Digital Commons Network^™

Nature, Data, And Power: How Hegemonies Shaped This Special Section, A. Kamath, B. Velocci, A. Wesner, N. Chen, Vincent A. Formica, B. Subramaniam, M. Rebolleda-Gómez

Biology Faculty Works

Systems of oppression—racism, colonialism, misogyny, cissexism, ableism, heteronormativity, and more—have long shaped the content and practice of science. But opportunities to reckon with these influences are rarely found within academic science, even though such critiques are well developed in the social sciences and humanities. In this special section, we attempt to bring cross-disciplinary conversations among ecology, evolution, behavior, and genetics on the one hand and critical perspectives from the social sciences and humanities on the other into the pages—and in front of the readers—of a scientific journal. In this introduction to the special section, we recount and reflect on the …

Variability Among The Isolates Of Broad Bean Mottle Virus And Encapsidation Of Host Rnas, Nipin Shrestha, Melvin Duvall, Jozef Bujarski

NIU Bibliography

Broad bean mottle bromovirus infects legume plants and is transmissible by insects. Several broad bean mottle virus (BBMV) isolates have been identified, including one in England (isolate Ba) and five in the Mediterranean countries: Libya (LyV), Morocco (MV), Syria (SV), Sudan (TU) and Tunisia (TV). Previously, we analyzed the nucleotide sequence of the Ba RNA and here we report on and compare it with another five Mediterranean variants. The RNA segments in the latter ones were extensively homologous, with some SNPs, single nucleotide deletions and insertions, while the number of mutations was higher in isolate Ba. Both the 5′ and …

Increases In Vein Length Compensate For Leaf Area Lost To Lobing In Grapevine, Zoë Migicovsky, Joel F. Swift, Zachary Helget, Laura L. Klein, Anh Ly, Matthew Maimaitiyiming, Karoline Woodhouse, Anne Fennell, Misha Kwasniewski, Allison J. Miller, Peter Cousins, Daniel H. Chitwood

Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications

Premise:Leaf lobing and leaf size vary considerably across and within species,including among grapevines (Vitisspp.), some of the best‐studied leaves. Weexamined the relationship between leaf lobing and leaf area across grapevinepopulations that varied in extent of leaf lobing.
Methods:We used homologous landmarking techniques to measure 2632 leavesacross 2 years in 476 unique, genetically distinct grapevines fromfive biparentalcrosses that vary primarily in the extent of lobing. We determined to what extent leafarea explained variation in lobing, vein length, and vein to blade ratio.
Results:Although lobing was the primary source of variation in shape across theleaves we measured, leaf area varied only slightly …

Women In Stem: An Examination Of Career Commitment As A Moderator To Organizational Commitment, Patricia V. Rose

PhD in Organizational Leadership

Most research on women in STEM in the United States has revolved around retention, barriers, turnover intention, and underrepresentation in businesses, governments, and universities. This quantitative correlational study investigated whether career commitment moderated organizational commitment among women working in STEM careers based on independent variables of organizational justice and perceived organizational support. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2020), in 2019, women made up 34% of the STEM workforce, or 12 million workers, and 52% of the non-STEM workforce, or 62 million workers. In 2006, President George W. Bush released the American Competitiveness Initiative for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics …

A Haploid Pseudo-Chromosome Genome Assembly For A Keystone Sagebrush Species Of Western North American Rangelands, Anthony E. Melton, Richard S. Beard Jr., Carlos Dave C. Dumaguit, Jennifer S. Forbey, Marie-Anne De Graaff, Peggy Martinez, Stephen J. Novak, Desiree Self, Marcelo Serpe, Sven Buerki

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Increased ecological disturbances, species invasions, and climate change are creating severe conservation problems for several plant species that are widespread and foundational. Understanding the genetic diversity of these species and how it relates to adaptation to these stressors are necessary for guiding conservation and restoration efforts. This need is particularly acute for big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata; Asteraceae), which was once the dominant shrub over 1,000,000 km² in western North America but has since retracted by half and thus has become the target of one of the largest restoration seeding efforts globally. Here, we present the first reference-quality …

