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Could "The Wonder Equation" Help Us To Be More Ethical? A Personal Reflection, Margaret Somerville

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

This is a personal reflection on what I have learnt as an academic, researching, teaching and participating in the public square in Bioethics for over four decades. I describe a helix metaphor for understanding the evolution of values and the current “culture wars” between “progressive” and “conservative” values adherents, the uncertainty people’s “mixed values packages” engender, and disagreement in prioritizing individual rights and the “common good”. I propose, as a way forward, that individual and collective experiences of “amazement, wonder and awe” have the power to enrich our lives, help us to find meaning and sometimes to bridge the secular/ …

The Impact Of Device-Assisted Therapies On The Gut Microbiome In Parkinson's Disease, Michal Lubomski, Xiangnan Xu, Andrew J. Holmes, Jean Y.H. Yang, Carolyn M. Sue, Ryan L. Davis

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Microbiome feedbacks are proposed to influence Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathophysiology. A number of studies have evaluated the impact of oral medication on the gut microbiome (GM) in PD. However, the influence of PD device-assisted therapies (DATs) on the GM remains to be investigated.

Objectives: To profile acute gut microbial community alterations in response to PD DAT initiation.

Methods: Clinical data and stool samples were collected from 21 PD patients initiating either deep brain stimulation (DBS) or levodopa–carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) and ten spousal healthy control (HC) subjects. 16S amplicon sequencing of stool DNA enabled comparison of …

Transhumanist Genetic Enhancement: Creation Of A 'New Man' Through Technological Innovation, George Mendz, Michael Cook

Medical Papers and Journal Articles

The transhumanist project of reshaping human beings by promoting their improvement through technological innovations has a broad agenda. This study focuses on the enhancement of the human organism through genetic modification techniques. Transhumanism values and a discussion of their philosophical background provide a framework to understand its ideals. Genetics and ethics are employed to assess the claims of the transhumanist program of human enhancement. A succinct description of central concepts in genetics and an explanation of current techniques to edit the human genome serve to assess the capabilities and limitations of editing techniques. Potential benefits and liabilities of human enhancement …

Status Reports Of The Fisheries And Aquatic Resources Of Western Australia 2020/21, S.J. Newman, B.S. Wise, K.G. Santoro, D.J. Gaughan

Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources

The Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Western Australia (SRFAR) provide an annual update on the state of the fish stocks and other aquatic resources of Western Australia (WA). These reports outline the most recent assessments of the cumulative risk status for each of the aquatic resources (assets) within WA’s six Bioregions using an Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) approach. The Departments’ risk based EBFM framework is the State government’s basis for management of all Western Australia’s aquatic resources.

Modulators Of Change-Of-Direction Economy After Repeated Sprints In Elite Soccer Players, Filippo Dolci, Andrew E. Kilding, Tania Spiteri, Paola Chivers, Ben Piggott, Andrew Maiorana, Nicolas H. Hart

IHR Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: To investigate the acute effect of repeated-sprint activity (RSA) on change-of-direction economy (assessed using shuttle running economy [SRE]) in soccer players and explore neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory characteristics that may modulate this effect.

Methods: Eleven young elite male soccer players (18.5 [1.4] y old) were tested on 2 different days during a 2-week period in their preseason. On day 1, lower-body stiffness, power and force were assessed via countermovement jumps, followed by an incremental treadmill test to exhaustion to measure maximal aerobic capacity. On day 2, 2 SRE tests were performed before and after a repeated-sprint protocol with …

Assessing And Understanding Non-Responsiveness Of Maize And Soybean To Fertilizer Applications In African Smallholder Farms, Dries Roobroeck, Cheryl A. Palm, Generose Nziguheba, Ray Weil, Bernard Vanlauwe

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Use of mineral fertilizers is essential to enhance crop productivity in smallholder farming systems of Sub-Saharan Africa, but various studies have reported ‘non-responsiveness’ where application of inorganic fertilizers does not lead to satisfactory yield gains. This phenomenon is not well defined nor are its extent and causes well understood. In order to close these knowledge gaps, we assessed the effects of commonly recommended nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and/or potassium (K) fertilizer inputs on maize grain and soybean production on farmer fields across prevalent land slope and/or soil texture gradients (2 × 2 matrix) in four agroecosystems over two growing seasons. …

