Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Assembling Of Graphene Oxide On Carbon Quantum Dot Loaded Liposomes, Mohadeseh Hashemi, Javad Mohammadi, Meisam Omidi, Hugh D.C. Smyth, Bharadwaj Muralidharan, Thomas E. Milner, Amir Yadegari, Davoud Ahmadvand, Mohammad Shalbaf, Lobat Tayebi

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

This paper describes the design of stimuli-sensitive theranostic nanoparticles, composed of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) self-assembled on thermosensitive liposomes encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX) and carbon quantum dot (CQD) (CQD-DOX-rGO-Tlip). The rGO-Tlip particles have been observed to be flower-shaped objects. The thermoresponsive and theranostic potential of CQD-DOX-rGO-Tlips have been studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis), Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescent assays. The chemo-photothermal potential of rGO–Tlip on MD-MB-231 cells during NIR laser irradiation has been examined using MTT assay. Also, the ability of rGO–Tlip to be taken up by MD-MB-231 cells has been studied using confocal microscopy and flowcytometry. …

Gene Therapy In Rheumatoid Arthritis: Strategies To Select Therapeutic Genes, Mahdi Zavvar, Sara Assadiasl, Narjes Soleimanifar, Fatemeh Dadgar Pakdel, Kamal Abdolmohammadi, Yousef Fatahi, Mohsen Abdolmaleki, Hamed Baghdadi, Lobat Tayebi, Mohammad Hossein Nicknam

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Significant advances have been achieved in recent years to ameliorate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in animal models using gene therapy approaches rather than biological treatments. Although biological agents serve as antirheumatic drugs with suppressing proinflammatory cytokine activities, they are usually accompanied by systemic immune suppression resulting from continuous or high systemic dose injections of biological agents. Therefore, gene transfer approaches have opened an interesting perspective to deliver one or multiple genes in a target‐specific or inducible manner for the sustained intra‐articular expression of therapeutic products. Accordingly, many studies have focused on gene transferring methods in animal models by using one of …

Recent Advancements In Aptamer-Bioconjugates: Sharpening Stones For Breast And Prostate Cancers Targeting, Saeid Maghsoudi, Bahareh Taghavi Shahraki, Navid Rabiee, Ronak Afshari, Yousef Fatahi, Rassoul Dinarvand, Sepideh Ahmadi, Mojtaba Bagherzadeh, Mohammad Rabiee, Lobat Tayebi, Mohammadreza Tahriri

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

Breast and prostate cancers are common types of cancers with various strategies, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, for their therapy. Since these methods have undesired side effects and poor target affinity, neoteric strategies—known as aptamer-based smart drug delivery systems (SDDSs)—have been developed in recent years to overcome the obstacles of current treatment, and investigated for a clinical trial. The high affinity and versatility of aptamers for binding to the corresponding targets make them highly noticeable agents in the drug delivery domains. In addition to their exceptional benefits, aptamers are able to overcome tumor resistance because of their high selectivity and …

Tick Control Methods For Amblyomma Americanum In Virginia: Applications And Modeling, Alexis Lynn White

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Tick-borne diseases continue to increase in the United States, and yet no comprehensive method of tick control currently exists. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is an aggressive human-biting tick and vector of several pathogens which effect both humans and other animals. Standard control methods do not work as well for A. americanum as they do for the more commonly studied blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis. TickBot, a tick-killing robot, is a potential method to control A. americanum that lures ticks to its path with carbon dioxide and the ticks die from contact with a permethrin-treated cloth that is …

An Examination Of Oral Argumentation Using Socioscientific Issues Among Secondary Students With Disabilities, Mindy A. Gumpert

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

The recent science education reforms mandate that all students must receive adequate opportunities to access the science curriculum in order to gain a better understanding of how science and the world works (National Research Council, 2012). According to these reforms, engagement in argumentation is one science practice essential to today’s K-12 science education (Sampson & Clark, 2011). Engagement in argumentation promotes critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills, and has the potential to promote growth of cognitive and metacognitive reasoning (Venville & Dawson, 2010). Additionally, engagement in argumentation using socioscientific issues provides students with authentic links to contemporary real-world social …

