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The Quest For Influence: Examining Russia's Public Diplomacy Mechanisms In Africa, Isaac Antwiboasiako

Articles

This article examines Russian public diplomacy mechanisms in Africa. These include the intentional use of historical ties, various aid programmes in education and health, the targeted use of international broadcasting and digital media, and the exploitation of anti-Western sentiments on the continent. Russia employs these to win the hearts and minds of African publics for its national interest. The article first explores Moscow’s public diplomacy in general and analyses the challenges Russia faces in Africa, which has become a ‘dumping ground’ for public diplomacy campaigns by the US, the EU and its members, the UK, and China. The article argues …

Lipid-Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery Of Docetaxel Prodrug For Exploiting Full Potential Of Gold Nanoparticles In The Treatment Of Pancreatic Cancer, Abdulaziz Alhussan, Nolan Jackson, Sarah Eaton, Nancy Dos Santos, Ingrid Barta, Josh Zaifman, Sam Chen, Yuen Yi C Tam, Sunil Krishnan, Devika B Chithrani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Current chemoradiation therapy suffers from normal tissue toxicity. Thus, we are proposing incorporating gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and docetaxel (DTX), as they have shown very promising synergetic radiosensitization effects. Here, we explored the effect of a DTX prodrug encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNP_DTX-P) on GNP uptake in pancreatic cancer models in vitro and in vivo. For the in vitro experiment, a pancreatic cancer cell line, MIA PaCa-2, was cultured and dosed with 1 nM GNPs and 45 nM free DTX or an equivalent dose of LNP_DTX-P. For the in vivo experiment, MIA PaCa-2 cells were implanted subcutaneously …

Condensates Formed By Prion-Like Low-Complexity Domains Have Small-World Network Structures And Interfaces Defined By Expanded Conformations, Mina Farag, Samuel R Cohen, Wade M Borcherds, Anne Bremer, Tanja Mittag, Rohit V Pappu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Biomolecular condensates form via coupled associative and segregative phase transitions of multivalent associative macromolecules. Phase separation coupled to percolation is one example of such transitions. Here, we characterize molecular and mesoscale structural descriptions of condensates formed by intrinsically disordered prion-like low complexity domains (PLCDs). These systems conform to sticker-and-spacers architectures. Stickers are cohesive motifs that drive associative interactions through reversible crosslinking and spacers affect the cooperativity of crosslinking and overall macromolecular solubility. Our computations reproduce experimentally measured sequence-specific phase behaviors of PLCDs. Within simulated condensates, networks of reversible inter-sticker crosslinks organize PLCDs into small-world topologies. The overall dimensions of PLCDs …

Sugar Freed, Sarah Gaygen

Theses

Sugar Freed is a 2D digitally animated short film about a little girl named Molly, who gets fed up with her mother, a dentist, and ends up in a candy world ruled by evil gummy bears. Sugar Freed’s message evolved over time from a simple warning against sugar, to a child gaining an understanding of why her mother’s lessons are necessary, stemming from parts of my own childhood. The purpose of this film was to see if I could find the right balance between time management and quality control to produce an animated short that was well over four-minutes long, …

Supporting Reading Experiences For Children, Tina H. Hahn

University of Mississippi News

No abstract provided.

Diverse College Students' Cultural Background And College Persistence, Kerrie Devries, Jonathan Santo, Juan Casas

Psychology Faculty Publications

Tinto (1975) created a college persistence model, emphasizing institutional academic and social integration, that continues to guide U.S. university retention strategies. This longitudinal study followed 584 college Freshman from diverse backgrounds, testing for group differences in the relationship that Tinto’s key constructs have on college persistence, over time, for U.S.-White, U.S.-minority, and immigrant-origin groups. We found significant positive associations between Academic Integration and Intentions to Persist for all ethnic groups, but group differences in Social Integration and Intentions to Persist. Additionally, Intentions to Persist was a significant predictor of actual persistence for all groups, suggesting predictive power overall.