Interannual Variation Of Ichthyofaunal Utilization Of A Man-Made Salt Marsh Creek In Mission Bay, California, Maria Angst

McNair Summer Research Program

Southern California’s wetlands are drastically declining due to human activities. Increasingly, marsh restoration and creation are being used to mitigate such losses. This study used minnow traps to resample the ichthyofauna of a created marsh (Crown Point Mitigation Site; CPMS) and an adjacent natural marsh (Kendall Frost) in Mission Bay, California, 26 years following the marsh creation. These data were compared to data collected from 1995-1998, immediately after marsh creation, and data from 2021. Fishes captured included Fundulus parvipinnis, Gillichthys mirabilis, Acanthagobius flavimanus, Ctenogobius sagittula, and Mugil cephalus. Species richness and dominance measures were higher in the natural relative to …

The 2-Methoxymethyl Modification Of P -Phenylenediamine Reduces The Sensitization Risk For Hairdressers To Hair Dyes-An Occupational Hand Exposure-Based Risk Assessment, Emanuele Marco Gargano, Brunhilde Blömeke, Anthony Gaspari, Carsten Goebel

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

Background: Allergic contact dermatitis involving the hands is a common occupational skin disease for hairdressers and the potent sensitizers p -phenylenediamine (PPD) and toluene-2,5-diamine (PTD) are associated with the development of occupational allergic contact dermatitis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze whether the use of the moderate sensitizer 2-methoxymethyl-PPD (ME-PPD) in professional hair dyes is a suitable tool to reduce the occupational contact allergy risk for hairdressers.

Methods: Hand exposure of hairdressers (N = 11) to ME-PPD was analyzed under routine hair coloring conditions in commercial salons. By accounting for wet work and uneven hand exposure, the …

Influences On The Attachment Style Of Deaf Adults With Hearing Parents, Ellen Schaefer-Salins

JADARA

The current study explored variables that could contribute to the development of a secure or insecure attachment style of 15 deaf adults between the ages of 30 and 50 with hearing parents. There is a paucity of information on the relationship of deaf adults to their hearing parent and how that relationship may influence attachment. For the current study, quantitative methods were used to explore both childhood and adulthood variables, such as type of communication used with parents, type and level of schooling, and current attachment style. Variables also studied include age, gender, race, birth order, marital status, the hearing …

Wastewater-Derived Ammonia For A Green Transportation Fuel, Joseph Kalman, Maryam Haddad

Mineta Transportation Institute

The energy-water nexus (i.e., availability of potable water and clean energy) is among the most important problems currently facing society. Ammonia is a carbon-free fuel that has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint in combustion related vehicles. However, ammonia production processes typically have their own carbon footprint and do not necessarily come from sustainable sources. This research examines wastewater filtration processes to harvest ammonia for transportation processes. The research team studied mock wastewater solutions and was able to achieve ammonia concentrations above 80%(nanofiltration) and 90% (reverse osmosis). The research team also investigated the influence of transmembrane pressure and flow …

Modulation Of P53-Dependent Differentiation Signaling Through Molecular Interactions Between The Hpv E6 Oncoprotein And The Actin-Binding Transcriptional Cofactor, Mkl1, Nicholas Kurtaneck

Biological Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The high-risk human papillomaviruses infect basal epithelial stem cells within oropharyngeal or anogenital mucosal membranes and have been etiologically linked to uterine cervical dysplasia as well as to several HPV+ epithelial malignancies, including cervical squamous-cell carcinomas, vaginal, penile, and anogenital cancers, and certain subsets of head-and-neck/oropharyngeal cancers. Despite the widespread availability of multivalent preventive vaccines against the major hrHPV subtypes, more than 45,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States and the incidences of oropharyngeal and anogenital cancers have continued to increase, particularly, among HPV-infected subpopulations. The vegetative replication of the viral dsDNA genome …

