Digital Commons Network^™

Methacrylated Collagen And Hnt Composite Hydrogels For Application In Bone Tissue Regeneration, Yue Li

Doctoral Dissertations

Fractures and segmental bone defects are the primary cause of patient morbidity and brings a substantial economic burden to the healthcare system. Bone grafts used for bone injuries, tumors, and other pathologies related to poor fracture healing in the United States cost considerable money each year. The total cost of treating bone defects is about 5 billion US dollars. Autologous bone transplantation is the ideal method for the treatment of bone defects. However, their clinical results are variable and increase postoperative morbidity (especially at the donor site) and surgical costs. To circumvent these limitations, tissue engineering and cell-based therapies have …

A Network Biology Approach To Understanding The Tissue-Specific Roles Of Non-Coding Rnas In Arthritis, Shabana A. Ali, Chiara Pastrello, Navdeep Kaur, Mandy J. Peffers, Michelle J. Ormseth, Igor Jurisica

Orthopedics Articles

Discovery of non-coding RNAs continues to provide new insights into some of the key molecular drivers of musculoskeletal diseases. Among these, microRNAs have received widespread attention for their roles in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. With evidence to suggest that long non-coding RNAs and circular RNAs function as competing endogenous RNAs to sponge microRNAs, the net effect on gene expression in specific disease contexts can be elusive. Studies to date have focused on elucidating individual long non-coding-microRNA-gene target axes and circular RNA-microRNA-gene target axes, with a paucity of data integrating experimentally validated effects of non-coding RNAs. To address this gap, we …

Why People Overestimate Small Probabilities?, David Amparan, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

It is a known empirical fact that people overestimate small probabilities. This fact seems to be inconsistent with the fact that we humans are the product of billions years of improving evolution -- and that we therefore perceive the world as accurately as possible. In this paper, we provide a possible explanation for this seeming contradiction.

Shifts In Unaids Ethics Guidance And Implications For Ethics Review Of Preventive Hiv Vaccine Trials., Catherine Slack, Paul Ndebele, Mary Allen, Jessica Salzwedel

Global Health Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION: A major change in the ethics framework for preventive HIV vaccine trials worldwide is the release of the UNAIDS 2021 ethical considerations in HIV prevention trials. This new guidance comes at an exciting time when there are multiple HIV vaccine efficacy trials in the field. Research Ethics Committees (RECs) or Institutional Review Boards are a most likely audience for these guidelines. Our objective is to highlight shifts in ethics recommendations from the earlier 2012 UNAIDS guidance.

DISCUSSION: We review recommendations related to four key issues, namely standard of prevention, post-trial access to safe and effective vaccines, enrolment of adolescents …

2021 Fall Dissertation Prep Schedule, University Of Northern Colorado Libraries

Dissertation Prep Workshops

Schedule of Dissertation Prep webinars held November 16-18, 2021. Hosted by the University of Northern Colorado University Libraries and Graduate School.

Exoprime Technology For Exosomal Mirna Analysis And Identification Of Oxidative Dna Damage-Induced Mirna Regulatory Network In Human Astrocytes, Chukwumaobim Daniel Obiwulu Nwokwu

Doctoral Dissertations

The high lipid content of the brain, coupled with its heavy oxygen dependence and relatively weak antioxidant system, makes it highly susceptible to oxidative DNA damage that contributes to neurodegeneration. This study assesses and compares the neurotoxic effects of proton and photon radiation on mitochondrial function and DNA repair capabilities of human astrocytes. Human astrocytes received either proton (0.5 Gy and 3 Gy), photon (0.5 Gy and 3 Gy), or sham-radiation treatment. The mRNA expression level of the human base-excision repair protein, 8-deoxyguanosine DNA glycosylase 1 (hOGG1) was determined via RT-qPCR. Radiation-induced changes in mitochondrial mass and oxidative activity were …

Diverse Ways Of Assessing Students In Science, Sowmya Anjur

Faculty Publications & Research

No abstract provided.

