Digital Commons Network^™

The Experience Of Pregnant Women In Remission From Anorexia Nervosa, Meghan Butcher

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study explored the subjective experience of pregnant women in remission from Anorexia Nervosa (AN). This subject matter is of importance due to the high relapse rates of AN, the ability for women to become pregnant while in remission from AN, the significant physical and emotional tolls of pregnancy, and the known dangers of AN behaviors during pregnancy. Prior to this study, minimal research had been conducted pertaining to the experience of women who became pregnant while in remission from AN. This study utilized Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to inform interpretation of narrative responses collected through semi-structured interviews. Participants …

Sexual Desire As Experienced By South Asian Women Living In British Columbia, Seema M. Buksh

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Cultural beliefs and values play a significant role in the conceptualization, expression, and experience of sexual desire and functioning. Previous studies have found higher mainstream acculturation was associated with higher sexual desire and arousal. Many of these studies have also linked the cultural effects on sexual functioning to culture-differences in sexual conservatism. Within South Asian culture there is a propensity towards sexual conservatism, especially in relation to female sexual desire, yet research with regards to sexual desire and South Asian women is absent from the literature. Given the dearth of research related to this topic, further research in this area …

Following The Seed: Investigating Seed Saving And Network Creation In The Appalachian Region Of Southeastern Ohio, Molly Hicks

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Since the beginning of agriculture, seeds have been cultivated, saved, and exchanged by farmers each year to ensure the success of future crops adapted to local environments. Yet, over ninety percent of our diverse vegetable and fruit crop varieties have been lost due to the industrialization and commercialization of seeds. Industrial agriculture has caused a great homogenization of crop varieties, but locally adapted seeds and their seed savers do still exist on the fringe, and across the world. There is a small but growing body of research on agri-food networks in Western and developing countries where advocates are working to …

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Of The Habenula In Mood Disorder Patients With And Without Suicide-Related Behaviors, Elisa Ambrosi, David B Arciniegas, Kaylah N Curtis, Michelle A Patriquin, Gianfranco Spalletta, Gabriele Sani, B Christopher Frueh, J Christopher Fowler, Alok Madan, Ramiro Salas

Staff and Researcher Publications

The habenula is a small midbrain structure that is important for brain signaling and learning from negative events. Thus, the habenula is strongly connected to both the reward system and motor regions. Increasing evidence suggests a role for the habenula in the etiology of psychiatric disorders, including mood and substance use disorders. However, no studies to date have investigated habenular resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in suicide-related behaviors (SB). The authors enrolled 123 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder and a history of suicide-related behaviors (SB+), 74 individuals with MDD or bipolar disorder and a history of suicidal …

Ecopsychology Revisited, Jorge Conesa-Sevilla

Trade & Scholarly Monographs

Ecopsychology Revisited is a critique of and deconstructive approach to several trends termed “ecopsychology.” This work attempts to bring light to some of the misconceptions that have hardened as “ecopsychology,” as these ideas have been reinterpreted and sometimes oversimplified by the general public and some professionals outside mainstream psychology. Part of the confusion arose when “ecopsychology” became inadequately amalgamated with other ideas. Nevertheless, within the social and behavioral sciences, at least, there is great value in devising and applying evidence-based strategies that track the normative ramifications dealing with cognition, emotion and behavior, exploring how or why humans relate to natural …

A Proof-Of-Mechanism Study To Test Effects Of The Nmda Receptor Antagonist Lanicemine On Behavioral Sensitization In Individuals With Symptoms Of Ptsd, Marijn Lijffijt, Charles E Green, Nicholas Balderston, Tabish Iqbal, Megan Atkinson, Brittany Vo-Le, Bylinda Vo-Le, Brittany O'Brien, Christian Grillon, Alan C Swann, Sanjay J Mathew

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a heightened sensitivity to subsequent stressors, addictive drugs, and symptom recurrence, a form of behavioral sensitization. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are involved in the establishment and activation of sensitized behavior.

Objective: We describe a protocol of a randomized placebo-controlled Phase 1b proof-of-mechanism trial to examine target engagement, safety, tolerability, and possible efficacy of the NMDAR antagonist lanicemine in individuals with symptoms of PTSD (Clinician Administered PTSD Scale [CAPS-5] score ≥ 25) and evidence of behavioral sensitization measured as enhanced anxiety-potentiated startle (APS; T-score ≥ 2.8).

