Digital Commons Network^™

Size Distributions Of Intracellular Condensates Reflect Competition Between Coalescence And Nucleation, Daniel S W Lee, Chang-Hyun Choi, David W Sanders, Lien Beckers, Joshua A Riback, Clifford P Brangwynne, Ned S Wingreen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Phase separation of biomolecules into condensates has emerged as a mechanism for intracellular organization and affects many intracellular processes, including reaction pathways through the clustering of enzymes and pathway intermediates. Precise and rapid spatiotemporal control of reactions by condensates requires tuning of their sizes. However, the physical processes that govern the distribution of condensate sizes remain unclear. Here we show that both native and synthetic condensates display an exponential size distribution, which is captured by Monte Carlo simulations of fast nucleation followed by coalescence. In contrast, pathological aggregates exhibit a power-law size distribution. These distinct behaviours reflect the relative importance …

Proceedings Of The 2023 Santa Fe Bone Symposium: Progress And Controversies In The Management Of Patients With Skeletal Diseases, E Michael Lewiecki, Teresita Bellido, John P Bilezikian, Jacques P Brown, Azeez Farooki, Christopher S Kovacs, Brendan Lee, William D Leslie, Michael R Mcclung, Mark L Prasarn, Deborah E Sellmeyer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Santa Fe Bone Symposium (SFBS) held its 23rd annual event on August 5-6, 2023, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Attendees participated in-person and remotely, representing many states and countries. The program included plenary presentations, panel discussions, satellite symposia, a Project ECHO workshop, and a session on healthcare policy and reimbursement for fracture liaison programs. A broad range of topics were addressed, including transitions of osteoporosis treatments over a lifetime; controversies in vitamin D; update on Official Positions of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry; spine surgery and bone health; clinical applications of bone turnover markers; basic bone biology …

Sphingolipids In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Xueyang Pan, Debdeep Dutta, Shenzhao Lu, Hugo J Bellen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Neurodegenerative Diseases (NDDs) are a group of disorders that cause progressive deficits of neuronal function. Recent evidence argues that sphingolipid metabolism is affected in a surprisingly broad set of NDDs. These include some lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs), hereditary sensory and autonomous neuropathy (HSAN), hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD), Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), as well as some forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Many of these diseases have been modeled in Drosophila melanogaster and are associated with elevated levels of ceramides. Similar changes have also been reported in vertebrate cells and mouse models. Here, we …

From A Boy To A Leader, Alejandro Zayas

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The following autoethnographic dissertation examines my personal experiences of trauma, abuse, and violence. Drawing on journals, memories, and artifacts from my life, I use self-reflection to illustrate the impacts of trauma on my childhood and adulthood. My traumatic experiences of sexual abuse, childhood violence, and emotional abuse are situated within broader sociocultural contexts of masculinity, Hispanic culture, and social norms. This study illuminates possibilities for healing and transformation for myself and others with shared traumatic backgrounds. It calls for trauma-informed education, masculinity, and resiliency. Evocatively sharing my traumatic life events provides an accessible window into often silenced experiences, bearing witness …

Does Anyone Else? The Lived Experience Of Writing About Depersonalization On Reddit, Kristina S. Fury

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As both The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 11th Revision (ICD-11) and The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5-Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) describe, depersonalization (DP) involves unpleasant episodes of detachment from one’s sense of self or of unreality in the environment. Symptoms include people feeling as though they are an outside observer of their thoughts, feelings, sensations, body, or actions. DP can take the form of emotional numbing, in which people may feel they are watching themselves from a distance or as though they are characters in a play. People can also feel physically numb, disconnected …

Landscaping Wellness At Work: A Participatory Model For Worker-Centered Health, Anya Helena Piotrowski

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study contributes to a body of scholarship that demonstrates the benefits and need of employee-driven and defined wellness at work processes. This participatory action research study brought together a team of employees within a remote-work, start-up organization to define and design a process for implementing wellness at work for their organization. Through a participatory process that allowed outcomes to emerge from the group, employees identified opportunities to foster embodied wellness in their organization in three core areas: organizational, personal, and cross-boundary initiatives. Through a reflective collaboration, employees generated ideas and developed a plan to address employee-identified priorities that will …

Exploring The Definition Of Resilience: A Convergent Parallel Mixed Methods Study In Adults Over The Age Of 65, Sara J. Blessington

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The definition of a word helps us understand its context and how it is meant to be used in daily life or research. When a word lacks a universal definition, it is hard to know how to use it. “Resilience” is that type of word. The resilience community in psychological research does not have a concrete, universal definition for this word. It takes on whatever characteristics are useful to the investigator. This study began with seeking a universal definition for the domain known as resilience. This study used a convergent parallel design with adults aged 60 and older living independently …

