Digital Commons Network^™

Plant Breeding Advancements With “Crispr-Cas” Genome Editing Technologies Will Assist Future Food Security, M. Ahmad

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Genome editing techniques are being used to modify plant breeding, which might increase food production sustainably by 2050. A product made feasible by genome editing is becoming better known, because of looser regulation and widespread acceptance. The world’s population and food supply would never have increased proportionally under current farming practices. The development of plants and food production has been greatly impacted by global warming and climate change. Therefore, minimizing these effects is crucial for agricultural production that is sustainable. Crops are becoming more resilient to abiotic stress because of sophisticated agricultural practices and a better understanding of the abiotic …

The Student Movement Volume 107 Issue 22: Fulfilled: Au Presents A Story Of Redemption, Grace No, Caryn Cruz, Solana Campbell, Aiko J. Ayala Rios, Anna Pak, Gloria Oh, Alexander Navarro, Reagan Mccain, Abby Shim, Melissa Moore, Abraham Bravo

The Student Movement v. 107 (2022-2023)

HUMANS

Speaking Up With Women, Interviewed by: Grace No

What is it Like to Work at the Athletics Department?, Interviewed by: Grace No

What is Title IX?. Interviewed by: Caryn Cruz

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Currently: "Foreign" Film, Solana Campbell

Fulfilled: A Musical of Redemption, Aiko J. Ayala Rios

NEWS

KASA Banquet, Interviewed by: Anna Pak

Watchmen A Capella Concert: "Unstoppable: A Journey Through Self-Discovery", Gloria Oh

IDEAS

Charge It!, Alexander Navarro

Feminism is for Everybody. Yes-Even You, Dude!, Reagan McCain

Tick Tock... for TikTok?, Abby Shim

PULSE

Dorm Delicacies, Melissa Moore

How Have We Grown?, Abraham Bravo

What Do We …

The Utah Statesman, March 13, 2023, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Gyno-Gerontological Discourse And The Dearth Of Old Women Narrators In British Fiction 1790-1860, Lavender Elisabeth Earnest

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the remarkable dearth of old woman narrators in British fiction between 1790 and 1860, both documenting their under-representation and explaining it as, in part, a product of a wave of medical discourse disparaging the physical and mental vitality of post-menopausal women. Regarding methodology, I perform a random sample upon a corpus of first-person novels published in the period and categorize each according to the gender and age of the narrator. This analysis exhibits, unsurprisingly, that most narrators in the dataset are either in the first half of their life, male, or both. Old women represent only a …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Disability Status Disclosure, Accommodation Use, And Student Success: Curricular And Co-Curricular Implications, Kaela Marie Parks

Dissertations and Theses

Colleges and universities rely on the individualized accommodation process to ensure access for students with disabilities, however, there is ample evidence that educational inequity is pervasive. This study used a critical and comparative quantitative methodology (n=6,500) to investigate data from a large urban community college, analyzing the relationship between final grades and accommodation eligibility and use across academic disciplines and curricular modalities (in-person vs. on-line) to identify implications for the academic success of students with disabilities. Results indicate disability inequity varies across racial identity groups and racial inequity persists across disability status groups. Results also indicate that accommodation may be …

Exploration Of Social Proximity And Behavior In Captive Malayan Tigers And Their Cubs, Aimee Holland, Elena Giulia Galardi, Martina Fabbroni, Anita Hashmi, Jerome Catinaud, Richard Preziosi, James Edward Brereton, Pastorino G Quintavalle

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The survival of endangered felids is becoming increasingly dependent on the successful management and breeding of reserve populations in captivity. While most felid species are reported to be solitary in the wild, increasing evidence suggests that some big cats have greater social plasticity than is currently acknowledged. This social plasticity allows felids to be sometimes socially housed in environments such as zoos and rescue centers. While the effects of such shared enclosures remain in question, many reports provide evidence of several welfare benefits of maintaining these large carnivores in pairs or even groups. Since 2019, Le Parc des Félins has …

