Digital Commons Network^™

Redox Sensing By Yeast Hsp70 Facilitates Modulation Of Protein Quality Control And The Cytoprotective Response, Alec Santiago

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Neurodegenerative disease affects millions of Americans every year, through diagnoses such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s diseases. One factor linked to formation of these aggregates is damage sustained to proteins by oxidative stress. Cellular protein homeostasis (proteostasis) relies on the ubiquitous Hsp70 chaperone family. Hsp70 activity has been previously shown to be modulated by modification of two key cysteines in the ATPase domain by oxidizing or thiol-modifying compounds. To investigate the biological consequences of cysteine modification on the Hsp70 Ssa1 in budding yeast, I generated cysteine null (cysteine to serine) and oxidomimetic (cysteine to aspartic acid) mutant variants of both …

Risk-Factor Induced Changes In The Breast Microenvironment Facilitate Inflammatory Breast Cancer Progression And Lymphovascular Invasion, Wintana Balema, Wintana Balema

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rapidly progressing, rare and highly lethal form of breast cancer. IBC is a clinical diagnosis, requiring >1/3 involvement on the affected breast and/or skin by erythema, and disease onset of < 6 months. The clinical symptoms of IBC vary in severity and presentation, these include redness, warmth, skin thickening and bruised or pink/purple discoloration appearance and skin changes such as peau d’orange. These skin symptoms are not attributed to inflammation, rather IBC is characterized by florid lymphovascular tumor emboli clogging dermal lymphatics. This leads to “classic” symptoms of breast swelling and skin edema or discoloration. To date, unique genomic drivers which differentiate IBC from non-IBC invasive breast cancers have not been identified highlighting a role for the microenvironment. Several epidemiological studies have unveiled subtype-specific risk factors associated with IBC that are known to alter the microenvironment. Obesity is an established risk factor for all subtypes of IBC. Never-breastfeeding increases risk for developing the most aggressive, triple-negative IBC. Further, never breastfeeding is associated with later clinical stage and worse outcomes. We worked to model these overlapping risk factors to understand microenvironment changes that may lead to the lymphatic change’s indicative of IBC.

First, we investigated the association of a “classic” triad of clinical IBC signs with overall survival among patients to demonstrate the most overt clinical findings of lymphatic involvement were impacting prognosis. We evaluated a triad of IBC signs, including swollen involved breast, nipple change, and diffuse skin change, using breast medical photographs from patients enrolled on a prospective IBC registry. We reported that the …

Genetic Analysis Of Rna Exosome Complex Cofactors, Luisa Orlando

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The RNA exosome complex is known to process and/or degrade many classes of RNA, including mRNA, rRNA, tRNA and snRNA, through its 3’-to-5’ exoribonuclease catalytic activity. The RNA exosome complex comprises a 9-unit core (exo-9), with six proteins making up a PH-Ring barrel and three proteins making up a S1-KH cap. The RNA exosome complex exo-9 core is inactive by itself and requires different cofactors in the nucleus and cytoplasm to perform different localized functions. This exo-9 core can associate with one or two catalytic subunits, including Rrp44/Dis3 and Rrp6 in yeast and DIS3 or DIS3L and RRP6/EXOSC10 in humans. …

Hacking Copyright: Holding Cops Accountable For Abusing Youtube’S Copyright Filter System, Tyler Bloom

Journal of Law and Policy

This Note both explores the mechanisms and incentive structures that make “copyright hacking” possible and explains the legal system’s failure to provide recourse for victims of successful “copyright hacks” by police officers. Because the DMCA has failed to keep pace with the internet’s exponential growth, OSPs, such as YouTube, have developed filtering systems that can be exploited to “copyright hack” users and ultimately suppress their speech. A victim of “copyright hacking” by a police officer currently has no recourse; the doctrine of qualified immunity functionally precludes them from suing for violating their First Amendment rights. This Note proposes two possible …

Analysis Of The Issue Of New Mexico Black Male Educators’ Underrepresentation In Education Within New Mexico, Robert Sims Jr.

