Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of Hottentotta Described By A. A. Birula, With Descriptions Of Two New Species And Comments On Birula’S Collection (Scorpiones: Buthidae), František Kovařík, Ersen Aydın Yağmur, Victor Fet

Euscorpius

The types of Hottentotta species described by A. A. Birula and deposited in the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia are revised. The types of H. buchariensis (Birula, 1897), H. niloticus (Birula, 1928), H. penjabensis (Birula, 1897) stat. nov. and H. schach (Birula, 1905) are fully illustrated with color photographs of morphology. Their taxonomic position is discussed. Lectotypes are designated for H. niloticus and H. schach. We confirm synonymy of Buthus (Hottentotta) minax niloticus Birula, 1928 (Sudan) with Buthus minax L. Koch, 1875, syn. n. Two new species, Hottentotta juliae sp. n. from Iran …

Unionidae In The Cuyahoga River: An Update On Population Health, Rachel Andrikanich

ETD Archive

Inspiration for the Clean Water Act (1972), the Cuyahoga River has been one of the most protected rivers in the country since the 1970s. Water quality is now within acceptable limits outlined by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, shoreline integrity has improved, and sediments mostly test free from toxins and heavy metals. With recovery, various faunal communities, such as freshwater mussels (family Unionidae), are expected to re-establish; no previous surveys of the Cuyahoga focus on this issue. To better understand whether mussel populations recovered as water quality improved within the Cuyahoga Watershed, surveys were completed by two-person teams for one …

Commencement Ceremony Of 2019: College Of Engineering And Computing, Halmos College Of Natural Sciences And Oceanography, H. Wayne Huizenga College Of Business And Entrepreneurship, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Female Genital Mutilation And Its Medicalizationa Qualitative Study Among Healthcare Professionals And Community Leaders In Kisii County, Douglas Oimeke Mariita

Master of Medicine in Family Medicine

Background: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), female genital mutilation (FGM) includes all procedures that involve removal of the female genitalia and / or injury to the female genital organs for cultural and / or any other nonmedical reason. The practice poses serious threats to women’s health hence violating their health and rights. FGM, also referred to as genital cutting, is deeply rooted amongst the Abagusii community of Kenya, with 84% of the girls cut as per Kenya Demographic Health Survey report of 2014 and the medicalized form slowly replacing the traditional cut. Overall in Kenya, the medicalized form …

Factors Related To Mexican-American Workers' Use Of Hearing Protection, Madeleine J. Kerr

Dissertations

Significant numbers of Mexican Americans work in jobs where they are exposed to harmful noise, therefore they are vulnerable to noise-induced hearing loss. Use of hearing protection is often the only way to prevent exposure to loud noise, yet there is no knowledge of how to promote its use among Mexican American workers. This study builds on a program of research by Lusk in which the determinants of health-protective behavior are identified in order to design effective safety programs. This study was based on a theoretical model adapted from the Health Promotion Model (Pender, 1987).

Proteomics Standards Initiative Extended Fasta Format., Pierre-Alain Binz, Jim Shofstahl, Juan Antonio Vizcaíno, Harald Barsnes, Robert J Chalkley, Gerben Menschaert, Emanuele Alpi, Karl Clauser, Jimmy K Eng, Lydie Lane, Sean L Seymour, Luis Francisco Hernández Sánchez, Gerhard Mayer, Martin Eisenacher, Yasset Perez-Riverol, Eugene A Kapp, Luis Mendoza, Peter R Baker, Andrew Collins, Tim Van Den Bossche, Eric W Deutsch

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Mass-spectrometry-based proteomics enables the high-throughput identification and quantification of proteins, including sequence variants and post-translational modifications (PTMs) in biological samples. However, most workflows require that such variations be included in the search space used to analyze the data, and doing so remains challenging with most analysis tools. In order to facilitate the search for known sequence variants and PTMs, the Proteomics Standards Initiative (PSI) has designed and implemented the PSI extended FASTA format (PEFF). PEFF is based on the very popular FASTA format but adds a uniform mechanism for encoding substantially more metadata about the sequence collection as well as …

The Perils And Promises Of Artificial General Intelligence, Brian S. Haney

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

The Need To Codify Roe V. Wade: A Case For National Abortion Legislation, Kathryn N. Peachman

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Medical Mission Team From Gardner-Webb University Cares For Refugees In Thailand, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

A 12-member team from Gardner-Webb University served on a medical mission trip to Thailand from May 13-23. Led by Dr. Nicole Waters, interim associate provost of the College of Health Sciences, associate professor and dean of the Hunt School of Nursing, and Dr. Candice Rome, associate professor of nursing, the group included six nursing majors, two exercise science majors and two biology majors. Working with missionaries, team members provided basic health care in Thailand to approximately 300 refugees of all ages, from multiple countries.

