Digital Commons Network^™

Identification Of Imiquimod As A Potential Combination For Anti-Cd47 Antibodies In Cancer Therapy, Nicole Brittaney Pang

Scripps Senior Theses

The avenues of targeted immunotherapy offers a promise of less toxic treatment options for those battling different forms of cancer. Specifically, the process of hijacking a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer from within versus using external treatments like chemotherapy which is extremely damaging to the patient. One such avenue includes the usage of monoclonal antibodies as an effective modality for immunotherapy. Cluster of Differentiation 47 (CD47), also known as the ‘don’t eat me signal’, aids in cell proliferation and evasion of phagocytosis and has been found to be a target for stopping tumorigenesis. Previous research has been successful …

Gota A Gota, No. 22, 2020, Toni Pérez Fernández

Gota a Gota

Contents: Editorial -- El Sistema Subterráneo de las Hediondas [Sima Hedionda 2 (Sima Pito) - Sima Hedionda 4 (Pozo de la Albarrá)]. Un Proyecto Colectivo para un Yacimiento Subterráneo Excepcional -- Miembros Geoquímicos Terminales y de Transición de las Aguas Cársicas de Cuba (II). Aplicaciones del Nomograma Modificado de Schoeller - Metodología e Interpretación -- Cap de Cala Figuera - Urbanización el Toro (1ª Parte) (Calvía, Mallorca) -- Las Cuevas en la Prensa (1836-1918) -- Análisis Simple del Inventario Preliminar de la Cueva G.E.V.-2 (Santo Tomé, Jaén, Andalucía). Estado e Conservación de su Ecosistema Subterráneo -- Deriva y Gestión del …

Gota A Gota, No. 21, 2020, Toni Pérez Fernández

Gota a Gota

Contents: Editorial -- Indicadores de Paleosismicidad Derivados de Espeleotemas Fracturadas en Cavernas del Campo Gasopetrolífero de Boca de Jaruco, Mayabeque, Cuba -- Exploraciones en la Sierra de Llerás. Botet de Casa Rei (2017-2019) (Tremp, Lérida) -- Sa Comuna de Bunyola y Alrededores (2ª Parte) (Bunyola, Mallorca) -- Los Murciélagos del Elemento Natural Destacado (E.N.D.) "Pan de Guajaibón", Provincia Artemisa, Cuba -- El Karst en Yeso de San Adrián, Matanzas, Cuba -- Cronicón de la Espeleología Vizcaína -- La Atalaya. La Montaña Hoyada de Cuevas y Leyendas (Cabra, Córdoba) -- La Cova de la Matilde (Eslida, Catellón) -- Las Cavidades del …

Gota A Gota, No. 20, 2020, Toni Pérez Fernández

Gota a Gota

Contents: Editorial -- Parque Ecológico Monte Barreto (Cuba): Síntesis de Geología e Hidrología Ambiental de un Karst Urbanizado (II). Hidrología Ambiental -- Círculo de Interés de Carsología y Espeleología: Una Experiencia de Trabajo -- La Cueva del Tabaco o La Marilechie. Una Mina de Extracción de "Albero" de Origen Romano en Carmona (Sevilla) -- Crónicas de la Espeleología Cordobesa: El Preludio del Gulmont (1958-1960) -- Exploraciones Subterráneas en la Falla de Gaucín (Málaga) -- La Mina Consuelo de a Pontenova (Lugo): El Color de las Tinieblas -- Algoritmos, Resultados e Implicaciones Ingenieras del Proceso de Denudación Cársica (I): Identificación del …

Operationalizing Healthcare Big Data In The Electronic Health Records Using A Heatmap Visualization Technique, Don Roosan, Mazharul Karim, Jay Chok, Moom Roosan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: The majority of the electronic health record (EHR) contains a wealth of information, including unstructured notes. Healthcare professionals may be missing substantial portions of essential diagnostic and treatment information by not focusing on unstructured texts. The objective of this study is to present progress notes data using heatmap visualization. Methods: In this study, the research team used the unstructured text from the progress notes of deidentified patient data. The research team conducted qualitative content-coding based on the clinical complexity model and developed a heatmap based on the processed frequency data. Result: The researchers developed a color-coded heatmap focusing on …

Recurrent Neural Network Properties And Their Verification With Monte Carlo Techniques, Dmitry Vengertsev, Elena Sherman

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

As RNNs find its applications in medical and automotive fields, they became a part of critical systems, which traditionally require thorough verification processes. In this work we present how RNNs behaviors can be modeled as labeled transition systems and formally define a set of state and temporal safety properties for such models. To verify those properties we propose to use the Monte Carlo approach and evaluate its effectiveness for different type of properties. We perform empirical evaluation on two RNN models to determine to what extent they satisfy the properties and how many the samples of Monte Carlo required to …

Academic And Practitioner Perspectives On The Ilc Draft Articles On Prevention And Punishment Of Crimes Against Humanity As Adopted On Second Reading, Charles C. Jalloh, Leila N. Sadat

Articles

No abstract provided.