Methods: Subjects (n = 24; age range 21–65) …

Face-Ism In Sport Communication: Examining Professional Athletes’ Twitter Profile Photographs, Ju Young Lee, Paul M. Pedersen

Global Sport Business Journal

Athletes who engage in social media have an opportunity to present their respective images in numerous ways. One strategy is through the use of profile photographs, an option that is provided by various social networking sites. Social media profile photographs are important in an online self-presentation context, and, as such, users attempt to construct positive self-images through such source publicity opportunities. This study analyzed the face-ism phenomenon of the Twitter profile photographs of professional athletes from the WNBA, NBA, LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, WTA, and ATP. The results revealed no differences in the facial prominence displayed between female and male …

Identifying And Preventing Porcupine Damage To Trees, Michael R. Kuhns, Megan Dettenmaier, Jessica Tegt

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes the basic ecology and behavior of the porcupine and identifies ways to determine if porcupines are damaging trees on your property. We explain specific techniques for protecting trees and property from porcupine damage.

What Is Data Journalism For? Cash, Clicks, And Cut And Trys, Nik Usher

Communication: Faculty Scholarship

The financial incentives and the unintended consequences of commercial data journalism are addressed

Disability Access And Local Government: Co-Researching The City Of Bunbury’S Aim To Become The Most Accessible Regional City In Australia, Adam Johnson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study used Participatory Action Research (PAR) to investigate the facilitators of disability access in local government, with a focus on the City of Bunbury in Western Australia. In 2014, the City of Bunbury adopted a long-term aspirational goal to become the Most Accessible Regional City in Australia (MARCIA), and the findings and recommendations from this study are intended to inform strategic priorities for achieving that goal, including a potential change of corporate approach required to attain MARCIA status. The thesis critically evaluates the historical, cultural and systemic factors that have influenced accessibility and inclusion in the development of Bunbury’s …

Nitrogen Self-Doped Activated Carbons Derived From Bamboo Shoots As Adsorbent For Methylene Blue Adsorption, Bingbing Mi, Jingxin Wang, Hongzhong Xiang, Fang Liang, Jianfei Yang, Zixing Feng, Tao Zhang, Wanhe Hu, Xianmiao Liu, Zhijia Liu, Benhua Fei

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Bamboo shoots, a promising renewable biomass, mainly consist of carbohydrates and other nitrogen-related compounds, such as proteins, amino acids and nucleotides. In this work, nitrogen self-doped activated carbons derived from bamboo shoots were prepared via a simultaneous carbonization and activation process. The adsorption properties of the prepared samples were evaluated by removing methylene blue from waste water. The factors that affect the adsorption process were examined, including initial concentration, contact time and pH of methylene blue solution. The resulting that BSNC-800-4 performed better in methylene blue removal from waste water, due to its high specific surface area (2270.9 m2 g−1), …

“Trespassers Will Be Persecuted”: Oil And Property Law In Ben Okri’S “What The Tapster Saw”, Rose Casey

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

A movement appears to be underway in certain areas of property jurisprudence to recalibrate property law for more equitable and life-sustaining ends. For many legal theorists working from a Global South, indigenous, or minority perspective, international legal frameworks seem increasingly receptive to reformulating laws regulating property ownership to better protect frequently dispossessed communities and sustain ecological, animal, and human life. Perhaps the most promising such example of a potentially substantial change to prevailing formulations of property ownership is found in the area of indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. Since 2007, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working …

Targeting The Blood-Brain Barrier To Prevent Sepsis-Associated Cognitive Impairment, Divine C. Nwafor, Allison L. Brichacek, Afroz S. Mohammad, Jessica Griffith, Brandon P. Lucke-Wold, Stanley A. Benkovic, Werner J. Geldenhuys, Paul R. Lockman, Candice M. Brown

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory disease resulting from an infection. This disorder affects 750 000 people annually in the United States and has a 62% rehospitalization rate. Septic symptoms range from typical flu-like symptoms (eg, headache, fever) to a multifactorial syndrome known as sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). Patients with SAE exhibit an acute altered mental status and often have higher mortality and morbidity. In addition, many sepsis survivors are also burdened with long-term cognitive impairment. The mechanisms through which sepsis initiates SAE and promotes long-term cognitive impairment in septic survivors are poorly understood. Due to its unique role as an interface …

Geochronology And Depositional History Of The Sandy Springs Aeolian Landscape In The Unglaciated Upper Ohio River Valley, United States, Mathew P. Purtill, J. Steven Kite, Steven L. Forman

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The study of active and stabilized late Quaternary aeolian landforms provides important proxies for past climate events and environmental transitions. Despite an overall increase in the study of aeolian landforms in previously glaciated and coastal settings in eastern North America, the history of aeolian sedimentation in many unglaciated inland alluvial settings remain poorly understood. This study reports on the geochronology and depositional history of aeolian landforms and sediments in the unglaciated upper Ohio Valley at the Sandy Springs site. Aeolian landforms and sediments include complex, linear, barchan-like, and climbing dunes; an interdune sand sheet; and sandy loess that blankets high …

Defense Perspectives On Fairness And Efficiency At The International Criminal Court, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Over the last several years, states parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have put increasing pressure on the court to become more efficient. Proceedings are seen as unduly slow, and judges have been urged to rein in the parties and expedite the process.