Marriage Equality And A Lawyer's Role In The Emergence Of "New" Rights, Daniel J. Canon

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

The last few decades have seen a dramatic change in the way in which Americans view LGBT rights, and the right to same-sex marriage in particular. In 1972, the Supreme Court issued its first opinion on same-sex marriage. In sharp contrast with Obergefell v. Hodges, which established the constitutional right to marriage equality in 2015, the case of Baker v. Nelson held in one sentence that the idea that such a right might exist was not even worth discussing. What happened in the intervening forty years to change the outcome so profoundly? And how can attorneys seek to replicate …

Is Selenoprotein K Required For Borrelia Burgdorferi Infection Within The Tick Vector Ixodes Scapularis?, Deepak Kumar, Monica Embers, Thomas N. Mather, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Background: Tick selenoproteins are involved in regulating oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress during prolonged tick feeding on mammalian hosts. How selenoproteins are activated upon tick-borne pathogen infection is yet to be defined.

Methods: To examine the functional role of selenoprotein K in Borrelia burgdorferi infection within the tick host Ixodes scapularis, RNA interference (RNAi)-based gene silencing was performed.

Results: Selenoprotein K is an endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident protein and a component of the ERAD complex involved in ER homeostasis. A qRT-PCR assay revealed the significant upregulation of selenogene K (selenoK) expression in B. burgdorferi-infected …

Preserving Mars Today Using Baseline Ecologies, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

Current calls to protect the Martian environment with “Planetary Parks” maintain environmental merit. However, they lack a sufficiently urgent timeframe for initiating protection as well as a robust scientific method for the establishment of noteworthy Martian natural landmarks as natural reserves. In response, if we return to the seminal environmental preservation teachings of Aldo Leopold and John Muir, we encounter the importance of grounding Martian preservation efforts on the fundamental environmental science method of a base-datum of normality, or baseline ecology. This method establishes natural reserves that feature both minimal human interference as well as known origination dates, thereby providing …

Activation Of Lxr Receptors And Inhibition Of Trap1 Causes Synthetic Lethality In Solid Tumors, Trang Thi Thu Nguyen, Chiaki Tsuge Ishida, Enyuan Shang, Chang Shu, Elena Bianchetti, Georg Karpel-Massler, Markus D. Siegelin

Publications and Research

Cholesterol is a pivotal factor for cancer cells to entertain their relentless growth. In this case, we provide a novel strategy to inhibit tumor growth by simultaneous activation of liver-X-receptors and interference with Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-associated Protein 1 (TRAP1). Informed by a transcriptomic and subsequent gene set enrichment analysis, we demonstrate that inhibition of TRAP1 results in suppression of the cholesterol synthesis pathway in stem-like and established glioblastoma (GBM) cells by destabilizing the transcription factor SREBP2. Notably, TRAP1 inhibition induced cell death, which was rescued by cholesterol and mevalonate. Activation of liver X receptor (LXR) by a clinically validated …

The Spectroscopic And Computational Exploration Of Sulfur Hydrogen Bonding, Andrew Yoonkeun Lee

Honors Projects

Hydrogen bonds are a subset of non-covalent interactions that occur between X-H — Y, in which X and Y are the very electronegative atoms. In our research, we examine the more unconventional hydrogen bond-like interactions of thiol (SH) containing molecules using vapor-phase infrared (IR) spectroscopy and ab initio computational chemistry. When the SH hydrogen bond donor complexes to a hydrogen bond acceptor, a red shift of the SH stretching mode emerges. An anharmonic oscillator local mode model is applied to the ethanethiol-trimethylamine dimer, and we determine that any IR evidence of dimerization in our experiment is likely obscured by the …