Uncovering The Optimal Molecular Characteristics Of Hydrophobe-Containing Polypeptoids To Induce Liposome Or Cell Membrane Fragmentation, Tianyi Yu, Marzhana Omarova, Meng Zhang, Istiak Hossain, Jianqiang Chen, Omead Darvish, Vijay T. John, Donghui Zhang

Faculty Publications

Cellular functions of membrane proteins are strongly coupled to their structures and aggregation states in the cellular membrane. Molecular agents that can induce the fragmentation of lipid membranes are highly sought after as they are potentially useful for extracting membrane proteins in their native lipid environment. Toward this goal, we investigated the fragmentation of synthetic liposome using hydrophobe-containing polypeptoids (HCPs), a class of facially amphiphilic pseudo-peptidic polymers. A series of HCPs with varying chain lengths and hydrophobicities have been designed and synthesized. The effects of polymer molecular characteristics on liposome fragmentation are systemically investigated by a combination of light scattering …

Money Matters: Time For Prevention And Early Intervention To Address Family Economic Circumstances, Nick Axford, Vashti Berry

Peninsula Medical School

Child poverty is associated with poorer physical and mental health, negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social and psychological consequences, all of which impact on service demand and expenditure. Until now, however, prevention and early intervention practice has tended to focus on enhancing inter-parental relationships and parenting skills (e.g., via relationship skills education, home visiting, parenting programs, family therapy) or child language, social-emotional and life skills (e.g., early childhood education, school-based programs, youth mentoring). Programs often target low-income neighborhoods or families but rarely address poverty directly. While there is substantial evidence for the effectiveness of such interventions in improving child …

An Exploratory Study Of Elementary School Students’ Reading Performance Scores Before And After Covid-19, Timothy Goodman

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this study was to explore the reading performance scores of elementary school students in one school district before and after school closures due to COVID-19. This nonexperimental, exploratory study of quantitative, archival data was designed to explore a single cohort (N = 2,006) of third- through fifth-grade students’ i-Ready reading diagnostic scale scores from five different assessment periods: before school closures in spring 2020 and four subsequent assessment periods after face-to-face instruction resumed in fall 2020. The research sample excluded exceptional student education students and English language learners who had been retained. Mean scale scores of …

The Investigation Of First-Year Wellness Programming In College To Reduce Stress And Anxiety Levels, Charlotte Muriel

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The COVID-19 pandemic brought mental health to light, although college students have long been experiencing mental health struggles. First-year experience courses have been shown to relieve some of the stresses associated with the college transition (Holliday, 2014); however, the existing programming does not meet the needs of college students affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the increased need for mental health services and counseling on college campuses, there is a need for additional support for students dealing with wellness concerns.

This action research study used a three-phase exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Phase One included two audio-recorded focus group …

Aquatic Biomass Is A Major Source To Particulate Organic Matter Export In Large Arctic Rivers, Megan Behnke, Suzanne Tank, James W. Mcclelland, Robert M. Holmes, Negar Haghipour, Timothy Eglinton, Peter A. Raymond, Anya Suslova, Alexander V. Zhulidov, Tatiana Gurtovaya, Nikita Zimov, Sergey Zimov, Edda A. Mutter, Edwin Amos, Robert G. Spencer

Faculty, Staff, and Students

Arctic rivers provide an integrated signature of the changing landscape and transmit signals of change to the ocean. Here, we use a decade of particulate organic matter (POM) compositional data to deconvolute multiple allochthonous and autochthonous pan-Arctic and watershed-specific sources. Constraints from carbon-to-nitrogen ratios (C:N), δ13C, and Δ14C signatures reveal a large, hitherto overlooked contribution from aquatic biomass. Separation in Δ14C age is enhanced by splitting soil sources into shallow and deep pools (mean ± SD: −228 ± 211 vs. −492 ± 173‰) rather than traditional active layer and permafrost pools (−300 ± 236 vs. −441 ± 215‰) that do …

Made In His Image: How Christian God Image Influences Interpersonal Judgments Of Severe Mental Illness, Austin Davis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

