Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Collectibles: Exploring Non-Fungible Tokens (Nfts) Through Twitter Messages, Peter Haried, James Murray

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The growing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has created a new digital collectibles asset class and market. NFTs are unique digital tokens built on blockchain technology that can represent anything from art, property rights, certificates of authentication to sports collectibles. The use of blockchain provides the framework for digital ownership and brings the notion of scarcity to the digital NFT asset class. With the emerging NFT market and growing consumer base little work has investigated the factors behind NFT interest and participation. Using a dataset of 26,444 tweets on NBA Top Shot, one of the largest and most popular NFT …

Higher Rates Of False-Positive Hiv Antigen/Antibody Screens During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Implications For Pregnant Patients, Madison E. Miller, Rachel Cevigney, Mariam Ayyash, Majid Shaman, Monica Kole

Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women's Health Services Meeting Abstracts

Objective: To compare the rates of false-positive HIV 4th generation screens among pregnant patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Design: A retrospective study evaluating the rates of false-positive HIV 4th generation screens among 44,187 pregnant patients was conducted. Pregnant patients from 3/2017-3/2019 were assigned to the “pre-COVID” cohort, and pregnant patients from 3/2020-3/2022 were assigned to the “COVID” cohort. Data including the date(s) and results of HIV 4th generation Ag/Ab combination tests and SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR assays were ascertained via chart review. An HIV 4th generation test result was deemed “false-positive” if subsequent HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation immunoassays and/or HIV-1 …

Comparing The Microbiomes Of Dental Plaques In 19th Century Ancestral Remains, Ananya Udyaver

UROP Posters

During the construction of VCU’s Hermes A. Kontos Medical Sciences Building in April 1994, nineteenth century ancestral remains were found in an abandoned well on the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) campus. This well, now known as the East Marshall Street Well (EMSW), is thought to have been used as a disposal location for cadaver dissection for surgical and other medical waste in the past. VCU is now seeking to use DNA sequencing technology to match and assemble bones from each individual for a proper burial, uncover the cultural and historical context in which these people lived, and bring a …

Testing The Efficacy And Synergistic Components Of Sesamol And Black Rice Extract On Human Colon Cancer Cells, Sera Lim, Philip M. Gerk

UROP Posters

Purpose: Systemic treatment of colorectal cancer involves chemotherapeutic agents which elicit serious and negative side effects from the toxicity of the drug. To address this issue, we are testing dietary supplements for their efficacy against human colon cancer cell lines and also their potential synergistic effects when combined with conventional chemotherapy. Dietary supplements (specifically sesamol and black rice extract) exhibit anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and chemo-preventive properties. Meanwhile, one of the cancer resistance mechanisms is the upregulation of drug elimination mechanisms, leading to multi-drug resistance. We hypothesize that dietary compounds will act as chemo-enhancers, thus enhancing potency of the chemotherapy drug(s) on …

Development And Usability Testing Of A Phr For Down’S Syndrome (Ds) Care Coordination, Edward Ladia, Brianna Boston, Bethany Cosgrove Phd, Elizabeth Baker Phd, Jeffrey Duah

UROP Posters

321Connect was first drafted by Dr. Bethany Cosgrove to support caregivers of children with Down’s Syndrome in coordinating care.

These children often require multiple appointments with various healthcare professionals throughout the course of their life. Caregivers expressed a need for accurate and up-to-date information, providing evidence of the potential benefit of an mHealth application. A mobile health application with a PHR (personal health record) for the child would aid in keeping track of this information. However, there is no existing solution on the market that met this need, prompting the creation of 321Connect.

321Connect aims to provide information and support …

Respire: A Technological Tool To Navigate Mechanical Ventilation In Patient Care And Educational Settings, Swara Chokshi

UROP Posters

Around the world, more than 20 million patients rely on mechanical ventilators annually; however, not enough individuals understand how to operate ventilators, posing a risk to the health of many. Moreover, it is increasingly difficult to determine optimal mechanical ventilator settings in a timely fashion, especially in low-resource countries and critical care areas. Respire is a mobile application that bridges this gap in a twofold manner: it is designed to assist healthcare workers around the world navigate and use mechanical ventilators effectively as well as educate the general public about mechanical ventilation. Respire offers a user-friendly yet educational interface that …

Glyphosate And Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity: Herbicide Impacts On Parkinson's Disease Development, Lojy Hozyen

UROP Posters

Nearly one million individuals in the United States are living with Parkinson’s disease (PD). In the past two decades, the death rate from PD has risen by about 63 percent in the United States. Major findings have been made in the past five years about the potential impact of glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) exposure on the onset of PD symptoms. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to provide a compiled update on the chemical and biological alterations that glyphosate imposes on the human brain. A meta-analysis was conducted to create a quantitative estimate of the connection between PD and glyphosate. Findings …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Mental Health Of College Students, Alexis West, Afton White, Punit Gandhi, Indranil Sahoo, Michael Robert, David Chan

UROP Posters

In April and May of 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, a few hundred VCU students were surveyed about their academics, mental health, support network, and the impact COVID was having in their life.

