Digital Commons Network^™

Subventricular Zone Cytogenesis Provides Trophic Support For Neural Repair In A Mouse Model Of Stroke, Michael R Williamson, Stephanie P Le, Ronald L Franzen, Nicole A Donlan, Jill L Rosow, Mathilda S Nicot-Cartsonis, Alexis Cervantes, Benjamin Deneen, Andrew K Dunn, Theresa A Jones, Michael R Drew

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Stroke enhances proliferation of neural precursor cells within the subventricular zone (SVZ) and induces ectopic migration of newborn cells towards the site of injury. Here, we characterize the identity of cells arising from the SVZ after stroke and uncover a mechanism through which they facilitate neural repair and functional recovery. With genetic lineage tracing, we show that SVZ-derived cells that migrate towards cortical photothrombotic stroke in mice are predominantly undifferentiated precursors. We find that ablation of neural precursor cells or conditional knockout of VEGF impairs neuronal and vascular reparative responses and worsens recovery. Replacement of VEGF is sufficient to induce …

Investigating The Influence Of Assessment Question Framing On Undergraduate Biology Student Preference And Affect, Jeremy L. Hsu, Noelle Clark, Kate Hill, Melissa Rowland-Goldsmith

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Nearly all undergraduate biology courses rely on quizzes and exams. Despite their prevalence, very little work has been done to explore how the framing of assessment questions may influence student performance and affect. Here, we conduct a quasi-random experimental study where students in different sections of the same course were given isomorphic questions that varied in their framing of experimental scenarios. One section was provided a description using the self-referential term “you”, placing the student in the experiment; another section received the same scenario that used classmate names; while a third section's scenario integrated counterstereotypical scientist names. Our results demonstrate …

Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Disrupt Development And Function Of The Olfactory Sensory System Impairing Olfaction-Mediated Behaviour In Zebrafish, Aya Takesono, Sylvia Dimitriadou, Nathaniel J. Clark, Richard D. Handy, Sulayman Mourabit, Matthew J. Winter, Tetsuhiro Kudoh, Charles R. Tyler

School of Health Professions

Zinc (Zn) is an essential metal present in numerous enzymes throughout the body, playing a vital role in animal and human health. However, the increasing use of zinc oxide nanomaterials (ZnONPs) in a diverse range of products has raised concerns regarding their potential impacts on health and the environment. Despite these concerns, the toxicity of ZnONP exposure on animal health remain poorly understood. To help address this knowledge gap, we have developed a highly sensitive oxidative stress (OS) biosensor zebrafish capable of detecting cell/tissue-specific OS responses to low doses of various oxidative stressors, including Zn, in a live fish embryo. …

Hirschsprung Disease: A Literacy Analysis Of Patient Information, April L. Baum, Anh Nguyen, Michael J. Valentine, Larissa Vollin, Caleb Mcnab, Carol E. Kirila

Faculty and Staff Publications

Objective: Hirschsprung disease in newborns can be a potentially life-threatening condition, with risks for complications such as Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis. Accessing health information in a readable format for complex diseases demonstrates an important outlet for families to address concerns. While it is important to seek out information from trusted providers, many individuals seek out ways to educate themselves further by using common search engines and turning to the internet. This article will evaluate the readability of relevant articles on Hirschsprung disease and information accessibility to the average health literacy individual.

Methods: A readability analysis of the first 20 Google search results …

Novel Treatments For Pxe: Targeting The Systemic And Local Drivers Of Ectopic Calcification, Ida Joely Jacobs, Qiaoli Li

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a heritable multisystem ectopic calcification disorder. The gene responsible for PXE, ABCC6, encodes ABCC6, a hepatic efflux transporter regulating extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a potent endogenous calcification inhibitor. Recent studies demonstrated that in addition to the deficiency of plasma PPi, the activated DDR/PARP signaling in calcified tissues provides an additional possible mechanism of ectopic calcification in PXE. This study examined the effects of etidronate (ETD), a stable PPi analog, and its combination with minocycline (Mino), a potent inhibitor of DDR/PARP, on ectopic calcification in an Abcc6-/- mouse model of PXE. Abcc6-/- mice, at 4 weeks of …