Parametric Structural Optimization Of A Wheel Using The Flex Representation Method, Gregory John Vernon

Theses and Dissertations

The use of the finite element method within an optimization workflow is fraught with challenges that limit the automation of such workflows. These challenges are inherent to the traditional finite element formulations which are heavily dependent on a manual meshing process that introduces variability that is challenging to account for within an automated workflow. The recently developed flex representation method (FRM) provides a salient solution to the manual meshing process without sacrificing solution accuracy. In response to the development of FRM a global automotive company requested a study to explore the applicability of FRM to one of their sizing-optimization problems: …

Methemoglobin Formation Via Nitric Oxide And Comparison Of Methemoglobin, Deoxyhemoglobin, And Ferrous Nitrosyl Hemoglobin As Potential Mri Contrast Agents, Roya Ayati

Theses and Dissertations

Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are in widespread use to enhance magnetic resonance angiography images for evaluating vascular pathology. However, there are safety concerns and limitations regarding the use of GBCAs. It has been shown that the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity (T1-weighted images) in some of the brain's tissues is higher for patients who had multiple exposures to GBCAs compared to patients who had never had exposure to GBCAs. This implies that GBCAs are not sufficiently removed from body such that GBCAs may potentially have long-term effects on the human body. These potential safety concerns have led to an …

Evaluating Equitable Access To Nutrition In Utah, Emma Stucki

Theses and Dissertations

One of the more recent topics in transportation policy making and project prioritization in DOT's across the United States is how to improve quality of life. This quality of life focus is an intersection of public health and transportation and has many different branches including traffic safety, pollution, active transportation, equity, and accessibility to resources. The topic among these that seems to receive the least attention is equitable access to resources. However, with the proven impact that equitable access to resources has on physical and emotional well-being, as well as economic opportunity it is important to ensure that all populations, …

Mothers Of Disabled Children Faced Numerous Challenges During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amy Lutz, Sujung (Crystal) Lee, Baurzhan Bokayev

Population Health Research Brief Series

The COVID-19 pandemic changed life dramatically for most families, but particularly for families with a disabled child. Mothers of disabled children faced increased difficulties during the early months of COVID-19 compared to other families. Reduction in services, school closures, and managing paid work drastically impacted caregivers’ mental health. This brief summarizes results from a recent study on the challenges mothers of disabled children faced during the COVID-19 pandemic during the Spring of 2020 in Central New York.

Tackling The Challenge, Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Comparison Between Supervised And Unsupervised Learning For Autonomous Delamination Detection Using Impact Echo, Faezeh Jafari, Sattar Dorafshan

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Impact echo (IE) is a non-destructive evaluation method commonly used to detect subsurface delamination in reinforced concrete bridge decks. Existing analysis methods are based on frequency domain which can lead to inaccurate assessments of reinforced concrete bridge decks since they do not consider features of the IE signals in the time domain. The authors propose a new method for IE classification by combining features in the time and the frequency domains. The features used in this study included normalized peak values, energy, power, time of peaks, and signal lengths that were extracted from IE signals after they are preprocessed. We …

Pum1 Mediates The Posttranscriptional Regulation Of Human Fetal Hemoglobin, Yuncheng Man, Amma Owusu-Ansah, Omar Y. Mian, Umut A. Gurkan, Anton A. Komar, Merlin Nithya Gnanapragasam

Faculty Scholarship

The fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switching at about the time of birth involves a shift in expression from γ-globin to β-globin in erythroid cells. Effective re-expression of fetal γ-globin can ameliorate sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. Despite the physiological and clinical relevance of this switch, its posttranscriptional regulation is poorly understood. Here, we identify Pumilo 1 (PUM1), an RNA-binding protein with no previously reported functions in erythropoiesis, as a direct posttranscriptional regulator of β-globin switching. PUM1, whose expression is regulated by the erythroid master transcription factor erythroid Krüppel-like factor (EKLF/KLF1), peaks during erythroid differentiation, binds γ-globin messenger RNA (mRNA), and reduces γ-globin …