Nanomedicine In The Treatment Of Glioblastoma, Syeda Kubra Kishwar Jafri, Syed Sarmad Bukhari, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Section of Neurosurgery

The current standard of care in glioblastoma management is surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Temozolomide is an alkylating agent most commonly used with a few other second line options. The efficacy of systemic chemotherapy in brain malignancies is limited due to the nature of the blood-brain barrier. Nanomedicine offers one avenue of improving drug delivery to these tumours in a more focussed and effective way in higher doses than currently possible, while simultaneously reducing systemic toxicity.

Openline Newsletter, November 2021, Civil Service Council

OpenLine Newsletter

A monthly newsletter for Civil Service employees, November 2021.

Acromioclavicular Joint Reconstruction With Recessed Clavicular Implant Technique Guide, Patrick J. Buckley, Toufic R. Jildeh, Muhammad J. Abbas, Kelechi R. Okoroha

Orthopedics Articles

Acromioclavicular (AC) joint injuries are common and often require operative intervention. Although there are many described surgical techniques, there remains a lack of consensus on the optimal technique. The purpose of this Technical Note is to provide our preferred method of AC reconstruction with a recessed clavicular implant and semitendinosus allograft, which mitigates hardware pain associated with arthroscopic techniques.

Experimental Challenge Of A North American Bat Species, Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus Fuscus), With Sars-Cov-2, Jeffrey S. Hall, Susan Knowles, Sean W. Nashold, Hon S. Ip, Ariel E. Leon, Tonie Rocke, Saskia Keller, Mariano Carossino, Udeni Balasuriya, Erik Hofmeister

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Intraspecific Variation Mediates Density Dependence In A Genetically Diverse Plant Species, Andrii Zaiats, Matthew J. Germino, Marcelo D. Serpe, Bryce Richardson, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Interactions between neighboring plants are critical for biodiversity maintenance in plant populations and communities. Intraspecific trait variation and genome duplication are common in plant species and can drive eco-evolutionary dynamics through genotype-mediated plant-plant interactions. However, few studies have examined how species-wide intraspecific variation may alter interactions between neighboring plants. We investigate how subspecies and ploidy variation in a genetically diverse species, big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), can alter the demographic outcomes of plant interactions. Using a replicated, long-term common garden experiment that represents range-wide diversity of A. tridentata, we ask how intraspecific variation, environment, and stand age mediate …

Golden Eagle Dietary Shifts Following Wildfire And Shrub Loss Have Negative Consequences For Nestling Survivorship, Julie A. Heath, Michael N. Kochert, Karen Steenhof

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Wildfires and invasive species have caused widespread changes in western North America’s shrub-steppe landscapes. The bottom–up consequences of degraded shrublands on predator ecology and demography remain poorly understood. We used a before–after paired design to study whether Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) diet and nestling survivorship changed following wildfires in southwestern Idaho, USA. We assessed burn extents from 1981 to 2013 and vegetation changes between 1979 (pre-burn) and 2014 (post-burn) within 3 km of Golden Eagle nesting centroids. We measured the frequency and biomass of individual prey, calculated diet diversity indexes, and monitored nestling survivorship at 15 territories in …

A Draft Genome Provides Hypotheses On Drought Tolerance In A Keystone Plant Species In Western North America Threatened By Climate Change, Anthony E. Melton, James Beck, Stephanie J. Galla, Marcelo Serpe, Stephen Novak, Sven Buerki

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change presents distinct ecological and physiological challenges to plants as extreme climate events become more common. Understanding how species have adapted to drought, especially ecologically important nonmodel organisms, will be crucial to elucidate potential biological pathways for drought adaptation and inform conservation strategies. To aid in genome-to-phenome research, a draft genome was assembled for a diploid individual of Artemisia tridentata subsp. tridentata, a threatened keystone shrub in western North America. While this taxon has few genetic resources available and genetic/genomics work has proven difficult due to genetic heterozygosity in the past, a draft genome was successfully assembled. Aquaporin …