Paired Liver:Plasma Pfas Concentration Ratios From Adolescents In The Teen-Labs Study And Derivation Of Empirical And Mass Balance Models To Predict And Explain Liver Pfas Accumulationn, Brittney O Baumert, Fabian C Fischer, Flemming Nielsen, Philippe Grandjean, Scott Bartell, Nikos Stratakis, Douglas I Walker, Damaskini Valvi, Rohit Kohli, Thomas Inge, Justin Ryder, Todd Jenkins, Stephanie Sisley, Stavra Xanthakos, Sarah Rock, Michele A La Merrill, David Conti, Rob Mcconnell, Lida Chatzi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Animal studies have pointed at the liver as a hotspot for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) accumulation and toxicity, however, these findings have not been replicated in human populations. We measured concentrations of seven PFAS in matched liver and plasma samples collected at the time of bariatric surgery from 64 adolescents in the Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) study. Liver:plasma concentrations ratios were perfectly explained (r2 > 0.99) in a multi-linear regression (MLR) model based on toxicokinetic (TK) descriptors consisting of binding to tissue constituents and membrane permeabilities. Of the seven matched plasma and liver PFAS concentrations compared in this …

Bergson’S Environment: Towards An Ecological Understanding, Lucas Aguirre

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper draws on the thinking of the French philosopher and biologist Henri Bergson, and attempts an understanding of the environment while considering Bergson’s metaphysics. Why is it that the bulk of the discussion concerning environmental problems takes place within a narrow framework that has difficulty recognizing the intrinsic value of nature? In this paper I try and explain Bergson’s description of the ways that consciousness seeks to know the world around it, and conclude that modern thought fails to recognize the sensual, sympathetic nature of experience. Only through understanding the ecology of our own thoughts can we hope to …

Embodied Art: A Merleau-Pontian Improvisation Of Being In Theater, Katharine Henshaw

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, in Eye & Mind, lyrically links vision and painting as modes of embodying Being. He powerfully argues that humans are bodies (rather than minds in bodies, or minds and bodies) and that vision is the primary mode of our embodied engagement with the world. He suggests that in painting, the artist re-embodies in paint on canvas that which has been first embodied in the artist’s body though his or her sight. This paper suggests that an alternate art form, theater, provides a richer physical arena for the re-embodiment of Being. In live performance, actors, singers, and dancers offer …

A Critique Of Modern Agriculture And Its Effect On Personhood, Chelsea Richardson

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper outlines ways in which the alienated labor conditions of capitalism and certain technological applications in industrial agriculture contribute to the diminishing of one’s personhood through the production and consumption of industrial food. Personhood is defined as a person’s capacity to produce and consume food. The works of Karl Marx and Albert Borgmann are instrumental to the conclusions of this essay. Ultimately, the combination of Marx’s and Borgmann’s theories allow me to argue that a diminished form of personhood is the consequence of a food practice which encompasses the production and consumption of food using industrial agriculture.

Unsaying Non-Knowledge: Georges Bataille And The Mysticism Of Writing, Ben Brewer

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Georges Bataille’s writing seems to teethe with something utterly foreign to the discipline of philosophy. In this paper, I investigate what Jason Wirth calls’ Bataille’s “mad game of writing” in order to show that Bataille’s bizarre writing style is actually an extension of his ethical and philosophical commitments. Bataille’s writing attempts to produce a state within the reader rather than simply transmit information. I trace the justifications and roots for such a writing from his own system, as well as showing how such a style of writing has its roots in Kantian aesthetics and in Hegel’s Phenomenology.