Dissertations

Increasing the educational profession's racial, gender, and ethnic diversification ensures the intentionality and equity of having more Black male educators serve as role models in U.S. schools. There is a need to understand better the journey and experiences of Black male educators, wherefore greater grassroots recruitment and retention efforts can be implemented to support Black men and young Black males who may aspire to become educators. Research that captures the experiences of Black male youth and educators as they navigate teaching and learning in predominately White educational systems may promote lines of inquiry for further research and intentional dialogue for …

Molecular Characterization Of Some Pathogenic Bacterial Strains And Hematobiochemical Profile In Barki Sheep With Diarrhea In Siwa Oasis, Amani A. Hafez, Mohamed T. Ragab, Marwa A. Fawzy, Adel M. El-Kattan, Ahmed A. Elsayed

Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

Objective: To explore the incidence of several bacterial enteropathogens in Barki sheep with diarrhea and their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends and their hematobiochemical alteration in Siwa Oasis.Design: Descriptive study.Animals: A total of 500 adult Barki sheep were allocated into two equal-sized groups: 250 Barki ewes with diarrhea and 250 normal sheep taken as the control group. 250 faecal samples were taken from sheep with diarrhea. The bacterial enteropathogens were extracted, identified biochemically and determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The Kirby-Bauer Disk-Diffusion Method was used to determine the sensitivity of positive samples from each organism to ten antimicrobials. Blood samples …

The Importance Of Hand Motions For Communication And Interaction In Virtual Reality, Alex Adkins

All Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) is a growing method of communication and play. Recent advances have enabled hand-tracking technologies for consumer VR headsets, allowing virtual hands to mimic a user's real hand movements in real-time. A growing number of users now utilize hand-tracking when using VR to manipulate objects or to create gestures when interacting with others. As VR grows as a tool and communication platform, it is important to understand how the rising prevalence of hand-tracking technology might affect users' experiences.

The goal of this dissertation is to investigate, through a series of experiments, how using hand motions in VR influences …

Likeliness To Recommend: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Consumer Perception Of Homebuilders, Todd Usher

All Dissertations

Measures of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a business or company have been shown to relate to business performance. Less is known about how such scores might operate in the homebuilding industry. This study examines the factors influencing consumers’ perceptions of homebuilders, an area with little published research. Using a sequential mixed-methods approach, the study analyzes survey data from consumers (N = 366) who had new homes built within the preceding 12 months. Quantitative analyses of the data reveal several aspects of consumers’ likeliness to recommend a homebuilder. One finding of great interest is that consumers of the survey were more …

Enhancing The Performance Of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) Based Organic Thin-Film Transistors Using An Interface Engineering Method, Eyob Negussie Tarekegn

All Dissertations

An original design and photolithographic fabrication process for poly(3-hexylthiophene-2, 5-diyl) (P3HT) based organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) is presented. The structure of the transistors was based on the bottom gate bottom contact OTFT. The fabrication process was efficient, cost-effective, and relatively straightforward to implement. Current–voltage (I-V) measurements were performed to characterize the primary electronic properties of the transistors. The measured mobility of these transistors was significantly higher than most results reported in the literature for other similar bottom gate bottom contact P3HT OTFTs. The higher mobility is explained primarily by the effectiveness of the fabrication process in keeping the interfacial layers …

Metabolic Engineering Of Yarrowia Lipolytica For Enhanced Peroxisomal Production Of Polyhydroxyalkanoates, Michael Spagnuolo

All Dissertations

Traditional chemical processes are made inefficient by the generation of side products and reactions that fail to reach completion. Bioprocesses, on the other hand, lose product potential due to the necessity of growing the organism required to produce the desired compounds. The field of metabolic engineering often seeks to alter this balance between product formation and cell growth to generate more product from the same quantity of feed (reagent). In addition to balance, such organisms may also be engineered to produce the desired products from nontraditional substrates, such as waste compounds. In resource-poor environments, the ability to produce a wanted …

Ligand-Promoted Dissolution Of Uranyl Phosphate Across Scales, Brennan Ferguson

All Dissertations

The formation of uranyl phosphate precipitate is a remediation strategy because the low solubility of uranyl phosphate minerals, like chernikovite, limits the mobility of uranium in contaminated soils. However, organic ligands can complex with aqueous metal cations to form more soluble species. For example, citrate is a commonly occurring organic ligand produced by plants and microbes that increases the solubility of uranium and therefore the dissolution of uranyl phosphate minerals in the uranyl phosphate-citrate system. This effect is an important control on the mobility of uranium in organic-rich, and near-surface vegetated environments. Nevertheless, key aspects of the citrate-uranyl phosphate system …

Infusing Kirigami Principles Into Design Of Mechanical Properties, Hesameddin Khosravi

All Dissertations

The emergence of mechanical metamaterials — which derive their properties primarily from the underlying architecture rather than the constituent material — has unleashed a new era of material design and functionalities. To fully materialize the promising potentials of metamaterials, it is crucial to develop versatile, scalable, and easy-to-fabricate methods that can both generate and tailor the underlying periodic architecture. To this end, we propose the use of kirigami — a popular recreational art of cutting and manipulating paper — as a platform to create periodicity and super-stretchability. Kirigami has become a design and fabrication framework for constructing metamaterials, robotic tools, …

