Digital Commons Network^™

Immunogenetic Role Of Il17a Polymorphism In The Pathogenesis Of Recurrent Miscarriage, Shafat Ali, Sabhiya Majid, Md Niamat Ali, Mujeeb Zafar Banday

Faculty and Student Publications

Interleukin-17A (IL17A) is a proinflammatory cytokine and is assumed to play an important role in fetal rejection. In order to evaluate the potential role of IL17A polymorphism in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage (RM), serum IL17A levels were estimated by ELISA. Single-nucleotide polymorphism was assessed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using gene-specific primers and the EcoNI restriction enzyme. Serum IL17A levels were nonsignificantly (p > 0.5) low in RM patients compared with the control group. IL17A gene amplification by PCR yielded the undigested product of 815 bp, and its digestion with EcoNI enzyme produced 815, 529, 286, and 270 …

Antitrypanosomal, Antitopoisomerase-I, And Cytotoxic Biological Evaluation Of Some African Plants Belonging To Crassulaceae; Chemical Profiling Of Extract Using Uhplc/Qtof-Ms/Ms, Mostafa M. Hegazy, Wael M. Afifi, Ahmed M. Metwaly, Mohamed M. Radwan

Faculty and Student Publications

In our continuous study for some African plants as a source for antitrypanosomally and cytotoxic active drugs, nine different plants belonging to the Crassulaceae family have been selected for the present study. Sedum sieboldii leaves extract showed an antitrypanosomal activity against Trypanosoma brucei with an IC50 value of 8.5 µg/mL. In addition, they have cytotoxic activities against (HCT-116), (HEPG-2) and (MCF-7), with IC50 values of 28.18 ± 0.24, 22.05 ± 0.66, and 26.47 ± 0.85 µg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the extract displayed inhibition against Topoisomerase-1 with an IC50 value of 1.31 µg/mL. It showed the highest phenolics and flavonoids content among …

Isolation And Characterization Of Flavonoid Naringenin And Evaluation Of Cytotoxic And Biological Efficacy Of Water Lilly (Nymphaea Mexicana Zucc.), Shajrath Din, Saima Hamid, Aadil Yaseen, Ali Mohd Yatoo

Faculty and Student Publications

Despite its limited exploration, Nymphaea mexicana Zucc. can be beneficial if pharmacology, isolation, and biological evaluation are given attention. It is an aquatic species that belongs to the family Nymphaeaceae. The thrust area of the work was the extraction, isolation, and biological evaluation of different extracts of the N. mexicana Zucc. plant. The primary goal of this research was to assess the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities of the extracts and to isolate the target naringenin compound. Comparative FT IR analysis of different extracts of this plant revealed the presence of functional groups of plant secondary metabolites, including polyphenols, flavonoids, …

Bioassay-Guided Fractionation With Antimalarial And Antimicrobial Activities Of Paeonia Officinalis, Mamdouh Nabil Samy, Basma Khalaf Mahmoud, Nourhan Hisham Shady, Usama Ramadan Abdelmohsen

Faculty and Student Publications

Bioassay-guided fractionation technique of roots of Paeonia officinalis led to isolation and structure elucidation of seven known compounds, including four monoterpene glycosides: lactiflorin (1), paeoniflorin (4), galloyl paeoniflorin (5), and (Z)-(1S,5R)-β-pinen-10-yl β-vicianoside (7); two phenolics: benzoic acid (2) and methyl gallate (3); and one sterol glycoside: β-sitosterol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6). The different fractions and the isolated compounds were evaluated for their antimicrobial and antimalarial activities. Fraction II and III showed antifungal activity against Candida neoformans with IC50 values of 28.11 and 74.37 µg/mL, respectively, compared with the standard fluconazole (IC50 = 4.68 µg/mL), and antibacterial potential against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IC50 = …

Cannabidiol Loaded Topical Ophthalmic Nanoemulsion Lowers Intraocular Pressure In Normotensive Dutch-Belted Rabbits, Samir Senapati, Ahmed Adel Ali Youssef, Corinne Sweeney, Chuntian Cai

