Digital Commons Network^™

Trauma, Depression, And Burnout In The Human Rights Field: Identifying Barriers And Pathways To Resilient Advocacy, Sarah Knuckey, Margaret L. Satterthwaite, Adam Brown

Faculty Articles

Human rights advocates often confront trauma and stress in their work. They are exposed to testimony about heinous abuses; work in insecure locations; visit physical sites of abuse; review forensic, photographic, and video evidence; directly witness abuses; experience threats; and can also suffer detention, be attacked, or be tortured themselves. Such exposure risks adversely impacting the wellbeing and mental health of advocates. While the human rights field is diverse and work varies widely, most—if not all—advocates are likely directly or indirectly exposed to potentially traumatic events or material in the course of their work. The degree and type of exposure …

The Body Politic: Federalism As Feminism In Health Reform, Elizabeth Y. Mccuskey

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

This essay illuminates how modern health law has been mainstreaming feminism under the auspices of health equity and social determinants research. Feminism shares with public health and health policy both the empirical impulse to identify inequality and the normative value of pursing equity in treatment. Using the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance reforms as a case study of health equity in action, the essay exposes the feminist undercurrents of health insurance reform and the impulse toward mutuality in a body politic. The essay concludes by revisiting—from a feminist perspective—scholars’ arguments that equity in health insurance is essential for human …

Health Justice In The Age Of Alternative Facts And Tax Cuts: Value-Based Care, Medicaid Reform, And The Social Determinants Of Health, Elizabeth Tobin-Tyler

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

Some provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) as well as regulatory policies under the Obama administration reflected the overwhelming evidence that to reduce health care costs, and to improve quality of care and population health, the social determinants of health (SDOH) must be addressed. These policies included funding for partnerships between public health agencies, community organizations, and health care institutions, promotion of value-based payment models that incentivize integrated health and social care delivery, and support for Medicaid program innovations that directly address social needs as part of health care. The Trump administration, through a …

The Uses Of History In The Anti-War Writing Of Robinson Jeffers And Ezra Pound, Richard Drake

Jeffers Studies

Although Robinson Jeffers and Ezra Pound both condemned American foreign policy during World War II, they did so for radically different reasons. Pound’s reading of American history led him to a pro-fascist position on the war, whereas Jeffers adhered to a standard isolationist argument, a mainstream political position during the interwar period. Comparing the ways in which the two poets thought about American history and American historians will help us to understand the cultural politics of both these literary masters and where they stood in the political context of their time. The article analyzes Pound’s notorious but illuminating Fascist radio …

The Forbidden Subject: How Oppositional Aesthetics Banished Beauty From The Arts, Whitney Hoth

Jeffers Studies

No abstract provided.

Improving Public Health Readiness For Sea Level Rise: A New Initiative In Coastal Virginia, Steven M. Becker

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Sea level has been rising around the world, and in recent decades, the rate has been accelerating. Because rising seas have the potential to directly or indirectly affect the health of vast numbers of coastal communities and inhabitants, public health agencies and professionals—in conjunction with other fields—have a pivotal role to play in helping to protect populations, reduce and prevent health impacts, and foster resilience. This article discusses a novel effort that has been undertaken in Coastal Virginia to help prepare the next generation of public health professionals to grapple with sea level rise issues. The effort grew out of …

Wearabledl: Wearable Internet-Of-Things And Deep Learning For Big Data Analytics—Concept, Literature, And Future, Aras R. Dargazany, Paolo Stegagno, Kunal Mankodiya

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

This work introduces Wearable deep learning (WearableDL) that is a unifying conceptual architecture inspired by the human nervous system, offering the convergence of deep learning (DL), Internet-of-things (IoT), and wearable technologies (WT) as follows: (1) the brain, the core of the central nervous system, represents deep learning for cloud computing and big data processing. (2) The spinal cord (a part of CNS connected to the brain) represents Internet-of-things for fog computing and big data flow/transfer. (3) Peripheral sensory and motor nerves (components of the peripheral nervous system (PNS)) represent wearable technologies as edge devices for big data collection. In recent …

