Digital Commons Network^™

Using Protonation Microstates And Hydrogen Bond Networks To Track Proton Transfer Pathways In Complex I, Umesh Khaniya

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Complex I, NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase, is the first enzyme in the mitochondrial and bacterial aerobic respiratory chain. It pumps four protons through four transiently open pathways from the high pH, negative, N- side of the membrane to the positive, P-side driven by the exergonic transfer of electrons from NADH to a quinone. Three protons transfer through subunits descended from Mrp antiporters, while the fourth, E-channel is unique. Because of the complex possible paths thorough the many buried polar residues and lack of high-resolution crystal structure, the path for protons through the E-channel is elusive.

In this dissertation, the E-channel proton pumping …

Genetic Determinants Of Carotenoid Pigmentation In The Opportunistic Pathogen Mycobacterium Kansasii, Niklas Janisch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mycobacterium kansasii (Mk) is an opportunistic pulmonary pathogen causing infections, predominantly in immunocompromised people, with symptoms similar to those caused by its close relative Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt). In contrast to the latter, little work has been done on Mk genetics and even less on its defining characteristic of photochromogenicity, the controlled expression of carotenoid pigments in response to light exposure.

This work represents major progress in the investigation of pigmentation-related genetic factors in Mk. We report the creation of a large-scale, random transposon-insertion mutant library of Mk and its subsequent screening for mutants with an aberration in the …

Investigating Young Adult Cancer Survivors' Perspectives On Their Future And Interpersonal Relationships, Zeba N. Ahmad

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For many young adults (YA, aged 18-39) who have recently survived cancer, planning and working towards goals for the future is a fraught process. Prior research consistently identifies the challenges of survivorship, including: rebuilding personal identity, accepting the impact of cancer-related interruptions on personal goals, navigating new roles in significant close relationships, and initiating new relationships as a survivor. However, there is limited research describing the mechanisms underlying these persistent challenges, which poses difficulties when tailoring evidence-based psychological intervention. The present study consolidates both established and newly hypothesized survivorship challenges into a novel conceptual model, hypothesizing that they are interrelated, …

Catalyzed And Uncatalyzed N1 Modifications Of Inosine And 2'-Deoxyinosine And N-Directed Remote Aroylation Of C6-Aryl Purine Nucleosides, Casina Malinchak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Nucleosides, and their analogs, are important biological molecules that are integral to cell signaling, metabolism, and DNA and RNA synthesis. Because of their presence in all living systems, they are ideal candidates for drug development. Although extensive literature exists on the alkylation and alkenylation at N1 of inosine and 2’-deoxyinosine, few reports have been published on arylation at this position. Using diaryliodonium salts, a copper-catalyzed method has been developed for the efficient N1-arylation of silyl group-protected inosine and 2’-deoxyinosine. Diaryliodonium salts are easily synthesized and allow for the use of mild conditions to promote transfer of aryl groups to the …

Refusing Rehabilitation: Outlaw Epistemologies And The Carceral-Therapeutic State In Nyc, Nadja Eisenberg-Guyot

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During an historic re-articulation of incarceration in New York City, Refusing Rehabilitation: Outlaw Epistemologies and the Carceral-Therapeutic State explores how gender, race, and class have been transformed at the intersection of criminal legal system reform and the overdose crisis. I take up how multiracial groups of criminalized women—thrown together by the state, not by choice—refuse forms of state control and violence, and imagine together alternative “outlaw” horizons of justice, healing, drug use, and escape from carceral-therapeutic capture. Countering the individualizing mandate of rehabilitation, women in rehab articulate visions of healing grounded in interdependence, collective safety, and an end to structural …

Learning Beyond Measure: Critical Numeracy And Resistance To Racial Capitalism, Atasi Das

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this three-article dissertation, I connect with and expand from learning theories and mathematics and numeracy practices to reimagine numeracy as a potential tool towards liberation and human emancipation. Developing a framework and activity of critical numeracy, I explore the ways numbers and static categories have been used to “objectively” create, reproduce, and reify hierarchies within historical contexts and power relations. The core of this work examines, what do numbers and numeracy mean for us? Who are “the us” we can organize for? And for what purpose can and should we utilize, teach, and learn with numbers in and beyond …

Isolation And Characterization Of Fluorescent Proteins And Small Molecules From Marine Vertebrates, Sara Rose Krivoshik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fluorescence is a phenomenon in which a wavelength of light excites a fluorophore and then emits light at a higher, longer wavelength. This occurs throughout the biological world, in both the terrestrial and marine realms. Encompassing a diverse set of mechanisms from small molecules to large protein complexes; fluorescence has been used as a biological tool with a wide range of applications to study molecular and cellular biology for decades. This dissertation looks to identify and characterize novel fluorescent proteins and small molecules to allow for more efficient translation in developing new biotechnologies. Using a combination of RNA-Seq, Mass-Spec, protein …