Fracture Toughness Of Electrospun Fibrous Mats, Annabella Mascot

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Independent Study

Fiber reinforced composite hydrogels have become a popular material used in tissue engineering in recent years due to their robust nature under tension and biocompatibility qualities [1]. However, little is known of the fracture mechanics of the fiber reinforcements themselves (which are typically created of Electrospun materials, a process in which a high voltage differential is applied to a polymer solution, creating a jet of nanofibers that collect into a mat- like material) [2]. This study provides ana analysis of the fracture toughness of two Electrospun materials: one created from a 100 bloom strength gelatin solution, and one created from …

The Fall Of The Pakatan Harapan (Ph): Contesting Nationalism In Malaysia, Cheng Kidd Sun

Honors Theses

The collapse of the 22 months-old Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition-government in 2020 was the ultimate manifestation of contestations over nationalism that have continued in Malaysia since the nation’s inception more than six decades ago. The “middle ground” platform — a political moderation strategy to win across ethnic lines to obtain multiethnic support — that helped the PH coalition to win the 14th Malaysian General Election was shattered due to identity tensions. The current political discourse has persistently insisted that the betrayal of politicians and political parties, along with economic insecurity and media fragmentation, had contributed to the downfall of this …

The Dangers Of Nyc Non-Union Construction Work, Laura T. Bratton

Capstones

Just last week, two construction workers were killed in the span of a few days on sites in the Bronx and Brooklyn.

According to data from the Laborers International Union of North America, there were 19 construction worker deaths in New York City this year - bringing the catastrophic number back up to its pre-pandemic levels.

New York State’s Department of Labor finds that at least 15 of this year’s deaths occurred on non-union sites. According to a recent report by the New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), construction workers made up 19% of worker deaths but …

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Side-Channel Attacks And Countermeasures For The Mk-3 Authenticated Encryption Scheme, Peter Fabinski

Theses

In the field of cryptography, the focus is often placed on security in a mathematical or information-theoretic sense; for example, cipher security is typically evaluated by the difficulty of deducing the plaintext from the ciphertext without knowledge of the key. However, once these cryptographic schemes are implemented in electronic devices, another class of attack presents itself. Side-channel attacks take advantage of the side effects of performing a computation, such as power consumption or electromagnetic emissions, to extract information outside of normal means. In particular, these side-channels can reveal parts of the internal state of a computation. This is important because …

Effect Of Plasma Treatment On Soil Degradation Of A Biodegradable Mulch Film, Swapnil Bhattacharya

Theses

Biodegradable Mulch Films (BMFs) offer a sustainable alternative to traditional non-degradable PE mulch films. However, their slow rate of biodegradation can lead to plastics accumulation in the soil. In this study, a commercially available BMF based on polybutylene adipate co-terephthalate (PBAT) and polylactic acid (PLA) is examined. Here the effects of gliding arc plasma treatment on the bulk and surface properties, as well as its soil degradation behavior, is studied. An increase in surface oxygen containing species and hydrophilicity was observed following plasma treatment. Only a small hydrophobic recovery was noted over 30 days. No changes in the bulk polymer …

Emission Factors And Evolution Of So2 Measured From Biomass Burning In Wild And Agricultural Fires, Pamela S. Rickly, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Glenn M. Wolfe, Ryan Bennett, Ilann Bourgeois, John D. Crounse, Jack E. Dibb, Joshua P. Digangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Maximilian Dollner, Emily M. Gargulinski, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah S. Halliday, Thomas F. Hanisco, Reem A. Hannun, Jin Liao, Richard Moore, Benjamin A. Nault, John B. Nowak, Jeff Peischl, Claire E. Robinson, Thomas Ryerson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Manuel Schöberl, Amber J. Soja, Jason M. St. Clair, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Kirk Ullmann, Paul O. Wennberg, Bernadett Weinzierl, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, Andrew W. Rollins

Faculty Publications

Fires emit sufficient sulfur to affect local and regional air quality and climate. This study analyzes SO2 emission factors and variability in smoke plumes from US wildfires and agricultural fires, as well as their relationship to sulfate and hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) formation. Observed SO2 emission factors for various fuel types show good agreement with the latest reviews of biomass burning emission factors, producing an emission factor range of 0.47–1.2 g SO2 kg−1 C. These emission factors vary with geographic location in a way that suggests that deposition of coal burning emissions and application of sulfur-containing fertilizers likely play a role in …

