Digital Commons Network^™

Autologous Stem Cell-Derived Β Cells For Diabetes Cell Replacement Therapy, Kristina G. Maxwell

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Autologous stem cell therapy is a promising treatment for patients with diabetes worldwide. Previous stem cell-derived β (SC-β) cell protocols were unable to efficiently differentiate multiple patient induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into stem cell-derived islets (SC-islets), containing insulin-secreting SC-β cells. Recent updates targeting the actin cytoskeleton have enabled the differentiation of 14 diabetic and nondiabetic stem cell lines into SC-islets. We used genetic engineering, specifically CRISPR/Cas9, to correct the diabetes-causing mutation in stem cells from patients with Wolfram Syndrome. The genetically engineered SC-β cells functioned and had a composition similar to nondiabetic SC-β cells, unlike the unedited SC-β cells …

Visual And Non-Visual Control Of Movement: The Role Of Proprioception In Upper Limb Function After Stroke, Nathan A. Baune

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a series of studies into human reach and grasp, focusing on the neural systems and behaviors of upper-limb action that underly performance under varied sensory conditions: specifically, acting with and without visual feedback of the limb and under typical or impaired proprioceptive sensation (proprioceptive decline with aging and proprioceptive deficit following stroke). Under typical conditions, a combination of visual and non-visual (e.g., proprioception) sources of information are used to guide action. In the instance of stroke survivors or elderly individuals with proprioceptive deficits/decline, there may be a necessary reliance on visual information to perform. The studies are …

Refining The Characterization Of Causation In Early Childhood Neuropsychiatric Conditions: Nature, Nurture, And Time, Rachael Elizabeth Wagner

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Understanding causal factors in the development of early childhood neuropsychiatric conditions is essential for an understanding of disease mechanisms and therapeutic approaches. Yet the lack of objective classification of psychiatric diagnoses, phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and extensive comorbidity have posed immense challenges to the acquisition of knowledge regarding neuropsychiatric disease etiology. While it is unequivocally established that nearly all psychiatric conditions are substantially heritable, non-genetic factors do play a role in the development of psychopathology. This thesis explores both genetic and environmental contributors to neuropsychiatric conditions in an attempt to refine the characterization of some of these risk factors. …

When Dinosaurs Walked Through Diamonds: Constraining The Age Of Early Cretaceous Footprints In Volcanic Crater Sediments, Yasmin Jackson

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

The volcanic rocks of the Catoca Diamond Mine, northeastern Angola, were formed in an eruption ~118 million years ago. Above these rocks, researchers discovered Early Cretaceous mammalian, crocodilian, and sauropod dinosaur footprints in crater lake sediments. These footprints are among the relatively few vertebrate fossils from the Cretaceous Period (145-66 million years ago) found in Sub-Saharan Africa. The ~118 million-year-old age, which is the maximum age of the footprints, is provided by the uranium and lead isotope ratios in the zircon crystals from these volcanic rocks. The presence of dinosaur footprints limits the minimum age to 66 million years ago. …

Volume 6, Issue 1 Front Matter For Digital Publication, Jessie M. Henderson

SMU Journal of Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Contribution Of Tgf-B Signaling To The Pathogenesis Of Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Juo-Chin Yao

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

TGF-b expression is increased in most cases of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs); however, its contribution to disease pathogenesis is not well understood. Here, we explore two specific hypotheses. First, we hypothesize that increased TGF-b signaling in mesenchymal stromal cells contributes to the development of myelofibrosis. Second, we hypothesize that Jak2 mutated hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are resistant to the growth suppressive effect of TGF-b, conferring a fitness advantage that contributes to their expansion in MPNs and clonal hematopoiesis. To test the first hypothesis, we abrogated TGF-b signaling in mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells by deleting Tgfbr2 using a doxycycline-repressible Osterix-Cre transgene (Osx-Cre), which …

Understand And Predict Microbiome And Resistome Dynamics In Response To Perturbations Across Diverse Populations And Environments, Manish Boolchandani

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Complex microbial communities are at the interface of human, animal and environment interconnected ecosystem, where they can move within and between these entities. These microbial communities are mostly beneficial, maintaining the host health and homeostatic state. However, these communities can also serve as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance (AR) genes that may disseminate to pathogen bacteria, compromising the treatment options. Like other microbial communities, human gut microbiome is highly dynamic and can get acutely perturbed with the changes in the habitat, diet, lifestyle and disease. A perturbed gut community structure has profound impact on the host health and physiology. Use of …

Functional Interrogation Of Jak2 And Asxl1 Mutations In Myeloproliferative Neoplasms, Taylor Brost Collins