The emphasis on efficiency can advance important goals of the ICC. It can help ensure defendants’ right to a speedy trial, promote victims’ interests in closure, and allow the court to process more cases with limited resources. But as the experience of earlier international criminal tribunals shows, an unrelenting pursuit of efficiency could also interfere with …

Advancements In Biomimetic Underwater Propulsion: Boundary Interactions And Crossflow Compensation, Matthew Perkins

Open Access Dissertations

Biomimetic propulsion is an active area of research in the field of robotics. This work presents advancements to help improve the performance of vehicles employing oscillating foil propulsion. For vehicles operating near the sea floor, ground effect on rolling and pitching foils was investigated in Manuscript 1. The ‘ground effect’ was found to be present and to cause a repulsion force on the foil as well as an increased thrust force. It was also shown that ground effect can be activated by biasing the foil into the ground effect zone while the vehicle maintains a greater distance from the boundary. …

Information Mischief Under The Trump Administration, Nathan Cortez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The Trump administration has used government information in more cynical ways than its predecessors. For example, it has removed certain information from the public domain, scrubbed certain terminology from government web sites, censored scientists, manipulated public data, and used “transparency” initiatives as a pretext for anti-regulatory policies, particularly environmental policy. This article attempts to tease out an emerging “information policy” for the Trump administration, explain how it departs from the information policies of predecessors, and evaluate the extent to which both legal and non-legal mechanisms might constrain executive discretion.

Digital Health And Regulatory Experimentation At The Fda, Nathan Cortez

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

For well over a decade the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been told that its framework for regulating traditional medical devices is not modern or flexible enough to address increasingly novel digital health technologies. Very recently, however, the FDA introduced a series of digital health initiatives that represent important experiments in medical product regulation, departing from longstanding precedents applied to therapeutic products like drugs and devices. The FDA will experiment with shifting its scrutiny from the pre-market to the post-market phase, shifting the locus of regulation from products to firms, and shifting from centralized government review to decentralized …

An Omics Based Approach For The Identification Of Biomarkers In Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Using In Vitro Models Of Hepatic Steatosis, Anitha Saravanakumar

Open Access Dissertations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an “umbrella” term for the broad spectrum of the disease that begins from the simple steatosis to more progressive stages of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), that includes hepatocellular ballooning, inflammation, and fibrosis. NAFLD is a growing epidemic globally, with 25% of the population predicted to be diagnosed with this disease. Liver biopsy is the only definitive method of diagnosis, despite the widespread use of sonography and elastography to predict the disease state. There is no current FDA approved medication for NAFLD/NASH. This is partly due to the lack of translatable disease model to predict the …

Three Experimental Examinations Of Aspects Of Institutions Governing Natural Resource Use, Christopher Brozyna

Open Access Dissertations

Theory alone cannot accurately describe the characteristics of successful natural resource governance institutions. Laboratory economic experiments are needed to analyze the characteristics and validate theories in a controlled environment. Three such experiments on important, but frequently overlooked, aspects of institutions are reported: time allowed for decision-making, the strength of property rights, and how resource user groups impact each other. Chapter 1 analyzes how psychology can impact outcomes in institutions by forcing subjects to make decisions under time pressure, something not before analyzed in a dynamic Common Pool Resource management context. We find users under time pressure make decisions which reduce …

Was Yosef On The Spectrum? Understanding Joseph Through Torah, Midrash, And Classical Jewish Sources (Introduction), Samuel J. Levine

Scholarly Works

The story of Yosef (Joseph) presents some of the most challenging questions of all biblical narratives. Yosef’s behavior, interpersonal relationships, and personal journey and development are often difficult to understand, and at times seem to defy explanation. Leading commentators are repeatedly puzzled both by Yosef’s actions and by the events that surround him. This book attempts to achieve a coherent and cohesive reading of the story that offers a plausible understanding of Yosef’s behaviors toward others and those of others toward him, while at the same time accounting for both his successes and his failures. Toward that goal, the book …

Operative Subsidiary And Municipal Authority: The Case Of Toronto's Ward Boundary Review, Alexandra Flynn

All Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes what the principle of subsidiarity means for municipalities, arguing in favour of “operative subsidiarity” in the design of provincial legislation. First, I outline the meaning and origins of subsidiarity, including critiques in the potential of its application. Second, I discuss the judicial treatment of municipal authority in Canada over the last twenty years. I advance that municipal authority as interpreted by the SCC has increasingly made room for municipalities as governments deserving of deference, unless the action breaches fairness or human rights. However, despite this judicial evolution, provinces have not drafted legislation with the principle of subsidiarity …

