Digital Commons Network^™

Bowled Over By Cricket: Impact Of Tape-Ball Injuries On The Eyes, Salman Naveed Sadiq, Azam Ali, Bushra Usmani, Khabir Ahmed

Department of Surgery Docs

Abstract

PURPOSE:

The aim of this study was to describe the type and severity of tape-ball cricket-related eye injuries seen at a tertiary care hospital.

DESIGN:

A descriptive case series.

METHODS:

This study included all cases of tape-ball cricket-related eye injuries presenting to the Section of Ophthalmology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, from January 2014 to January 2015.

RESULTS:

A total of 20 patients with tape-ball cricket-related eye injuries were treated during this period. The right eye was involved in most (14/20) of the cases. The commonest presenting symptoms included reduced/blurred vision, ocular pain, redness, and floaters. Sixty percent (12/20) …

Readiness For Antimicrobial Resistance (Amr) Surveillance In Pakistan; A Model For Laboratory Strengthening, Dania Khalid Saeed, Rumina Hasan, Mahwish Naim, Afia Zafar, Erum Khan, Kauser Jabeen, Seema Irfan, Imran Ahmed Haq, Mohammad Zeeshan, Zabin Wajidali, Joveria Farooqi, Sadia Shakoor, Abdul Chagla, Jason Roy

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Limited capacity of laboratories for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) presents a critical diagnostic bottleneck in resource limited countries. This paper aims to identify such gaps and to explore whether laboratory networks could contribute towards improving AST in low resource settings.
Methods: A self-assessment tool to assess antimicrobial susceptibility testing capacity was administered as a pre-workshop activity to participants from 30 microbiology laboratories in 3 cities in Pakistan. Data from public and private laboratories was analyzed and capacity of each scored in percentage terms. Laboratories from Karachi were invited to join a support network. A cohort of five laboratories that …

Mucosal Fluid Glycoprotein Dmbt1 Suppresses Twitching Motility And Virulence Of The Opportunistic Pathogen Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Jianfang Li, Matteo E. O. Metruccio, David J. Evans, Suzanne M. J. Fleiszig

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

It is generally thought that mucosal fluids protect underlying epithelial surfaces against opportunistic infection via their antimicrobial activity. However, our published data show that human tear fluid can protect against the major opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa independently of bacteriostatic activity. Here, we explored the mechanisms for tear protection, focusing on impacts of tear fluid on bacterial virulence factor expression. Results showed that tear fluid suppressed twitching motility, a type of surface-associated movement conferred by pili. Previously, we showed that twitching is critical for P. aeruginosa traversal of corneal epithelia, exit from epithelial cells after internalization, and corneal virulence. Inhibition …

Visualizing Morphogenesis With The Processing Programming Language, Avik Patel, Amar Bains, Richard Millet, Tamira Elul

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Osteopathic Medicine

We used Processing, a visual artists’ programming language developed at MIT Media Lab, to simulate cellular mechanisms of morphogenesis – the generation of form and shape in embryonic tissues. Based on observations of in vivo time-lapse image sequences, we created animations of neural cell motility responsible for elongating the spinal cord, and of optic axon branching dynamics that establish primary visual connectivity. These visual models underscore the significance of the computational decomposition of cellular dynamics underlying morphogenesis.

Surface Reading The Upside Down Chandelier: Interface “Mastery” And Feminism, Kathi Inman Berens

English Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay compares the literary interfaces of one artwork, The Upside Down Chandelier [UDC], in two settings: a large-scale installation taking up a gallery room, and in a browser window. UDC is a generative, multimedia artwork authored in Flash by four women electronic literature artists using four spoken languages. It uses the same code base for both settings. The installation’s embodied and site-specific context at the gallery created multiple vantages from which to “read” the work’s design and purpose. In browser, UDC’s words are the only point of access. The reader’s urge to decode the words in …

Pesticide Concentrations In Water From A Southern Louisiana Marsh Influenced By The Mississippi River, Kara Leigh Callicott

LSU Master's Theses

The pesticides atrazine, chlorothalonil, and fipronil are common surface water contaminants due to their high rates of application and their chemical properties. This study investigates the introduction of contaminants into coastal wetlands via the Bayou Lamoque Mississippi River control structure in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. A protocol for environmental sampling using Continuous Low-level Aquatic Monitoring (C.L.A.M.) C-18 disks is described, along with effective solid phase extraction (SPE) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methodology for the determination of atrazine, chlorothalonil, and fipronil in surface water. Average concentrations of atrazine and chlorothalonil inside the Bayou Lamoque freshwater diversion structure for the months …

