Digital Commons Network^™

Spotlight - Rva Street Singers, Robin Rio, Colette Dailey, Cameron Carter, Meghan Mack

Community Engagement Institute

No abstract provided.

Spotlight - Richmond Openair Project, Jeremy Hoffman, S S. Fong

Community Engagement Institute

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Online Or Blended Learning Environments With Active Learning, Ashley R. Salter, Alyssa L. Albrecht

FDLA Journal

Active learning is more than just a trending buzzword. This paper explores engaging strategies that are evidence-based instructional practices. With a little creativity and technology, these strategies can easily be implemented in any online or blended learning environment to engage learners and increase student learning outcomes.

Genomic Analysis Of The Jccc Campus Compost System, Jamie Hanson

JCCC Honors Journal

Composting is the aerobic method of using microbes to convert organic waste into a usable soil amendment. Many compost analyses have focused on nutrient testing rather than genomic analysis. However, bacterial microbes play a vital role in the degradation of organic plant matter in the formation of compost soil amendments [1]. Of the studies that have examined microbial life within compost systems, common findings have been that Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes are the most prevalent phyla [2, 3, 4]. Further examination of the presence and impact of microbes in the composting process is still needed. Evaluating the microbial life …

Defining The Biological Identity Of The Unborn: A Scientific Approach To The Human Zygote, Pedro Slon

JCCC Honors Journal

The humanity (or lack thereof) of the zygote is one of the most prevalent and fundamental questions in science now. Past the philosophical, moral, ethical and legal objections and implications behind this issue, the question of the humanity of the unborn is at its most fundamental level a scientific one. After all, human beings are simply rational animals, whose reproductive processes we understand now better than ever. This paper will serve as an insight into dealing with the often controversial and politically-charged topic of the unborn from a purely scientific perspective.

Standardization Of Methods For Characterizing The Physiological Profiles Of Aquatic Microbial Communities Using Ecoplates, Kim Phan, Madalyn Murillo

Celebration of Learning

Microbial physiology is often studied by observing pure cultures of isolated organisms grown in a lab setting. This approach is not realistic when trying to understand how a community of bacteria, which includes a variety of bacterial species, is functioning while coexisting in a specific ecosystem.

By using BioLOG EcoPlates, the metabolic functioning of a microbial community in response to 31 different carbon sources may be assessed in just one plate. Each well in an EcoPlate contains a single common carbon source and a tetrazolium dye that will turn purple in color if any microbe in the sample is able …

07-23-2019 Swosu Students Complete Degrees Following Summer Semester, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2019

A total of 201 students at Southwestern Oklahoma State University complete requirements for either associate, bachelor’s or master’s degrees this summer on the Weatherford and Sayre campus locations.

Optimizing Lighting Regimes For Rearing Orbicella Faveolata And Acropora Cervicornis Recruits, Paul D. Kreh

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Coral reef decline worldwide has led to the need for coral reef restoration. The use of sexual reproduction in restoration efforts is required to increase genetic diversity; however, the procedures for rearing newly-settled coral recruits ex situ still need to be optimized. Recruits initially require low light irradiance, but it is unclear when higher irradiances are required to enhance growth and survival. Here we determined the optimal light regime for Orbicella faveolata and Acropora cervicornis recruits. Newly settled recruits were reared under treatments with varied rates of increasing irradiance (after reaching 5 weeks of age), and their survival, growth, and …

Functional Porous Polydimethlysiloxane As Piezoresistive And Piezoelectric Materials, Taissa Rose Michel

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and zinc oxide (ZnO) were combined to create functionalized piezoresistive and piezoelectric sensors for pressure sensing and energy harvesting. Samples were foamed to show that the increased deformability of the foam sensors makes them suitable for a range of applications including dexterous robotics, tactile sensing, energy harvesting, and biosensing. Uniform dispersion of CNTs was achieved with chloroform as the solvent. Samples were foamed using chemical blowing and scaffolding but granulated sugar at 70% porosity resulted in foamed samples with the most consistent mechanical properties. Samples underwent tensile and compressive testing for their …