Conformational Studies Of Glucose Transporter 1 (Glut1) As An Anticancer Drug Target, Suliman Almahmoud, Xiaofang Wang, Jonathan L. Vennerstrom, Haizhen A. Zhong

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) is a facilitative glucose transporter overexpressed in various types of tumors; thus, it has been considered as an important target for cancer therapy. GLUT1 works through conformational switching from an outward-open (OOP) to an inward-open (IOP) conformation passing through an occluded conformation. It is critical to determine which conformation is preferred by bound ligands because the success of structure-based drug design depends on the appropriate starting conformation of the target protein. To find out the most favorable GLUT 1 conformation for ligand binding, we ran systemic molecular docking studies for different conformations of GLUT1 using known …

Species Determination Of Ulvoid Algae Through Genotyping; What Are The Environmental Implications?, Kora S. Krumm

Honors Projects

Ulva is a genus of marine green algae native to many of the world’s coastlines and is especially difficult to identify via traditional methods such as dichotomous keying. This project aims to streamline taxonomic classification of Ulva species through DNA sequence analysis. Local samples of Ulva were obtained from Puget Sound, Seattle, WA, and two target genes (rbcL and its1) were amplified via PCR and sequenced for comparative analysis between samples. Ulvoids have a detrimental impact on marine ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest due to their role in eutrophication-caused algal blooms, and reliable identification can help inform conservation …

Inquiry In Inquiry: A Classification Of The Learning Theories Underlying Inquiry-Based Undergraduate Number Theory Texts, Rebecca L. Butler

Honors Projects

While undergraduate inquiry-based texts in number theory share similar approaches with respect to learning as the embodiment of professional practice, this does not entail that these texts all operate from the same fundamental understanding of what it means to learn mathematics. In this paper, the instructional design of several texts of the aforementioned types are analyzed to assess the theory of learning under which they operate. From this understanding of the different theories of learning employed in an inquiry-based mathematical setting, one can come to understand the popular model of what it is to learn number theory in a meaningful …

Computer Vision Machine Learning And Future-Oriented Ethics, Abagayle Lee Blank

Honors Projects

Computer Vision Machine Learning (CVML) in the application of facial recognition is currently being researched, developed, and deployed across the world. It is of interest to governments, technology companies, and consumers. However, fundamental issues remain related to human rights, error rates, and bias. These issues have the potential to create societal backlash towards the technology which could limit its benefits as well as harm people in the process. To develop facial recognition technology that will be beneficial to society in and beyond the next decade, society must put ethics at the forefront. Drawing on AI4People’s adaption of bioethics for AI, …

Ihl: Board Of Trustees Names Campus Search Advisory Committee For The University Of Mississippi Chancellor Search, Staff Report

University of Mississippi News

Board announces 39 members to advisory committee

Biomethane Production From Distillery Wastewater, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Distillery wastewater treatment is a great ecological problem, for example, India produces 2.7 billion liters of alcohol that results in 40 billion liters of wastewater. However, this material can be seen as a resource since 11 million cubic meters of biogas at 60% methane could be produced in addition to cleaning the water. The distillery has two options of what to do with the biogas. The first is to use the biogas to fuel the distillery making the production plant more energy efficient and removing some of the need to buy natural gas. The other is to upgrade the biogas …

Anti-Infective Mechanism-Based Drug Discovery Via Sortase A, Huong Chau, Alice Matsuda, Leepakshi Johar

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Sortase A is a transmembrane protein prominent in gram-negative bacterial strains. It is a virulence factor that anchors other proteins, which facilitate MRSA infections. In the long term, we plan to utilize this protein to create anti-infective drugs as antibiotic resistance continues to become a global health issue. Starting with five NIH drug candidates, we decided to first study Sortase A with B12 due to its historical past of ancient civilizations using natural sources of B12 to treat infections. Our senior design is further centered around understanding how vitamin B12 interacts with Sortase A in vitro, particularly the binding affinity …

Cell Wall Enzymes In Zygnema Circumcarinatum Utex 1559 Respond To Osmotic Stress In A Plant-Like Fashion, Elisabeth Fitzek, Lauren Orton, Sarah Entwistle, W. Scott Grayburn, Catherine Ausland, Melvin R. Duvall, Yanbin Yin

