Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Effect Of Exercise Intensity On Post-Exercise Hypotension In Middle-Aged Adults, Seth F. Mccarthy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Acute bouts of exercise have a transient lowering effect on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the hours after termed post-exercise hypotension (PEH). While moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) is effective in reducing BP acutely, little is known regarding the effects of higher intensity exercise. This study examined the effects of different exercise intensities on PEH. Six participants (females: 4; age: 48±9 y, Mean arterial pressure: 84±8 mmHg) had their BP measured before and both immediately post- (<2 h) and for 24 h following 4 experimental sessions: 1) 30 min MICT (65% V̇O_2max); 2) 20 min high-intensity interval training (HIIT; 10 x 1 min @ 90% HR_max with 1 …

Domain-Specific Self-Compassion In Individuals High Versus Low In Social Anxiety, Leah Brassard

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Self-compassion involves showing kindness and understanding to the self during times of hardship. Individuals with social anxiety have been shown to exhibit lower levels of self-compassion than the general population. The present set of studies seeks to build support for a domain-specific conceptualization of self-compassion, as it relates to social anxiety. Study One (N=160) explored self-compassionate responding in three domains of stress from self-generated recollections in an online format. It was predicted that individuals high in levels of social anxiety would be more self-compassionate in scenarios involving non-social situations (i.e., burnout, physical illness) than in a socially evaluative …

Tradition As Flow: Decolonial Currents In The Muslim Atlantic, Jason Sparkes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study contributes a decolonial critique of the world-system from the longue durée perspective of the Muslim Atlantic. It connects contemporary Traditionalist Islamic discourse in North America to human networks developed since the long sixteenth century. Traditionalist Islam can be described as a discourse about traditional Islam. Genealogically, it draws upon many sources. Two important ones are (1) the oeuvre of French metaphysician and Sufi René Guénon, and (2) the Shâdhilî school of Sufism born in North Africa. Traditionalist Islam distinguishes itself from what it depicts as fundamentalist (or Salafist) and modernist (or progressive) currents, representing two extremes of …

Assessing Threats And Mitigation For Scarlet Ammannia (Ammannia Robusta) In Southwestern Ontario, Kayla Salive

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Scarlet Ammannia (Ammannia robusta) is an annual emergent wetland plant of the Lythraceae family. Throughout most of its distribution, the species population is stable under present conditions. However, this is not the case in Canada, where A. robusta is considered endangered with only a few small populations documented in British Columbia and Ontario. In response, a recovery strategy was created for A. robusta outlining the lack of information on the species biology and ecology, with a primary objective to assess the populations in Ontario and gain information on what may be contributing to the species rarity. To assess …

Can Zooplankton On The North American Great Plains ‘Keep Up’ With Climate-Driven Salinity Change?, Mariam Elmarsafy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Great Plains of North America are projected to become more arid as the climate changes over the next century. Salinity levels for lakes in this region are linked to climate, suggesting that lakes will become more saline as the climate becomes drier. One group of organisms that might be affected by increased salinity levels are the zooplankton, aquatic invertebrates that transfer energy from primary producers to macroinvertebrates and fish. Little is known about the ability of zooplankton to adapt to long-term increases in lake salinity levels. For my thesis, I used resurrection ecology to examine how a common zooplankter, …

Functional Characterization Of Proteins From A Putative Chondroitin Sulfate A Degrading Operon And The Crystal Structure Of An Exo-N-Acetylgalactosamine-4-Sulfatase From Tannerella Forsythia, Peter Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Advanced periodontitis has been shown to have strong associations with the residence of a bacterial triad of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola also known as the red complex. These bacteria were previously thought to be asaccharolytic, making them better suited to survive in deep in periodontal pockets where access to carbohydrates from food is limited. Information gathered from genomic analysis suggested that upregulation of an operon (BFO2285-BFO2295, BFO3043) could confer the capacity for T. forsythia to degrade chondroitin-4-sulfate, the principle glycosaminoglycan of alveolar bone tissue. Bioinformatics analysis suggested the operon was similar to an operon found in Bacteroidetes …