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

JAK2 V617F is the most frequent mutation found in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), with 50-60% of myelofibrosis (MF) patients harboring this mutation. Mutations in ASXL1 often co-occur with JAK2 V617F and are associated with decreased survival and increased risk of transformation to secondary acute myeloid leukemia. How mutant ASXL1 contributes to the MPN disease phenotype and confers poor prognosis is not fully understood. Asxl1 mutation knock-in mouse models present with a relatively modest phenotype, following a long latency period and ASXL1 mutations have not been modeled in combination with JAK2 V617F. The field lacks human model systems that focus on how …

Ascension And Adhesion Of Uropathogenic Escherichia Coli During Pyelonephritis, Lisa Kristine Mclellan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The ability of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) to successfully establish an infection within the urinary tract relies on the pathogen to be able to navigate the complex interactions between pathogen and host. During a urinary tract infection (UTI), UPEC must ascend, adhere, and form bacterial communities in various infection niches, from the bladder (cystitis) to the kidneys (pyelonephritis). Each of these steps is critical for bacterial survival, and host and pathogen factors required at each stage can vary depending on host sex and anatomic niche. Preclinical modeling of pyelonephritis and sex effects on UTI has been limited due to the …

Structural And Functional Examination Of A Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase Producing Β-Lactone Antibiotics, Erin Marie Gemmell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

With the amount of antibiotic resistant infections increasing and the number of new antibiotics entering the pharmaceutical pipeline decreasing, the need to develop new antibiotic is imperative. Utilizing bacteria’s biosynthetic pathways for antimicrobial secondary metabolite production, would allow for unique, complex, and stereoselective compounds to be tested for novel mechanisms of action. The work described herein utilizes a β-lactone forming nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) to form a library of analogs of the nonribosomal peptide (NRP) natural product, obafluorin. β-lactones are very reactive electrophiles that can form covalent bonds with a wide range of biological targets that may provide alternative mechanisms …

Prodrug Activation In Staphylococci And The Implications For Antimicrobial Development, Justin J. Miller

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing concern for global health care, with some estimates suggesting that 10 million people will die from antibiotic resistant infections in the year 2050. Fueling this prospect, few antimicrobials are being actively developed and recently commercial entities have fled from the development of new anti-infectives. New antimicrobials and drug development strategies are urgently needed to revitalize this critical pipeline. While many putative antibiotics demonstrate promising in vitro potency, they routinely fail in vivo due to poor drug-like properties (e.g. oral bioavailability, serum-half life, toxicity) resulting in overly expensive drug development pipelines. Fortunately, drug-like properties can be …

Of Mice And Toddlers: A Cross-Species Investigation Of The Social Motivation Theory Of Autism, Claire Weichselbaum

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social impairments and restricted, repetitive behaviors. Despite its growing prevalence, ASD remains poorly understood. One explanation for its social symptoms that has gained prominence in recent years is the Social Motivation Theory, which proposes a reduced motivation for social engagement as the underlying cause of impaired social functioning in ASD. While typically developing individuals find social interaction inherently rewarding, this theory suggests that people who develop ASD do not experience the same attraction to social stimuli and therefore miss out on critical social learning opportunities, hampering the development of …

Production Of Embryos And A Live Offspring Using Post Mortem Reproductive Material From Bison (Bison Bison Bison) Originating In Yellowstone National Park, Usa, Hayley M. Benham, Matthew P. Mccollum, Pauline Nol, Rebecca K. Frey, P. Ryan Clarke, Jack C. Rhyan, Jennifer P. Barfield

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bison from Yellowstone National Park (YNP) have an important genetic history. As one of the few wild herds of bison with no evidence of cattle DNA introgression and a large enough population to maintain genetic diversity, they are considered a conservation priority for the species. Unfortunately, there is a high prevalence of the zoonotic disease brucellosis in the herd. Part of the management strategy for controlling the disease and herd size in YNP is to remove bison from the population during the winter migration out of the park. This interagency management cull provides an opportunity to collect a large number …

Realistic Simulated Model For Testing And Developing A Vehicle, Sam Lin, Ben Taitelbaum

Defensive Publications Series

A computing system may create a realistic simulated model of a driving experience based on sensor data from a sensor system and interconnection mechanisms among automotive entities (e.g., a simulated entity, a real-world entity, etc.) for testing and developing a vehicle. The computing system may represent a platform for converging human-driven and autonomous vehicle simulations (e.g., interoperation between heterogeneous automotive entities) to simulate movement of vehicles in the realistic simulated model. For example, the computing system may allow the swapping of an emulated physical vehicle with a different simulated vehicle (e.g., a prototype vehicle) in the realistic simulated model while …

Restriction Of Placing Certain Single-Use Plastic Products On The Hungarian Market, Anita Boros