Exploring The Lives Of Animal Activists: A Qualitative Study, Erin K. Mckenney

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The animal rights movement, despite its historical roots, has only recently garnered attention in the realm of social sciences, increasingly being recognized as a facet of social justice. This dissertation delves into the intersection of animal rights activism and gender, primarily focusing on the parallels drawn between the oppression of women and animals/nature. The noticeable dominance of women in the animal rights movement, as suggested by previous studies, formed the basis for adopting an eco-feminist approach to explore this issue, highlighting the shared oppression and exploitation faced by women and animals. In-depth, in-person interviews were used to collect data on …

The Use Of A Habitat Quality Stress Index To Evaluate Stress As An Analog For Proximate Fitness In The American Crow Within A Matrix Of Landcover Characteristics To Assess Its Potential Contribution To Disease Etiologies, Theodore Lee Grabarz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

All organisms occur within spatial and temporal environments to maximize proximate fitness (health) and thus life history outcomes. Previous work has examined the temporal and behavioral aspects of proximate fitness on life history outcomes particularly regarding highly perturbed environments (i.e., climate and land use change, resource extraction, agricultural erosion, etc.). My work focuses on the less examined spatial aspect of these perturbed environments. More specifically, this dissertation examines habitat selection and quality as the basis for understanding stress response (negative and positive feedback mechanisms) to environmental stressors within the larger context of regional or gamma (ɣ) biodiversity. Through the lens …

Adaptive Regulation For Ecosystem Restoration: A Context For Effective Environmental Permitting, Jennifer M. Auger

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation investigates the regulatory challenges faced by large-scale ecosystem restoration (LSER) projects by exploring the perspectives of practitioners and regulators. Focusing on the federal regulatory permitting process, the study aims to understand its impact on LSER projects and proposes the application of adaptive regulation for improvement. Employing Q methodology, participants expressed their views on 34 statements related to wetland permitting for LSER projects. Factor analysis revealed two distinct perspectives: Factor 1 emphasizes the reorganization of the permitting process within existing regulations, advocating for more documentation and structured processes. Factor 2 highlights the need for restructuring both the permitting process …

Intra-Articular Aav9 Α-L-Iduronidase Gene Replacement In The Canine Model Of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type I, Raymond Yu-Jeang Wang, Shih-Hsin Kan, Haoyue Zhang, Jodi D Smith, Afshin Aminian, Elizabeth Snella, Jackie K Jens, Sarah P Young, Patricia I Dickson, N Matthew Ellinwood

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I), an inherited lysosomal storage disorder characterized by deficiency of

Inhibition Of Mirna Associated With A Disease-Specific Signature And Secreted Via Extracellular Vesicles Of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients Suppresses Target Organ Inflammation In A Humanized Mouse Model, Nicholas A Young, Emily Schwarz, Braden M Zeno, Shane Bruckner, Rosana A Mesa, Kyle Jablonski, Lai-Chu Wu, Elisha D O Roberson, Wael N Jarjour

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Distinct, disease-associated intracellular miRNA (miR) expression profiles have been observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) patients. Additionally, we have identified novel estrogenic responses in PBMCs from SLE patients and demonstrated that estrogen upregulates toll-like receptor (TLR)7 and TLR8 expression. TLR7 and TLR8 bind viral-derived single-stranded RNA to stimulate innate inflammatory responses, but recent studies have shown that miR-21, mir-29a, and miR-29b can also bind and activate these receptors when packaged and secreted in extracellular vesicles (EVs). The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of EV-encapsulated small RNA species in SLE …

Large-Scale Exome Array Summary Statistics Resources For Glycemic Traits To Aid Effector Gene Prioritization, Sara M. Willems, Ping An, Michael A. Province, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Blood-Based Biomarkers In Ad, Steve Pedrini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly whose main neuropathological features are the presence of extracellular senile plaques in the brain and the intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau filaments. However, a relatively cheap and non-invasive method for the diagnosis of AD remains elusive. Recent studies have indicated that cerebral biochemical changes take place decades before the clinical onset of the disease, but current methodologies, brain scan (PET amyloid imaging) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis, are unsuited for community-wide screening. Brain scanning methods non-invasively assess amyloid load but are extremely expensive and cannot be used …

Australian Churches During Coronatide: Lessons & Opportunities, Pieter-Jan Bezemer, Sten Langmann

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Christian churches have played a pivotal role in the social and economic fabric of many Western countries over centuries. However, in many of these countries national censuses have revealed significant declines in the number of people that associate themselves with Christianity. For example, the latest census of the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that in 2021 less than half of the population was still affiliated with Christianity. This gradual but steady decline has had a significant impact on churches, as it has become more challenging to maintain church communities and church buildings, and serve the wider community. Early in 2020, …