A New Approach For Analyzing Financial Markets Using Correlation Networks And Population Analysis, Zahra Hatami

Computer Science Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

With the current availability of massive data sets associated with stock markets, we now have opportunities to apply newly developed big data techniques and data-driven methodologies to analyze these complicated markets. As stock market data continues to grow, analyzing the behavior of companies listed on the market becomes a massive task, even for high-performance computing systems. Hence, new big data techniques like network models are very much needed. We conducted this study on data collected from CRSP during the years 2000-2021 inclusively. In this study, we proposed a novel population analysis by constructing a correlation network model based on the …

For The Right Reasons: The Rules Of The Game For Institutionalists, Rick Joslyn

Connecticut Law Review

The United States judiciary demonstrates better than any other constitutional institution the inherent fragility of American democracy. There is a reasonable debate to be had over when and exactly how the Supreme Court squandered the precious legitimacy on which its very existence rests. Yet, today, observers must confront with renewed urgency the impact crater of discontent that has been driven into the institution. The Court has been weaponized, politicized, and villainized; it has been lionized for its institutional heft. But increasingly loud voices have called for foundational reforms. There is a scramble for solutions to check the Court’s newly-emboldened right-wing …

What’S (Race In) The Law Got To Do With It: Incorporating Race In Legal Curriculum, Sonia M. Gipson Rankin

Connecticut Law Review

Gen Z is defined as including persons born after 1996 and, in 2018, the first Gen Z would have been twenty-two years old, the historically traditional age that many complete undergraduate studies and enter law school. With Gen Z entering law schools, the legal academy has been wholeheartedly preparing for the arrival of the first truly digital native generation in a myriad of ways. However, law training has been slow to progress in addressing the unspoken complexities of context and unconscious bias in the classroom with this population. Today’s Gen Z students were predominately raised in de facto segregated schools …

Trading Places Or Changing Spaces? At The Crossroads Of Defining And Redressing Segregation, Melvin J. Kelley Iv

Connecticut Law Review

Segregation rates have remained stagnant in many regions of the United States since the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) in 1968 and experts expect them to increase in large metropolitan areas. Consequently, poor Blacks will be subjected to the extreme deprivation of group life chances that characterize racially and economically segregated environments. The global pandemic has only further exacerbated these dire circumstances. While severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may not discriminate, housing, healthcare, criminal, and economic policies have, rendering impoverished communities of color particularly vulnerable to the ravages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The …

Does Macroalgae Invasion Alter Macroinvertebrate Or Macrophyte Communities In Wetland Habitats?, Alexander Krest

Great Lakes Center Masters Theses

Macroinvertebrates play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functionality. Processes such as nutrient cycling, and primary productivity are directly linked to macroinvertebrates and their value as a food source for higher trophic levels is undeniable. Therefore, disruptions to co-evolutionary adaptations between macroinvertebrates and native macrophytes remain a concern. This study investigated patterns in macroinvertebrate richness, abundance, and functional feeding group representation, as well as plant richness and total biomass across five sites in upstate New York with varying dominance by the non-native macroalgae, Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa).

As N. obtusa proportional biomass increased, other plant community biomass declined at two …

Coach And Athlete Perceptions Of The Effects Of The Menstrual Cycle On Female Athletic Performance, Erin Dietz

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the knowledge of the effects of the menstrual cycle on female athletic performance from both athletes and their coaches at the NCAA Division III level. Recommendations for coaches based on the findings of the research are provided. The study investigates whether female athletes and their coaches are aware of the physiological and psychological effects of the menstrual cycle and how they are managed throughout the course of a sport season.