Understanding The Aspirations And Challenges Of Michigan’S Black School Superintendents: A Toolkit For Building Equity In The Superintendency, Kevin Simmons

Dissertations

Black superintendents are significantly underrepresented in our nation’s schools. Despite a slight increase in representation of female Black superintendents, minorities of all races continue to be underrepresented (Tienken & Domenech, 2020). In this study, I examined the experiences of Black superintendents in Michigan who currently hold superintendent roles, along with the obstacles they faced and their personal characteristics and associated factors that attributed to their resilience and longevity in their role as superintendent. Using a phenomenological qualitative study approach of personal and confidential interviews and survey questions of 12 Black superintendents, data was collected to formulate a toolkit for aspiring …

The Speculative Artifact 2022, Students Of Risd, Risd Archives

All Student Newspapers

The Speculative Artifact was a student publication created for the Graphic Design seminar/studio Critical Issues Studio, taught by Anther Kiley in Fall 2022. The publication features designs and concepts for artifacts of the future created by students. Artifacts include language aids, a sex worker kit, food packaging, a garden pack, style-transferred furniture, a post-taste apartment, a maze sculpture, a personality magazine, animal-human cohabitation, signage, a friend-dating system, coding tech, a transhuman sticker book, and television programming with animal languages

El Leñador, December 2022, El Leñador Staff

El Leñador Newspaper

El Leñador is an English and Spanish newspaper produced by Humboldt State University students. Our staff cover and provide news to Latinx and other diverse communities on campus and in Humboldt County. We are committed to providing relevant news and expanding the representations and stories told about people of color and other marginalized groups. Our work helps create more social, political and cultural diversity in local media.

El Leñador es un periodico en español y inglés producido por estudiantes de la Universidad Estatal de Humboldt. Nuestro personal cubre y provee noticias a la comunidad Latinx y otras comunidades diversas en …

It’S All In Your Mind, Deanne Fernandes, Special Collections, Fleet Library

9th Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest 2023

Entry for the 9th Annual Baker & Whitehill Student Artists' Book Contest. Opening Reception Thursday, March 02, 2023, Fleet Library, Main Reading Room. Juror: Andre Lee Bassuet.

Household Size And Household Wealth In Indonesia With The Influence Of Spatial Aspects, Thomas Soseco

Economics and Finance in Indonesia

Investigating household wealth should also include spatial analysis to capture the influence of location on the households’ net wealth and to avoid underestimation of the effect of the change of variables due to estimation that ignores spatial aspects. This paper examines factors influencing household net wealth in Indonesia with the influence of spatial lag using data from the Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) for 1993–2014. The article relies on the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to analyze the data. Results show that household net wealth in Indonesia is spatially related to each other, and the spillover effect makes the change of …

Full Issue

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

The Only Way Out Is Through: Community, Death, And The Desacralization Of Trauma In George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo, Josey Gardner

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

The arrival of George Saunders’ novel Lincoln in the Bardo as yet another trauma narrative is not surprising. What began as a desire for representation of trauma in media and literature has morphed into an obsession in which trauma is the gold standard. Upon becoming so, trauma is inevitably placed upon a pedestal—the shining object that all other decisions are measured against and based upon. Its placement on this pedestal marks the “sacralization” of trauma. However, Lincoln in the Bardo fills a unique niche in the current portrayals of trauma found in popular media by seeking to minimize its importance …

Smart Classroom User Manual, Claire Nickerson Mlis

Library Faculty Publications

In 2018, Fort Hays State University began building a prototype for a low-cost, portable smart classroom. This project was a collaboration between the library and the Institute for New Media Studies and was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This manual assumes that you are working with a smart classroom kit with components that have already been collected and set up, either by you or by an organization or consortium. If you are trying to create a smart classroom kit or set up the smart classroom screens, please consult the Smart Classroom Designs document. If you are …

Arts Marketing, David Ocon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although there are hundreds of resources on traditional and commercial marketing, the materials available specifically for arts marketing are scarce, posing additional challenges for Gillian. Furthermore, while some focus on arts management, few of them address marketing from the perspective of a small-to-medium (often financially struggling) arts organization. An organization like Gillian’s often has limited resources, both financial and human, and can only approach marketing informally. However, it experiences the same pressures to perform well as larger arts institutions. Often, survival depends on how well it implements the marketing strategies that marketing staff create on their own. This chapter is …

"Keep To The Code”: A Global Code Of Conduct For Third-Party Funders, Victoria Sahani