Heat And Mass Transfer In A Cylindrical Heat Pipe With Idealized Porous Lining, Pramesh Regmi

LSU Master's Theses

Many devices use heat pipes for cooling. They can be of different cross-sectional shapes and can range from 15 m long to 10 mm. In this work, the heat and mass transfer in a cylindrical heat pipe is modelled. The heat pipe is lined with a wick next to the wall. The wick consists of straight capillaries that run the whole length of the pipe and radially aligned capillaries that span the width of the wick. The capillaries are filled with a partially wetting liquid, and the center of the pipe is filled with its vapor. The radial capillaries are …

Chronicle & Character, Taryn Moller Nicoll

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis paper, I argue that the works in the exhibition 'Chronicle & Character' aim to demonstrate artistic citizenship and can contribute positively to society by provoking conversation about universally applicable (but often uncomfortable) topics. Experts such as David J. Elliot state that being an artistic citizen means that one’s concerns as an artist must shift from issues constrained to the artist alone to those of the artist’s surrounding community. The exhibition 'Chronicle & Character' contains works that serve as detailed chronicles of the medical or physiological experiences of my loved ones. This body of work presents how three …

National Electoral Winners And Losers: Satisfaction With Democracy Predicated On Institutional Context, Casey Newman Knott

LSU Master's Theses

How does being an electoral winner or loser shape a citizen’s satisfaction with democracy? More importantly, how does the voter’s institutional context moderate this relationship? In this paper, I demonstrate that the institutional context of a democracy interacts with a citizen’s national- level electoral loser status to moderate the relationship between the individual’s status as a loser and her satisfaction with democracy in her country. I also explore the way winning and losing at different levels of representation interact to formulate satisfaction with democracy. Using cross-sectional survey data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems nested in 75 different country-election …

Multigenic Dna Vaccine Induces Protective Cross-Reactive T Cell Responses Against Heterologous Influenza Virus In Nonhuman Primates, Merika T. Koday, Jolie A. Leonard, Paul Munson, Adriana Forero, Michael Koday, Debra L. Bratt, Karen Duus

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

Recent avian and swine-origin influenza virus outbreaks illustrate the ongoing threat of influenza pandemics. We investigated immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a multi-antigen (MA) universal influenza DNA vaccine consisting of HA, M2, and NP antigens in cynomolgus macaques. Following challenge with a heterologous pandemic H1N1 strain, vaccinated animals exhibited significantly lower viral loads and more rapid viral clearance when compared to unvaccinated controls. The MA DNA vaccine induced robust serum and mucosal antibody responses but these high antibody titers were not broadly neutralizing. In contrast, the vaccine induced broadly-reactive NP specific T cell responses that cross-reacted with the challenge virus …

Misuse Of Novel Synthetic Opioids: A Deadly New Trend, Matthew P. Prekupec, Peter A. Mansky, Michael H. Baumann

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

Novel synthetic opioids (NSOs) include various analogs of fentanyl and newly emerging non-fentanyl compounds. Together with illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF), these drugs have caused a recent spike in overdose deaths, whereas deaths from prescription opioids have stabilized. NSOs are used as stand-alone products, as adulterants in heroin, or as constituents of counterfeit prescription medications. During 2015 alone, there were 9580 deaths from synthetic opioids other than methadone. Most of these fatalities were associated with IMF rather than diverted pharmaceutical fentanyl. In opioid overdose cases, where the presence of fentanyl analogs was examined, analogs were implicated in 17% of fatalities. Recent …

Courtesy Paratexts, Informal Publishing Norms And The Copyright Vacuum In Nineteenth-Century America, Robert Spoo

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

In response to the failure of U.S. copyright law to protect foreign authors, nineteenth-century American publishers evolved an informal practice called the “courtesy of the trade” as a way to mitigate the public goods problem posed by a large and ever-growing commons of foreign works. Trade courtesy was a shared strategy for regulating potentially destructive competition for these free resources, an informal arrangement among publishers to recognize each other’s wholly synthetic exclusive rights in otherwise unprotected writings and to pay foreign authors legally uncompelled remuneration for the resulting American editions. Courtesy was, in effect, a makeshift copyright regime grounded on …

A Presynaptic Role For Nitric Oxide At A Gabaergic Synapse, John Wesley Maddox

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Amacrine cells are a class of retinal interneurons that process the visual signal in the inner retina. Several subtypes of amacrine cells express nitric oxide synthase and produce nitric oxide (NO), making NO a possible regulator of amacrine cell function. My dissertation research tests the hypothesis that NO alters amacrine cell GABAergic synaptic output. To investigate this, I made whole-cell voltage clamp recordings of cultured chick amacrine cells receiving synaptic input from other amacrine cells and Ca²⁺ imaging of amacrine cell dendrites, which can be presynaptic. I find that NO-dependent increases in GABAergic spontaneous postsynaptic current (sPSC) frequency are …