After a review of the relevant literature on God image and interpersonal judgment theories and research, a priming study was used to analyze the relationship between God image and judgment of people with severe mental illness. Participants made judgments of a video presentation of a man with schizophrenia either before or after being given a questionnaire about their God image. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis showed no statistically significant differences between those who were primed to reflect on their God image before making the judgment and those who were not, although the small effect size (d = -0.30) indicated …

Field-Base Exploratory Study Of Microbial Activity In Eight Potable Water Storage Tanks In Barbados, Katelyn M. Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There have been many initiatives to combat the global phenomenon of water scarcity. Potable water storage tanks have become widely known among water insecure countries and communities to provide adequate water quantity and quality for consumer use. Despite ubiquitous use in many low- and middle-income communities (LMIC), knowledge of microbial activity inside potable water storage tanks is limited. Barbados is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), labeled as a high income country, and also water scarce. The Barbados Water Authority (BWA) has adapted potable water storage tanks for hundreds of residents as a solution to water quantity and water quality …

Diazirines And Oxaziridines As Nitrogen Transfer Reagents In Drug Discovery, Khalilia C. Tillett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic organic chemistry has long served as a driver of innovation in the drug discovery and development process. Given the prevalence of the nitrogen atom in small molecule drugs, improved methods for C–N bond installation are in high demand. Heteroatom transfer reagents such as oxaziridines and diazirines can be used to selectively deliver nitrogen atom(s) to organic compounds. Herein, I’ll describe my work utilizing Armstrong’s oxaziridine (TBDOT) in peptide backbone modification, and diazirines (TPD) in the development of a hydroamination reaction.

Peptide backbone N-amination has emerged as an attractive peptidomimetic strategy in the design of amyloid aggregation inhibitors. In addition …

Intouch Week Of March 13, 2023, New York Medical College

InTouch

• NYMC Proudly Displays Donated Portrait of William Cullen Bryant
• NYMC Supports Relief Efforts for Victims of Turkey and Syria Earthquake
• NYMC and TU Set to Host Webinar Series: “Ninety Minutes: The Medical Magazine of the Web”
• Carl Edouard Jn Pierre, M.D. ’22, Aided Haitians During the 2010 Earthquake and Gained a New Interest in Medicine

High-Risk Sexual Behavior In Nebraska Adolescents; History, Risk Factors, And Mediation, Kiya Hudson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

High-risk sexual behavior is a public health crisis that impacts adolescents at staggering rates. In Nebraska, rates of sexually transmitted infection (STI) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases have been on the rise over the last four years. The problem this paper addresses is the need to fill in the gaps in knowledge surrounding high-risk sexual behavior in Nebraska adolescents. It is important to address these gaps in knowledge because currently, we are failing our adolescents when it comes to providing them with all of the necessary skills, information, and tools to lead a healthy life. When we know how …

Deconstructing And Decolonizing Identities Of “Gender” And “Sex” When Viewed As Anti-Black: Black Narratives Outside Of The Binary, Didier Salgado

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How is “Reality” experienced in the Black body? Is “Reality” an objective article which is outside of the realm of personal experience? Assigned sex is often assumed an objective biological phenomenon that exists everywhere and in all communities. Gender is often thought about as a socially constructed form of identity which is expressed in various ways. In this thesis, I critically examine the terror of “reality” on the Black body, looking at the ways that Black people who’ve experienced discomfort with gender and sex categories experience the “world” around them. Diving deeply into their own experiences and the meanings they …

Characterizing The Editing Modes Of Duplicated Leucyl-Trna Synthetases In The Archaea Sulfolobus Islandicus, Evan T. Strandquist

Theses and Dissertations

Aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases (aaRSs) catalyze the attachment of an amino acid to the 3’-end of a cognate tRNA in a two-step reaction, fulfilling a pivotal role in RNA translation by providing “charged” tRNA for protein synthesis. Synthetases possess a catalytic core where amino acids are activated via adenylation with the subsequent transfer of that activated amino acid to the acceptor adenosine at position 76 of the tRNA sequence.1,2 The fidelity of tRNA aminoacylation is essential for faithful protein synthesis and requires the aaRS to discriminate against chemically and structurally similar amino acids, though some studies suggest that aaRS-dependent errors can …