Faculty Scholarship

Global commercial third-party funding has given rise to wide-ranging regulatory approaches worldwide. Consequently, funders can engage in cross-border regulatory arbitrage by exploiting regulatory gaps within and among nations. This Article argues that the global community of nations should articulate a universal approach to the behavioral expectations of third-party funders operating transnationally, independent of local laws regarding the technical business of funding. It asserts that the key to fostering the ethical development of the third-party funding industry is to develop a globally applicable but locally enforced code of conduct or professional responsibility for the industry. Moreover, a successful regime for funder …

Micrornas Contribute To The Host Response To Coxiella Burnetii, Madhur Sachan, Katelynn Brann, Daniel E. Voth, Rahul Raghavan

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

MicroRNAs (miRNAs), a class of small non-coding RNAs, are critical to gene regulation in eukaryotes. They are involved in modulating a variety of physiological processes, including the host response to intracellular infections. Little is known about miRNA functions during infection by Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of human Q fever. This bacterial pathogen establishes a large replicative vacuole within macrophages by manipulating host processes such as apoptosis and autophagy. We investigated miRNA expression in C. burnetii-infected macrophages and identified several miRNAs that were down- or up-regulated during infection. We further explored the functions of miR-143-3p, an miRNA whose …

Why Money Is Well Spent On Time, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

There are a few reasons why incentivizing clinicians to spend more time with patients can improve health outcomes. Doing so affords clinicians time to assess social determinants’ influences on their patients’ health experiences; offers opportunities to identify and respond to patients’ loneliness; and helps motivate patients’ trust in health care, strengthen patient-clinician relationships, and bolster patients’ adherence to clinicians’ recommendations.

Dec2022, Robert Kelly

Robert Kelly Manuscripts

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of The Mental Health Of Police Officers And Correctional Officers In Rural Appalachia, Sierra Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of mental health among police officers and correctional officers within rural Appalachia. The main goal of this research was to better understand how the occupational demands of working in the criminal justice field can impact one’s mental health over time. Several research questions were explored, including the prevalence of various mental health problems, associated stressors, the structure of support among officers, and the perceptions of mental health treatment services. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 21 police and correctional officers located in rural Appalachia. Results provided a better understanding of …

Examining The Politicization And Framing Of Hea 117 In The Us Between 2019 And 2021, Elise S. Ahn

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

In 2019, the U.S. Department of Education (DED) began increasing its enforcement of the Higher Education Act, Section 117 statute, which provides instructions for institutional reporting regarding foreign and contracts. The three questions guiding this article include: What were DED’s stated premises for the investigations? How was international engagement characterized in the notices? And finally, what traits, characteristics, and/or qualities were attributed to different actors? After providing an overview of Section 117, this article examines the notices of investigation issued by DED between 2019 and 2021 to better understand how the Agency discursively characterized malign and/or undue foreign influence utilizing …

Latinx Parents’ Experiences Accessing Their Children’S Instruction And Resources Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elisa Coy Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study is to build awareness of the Latinx school parents’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study also explores how one’s cultural intuition can help advocate for the Latinx parents and their school children during a novel time. To find this information, I interviewed 7 parents and found the emerging themes that helped answer these two questions. In this case study I found that school families encountered a language barrier, struggled with computer literacy, were expected to help provide instruction, and that some parents were able to support their children after receiving teacher support. …

Navigating Through A Pandemic (The Unknown): The Effects Of Synchronous Learning For Online And In Person Students On Achievement Scores In Reading And Math In A Private Catholic School In South Texas, Israel Martinez Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

In the Spring of 2020, a wide world pandemic, specifically COVID-19, slammed the door on what we defined as normal life. COVID-19 and its associated pandemic exposed more explicitly great inequities such as access to devices, platforms, and/or places to do schoolwork outside schools in education systems (Fullan, 2020). It also interrupted international travel, it devastated economic growth, and it disrupted schooling globally (Harris & Jones, 2020). In the Summer of 2020, a Catholic school in South Texas set a plan in place to provide a 100% synchronous way of learning for students in elementary grades 1 through 8 to …

Grapefruit Peel Biochar Applications For Immobilizing Copper And Lead In Soil, Michael Alfredo Navarro

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the efficacy of grapefruit peel (GP) derived biochar materials (two pyrolysis temperatures 450°C and 800°C) as a potential adsorbent to immobilize heavy metal (copper and lead) in a local sandy loam clay soil. A batch adsorption test with heavy metal concentrations at 50 mg L-1, and 100 mg L-1 revealed that soil itself had the highest immobilization percentage compared to the GP biochars. A soil column experiment was conducted to determine how much the GP biochar samples and the tested soil will exhibit adsorptive characteristics for heavy metals when 50 ml of 50 mg L-1 copper or …