Transnational Law As Unseen Law, Natasha Affolder

All Faculty Publications

Part of the continuing allure of Philip Jessup’s account of transnational law, published in 1956, lies in its promise of capturing something beyond the easily visible bodies of public and private international law. Attempts to name and to frame this unseen law continue to this day. This chapter, part of a collection commemorating the 60^th anniversary of the publication of Transnational Law, examines the intellectual holding pen created by Jessup for other rules and sources of law, his “larger storehouse of rules”. While this initiative was firmly aimed at expanding the view of law to see beyond the …

Exploring Latino Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes And Beliefs About Learning And Teaching Science: What Are The Critical Factors?, Maria E. Diaz

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This qualitative study explores the in- and out-of-school experiences that could have influenced elementary preservice teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward learning and teaching science. Participants were 126 Latina/o EC-6 preservice teachers in the context of a 16-week undergraduate level elementary methods course. Data sources consisted of written reflections and semi-structure interviews. Findings show that preservice Latino teachers’ views about science can be determined by multiple factors, being the most important, their science teachers’ attitudes and the type of instruction they received as students from elementary through high school. Participation in science activities with their families and media influence were other …

Security And Human Rights: Finding A Language Of Resilience And Inclusion, Liora Lazarus, Benjamin J. Goold

All Faculty Publications

This is the introduction to the second edition of Security and Human Rights (Hart Publishing 2019).

When the first edition of this collection was published in 2007, many scholars were struggling with the question of whether it is possible to reconcile a commitment to human rights with the demands of security in a post-9/11 world. More than a decade later, this fundamental tension remains at the heart of many discussions about the relationship between security and human rights. But in the years that have passed since the first edition, we have also seen the re-emergence of nationalism and xenophobia, a …

Laser-Assisted Transdermal Drug Delivery And Vaccination, Prateek Kakar

Open Access Dissertations

Oral drug delivery has been the major route of drug delivery due to the ease of drug administration and patient compliance. Transdermal drug delivery is highly attractive for alternative drug delivery and yet faces significant challenges, largely due to the barrier function of the Stratum Corneum (SC) layer of the skin. Different chemical and physical methods have been explored to disrupt the SC layer to facilitate transdermal drug delivery. However, those methods only received limited successes due to the low efficiency in SC disruption or the potential safety risks.

Ablative fractional laser (AFL) emerged in the last 2 decades as …

Design And Synthesis Of Molecular Probes For Medical And Environmetal Applications, Payagala Udawattage Ashvin Iresh Fernando

Open Access Dissertations

The main aim of this dissertation was to design and synthesize molecular probes with ease to be used in medical and environmental applications. The first chapter focuses on a novel pseudo-rotaxane probe that can be used in ¹²⁹Xe imaging, which was synthesized using commercially available cyclodextrin moieties with a one-step reaction. This is probe can be synthesized in high yields and results in an acceptable level of hyperCEST depletion percentage. The second chapter showcases pillararenes as a potential candidate for ¹²⁹Xe imaging. In addition, this chapter discusses the aid of a computational programs to design the supramolecular scaffold …

Relating Marine Mammal Distribution To Prey Abundance, Christopher D. Orphanides

Open Access Dissertations

Marine mammal foraging and diet in southern New England is not well known and has therefore been largely ignored as a component of habitat, distribution, and bycatch. Incorporating prey components into marine mammal management is key to improving management of these species, especially as fisheries management progresses towards ecosystem-based management, climate change results in shifting distributions of marine mammals, and we are faced with new management challenges stemming from offshore wind development. This dissertation aims to address data gaps for species highly impacted by human activities, specifically the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and the harbor porpoise …

Cascadia Subduction Zone Coseismic Subsidence Estimates From Northern California And Washington, Jason Scott Padgett

Open Access Dissertations

This study aims to supplement the paleogeodetic database of past Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes and further our understanding of the Cascadia subduction zone seismic and tsunami hazards. I first address a previously identified spatial gap within the Cascadia paleogeodetic database in southern Cascadia by refining the timing and magnitude of Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes over the past 2000 years in northern Humboldt Bay, California (~44.8°N, -124.2°W). There, I mapped wetland stratigraphy consistent with past megathrust earthquakes across three marshes; Jacoby Creek, McDaniel Creek, and Mad River Slough. To improve the existing paleoseismic chronology at northern Humboldt Bay, I employed Bayesian …

Towards Sustainable Management Of The Sardinella Fishery In Ghana, Evans Kwasi Arizi

Open Access Dissertations

Many local fishermen in Ghana depend on the sardinella fishery for their livelihoods. Flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis) and round sardinella (Sardinella aurita) are the two main fish species that are exploited in the fishery. Landings of the sardinella stocks, however, have been declining for over a decade now as a result of overfishing engendered by overcapacity, open access fishery and weak governance. The focus of this work was to chart the path towards a sustainable management of the fishery in Ghana by identifying the key extractive components of the fishery, ascertaining the interactions among them and …