Faculty and Student Publications

Cannabidiol (CBD) is the major non-psychoactive and most widely studied of the cannabinoid constituents and has great therapeutic potential in a variety of diseases. However, contradictory reports in the literature with respect to CBD’s effect on intraocular pressure (IOP) have raised concerns and halted research exploring its use in ocular therapeutics. Therefore, the current investigation aimed to further evaluate CBD’s impact on the IOP in the rabbit model. CBD nanoemulsions, containing Carbopol® 940 NF as a mucoadhesive agent (CBD-NEC), were prepared using hot-homogenization followed by probe sonication. The stability of the formulations post-moist-heat sterilization, in terms of physical and chemical …

Abcg2 Polymorphisms And Predictive Fluoroquinolone Phototoxicity In Nondomestic Felids, Alexandria E. Gochenauer, Dayna L. Dreger, Brian W. Davis, Shawna Cook

Faculty and Student Publications

Fluoroquinolones are a widely used class of chemotherapeutics within veterinary medicine, prized for their broad-spectrum bactericidal activity. These drugs present a known risk of retinal phototoxicity in domestic cats (Felis catus); therefore, using lower doses and alternative antibiotic classes is encouraged in this species. This adverse drug effect of fluoroquinolones, and enrofloxacin specifically, has been determined to be species-specific in domestic felids. Four feline-specific missense variants in ABCG2 result in four amino acid changes (E159M, S279L, H283Q, and T644I) that are unique to the domestic cat compared with multiple other nonfeline mammalian species. These changes alter the ABCG2 protein involved …

How Carbon Nanoparticles, Arbuscular Mycorrhiza, And Compost Mitigate Drought Stress In Maize Plant: A Growth And Biochemical Study, Emad A. Alsherif, Omar Almaghrabi, Ahmed M. Elazzazy, Mohamed Abdel-Mawgoud

Faculty and Student Publications

Drought negatively affects crop growth and development, so it is crucial to develop practical ways to reduce these consequences of water scarcity. The effect of the interactive potential of compost (Comp), mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and carbon nanoparticles (CNPS) on plant growth, photosynthesis rate, primary metabolism, and secondary metabolism was studied as a novel approach to mitigating drought stress in maize plants. Drought stress significantly reduced maize growth and photosynthesis and altered metabolism. Here, the combined treatments Com-AMF or Com-AMF-CNPs mitigated drought-induced reductions in fresh and dry weights. The treatments with AMF or CNPS significantly increased photosynthesis (by 10%) in comparison …

Discovery Of A Lectin Domain That Regulates Enzyme Activity In Mouse N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase-Iva (Mgat4a), Masamichi Nagae, Tetsuya Hirata, Hiroaki Tateno, Sushil K. Mishra

Faculty and Student Publications

N-Glycosylation is a common post-translational modification, and the number of GlcNAc branches in N-glycans impacts glycoprotein functions. N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase-IVa (GnT-IVa, also designated as MGAT4A) forms a β1-4 GlcNAc branch on the α1-3 mannose arm in N-glycans. Downregulation or loss of GnT-IVa causes diabetic phenotypes by dysregulating glucose transporter-2 in pancreatic β-cells. Despite the physiological importance of GnT-IVa, its structure and catalytic mechanism are poorly understood. Here, we identify the lectin domain in mouse GnT-IVa’s C-terminal region. The crystal structure of the lectin domain shows structural similarity to a bacterial GlcNAc-binding lectin. Comprehensive glycan binding assay using 157 glycans and solution NMR …

Milk-Compositional Study Of Metabolites And Pathogens In The Milk Of Bovine Animals Affected With Subclinical Mastitis, Aarif Ali, Manzoor Ur Rahman Mir, Showkat Ahmad Ganie, Saima Mushtaq

Faculty and Student Publications

Bovine milk is an important food component in the human diet due to its nutrient-rich metabolites. However, bovine subclinical mastitis alters the composition and quality of milk. In present study, California mastitis testing, somatic cell count, pH, and electrical conductivity were used as confirmatory tests to detect subclinical mastitis. The primary goal was to study metabolome and identify major pathogens in cows with subclinical mastitis. In this study, 29 metabolites were detected in milk using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Volatile acidic compounds, such as hexanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid, lauric acid, octanoic acid, n-decanoic acid, tricosanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, and hypogeic acid …

Validated Determination Of Nrg1 Ig-Like Domain Structure By Mass Spectrometry Coupled With Computational Modeling, Niloofar Abolhasani Khaje, Alexander Eletsky, Sarah E. Biehn, Charles K. Mobley

