seabream (Sparus Aurata) And Whiting Fish (Merlangius Merlangus): Promising Strains For Aquaculture Probiotic And Food Bio-Preservation, Sarah Cheriet, Sana Lenglitz, Amel Romdhani, Paul Hynds, Mohamed Salah Abbassi, Taofik Ghrairi

Articles

This study sought to evaluate the probiotic properties and the food preservation ability of lactic acid bacteria isolates collected from the intestines of wild marine fishes (gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) (n = 60) and whiting fish (Merlangius merlangus) (n = 40)) from the Mediterranean sea in the area of Mostaganem city, Algeria. Forty-two isolates were identified as: Enterococcus durans (n = 19), Enterococcus faecium (n = 15), Enterococcus faecalis (n = 4), Lactococcus lactis subp. lactis (n = 3), and Lactobacillus plantarum (n = 1). All isolates showed inhibition to at least one indicator strain, especially against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus …

Early Detection Of Sars-Cov-2 Variants Through Dynamic Co-Mutation Network Surveillance, Paul W. Bible, Qiang Huang, Huining Qiu, Yong Huang, Fangfang Zheng, Jing Gu, Jian Sun, Yuantao Hao, Yu Liu

Computer Science Faculty publications

Background: Precise public health and clinical interventions for the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a global rush on SARS-CoV-2 variant tracking, but current approaches to variant tracking are challenged by the flood of viral genome sequences leading to a loss of timeliness, accuracy, and reliability. Here, we devised a new co-mutation network framework, aiming to tackle these difficulties in variant surveillance.

Methods: To avoid simultaneous input and modeling of the whole large-scale data, we dynamically investigate the nucleotide covarying pattern of weekly sequences. The community detection algorithm is applied to a co-occurring genomic alteration network constructed from mutation corpora of weekly …

3d Indoor Modeling And Game Theory Based Navigation For Pre And Post Covid-19 Situation, Jaiteg Singh, Noopur Tyagi, Saravjeet Singh, Babar Shah, Farman Ali, Ahmad Ali Alzubi, Abdulrhman Alkhanifer

All Works

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected human behavior, creating a need for individuals to be more cautious about health and safety protocols. People are becoming more aware of their surroundings and the importance of minimizing the risk of exposure to potential sources of infection. This shift in mindset is particularly important in indoor environments, especially hospitals, where there is a greater risk of virus transmission. The implementation of route planning in these areas, aimed at minimizing interaction and exposure, is crucial for positively influencing individual behavior. Accurate maps of buildings help provide location-based services, prepare for emergencies, and manage infrastructural …

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: Factors Influencing Disability Accommodations, Alicia E. Martin

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Because not all disabilities look the same it is difficult to label a person with disabilities just by looking at them. Given that our knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions impact how we interpret our world and our willingness to act, people, including professors, may be biased toward providing accommodations for those with easily recognizable disabilities and biased against those with non-recognizable disabilities, and this may impact the disabled person’s ability to learn. This thesis aims to address whether professors’ disability-related attitudes, perceptions of accommodation reasonableness, and willingness to provide accommodations differ when the disability is recognizable (student is pictured in a …

Molecular Mechanism Behind The Safe Immunostimulatory Effect Of Withania Somnifera, Kriti Kalpana, Shen Yap, Moriya Tsuji, Akira Kawamura

Publications and Research

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (family Solanaceae) is a medicinal plant known for, among many pharmacological properties, an immune boosting effect. Our recent study revealed that its key immunostimulatory factor is lipopolysaccharide of plant-associated bacteria. This is peculiar, because, although LPS can elicit protective immunity, it is an extremely potent pro-inflammatory toxin (endotoxin). However, W. somnifera is not associated with such toxicity. In fact, despite the presence of LPS, it does not trigger massive inflammatory responses in macrophages. To gain insights into the safe immunostimulatory effect of W. somnifera, we conducted a mechanistic study on its major phytochemical constituent, …

Multimodal Game-Based Learning In Post-Secondary Education, Nathan A. Vanos

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

In this age of unprecedented technological proliferation, educators have been given a unique opportunity to enhance classroom engagement. That opportunity is multimodal game-based learning (MGBL): classroom instruction through a combination of games and multiple modalities of information. Using today’s 3D systems and virtual reality tools, this concept can be explored to depths never before possible. The aim of this project was to design and implement an application that could be used to evaluate how MGBL could impact student engagement and learning, specifically at the post-secondary level. The application implemented during this work was a 3D and virtual reality Simulator for …

Improving The Health And Safety Of Manufacturing Workers By Detecting And Addressing Personal Protective Equipment (Ppe) Violations In Real-Time With The Use Of Automated Ppe Detection Technology, Joseph Olufemi Fasinu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasized that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can significantly reduce the risk of occupational injuries and illnesses. However, improper use, failure to use, and other PPE-related violations can still result in injuries and fatalities. Eye and face protection violation has been one of the top 10 most frequently violated OSHA standards in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 consecutively. A common practice among safety professionals to ensure PPE compliance has been to physically inspect or monitor PPE usage among workers, which has been found to be unsustainable on a continuous real-time …

Assessing Spurious Correlations In Big Search Data, Jesse T. Richman, Ryan J. Roberts

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Big search data offers the opportunity to identify new and potentially real-time measures and predictors of important political, geographic, social, cultural, economic, and epidemiological phenomena, measures that might serve an important role as leading indicators in forecasts and nowcasts. However, it also presents vast new risks that scientists or the public will identify meaningless and totally spurious ‘relationships’ between variables. This study is the first to quantify that risk in the context of search data. We find that spurious correlations arise at exceptionally high frequencies among probability distributions examined for random variables based upon gamma (1, 1) and Gaussian random …