Glycations On Muscle Extracellular Matrix Promote Rage Expression In Volumetric Muscle Injury Model, Ammar Jawad, Lucas C. Olson, Brock Lodato, Eirian Crocker, Scott Pennebaker, David Joshua Cohen, Tri M. Nguyen, Zvi Schwartz, Michael J. Mcclure

UROP Posters

Volumetric muscle loss (VML) has been found to overwhelm muscle regeneration, resulting in loss of long-term muscle function and increased risk of injury to individuals with age-associated diseases. Current treatment plans result in suboptimal recovery; however, decellularized muscle matrices (DMMs) have been found to provide an effective environment for muscle regeneration via muscle-specific growth factors. These factors limit scarring, enabling these DMMs to guide progenitor cells toward effective tissue regeneration. However, factors such as age may affect DMM’s regenerative capacity, and must be considered when developing these technologies. Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are chemical cross-links that contribute to the aging …

Associations Between Maternal Metabolic Parameters During Pregnancy And Fetal And Child Growth Trajectories From 20 Weeks' Gestation To 5 Years Of Age: Secondary Analysis From The Rolo Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study, Helena C. Bartels, Linda M. O'Keeffe, Cara A. Yelverton, Kate N. O'Neill, Aisling A. Geraghty, Eileen C. O'Brien, Sarah Louise Killeen, Ciara Mcdonnell, Fionnuala M. Mcauliffe

Articles

Objective: To examine the association between maternal metabolic parameters in pregnancy and growth trajectories up to 5 years of age. Methods: Data from mother–child pairs who participated in the ROLO study, a randomized trial examining the impact of a low glycaemic index diet on the recurrence of macrosomia, were analysed. Fetal and child growth trajectories were developed from longitudinal measurements from 20 weeks gestation up to 5 years of age. We examined associations between maternal fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and leptin, taken in early pregnancy (14–16 weeks) and late pregnancy (28 weeks), and weight (kg) and abdominal circumference (cm) trajectories …

Introductory Pages, Christopher W. Tremblay, Patrick J. O'Connor Phd, Laura Owen, Diana Camilo, Moya Malcolm

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.

Voice Of The Inaudible: Well-Being Of Chinese American Young Adults, Chinese American Parents’ Parenting Competency, And The Correlation Of The Two, Diana Huang

Dissertations

Violence against Asian Americans since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has become a national crisis in the United States. Racism against Asian Americans in the country, however, has been deep-rooted since the nineteenth century. Chinese American adolescents, who are susceptible to identity crisis as young adults and confront racial discrimination as a minority race, face distressing challenges. It is critical to inquire into their lived narratives and hear their voices. The author investigated the early life experiences of nine Chinese Americans and identified how racial identity is shaped at a young age with negative external inputs, as well as …

Influencers Of The Institution: Millennial Women Of Color On Leadership As Classified Professionals In California Community Colleges, Marisol Quevedo

Dissertations

This study centers Millennial Women of Color (MWOC) California Community College Professionals as institutional influencers by understanding how their leadership practices support the success of marginalized, minoritized, and historically underrepresented students and equity-advancing institutional change. In this study I use the term “influencer” to reflect the impact that MWOC, working as classified professionals at a CCC who are committed to serving as leaders beyond their job duties have on their students and within their institutions. The use of “influencer” in this study addresses three different areas that summarize the study’s findings. First, the theme “Key-Makers not Gatekeepers'' addresses the ways …

An Empirical Survey On Explainable Ai Technologies: Recent Trends, Use-Cases, And Categories From Technical And Application Perspectives, Mohammad Nagahisarchoghaei, Nasheen Nur, Logan Cummins, Mirhossein Mousavi Karimi, Shreya Nandanwar, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, Shahram Rahimi

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In a wide range of industries and academic fields, artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prevalent. AI models are taking on more crucial decision-making tasks as they grow in popularity and performance. Although AI models, particularly machine learning models, are successful in research, they have numerous limitations and drawbacks in practice. Furthermore, due to the lack of transparency behind their behavior, users need more understanding of how these models make specific decisions, especially in complex state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms. Complex machine learning systems utilize less transparent algorithms, thereby exacerbating the problem. This survey analyzes the significance and evolution of explainable AI …

Understanding The State Of Broadband Connectivity: An Analysis Of Speedtests And Emerging Technologies, Reinaldo Sanchez-Arias, Luis G. Jaimes, Shahram Taj

