Digital Commons Network^™

A Healthy World Starts With Healthy Women, International Partnership For Microbicides

International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM)

No abstract provided.

Cover Crops To Improve Soil Health In The North American Great Plains, Augustine K. Obour, Logan M. Simon, Jonathon D. Holman, Patrick M. Carr, Meagan Schipanski, Steven Fonte, Rajan Ghimire, Thandiwe Nleya, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Rotating cereal crops (e.g., wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] with a 10- to 21-mo summer fallow period [fallow]) is a common farming practice in dryland (rainfed) agricultural regions. Fallow is associated with several challenges including low precipitation storage efficiency, depletion of soil organic carbon (SOC), loss of soil fertility, little crop residue retention and soil erosion, and few control options for herbicide-resistant (HR) weeds. The inability to effectively control HR weeds poses a major challenge to maintaining soil and water conservation practices such as no-tillage, as some producers are considering tillage to control weeds. Cover crop (CC) integration into wheat-based …

Kshv Susceptibility And Transmission Within Tonsillar Specimens, Farizeh Aalam

Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

Despite nearly three decades of research, not much is known regarding the early stages of development for KSHV lymphoproliferative disorders, hindering our ability to develop prophylactic measures or effective treatments. This dissertation will focus on the host and viral factors influencing the magnitude and dynamics of KSHV infection in the human tonsil to pave the way for future interventions directed at limiting person-to-person transmission of KSHV.

To understand the contribution of host factors to KSHV susceptibility in B lymphocytes, we generated a library of 40 tonsillar specimens. Our results indicate that the immunological composition of tonsillar lymphocytes varies across our …

Monarch Science Observer, Volume 12, College Of Sciences, Old Dominion University

College of Sciences Newsletter

Winter 2021 issue of Monarch Science Observer, ODU College of Sciences Newsletter.

Identifying Functional Profiles Of Challenging Behaviors In Autism Spectrum Disorder With Unsupervised Machine Learning, Emily Daskas

Computational and Data Sciences (MS) Theses

Machine learning and deep learning methods are becoming increasingly used in the understanding, identification, and improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. People with ASD often exemplify challenging behaviors that can put their safety, education, and general quality of life at risk. Challenging behaviors are driven by one of four functions. The combination of common occurrences of challenging behaviors and their respective behavioral functions are unique to the individual and circumstance, and the most successful therapies account for both challenging behaviors and their respective functions. Therefore, it is important that research is done on these concepts to …

Rheological Properties Of Recyclable Polymer Matrices For Advanced Composite Applications, Rahul Shankar

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on evaluating the rheological characteristics of a variety of recyclable polymer matrices, which can compete with thermosets in a wide range of specialized applications. Studying the fundamental solid and melt-state viscoelastic properties and establishing structure-property-processing relationships is critical for the widespread adoption of these novel recyclable polymers in commercial applications. The first chapter provides an introductory overview of the different recyclable polymer matrices and their applications including high performance thermoplastics as thermoset replacements in high energy composite manufacture, multifunctional specialty thermoplastics for additive manufacturing and next generation, reprocessable covalent adaptable networks for self-healing applications. Furthermore, the important …

Synthesis Of Molecular Probes For The Detection Of Toxic Analytes, Rashid Mia

Dissertations

Two different types of molecular probes have been synthesized. The first family of probes is the coumarin class of compounds. These chemodosimters are referred to as Low Molecular Weight Fluorescent probes (LMFP). The other type of molecular probe is a macrocycle known as a pillar[5]arene receptor.