The Flex Representation Method: Versatile Modeling For Isogeometric Analysis, Christopher David Whetten

Theses and Dissertations

The Flex Representation Method (FRM) leverages unique computational advantages of splines to address limitations in the process of building CAE simulation models from CAD geometric models. Central to the approach is the envelope CAD domain that encapsulates a CAD model. An envelope CAD domain can be of arbitrary topological and geometric complexity. Envelope domains are constructed from spline representations, like U-splines, that are analysis-suitable. The envelope CAD domain can be used to approximate none, some, or all of the features in a CAD model. This yields additional simulation modeling options that simplify the model-building process while leveraging the properties of …

Fairness And Privacy In Machine Learning Algorithms, Neha Bhargava

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

Roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is generated daily in this digital era. Manual processing of such huge amounts of data to extract useful information is nearly impossible but with the widespread use of machine learning algorithms and their ability to process enormous data in a fast, cost-effective, and scalable way has proven to be a preferred choice to glean useful insights and solve business problems in many domains. With this widespread use of machine learning algorithms there has always been concerns about the ethical issues that may arise from the use of this modern technology. While achieving high accuracies, …

Airbnb Strategic Audit, Payton Hanson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Airbnb is the global leader in online vacation rental marketplaces. The company works as an intermediary to connect travelers to property hosts for short-term stays. This strategic audit serves to evaluate the company’s internal and external environment, its recent financial performance, and its current strategy to understand its sustainable competitive advantages in the Bed and Breakfast and Hostel Accommodations industry and as a substitute to traditional hotels. This evaluation is conducted using the Porter’s Five Forces and PESTE analyses. Using the information from these tools, strategic recommendations are given for Airbnb.

A Computational Method For Estimating Trunk Muscle Activations During Gait Using Lower Extremity Muscle Synergies, Geng Li, Di Ao, Marleny M Vega, Mohammad S Shourijeh, Payam Zandiyeh, Shuo-Hsiu Chang, Valerae O Lewis, Nicholas J Dunbar, Ata Babazadeh-Naseri, Andrew J Baines, Benjamin J Fregly

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

One of the surgical treatments for pelvic sarcoma is the restoration of hip function with a custom pelvic prosthesis after cancerous tumor removal. The orthopedic oncologist and orthopedic implant company must make numerous often subjective decisions regarding the design of the pelvic surgery and custom pelvic prosthesis. Using personalized musculoskeletal computer models to predict post-surgery walking function and custom pelvic prosthesis loading is an emerging method for making surgical and custom prosthesis design decisions in a more objective manner. Such predictions would necessitate the estimation of forces generated by muscles spanning the lower trunk and all joints of the lower …

Editorial: Innovative Teaching Approaches, Christina Gitsaki

All Works

No abstract provided.

Newsroom, Georgia Southern University

Newsroom (2006-2023)

• A Graduate of Firsts: Honors College Double Major and Navy Intelligence Analyst Emma Williams Crosses New Frontiers
• ‘Instead of Retiring, I’m Refiring,’ Says Public Health Advocate Who Earns Georgia Southern Doctoral Degree this Week
• From Georgia Southern to Aerojet Rocketdyne: December Graduate Finds Her Wings
• Georgia Southern Graduate Finds Career at Top Cybersecurity Consulting Firm
• Aspiring Lawyer Becomes Georgia Southern Graduate at 17
• ‘It’s Like Something from a Movie’ for a Pair of Graduating Eagle Singers

Afghan Refugees Engagement Journalism, Angrej Singh

Capstones

My community of focus is Afghan refugees who came to the U.S. after Aug. 15, 2021. Since mid-Aug. of 2021, nearly 76,000 Afghan refugees came to the U.S. after living across eight U.S. military bases for a few months — with the help of resettlement agencies — they have resettled to 48 states in which they are starting to rebuild their lives. During the uncertainty of their legal status, multiple Afghan led organizations have been calling on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act. This legislation would create a pathway for permanent status to the thousands that were granted entry …

Scientists And Activists Work To Save The Planet, Myriam G. Vidal Valero

Capstones

Climate change and human intervention in nature are affecting people, ecosystems and ways of living all over the world. This portfolio of environmental pieces showcases the dire consequences of not addressing these issues, how solutions can be reached and the challenges facing those who try to change things.