Harmonic Sum-Based Method For Heart Rate Estimation Using Ppg Signals Affected With Motion Artifacts, Harishchandra Dubey, Ramdas Kumaresan, Kunal Mankodiya

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Wearable photoplethysmography has recently become a common technology in heart rate (HR) monitoring. General observation is that the motion artifacts change the statistics of the acquired PPG signal. Consequently, estimation of HR from such a corrupted PPG signal is challenging. However, if an accelerometer is also used to acquire the acceleration signal simultaneously, it can provide helpful information that can be used to reduce the motion artifacts in the PPG signal. By dint of repetitive movements of the subjects hands while running, the accelerometer signal is found to be quasi-periodic. Over short-time intervals, it can be modeled by a finite …

Extensive Crispr Rna Modification Reveals Chemical Compatibility And Structure-Activity Relationships For Cas9 Biochemical Activity, Keith T. Gagnon

Publications

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) endonucleases are at the forefront of biotechnology, synthetic biology and gene editing. Methods for controlling enzyme properties promise to improve existing applications and enable new technologies. CRISPR enzymes rely on RNA cofactors to guide catalysis. Therefore, chemical modification of the guide RNA can be used to characterize structure-activity relationships within CRISPR ribonucleoprotein (RNP) enzymes and identify compatible chemistries for controlling activity. Here, we introduce chemical modifications to the sugar-phosphate backbone of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 CRISPR RNA (crRNA) to probe chemical and structural requirements. Ribose sugars that promoted or accommodated A-form helical architecture in …

2017-2018 Faculty Senate Annual Report, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

The primary file includes the 2017-2018 Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Responsibility Annual Report. Additional annual reports are attached.

A Numerical Analysis Of The Effects Of Flapping Wing Kinematics On The Aeroacoustics In Hovering Flight, Kabilan Nedunchezian

Theses

Despite the recent interest in flapping wing aerodynamics, the aerodynamic sound generation mechanism of a flapping wing is inadequately understood. In this thesis, the interplay between the wing motion, resulting unsteady aerodynamics, and aeroacoustics of a flapping wing flyer is investigated. The wing motion is varied in terms of the flapping amplitude, pitching amplitude and the phase difference between flap and pitch. The unsteady flow around the flapping wing is numerically calculated using a well-validated Navier-Stokes equation solver. Acoustic pressures are computed using the Ffowcs- Williams and Hawkings equation in a three-dimensional space at varying distances from the wing. Two …

Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging Of Populus Tremuloides Rhizosphere Nutrient Exchange Interactions With Laccaria Bicolor And Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Carli S. Salvador

Theses

Plants form interactions with other symbiotic organisms such as mycorrhizal fungus and bacteria in the rhizosphere; therefore, it is pivotal to understand the nutrient exchange that takes place. In this experiment, Populus tremuloides seedlings were grown on a thin, nutrient dense media for the control as well a limited-nitrogen media. Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging is used in this study to analyze nitrate and ammonium concentrations in the rhizosphere of P. tremuloides with Laccaria bicolor and Pseudomonas fluorescens after 7 weeks of growth. Plants were grown on low-emission slides in the first experiment; however, due to media thickness issues, Polyethylene and …

Ethnicity And Breast Cancer Characteristics In Kenya, Shahin Sayed, Zahir Moloo, Ronald Wasike, Peter Bird, Raymond Oigara, Faith Wambui Njoroge, Asim Jamal, Sudhir Vinayak, Rajendra Chauhan, Patricia Okiro, Samuel Gakinya, Innocent Abayo

Pathology, East Africa

Purpose: There are no published data from specific regions of sub-Saharan Africa describing the clinical and pathological characteristics and molecular subtypes of invasive breast cancer by ethnic group. The purpose of this study was to investigate these characteristics among the three major ethno-cultural groupings in Kenya.