The chemodosimters (2.12a-c and 3.12a) were synthesized in four to five steps. The photophysical properties were extensively studied in various solvent systems (DMSO, CH₃CN, DMF, MeOH, EtOH, Me₂CO, MeCO₂Et, CHCl₃, C₆H₅Me, and C₆H₆). Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) …

Understory Vegetation Composition And Small Mammal Abundance In An Exotic Eucalyptus Forest Vs Adjacent Native Habitat, Kelly Mcfadden

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

None provided

Evaluation Of Heat Tolerant Cauliflower Varieties On California’S Central Coast, Lauren Booke

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Heat tolerant trials of vegetable crops will help to improve food security when it becomes affected by rising temperatures due to climate change. By having heat tolerant vegetable crops, we can ensure the well-being of individuals in our society—nutritionally, economically, and socially. California is responsible for 90% of the cauliflower production in the United States. This research aims to determine the overall productivity of three heat tolerant cauliflower varieties (Bishop, Mardi, Flame Star) during the summer months (July- September) on California’s central coast. Stomatal conductance and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured throughout the growing cycle to evaluate plant stress and photosynthetic …

Contrastive Learning For Unsupervised Auditory Texture Models, Christina Trexler

Computer Science and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sounds with a high level of stationarity, also known as sound textures, have perceptually relevant features which can be captured by stimulus-computable models. This makes texture-like sounds, such as those made by rain, wind, and fire, an appealing test case for understanding the underlying mechanisms of auditory recognition. Previous auditory texture models typically measured statistics from auditory filter bank representations, and the statistics they used were somewhat ad-hoc, hand-engineered through a process of trial and error. Here, we investigate whether a better auditory texture representation can be obtained via contrastive learning, taking advantage of the stationarity of auditory textures to …

Pacific Magazine 2021, University Of The Pacific

Pacific Magazine and Pacific Review

No abstract provided.

"Blazing The Trail" For The Future: Bipoc Students' Experiences With Colleges Of Agriculture, Logan Moss

Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since its founding, the United States has faced a constant turmoil surrounding the equitable treatment of people from non-Caucasian backgrounds, especially regarding education. This study sought to examine BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) students experiences prior to entry and during their studies in colleges of agriculture within the State of Arkansas. Research has shown that across the country there are discrepancies between the percentage of BIPOC students in the State, university, and colleges of agriculture. This study used a qualitative interview method to determine the factors influencing minority students to enter and stay within a program of study …

Sexual Minority Rights Are Not Just For The West: Health And Safety Considerations In Africa, Robert Scott Stewart Ph.D., Dionne Van Reenen Ph.D., Richard Watuwa Ph.D.

Journal of Health Ethics

In a recent article, C.O. Akpan argues that it is “unnatural for a man to sleep with a man as with a woman, and the idea of marriage in this sense is an abomination” (“The morality of same-sex marriage: How not to globalize a cultural anomie,” Online Journal of Health Ethics, 13(1), 2017, p. 9). Arguments in favor of same sex marriage, he claims, are “driven and motivated by the human right fad” (p. 9) that is inappropriate for African countries.

We argue that the specific arguments Akpan employs against the morality of homosexuality and same-sex marriage are flawed. Our …

The Origin (And Future) Of Transpersonal Psychology In An Open Scientific Naturalism, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A number of scholars well known within transpersonal psychology appear to be converging on open scientific naturalism as a philosophically and methodologically fruitful framework for transpersonal and related fields. This builds on the nascent open naturalism evidenced in the early years of transpersonal psychology, before it entered its metaphysical phase (ca. 1975 to 2000). Since it is necessary for science to assume some kind of world within which it is possible to do science, and not every aspect of that assumed world can be subjected to processes of empirical investigation, some of these necessary background assumptions are unavoidably metaphysical. However, …

Tripping In The Moment: The Spiritual Journey Of Baba Ram Dass, Charles S. Hamilton

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Ram Dass, the iconic, countercultural, spiritual seeker, brought the wisdom of the East to those of us in the West through his many books and frequent, charismatic dharma talks. This view of his spiritual journey describes the transformation of Richard Alpert, clinical psychologist and product of the Western milieu’s often-shackling conventional expectations, into Ram Dass, the free, embodied soul who, through explication and example, and with witnessing attention, tries to guide us all to the always present abode of loving awareness. Ram Dass’s idea of self in existence was transformed: first, from a psychological object of clinical study, to a …