Rna Sequencing Of Human Peripheral Nerve In Response To Injury: Distinctive Analysis Of The Nerve Repair Pathways., Andrew S. Welleford, Jorge E. Quintero, Nader El Seblani, Eric Blalock, Sumedha Gunewardena, Steven M. Shapiro, Sean M. Riordan, Peter Huettl, Zain Guduru, John A. Stanford, Craig G. Van Horne, Greg A. Gerhardt

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The development of regenerative therapies for central nervous system diseases can likely benefit from an understanding of the peripheral nervous system repair process, particularly in identifying potential gene pathways involved in human nerve repair. This study employed RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology to analyze the whole transcriptome profile of the human peripheral nerve in response to an injury. The distal sural nerve was exposed, completely transected, and a 1 to 2 cm section of nerve fascicles was collected for RNA-seq from six participants with Parkinson's disease, ranging in age between 53 and 70 yr. Two weeks after the initial injury, another …

Quantum Supremacy, Network Security & The Legal Risk Management Framework: Resiliency For National Security Systems, Salah E. Ali

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Personality Traits As Markers Of Psychosis Risk In Kenya: Assessment Of Temperament And Character, Daniel Mamah, C Robert Cloninger, Victoria N Mutiso, Isaiah Gitonga, Albert Tele, David M Ndetei

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Specific personality traits have been proposed as a schizophrenia-related endophenotype and confirmed in siblings at risk for psychosis. The relationship of temperament and character with psychosis has not been previously investigated in Africa. The study was conducted in Kenya, and involved participants at clinical high-risk (CHR) for psychosis (

The Role Of Streptococci In Oral Periodontitis: Growth And Disruption Of Yellow Complex Bacteria, Megan Gordon

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Periodontitis is described as the inflammation of the periodontium and affects millions of people worldwide. This disease is caused by biofilm growth of certain bacteria on the tooth surface, adjacent to the gum tissue in the oral cavity. There are currently treatments against severe periodontitis, such as oral surgery and use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, but they fail to target the specific bacteria associated with periodontitis. Socransky et al., (1998), identified the preponderance for specific organisms in distinct areas of the subgingival pockets to associate with different bacteria forming consortia and complexes. The yellow complex, containing facultatively anaerobic, Gram positive …

Crispr And The Future Of Fertility Innovation, June R. Carbone

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Miracle Cures Go Bad: Regulators’ Responses To Unproven Direct-To-Consumer Stem Cell Therapies, Sydney Hope

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wellness Measurement, Timothy P. Melchert

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Incorporating wellness into considerations of health, healthcare, and social policy has reached an exciting point. Aristotle, Buddha, and other philosophers, sages, and religious leaders throughout history developed great insights into the topic, but only in recent decades has the construct of wellness been examined and clarified through systematic empirical research. There are still major debates regarding several aspects of the topic, but it is now widely considered a measurable construct that should play a role in healthcare and social policy. This volume represents another step forward in bringing wellness into the mainstream of health and healthcare.

Wellness often means different …

Examining Links Between Culture, Identity, And Learning, Margaret Beale Spencer, Carly Offidani-Bertrand, Keshia Harris, Gabriel M. Velez

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Learning as a cultural process is deeply rooted in our biology and in our evolutionary history. Prior generational intrusions and major events have implications for patterned interactions, processes, and outcomes for subsequent cohorts. Elder’s “Children of the Great Depression: Social Change in Life Experience” (1974) provides an illustration determined by a major socioeconomic fluctuation. Specifically, his description of the long-term impacts of the early 20th century economic depression on youth as observed across time are parallel to current 21st century observations of developmental expressions of cultural processes having under-acknowledged foundations (Davis, Burleigh, & Gardner, 1941; Davis & Havighurst, 1946; …

Invertebrate Welfare In The Wild, Asher Soryl

Animal Sentience

Mikhalevich & Powell argue that certain cognitive-affective biases might distort people’s consideration of invertebrate minds and that the moral risks of false negatives in sentience research deserve greater consideration under precautionary frameworks. In this commentary, I draw comparisons between biases that concern wild animals and conditions in nature, arguing that the moral risks of disregarding the possible mental welfare of invertebrates are compounded by facts about their lives in the wild.