The Impossible Situation? Impasse As Psychotherapeutic Paralysis, Possibility, And Progress, Leo Cancelmo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychotherapeutic impasse has long been understood in the clinical literature as treatment stagnation and even failure, both from one-person and two-person psychodynamic perspectives. However, there is a dearth of empirical research that delves deeper to understand this complex and rich phenomenon. Using semi-structured interviews with nine psychodynamic therapists speaking about individual adult patients, this study examined experiences of impasse to better understand treatments that become embroiled in a kind of paralysis. Qualitative analyses revealed dyads where patients were conceptualized as struggling chronically with negative feelings about themselves and others, and who experienced traumatic personal histories. Impasse in and of itself …

Serial Position Effect Profiles And Their Neuroanatomical Correlates: Predictors Of Conversion To Alzheimer's Disease, Isabelle K. Avildsen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study was designed to determine whether targeted, premorbid, neuropsychological measures of the serial position effect (SPE) can detect and explain risk for later development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study tested the utility of SPE measures in healthy controls (HC) and individuals already diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Aim 1 was to determine whether these sensitive, valid neuropsychological measures can explain disease risk. SPE of list-learning are highly sensitive cognitive markers that capture important elements of both linguistic and amnestic mechanisms of encoding, learning, and retrieval. Using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), we …

Determining The Roles Of The Oligomerization And C-Terminal Domains In Mutant P53 Gain-Of-Function Activities, George K. Annor

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The tumor suppressor p53 (TP53) gene is often mutated in cancer, with missense mutations found in the central DNA binding domain, and less often in the oligomerization domain (OD) and C-terminal domain (CTD). The OD and CTD have been found to be critical for the tumor suppressor functionality of wild-type p53 (wtp53). Specific missense mutations in the DNA binding domain have been found to confer new gain-of-function (GOF) activities. Mutations that destabilize tetramer formation, or deletion of key lysine residues within the CTD, downregulate the ability of wtp53 to transactivate (increase the rate of transcription of) its target …

Petroleum, Health, And Power: The Anglo-Persian Oil Company And The Colonial Dimensions Of Company Medicine In Iran, 1902–1931, Arman Azimi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Petroleum, Health, and Power: The Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Colonial Dimensions of Company Medicine in Iran, 1902-1931” investigates the medical and public health work of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC, later Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), and today BP P.L.C., or British Petroleum) in southwest Iran in the period prior to the Iranian central government’s assumption of control over public health in the region. To ensure that its operations functioned without disruption, the British-owned oil company constructed an extensive and integrated medical infrastructure and carried out substantial public health programs. Based on archival material from the BP Archive and the …

White Blinders: A Study Of Race Relations Theory In Britain, 1948–1988, Matthew T. Sherman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation studies the early generation of scholars who developed the academic field of race relations in Britain from the 1940s into the 1980s. The research and methodology performed throughout this period was both innovative and problematic due to the approaches taken. Early scholars, such as Kenneth L. Little, Michael Banton, Sheila Patterson, and John Rex, provided the dominant schools of thought in the study of race relations in Britain up to the early 1970s. This dissertation studies the origins and development of an interdisciplinary field of study within the context of a nation and society coming to grips with …

The Storytelling Cure: Medicine And Narrative From Galen To Shahrazad And Rousseau, Ryan A. Milov-Cordoba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Are stories healing? This dissertation introduces and explores an idea that I call “the storytelling cure.” With this term I capture a set of related notions about the healing power of stories that span literary studies, intellectual history, philosophy, and medical practice. Through a comparative study I make the case for “the storytelling cure” as a cross-cultural, multiconfessional, and multilingual phenomenon of great age, complexity, and power, worthy of the most sustained attention by the contemporary field of Comparative Literature. Concretely, this dissertation presents three extended case studies of “storytelling cures” from three different kinds of texts (case history, frame …

Exploring Social And Emotional Functioning In Emerging Adult Survivors Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Sara Babad

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As many as two thirds of adults in the United States have experienced adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and 60% of these individuals have experienced multiple, or cumulative ACEs. ACEs are associated with a range of outcomes, including social, emotional, and cognitive changes, health risk behaviors, psychopathology, worse physical health, and early death. Although some ACEs effects have been well-researched, social and emotional changes have received minimal attention in the literature in general. Research on ACEs effects in emerging adults (ages 18 to 25), an already vulnerable population, is also limited. Furthermore, there is debate in the field as to which …