Faculty and Student Publications

High resolution hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HR-HRPF) is a mass spectrometry-based method that measures the solvent exposure of multiple amino acids in a single experiment, offering constraints for experimentally informed computational modeling. HR-HRPF-based modeling has previously been used to accurately model the structure of proteins of known structure, but the technique has never been used to determine the structure of a protein of unknown structure. Here, we present the use of HR-HRPF-based modeling to determine the structure of the Ig-like domain of NRG1, a protein with no close homolog of known structure. Independent determination of the protein structure by both …

Prescribing Trends Of Proton Pump Inhibitors, Antipsychotics And Benzodiazepines Of Medicare Part D Providers, Jennifer M. Toth, Saumil Jadhav, Holly M. Holmes, Manvi Sharma

Faculty and Student Publications

Background: Proton pump inhibitors, benzodiazepines, and antipsychotics are considered potentially inappropriate medications in older adults according to the American Geriatric Society Beers Criteria, and deprescribing algorithms have been developed to guide use of these drug classes. The objective of this study was to describe the number of beneficiaries prescribed these medications, provider specialty and regional trends in prescribing, and the aggregate costs for these claims in Medicare Part D. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study using publicly available Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Part D Prescriber data for years 2013–2019. Descriptive statistics and the Cochrane-Armitage test were used …

Utility Of Fatty Acid Profile And In Vitro Immune Cell Activation For Chemical And Biological Standardization Of Arthrospira/Limnospira, Jungmoo Huh, Jin Zhang, Radka Hauerová, Joseph Lee

Faculty and Student Publications

Commercially cultivated Limnospira (species formerly classified to genus Arthrospira) is a popular food/supplement consumed by millions of people worldwide for health benefits. The objective of the current research was to advance the standardization technology for Limnospira. Quantitative methods were established to detect fatty acids as potential chemical markers and immune-enhancing activity. Analysis of 20 different batches of biomass obtained from one commercial grower demonstrated that there was a statistically significant relationship between the sum of two fatty acids (linoleic and γ-linolenic) and Toll-like receptor (TLR)2/TLR1-dependent activation (R2 = 0.48, p = 0.0007). Investigation of 12 biomass samples sourced from growers …

Comparative Pharmacokinetics And Tissue Distribution Of Primaquine Enantiomers In Mice, Pius S. Fasinu, Narayan D. Chaurasiya, N. P. Dhammika Nanayakkara, Yan‑Hong ‑H Wang

Faculty and Student Publications

Background: Primaquine (PQ) has been used for the radical cure of relapsing Plasmodium vivax malaria for more than 60 years. PQ is also recommended for prophylaxis and prevention of transmission of Plasmodium falciparum. However, clinical utility of PQ has been limited due to toxicity in individuals with genetic deficiencies in glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD). PQ is currently approved for clinical use as a racemic mixture. Recent studies in animals as well as humans have established differential pharmacological and toxicological properties of the two enantiomers of PQ. This has been attributed to differential metabolism and pharmacokinetics of individual PQ enantiomers. The …

A Distinct Mechanism Of C-Type Inactivation In The Kv-Like Kcsa Mutant E71v, Ahmed Rohaim, Bram J. A. Vermeulen, Jing Li, Felix Kümmerer

Faculty and Student Publications

C-type inactivation is of great physiological importance in voltage-activated K+ channels (Kv), but its structural basis remains unresolved. Knowledge about C-type inactivation has been largely deduced from the bacterial K+ channel KcsA, whose selectivity filter constricts under inactivating conditions. However, the filter is highly sensitive to its molecular environment, which is different in Kv channels than in KcsA. In particular, a glutamic acid residue at position 71 along the pore helix in KcsA is substituted by a valine conserved in most Kv channels, suggesting that this side chain is a molecular determinant of function. Here, a combination of X-ray crystallography, …

Psychometric Properties Of The 26-Item Eating Attitudes Test (Eat-26): An Application Of Rasch Analysis, Natalie M. Papini, Myungjin Jung, Amanda Cook, Nanette V. Lopez, Lauren T. Ptomey, Stephen D. Herrmann, Minsoo Kang

Faculty and Student Publications

Background: The 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) is a commonly used tool to assess eating disorder risk. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the EAT-26 with a combined sample: (1) of adults with overweight and obesity enrolled in a behavioral weight loss program and (2) general adult sample (n = 469; age = 36.17 ± 17.83 years; female = 72.5%; white = 66.3%; obese BMI category = 58%). Methods: Rasch modeling was used to assess model-data fit, create an item-person map to evaluate relative distribution items and persons, item difficulty, and person’s eating disorder …