Revisiting The Modified Baermann Extraction Method: Extraction Efficiency Of Radopholus Similis Using Different Extraction Materials, Kanan Saikai, Situma Wanjala, Celestine Oduori, Danny Coyne

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In order to determine the threat that plant-parasitic nematodes pose to crop production, it is essential to establish an accurate estimation of their presence. The extraction efficiency from soil, therefore, is a critical step in establishing disease pressures presented by nematodes or the conditions of soil health. To achieve high nematode extraction efficiency, various methods and modifications have been developed over time (Oostenbrink, 1954; Seinhorst, 1956; Harrison & Green, 1976; Viaene et al., 2021) with variations being introduced locally, depending on the availability or access to certain materials. The simple extraction method was conceived and introduced by Baermann (1917), with …

“Conservation Agriculture, " Possible Climate Change Adaptation Option In Taita Hills, Kenya, Lilian Motaroki, Gilbert Ouma, Dorcas Kalele

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The vicious cycle of food insecurity in Kenya and Africa at large is partly attributed to the high reliance on rainfed agriculture, which makes production systems vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change and variability. Conservation agriculture (CA) has been disseminated as a climate-smart practice that operates on three main principles to realize the multiple benefits of making crop production systems more resilient to climate change impacts, enhancing food security, and providing environmental services, such as carbon sequestration. As a major source of livelihood in the Taita Hills, agriculture is constrained by climate change owing to its rainfed nature. …

Equations Of State For Warm Dense Carbon From Quantum Espresso, Derek J. Schauss

Theses and Dissertations

Warm dense plasma is the matter that exists, roughly, in the range of 10,000 to 10,000,000 Kelvin and has solid-like densities, typically between 0.1 and 10 grams per centimeter. Warm dense fluids like hydrogen, helium, and carbon are believed to make up the interiors of many planets, white dwarfs, and other stars in our universe. The existence of warm dense matter (WDM) on Earth, however, is very rare, as it can only be created with high-energy sources like a nuclear explosion. In such an event, theoretical and computational models that accurately predict the response of certain materials are thus very …

Modeling Vegetation Effects On Barrier Island Evolution, Eric W. Schoen

Theses and Dissertations

Barrier islands play a significant role in protecting coastlines and harboring coastal habitats. In an effort to study and better understand the evolution of barrier island systems, a cellular model capturing various meteorological and environmental processes is proposed. Erosion due to wind, gravity, and marine processes are coupled with plant population effects. We demonstrate the inhibition of plant cover on sediment mobility, island migration, and erosion in the presence of sea level rise.

Cloaca Palace, Connor Marie Stankard

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I trace the compulsive fear of holes, known as trypophobia, from an uncontrollable obsession to a pleasurable preoccupation. The body’s physical porousness makes us receptive to our surroundings, allowing external matter in and destabilizing the boundaries of self and other. Matter invades us, encoding itself into our DNA and transforming humans into chimeric creatures.

Through paintings and multi-media installations, I encourage viewers to reflect on their own bodies as a series of holes, vulnerable receptors to the world. I use the figure of a woman to personify a human hole which has been infected by the outside, …

Using Deep Learning-Based Framework For Child Speech Emotion Recognition, Gerald N. Onwujekwe

Theses and Dissertations

Biological languages of the body through which human emotion can be detected abound including heart rate, facial expressions, movement of the eyelids and dilation of the eyes, body postures, skin conductance, and even the speech we make. Speech emotion recognition research started some three decades ago, and the popular Interspeech Emotion Challenge has helped to propagate this research area. However, most speech recognition research is focused on adults and there is very little research on child speech. This dissertation is a description of the development and evaluation of a child speech emotion recognition framework. The higher-level components of the framework …

A Computational Model Relating Tissue Oxygen Consumption To Oxygen Delivery In A Krogh Cylinder Model Of Skeletal Muscle, Raghad A. Alqahtani

Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen transport from a capillary to skeletal muscle tissue is a complex process that involves convective and diffusive mechanisms to deliver adequate oxygen to meet tissue metabolic activities. Typically, oxygen uptake in tissue is set by oxygen demand, which is set by metabolic activity. The relationship between the oxygen consumption (VO₂) of an isolated perfused tissue and the rate of delivery of oxygen (QO₂) to the tissue has been a subject of interest to many investigators over the past century. Experiments have shown that there is a critical value of QO₂ below which tissue VO …

Cryogenic Electron-Microscopy (Cryo-Em) Analysis Of Mscs, Ynai, Connexin 26 And Bioinformatic Analysis Of Cysteine And Serine In Experimental Protein Structures, Claudio Catalano

Theses and Dissertations

Functional insights into macromolecules lie in the arrangement of their molecular structures. Investigating the atomic framework of a biomolecule could unwind its biochemical mechanism, providing aid to many relevant biological questions, thus facilitating drug discovery processes. Two approaches have been used to gain knowledge at the atomic level of a protein function: experimental and computational methodologies.

From an experimental perspective, membrane proteins (MPs) were investigated. Such proteins represent ~20% of the human proteome, and ~60% of them are drug targets since they are exposed to the surface of cells and are responsible for a wide range of fundamental functions like …

K-Nearest Neighbors Density-Based Clustering, Avory C. Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional density-based clustering approaches rely on a distance-based parameter to define data connectivity and density. However, an appropriate value of this parameter can be difficult to determine as it is highly dependent on the underlying distribution of the data. In particular, distribution parameters affect the scale of inter-group distances (e.g., variance); this dependence leads to a well-known inability to simultaneously detect clusters at varying levels of density. In this work, connectivity and density are defined according to the rank-order induced by the distance metric (i.e., invariant to the expected scale of the distances). Connectivity by k-nearest neighbors and density by …

Characterization Of Cytochrome P450 3a4 Structure And Ligand Binding Mechanism In Anionic Nanodiscs, David T. Sweeney

Theses and Dissertations

The Cytochromes P450 superfamily are ubiquitous throughout life and are present in some viruses. Humans encode for 57 of these enzymes that are involved in the metabolism of ~90% of all chemicals. These membrane-bound monooxygenase enzymes utilize a heme protoporphyrin at their active site to activate molecular oxygen and oxidize their substrates through an intermediate deemed nature's most powerful oxidizer. They are a powerful system at our disposal yet understanding of their structure and ligand binding mechanisms in the presence of a lipid bilayer remains poorly understood. The focus of this work is on Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). We set …

Prognostic Modeling Of Recovery Following Stem Cell Transplantation, Brielle A. Forsthoffer

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting the trajectory of lymphoid recovery following myeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) can help guide subsequent therapeutic decisions, since poor recovery has been associated with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), relapse and mortality. Previous attempts at classifying patients depended on absolute criteria being set prior to modeling absolute lymphocyte counts (ALCs) over time. Having an empirical clinical decision support tool for objectively determining the trajectory an individual might take during their recovery would be advantageous. We propose using growth-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) and growth mixture modeling (GMM), which utilize machine learning algorithms to empirically identify latent groupings of data. Due to …

Ligand Effects On Electronic, Magnetic, And Catalytic Properties Of Clusters And Cluster Assemblies, Dinesh Bista 9288522

Theses and Dissertations

Ligands commonly protect metallic clusters against reacting with outside reactants. However, ligands can also be used to control the redox properties enabling the formation of super donors/acceptors that can donate/accept multiple electrons. This thesis focuses on how the ligands can be used to control the electronic and magnetic features of clusters and ligand stabilized cluster-based assemblies, leading to nano pn junctions with directed transport, the possibility of light-harvesting, and catalysts for cross-coupling reactions. The thesis addresses three distinct classes of clusters and their applications. The first class of cluster “metal chalcogen clusters” is the central idea of the thesis focused …

Prediction Of Mrna Abundance In Firmicutes: Steps Towards A Universal Model Of Prokaryotic Gene Expression, Jesse J. Raynor