Gravity-Drawing Flexible Silicone Filaments As Fiber Optics And Model Foldamers, Katherine Snell

CMC Senior Theses

Here, we present a method of gravity-drawing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) silicone fibers with application as fiber optics and as model foldamers. Beginning as a viscous liquid, PDMS is cured using heat until its measured viscosity reaches 4000 mPa•s. The semi-cured elastomer is then extruded through a tube furnace to produce thin (diameters on the order of hundred micrometers) filaments with scalable lengths. PDMS is biocompatible, gas-permeable, flexible, and hydrophobic. Additionally, the PDMS surface hydrophobicity can be modified via UV exposure, O2 plasma, and corona discharge. We demonstrate the patternibility (i.e patterns of hydrophobicity) of PDMS fibers, adding complexity to potential foldamer …

Analysis Of Iron Sources In Antarctic Continental Shelf Waters, Michael S. Dinniman, Pierre St-Laurent, Kevin R. Arrigo, Eileen E. Hofmann, Gert L. Van Dijken

CCPO Publications

Previous studies showed that satellite‐derived estimates of chlorophyll a in coastal polynyas over the Antarctic continental shelf are correlated with the basal melt rate of adjacent ice shelves. A 5‐km resolution ocean/sea ice/ice shelf model of the Southern Ocean is used to examine mechanisms that supply the limiting micronutrient iron to Antarctic continental shelf surface waters. Four sources of dissolved iron are simulated with independent tracers, assumptions about the source iron concentration for each tracer, and an idealized summer biological uptake. Iron from ice shelf melt provides about 6% of the total dissolved iron in surface waters. The contribution from …

Spillover Of Sea Scallops From Rotational Closures In The Mid-Atlantic Bight (United States), Deborah R. Hart, Daphne M. Monroe, Joseph C. Caracappa, Dale Haidvogel, Burton V. Shank, David B. Rudders, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann, Eric N. Powell

CCPO Publications

We examined evidence for larval spillover (increased recruitment outside the closures) of Atlantic sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus) due to rotational closures in the Mid-Atlantic Bight using a 40-year fisheries survey time series and a larval transport model. Since the first closure of the Hudson Canyon South (HCS) area in 1998, mean recruitment in the two areas directly down-current from this closure, Elephant Trunk (ET) and Delmarva (DMV), increased significantly by factors of about 7 and 2, respectively. Stock–recruit plots indicate that low biomasses in HCS were associated with reduced mean recruitment in ET and DMV. Simulations indicate that larvae spawned …

The “Challenge" Of Depletion: Why The Oyster Fishery Is Not Self-Regulating, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Leanne M. Poussard

CCPO Publications

The possibility that the economics of the oyster fishery impose a self-limitation on overharvesting has been proffered on occasion. The inefficiency of harvesting by the fishery has been evaluated and estimates of the exploitation rate permissible under conditions of maximum sustainable yield have been obtained in previous studies. The question becomes to what extent does the inefficiency of harvest interact with the economics of the fishery to compromise ready detection of overfishing? This study explores the possibility that the constraint of economics on the fishery occurs at oyster exploitation rates that are higher than maximum sustainable yield, leading ineluctably to …

Occult Hepatitis B Virus Infection In A Cohort Of Hiv Infected Antiretroviral Therapy Naïve Adults, Adil Suleiman Salyani

Master of Medicine in Internal Medicine

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with co-infection being common. Infection with HIV is a risk factor for occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI), defined as presence of HBV deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the absence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Occult hepatitis B virus infection is further classified based on HBV DNA level as true (/mL) or false (≥200 IU/mL). Presence of OBI is associated with development of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Objectives: The primary outcome was to determine the prevalence of OBI in anti-retroviral therapy (ART) …

Discordance Between Breast Imaging And Histopathology Findings After Ultrasound Guided Core Needle Biopsy, Margaret Mutinda Mwania

Master of Medicine in Imaging and Diagnostic Radiology

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women worldwide with an estimated global incidence of 11.6%. According to the GLOBOCAN factsheet, in 2018 breast cancer incidence in Kenya was 40.3 per 100,000. Early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer has been shown to reduce mortality and increase years of life gained. Breast lesion diagnosis is heavily based on imaging and pathology and typically findings are reported independent of one another. Correlation of imaging findings and pathology after biopsy is found to be of critical importance in detecting possible sampling error, concordance versus discordance, recommend appropriate management and thus …