Nature, Nurture, And The Meaning Of Educational Attainment: Differences By Sex And Socioeconomic Status, Thalida Em Arpawong, Margaret Gatz, Catalina Zavala, Tara L. Gruenewald, Ellen E. Walters, Carol A. Prescott

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Estimated heritability of educational attainment (EA) varies widely, from 23% to 80%, with growing evidence suggesting the degree to which genetic variation contributes to individual differences in EA is highly dependent upon situational factors. We aimed to decompose EA into influences attributable to genetic propensity and to environmental context and their interplay, while considering influences of rearing household economic status (HES) and sex. We use the Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study, drawn from the population-representative cohort of high school students assessed in 1960 and followed through 2014, to ages 68−72. Data from 3552 twins and siblings from 1741 families …

Chatting And Cheating: Ensuring Academic Integrity In The Era Of Chatgpt, Dre Cotton, Pa Cotton, Jr Shipway

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The use of artificial intelligence in academia is a hot topic in the education field. ChatGPT is an AI tool that offers a range of benefits, including increased student engagement, collaboration, and accessibility. However, is also raises concerns regarding academic honesty and plagiarism. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges of using ChatGPT in higher education, and discusses the potential risks and rewards of these tools. The paper also considers the difficulties of detecting and preventing academic dishonesty, and suggests strategies that universities can adopt to ensure ethical and responsible use of these tools. These strategies include developing policies and …

It's Harder Than It Looks: How Students Identify Original Research Articles In An Undergraduate Biology Course, Alyssa Russo, Amy Jankowski

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Biology students must develop a foundational understanding about the role information plays in the scientific research process. Key to this is understanding that original research articles are the primary method of communicating findings from original scientific research. We analyzed data from an information literacy tutorial and worksheet integrated in a core undergraduate biology course to investigate how students identify original research articles. Our results suggest that students conceptually comprehend original research, but they need practice at identifying original research articles in real time and benefit from librarian feedback when they are actively searching for and selecting articles.

Summer Research Enrichment: An Asynchronous, Multi-Disciplinary, Scholarly Publishing Module, Michelle Price, Kristin F. Picardo

Lavery Library Faculty/Staff Publications

At St. John Fisher University, a primarily undergraduate institution in upstate New York, undergraduates in any major can participate in a ten-week intensive Summer Fellows Research Program overseen by the Center for Student Research and Creative Work. Students partner with faculty or staff mentors to dive deep into a disciplinary question or topic, learning the methods for research study along with their mentor. Oftentimes, students drive the question design themselves, further enhancing their experience in this high-impact practice. Throughout the program, students and mentors are supported through stipends, supply funds, professional development and community building sessions, and dissemination opportunities.

Functional States Of Myeloid Cells In Cancer, Lilian Van Vlerken-Ysla, Yulia Y Tyurina, Valerian E Kagan, Dmitry I Gabrilovich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Myeloid cells, comprised of macrophages, dendritic cells, monocytes, and granulocytes, represent a major component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) and are critically involved in regulation of tumor progression and metastasis. In recent years, single-cell omics technologies have identified multiple phenotypically distinct subpopulations. In this review, we discuss recent data and concepts suggesting that the biology of myeloid cells is largely defined by a very limited number of functional states that transcend the narrowly defined cell populations. These functional states are primarily centered around classical and pathological states of activation, with the latter state commonly defined as myeloid-derived suppressor cells. We …

Reverse Phase Protein Array Profiling Identifies Recurrent Protein Expression Patterns Of Dna Damage-Related Proteins Across Acute And Chronic Leukemia: Samples From Adults And The Children's Oncology Group, Fieke W Hoff, Ti'ara L Griffen, Brandon D Brown, Terzah M Horton, Jan Burger, Stefan E Hubner, Steven M Kornblau