Theses and Dissertations

Measurements of gene expression find use in many areas related to the characterization of prokaryotes. For example, metabolic modeling is commonly employed to assist in the design of engineered microbes by helping to elucidate the organism’s extant metabolic processes. With insights generated from the modeling procedure, targeted genetic modifications can be introduced to the organism to bring about some desired effect. Metabolic models based upon the “flux balance analysis” method (or FBA) can be made more accurate by integrating gene expression data, such as that from RNAseq experiments. For various reasons, gene expression data is not always available for every …

A Deep Learning U-Net For Detecting And Segmenting Liver Tumors, Vidhya Cardozo

Theses and Dissertations

Visualization of liver tumors on simulation CT scans is challenging even with contrast-enhancement, due to the sensitivity of the contrast enhancement to the timing of the CT acquisition. Image registration to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be helpful for delineation, but differences in patient position, liver shape and volume, and the lack of anatomical landmarks between the two image sets makes the task difficult. This study develops a U-Net based neural network for automated liver and tumor segmentation for purposes of radiotherapy treatment planning. Non-contrast simulation based abdominal CT axial scans of 52 patients with primary liver tumors were utilized. …

Starting Earnings Of Bachelor’S And Advanced Degree Graduates By Field Of Study: Using Multi-Level Modeling To Estimate The Effects And Early Labor Market Consequences Of Vertical And Horizontal Dimensions Of Higher Education, Qiao Liang

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to better understand early labor market outcomes of higher education and the importance of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of higher education. Using College Scorecard’s institution and field of study levels data and a multilevel modeling approach, it estimated and ranked typical starting earnings associated with a large spectrum of bachelor’s and advanced degree programs, and discussed patterns, variations, and irregularities observed in the ranked earnings. This study also calculated advanced degree effects on the typical starting earnings associated with bachelor’s and advanced degree programs, and set precedence to systematically compare the effects of major, department, …

Bayesian Techniques For Relating Genetic Polymorphisms To Diffusion Tensor Images Of Cocaine Users, Tmader Alballa

Theses and Dissertations

Past investigations utilizing Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) have demonstrated that cocaine use disorder (CUD) yields white matter changes. We proposed three Bayesian techniques in order to explore the relationship between Fractional Anisotropy (FA), genetic data, and years of cocaine use (YCU). CUD participants exhibit abnormality in different areas of the brain versus non-drug using controls, which is measured by DTI. This dissertation is motivated by a neuroimaging genetic study in cocaine dependence, which found that there were relationships between several genes such as GAD and 5-HT₂R and CUD subjects.

In the first chapter, there is background on the …

Gender Equity Implications Of Nonprofit Youth Programs: Education Outcomes Of Three African American-Led Nonprofits, Yali Pang

Theses and Dissertations

Significant racial and gender differences in school performance have been a great concern in the past decades, and especially the significant differences in education performance between both Black youth and other racial groups and between Black males and Black females. Nonprofit youth programs are increasingly considered a promising intervention that can effectively improve Black youth development and education outcomes. While there is a growing body of literature evaluating the outcomes of nonprofit youth programs, little is known about gender differences in the outcomes, and specifically whether these nonprofit programs are equally effective for both Black males and females. This study …

Inquiries In Intelligent Information Systems: New Trajectories And Paradigms, Samaa Elnagar

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid Digital transformation drives organizations to continually revitalize their business models so organizations can excel in such aggressive global competition. Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) have enabled organizations to achieve many strategic and market leverages. Despite the increasing intelligence competencies offered by IIS, they are still limited in many cognitive functions. Elevating the cognitive competencies offered by IIS would impact the organizational strategic positions.