The Influence Of Social Support And Mental Illness On Punishment For Rule Violations Among Male Prisoners, Missy T. Malone

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental illness among prisoners is higher than the general population (James & Glaze, 2006). The purpose of this exploratory-descriptive study was to investigate the social support and mental health factors that best predict punishment severity for institutional rule violations among prisoners. I conducted a secondary data analysis on 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The survey participants in this study consisted of a sample of 11,569 male prisoners. Bivariate analyses of interrelationships were conducted to assess whether significant relationships exist between the severity of punishment …

Social Work Practitioners Working In End Of Life Care:Learning To Provide Culturally Appropriate Care To Clients Of Middle Eastern Descent, Laura Shafica Meiki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study utilized an interpretive qualitative methodological approach to learn about the experiences of individuals with a Master of Social Work degree (MSWs) working in end-of-life (EOL) care with patients of Middle Eastern descent and their families. Specifically, it examined (1) how a sample of social workers obtained the skills necessary to provide culturally appropriate EOL care to clients and families of Middle Eastern descent; (2) the common intervention strategies social workers employ while providing this care; and (3) the recommendations they offer to others who anticipate encountering this population in their own practice. Data collection consisted of in-depth, semi-structured …

Resonant Interactions In Strong Field Laser Physics, Seth Jacob Camp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We present a theoretical study of the influence of resonant enhancement on high harmonic generation for harmonics near the ionization threshold of helium and argon atoms. This is done by solving the time-dependent Schrodinger equation (TDSE) for the interaction between an atom and a driving laser pulse. By varying parameters of the driving laser pulse, we are able to identify the enhancement of harmonics resulting from multiphoton resonances between the ground state and Stark-shifted excited states of the atom. In this way, spectral and temporal signatures of resonant enhancement are identified and highlighted. We also study trajectory dynamics in HHG. …

Wom Or Ewom, Is There A Difference?: An Extension Of The Social Communication Theory To Consumer Purchase Related Attitudes, Mcdowell Porter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While traditional word of mouth (WOM) and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) have both been shown to highly impact consumer behavior, there is a deficit in our knowledge of how they compare to one another. My dissertation research addresses the lack of empirical studies that compare WOM promotion in the form of face-to-face interaction to eWOM promotion in the form of computer-mediated communication, especially using Web 2.0 technologies. This research tests the assumption that WOM is superior to eWOM and, if so, how to extend eWOM to improve its performance against WOM. Essay One introduces a proposed conceptual framework to …

On The Skein Theory Of 0-Framed Surgery Along The Trefoil Knot, Andrew Robert Holmes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, we will give a generating set of the Kauffman bracket skein module over the field Q(A) of 0-framed surgery along the trefoil knot. This generating set is described as a certain subset of a known basis for the skein module over Z[A^±1] of the trefoil exterior.

Educational Apps In The Blended Learning Classroom: Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning Into The Mix, Todd Cherner, Alex Fegely

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

With schools investing heavily in mobile technologies and emphasizing blended learning lessons, teachers are being required to create learning experiences that utilize these technologies to further prepare secondary students for college and the workforce. In this article, the authors first present a brief vignette intended to be representative of the emotions and pressures facing teachers as they prepare to teach with these new technologies. Next, the authors provide a framework teachers can use to create app-based lessons, which are lessons that use multiple apps to engage students in an inquiry-based learning experience. To provide further support, the authors include two …

Mis-Construction: Changes In Art And Aesthetics East/West, Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Globalization And Chinese Contemporary Art: West To East, East To West, Curtis L. Carter

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

In this article, Carter tells the weaving tale of the globalization of art and the interplay between eastern and western contemporary art. Carter sketches out the history of contemporary art in China with a keen eye towards the interplay between Chinese artists and the various western influences over time, such as the 16th century Jesuit artists, Impressionism, Cubism, Fauvism, and Dada to name a few. This history is marked by a ubiquitous tension as Chinese artists incorporated western innovations into their work, while also maintaining the poetic and literary foundation of Chinese art. Coupling that with the influence of the …

Subpopulations Of Dopamine Transporters Show Enrichment In Phosphorylation Or Palmitoylation, Michael Storandt