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The lack of access to broadband services and speeds that allows urban and rural populations to meet the minimum requirements of today's society creates a lack of economic opportunities and digital inequality. In contrast, regions with adequate broadband infrastructure can attract investors and become the home of tech workers while boosting the local economy. To level the field and promote the expansion and improvement of broadband infrastructure, federal and state agencies in the U.S. provide funding through programs such as the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, and The Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program among others. Here, counties assess their broadband …

Anytime User Engagement Prediction In Information Cascades For Arbitrary Observation Periods, Akshay Aravamudan, Xi Zhang, Georgios C. Anagnostopoulos

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Predicting user engagement – whether a user will engage in a given information cascade – is an important problem in the context of social media, as it is useful to online marketing and misinformation mitigation just to name a few major applications. Based on split population multi-variate survival processes, we develop a discriminative approach that, unlike prior works, leads to a single model for predicting whether individual users of an information network will engage a given cascade for arbitrary forecast horizons and observation periods. Being probabilistic in nature, this model retains the interpretability of its generative counterpart and renders count …

Comprehensive Analysis Of Key Spatial Parameters For Characterizing Human Mobility Patterns, Zaid Matloub, Ivica Kostanic

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

This paper conducts a thorough analysis of human mobility patterns using commercially available cellular location data from October 2020. The study focuses on six fundamental spatial mobility parameters. These parameters were chosen based on their prominence in existing literature and their importance for understanding human mobility. Our analysis spans daily, weekly, and monthly time scales and draws upon data from the New York-Newark, NJ City Statistical Area. Our findings highlight the predictability of human mobility, suggesting that accurate predictive models could be developed through broader studies across various time frames and geographic regions. We also demonstrate that the choice of …

’We Didn’T Think It Would Be Well Received’: The Gay Alliance Of Students’ Legal Victory Over Virginia Commonwealth University, 1974–1976, Michael S. Hevel, Timothy Reese Cain

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Faculty Publications and Presentations

In 1974, a group of college students attempted to undertake the simple act of registering an official student organization at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). In contrast to every other student group that had sought such status, the group, the Gay Alliance of Students (GAS), was denied registration. They were denied because the group was composed of LGBTQI+ students who wanted to promote the well-being and understanding of themselves and other LGBTQI+ individuals on campus. This article examines the founding, experience, and legal battles of GAS, an important organization in both the history of LGBTQI+ students and the history of LGBTQI+ …

Psychological Return-To-Sport Interventions For Injured Athletes, Charlie Fleming

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Longitudinal Effects Of Adolescent Digital Media Use On Sleep, Cardiometabolic Health, And Mental Health, Caroline Watson

All ETDs from UAB

Background Digital media use has become an integral part of society and may contribute to adverse physical and mental health outcomes, particularly among adolescents. However, few studies have examined the longitudinal effects of adolescent digital media use across the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. As adolescents present as a highrisk group for the adverse effects of digital media use on mental and physical health, the present studies identified digital media use trajectories from adolescence into young adulthood and examined these trajectories as predictors of sleep duration, cardiometabolic health, and mental health outcomes in young adulthood. Methods Participants (Mage=15.53; 56.86% …

Cardiomyocyte-Specific Modified Mrna For Myocardial Regeneration In A Porcine Myocardial Infarction Model, Jiacheng Sun

All ETDs from UAB

The inability of adult mammalian cardiomyocytes (CMs) to undergo cell renewal following ischemic injury stands as a major impediment to heart function recovery and contributes to heart failure (HF). Current therapeutic approaches do not offer an effective approach of reactivating CM cell division to prevent HF in humans. Recognizing this challenge, gene therapy has emerged as a promising approach to promote CM proliferation and enhance cardiac repair. A particularly notable approach is the utilization of modified mRNA (modRNA), which provides a safe, controlled, transient, non-viral, and clinically relevant means of gene delivery. The study was conducted using a novel cardiomyocyte …

Building Community, Competency, And Creativity In Calculus 2: Summary Of A Pilot Year Of Project Implementation, Jennifer Beichman, Candice Price

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, instructional modes at our institution moved to fully online and remote, then fully online but on campus, and back to in-person learning in fall 2021. To combat perceived issues in student engagement, we piloted using group projects in place of exams at the natural content break points in Calculus 2.

Role Of Dpy30 In The Epigenetic Regulation Of Odontoblast Differentiation In Vitro, Namrata Landge Rana

All ETDs from UAB

Purpose: Dentin is produced from odontoblasts, derived from human Dental Pulp Cells (hDPCs), which are essential for dentin formation, remodeling, and mineral hemostasis. Epigenetic mechanisms are believed to be involved in odontoblast differentiation and function, and H3K4 methylation is associated with gene activation which is fundamental to histone-based epigenetics. The SET1/MLL complexes are mammals' major histone H3K4 methylation enzymes. DPY30 is a core subunit of SET1/MII complexes, mammalian's major histone H3K4 methyltransferases. It plays an important role in regulating fundamental processes including the determination of cell lineage, growth, and differentiation. Thus, histone-based epigenetic mechanisms are involved in odontoblast differentiation and …

Restoring Justice On Their Terms: The Path To Healing For Tulsa And Birmingham, Kameryn Thigpen

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis is a comparative case study examining the impact of the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 and the Birmingham Sixteenth Street Church Bombing in 1963. The comparative case study method aims to study how both communities educated the public about racial violence through the nonprofit sector. This research explores the racial structures that were in place during the time. This thesis argues for the role of the government in providing diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion training for federal employees. This research also discusses the government's contribution to advancing social equity.