Kenyon Alumni Magazine - Summer 2022

Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Hybrid Cte Programming Vs. Traditional Cte Programming For Students With Ieps At Two Technical High Schools, Esthere K. Scott

Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to research the postsecondary readiness of students with IEPs at North and South Technical High schools within Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD). The attention is on the description of the readiness outcome of the students in a traditional career in the education program and technical education programs to the students with IEPs in hybrid technical programs. The paper also exploits the concept of inclusivity and diversity in learning and highlights the role of the CTEs in the preparation of the students for the future. However, success is described as either the …

Artelon As A Bio-Scaffold To Augment Collateral Ligament Repair After Knee Dislocation., D M Myers, S Hyland, A Paulini, A Melaragno, B J Passias, B C Taylor

Surgery Articles

INTRODUCTION: Knee dislocations (KD) have high rates of multi-ligamentous injury (MLI). Collateral ligaments rupture in 50-60% of KDs. Traditionally, collateral ligaments have undergone primary repair, though microscopic healing is not optimal. Artelon is a degradable, polyurethane urea bio-scaffold thought to decrease mechanical forces and promote healing, motion, and strength. Currently, little evidence exists regarding its indications or outcomes.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty-two patients with KD and MLI undergoing collateral ligament repair at a level-I trauma centre between 2015-2020 were included. Patients age < 18, with ipsilateral fractures or inadequate follow-up were excluded. The Artelon (AG) and primary ligamentous repair group (PR) each included 16 patients. Injury and perioperative variables were evaluated using SPSS® .

RESULTS: Thirty-two KDs were included in 32 patients, with 60% anterior. There were no significant differences between the …

Confronting Failure: Approaches To Building Confidence And Resilience In Undergraduate Researchers, Lisa A. Corwin, Louise K. Charkoudian, Jennifer M. Heemstra

Books

In this open-access book, authors from a range of disciplines--from geosciences to drama--capture how failure manifests and can be productively supported in a range of undergraduate research experiences. Whether the learning environment is a STEM research lab, a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), a humanities summer undergraduate research experience, a library, or the stage, students can benefit from support when they experience a gap between an expected/desired result and their lived experience. These perspectives and disciplinary contexts address failure from different vantage points and lenses, with the common focal point of nurturing undergraduate success through leveraging failure as an opportunity …

Effects Of Surface Topography On Macrophages And Bacterial Cells, Joseph Carnicelli

Theses - ALL

An association has been found between the texture of breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, which led to some textured implants to be withdrawn from the market in 2019. There is evidence that these cancers are associated with the harboring of bacteria on the surfaces of the textured implants. It is possible that specific topographic features hinder the removal of attached bacteria by inhibiting macrophage phagocytosis or promoting biofilm formation. Here we examine how bacteria and macrophages interact with recessive surface topographies as analogs to the surfaces seen on textured breast implants. Changes in bacteria morphology were observed among …

July 2022 News Releases, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

University of Montana News Releases, 1928, 1956-present

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 Infection Enhances Susceptibility To Oxidative Stress-Induced Parkinsonism., Richard Jay Smeyne, Jeffrey B Eells, Debotri Chatterjee, Matthew Byrne, Shaw M Akula, Srinivas Sriramula, Dorcas P O'Rourke, Peter Schmidt

Farber Institute for Neuroscience Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Viral induction of neurological syndromes has been a concern since parkinsonian-like features were observed in patients diagnosed with encephalitis lethargica subsequent to the 1918 influenza pandemic. Given the similarities in the systemic responses after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection with those observed after pandemic influenza, there is a question whether a similar syndrome of postencephalic parkinsonism could follow coronavirus disease 2019 infection.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to determine whether prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 increased sensitivity to a mitochondrial toxin known to induce parkinsonism.