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Study Of Female Hockey Players Use Of Social Media To Attract Fans And Endorsements, Halli Krzyzaniak

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Chamber Ensembles And Web Presence: Best Practices For Creating And Presenting Online Content, Arisia Amalie Gilmore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study is about creating an online presence for a chamber ensemble. The study takes recommendations from notable books on music entrepreneurship, articles written for classical musicians on the importance of online content for musicians, and articles from select music industry websites. The author compares and combines these recommendations with interviews from members of seven different professional chamber ensembles, and the online presence of seventeen professional chamber ensembles that are based in the United States. The purpose of this study is to introduce to newly formed chamber ensembles how current chamber ensembles are using online media, what content is being …

The Effect Of Demographic And Clinical Factors On The Performance Of The Abbreviated Scoring Algorithm For The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits, Paige Elizabeth Cervantes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and social communication as well as the presence of restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, or activities (RRBIs; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Individuals with ASD experience lifelong and pervasive impairments across many domains of functioning. Early identification of ASD is imperative as earlier intervention is associated with greater gains in numerous areas. In regards to early identification efforts, routine screening is important. However, screening often fails to be conducted within early childhood care settings. To encourage greater rates of screening by offering a …

The Dark Side Of Self-Regulation, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

The financial services industry indirectly regulates itself through little discussed, scandal-prone, and structurally-entrenched self-regulatory organizations. FINRA, the most prominent of these self-regulatory organizations, makes regulations and sets enforcement policy that directly affect public welfare. As with other self-regulatory organizations, FINRA's structure poses a continual risk that industry members will subvert its processes to act like a cartel, promoting industry interests at the expense of the public and contributing to the excessive rents collected by financial intermediaries. Although this dark side to self-regulation poses a constant danger, structural reforms may increase the likelihood that FINRA and other self-regulatory organizations will take …

The Effects Of Chemical Reagents And Physical Environment On The In Vitro And In Vivo Properties Of Adipose-Derived Multipotent Stromal Cells Isolated From Different Species, Wei Duan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adult adipose derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ASCs) have been characterized in various species. Many factors may affect ASC fate and ASCs from different species may have different response to these factors. The first study was to identify the differences of the canine ASCs isolated from subcutaneous and infrapatellar adipose tissues, and evaluate the impact of cryopreservation on the cells. Based on paired comparisons of fresh and cryopreserved ASCs, cryopreserved ASCs had lower CD29 and CD44 protein expression and lower proliferation rates. The cryopreserved ASCs had relative lower mitochondria in the cytoplasm compared to the fresh ASCs regardless of tissue sources. …

Reduced Order Models For Beam-Wave Interaction In High Power Microwave Sources, Lokendra Singh Thakur

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We apply an asymptotic analysis to show that corrugated waveguides can be represented as cylindrical waveguides with smooth metamaterial coatings when the corrugtions are subwavelength. Here the metamaterial delivers an effective anisotropic surface impedance, effective dielectric constant, and imparts novel dispersive effects on signals traveling inside the waveguide. These properties arise from the subwavelength resonances of the metamaterial. For sufficiently deep corrugations, the waveguide exhibits backward wave propagation, which can be understood in the present context as a multi-scale phenomenon resulting from local resonances inside the subwavelength geometry. Our approach is well suited to numerical computation and we provide a …

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is A Novel Protein Sensor In Pregnancy, Elizabeth Frost Sutton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The twenty-first century has experienced a shift in cause of death worldwide from communicable diseases to noncommunicable diseases. Interestingly, many of these implicated chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, have been shown to be programmed in the womb. As first posited by the Barker Hypothesis, adverse exposures in utero can increase an individual’s risk for chronic disease later in life. Therefore, pregnancy is an opportune time for intervention to improve the health of future generations. Studies of exposures known to negatively impact infant health, e.g. states of overnutrition (obesity, diabetes, excess gestational weight gain) and undernutrition (starvation, …

From Products To Politics: Understanding The Effectiveness Of A Celebrity Political Endorsement, Melissa Sanati

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

From Scott Baio’s endorsement of Donald Trump to Sarah Silverman’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders and subsequent rejection of the “Bernie or Bust” crowd at the DNC, celebrities have habitually inserted themselves into the political sphere, however, there has been little empirical research on celebrity endorsements of political candidates. Rooted in branding theory, this study seeks to understand the effectiveness of celebrity political endorsements by utilizing advertising effectiveness models. The primary model, derived from work done by Amos, Holmes, and Strutton (2008), translates source factors of a celebrity product endorser to those of a celebrity candidate endorser, such as credibility, attractiveness, …