Workforce Diversity And Health Equity: The Role Of Schools Of Public Health, Adashima Oyo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity has remained a consistent public health and social welfare challenge for the United States. Schools of public health, despite being disproportionately White, are charged with the important task of training a diverse workforce of master and doctoral-level public health students to protect and promote the overall health of the nation with research, policy, and practice. Experiences and practices related to the recruitment, admission, enrollment, and graduation of students of color, specifically Blacks and Latinx, warrant further research. Positive deviance theory, critical race theory, and organizational culture theory informed this research. …

Biochemical And Biophysical Characterization Of Replicative Helicase Loading By Vibrio Cholerae Dcia, Crystal Structure Of A Monoclonal Antibody Bound To A C-Terminal Fragment Of Ebna-1 From Epstein Barr Virus, Nicholas Gao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

DNA replication initiation is mediated by the binding of an initiator protein to genomic origins of replication to begin the process of loading replicative helicases onto the genome. The loading of the helicase requires the action of an accessory protein, named a “loader”. Studies on well-characterized loaders have outlined how the bacterial DnaB replicative helicase is loaded via mechanisms of “Ring-Breaking” by E. coli DnaC (EcDnaC)/protein P from bacteriophage lambda (LP) and “Ring-Making” by B. subtilis DnaI. Mounting evidence points to a recently discovered candidate loader, named DciA, that shows a more widespread distribution throughout bacteria than DnaC and DnaI …

Competitive And Facilitative Interactions Between Pavlovian Cues In Human Associative Learning: A Behavioral And Neural Analysis, Fahd Alhazmi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Learning to anticipate significant events accurately is a crucial element of survival for all species. The process by which animals acquire this knowledge has been a central question of psychological research. A fundamental assumption of many learning theories is that the predictive value assigned to cues is not simply determined by their probability of reinforcement but rather by their ability to compete with other cues present during learning. The assumption of cue competition has significantly contributed to the development of behavioral and neuroscience research for decades, as it has opened the door to new empirical and theoretical advances on the …

Generation Of Mycobacterium Smegmatis Model Systems For Testing Inhibitors Of The Mycobactin Siderophore Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Gabrielle A. Germain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the pathogenic bacterium causative of tuberculosis. According to the 2021 World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report, there were approximately 5.8 million TB cases in 2020, and 1.3 million TB deaths among HIV negative people in that year. The rise of multi-drug resistant Mtb strains has increased the need for more potent microbials against this pathogen. Biosynthesis of iron scavenging molecules, known as siderophores (e.g., mycobactin and carboxymycobactin), has been identified as a potential drug target candidate since iron acquisition has been directly linked to the survival and virulence of Mtb. Salicyl-AMS (Sal-AMS) is …

Katharine Bement Davis: Defying Expectations As A Woman And In The Study Of Women, Ella Hester

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Katharine Bement Davis’ (1860-1935) life and career as a highly educated scientist and Progressive activist placed her at the forefront of various moral panic debates at the turn of the twentieth century. Davis was born into a staunch abolitionist and suffragist family in upstate New York in 1860. Her family’s politics were grounded in progressive Protestant principles which allowed her to gain access to higher education as a white woman from a middle-class family. Her education left her poised to use the latest scientific research to shape Progressive dogma in the 1910s and 1920s. Davis’ education and the groundbreaking research …

Eating People Is Might: Power And The Representation Of Anthropophagy In Antiquity, Christopher Weimer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For several decades, scholars have read cannibalism in ancient texts as an ethnographic and rhetorical strategy to marginalize, minimize, demonize, or otherwise denigrate ‘the Other.’ It is seen as a characteristic of the wild, the savage, the uncivilized, and the bestial, something one attributes only to other people. This project challenges that assertion. In situating the many varied references to eating people in ancient Greek, Near Eastern, and Roman literature within their historical and generic contexts, I provide an alternative reading of the purpose of these accusations and stories. I argue that consumption of another is a statement of power, …

Clustered Protocadherins Ubiquitination And Phosphorylation Regulates Surface Expression, Albert Ptashnik

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Clustered protocadherins (Pcdhs) are a family of 60 adhesion-like molecules forming a neural barcode. In vertebrate neurons, 60 Pcdhs are coded by a large gene cluster. Numerous axons in the cluster are coding for the different extracellular, transmembrane, variable portion of the cytoplasmic and constant cytoplasmic domains where their expression is controlled epigenetically. These proteins mediate interactions between axons, dendrites, and glial cells during neural development. Yet, Pcdhs are not strictly adhesion molecules. In the amacrine cells of the retina, Pcdhs promote avoidance of the same cell dendrites, where in the cortex Pcdhs promote interactions between dendrites and astrocytes. In …