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

One of the means of rationalizing Hungarian waste management -in the context of the waste hierarchy- is to increase the rate of waste recycling and reprocessing. Although the Hungarian plastics industry is a very dynamically developing area, the Hungarian legislator has also recognized that the use of certain products is extremely harmful in the long run. Accordingly, stricter measures than the EU directive have been taken and accordingly a number of single-use plastic products from July 2021 are to be banned. In addition, in the case of plastic carrier bags, economic tools have been developed and further improved, which, according …

The New Trend For Digital Record Management In Bangladesh University Libraries, Md. Habibur Rahman

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the present practicing situation of DRM in the university libraries of Bangladesh. The more particular objectives are: to identify the present preservation scenario of DRM; to find out the problems of DRM which are facing archivists for long term preservation; to identify the necessary tools and technologies for DRM; to explore the ways to overcome the existing problems.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Survey methods were used for gathering data using a well-structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was sent to the respondents of some selected public and private universities in Bangladesh.

Findings: The findings revealed that …

Chanticleer | January 14, 2021, Jacksonville State University

Chanticleer

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice And Pennsylvania's Environmental Rights Amendment: Applying The Duty Of Impartiality To Discriminatory Siting, Jacob Elkin

Panel II: Reshaping EJ Law & Social Policy

Since the 1970s, there has been a growing awareness that environmental hazards are disproportionately sited in low-income communities and communities of color. Under the label of the environmental justice movement, community groups have pursued various means to fight against the discriminatory concentration of environmental burdens in their neighborhoods. Yet in its Civil Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause jurisprudence, the Supreme Court has largely shut the door on federal environmental justice litigation by requiring plaintiffs to prove that the government acted with discriminatory intent in its siting and permitting decisions.

This Note argues that Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment provides an …

Influence Of Beef Carcass Chilling Rate On Steak Case Life And Quality Traits, Trevor C. Dehaan, Amanda D. Blair, Judson K. Grubbs, Keith R. Underwood

SDSU Beef Day 2021 Summary Publication

Objective
To determine if beef carcass weight influences chilling rate, pH decline, beef color, case life and tenderness of steaks from the round, loin, rib and chuck.

Comparison Of N- And C-Terminally Endogenously Gfp-Tagged Wee-1.3 Strains In, Lourds M Fernando, Kyrionna Golliday, Ruby Boateng, Anna K Allen

Faculty Research 2021

We have generated a WEE-1.3 strain in C. elegans where we have endogenously tagged the C-terminus with GFP. In this publication we demonstrate that this new strain exhibits the same expression localization pattern as the WEE-1.3 antibody and N-terminally endogenously GFP-tagged WEE-1.3 strain that have been previously published. We also show for the first time that endogenously tagging WEE-1.3 at either termini does not affect the reproductive function of the worms.

Heroic Work, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

With a lead time of just a dozen days, hundreds of University of Dayton faculty hastily moved last spring’s courses to Zoom rooms. Many had never taught online, and some found themselves helping their young children adapt to virtual classes, too. Their teaching space blurred into their living space as the pandemic turned all of our lives upside down in a blink.

Abundance, Distribution, And Growth Characteristics Of Three Keystone Vachellia Trees In Gebel Elba National Park, South-Eastern Egypt, Ahmed M. Abbas, Mohammed Al-Kahtani, Stephen J. Novak, Wagdi Saber Soliman

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study was conducted to evaluate the abundance and distribution pattern of three keystone Vachellia taxa in wadi Khoda and wadi Rahaba, Gebel Elba National Park, a protected area in south-eastern Egypt. These taxa included Vachellia tortilis subsp. tortilis, Vachellia tortilis subsp. raddiana, and Vachellia ehrenbergiana. In wadi Khoda, only two of these taxa were detected (V. tortilis subsp. raddiana and V. tortilis subsp. tortilis), while all three taxa were encountered in wadi Rahaba. The density of trees in wadi Khoda was 34.3 plant ha⁻¹ compared to 26.3 plant ha⁻¹ in …

Article 6.21, Tatiana Stolpovskaya

Theses and Dissertations

Article 6.21 is a short documentary film that aims to examine the state of censorship around queerness in Russia today and its effects on personal lives in the queer community.

Twenty years after Russia decriminalized homosexuality, on June 30th in 2013, President Vladimir Putin signed Article 6.21 "for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values", also known as the "Gay Propaganda Law". Its broad and ambiguous wording allows the government significant leeway in deciding what kind of public queerness is punishable.

In 2020 Russia passed multiple constitutional amendments that affect many areas …

Morkovcha [Korean Carrot Salad], Lidiya A. Kan

Theses and Dissertations

Morkovcha, Korean Carrot Salad is a short documentary that tells a story of ethnic Koreans from Russia and the post-Soviet territories making their new home in New York City. The history of the diaspora is told through conversations with my mother, personal stories, fragmented memories, and my family photo archive. This very personal film is my attempt to revisit the 160-year history of the Russian Korean diaspora and to record and preserve our unique fusion of cultures in the melting pot that is the United States. Its purpose is to help to process and accept the tragic past of my …

Design Of Fibril Forming Collagen Mimetic Peptides: Heterotrimers And Nucleation Domains, Sally Tan

Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempts to design collagen mimetic peptides where the triple-helical region mimics that of human Type I Collagen. With consideration for chain selection and chain register, we utilize the NC2 domain of heterotrimeric Type IX Collagen as a nucleation domain for triple-helix folding.