Methods: The study included women with pathologically confirmed breast cancer diagnosed between March 2012 and May 2015 at 11 hospitals throughout Kenya. Sociodemographic, clinical, and reproductive data were collected by questionnaire, and pathology review and immunohistochemistry were performed centrally.

Results: The 846 cases included 661 Bantus (78.1%), 143 Nilotes (16.9%), 19 Cushites (2.3%), and …

Effectiveness Of Safety, Health And Environment Practice In Manufacturing Industries: A Case Study Of Spray Booth Area At Selected Company In Kota Damansara, Selangor / Farah Amalina Ahmad Suhaimi, Ahmad Suhaimi Farah Amalina

Student Works (2010-2019)

These days, accident and health diseases related to work become well known as a major concerned to the industries involved in Malaysia. This problem normally happened to manufacturing industry’s workers. The total number of organizations increased worldwide accommodate to this requirements of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMS). In Malaysia, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA, 1994) was made and the Occupational health and safety regulations enforce a punishment related to the unsafe working condition to the employer’s non-compliance with the standards. Painting industries, the effectiveness of Occupational Safety and Health practice in Malaysia is generally lacking and …

Aplikasi Kaedah ‘Umum Al-Balwa Dalam Isu Pencemaran Produk Makanan / Muhamad Afiq Abd Razak, Abd Razak Muhamad Afiq

Student Works (2010-2019)

Pencemaran merupakan isu yang serius dalam penghasilan produk makanan. Dari aspek keselamatan makanan pencemaran yang berlaku boleh datang dalam bentuk agen biologi, kimia dan fizikal. Ketiga-tiga jenis kebahayaan ini adalah perlu dikawal supaya tidak memasuki ke dalam produk makanan kerana boleh mendatangkan mudarat kepada pengguna seperti boleh menyebabkan penyakit bawaan makanan dan kematian. Selanjutnya, pencemaran juga boleh berlaku dari aspek halal. Walau bagaimanapun, terdapat pertimbangan fiqh yang boleh diaplikasikan malah boleh menjadi penentuan alternatif kepada halal-haram produk makanan apabila berlakunya pencemaran yang menyukarkan. Terdapat jenis pencemaran yang berlaku di luar kawalan dan bersifat sukar untuk dielakkan adalah seperti DNA khinzir …

Discovery Of Potential Biomarkers In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Using Next Generation Sequencing And Proteomic Technologies / Jesinda Pauline Kerishnan, Kerishnan Jesinda Pauline

Student Works (2010-2019)

Oral cancer patients have one of the lowest survival rates in the world due to its poor prognosis. Early detection and diagnosis using more reliable biomarkers will improve the current survival rate of OSCC patients. The present study aims to identify potential molecular biomarkers associated to OSCC using a combination of genomics and proteomics technologies. First, the demographic characteristics of patients were analysed to identify and determine the suitable cohort for this study. Demographic study of 208 OSCC patients and 134 non-OSCC controls confirmed that the local female Indian community that practices betel quid chewing is at the highest risk …

Comparative Molecular Signatures Of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells During In Vitro Passaging / Aung Shuh Wen, Shuh Wen Aung

Student Works (2010-2019)

Significant progress has been witnessed in the last decade documenting the use of human mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (hMSCs) as an alternative resource for cell replacement therapy owing to their intrinsic features of self-renewal and differentiation capacity into therapeutically valuable cell types. However, the yield of isolated hMSCs from donor tissues is usually inadequate, suggesting the need for the expansion of hMSCs in culture to meet the clinical need. However, hMSCs undergo cellular ageing, thus limiting their proliferation and differentiation potential in long term-culture. Cellular ageing is the manifestation of a complex interplay of molecular pathways between the gene expression and …

Development Of An In Vitro 3d Co-Culture System As An Ameloblastoma Disease Model / Lee Soo Leng, Soo Leng Lee

Student Works (2010-2019)