Engaging Residents In Participatory Photomapping And Readiness Conversations To Address The Rural Obesogenic Context, Kirstin D. Jensen, Kathee Tifft, Tammy Winfield, Kathy Gunter, Grace Goc Karp, Deborah H. John

Journal of Extension

Extension engaged rural Idaho community stakeholders to assess local resources and readiness to address obesogenic contexts through use of the Extension tool HEAL MAPPS. Through participatory photomapping, focus group involvement, and a community readiness conversation, residents identified environmental resources and local efforts as supports for and barriers to healthful eating and active living. Findings indicated that the community was "vaguely aware" that rural obesity risk is a socioenvironmentally determined issue. Extension professionals using HEAL MAPPS effectively promoted new and shared knowledge of weight health resources among community members, enabled rural residents to have a voice in addressing the community context, …

Extension As A Multilevel Bridging Organization: Supporting Networked Environmental Governance, Sally W. Nourani, Daniel J. Decker, Marianne E. Krasny

Journal of Extension

Governmental and nongovernmental actors at different spatial and jurisdictional levels have information that can benefit natural resources management; however, barriers in communication and organizational culture often prevent information sharing and joint endeavors. Bridging entities, such as task forces or working groups, bring together potential stakeholders to pool expertise and stimulate shared learning. Using a network survey, interview data, and meeting minutes, we constructed a case study of task forces convened to stimulate management of the emerald ash borer, an invasive wood-boring beetle. We found that coordinated action among university and county Extension catalyzed bridging through visionary program design and network …

Land-Based Learning: A Learning Paradigm For Building Community And Sustainable Farms, Aaron J. Mckim, Matt R. Raven, Abbey Palmer, Ashley Mcfarland, Ashley Mcfarland, James Isleib

Journal of Extension

Mitigating complex problems is increasingly essential to sustaining life on Earth. Empowering current and future generations to address these problems requires rethinking traditional education approaches. This article serves as a primer for land-based learning—defined as a pedagogical approach in which learners collaborate with community members to implement place-based interventions within agricultural systems to increase the sustainability of their community. As an introduction to land-based learning, the article (a) describes critical checkpoints within land-based learning, (b) illuminates the role of Extension educators in facilitating land-based learning, and (c) introduces a case study of land-based learning in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Evaluation Of A New Approach For Qualitative Gas Analysis Based On Diffusion Properties, Abdalla Jamal Abunamous

Theses

The design and construction of a 6-channel parallel gas diffusion system and its application to evaluating the proposed novel approach for gas fingerprinting are described. The present gas diffusion system allows the simultaneous recording of the pressure accumulation of the permeating test gas behind six different gas permeable membranes, respectively. The obtained simultaneous diffusion rates through different membranes demonstrated clear potential as a new technique for qualitative gas identification of the ten test gases used in the present work. The test gases were helium, neon, argon hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ethane, propane, and ethylene, which are representative examples of …

A Comparison Of Multi-Attribute Utility Theory, The Analytic Hierarchy Process, The Analytic Network Process, And New Hybrid Approaches For A Case Study Involving Radon, Jesse Ray Toepfer

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the use of three new combinational hybrid approaches to solve a rational decision problem. Even though Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and the Analytic Network Process (ANP), are all long established theories, their practical applications continue to grow and generate new knowledge. As a case study approach, there exists a knowledge gap concerning the use of these MCDM methods in the area of environmental remediation, and more especially, in situations that involve radioactive materials. From this, and as borne out by the literature review discussed herein, a problem statement is thus …

The Effect Of Standardised Learning Diaries On Self-Regulated Learning, Calibration Accuracy And Academic Achievement, Avanelle Joseph-Edwards

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The online learning environment is a dynamic yet complex learning modality. Students are physically separated from their peers, they grapple with feelings of isolation, and they may be unable to self-regulate their learning. Studies have shown that self-regulation is related to academic achievement and student metacognitive monitoring in online settings. The present study investigated the effects of a standardized diaries on students’ self-regulatory behaviors, calibration accuracy and academic achievement within an online learning environment. Using this self-monitoring and evaluation tool, forty online graduate students enrolled in a research methods course at a southeastern university in the United States participated in …