Laboratory Practices And Antimicrobial Resistance In A Florida Hospital, Crispina Marie Sy-Trias

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Antibiotic resistance is a health threat affecting millions of Americans. Microorganisms develop resistance to antibiotics, rendering them useless for treating infections. The purpose of this quantitative study was to assess the associations between sample processing time and antibiotic resistance and is based on the health belief model. A retrospective specimen tracking activity of data from November 2019 to November 2020 was obtained by random sampling of 246 bacterial cultures. One hundred ninety-six (80%) samples were processed on time, and 50 (20%) were delayed; 167 (68%) samples were determined to have the presence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and 79 (32%) with …

3d Printed Microfluidic Devices For Advanced Fluid Manipulation In Biomedical Applications, Kathrine Curtin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microfluidics are valuable devices in the biomedical field because of their remarkable ability to manipulate small volumes of fluid and facilitate reactions. Microfluidics have several significant advantages, including their portability, low cost, fast reaction times, and high surface area-to-volume ratios. Microfluidics be used for a multitude of applications, including bioanalysis, cellular assays, organ-on-a-chip, and separations. Microfluidics have great potential to overcome many challenges in conventional chemical and biological applications. However, complex fabrication procedures in silicon, glass, thermoplastics, and (polydimethylsiloxane) PDMS devices make rapidly optimizing and prototyping devices challenging. Microfluidic fabrication techniques have been a long-standing challenge in successfully translating these …

Photonic Monitoring Of Atmospheric Fauna, Adrien P. Genoud

Dissertations

Insects play a quintessential role in the Earth’s ecosystems and their recent decline in abundance and diversity is alarming. Monitoring their population is paramount to understand the causes of their decline, as well as to guide and evaluate the efficiency of conservation policies. Monitoring populations of flying insects is generally done using physical traps, but this method requires long and expensive laboratory analysis where each insect must be identified by qualified personnel. Lack of reliable data on insect populations is now considered a significant issue in the field of entomology, often referred to as a “data crisis” in the field. …

Tinjauan Matematis Waktu Tundaan Pada Model Covid-19 Dengan Vaksinansi, Fitriana Yuli Saptaningtyas, Ahmadi Ahmadi

PYTHAGORAS : Jurnal Matematika dan Pendidikan Matematika

Article ini membahas pemodelan matematika penyebaran Covid-19 dengan vaksinasi yang melibatkan waktu tundaan. Waktu tundaan merepresentasikan waktu individu mengalami penurunan kekebalan tubuh sehingga kembali rentan terhadap Covid-19 setelah sembuh. Kita tahu bahwa individu yang dinyatakan sembuh dari Covid-19 dapat terinfeksi kembali. Penelitian ini menganalisa titik ekuilibirum beserta kestabilannya, menentukan bilangan reproduksi dasar untuk melihat penyebaran penyakit, menentukan jenis bifurkasi yang muncul yang diakibatkan oleh waktu tundaan, dan melakukan simulasi numerik untuk melihat perilaku penyebaran penyakit. Di samping itu juga dilakukan kajian analitik untuk menentukan bilangan reproduksi dasar dan analisa perbandingan kestabilan lokal untuk model tanpa waktu tundaan dan dengan waktu …

Host-Pathogen Interactions In A Changing World: Microbes, Mucosal Defenses, And Multiple Hosts, Brandon C. Labumbard

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

As fungal diseases continue to emerge, research increasingly focuses on host-microbiome interactions and links to disease. Certain skin-associated microbes may benefit hosts by protecting them from invading pathogens. Seasonal changes in the host environment can also result in shifts in the microbial community and pathogen virulence – potentially influencing disease dynamics. I investigated how cutaneous microbial communities differ across hosts, seasons, and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) infection status by sequencing the microbial communities of 1,100 leopard frogs at five locations across the US. Percent anti-Bd function varied seasonally and with Bd infection status. Bacterial communities also varied across locations and time. …

Assessing The Health Effects Of Climate Change, Social Vulnerability, And Environmental Justice In Camden County, New Jersey, Daniil Ivanov

Theses

Climate change negatively impacts health, while socially vulnerable and overburdened communities disproportionately experience climate change and negative health determinants. Camden County is used as a case study for analyzing environment, socioeconomics, and health. Environmental variables—PM2.5 and land cover of impervious surfaces, floodplains, and forests—were compared to the CDC Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) at the census tract level, finding significant correlations between land cover, air quality, and the SVI. The overburdened communities defined by the NJ Environmental Justice Law experienced a significantly higher incidence of emergency department visitation for respiratory, circulatory, and mental illnesses than non-overburdened communities. Health outcomes were compared …

Prevalence And Plasmid Profiles Of Enterobacteriaceae Isolates Obtained From Individuals With Asymptomatic Bacteriuria In Okada, Edo State, Nigeria, Osarumwense Precious Otote, Maureen Uchechukwu Okwu, Osazee Ekundayo Izevbuwa, Happy Ovuerhi Oferiofe

Makara Journal of Science

Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) is the presence of bacteria in apparently healthy individuals. Although, the prevalence varies widely with age, gender, and the presence or absence of genitourinary abnormalities, the detection of pathogenic bacteria in urine constitutes firm evidence of infection. The objectives of this study were to isolate members of the family Enterobacteriaceae from urine samples of research participants, and to determine the antibacterial susceptibility and plasmid profiles of the isolates. A total of 122 mid-stream urine samples consisting of 72 male and 50 female participants from selected primary and secondary schools were collected. The age of the participants used …