Recreational Fishing For Western Rock Lobster: Estimates Of Participation, Effort And Catch From 1986/87 – 2017/18. Fisheries Research Report 299, Fabian I. Trinnie, Cameron J. Desfosses, Brent S. Wise, Karina L. Ryan

Fisheries Research Reports

The Western Rock Lobster (WRL) fishery is one of Australia’s largest single-species recreational and commercial fisheries. The recreational sector has a long history of harvesting this resource, and there is an ongoing need to provide annual estimates of the recreational catch due to the formal resource sharing policy adopted in 2004. Mailrecall surveys, supplemented with occasional phone-recall surveys, provide costeffective monitoring, since WRL is a single-species, licensed recreational fishery operating across large spatial and temporal scales. This report presents estimates of participation, fishing effort and retained catch from annual mail-recall surveys of randomly selected licensed Rock Lobster (RL) recreational fishers …

The Drosophila Melanogaster Neprilysin Nepl15 Is Involved In Lipid And Carbohydrate Storage, Surya Jyoti Banerjee, Christine Woods, Micheal Burnett, Scarlet J. Park, William W. Ja, Jennifer Curtiss

Faculty Publications - Biological Sciences

The prototypical M13 peptidase, human Neprilysin, functions as a transmembrane “ectoenzyme” that cleaves neuropeptides that regulate e.g. glucose metabolism, and has been linked to type 2 diabetes. The M13 family has undergone a remarkable, and conserved, expansion in the Drosophila genus. Here, we describe the function of Drosophila melanogaster Neprilysin-like 15 (Nepl15). Nepl15 is likely to be a secreted protein, rather than a transmembrane protein. Nepl15 has changes in critical catalytic residues that are conserved across the Drosophila genus and likely renders the Nepl15 protein catalytically inactive. Nevertheless, a knockout of the Nepl15 gene reveals a reduction in triglyceride and …

Controlled Release Of Multiple Therapeutics From Silicone Hydrogel Contact Lenses For Post-Cataract/Post-Refractive Surgery And Uveitis Treatment., Stephen A Dipasquale, Biaggio Uricoli, Matthew C Dicerbo, Thea L Brown, Mark Byrne

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

PURPOSE: This work demonstrates seven-day controlled and extended in vitro physiological flow dual release of multiple post-ocular surgery therapeutics from extended-wear contact lenses as a dropless alternative for treatment of uveitis and corneal inflammation, pain, and infection. Lens replacement each week optimizes treatment matching patient recall time with the ability to increase or decrease dosage.

METHODS: Lenses were synthesized using molecular imprinting to create lenses with macromolecular memory for diclofenac sodium (DS) and dexamethasone sodium phosphate (DMSP), as well as bromfenac sodium (BS) and moxifloxacin (MOX). Drug uptake and release were analyzed, and physical properties were measured and compared to …

Heidegger On The “Futural” Poet Rilke Poetizing The Essential Truth Of Being?, James Magrini

Philosophy Scholarship

This essay poses and responds uniquely to the following crucial questions: Does Rilke’s poetry poetize the event of Being for Dasein? Does Rilke indicate that the human being can yet achieve such a mode of “historical” existence in relation to the Earth or the holy? Heidegger responds to the first query in the affirmative; Rilke does poetize this event, albeit through a “tempered” and somewhat traditional view of Western metaphysics. To the second query, it appears that Heidegger responds in a slightly cryptic and ambiguous manner, and to clarify this response, I turn to Heidegger’s interpretation of Rilke’s “Angel” as …

Determining The Psychosocial Needs Of The Nurses Of Covid-19 Patients, Allison Stevens