With the advent of Deep Learning (DL), IoT, and Edge Computing, IISs has witnessed a leap in their intelligence competencies. DL has been applied to many business areas and many industries such as real estate and manufacturing. …

The Contribution Of African American Parents’ Stem Racial Socialization And Support To Adolescent Academic Outcomes, Rachel J. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, African Americans have experienced various inequalities in education that have long contributed to overall educational attainment gaps within the African American community (St. Mary, Calhoun, Tejada, & Jenson, 2018). Thus, African American parents are tasked with instilling messages of racial pride into their children and providing educational support that serve as protective factors against racial discrimination in education (Koch, Lundh, & Harris, 2019). Theoretical frameworks provide a basis of understanding how parent socialization contributes to African American educational outcomes, specifically noting the role of parents’ beliefs and values in dictating mechanisms of value transfer (e.g., buying toys or learning …

Nebulizer-Based Systems To Improve Pharmaceutical Aerosol Delivery To The Lungs, Benjamin M. Spence

Theses and Dissertations

Combining vibrating mesh nebulizers with additional new technologies leads to substantial improvements in pharmaceutical aerosol delivery to the lungs across therapeutic administration methods. In this dissertation, streamlined components, aerosol administration synchronization, and/or Excipient Enhanced Growth (EEG) technologies were utilized to develop and test several novel devices and aerosol delivery systems. The first focus of this work was to improve the poor delivery efficiency, e.g., 3.6% of nominal dose (Dugernier et al. 2017), of aerosolized medication administration to adult human subjects concurrent with high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy, a form of continuous-flow non-invasive ventilation (NIV). The developed Low-Volume Mixer-Heater (LVMH) …

Live Cell Biomass Tracking For Basic, Translational, And Clinical Research, Graeme Murray

Theses and Dissertations

Single cell mass is tightly regulated throughout generations and the cell cycle, making it an important marker of cell health. Abnormal changes in cell size can be the first indication of dysfunction in response to environmental stimuli such as cytotoxic drugs. Described here is the further development of high-speed live cell interferometry (HSLCI) to concurrently measure the changes in single cell mass of thousands of cells over time. Critically, the high-throughput nature of HSLCI provides realistic pictures of tumor heterogeneity. This throughput enabled HSLCI to correctly predict in vivo carboplatin sensitivity of three triple negative breast cancer patient derived xenografts, …

Bayesian Experimental Design For Bayesian Hierarchical Models With Differential Equations For Ecological Applications, Rebecca Atanga

Theses and Dissertations

Ecologists are interested in the composition of species in various ecosystems. Studying population dynamics can assist environmental managers in making better decisions for the environment. Traditionally, the sampling of species has been recorded on a regular time frequency. However, sampling can be an expensive process due to financial and physical constraints. In some cases the environments are threatening, and ecologists prefer to limit their time collecting data in the field. Rather than convenience sampling, a statistical approach is introduced to improve data collection methods for ecologists by studying the dynamics associated with populations of interest. Population models including the logistic …

Fabrication Of Metal-Silicon Nanostructures By Reactive Laser Ablation In Liquid, Eric J. Broadhead

Theses and Dissertations

Metal-silicon nanostructures are a growing area of research due to their applications in multiple fields such as biosensing and catalysis. In addition, silicon can provide strong support effects to metal nanoparticles while being more cost effective than traditionally used supports, like titania. Traditional wet-chemical methods are capable of synthesizing metal-silicon nanostructures with a variety of composition and nanoparticle shapes, but they often require high temperatures, toxic solvents, strong reducing agents, or need capping agents added to stabilize the nanoparticles. Laser processing is an emerging technique capable of synthesizing metal-silicon composite surfaces that offers a faster, simpler, and greener synthesis route …

The Rational Synthesis Of Lanthanum Manganite Nanomaterials For Magnetic Refrigeration Applications, Caitlin Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

Refrigeration systems for the cooling of commercial and residential buildings are a major drain on energy resources and source of greenhouse gas emissions. Magnetic refrigeration, which employs the magnetocaloric effect, has the potential to mitigate the energy drain and greenhouse gas emissions for air conditioning. In order to commercialize magnetic refrigerators, a material with a high magnetic entropy change, ΔS, near room temperature which is simple and inexpensive to create is needed.¹ Current options for this solid refrigerant are either expensive, difficult to synthesize, or have a ΔS or T_c (the Curie Temperature, where ΔS is maximized) below …