Predicting Geotechnical Parameters From Seismic Wave Velocity Using Artificial Neural Networks, Fatema Tuz Johora, Craig J. Hickey, Hakan Yasarer

Faculty and Student Publications

Geotechnical investigation plays an indispensable role in site characterization and provides necessary data for various construction projects. However, geotechnical measurements are time-consuming, point-based, and invasive. Non-destructive geophysical measurements (seismic wave velocity) can complement geotechnical measurements to save project money and time. However, correlations between geotechnical and seismic wave velocity are crucial in order to maximize the benefit of geophysical information. In this work, artificial neural networks (ANNs) models are developed to forecast geotechnical parameters from seismic wave velocity. Specifically, published seismic wave velocity, liquid limit, plastic limit, water content, and dry density from field and laboratory measurements are used to …

Reparations For The Wrongly Convicted, Gillian Trost

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Wrongly convicted persons should be offered reparations in instances where they have suffered or faced harm as a result of their wrong conviction. Harms can include, but are not limited to, losing physical time, mental health damages, monetary harm, and damages to the person’s reputation. Harms are anything that has diminished a person's quality of life throughout the conviction process and even after exoneration. Failure to offer reparations to these persons is unethical and reparations are a necessary consequence when the judicial system convicts the wrong person. Failure to offer reparations also lessens the judicial system’s accuracy and reliability when …

Supervised Acoustic Embeddings And Their Transferability Across Languages, Sreepratha Ram, Hanan Aldarmaki

Natural Language Processing Faculty Publications

In speech recognition, it is essential to model the phonetic content of the input signal while discarding irrelevant factors such as speaker variations and noise, which is challenging in low-resource settings. Self-supervised pretraining has been proposed as a way to improve both supervised and unsupervised speech recognition, including frame-level feature representations and Acoustic Word Embeddings (AWE) for variable-length segments. However, self-supervised models alone cannot learn perfect separation of the linguistic content as they are trained to optimize indirect objectives. In this work, we experiment with different pre-trained self-supervised features as input to AWE models and show that they work best …

Criminal Justice Update - December 2022, Patrick Mahoney

Criminal Justice Updates

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.

Contents:

• Updates from PA Governor's Office (no updates this month)

• Updates from the PA Legislature (no updates this month)

• Updates from the Courts

  • U.S. Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)

  • PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure (no updates this month)

  • PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure

Msw Capstone, Angela Marple

Social Work Masters Capstone Projects

abstract not available

(R1885) Analytical And Numerical Solutions Of A Fractional-Order Mathematical Model Of Tumor Growth For Variable Killing Rate, N. Singha, C. Nahak

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This work intends to analyze the dynamics of the most aggressive form of brain tumor, glioblastomas, by following a fractional calculus approach. In describing memory preserving models, the non-local fractional derivatives not only deliver enhanced results but also acknowledge new avenues to be further explored. We suggest a mathematical model of fractional-order Burgess equation for new research perspectives of gliomas, which shall be interesting for biomedical and mathematical researchers. We replace the classical derivative with a non-integer derivative and attempt to retrieve the classical solution as a particular case. The prime motive is to acquire both analytical and numerical solutions …

(R1899) Asymptotic Normality Of The Conditional Hazard Function In The Local Linear Estimation Under Functional Mixing Data, Amina Goutal, Boubaker Mechab, Omar Fetitah, Torkia Merouan

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this study, we are interested in using the local linear technique to estimate the conditional hazard function for functional dependent data where the scalar response is conditioned by a functional random variable. The asymptotic normality of this constructed estimator is demonstrated under some extreme conditions. Our estimator’s performance is demonstrated through simulations.