Ameloblastoma, the most clinically significant odontogenic epithelial tumour, is a locally-invasive and destructive lesion in the jawbones. Stromal cells as key contributors to the tumour microenvironment have a prominent role in tumour growth, progression and the spread of tumours. Therefore, the reciprocal parenchymal-stromal interactions in the milieu of the tumour microenvironment are inevitably capable of addressing the illunderstood nature of the infiltrativeness and destructive behaviour of ameloblastoma. Objective: An in vitro three-dimensional (3D) ameloblastoma tumour-osteoblast coculture model was established to elucidate the effect of heterotypic cell interactions on tumour growth and morphological characteristics of tumour cell. Materials and Methods: Stromal …

Binding Activity Of Duffy Binding Protein (Pkdbpaii) Of Plasmodium Knowlesi Clinical Isolates From Peninsular Malaysia And Malaysian Borneo / Lim Khai Lone, Khai Lone Lim

Student Works (2010-2019)

The zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi is a major cause of human malaria in Malaysia. This parasite uses the Duffy binding protein (PkDBPαII) to interact with the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) receptor on human and macaque erythrocytes to initiate invasion. Previous studies on P. knowlesi have reported distinct Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo PkDBPαII haplotypes. Notably, patients with knowlesi malaria in Malaysian Borneo often present with hyperparasitemia and more severe disease compared to patients in Peninsular Malaysia. Therefore, it is our interest to determine the implication of the genetic variation of PkDBPαII from Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo on binding …

Impact Of Elemental Iron On Human Spermatozoa And Mouse Embryonic Development In Vitro In A Defined Synthetic Protein-Free Culture System / Safaa Mahmoud Naes, Mahmoud Naes Safaa

Student Works (2010-2019)

The element iron is essential for life and plays a number of key roles in biological processes and it is involved in cell development, some of which are intimately related to spermatogenesis and spermatozoa metabolism. Iron and its compounds within certain limits are not fundamentally toxic for the human organisms. However, the role of iron in infertility has not been widely investigated. Infertility, which known as a failure to achieve conception after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse, affects 10– 15% of couples and approximately 80 million couples worldwide. The common causes of infertility include male factors, female factors, …

Influenza Hemagglutinin 1 (Ha1) Surface-Displayed On Lactococcus Lactis In The Induction Of Protective Mucosal Immunity Against Influenza Virus / Jee Pui Fong, Pui Fong Jee

Student Works (2010-2019)

Influenza virus infection can result in respiratory illnesses and may contribute to high rate of morbidity and mortality. In addition to the pandemic influenza, seasonal influenza remains a major health concern worldwide. To date, vaccination is still the most effective approach for the prevention and control of influenza. Vaccines are usually delivered by intramuscular (IM) injection using needle, which causes pain and possibility of blood transmissible infections. Side effects associated with conventional vaccines, such as local reactions at the injection site, are among the issues necessitating alternative modes of vaccine delivery. Currently, there is great interest in developing mucosal vaccine …

Microgrids And Resilience To Climate-Driven Impacts On Public Health, Justin Gundlach

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

“Resilience” has burst into the lexicons of several policy areas in recent years, owing in no small part to climate change’s amplification of extreme events that severely disrupt the operation of natural, social, and engineered systems. Fostering resilience means anticipating severe disruptions and planning, investing, and designing so that such disruptions, which are certain to occur, are made shallower in depth and shorter in duration. Thus a resilient system or community can continue functioning despite disruptive events, return more swiftly to routine function following disruption, and incorporate new information so as to improve operations in extremis and speed future restorations. …

Investigation Of Transverse Electric And Transverse Magnetic Modes In Microstrip Patch Antennas, Tanzeela Mitha