Global Observational Needs And Resources For Marine Biodiversity, Enrique Montes-Herrera, Frank Muller-Karger

Marine Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

California Public Utilities Commission, Charles Kreuzberger, Thomas G. Routson, Negin Taleb, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Priority Mental, Neurological And Substance Use Disorders In Rural Kenya: Traditional Health Practitioners’ And Primary Health Care Workers’ Perspectives, Mary A. Bitta, Symon M. Kariuki, Joseph Gona, Amina Abubakar, Charles R. J. C. Newto

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Over 75% of people with mental neurological and substance use disorders (MNSD) live in low and middle-income countries with limited access to specialized care. The World Health Organization’s Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) aims to address the human resource gap but it requires contextualization.

Aim: We conducted a qualitative study in rural coastal Kenya to explore the local terms, perceived causes and management modalities of priority MNSD listed in the mhGAP, to inform implementation in this setting.

Methods: We conducted 8 focus group discussions with primary health care providers and traditional health practitioners and used the framework method …

Antimicrobials From An Epigenetics Based Fungal Metabolite Screening Program, Danielle H. Demers, Bill J. Baker, Ala Azhari, Renee M. Fleeman, Dennis E. Kyle, Lindsey Neil Shaw

USF Patents

Novel antimicrobial compounds against drug targets such as Eskape pathogens, Leishmania donovani, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Clostridium difficile, Naegleria fowleri, and cancer are presented herein.

Methods Of Treating Epilepsy Using Neural Stem Cells That Express Nanog, Ssea-4, Oct-4, Mir-34b, Mir-34c And Mir-592, Cesario Venturina Borlongan, Carmelina Gemma, Fernando L. Vale

USF Patents

Provided herein is a method of diagnosing or prognosing an epilepsy or epilepsy-related disorder. Also provided herein is a method of treating an epilepsy or epilepsy-related disorder. Further provided are non-epileptic and epileptic neural stem cells and cell cultures.

Organizational Cognition As Intervened By Organizational Support And Engagement On Medical Coders’ Exhibition Of Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, David W. Conley

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Informed by the social cognitive theory and social exchange theory, this study examined medical coders’ evaluation of organizational cognition in the presence or perception of organizational support and organization engagement and their resultant behavior. The reciprocal exchanges present in the employee and organization relationship are identified, as positive valuations facilitate mutually beneficial outcomes. Specifically, the examination of cognitions, implicit employee judgments, and behaviors provide a framework to examine the state of engagement and its related outcomes. The use of perceived organizational support and organization engagement as intervening variables provided insight into the complex relationships between medical coding employees’ evaluation of …

Peer Victimization And Illicit Drug Use Among African American Adolescents In Chicago: The Moderating Effects Of Religious Affiliation, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Objective: Investigators have examined the moderating effects of young people’s relationships with parents, teachers, and peers on victimization and on adverse outcomes such as drug use. However, the moderating influence of religious affiliation on the association between peer victimization and illicit drug use, the focus of this paper, has seldom been examined. Method: Participants were 638 low-income African American youth ages 12–22 (mean age = 15.8; 54% female and 46% male) in Chicago, IL. We conducted hierarchical logistic regression analyses to examine the moderating effect of religious affiliation on the relationship between peer victimization and illicit drug use. Results: Youths …

Prognostic Significance Of Tumor-Associated Macrophage Content In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Meta-Analysis., Ayan Tyagi Kumar, Alexander Knops, Brian Swendseid, Md, Ubaldo E. Martinez-Outshoorn, Larry Harshyne, Nancy Philp, Ulrich Rodeck, Adam Luginbuhl, David Cognetti, Jennifer Johnson, Joseph Curry

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) exists within a microenvironment rich in immune cells. Macrophages are particularly abundant in and around tumor tissue, and have been implicated in the growth, malignancy, and persistence of HNSCC (1). However, current literature reports variable degrees of association between the density of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and clinicopathologic markers of disease (2, 3). These inconsistent findings may be a result of differences in approach to TAM detection. Authors have measured total TAMs in tumor tissue, while others have stained tumor samples for individual subtypes of TAMs, which include pro-inflammatory (M1-like) and immunosuppressive (M2-like). …