Sentience In Evolutionary Context, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg

Animal Sentience

We appreciate the goals of Mikhalevich & Powell (M&P) and largely agree with their conclusions but we differ on some of their definitions and terms. Affects (emotional feelings) should be part of sentience. Although the evidence presented for insect sentience is strong, we list some of the counterevidence that should be considered. Our own research supports M&P’s choice of arthropods, cephalopods, and vertebrates as the only sentient organisms with moral status.

Cognition, Movement And Morality, Thomas R. Zentall

Animal Sentience

Each of the criteria for determining which should be given moral standing has its shortcomings. The criterion of cognitive is especially weak. That research on comparative cognition may default to the simplest account is not grounds for abandoning this scientific practice. Instead, we should dissociate scientific evidence of cognitive ability from moral obligation. In addition to the criteria suggested by Mikhalevich & Powell for including species in welfare protections, I would suggest a very old one — the ability to physically move.

Drawing The Boundaries Of Animal Sentience, Walter Veit, Bryce Huebner

Animal Sentience

We welcome Mikhalevich & Powell’s (2020) (M&P) call for a more “‘inclusive”’ animal ethics, but we think their proposed shift toward a moral framework that privileges false positives over false negatives will require radically revising the paradigm assumption in animal research: that there is a clear line to be drawn between sentient beings that are part of our moral community and nonsentient beings that are not.

Bridging The Empathy Gap For Invertebrates, John M. Marzluff

Animal Sentience

The actions of sentient vertebrates command our attention and inform our morality. Mikhalevich & Powell (2020) (M&P) argue that similar activities in a wide range of invertebrates with central nervous systems should do likewise. However, humans most readily empathize with creatures we recognize as similar in behavior, physiology, or appearance to ourselves. Helping humanity overcome this bias is a significant challenge for those who study invertebrates. Until this empathy gap is bridged, I believe few people and the policies they craft will afford invertebrates the moral standing that M&P argue they deserve. Therefore, I suggest those interested in raising appreciation …

Whether Invertebrates Are Sentient Matters To Bioethics And Science Policy, Michael L. Woodruff

Animal Sentience

Mikhalevich & Powell provide convincing empirical evidence that at least some invertebrates are sentient and hence should be granted moral status. I agree and argue that functional markers should be the primary indicators of sentience. Neuroanatomical homologies provide only secondary evidence. Consensus regarding the validity of these functional markers will be difficult to achieve. To be effective in practice, functional markers of sentience will have to be tested and accepted species by species to overcome the implicit biases against extending moral status to invertebrates.

Inhibition Of Pain Or Response To Injury In Invertebrates And Vertebrates, Matilda Gibbons, Sajedeh Sarlak

Animal Sentience

In certain situations, insects appear to lack a response to noxious stimuli that would cause pain in humans. For example, from the fact that male mantids continue to mate while being eaten by their partner it does not follow that insects do not feel pain; it could be the result of modulation of nociceptive inputs or behavioural outputs. When we try to infer the underlying mental state of an insect from its behaviour, it is important to consider the behavioural effects of the associated physiological and neurobiological mechanisms.

Disentangling Different Forms Of Justice, Anna Wienhues

Animal Sentience

Treves et al.’s article is an important contribution to an emerging interdisciplinary literature on what constitutes a viable and just response to the current biodiversity crisis. My commentary addresses three interrelated themes: (1) overcoming divisions, (2) hierarchies of moral worth and (3) ‘multispecies justice’ in the broader context of justice.

Game Theory And Artificial Intelligence In Just Preservation, David L. Dowe, Nader Chmait

Animal Sentience

We humans can show presumption, arrogance and many dubious traits. By virtue of being land-dwelling, dexterous, relatively intelligent, and having good communication hardware and (good) fortune, we have for recent millennia largely had dominion of our planet. Yet humans often do not treat themselves (let alone other species) particularly well. Treves et al.’s idea of a multispecies justice system — not “prioritizing humans” but “finding practical ways to work within human systems” — invites consideration.