More Muslim, Salman Ahad Khan

Capstones

More Muslim is a show that explores the Muslim experience, with all its messiness.

Each episode is a narrative, transhistorical journey into one aspect of the Muslim experience that defined or is being defined by the modern world. This capstone forms the first two episodes of the series. Episode 1, "When Memes Meet Sufis," explores the question of how Rumi, a Muslim scholar from the 13th century, became the best-selling poet in the US. Episode 2, "The Halal Meat Conundrum," is a firsthand journey into the American halal meat industry and attempts to understand how halal became a $20 billion …

The Effectiveness Of Project-Based Learning On Emirati Undergraduate Students In A Microbiology Course, Carole Ayoub Moubareck

All Works

Purpose: A composting project was introduced into an undergraduate microbiology course, to evaluate its efficacy against traditional lecturing for teaching environmental sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The research project was a semester-long intervention. Three groups of students participated in the study: a group of 47 female undergraduate students were involved in a composting project, a group of 43 female students were exposed to a traditional lecture and a group of 34 students were the control group. A pretest and a posttest were used, along with poster presentations for the composting project students. In addition, a questionnaire was used to examine students' attitudes toward …

Computer Clinical Decision Support That Automates Personalized Clinical Care: A Challenging But Needed Healthcare Delivery Strategy, Alan H Morris, Christopher Horvat, Brian Stagg, David W Grainger, Michael Lanspa, James Orme, Terry P Clemmer, Lindell K Weaver, Frank O Thomas, Colin K Grissom, Ellie Hirshberg, Thomas D East, Carrie Jane Wallace, Michael P Young, Dean F Sittig, Mary Suchyta, James E Pearl, Antinio Pesenti, Michela Bombino, Eduardo Beck, Katherine A Sward, Charlene Weir, Shobha Phansalkar, Gordon R Bernard, B Taylor Thompson, Roy Brower, Jonathon Truwit, Jay Steingrub, R Duncan Hiten, Douglas F Willson, Jerry J Zimmerman, Vinay Nadkarni, Adrienne G Randolph, Martha A Q Curley, Christopher J L Newth, Jacques Lacroix, Michael S D Agus, Kang Hoe Lee, Bennett P Deboisblanc, Frederick Alan Moore, R Scott Evans, Dean K Sorenson, Anthony Wong, Michael V Boland, Willard H Dere, Alan Crandall, Julio Facelli, Stanley M Huff, Peter J Haug, Ulrike Pielmeier, Stephen E Rees, Dan S Karbing, Steen Andreassen, Eddy Fan, Roberta M Goldring, Kenneth I Berger, Beno W Oppenheimer, E Wesley Ely, Brian W Pickering, David A Schoenfeld, Irena Tocino, Russell S Gonnering, Peter J Pronovost, Lucy A Savitz, Didier Dreyfuss, Arthur S Slutsky, James D Crapo, Michael R Pinsky, Brent James, Donald M Berwick

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

How to deliver best care in various clinical settings remains a vexing problem. All pertinent healthcare-related questions have not, cannot, and will not be addressable with costly time- and resource-consuming controlled clinical trials. At present, evidence-based guidelines can address only a small fraction of the types of care that clinicians deliver. Furthermore, underserved areas rarely can access state-of-the-art evidence-based guidelines in real-time, and often lack the wherewithal to implement advanced guidelines. Care providers in such settings frequently do not have sufficient training to undertake advanced guideline implementation. Nevertheless, in advanced modern healthcare delivery environments, use of eActions (validated clinical decision …