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

DNA damage response (DNADR) recognition and repair (DDR) pathways affect carcinogenesis and therapy responsiveness in cancers, including leukemia. We measured protein expression levels of 16 DNADR and DDR proteins using the Reverse Phase Protein Array methodology in acute myeloid (AML) (n = 1310), T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) (n = 361) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (n = 795) cases. Clustering analysis identified five protein expression clusters; three were unique compared to normal CD34+ cells. Individual protein expression differed by disease for 14/16 proteins, with five highest in CLL and nine in T-ALL, and by age in …

The P323l Substitution In The Sars-Cov-2 Polymerase (Nsp12) Confers A Selective Advantage During Infection, Hannah Goldswain, Xiaofeng Dong, Rebekah Penrice-Randal, Muhannad Alruwaili, Ghada T Shawli, Maia Kavanagh Williamson, Nadine Randle, Benjamin Jones, I'Ah Donovan-Banfield, Francisco J Salguero, Julia A Tree, Yper Hall, Catherine Hartley, Maximilian Erdmann, James Bazire, Tuksin Jearanaiwitayakul, Malcolm G Semple, Peter J M Openshaw, J Kenneth Baillie, Isaric4c Investigators, Stevan R Emmett, Paul Digard, David A Matthews, Lance Turtle, Alistair C Darby, Andrew D Davidson, Miles W Carroll, Julian A Hiscox

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The mutational landscape of SARS-CoV-2 varies at the dominant viral genome sequence and minor genomic variant population. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an early substitution in the genome was the D614G change in the spike protein, associated with an increase in transmissibility. Genomes with D614G are accompanied by a P323L substitution in the viral polymerase (NSP12). However, P323L is not thought to be under strong selective pressure.

RESULTS: Investigation of P323L/D614G substitutions in the population shows rapid emergence during the containment phase and early surge phase during the first wave. These substitutions emerge from minor genomic variants which become dominant …

Tritium: Its Relevance, Sources And Impacts On Non-Human Biota, Maria Florencia Ferreira, Andrew Turner, Emily L. Vernon, Christian Grisolia, Laurence Lebaron-Jacobs, Veronique Malard, Awadhesh N. Jha

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Tritium (3H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is abundantly released from nuclear industries. It is extremely mobile in the environment and in all biological systems, representing an increasing concern for the health of both humans and non-human biota (NHB). The present review examines the sources and characteristics of tritium in the environment, and evaluates available information pertaining to its biological effects at different levels of biological organisation in NHB. Despite an increasing number of publications in the tritium radiobiology field, there exists a significant disparity between data available for the different taxonomic groups and species, and observations are …

Making Music With Enzymes, E Miranda

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Erbb- And Muc1-Targetted Car-T Cell Immunotherapy Of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Saffron E. Summers, Vehid Salih, Andrew D. Foey

Peninsula Dental School

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy has shown great success in treating B cell malignancies however, there are many challenges which limit their therapeutic efficacy in solid tumours. Immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), and in particular, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), presents a unique set of challenges including lack of consistently expressed tumour associated antigens (TAAs) and the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment (TME). Currently, there are few clinical trials investigating the use of CAR-T cells in HNSCC/OSCC however results from trials investigating similar solid tumours, such as breast cancer, can be adopted to help evaluate the …

Prognostication Of Dna Damage Response Protein Expression Patterns In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Ti'ara L Griffen, Fieke W Hoff, Yihua Qiu, Jan Burger, William Wierda

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Proteomic DNA Damage Repair (DDR) expression patterns in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia were characterized by quantifying and clustering 24 total and phosphorylated DDR proteins. Overall, three protein expression patterns (C1-C3) were identified and were associated as an independent predictor of distinct patient overall survival outcomes. Patients within clusters C1 and C2 had poorer survival outcomes and responses to fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituxan chemotherapy compared to patients within cluster C3. However, DDR protein expression patterns were not prognostic in more modern therapies with BCL2 inhibitors or a BTK/PI3K inhibitor. Individually, nine of the DDR proteins were prognostic for predicting overall survival and/or …

Eco-Relational Aesthetics: Wandering Around Dualistic Ruins, Elena Mancioppi

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.