Idealism And Pragmatism: “Transcendent” Validity Claims In Habermas’S Democratic Theory, Richard Van Barriger

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

In her recent article “Realism and Idealism: Was Habermas’s Communicative Turn a Move in the Wrong Direction?” Maeve Cooke examines the evolution of Jürgen Habermas’s thought over the past five decades. According to Cooke, Habermas’s so-called “communicative turn” was a necessary step in his philosophy’s systematic attempt to derive a universal norm from the immanent context of human practices and institutions. In her opinion, however, Habermas is unable to uphold his pragmatically-based claim to “transcendence from within” without encountering problems of epistemic justification when it comes to his theory’s treatment of normative validity claims. Cooke believes that despite Habermas’ exhaustive …

The Problem Of The Criterion & Sosa’S Virtue Epistemology, Aaron Flaster

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The Problem of the Criterion arises from two plausible intuitions: first, belief sources (such as testimony and perception) should be reliable. Second, a person should be justified in believing that the source is reliable before it can produce justified beliefs. The problem is that these intuitions create a vicious circularity and lead to skepticism. The circularity arises from the priority relation between justified beliefs about a source and justified beliefs produced by a source. Oftentimes, the only way to have justified beliefs about the reliability of a source is to use that very source. For instance, the only way to …

Possible Problems With Four-Dimensionalism And A Possible Solution, Aaron Arinder

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Mark Heller, in “Temporal Parts of Four-Dimensional Objects,” argues for an ontology of objects with four dimensions. He thinks that by arguing for an ontology that incorporates the temporal dimension he is able to deny some distasteful propositions that the proponent of a three-dimensional ontology must choose between to avoid contradicting themselves as they attempt to develop an account of how objects are able to persist, as the same objects, through change. This is a view that I find attractive, but with some reservation. This paper will explain Heller’s fourth-dimensionalism by looking at an argument he brings up against three-dimensionalism. …

The Self-Alienation Of Nature: An Anti-Teleological Environmental Ethic, Thomas P. Reagan

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Understanding Nature itself is an essential component of developing an environmental ethic. However, many of the ‘positive ethics’ (i.e. ethics based on aesthetics, biophila, teleology) lack the critical observation that Nature does not act kindly or attempt to preserve an organism’s life and well being, but rather, statistically, operates by continually ending life. This paper develops from this notion that biological concepts such as symbiogenesis and biotic potentials point towards an environmental ethic founded upon aligning with Nature’s process of turning against itself. This paper claims that humans, being within Nature ontologically yet separated experientially, are alienated from the ideal …

Memory, The Self And Why We Are Conscious (Or Alternatively: Why We Don’T Do Consciousness), Sebastian Orlander

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper aims at examining a new assessment of a foundational paradigm for conducting science within the fields of neurology and its corresponding philosophy of mind. The main view examined is that of Alva Noë, professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley, and the view he forwards in his book Out of Our Heads. His main thesis rests on a critique of current scientific methodology and the foundational paradigm of functionalism, which he counters with a view from a more radical examination of what consciousness is in terms of living beings in their environments and the processes that animate these living …

Like Water In Water: The Nihilism Of “Why,” The Immanence Of “Because”, Ben Brewer

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

The work of Georges Bataille occupies an appropriately paradoxical place in the history of philosophy. Though he was decades ahead of his time, Bataille’s main focus was in a tradition that long been out of favor—mysticism. Though he claimed to be an atheist, he talked often of God. In this paper, I examine the ways in which Bataille’s system of though intertwines and diverges from Meister Eckhart, exploring the possibility of the Nietzschean mysticism Bataille constructed in his Summa Atheologica. With this more nuanced understanding of Bataille’s thought in place, his massive importance for post-structuralism and French philosophy more broadly …

Meaning And (F)Act: Ray Brassier’S Speculative Nihilism And Its Implications For Dialectics, Geran Wales

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper seeks to frame the proper place for the empirical phenomenon of human meaning in the scientifically disenchanted world described by Ray Brassier. I embrace Brassier’s statement that “Nihilism is not an existential quandary but a speculative opportunity” but disagree with his injunction that human meaning is unimportant. Meaning should be an object of philosophy insofar as we are biologically bound to experiencing the world in a meaningful way. Brassier’s work is exciting for its application of rigorous analytic techniques to continental discourse, in a manner that makes contributions to both metaphysics and philosophy of science.