The Role Of Zingiberales Shared Evolutionary History And Leaf Traits In Structuring Rolled-Leaf Beetle Assemblages In A Tropical Forest, José Miguel Chaves Fallas

Dissertations

Understanding how local assemblages of plants and animals are structured is a central challenge for evolutionary ecology. Tropical assemblages are high in species numbers and in variety of ecological interactions, providing unique multispecies biological systems to test ecological and evolutionary hypotheses about community assembly. The objective of this dissertation was to understand the role of Zingiberales shared evolutionary history and plant traits for structuring the rolled-leaf beetle (Cephaloleia and Chelobasis, Chrysomelidae) assemblage in a lowland wet forest (La Selva Biological Station) of Costa Rica.

In chapter I studied the evolution of physical, nutritional, and chemical leaf traits, how …

Non-Patent Intellectual Property Barriers To Covid-19 Vaccines, Treatment And Containment, Sean Flynn, Erica Nkrumah, Luca Schirru

Joint PIJIP/TLS Research Paper Series

As the World Trade Organization considers a proposal to waive or otherwise address intellectual property barriers to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the attention given by scholars and policy makers has been focused on patents. The original proposals by South Africa and India, as well as the groundbreaking support of the United States, however, explicitly applied to all forms of intellectual property. This paper documents many instances where non-patent forms of intellectual property create barriers to the global scale up of access to vaccines, treatments, and the ability to contain the virus through social distancing. Addressing …

Endometriosis And Pelvic Pain In The Adolescent: Delayed Diagnosis Leading To Long-Term Suffering And The Need For Intervention, Latashia-Lika Lelea

OB-GYN

No abstract available.

Severe Emotional And Behavioral Problems: Barriers For Texas Youth Accessing Mental Health Court Programs, Justin Joseph

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

Conduct disorder is a constellation of continuous emotional and behavioral problems observed in children and adolescents, which may involve violent and non-violent antisocial behaviors. The symptomology of this psychological disorder includes: disregarding rules without clear reason, cruel or aggressive behavior toward people or animals (e.g., bullying, fighting, using dangerous weapons, forcing sexual activity, and stealing), skipping school, excessive substance use, pathological lying, manipulation, running away, and vandalism (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2013). Texas Juvenile Mental Health Courts are designed to reduce the number of detained youth, divert at-risk children, maintain community safety, and utilize multidisciplinary approaches to treat conduct disordered …

Tremblings, November 2021, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Lindroth + Aspen: A Legacy of Good Chemistry

Ken Keefover-Ring

The license plates on Professor Rick Lindroth’s vehicle read “Q ASPEN,” referring to quaking aspen. This gives you a hint of the extent of his obsession; one he will surely carry into his upcoming retirement. Rick has co-authored almost 220 peer-reviewed articles and 15 book chapters over his academic career and more than 70% of them involve aspen (Populus tremuloides) in some way. In fact, many issues of Tremblings have listed one or more of his papers. This research has largely been focused on aspen chemical ecology and …

Positive Psychology Effects On Middle School Physical Education Grades, Attendance, And Discipline, Randolph Christopher Helms

Dissertations

The present study explored the effect of instructing middle school students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades in positive psychology lessons, as compared to control classes that did not receive this positive psychology instruction. This study used quantitative procedures to determine the implementation of this curriculum on lowering student absence rate, discipline referrals, increasing student physical education grades over a trimester, improving overall grade point average, and increasing student well-being. Additionally, the study analyzed the EPOCH survey pre- and post-data on a research question regarding the well-being attitudes/perceptions of these middle school students who received positive psychology instruction in their …

Latinx Caregivers’ Perceived Need For And Utilization Of Youth Telepsychology Services During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Alejandro L. Vázquez, Cynthia M. Navarro Flores, María De La Caridad Alvarez, Melanie M. Domenech Rodríguez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Telepsychology has the potential to provide a safe method of addressing mental health problems among Latinx youth during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the extent to which Latinx caregivers are accessing telepsychology services for their child and whether this format is perceived to be an appropriate method of addressing youth psychopathology is unknown. The present study examined indicators of youth psychopathology and external stressors in relation to Latinx caregivers’ perceived need for and utilization of youth telepsychology during the coronavirus pandemic. The sample consisted of 598 Latinx caregivers of school-age youths (MAge = 11.9, SD = 3.4) from across the United …