Plasma And Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteomic Signatures Of Acutely Sleep-Deprived Humans: An Exploratory Study, Ana Vaquer-Alicea, Jinsheng Yu, Haiyan Liu, Brendan P Lucey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Acute sleep deprivation affects both central and peripheral biological processes. Prior research has mainly focused on specific proteins or biological pathways that are dysregulated in the setting of sustained wakefulness. This exploratory study aimed to provide a comprehensive view of the biological processes and proteins impacted by acute sleep deprivation in both plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

METHODS: We collected plasma and CSF from human participants during one night of sleep deprivation and controlled normal sleep conditions. One thousand and three hundred proteins were measured at hour 0 and hour 24 using a high-scale aptamer-based proteomics platform (SOMAscan) …

Case Report: Peptide Receptor Radioligand Therapy In Metastatic Pediatric Neuroendocrine Tumors, Khanyisile Hlongwa, Olumayowa Kolade, Abdulilah Alnabulsi, Rachelle Steyn, Anita Brink, Vikas Prasad, Stuart More

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are not commonly diagnosed in children. Metastatic NETs tend to have poor outcomes, and this is seen in adult and pediatric populations. The role of somatostatin receptor imaging using [

Impact Of Multi-Source Data Augmentation On Performance Of Convolutional Neural Networks For Abnormality Classification In Mammography, Inchan Hwang, Hari Trivedi, Beatrice Brown-Mulry, Linglin Zhang, Vineela Nalla, Aimilia Gastounioti, Judy Gichoya, Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari, Imon Banerjee, Minjae Woo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: To date, most mammography-related AI models have been trained using either film or digital mammogram datasets with little overlap. We investigated whether or not combining film and digital mammography during training will help or hinder modern models designed for use on digital mammograms.

METHODS: To this end, a total of six binary classifiers were trained for comparison. The first three classifiers were trained using images only from Emory Breast Imaging Dataset (EMBED) using ResNet50, ResNet101, and ResNet152 architectures. The next three classifiers were trained using images from EMBED, Curated Breast Imaging Subset of Digital Database for Screening Mammography (CBIS-DDSM), …

The Political Economy Of Due Diligence Legislation, Peter Draper, Andreas Freytag, Naoise Mcdonagh, Matthias Menter

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The policy challenge. Citizens and politicians in Western democracies have increasingly become aware of the importance of human rights, civil liberties, social rights, and sustainability issues as well as the different adherence to basic rights (such as equal treatment) all over the world. This trend has recently materialized in laws in the United States (US), Europe, Australia, and elsewhere. To varying extents, these oblige domestic businesses to comply with, and enforce, Western values and standards along their international supply chains. This values-based due diligence legislation has caused ongoing controversies over compliance costs, impacts on foreign relations – particularly with developing …

Kids, Courts And Canines: An Evaluation Of The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program In Perth's Children's Court, Suzanne Rock, Natalie Gately

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The Justice Facility Dog Pilot Program (JFDPP) was introduced to Perth Children's Court, Western Australia in September 2021 to improve the wellbeing of victims, witnesses and other Court users attending the Court for criminal or child protection matters.

As requested by the Office for the Commissioner of Victims of Crime, the program was evaluated by independent researchers from Edith Cowan University. The project was funded by ECU and Partial funding was sought and granted by the Western Australian Office of Crime Statistics and Research Criminal Justice Grant scheme to facilitate the evaluation (See Appendix J).

Short surveys were conducted at …

A Narrative Inquiry Of Latinx Undergraduates' Participation In High-Impact Educational Practices, Sarah R. Villarreal

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There are systematic barriers to educational equity in the U.S. higher education system, and the system overwhelmingly fails Latinx undergraduates more often than other students. It is crucial that evidence-based methods be used to reduce the existing postsecondary student success inequities. Scholars have linked specific educational practices to positive learning effects. A growing body of evidence has suggested these educational practices, coined high-impact practices (HIPs), provide amplified benefits to historically underserved students (HUS) and may be an effective tool for advancing equity and closing achievement gaps. The extant literature has neither adequately explained the reason(s) that HIPs provide an academic …

Exploring Supervisory Needs Of First-Generation Professionals Working In Higher Education, Angela R. Wellman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

As first-generation students enter the workforce and traverse through their careers, their work supervisors are solidly positioned to positively influence their experiences. There is very little literature to be found that addresses the professional experiences of first-generation professionals in relation to their supervisors. The purpose of this exploratory study was to learn, directly from first-generation professionals working in higher education, what they believe they need from their supervisors to support their well-being and success. This research also sought to discover how important participants thought that each need statement was, as well to gain insight to what extent the identified needs …