Ucc Minutes, October 8, 2019, University Curriculum Council

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Solvent Used For Fabrication On Drug Loading And Release Kinetics Of Electrosprayed Temozolomide-Loaded Plga Microparticles For The Treatment Of Glioblastoma, Daniel A. Rodriguez De Anda, Nareg Ohannesian, Karen S. Martirosyan, Sue Anne Chew

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and invasive form of malignant brain tumors and despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, the survival of patients with GBM still remains poor. Temozolomide (TMZ) is the chemotherapy drug that is most commonly given orally after surgical resection of these tumors. In this study, the effects of solvents (i.e., dichloromethane and acetonitrile) used for the fabrication of electrosprayed TMZ-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) on drug loading, loading efficiency, drug release kinetics, surface morphology, and particle size were investigated. The results from this study demonstrated that by using a larger volume of a solvent …

Modeling The Effects Of Climate Change On The Distribution Of Tagetes Lucida Cav. (Asteraceae), Julianna Katherine Schaefer Kurpis, Miguel Angel Serrato-Cruz, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Climate change threatens the future distributions of native, tropical species all around the world as increasing global temperature and, in several regions decreasing precipitation cause less suitable habitat to become available. Of particular interest in this paper is to construct a model of the potential impact of climate change on the distribution of the Pericón or Mexican Mint Marigold, Tagetes lucida, a native medicinal plant of important cultural and economic value in Mexico. We projected the future distribution of this species using the maximum entropy algorithm (MaxEnt) and five bioclimatic variables. Models were created using three global circulation …

Carbon Nanotube Reinforced Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposites As Bone Implants: Nanostructure, Mechanical Strength And Biocompatibility, K Lawton, H Le, C Tredwin, Rd Handy

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Assessing Egyptians' Knowledge, Perceptions, And Attitudes Towards Generic Medicines, Radwa Ahmed Elmoneer

Theses and Dissertations

Medicines are vital component of any health system worldwide, and ensuring accessibility of affordable, effective and safe medications is a critical public policy goal considered by every country. Egypt has, recently, faced aggravated challenges in ensuring the availability of medications countrywide. In response, the Egyptian government has adopted a number of pharmaceutical policies and interventions, mainly, targeting the supply side of the market. Promoting the use of generic medicines is an effective policy intervention that addresses the demand side, a highly recommended intervention given other countries’ experiences. As the main users of medications, patients are a crucial source of knowledge …

Exploring The Cognitive Process And Complexity Of Diverse Patient Conceptualization: A Mixed Methods Study, Michelle Parisa Toigo

Dissertations (1934 -)

In an era when culture is valued in therapy, the field has increasingly emphasized therapist competence in working with diverse clients and reducing mental health disparities (Bernal, Jimenez-Chafey, & Rodriguez, 2009). While there are multiple aspects of multicultural competence (e.g., choosing assessments with appropriate norming groups, consulting with members of the client’s culture, culturally sensitive therapy practices), case conceptualization is believed to be a crucial competence to providing effective services to clients who are racial or ethnic minorities (Hill, Vereen, McNeal, & Stotesbury, 2013). These skills allow the therapist to integrate client culture into their understanding of the client and …

Neuropsychological Sequela Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Contemporary Meta-Analytic Review, David E. Marra

Dissertations (1934 -)

Mild traumatic brain injuries (MTBIs) result in a constellation of non-specific physical, cognitive, and psychological symptoms. There is significant variability in neurocognitive recovery after MTBI, ranging from a few days to a few months, and others who fail to make complete recovery. A broad literature has attempted to elucidate what individual differences explain this variability. The present study sought to build upon previous meta-analyses, which systematically aggregated and examine relevant literature, by including a more heterogenous population and utilizing contemporary meta-analytic techniques. Three online databases (PsychINFO [sic], PubMed, MedLine) were searched for pertinent studies. Separate random-effects Analogue-to-ANOVA were utilized to …

The Fantastic Structure Of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, And Lacan, Gregory A. Trotter

Dissertations (1934 -)