Ancient Dna Of The Pygmy Marmoset Type Specimen Cebuella Pygmaea (Spix, 1823) Resolves A Taxonomic Conundrum, J. P. Boubli, M. C. Janiak, L. M. Porter, Stella De La Torre, L. Cortés-Ortiz, M. N. F. Da Silva, A. B. Rylands, Stephen Nash, F. Bertuol, H. Byrne, F. E. Silva, F. Rohe, D. De Vries, R. M. D. Beck, I. Ruiz-Gartzia, L. F. K. Kuderna, T. Marques-Bonet, Tomas Hrbek, I. P. Farias, A. H. Van Heteren, C. Roos

Biology Faculty Research

The pygmy marmoset, the smallest of the anthropoid primates, has a broad distribution in Western Amazonia. Recent studies using molecular and morphological data have identified two distinct species separated by the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers. However, reconciling this new biological evidence with current taxonomy, i.e., two subspecies, Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea (Spix, 1823) and Cebuella pygmaea niveiventris (Lönnberg, 1940), was problematic given the uncertainty as to whether Spix’s pygmy marmoset (Cebuella pygmaea pygmaea) was collected north or south of the Napo and Solimões-Amazonas rivers, making it unclear to which of the two newly revealed species the name pygmaea would …

Felsic Volcanism As A Factor Driving The End-Permian Mass Extinction, Hua Zhang, Feifei Zhang, Jiu Bin Chen, Douglas H. Erwin, Drew D. Syverson, Pei Ni, Michael Rampino, Zhe Chi, Yao Feng Cai, Lei Xiang, Wei Qiang Li, Sheng Ao Liu, Ru Cheng Wang, Xiang Dong Wang, Zhuo Feng, Hou Min Li, Ting Zhang, Hong Ming Cai, Wang Zheng, Ying Cui, Xiang Kun Zhu, Zeng Qian Hou, Fu Yuan Wu, Yi Gang Xu, Noah Planavsky, Shu Zhong Shen

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The Siberian Traps large igneous province (STLIP) is commonly invoked as the primary driver of global environmental changes that triggered the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME). Here, we explore the contributions of coeval felsic volcanism to end-Permian environmental changes. We report evidence of extreme Cu enrichment in the EPME interval in South China. The enrichment is associated with an increase in the light Cu isotope, melt inclusions rich in copper and sulfides, and Hg concentration spikes. The Cu and Hg elemental and isotopic signatures can be linked to S-rich vapor produced by felsic volcanism. We use these previously unknown geochemical data …

Clinical Case Conceptualization Skill Development And Counseling Pedagogy: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study, Andrea Cox

Dissertations

Clinical case conceptualization has been identified as an invaluable and indispensable skill within the literature of the mental health professions and by the Council for Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP, the counseling profession’s professional accreditation body). Despite its known importance, there is a dearth of literature focused on understanding the experiences students have related to counselor education pedagogy and the development of clinical case conceptualization skills. This project utilized a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) qualitative research design and analysis to explore the clinical case conceptualization learning experiences had by Counselors-In-Training (CITs) enrolled in CACREP aligned or CACREP accredited master-level …

Alcohol And Illicit Drug Use Among Young People Living With Hiv Compared To Their Uninfected Peers From The Kenyan Coast: Prevalence And Risk Indicators, Moses K. Nyongesa, Paul Mwangi, Michael Kinuthia, Amin S. Hassan, Hans M. Koot, Pim Cuijpers, Charles R. J. C. Newton, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, there is paucity of research on substance use patterns among young people living with HIV (YLWH). To address the gap, we sought to: i) determine the prevalence of substance use, specifically alcohol and illicit drug use, among YLWH compared to their HIV-uninfected peers; ii) investigate the independent association between young people’s HIV infection status and substance use; iii) investigate the risk indicators for substance use among these young people.