Occupied Land Is An Access Issue: Interventions In Feminist Disability Studies And Narratives Of Indigenous Activism, Jess L. Cowing

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Native/Indigenous narratives of health and environmental activism often engage with feminist disability issues to center the connections between land, health, sovereignty, and historical legacies of settler militarized colonialism. Within the context from which Native women and youth act as key leaders in health and environmental activism, expanded modes of feminist disability inquiry could interrogate how transformative justice issues require historicizing concepts of ableism through ongoing legacies of settler colonialism. Considering the work of Native writers such as Winona LaDuke, feminist disability studies scholars might critically examine how key tenets of feminist disability issues such as access require attention to Native/Indigenous …

Dynamic Conformal Arcs For Lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: A Comparison With Volumetric-Modulated Arc Therapy., Rasmus Bokrantz, Minna Wedenberg, Peter Sandwall

Oncology Articles

This study constitutes a feasibility assessment of dynamic conformal arc (DCA) therapy as an alternative to volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) of lung cancer. The rationale for DCA is lower geometric complexity and hence reduced risk for interplay errors induced by respiratory motion. Forward planned DCA and inverse planned DCA based on segment-weight optimization were compared to VMAT for single arc treatments of five lung patients. Analysis of dose-volume histograms and clinical goal fulfillment revealed that DCA can generate satisfactory and near equivalent dosimetric quality to VMAT, except for complex tumor geometries. Segment-weight optimized DCA …

Carbon Amendments Influence Composition And Functional Capacities Of Indigenous Soil Microbiomes, José Pablo Dundore-Arias, Sarah C. Castle, Laura Felice, Ruth Dill-Macky, Linda L. Kinkel

Biology, Agriculture and Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soil nutrient amendments are recognized for their potential to improve microbial activity and biomass in the soil. However, the specific selective impacts of carbon amendments on indigenous microbiomes and their metabolic functions in agricultural soils remain poorly understood. We investigated the changes in soil chemical characteristics and phenotypes of Streptomyces communities following carbon amendments to soil. Mesocosms were established with soil from two field sites varying in soil organic matter content (low organic matter, LOM; high organic matter, HOM), that were amended at intervals over nine months with low or high dose solutions of glucose, fructose, malic acid, a mixture …

Improving Cooperative State And Federal Species Conservation Efforts, Temple Stoellinger, Michael Brennan, Sara Brodnax, Ya-Wei Li, Murray Feldman, Bob Budd

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

We Need Our Fathers: How Welfare Policies Impact Fathers, Lily Nwanesi

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Fathers hold key roles in the lives of their children. Children who grow up with fathers in the home tend to remain in school, participate less in delinquent behavior, and have good emotional development. However, federal policies, such as the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Act (1935) and child support legislation before 1996, have indirectly (and perhaps unintentionally) led to a decrease of fathers in the home. Recently, the federal government created the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (1996) to reform these programs. From this policy, programs such as the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program …

Gynecologic Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma: A Review, Grant Burkeen, Aman Chauhan, Rohitashva Agrawal, Riva Raiker, Jill M. Kolesar, Lowell B. Anthony, B. Mark Evers, Susanne Arnold

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC) are rare, aggressive high-grade neuroendocrine neoplasms within the neuroendocrine cell lineage spectrum. This manuscript provides a detailed review of published literature on LCNEC of gynecological origin. We performed a PubMed search for material available on gynecologic LCNEC. We analyzed 104 unique cases of gynecologic LCNECs, of which 45 were cervical primary, 45 were ovarian, 13 were uterine, and 1 was vaginal. A total of 45 cases of cervical LCNEC were identified with a median age of 36 years. Median overall survival was 16 months. We identified 45 ovarian LCNEC cases in the published literature with …

The Development Of Complex Abdominal Spot Patterns In Three Drosophila Species, William A. Dion

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Complex color patterns like the spots on leopards and butterfly wings beg the question – how did these traits evolve? To understand the evolution of novel morphologies, we need to study the differences in morphogenesis between closely related species. Here, I examine and compare the development of complex abdominal spot patterns among three species of Drosophila closely related in evolutionary time. Through in situ hybridization, I have characterized the expression patterns of three pigmentation genes among the fruit fly species. Additionally, I have built upon previous work in our lab regarding the regulation of pigmentation by beginning to develop an …

Reimagining Schools: A Descriptive Analysis Of Effective Practices For Educating Marginalized Students, Tamela D. Brown