Maternal, Infant, And Early Childhood Home Visiting And School Readiness In Alabama, Heather H. Johnson

All ETDs from UAB

This study examined the relationship between home visiting and school readiness in Alabama. Topics included a scoping review of the home visiting literature, statistical analyses of Alabama’s Teaching Strategies GOLD® (GOLD) data to determine if there were differences in performance among children who received home visiting compared to those who did not, and the development of a Key Driver Diagram (KDD) to inform improvement in home visiting practices that support school readiness. The scoping review of the literature indicated an absence of consistent definitions and measurement of the concept of school readiness. Through thematic analysis of the articles, contextual factors …

Early Life Stress And Endothelin Receptor Type A: Separate Roles In Mediating Colitis, Rachel Q. Muir

All ETDs from UAB

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from the interplay of genetic susceptibility, environmental influences, the microbiota, and aberrant immune responses. Despite the fact that over 200 genetic susceptibility loci have been identified, the genetic contribution to disease onset is believed to be less than 50%. Environmental factors have arisen as key drivers of disease. Early life stress (ELS) is an understudied environmental trigger linked to IBD susceptibility. Utilizing 2 separate models of ELS, we show that ELS results in diminished colonic corticosterone and prolonged intestinal inflammation upon colitogenic insult. ELS-exposed animals consistently demonstrated high levels of colonic Tnf, concurrently with decreased …

Improved Myocardial Infarct Repair Via Cardiac Tissue Engineering And Modified Rna, Lu Wang

All ETDs from UAB

Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death in the United States and the world. Myocardial infarction (MI) happens when there is an occlusion in the blood vessel. Cardiomyocytes (CM) die quickly after MI and are replaced by a fibrotic scar. Since adult mammalian cardiomyocytes have a limited capacity to regenerate, the damages induced by MI usually deteriorate into more severe symptoms such as heart failure. In order to achieve regeneration of the cardiomyocytes, numerous therapies have been proposed, including cellular therapy and CM cell cycle re-entry. During this dissertation study, we focused on improving myocardial infarct repair via cardiac …

The Influence Of A Low Glycemic Load Diet On Appetite In Women With Pcos, Sarah Et Hoover

All ETDs from UAB

Dysregulated appetite may contribute to weight gain and high prevalence of comorbid obesity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), yet dietary recommendations to promote satiety and facilitate weight maintenance in this population remain scarce. The objective of this dissertation was to determine if women with PCOS have alterations in appetite-regulating hormones that can be manipulated by low glycemic load diet habituation to improve satiety. This was tested by secondary analyses of two randomized controlled dietary intervention trials in women with and without PCOS. First, we explored differences in women with and without PCOS during a standardized liquid meal test …

Production, Purification And Radiochemistry Development Of Manganese-52 Fir Characterization Of Pet/Mr Imaging Agents, Jennifer Marie Pyles

All ETDs from UAB

Manganese (Mn) has the potential to be an important element in biomedical research as different isotopes of Mn have the characteristics to be used for both positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Manganese(II) (55Mn) is paramagnetic which makes it useful as a contrast agent in T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Mn as a radiotracer provides excellent sensitivity for studying 55Mn, but only Manganese-52 (52Mn) met the criteria for this research. 52Mn has a half-life (t1/2 = 5.591 days) that was long enough to optimize purification, chemistry and examine timepoints over several days. 52Mn decays by positron emission …

Mechanisms Of Simulated-Spinal Manipulative Therapy In Animal Models Of Low Back Pain, Carla Rigo Lima

All ETDs from UAB

Low back pain (LBP), a condition characterized by pain experienced between the 12th rib margin and gluteal folds, is a prevalent health problem that affects an ever-increasing population worldwide. First-line treatment for LBP often involves non-pharmacological approaches, including spinal manipulative therapy (SMT), which has demonstrated mild-to-moderate clinical efficacy. However, despite its therapeutic benefits, the physiological mechanisms underlying the analgesic effects of SMT in LBP are still not well understood. Recent evidence suggests that sensitization of peripheral and central nervous system structures contribute to the progression and maintenance of LBP with inflammatory cytokines, reactive glial cells, and/or aberrant muscle spindle activity …