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Nurses are a vital element of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis and have been since the beginning of the COVID-19 response. The professional strain put on nurses included, but is not limited to: changing professional roles, rapidly changing policies and procedures, an influx of patients—particularly of high acuity, and change in workplace morale. However, nurses also had to carry the burdens of living as a member of society, family member, friend, community member, and above all, simply as a person surviving a pandemic themselves. With all of the stressors nurses have endured, it stands to reason that their psychosocial needs have …

Comparative Metabolism Of Aflatoxin B1 In Two Quail Genera Coturnix Japonica And Callipepla Californica, Sean Moody

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Avian species are highly susceptible to the hepatotoxic mycotoxin aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁). Domesticated turkeys are exquisitely sensitive, due to a combination of highly-efficient hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated bioactivation, and to dysfunctional alpha-class glutathione S-transferases (GSTAs) which typically detoxify the bioactivated electrophilic metabolite exo-AFB₁-8,9-epoxide (AFBO). Wild turkeys are relatively resistant to AFB₁ in large part due to expression of functional GSTAs. Quail, a related Galliforme, are slightly less sensitive in vivo to AFB₁, but whether this is related to the hepatic metabolic profiles of these two critical enzymes has not been rigorously evaluated. …

"These Jests Of God": Arrowsmith And Tropical Medicine’S Racial Ecology, James Fitz Gerald

English and Media Studies Faculty Publications

This essay examines Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith (1925) through the ethical and ecological contingencies of U.S. tropical medicine in the early twentieth century. With an eye kept on the novel's well-known "St. Hubert " chapters, the essay elaborates the dangerous compromises that even the most well-intentioned medical professionals make in the name of scientific progress. The novel, I argue, summons and yet moves beyond the traditional outbreak narrative to unravel the various political, economic, and cultural strands of U.S. imperial medicine. The novel's platform for applied sanitary science helps me revisit famed public health campaigns, particularly those from Cuba and Panama, …

Controversial And Contradictory: Historical And Contemporary Apologies For (A Lack Of) Faculty Academic Freedom, Z. W. Taylor, Pat Somers

Journal of Research on the College President

Although academic freedom is considered a pillar of the academy in the United States, little legal precedent has been established to legitimize faculty academic freedom. Moreover, no legislation or case law outlines a hierarchy of academic freedom whereby institutional academic freedom may be positioned as authoritative over faculty academic freedom or vice versa. As a result, many institutions of higher education have violated academic freedom and then subsequently apologized for overstepping legal boundaries, stemming from infringing upon individuals’ rights that have not been codified through law. These apologies include a very recent one, where a university president’s remorseful remark regarding …

Genetic Diversity, Structure, And Selective Sweeps In Spinacia Turkestanica Associated With The Domestication Of Cultivated Spinach, Sanjaya Gyawali, Gehendra Bhattarai, Ainong Shi, Chris Kik, Lindsey J. Du Toit

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) was used to explore the genetic diversity and structure of Spinacia turkestanica, and the selective sweeps involved in domestication of cultivated spinach, S. oleracea, from S. turkestanica. A total 7,065 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) generated for 16 Spinacia oleracea and 76 S. turkestanica accessions placed the S. oleracea accessions in one group, Q1, and the 76 S. turkestanica accessions, which originated from Central Asia, in two distinct groups, Q2 and Q3. The Q2 group shared greater genetic identity with the S. oleracea accessions, Q1, than the Q3 S. turkestanica …

Predicting Lifespan Of Drosophila Melanogaster: A Novel Application Of Convolutional Neural Networks And Zero-Inflated Autoregressive Conditional Poisson Model, Yi Zhang, V. A. Samaranayake, Gayla R. Olbricht, Matthew S. Thimgan

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A model to classify the lifespan of Drosophila, the fruit fly, into short- and long-lived categories based on a sleep characteristic, extracted from activity data, is developed using a two-stage process. Stage 1 models the per-minute activity counts of each fly using a zero-inflated autoregressive conditional Poisson model. These probabilities are allowed to vary hourly, reflecting the circadian and other cycles present in a fly's sleep architecture. A 5-day moving window is used to model data allowing the model parameters to vary over the course of the fly's life. The resulting probabilities capture information about changes in sleep patterns with …