METHODS: K18-hACE2 mice were infected with SARS-CoV-2 to induce mild-to-moderate …

Itihas Vol. 22 Issue No. 3, Sastra Univ

ITIHAS

NEWSLETTER FROM SASTRA DEEMED UNIVERSITY

Reflection Of Mentors And Mentees At Initiation Of Faculty Mentorship Program At Aga Khan University: A Perspective, Rehana Rehman, Fauzia Khan, Naila Kayani, Tazeen Saeed Ali

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Objectives: To explore perception of mentors and mentees about 'Mentorship Program at Aga Khan University Medical College (AKU-MC) from a structured feedback form.
Methods: A retrospective study was conducted for evaluation of mentorship program at AKU-MC during the period from Jan 2019 to March, 2021. Responses on validated "Pre-intervention Probe Forms", from forty-seven mentors and fourteen mentees inducted in the program were reviewed. Confidentiality and anonymity of data were deliberated. All replies to each question were entered in a separate worksheet to determine the frequency and percentage of answers. Responses conveying same message, but worded differently were then grouped.
Results: …

Preliminary Report: Are Bushtits (Psaltriparus Minimus) Drinking Nectar For Breakfast?, Rebecca Hartley

<p>Video Clips and Preliminary Report: Are Bushtits (<i>Psaltriparus minimus</i>) Drinking Nectar for Breakfast?</p>

No abstract provided.

Cloud Seeding Yields No Statistical Difference In Concentration Of Silver In Soil Survey Across South-Central Idaho, Tiffaney D. Jeske, Kathleen Lohse (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Clouds have been shedding their silver linings over Idaho for nearly four decades. Cloud seeding with silver iodide increases reservoir carryover by 10% and has improved the productivity of the Idaho Hydroelectric Project by up to 13%. As seeding efforts intensify, so do concerns regarding potential environmental effects. European studies have found cloud seeding with silver iodide to have no environmentally harmful effect. While research on warm-weather, hail-suppression studies in the Mediterranean are well studied, research on cold-weather, snow-augmentation studies in North America is lacking. To this end, this study compares the concentrations of silver in soils across south-central Idaho. …

Uncovering The Origins Of Autophagosomes: How Cells Recycle Waste, Seamus Jude, Anna Shuey, Megan Bass, Christopher Reetz, Elsie So, Cynthia Keller-Peck, Julia Oxford, Shin Pu (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Autophagy is molecular machinery for “self-digestion” in cells. It is a highly conserved process for cell survival in response to stressors such as starvation, growth factor deprivation, and pathogen infection. Autophagy is a unique membrane trafficking process whereby double-layered membranes are formed to engulf parts of the cytoplasm for degradation. The origin of the autophagosome membrane and how its formation is initiated remain open questions after more than 50 years of investigation, and it is still not well understood how the membranes grow and expand to form the autophagosome. A number of lipids have been identified in the autophagosome membrane, …

Nitrification And Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria Abundance In A Time-Series Of Forest Reclaimed Water Applications, Bailey Briggs, Mark Coleman (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

Pristine forests are nitrogen limited with conservative nutrient cycles, although anthropogenic nitrogen (N) inputs cause many ecosystems to saturate and lose N to the surrounding environment, causing an increased risk of leaching and eutrophication in freshwater ecosystems. The effects of nutrient additions are being studied in a time-series of five forest water reclamation facilities operating in Northern Idaho with treatment durations ranging from 9 to 44 years. This time-series presents an opportunity to compare microbially controlled nitrification processes. Insight into sustainable forest wastewater application has the potential to allow greater rates of carbon sequestration and increase water quality in surrounding …

Challenges And Opportunities In Human Subjects Research: Assessing Glyphosate Exposure In Pregnant Women, Brianna Ellison, Alejandra Hernandez, Allison O'Brien, Carson Schvaneveldt, Elysia Watkins, Annica Balentine, Meredith Spivak, Carly Hyland, Cynthia Curl (Mentor)

Idaho Conference on Undergraduate Research

The herbicide glyphosate has become the world’s most popular agricultural chemical, the use of which has risen more than 12-fold in the last two decades. Recent epidemiologic research suggests that exposure to glyphosate may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Despite the widespread use and potential toxicity, little research exists to quantify human exposure to glyphosate. This study aims to measure long-term glyphosate exposure in pregnant women and to attribute that exposure to agricultural and dietary sources. We recruited 40 women from whom we collected 1,395 urine samples throughout their pregnancies. We conducted quality assurance checks on the collected data and …