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Educational equity is the most imperative civil rights issue we face today. While the demands and interjections of social movements have strengthened many practices, structures, and laws related to educational equity, the ultimate shift in the tide has yet to be fully realized. Quality education is still not fully accessible to marginalized populations, specifically Black students who are also considered low socioeconomic status. The educational system in the United States has historically imposed segregation, discrimination, and other various forms of oppression as a means to limit educational access for people of color. The results of such depravities are evidenced by …

Temporal Changes In Unisexual And Sexual Ambystoma Salamander Populations In Southeast Michigan, Kelsey B. Mitchell

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change drives changes in organisms’ geographic ranges that can lead to shifts in population structure. Unisexual (all female) Ambystoma salamanders reproduce via kleptogenesis, resulting in ploidy-variable offspring. I analyzed genetic data of historic and modern-day unisexual and A. laterale samples from the University of Michigan’s E. S. George Reserve using epidermal cell nuclei measurements and microsatellite loci. I found that population composition has shifted away from the more northern-distributed A. laterale and toward populations dominated by unisexuals in five out of six ponds. There was a significant relationship between the proportion of A. laterale to unisexuals and pond size …

Species Conservation & Recovery Through Adequate Regulatory Mechanisms, Sandra B. Zellmer, Sam J. Panarella, Oliver Finn Wood

Faculty Journal Articles & Other Writings

The world is experiencing its sixth episode of mass extinction of life. In rhetoric typically used by bloggers rather than scientists, the National Academy of Sciences reports that this "biological annihilation" is more dire than previously believed,' and that the decimation of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services resulting from it is nothing less than a "frightening assault on the foundations of human civilization."2

Unlike previous episodes of mass extinction, this one is caused by human overpopulation, overconsumption, and anthropogenic climate change. The United States has been a world conservation leader for over a century, but its commitment to supporting …

Immigrants, The Bible, And You (Calvin Shorts), Amanda W. Benckhuysen

Calvin Press

How does our Christian faith affect the way we think about immigration? What does the Bible say about immigrants that can help Christians respond faithfully to the current refugee and asylee crises? What does it look like to love our migrant neighbors? This book explores biblical perspectives on immigration in order to help Christians reflect theologically on issues related to immigration today.

Joining The Herd: A Case For Closing New Zealand's Domestic Ivory Market, Bianka Atlas

Animal Law Review

This Article examines the evidence supporting the implementation of a domestic ivory trade ban in New Zealand, with the aim of informing policymakers and compelling the New Zealand government to act to establish a legal and policy framework. There is widespread support for the closure of domestic ivory markets worldwide, and this Article seeks to persuade New Zealand to join this groundswell.

2019 Foreign And International Legislative Review, Daryane Couto

Animal Law Review

This Review offers a review of foreign and international animal protection legislation enacted or proposed in the year 2019. Included are propositions by categorically international actors, such as CITES and the UN, for regulating international wildlife trade and drafting a high-seas conservation treaty. Additionally, this Review reports how some countries, such as Slovakia, Colombia, and the United Kingdom, are finally putting an end to cruel, archaic animal practices. Finally, the recognition of animal sentience in the Australian Capital Territory, and legislation that closes the gap in Canada’s Criminal Code, are addressed. Together, these changes in foreign and international animal law …

Road Tripping The Roof Of The World, Miyako Namba, Sigrid Arenas, Joan Esqivel, Samuel King, Blenna Kiros, Noah Ruschmeyer, Garrett James Gazzo, Molly Cribari, Monica Wingett

Humboldt Geographic

No abstract provided.

Conflicts And Attitudes Regarding The Return Of The Grey Wolf To California, Kendall Burke

Humboldt Geographic

No abstract provided.

The Write Stuff - Winter 2020 (Vol. 17, No. 1), Research Medical Library

Write Stuff 2020

• Best practices for sharing confidential materials outside MD Anderson
• 11th edition of the AMA Manual of Style to be published this month
• MD Anderson’s policies on disclosure of foreign relationships
• New NIH grant application instructions and forms coming in spring 2020
• Cabell’s Blacklist
• Unusual terms used in scientific writing and publishing: Hybrid journal and mirror journal

Electrodynamics Modeling Of Plasmonic-Organic Hybrid Waveguides, Marcus Michel

Pomona Senior Theses

Optical fibers have multiple advantages over conventional electrical connections, such as lower energy losses and higher bandwidth. To use optics for chip-to-chip communication, electro-optic (EO) modulators need to be scaled down to be incorporated on integrated circuits. This size reduction has been accomplished using plasmonic-organic hybrid (POH) waveguides, which make use of nonlinear organic EO materials and surface plasmon polaritons to achieve light modulation in devices with lengths on the micron scale. As these devices are just starting to be developed, there are many avenues for their potential optimization. In order to streamline and reduce the cost of the optimization …