Theses

Microstrip patch antennas are light weight and low cost antennas that are generally made of perfect electric conducting (PEC) materials and excite the transverse magnetic (TM) modes, when supported by a thin dielectric slab. In this thesis, a new type of patch antennas is investigated to excite the transverse electric (TE) modes, based on electromagnetic duality theorem. To this end, new sets of boundary conditions are enforced through utilizing perfect magnetic conductors (PMC) instead of PEC. That is, the zero-impedance PECs are replaced with high-impedance PMCs. Since a PMC does not exist in nature, artificial magnetic conductors (AMC), based on …

The Impact Of Humor On Stress Responses During A Listening Span Task, Cynthia L. Stanley

Theses

The current experiment examined how humor influences the effects of stress induced by mental workload. Participants completed a Modified Listening Span task (MLS) that was chosen to induce mental workload and measure working memory capacity. Participants also viewed a series of neutral and positive images, one of three videos, completed a workload measure before and after the MLS, and pulse wave amplitude readings were collected throughout the experiment. Participants reported higher workload ratings following completion of the MLS, demonstrating an increased mental workload. Subjective stress ratings and PWA readings were higher following the completion of the MLS, illustrating an increase …

Taylor V. Twitter, California Superior Court

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

Eichenwald V. Rivello, District Of Maryland

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

A Multifactorial Cytochrome P450 2d6 Genotype-Phenotype Prediction Model To Improve Precision Of Clinical Pharmacogenomic Tests, Rachel Dalton

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

BACKGROUND: CYP2D6 is difficult to accurately genotype due to a large number of single nucleotide variants (SNVs), indels, and structural variation such as deletions, duplications, and CYP2D6/CYP2D7 hybrid genes. CYP2D6 targeted genotyping panels are of limited utility; clinically relevant variants that are not genotyped will be missed. Sequencing solves this problem but requires additional tools to address structural variation. The goal of our study was to determine the predictive power of Stargazer, a novel allele-calling program, which combines SNV/indel calls with structural variation identification.

METHODS: In a panel of 309 human livers, CYP2D6 diplotypes and activity scores were initially assigned …

Biotic And Abiotic Influences On The Evolution Of Elevational Range Limts And Life-History Strategies Of Tropical Birds, Andrew James Boyce

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Environmental gradients provide natural forums for understanding how and why species differ. The study of interspecific variation across gradients has provided foundations for our understanding of community ecology, species distributions, life-history evolution and physiological ecology (Janzen 1967; Macarthur 1972; Martin 2015). In this dissertation, I explore questions in these disciplines, using a comparative approach on elevational and latitudinal gradients. My primary focus is understanding the biotic and abiotic processes that limit species distributions and how those same forces scale up to influence the composition of communities on an elevational gradient. I also test a physiological hypothesis for the gradient of …

The Psychological And Physiological Effect Of Performing The Primal Reflex Release Technique On Female, Division I Collegiate Athletes, Erika K. Vichcales

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Anxiety is a cognitive, behavioral, and physiological reaction to stress, and athletes have an increased risk being in a high-stress environment. One of the effects of increased stress on the body is a condition known as central sensitization (CS) where the central nervous system amplifies sensory input across many organ systems causing a pain response in normally non-painful areas or hypersensitivity to stimuli. The Primal Reflex Release Technique (PRRT) is a manual-therapy approach for evaluating and relieving musculoskeletal pain in patients, and is meant to facilitate a “neural reboot” of a hyper-aroused nervous system. The purpose of this study is …

Confronting The Challenges Of Whale Avoidance By Large Vessels To Reduce Collision Risk: A Quantitative Approach, Jennifer E. Helm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disturbance of wildlife by human transportation infrastructure is ubiquitous. This type of human-wildlife conflict has the potential to negatively impact wildlife population growth rates, especially for at-risk species like large whales. While many whale populations are rebounding as a result of a moratorium on commercial whaling, increasing ship traffic constitutes a significant threat to whale conservation efforts in the form of ship-whale collisions (“ship strikes”). Ship strike avoidance is difficult because vessel operators can only see whales when they are breaking the surface of the water, or “available for detection,” and even then, they will only see them a fraction …