Multiple Trophic Markers Trace Dietary Carbon Sources In Barents Sea Zooplankton During Late Summer, Doreen Kohlbach, Haakon Hop, Anette Wold, Katrin Schmidt, Lukas Smik, Simon T. Belt, Al-Habahbeh A Keck, Matthias Woll, Martin Graeve, Anna Maria Dąbrowska, Agnieszka Tatarek, Angus Atkinson, Philipp Assmy

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

We investigated diets of 24 Barents Sea zooplankton taxa to understand pelagic food-web processes during late summer, including the importance of sea ice algae-produced carbon. This was achieved by combining insights derived from multiple and complementary trophic marker approaches to construct individual aspects of feeding. Specifically, we determined proportions of algal-produced fatty acids (FAs) to reflect the reliance on diatom- versus dinoflagellate-derived carbon, highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipids that distinguish between ice-associated and pelagic carbon sources, and sterols to indicate the degree of carnivory. Copepods had the strongest diatom signal based on FAs, while a lack of sea ice algae-associated …

Arginase 1 Insufficiency Precipitates Amyloid-Β Deposition And Hastens Behavioral Impairment In A Mouse Model Of Amyloidosis, Chao Ma, Jerry B. Hunt, Maj-Linda B. Selenica, Awa Sanneh, Leslie A. Sandusky-Beltran, Mallory Watler, Rana Daas, Andrii Kovalenko, Huimin Liang, Devon Placides, Chuanhai Cao, Xiaoyang Lin, Michael B. Orr, Bei Zhang, John C. Gensel, David J. Feola, Marcia N. Gordon, Dave Morgan, Paula C. Bickford, Daniel C. Lee

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) includes several hallmarks comprised of amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, tau neuropathology, inflammation, and memory impairment. Brain metabolism becomes uncoupled due to aging and other AD risk factors, which ultimately lead to impaired protein clearance and aggregation. Increasing evidence indicates a role of arginine metabolism in AD, where arginases are key enzymes in neurons and glia capable of depleting arginine and producing ornithine and polyamines. However, currently, it remains unknown if the reduction of arginase 1 (Arg1) in myeloid cell impacts amyloidosis. Herein, we produced haploinsufficiency of Arg1 by the hemizygous deletion in myeloid cells using Arg1 …

Searching For “Superchief” And Other Fictional Indians: A Narrative And Case Comment On R V Bernard, Naiomi Metallic

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In R v Bernard, 2017 NBCA 48, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal upheld the lower courts’ reasoning that a Mìgmaw man living in the traditional Mìgmaq hunting territory of St. John, New Brunswick could not exercise his Aboriginal rights to hunt because he could not prove he descended from the particular subgroup of Mìgmaq who were at St. John at the time of contact with Europeans. In deciding so, the Court of Appeal rejected the argument that the Mìgmaq, as a nation, are the appropriate rights holders and ought to be the body deciding who can exercise the Mìgmaw …

Integrating Sustainable Development In International Investment Law, By Manjiao Chi, Haniehalsadat Aboutorabifard

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The idea of sustainable development has a long history and is comparable to that of democracy, freedom, and justice.3 In the twenty-first century, sustainable development is an unavoidable paradigm underpinning all human actions from local to global levels, in both the public and private sectors. Sustainable development is high on the global governance agenda and needs to be followed by making a balance between the competing priorities of economic growth, environmental protection, and social progress.4 Sustainable development, on the one hand, is closely dependent on transnational investment activities to promote economic growth, especially in developing countries. On the other hand, …

Hypoxia Enhances Ilc3 Responses Through Hif-1Α-Dependent Mechanism, J L Fachi, L P Pral, J A C Dos Santos, A C Codo, S De Oliveira, J S Felipe, F F F Zambom, N O S Câmara, P M M M Vieira, M Colonna, M A R Vinolo

Open Access Publications

Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) have a prominent role in the maintenance of intestine mucosa homeostasis. The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is an important modulator of immune cell activation and a key mechanism for cellular adaptation to oxygen deprivation. However, its role on ILC3 is not well known. In this study, we investigated how a hypoxic environment modulates ILC3 response and the subsequent participation of HIF-1 signaling in this process. We found increased proliferation and activation of intestinal ILC3 at low oxygen levels, a response that was phenocopied when HIF-1α was chemically stabilized and was reversed when HIF-1 was blocked. …