(R1894) Invariant Solution For Two-Dimensional And Axisymmetric Jet Of Power-Law Fluids, Bhavixa Bhagat, M. G. Timol

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

An invariant solution is derived using the Lie symmetry technique for steady laminar two-dimensional and axisymmetric boundary layer jet flow of incompressible power-law fluids with appropriate boundary conditions. Using symmetry, the nonlinear partial differential equation of the jet flow problem is transformed into a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. The resultant nonlinear ordinary differential equation with boundary conditions is converted to an initial value problem using the Lie symmetry technique. A numerical solution for the resulting initial value problem is derived using Fehlberg’s fourth-fifth order Runge-Kutta method through Maple software. The graphical representation of the characteristics of the velocity field for …

(R1500) Type-I Generalized Spherical Interval Valued Fuzzy Soft Sets In Medical Diagnosis For Decision Making, M. Palanikumar, K. Arulmozhi

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In the present communication, we introduce the concept of Type-I generalized spherical interval valued fuzzy soft set and define some operations. It is a generalization of the interval valued fuzzy soft set and the spherical fuzzy soft set. The spherical interval valued fuzzy soft set theory satisfies the condition that the sum of its degrees of positive, neutral, and negative membership does not exceed unity and that these parameters are assigned independently. We also propose an algorithm to solve the decision making problem based on a Type-I generalized soft set model. We introduce a similarity measure based on the Type-I …

(R1964) Solving Multi-Objective Linear Fractional Programming Problems Via Zero-Sum Game, Gizem Temelcan, Inci Albayrak, Mustafa Sivri

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This study presents a hybrid algorithm consisting of game theory and the first order Taylor series approach to find compromise solutions to multi-objective linear fractional programming (MOLFP) problems. The proposed algorithm consists of three phases including different techniques: in the first phase, the optimal solution to each LFP problem is found using the simplex method; in the second phase, a zero-sum game is solved to determine the weights of the objective functions via the ratio matrix obtained from a payoff matrix; in the last phase, fractional objective functions of the MOLFP problem are linearized using the 1st order Taylor series. …

(R1971) Analysis Of Feedback Queueing Model With Differentiated Vacations Under Classical Retrial Policy, Poonam Gupta, Naveen Kumar, Rajni Gupta

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper analyzes an M/M/1 retrial queue under differentiated vacations and Bernoulli feedback policy. On receiving the service, if the customer is not satisfied, then he may join the retrial group again with some probability and demand for service or may leave the system with the complementary probability. Using the probability generating functions technique, the steady-state solutions of the system are obtained. Furthermore, we have obtained some of the important performance measures such as expected orbit length, expected length of the system, sojourn times and probability of server being in different states. Using MATLAB software, we have represented the graphical …

(R1984) Analysis Of M^[X1], M^[X2]/G1, G_2^(A,B)/1 Queue With Priority Services, Server Breakdown, Repair, Modified Bernoulli Vacation, Immediate Feedback, G. Ayyappan, S. Nithya, B. Somasundaram

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this investigation, the steady state analysis of two individualistic batch arrival queues with immediate feedback, modified Bernoulli vacation and server breakdown are introduced. Two different categories of customers like priority and ordinary are to be considered. This model propose nonpreemptive priority discipline. Ordinary and priority customers arrive as per Poisson processes. The server consistently afford single service for priority customers and the general bulk service for the ordinary customers and the service follows general distribution. The ordinary customers to be served only if the batch size should be greater than or equal to "a", else the server should not …

(R2024) A New Weighted Poisson Distribution For Over- And Under-Dispersion Situations, Michel Koukouatikissa Diafouka, Gelin Chedly Louzayadio, Rodnellin Onéime Malouata

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we propose a four-parameter weighted Poisson distribution that includes and generalizes the weighted Poisson distribution proposed by Castillo and Pérez-Casany and the Conway- Maxwell-Poisson distribution, as well as other well-known distributions. It is a distribution that is a member of the exponential family and is an exponential combination formulation between the weighted Poisson distribution proposed by Castillo and Pérez-Casany and the Conway-Maxwell- Poisson distribution. This new distribution with an additional parameter of dispersion is more flexible, and the Fisher dispersion index can be greater than, equal to, or less than one. This last property allows it to …

Around The World In Two Days: Walt Disney's Epcot Center And The World's Fair Tradition, Annie Davis

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

This work views the performative and consumerist traditions of the World's Fair and how Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center was essentially created to exist as a "permanent World's Fair" in theme park form. From viewing the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair alongside Epcot Center (1982) the similarities in the visitor experience are analyzed. Walt Disney's presence at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair seems to work as testing grounds for ideas with lower stakes than presenting permanent attractions, some of which would later be moved to the parks. Epcot Center offered …

Interview With Paola García, Crystal Tejada-Breton

Immigrant Leaders

An interview with Paola García, an immigrant leader from Make the Road New Jersey. The interview covers life before immigrating, arrival and integration, and political participation.