Plantinga’S Innocent Assumption: Self-Defeating Naturalism, And Churchland’S Response, Matt Destefano

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Alvin Plantinga’s Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism argues that given the story of biological evolution and naturalism, we wouldn’t expect our cognitive mechanisms to be reliable, or that the probability of any given belief being true is very low. Given that our beliefs are generated by our cognitive mechanisms we have a defeater for all of our beliefs which include both evolution and naturalism. Paul Churchland responded by arguing that it is not our native cognitive faculties that justify our beliefs of evolution and naturalism, but the faculties provided to us by the sciences through enhanced evaluation techniques and artificial sensory …

Resonance In Human Walking Economy: How Natural Is It?, Elizabeth Arnall, Jessica Pyatt, Chelsie Rice, Katie L. Anderson

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Locomotion and movement economy are cornerstone topics in movement science. Modeling the leg as a hybrid mass-spring pendulum shows walking economy should be optimized when stride frequency matches the resonant frequency of the limb. Human walking is described as self-optimizing because mean preferred (PSF) and modeled resonant (RSF) stride frequencies usually are statistically equivalent, but this depiction may not be fully justified. Purpose: To more thoroughly examine the self-optimization characterization and the consequences of obligating use of the RSF. Methods: Forty-seven individuals of diverse statures completed 3 consecutive days of preferred walking trials on a treadmill where stride rate, stride …

The Is-Ought Gap And Policy Failure: An Examination Of Tom Regan’S “The Case For Animal Rights”, Lon Niedermayer

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Regan’s essay makes an impassioned and reasonable argument that the problem with our use of non-human animals is not how cruelly or kindly we treat them, but that we use them at all. He examines various ethical positions on the treatment of animals and concludes that as living beings, animals have as much right to life as humans. His conclusion, however, is untenable as policy on two fronts. First, it is drastically counter to existing attitudes. Second, his argument rests on a particular notion of rights. David Hume’s “Is-Ought Gap” is relevant because, just as observable fact cannot by itself …

The Four-Color Theorem Solved, Again: Extending The Extended Mind To The Philosophy Of Mathematics, Casey M. Rufener

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

In 1977 when Appel, Haken and Koch used a computer to mathematically solve the century old four-color-problem philosopher Thomas Tymoczko thought that the epistemic justification in mathematics had been changed. Essentially, Tymoczko, and others, argue we can now have mathematical epistemic justification through a posteriori means. This has obvious implication in philosophy of mathematics and epistemology because this would be the first case where mathematics isn’t justified through a priori means of investigation. However, I ultimately disagree with Tymoczko. I argue that computer-aided-proofs still warrant an a priori means of justification. In order to show this, I refer to advances …

Searching For Being, Geran Wales

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

This paper is an attempt to discern the importance of the way in which philosophers read each other to the philosophical enterprise. To do this I compare Socrates’ treatment of Parmenides and Heraclitus in the Theaetetus to Heidegger’s treatment of Kant in Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics. Using Heidegger’s notion of ‘unthought thoughts’, I attempt to tease out ontological points that contradict the way in which most people think of the philosophers examined in this paper. In this way we see an upset in the traditional understanding of the theory of Forms and the Phenomena/ Noumena distinction.

Consciousness Enframed: The Alētheia Of Qualia, Carson Bessinger

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

There is nothing that we could be more familiar with than our own consciousness. It seems to us that conscious experience consists of subjective qualia – the what-it-is-like to experience the redness of an apple, the taste of coffee, or any other sense datum. Explaining how these can come about from material causes is often referred to as the hard problem in consciousness. Daniel Dennett gives a materialistic explanation of consciousness by equating qualia to a magic trick; there are no qualia, there just seem to be. In this paper I will examine this explanation in light of Heidegger's critique …