This dissertation reassesses the complex philosophical relationship between Sartre and psychoanalysis. Most scholarship on this topic focuses on Sartre’s criticisms of the unconscious as anathema both to his conception of the human psyche as devoid of any hidden depths or mental compartments and, correlatively, his account of human freedom. Many philosophers conclude that there is little common ground between Sartrean existentialism and psychoanalytic theory. I argue, on the contrary, that by shifting the emphasis from concerns about the nature of the unconscious to questions about the role of imagination in psychical life, we can see that Sartre and Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic …

Hybrid Catalysis For The Direct Addition Of Unactivated Aldehydes And Ketones To Alkenes And Alkynes, Jacob Porter

Dissertations (1934 -)

Reactions for the alpha functionalization of carbonyl compounds are important for the synthesis of complex organic materials such as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and natural products. Current methodology used to perform these reactions is inefficient in that pre-activated coupling partners or sensitive catalysts are usually required. Described herein is the study and development of bifunctional and dual catalytic systems for carbon-carbon bond formation via the direct addition of unactivated carbonyl compounds to unactivated alkenes/alkynes. A dual catalyst system is one which utilizes two distinct catalysts to simultaneously activate separate reactants, and in a bifunctional catalyst the two catalytic components are present separately …

The Impact Of Isometric Exercise On Somatosensory Processing In People With Or Without Chronic Pain, Ali Mohammed Alsouhibani

Dissertations (1934 -)

Despite an increase in our understanding of the pathomechanisms of chronic pain and the advancement of new treatments, pharmacological management of chronic pain remains poor. This presents the need for non-pharmacological treatments and understanding their efficacy and mechanisms in managing pain. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the effects of isometric exercise on the somatosensory system and other biopsychosocial aspects related to pain in individuals with and without fibromyalgia. The first aim was to determine whether isometric exercise improves pain inhibitory mechanisms and vibration sense. The second aim was to determine what biopsychosocial factors influence pain relief following …

Investigation Of The Mechanisms Governing Carrier Domain Translocation In S. Aureus Pyruvate Carboxylase, Joshua Hakala

Dissertations (1934 -)

A central debate in protein biochemistry focuses on the mechanism by which ligands contribute to conformational changes in proteins. Two primary hypotheses describe this process: the induced-fit hypothesis and the conformational ensembles hypothesis. In contrast to the induced-fit hypothesis, the conformational ensembles hypothesis states that the protein pre-exists in multiple conformational states, with ligand binding shifting the equilibrium towards a preferred conformation. The contribution of ligand binding to large-scale conformational changes is particularly relevant to multi-domain “swinging-arm” enzymes, for which pyruvate carboxylase (PC) serves as a well characterized paradigm system. PC catalyzes the ATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate. The …

Investment Choice Architecture In Trust Games: When “All-In” Is Not Enough, Joaquin Gómez-Miñambres, Eric Schniter, Timothy W. Shields

ESI Working Papers

While many economic interactions feature “All-or-Nothing” options nudging investors towards going “all-in”, such designs may unintentionally affect reciprocity. We manipulate the investor’s action space in two versions of the “trust game”. In one version investors can invest either “all” their endowment or “nothing”. In the other version, they can invest any amount of the endowment. Consistent with our intentions-based model, we show that "all-or-nothing” designs coax more investment but limit investors’ demonstrability of intended trust. As a result, “all-in” investors are less generously reciprocated than when they can invest any amount, where full investments are a clearer signal of trustworthiness.

Insect Population Dynamics, Varietal Preference And Performance Of Organic Bio-Pesticides, Anitha Chitturi, Jeanine Davis, Margaret Bloomquist, Franklin Quarcoo, Kokoasse Kpomblekou-A, Desmond Mortley

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Abstract

Organic farming prohibits use of synthetic agrochemicals and encourages use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods. States in the Southeastern US generally lag behind the rest of the country in organic vegetable production partly because of high insect pressures that make it difficult to grow vegetables without pesticides. This study on summer squash (Cucurbita pepo), grown using organic management practices, was conducted at a research station located in Mills River, North Carolina. The objectives of the study were to assess insect population dynamics and to evaluate performance of three OMRI-approved bio-pesticides: Azadirachtin, Pyrethrin and Spinosad against major …

Development Of Biological Indicators For The Dry Phase Of Non-Perennial Rivers And Streams, Matthew D. Robinson

SNS Master's Theses

As perennial river systems become increasingly intermittent worldwide, there is a growing need to focus attention on developing dry-phase bioassessment tools for non-perennial rivers and streams (NPRS). NPRS play key ecological roles in watershed functioning but can be impacted by many of the same disturbances affecting perennial rivers. However, we lack tools to assess the ecological health of NPRS like the well-developed bioassessment tools used for perennial systems. For this reason, there has been an increasing need to develop biological indicators to assess the health of rivers when they are dry.