The Impact Of Poorly Facilitated Anti-Racist Conversations, Brandon Kirkwood

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

It is well established that the graduate school experience is significantly different for students of color; on top of a rigorous training program, they face additional distinct challenges including racism, discrimination, and feelings of isolation. Insidious Trauma theory provides the framework for this quantitative exploration assessing the impact of poorly facilitated anti-racist conversations on the physical and emotional wellbeing of clinical psychology graduate students of color. George Floyd’s murder, among many other incidents of racial injustice, was a powerful catalyst that propelled academic institutions into action. Anti-racist dialogue became the intentional focus of graduate classes almost overnight. Well-meaning but insufficiently-prepared …

With Liberty And Justice For All: Psychological And Functional Consequences For Service Members Acquitted Of Sexual Assault, Jamie Leavey

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Policy makers are tasked with changing laws and improving systemic processes in response to evolving moral standards. As societal outrage grew regarding sexual assault in the military, those in power sought to balance what was perceived as a system that ignored, retaliated against, or unfairly burdened victims. However, as the pendulum swung toward victims’ rights and privileges, those accused of this crime inherited the burden of an imbalanced system. In the military context, the experience of the accused is impacted by the lack of separation between functional domains of life (e.g., work, home, community), multiple roles of military commanders (e.g., …

Protective Behavioral Strategies And Negative Consequences Of Alcohol Use Among College Athletes, Nirmala Jayaraman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Alcohol use is associated with a variety of negative consequences among young adults (Benton et al., 2004). Current studies are considering how protective behavioral strategies (PBS), such as acting as a designated driver, alternating with a non-alcoholic beverage, or watching out for a friend at a party, can be analyzed to better understand what factors contribute to alcohol consumption and drinking behavior (Borden et al., 2011). The purpose of this study was to further understand the relationship between the use of specific protective behavior strategies and negative consequences related to drinking alcohol among college athletes. The present study used survey …

Examining The Relationship Between Non-Suicidal Self-Injury And Attachment Styles, Larissa Grundmanis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI, can be defined as the “intentional, self-inflicted destruction of body tissue performed without suicidal intent using methods that are not socially sanctioned” (Martin et al., 2017, p. 425). Lifetime prevalence has been found to be between 5.9% and 18% (Cassels et al., 2019; Klonsky, 2011), indicating that there is a need to understand NSSI so that individuals can be helped to reduce the frequency of their harming behaviors. There is reason to believe that one’s attachment style is associated with the engagement of NSSI (e.g., Wrath & Adams, 2019). Research shows mixed results regarding the types …

When The Bough Breaks: Alcohol Misuse Among Jamaican Young Adults, Marsha Smith

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The incidence of alcohol misuse globally continues to be a significant problem with copious adverse health and social causes and implications. The prevalence of alcohol misuse in Jamaica, British West Indies, instigated the trifold objective of this study. The ecological systems model provided a framework for conceptualizing multilayered biological and social processes that interact to determine mental health. This study examined anxiety and depression, family structure, and perceived parental warmth and control as predictors of alcohol misuse among young adults ages 18 to 30 residing in Jamaica. The current study revealed a correlation between alcohol misuse and higher levels of …

Experiencing Workplace Inclusion: Critical Incidents That Create A Sense Of Inclusion For Professional Staff In Higher Education, Katherine Penn Lampley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Professional staff make up the majority of employees at colleges and universities in the United States but are rarely the focus of research in higher education. As a result, little is known about how these employees experience the workplace, creating a challenge for educational institutions working to attract, develop, and retain this essential resource. Employees who feel included in the workplace have higher performance levels and are more likely to remain with their organizations, but workplace inclusion is a complex and undertheorized psychological phenomenon. This exploratory study provides insight into the psychological experience of inclusion by examining the experiences, interactions, …

Autistic Authors' Narratives Of Trauma And Resilience: A Qualitative Analysis, Tessa Smith

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative dissertation investigates current research gaps regarding autistic individuals’ experience of trauma and resilience in the face of adversity. Specifically, it conceptualizes trauma and resilience through a neurodiverse lens, through identifying themes in memoirs written by five autistic authors related to trauma, potentially traumatic events, resiliency, and posttraumatic growth. Through Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, I identified individual, interpersonal, and societal factors impacting the memoirists experiences of trauma, through the identification of 11 superordinate themes. Prominent themes at the individual level included self-acceptance and emotion regulation promoting resilience. At the contextual level, sensory processing and uncertainty coincided with experiences of trauma. …

“Avoid It Like The Plague”: Adults' Lived Experience Of Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Megan Knedgen

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of adults with a DSM-5 diagnosis of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) aiming to describe key features of ARFID as it is understood by treatment-seeking adults. Nine treatment-seeking adults with a full-threshold diagnosis of ARFID (aged 20–42) were recruited. In-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted to explore participants’ experiences and perceptions of avoidant and/or restrictive eating. Transcripts were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis, through which three group experimental themes were generated: (a) “A tradeoff between safety and freedom,” (b) “A broken self,” and (c) “Being seen: A double-edged sword.” This study’s findings …