Changing Salt Marsh Vegetation: Implications For Denitrification, Sean Khan Ooi

Master's Theses

Salt marsh vegetation zones are good indicators of soil conditions and will shift in response to large-scale changes to their environment such as sea-level rise and restoration activities. The goal of our study was to characterize the relationship between soil denitrification potential and salt marsh vegetation zones in tidally restored and unrestricted coastal marshes, and to use vegetation zones to predict how sea-level rise may influence landscape-scale denitrification. We conducted denitrification enzyme activity assays (DEA) on sediment collected from 20 salt marshes across Connecticut and found denitrification potential to be 7 and 17 times lower in short-form Spartina alterniflora zones …

Recommendations For Success In Afghanistan, M. Chris Mason Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The United States will soon enter the 18th year of combat operations in Afghanistan. During that time, multiple approaches to stabilize the country have been tried, including support to regional security initiatives, “nation-building,” counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, counterterrorism, and “train and equip.” The constellation of anti-government elements known collectively as the Taliban continues to refuse reconciliation or a negotiated peace under the existing Afghan constitution.

The Legacy Of Hosting Mega-Sports Events: A Twitter Analysis Of Leisure-Time Physical Activity Communication, Gabriela Baranowski Pinto

Doctoral Dissertations

Routine engagement in Leisure-Time Physical Activity (LTPA) is associated with long-term health, lower mortality, and higher quality of life. Inspiring participation in LTPA is one desired benefit of public investment in mega-events such as the Olympic Games. Whether such inspiration materializes—and, if so, for how long—was examined in three studies that investigated a perception-action process at the level of the interaction between real and virtual environments. The influence of the real environment of the Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 was assessed via the virtual environment instantiated in the Twitter social network. Emerging dynamic communication about LTPA in three …

Thermostable Lyoprotectant-Enhanced Cell-Free Protein Synthesis For On-Demand Endotoxin-Free Therapeutic Production, Kristen M. Wilding, Emily Long Zhao, Conner C. Earl, Bradley Charles Bundy

Faculty Publications

Cell-free protein synthesis has emerged as a promising platform for the production of therapeutic proteins due to its inherently open reaction environment, flexible reaction conditions and rapid protein synthesis capabilities. In recent years, lyophilized cell-free systems have widened the application space of cell-free technology by improving reagent stability outside of cold-chain storage. Current embodiments of the system, however, demonstrate poor stability at elevated temperatures. Lyoprotectants have long been recognized for the ability to preserve the activity of biological molecules during drying processes, but the application of this technology to lyophilized cell-free systems has been limited and has failed to address …

The Kids Are Not Alright: Leveraging Existing Health Law To Attack The Opioid Crisis Upstream, Yael Cannon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The opioid crisis is now a nationwide epidemic, ravaging both rural and urban communities. The public health and economic consequences are staggering; recent estimates suggest the epidemic has contracted the U.S. labor market by over one million jobs and cost the nation billions of dollars. To tackle the crisis, scholars and health policy initiatives have focused primarily on downstream solutions designed to help those who are already in the throes of addiction. For example, the major initiative announced by the U.S. Surgeon General promotes the dissemination of naloxone, which helps save lives during opioid overdoses.

This Article argues that the …

Approximate Pattern Matching Using Hierarchical Graph Construction And Sparse Distributed Representation, Aakanksha Mathuria, Dan Hammerstrom

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

With recent developments in deep networks, there have been significant advances in visual object detection and recognition. However, some of these networks are still easily fooled/hacked and have shown “bag of features” failures. Some of this is due to the fact that even deep networks make only marginal use of the complex structure that exists in real-world images, even after training on huge numbers of images. Biology appears to take advantage of such a structure, but how? In our research, we are studying approaches for robust pattern matching using still, 2D Blocks World images based on graphical representations of the …