Understanding Colorectal Cancer: Increasing Screening Rates Amongst Young- And Middle-Aged Adults By Enhancing Prevention Potential, Sarah Agudelo

Nursing | Senior Theses

As nurses, working towards the best health outcomes for our patients is critical to our care. A large aspect of this care includes being knowledgeable of risk factors and precautions to take to avoid conditions and illnesses. Colorectal cancer remains to be a highly preventable disease, yet it is one of the top five leading causes of cancer deaths in the nation. Preventing colorectal cancer requires the efficient use of screening and education, while also addressing barriers of inconvenience and affordability. This senior thesis delves deeper into colorectal cancer prevention by asking the research question: For young and middle-aged adults, …

Waring Library Society Newsletter, Fall 2021, Waring Library Society, Waring Historical Library, Medical University Of South Carolina, Anna Marie Schuldt

The Waring Library Society Newsletters

The Fall edition includes an end of the year message from WLS President Dr. James H. Tolley and an update on the work of the Bicentennial Steering Committee from the Waring’s Curator Dr. Brian Fors. Also, in this issue, Ms. Tabitha Samuel discusses the recent acquisition of the photography of MUSC MICU Nurse Alan Hawes to the MUSC COVID-19 Archive and Ms. Brooke Fox announces plans for the Waring’s 2022 HIV/AIDS Symposium, marking the 40th anniversary of the diagnosis of the first AIDS patient in South Carolina. Finally, Ms. Anna Schuldt announces the remaining events for the 2022 Waring Library …

The Roddey Mcmillan Record - December 1, 2021, Winthrop University

The RMR 2020-2029

The Roddey McMillan Record (RMR) is Winthrop’s monthly multicultural student publication. The RMR has been a significant voice of the minority population of the Winthrop community since its creation by Gail Harris in April 1986. It promotes awareness and understanding of issues concerning minorities for the prosperity of the entire Winthrop community. The purpose of the RMR is to shine light on the many diverse cultures at Winthrop, focusing on issues, concerns and happenings of those who represent the multicultural community on campus. The Roddey McMillan Record is named after Dr. Cynthia Roddey and Atty, Sheila McMillan. Cynthia Roddey was …

Copyright And The Creative Process, Mark Bartholomew

Notre Dame Law Review

Copyright is typically described as a mechanism for encouraging the production of creative works. On this view, copyright protection should be granted to genuinely creative works but denied to non-creative ones. Yet that is not how the law works. Instead, almost anything—from test answer sheets to instruction manuals to replicas of items in the public domain—is deemed creative and therefore eligible for copyright protection. This is the consequence of a century of copyright doctrine assuming that artistic creativity is incapable of measurement, unaffected by personal motivation, and incomprehensible to novices and experts alike. Recent neuroscientific research contradicts these assumptions. It …

Probiotic Intervention Improves Recovery Of Hippocampal Memory And Hippocampal Atrophy Following Disruption From High-Fat Diet In Adult Rats, Sanyourah A. El-Hulu

Honors Scholars Collaborative Projects

Presently, lifestyle factors such as chronic high-fat diet (HFD) consumption occurs concomitantly with weight gain and obesity (Gil-Cardoso et al., 2017; Stranahan et al., 2008). In turn, obesity has been associated with impairments to mental functioning, specifically to memory. Human epidemiological studies show that HFD intake containing saturated, and omega-6-fatty acids is associated with worse performance on a cognitive task whereas a lower fat diet containing omega-3-fatty acids is associated with a protective effect against cognitive decline (Zhang et al., 2006; Uranga et al., 2010). One explanation for this is the critical role of the gut bacteria in brain health. …