Preserving Nature For The Benefit Of All Sentient Individuals, Eze Paez

Animal Sentience

I agree with Treves et al.’s proposal for a preservation ethics based on the principle that nonhuman well-being is a matter of justice and compassion. In this commentary, I advance two objections. First, only sentient beings, rather than all life, belong in the moral community. Second, given that nature is probably harmful overall for sentient individuals, preserving it for the benefit of future human and nonhuman generations requires us to modify it as far as practicable.

Group Stereotypes: Human And Nonhuman, Verónica Sevillano

Animal Sentience

Treves et al.’s target article emphasizes the importance of including nonhuman animals in the scope of conservation frameworks, countering an anthropocentric orientation in conservation biology. In support, I discuss how stereotypes of other animal species may bias our behavior toward them.

The Wholeness Of Nature, Marthe Kiley-Worthington

Animal Sentience

The target article outlines various positions on conservation and preservation but ignores practical considerations of management since there is no wild habitat left. Population controls, either human or nonhuman mammals, are not discussed. The suggestions for legal changes are vague and will require much more thinking about how to integrate animal welfare with wildlife conservation concerns. “Freedoms” as outlined in the human bill of rights might help with decision making for improving animal welfare. Other commentators have made anthropocentric judgements concerning animal welfare, ignoring the importance of developing other ways of seeing and understanding the “multiplicity within unity,” combining empirical …

How To Engage Public Support To Protect Overlooked Species, Scarlett R. Howard, Adrian G. Dyer

Animal Sentience

Treves et al. (2019) propose a non-anthropocentric approach to conservation biology for the ‘just preservation’ of non-humans. Some of our current ways of ranking conservation efforts based on benefits to humans are indeed critically flawed, but we doubt that a completely non-anthropocentric approach is possible at this time. We propose a way to generate public support for those non-human species that may otherwise be overlooked in policy-making and conservation efforts.

Just Preservation, Trusteeship And Multispecies Justice, Francisco J. Santiago-Ávila, Adrian Treves, William Lynn

Animal Sentience

We are grateful to all the commentators who engaged with our target article. Some commentators have offered important insights into our proposed design and methods for legally intervening on behalf of futurity. Others have focused on theoretical considerations central to our proposal for multispecies justice and trusteeship. All have inspired modifications and further elaboration of our initial proposal. In this Response, we engage with the commentaries, integrating their suggestions, striving for convergence and complementarity, but also discussing points of divergence with our proposed framework where necessary. There is substantial overlap in the points of view of the three co-authors, but …

Whenever Possible, Treat The Cause: Shut Down The Flu Factories, Michael Greger

Animal Sentience

Over the last few decades -- and at a historically unprecedented rate -- hundreds of human pathogens have emerged, mostly from animals. The United Nations’ “Preventing the Next Pandemic” report blames increasing demand for animal protein and unsustainable agricultural intensification as two key drivers of the emergence of zoonotic threats. Animal agribusiness has become a viral disease incubator, but there is a clear path towards preventing the next pandemic as well as protecting planetary health: to reform the practice of raising domestic animals for food and to adopt eating habits that not only protect our health, but address …

Anthropogenic Suffering Of Farmed Animals: The Other Side Of Zoonoses, Jean-Jacques Kona-Boun

Animal Sentience

Wiebers & Feigin’s (W&F’s) target article warns of the zoonotic threat to human health from factory farming and urges phasing out meat production and consumption, for the benefit of both human and nonhuman animals. This commentary focuses on the physical and emotional suffering of farmed animals. This varies by species, production system and geographic location, but suffering is there throughout all stages of production — breeding, housing, transport, usage and slaughter. Ubiquitous monitoring of all facilities where farmed animals are kept, with surveillance cameras recording all phases of production would help reduce some forms of suffering. Other forms are caused …