Dual-Action Cxcr4-Targeting Liposomes In Leukemia: Function Blocking And Drug Delivery, C Mccallion, Ad Peters, A Booth, K Rees-Unwin, J Adams, R Rahi, A Pluen, Cv Hutchinson, Sj Webb, J Burthem

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Responses Of Animals To Climate Change Are Most Likely Insufficient, Viktoriia Radchuk, Thomas Reed, Céline Teplitsky, Martijn Van De Pol, Anne Charmantier, Christopher Hassall, Peter Adamík, Frank Adriaensen, Markus P. Ahola, Karl S. Berg

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

Biological responses to climate change have been widely documented across taxa and regions, but it remains unclear whether species are maintaining a good match between phenotype and environment, i.e. whether observed trait changes are adaptive. Here we reviewed 10,090 abstracts and extracted data from 71 studies reported in 58 relevant publications, to assess quantitatively whether phenotypic trait changes associated with climate change are adaptive in animals. A meta-analysis focussing on birds, the taxon best represented in our dataset, suggests that global warming has not systematically affected morphological traits, but has advanced phenological traits. We demonstrate that these advances are adaptive …

Eight Urgent, Fundamental And Simultaneous Steps Needed To Restore Ocean Health, And The Consequences For Humanity And The Planet Of Inaction Or Delay, Dan Laffoley, John M. Baxter, Diva J. Amon, Duncan E.J. Currie, Craig A. Downs, Jm Hall‐Spencer, H Harden‐Davies, Richard Page, Chris P. Reid, Callum M. Roberts, Alex Rogers, Thorsten Thiele, Charles R.C. Sheppard, Rashid U. Sumaila, Lucy C. Woodall

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Detection Of Novel Allelic Variations In Soybean Mutant Population Using Tilling By Sequencing, Reneth Millas, Mary Espina, C. M. Sabbir Ahmed, Angelina Bernardini, Ekundayo Adeleke, Zeinab Yadegari, Korsi Dumenyo, Ali Taheri

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

One of the most important tools in genetic improvement is mutagenesis, which is a useful tool to induce genetic and phenotypic variation for trait improvement and discovery of novel genes. JTN-5203 (MG V) mutant population was generated using an induced ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis and was used for detection of induced mutations in FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B genes using reverse genetics approach. Optimum concentration of EMS was used to treat 15,000 bulk JTN-5203 seeds producing 1,820 M2 population. DNA was extracted, normalized, and pooled from these individuals. Specific primers were designed from FAD2-1A and FAD2-1B genes that are involved in …

Nephromyces Represents A Diverse And Novel Lineage Of The Apicomplexa That Has Retained Apicoplasts, Sergio A. Munoz-Gomez, Keira Durnin, Laura Eme, Christopher Paight, Christopher E. Lane, Mary B. Saffo, Claudio H. Slamovits

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A most interesting exception within the parasitic Apicomplexa is Nephromyces, an extracellular, probably mutualistic, endosymbiont found living inside molgulid ascidian tunicates (i.e., sea squirts). Even though Nephromyces is now known to be an apicomplexan, many other questions about its nature remain unanswered. To gain further insights into the biology and evolutionary history of this unusual apicomplexan, we aimed to 1) find the precise phylogenetic position of Nephromyces within the Apicomplexa, 2) search for the apicoplast genome of Nephromyces, and 3) infer the major metabolic pathways in the apicoplast of Nephromyces. To do this, we sequenced a metagenome …

What's Happening: July 22, 2019, Maine Medical Center

What's Happening

No abstract provided.

Developmental Symbiosis Facilitates The Multiple Origins Of Herbivory, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

Developmental bias toward particular evolutionary trajectories can be facilitated through symbiosis. Organisms are holobionts, consisting of zygote‐derived cells and a consortia of microbes, and the development, physiology, and immunity of animals are properties of complex interactions between the zygote‐derived cells and microbial symbionts. Such symbionts can be agents of developmental plasticity, allowing an organism to develop in particular directions. This plasticity can lead to genetic assimilation either through the incorporation of microbial genes into host genomes or through the direct maternal transmission of the microbes. Such plasticity can lead to niche construction, enabling the microbes to remodel host anatomy and/or …