Methods: Between November 2018 and September 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted at the Kenyan coast recruiting 819 young people aged 18–24 years (407 HIV-positive). …

Nutrient Cycling In Tropical And Temperate Coastal Waters: Is Latitude Making A Difference?, Christian Lønborg, Moritz Müller, Edward C. V. Butler, Shan Jiang, Seng Keat Ooi, Dieu Huong Trinh, Pui Yee Wong, Suryati M. Ali, Chun Cui, Wee Boon Siong, Erik S. Yando, Daniel A. Friess, Judith A. Rosentreter, Bradley D. Eyre, Patrick Martin

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tropical coastal waters are highly dynamic and amongst the most biogeochemically active zones in the ocean. This review compares nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles in temperate and tropical coastal waters. We review the literature to identify major similarities and differences between these two regions, specifically with regards to the impact of environmental factors (temperature, sunlight), riverine inputs, groundwater, lateral fluxes, atmospheric deposition, nitrogen fixation, organic nutrient cycling, primary production, respiration, sedimentary burial, denitrification and anammox. Overall, there are some similarities but also key differences in nutrient cycling, with differences relating mainly to temperature, sunlight, and precipitation amounts and patterns. …

Type Locality Of Polyommatus Lucia (W. Kirby, 1837) (Lycaenidae: Polyomatinae) With An Inspection Of The Species' Phenotypic Expression, Norbert G. Kondla, Harry Pavulaan, David M. Wright

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

The type locality of Polyommatus lucia was not clearly defined by W. Kirby (1837) and been improperly interpreted as Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, Canada by several authors. The present paper examines the circumstances surrounding the collection of the specimen described and illustrated by William Kirby, and determines the type locality is Fort Carlton Provincial Park, Saskatchewan. The habitat, flora, and phenotypic expression of Celestrina lucia (W. Kirby) near the type locality are presented.

Subspecific Designation Of The U.S.A. Interior Highlands Population Of Argynnis (Speyeria) Diana (Cramer, 1777) (Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae: Argynnini: Argynnina), Harry Pavulaan

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Subspecific designation is designated for the North American Interior Highlands population of Argynnis diana, based on four factors: mtDNA haplotype differences from nominotypical A. diana of the Appalachian Mountains; wing shape difference in the males between both regions; wing size of the adults; and tendency for females of the Interior Highlands to show tan coloration in the submarginal row of rectangular spots of the subapical region of the dorsal forewings.

Joint Medicines Regulatory Procedure In The East African Community: Registration Timelines And Way Forward, Jane Mashingia, S Maboko, P I. Mbwiri, A Okello, S I. Ahmada, R Barayandema, R Tulba, E Byomuhangi, Z Ekeocha, S Byrn, K Clase

BIRS Africa Technical Report Papers

A review of the East African Community (EAC) joint regulatory review process was conducted, registration timelines analyzed and key milestones, challenges and opportunities documented for the period of July 2015 to January 2020. A total of 113 applications were submitted for joint scientific review. Among these, 109 applications were assessed, 57 were recommended for marketing authorisation, 52 applications had queries to applicants and four applications were under review. A total median approval time for all products ranged from 53 to 102 days. The maximum time taken by a regulator to review the dossier was 391 days and the minimum time …

Transfer-Learned Pruned Deep Convolutional Neural Networks For Efficient Plant Classification In Resource-Constrained Environments, Martinson Ofori

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Traditional means of on-farm weed control mostly rely on manual labor. This process is time-consuming, costly, and contributes to major yield losses. Further, the conventional application of chemical weed control can be economically and environmentally inefficient. Site-specific weed management (SSWM) counteracts this by reducing the amount of chemical application with localized spraying of weed species. To solve this using computer vision, precision agriculture researchers have used remote sensing weed maps, but this has been largely ineffective for early season weed control due to problems such as solar reflectance and cloud cover in satellite imagery. With the current advances in artificial …