Intrinsic Value For The Environmental Pragmatist, L. Pippa Callanan

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

Motivated by the disconnect between the seeming impossibility of resolving deep metaphysical disputes, and the pressing need for environmental action, many environmental philosophers have embraced environmental pragmatism. Environmental pragmatists focus on the practical effects of philosophical arguments. With this as their agenda, environmental pragmatists have consistently endorsed anthropocentrism as the value system for discussing environmental issues, in order to achieve efficacious results. This is based on the notion that appeals to human goods are the best means for motivating humans to action. This essay will show some conceptual and empirical problems with this pretense, to argue that true environmental pragmatists …

Refocusing The Refugee Regime: From Vagrancy To Value, Hannah Levinson

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

[From the introduction]This is an exploration of two moral-political accounts in my search to establish and frame better treatment of refugees. When regarding refugees as human beings whose lives lack sustainable levels of political, economic, and social stability, both of the frameworks I look at stress the importance of providing such persons with succor and alleviation. Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach posits the human body as a bearer of elemental rights that ought to be recognized and realized. Judith Butler presents an argument that focuses on life’s precariousness and grievability. Situating the refugee in a normative context will, I think, strengthen …

The Phylogenetic Spectrum: Why Paramecia Matter To Daniel Dennett And Jerry Fodor, Brian Ray

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

No abstract provided.

Higher And Lower Pleasures And Our Moral Psychology, Kiran Bhardwaj

International Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities

[From the introduction]John Stuart Mill’s treatise, Utilitarianism, takes the standard concept of utilitarianism, and tries to disentangle itself from the problems that plagued earlier utilitarian theories. One of the essential moves in order to do so is to distinguish between high and low pleasures. This distinction, for example, would not categorize an intellectual pleasure, such as reading poetry, to be similar in pleasure to a sensory pleasure, like eating a really good cupcake. By creating the divide between higher and lower pleasures, Mill assures us that the intellectual pursuit gives to a subject, not a higher quantity of pleasure, but …

Arousing “Arts Of Making” In Design: Cultivating Growing Material Societal Meanings For Sustainable Transitions, Ye Yang, Valentina Rognoli

IASDR Conference Series

Under the industrial mass production of the 20th century, “making” is controllable and directed by “thinking” in artifact design activities, which formalizes the dominant pattern of “reactive making”, meaning “making following thinking”. The initiative of “making” has been continually weakened and overlooked. Meanwhile, properties of the physical material are defined by the disciplines of Science and Engineering, acting as the “tags” or “surface textures” in CAD for designers to select after the conceptualizing process in design practices. We found tons of nameless and meaningless materials have been surged forth in an uncontrolled way, which has grown a cultural and societal …

Design Activating Agency: A Study On Rural Community Co-Creation In China Under Non-Anthropocentrism, Xin Zhao, Duoduo Zhang

IASDR Conference Series

Community co-creation, centered on human values, fosters favorable conditions for stakeholder participation in design collaboration. Sustainable development of local communities, including their culture, relies on the interaction between humans, artificial systems, and nature. Firstly, this article describes the trend of community co-creation in guidance frameworks, activity tools, and collaboration processes, pointing agency as the platform trigger for community co-creation development. Secondly, based on the bioinclusive involvement framework and practices in various countries, this article summarizes 3 co-creation models and their characteristics in rural communities, and the third model shows chances in local culture and multi-species stakeholders. Thirdly, this article analyzes …

Development Of An Interactive Teaching Tool For Woodworking Course On Components Arrangement And Sawing Techniques Using Augmented Reality Technology, Chia Lin Yang, Chien-Hsu Chen

IASDR Conference Series

In university woodworking practical courses, the structural directionality of solid wood, as well as defects such as knots and cracks, can affect the appearance and structural strength of the finished product, presenting challenges for students in planning the cutting of materials. Due to the lack of presentation tools for directly planning and adjusting on the material, students with weaker spatial ability may lack confidence in understanding and executing on the course. This study aims to develop an AR teaching tool to eliminate spatial cognitive gaps, improve student learning effectiveness and experience. At the time of writing, the APP and experiment …