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Previous analysis of charophyte green algal (CGA) genomes and transcriptomes for specific protein families revealed that numerous land plant characteristics had already evolved in CGA. In this study, we have sequenced and assembled the transcriptome of Zygnema circumcarinatum UTEX 1559, and combined its predicted protein sequences with those of 13 additional species [five embryophytes (Emb), eight charophytes (Cha), and two chlorophytes (Chl) as the outgroup] for a comprehensive comparative genomics analysis. In total 25,485 orthologous gene clusters (OGCs, equivalent to protein families) of the 14 species were classified into nine OGC groups. For example, the ChaCEmb group contains 4,174 OGCs …

Estimating Offsets For Avian Displacement Effects Of Anthropogenic Impacts, Jiill A. Shaffer, Charles R. Loesch, Deborah A. Buhl

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Biodiversity offsetting, or compensatory mitigation, is increasingly being used in temperate grassland ecosystems to compensate for unavoidable environmental damage from anthropogenic developments such as transportation infrastructure, urbanization, and energy development. Pursuit of energy independence in the United States will expand domestic energy production. Concurrent with this increased growth is increased disruption to wildlife habitats, including avian displacement from suitable breeding habitat. Recent studies at energy-extraction and energy-generation facilities have provided evidence for behavioral avoidance and thus reduced use of habitat by breeding waterfowl and grassland birds in the vicinity of energy infrastructure. To quantify and compensate for this loss in …

2019-06-07, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Application Of Single Particle Electron Microscopy To Native Lens Gap Junctions And Intrinsically Disordered Signaling Complexes, Janette Bernadette Myers

Dissertations and Theses

Gap junctions are a class of membrane proteins that facilitate cell-to-cell communication by forming channels that directly couple the cytoplasm of neighboring cells. The channels are composed of monomers called connexins. Humans express 21 connexin isoforms in a cell-type specific fashion, and each isoform has distinct mechanisms of permeation and regulation. Co-assembly of multiple isoforms into a single intercellular channel can change channel properties, such as conductance and selectivity to substrates (e.g., ions, metabolites and signaling molecules). However, the mechanistic basis for this functional diversity has remained poorly understood. This lack of mechanistic insight has been due in large part …

Exploring Mechanisms For Spring Bloom Evolution: Contrasting 2008 And 2012 Blooms In The Southwest Pacific Ocean, Stephen M. Chiswell, Karl A. Safi, Sylvia G. Sander, Robert Strzepek, Michael J. Ellwood, Angela Milne, Philip W. Boyd

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Feminism And Faith: How Women Find Empowerment In The Roman Catholic Church, Amanda Schar

Celebration of Learning

This project examines the relationship between feminism and Catholicism, focusing on whether or not women feel empowered by the Roman Catholic Church. Female members of the Augustana community were surveyed and asked to share their own experiences with their Catholic faith.

Themes discussed include the decision to stay in the Church versus the decision to leave, the importance of Catholicism as a cultural identity, and the multitude of ways women have found to empower themselves within the existing Church structure.

Tracking Residual-Yolk Energy In Dormant Hatchling Turtles, Tom Pham, Dr. Tim J. Muir, Samira Radi, Jacob Wyco

Celebration of Learning

Hatchling painted turtles (Chrysemys picta) spend their first winter inside natal nests without food and must rely on maternally derived energy in the form of residual yolk for up to nine months. In this study, we take a closer look at the use and movement of residual-yolk energy during the first 33 weeks (~8 mo.) after hatching by measuring changes in mass, lipid content, & protein content of yolk, liver, small intestine, and carcass. Our data showed a significant decrease in yolk mass by 64% and significant increases in carcass & liver masses of 9% & 16%, respectively, …

The Forgotten Victims Of Missing White Woman Syndrome: An Examination Of Legal Measures That Contribute To The Lack Of Search And Recovery Of Missing Black Girls And Women, Jada L. Moss

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The "Victim-Perpetrator" Dilemma: The Role Of State Safe Harbor Laws In Creating A Presumption Of Coercion For Human Trafficking Victims, Matthew Myatt

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.