Roles Of Environmental Services Workers’ Wages And Status In Patient Safety, David Sine, Lloyd Duplechan

Faculty and Staff Publications

Environmental services is a mission-critical function of any health care organization, contributing in key ways to patients' health, well-being, and overall care experiences. This article offers context from a risk management standpoint on the importance of recognizing, valuing, and protecting environmental services professionals' contributions to health care organizations' capacity to be fulfilling, safe places to be a patient and to care for patients.

Trauma And Effects Of Being Raised By A Parent With Bipolar I Disorder: A Theoretical Approach Utilizing Internal Family Systems, Daniella Vasquez

Dissertations

Bipolar I disorder (BD) is a somewhat rare mental health disorder that impacts not only the person diagnosed but also their family (Chang et al., 2001; Cook et al., 2005; Wearden et al., 2008). Children of parents with BD may experience complex trauma as inconsistencies in parenting, conflict within the household, and possible neglect or abuse may be present (Chang et al., 2001; Rusner et al., 2009; Wearden et al., 2008). Multiple developmental areas can be impacted for individuals who have endured complex trauma to include attachment, somatic distress, affect regulation, biology, behaviors, cognition, and identity (Cook et al., 2005; …

Novel Food Ingredients: Food Safety Law, Animal Testing, And Consumer Perspectives, Taimie Bryant

Marquette Law Review

In recent years, some major food companies have publicly stated that they will no longer test their product ingredients on animals. Yet despite the availability of more reliably predictive non-animal toxicity tests, some companies continue testing novel food ingredients on animals. This Article uses the lens of a particular innovative plant-based food company’s decision to test a novel food ingredient on animals as a means of considering more generally whether any food producer has rational legal reasons for testing on animals. The Article explores FDA requirements, consumer food safety litigation, and judicial evaluation of animal test data, all of which …

Hughes, B. S., Corrigan, M. W., Grove, D., Anintegrating Arts With Stem And Leading With Steam To Increase Science Learning With Equity For Emerging Bilingual Learners In The United States, Bradley S. Hughes, Michael W. Corrigan, Douglas Grove, Sage B. Andersen, Joseph T. Wong

Elementary & Secondary Education Faculty Research

Background: To inform STEM education for benefiting emerging bilingual (EB) and English fluent (EF) students, the present study evaluated the order effects of integrating science and arts within a large-scale, ongoing effort investigating the efficacies of Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)-aligned Science Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) methodologies to provide more equitable opportunities to students to learn science through Arts integration (STEAM). The experiment examines the curriculum integrating order of implementing combinations of STEM and STEAM approaches in fifth grade life and physical science instruction, comparing (STEM → STEAM) vs (STEAM → STEM).

Results: T tests and a three-way between-groups …

Autumn 2022, University Of Dayton

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

Students share their time in the cloud forests of Ecuador with readers, including how they've learned to cherish life's little moments. A psychology professor researches how trauma can affect out genes — and how we can build resilience in our kids. The treasures of the Marian Library are revealed as the institution nears its 80th anniversary. Plus stories on engineering, biology, athletics, business and more.

The Relationship Among Barring Pattern, Feather Growth Rates, And Age, In The Carolina Wren, David A. Cimprich

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Over-Winter Trends In Resident Downy, Hairy, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers And White-Breasted Nuthatches In A Central Wisconsin Forest, Eleonara M. Hargett, Amanda Lang, Jason Riddle

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Greetings From Your 2024 Ebba President, Ariane Giudicelli

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

The State Of Capacity Development Evaluation In Biodiversity Conservation And Natural Resource Management, Eleanor J. Sterling, Amanda Sigouin, Erin Betley, Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Jennifer N. Soloman, Kimberley Landrigan, Ana L. Porzecanski, Et. Al.

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Capacity development is critical to long-term conservation success, yet we lack a robust and rigorous understanding of how well its effects are being evaluated. A comprehensive summary of who is monitoring and evaluating capacity development interventions, what is being evaluated and how, would help in the development of evidence-based guidance to inform design and implementation decisions for future capacity development interventions and evaluations of their effectiveness. We built an evidence map by reviewing peer-reviewed and grey literature published since 2000, to identify case studies evaluating capacity development interventions in biodiversity conservation and natural resource management. We used inductive and deductive …