We sampled 39 streams in Southern California, USA during …

The Biogeochemical Behavior And Speciation Of Mercury In The Sea Surface Microlayer: Implications For Transport To Watersheds Via Fog, Alexander J. Olson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Neurotoxic monomethylmercury (MMHg) found in coastal Central California marine advective fog is thought to be a source of elevated MMHg levels throughout the terrestrial coastal foodweb. While not currently present at hazardous concentrations for human exposure directly (17-54 pM), MMHg in fog along the coast poses potential health and ecosystem threats via food-web bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes. The likely marine source and the mechanism of its transport remain unknown.

While 2014 vertical profiles from coastal California show surface waters (<6 m) relatively deplete in MMHg (25-185 fM), similar to other ocean basins, surface grab sampling revealed elevated concentrations of MMHg in the uppermost (top ~100 m) portion of the water column known as the surface microlayer (SML). When corrected for dilution during sampling, this could represent a SML concentration of MMHg as high as 1.3 nM, orders of magnitude greater than the localized seawater and fog water; as well as the first such known measurements.

Further refined sampling in 2015 of nearshore and offshore waters of California and Oregon supported 2014 findings, with underlying bullk …

Dna Metabarcoding Of Meiofaunal Communities Along The California Coast And Potential Abiotic Drivers Of Distribution, Amanda Elizabeth Heidt

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Meiofauna are abundant and diverse infaunal organisms between 50-1000μm that are specially adapted to live in the interstitial spaces between sedimentary particles. Despite their ubiquity, they remain an understudied component of benthic systems. Modern DNA metabarcoding tools allow for the total sequencing of mixed communities from a single sample. Samples of meiofauna (n = 148) were collected at 10 sandy beaches along the coast of California during summer 2017 to characterize meiofauna community structure based on (1) latitude, (2) location north or south of Point Conception (a known biogeographic break), (3) tidal height and (4) sediment grain size and mineralogy. …

Standing To Challenge Familial Searches Of Commercial Dna Databases, Hillary L. Kody

William & Mary Law Review

In April 2018, police officers arrested Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo, the officers claimed, was the “Golden State Killer,” a man who committed dozens of murders and over fifty sexual assaults in California in the 1970s and 1980s. The Golden State Killer had long eluded police, even though his DNA profile linked him to dozens of violent crimes. While law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions in California had collected his DNA from crime scenes, the Golden State Killer’s crimes predated modern DNA analysis. Police found little use for the profile without a suspect’s profile to compare to it.

Nearly forty years …

The Internet Of Bodies, Andrea M. Matwyshyn

William & Mary Law Review

This Article introduces the ongoing progression of the Internet of Things (IoT) into the Internet of Bodies (IoB)—a network of human bodies whose integrity and functionality rely at least in part on the Internet and related technologies, such as artificial intelligence. IoB devices will evidence the same categories of legacy security flaws that have plagued IoT devices. However, unlike most IoT, IoB technologies will directly, physically harm human bodies—a set of harms courts, legislators, and regulators will deem worthy of legal redress. As such, IoB will herald the arrival of (some forms of) corporate software liability and a new legal …

Profile: A Model For Faculty Leadership, Communications And Marketing

Profile (1996-)

In this issue: Support System: See how private support enhances our model for faculty leadership; Ending Addiction: A look at Kerry Michael's work with communities to fight addiction; PhD in the Making: See what it's like to be a UMN Morris student these days - and meet one of tomorrow's faculty leaders; Inside the Academy: Test your knowledge about the faculty experience and see what it's really like to be a professor at UMN Morris; And the Winners are: Meet this years's Distinguished Alumni Award winner and the Cougar Hall of Fame inductees; Campus News Briefs; Spotlight; The Big Picture; …