Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Protein-Coding Variants On Blood Metabolite Measurements And Clinical Biomarkers In The Uk Biobank, Abhishek Nag, Ryan S Dhindsa, Lawrence Middleton, Xiao Jiang, Dimitrios Vitsios, Eleanor Wigmore, Erik L Allman, Anna Reznichenko, Keren Carss, Katherine R Smith, Quanli Wang, Benjamin Challis, Dirk S Paul, Andrew R Harper, Slavé Petrovski

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have established the contribution of common and low-frequency variants to metabolic blood measurements in the UK Biobank (UKB). To complement existing GWAS findings, we assessed the contribution of rare protein-coding variants in relation to 355 metabolic blood measurements-including 325 predominantly lipid-related nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-derived blood metabolite measurements (Nightingale Health Plc) and 30 clinical blood biomarkers-using 412,393 exome sequences from four genetically diverse ancestries in the UKB. Gene-level collapsing analyses were conducted to evaluate a diverse range of rare-variant architectures for the metabolic blood measurements. Altogether, we identified significant associations (p < 1 × 10

Quantification Of Hydraulic Trait Control On Plant Hydrodynamics And Risk Of Hydraulic Failure Within A Demographic Structured Vegetation Model In A Tropical Forest (Fates–Hydro V1.0), Chonggang Xu, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Zachary Robbins, Ryan G. Knox, Rosie A. Fisher, Rutuja Chitra-Tarak, Martijn Slot, Kurt C. Solander, Lara M. Kueppers, Charles D. Koven, Nate G. Mcdowell

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

Vegetation plays a key role in the global carbon cycle and thus is an important component within Earth system models (ESMs) that project future climate. Many ESMs are adopting methods to resolve plant size and ecosystem disturbance history, using vegetation demographic models. These models make it feasible to conduct more realistic simulation of processes that control vegetation dynamics. Meanwhile, increasing understanding of the processes governing plant water use, and ecosystem responses to drought in particular, has led to the adoption of dynamic plant water transport (i.e., hydrodynamic) schemes within ESMs. However, the extent to which variations in plant hydraulic traits …

The Kenyon Collegian - March 2, 2023

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Developing A Community Chaplaincy Ministry: Through A Need Satisfaction Care Model For A Native Language Church, Shanti Samuel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Believers in Jesus Christ are mandated to "go" into the world, and caring for people is part of the seeking. God has provided models and processes of His care in the scriptures. A chaplain holds spiritual care functions outside the church's four walls on the field. Unfortunately, many Asian Indian Americans in the booming immigrant population have not received care. Therefore, this action research thesis assumes need-based church training to build a culture-sensitive model of care to provide care. This research project explored the causes and impediments to care through participative sessions with the spiritual care provider volunteers of the …

School Connectedness In American Style Comprehensive And European Style Tracking Secondary Schools, Diana Csaki

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Schools are often considered a community nested within a community. A caring school environment contributes to community and belongingness among students. School connectedness, the belief held by students that adults and peers in the school care about their learning and about them as individuals, is viewed as a construct comprising affective, behavioral and cognitive dimensions. School connectedness among students in the United States has been shown as a predictor of adolescent health and academic outcomes with positive feelings of school connectedness linked to positive outcomes. School connectedness research often centers on children and early adolescents and less over the high …

A Phenomenological Study Of How Active Engagement In Black Greek Letter Sororities Influences Christian Members' Spiritual Growth, Lorraine Mary Aragon

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study explored how being part of a Black Greek Letter. Organization (BGLO) sorority impacts the spiritual growth of its Christian members. One of the issues explored was the influence relationships within these sororities have on members striving to be like Christ. There is a dichotomy of perspectives regarding Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs). They have a significant role in the Black community as organizations that foster leadership, philanthropy, and sisterhood and promote education. They are admired on and off college campuses and in the broader community in graduate chapters. The objective of phenomenology is to describe phenomena of …

United States Female Veterans’ Reintegration: Perceived Needs Of Social And Psychological Support, Lisa Marie Grazioso

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The United States military service members dedicate a period of their lives, some their entire life, to protecting and upholding the United States Constitution. While the United States military service members go through many transitions throughout their military career, all but their transition to civilian life include mentors and have a step-by-step action plan or checklist to prepare them for their next position or move. Often, female Veterans and their needs during reintegration into civilian life are overlooked. The purpose of this research study aimed to examine the relationships between perceived stress, satisfaction with life, and reintegration into civilian life …

Lived Experiences Of Co-Teachers Including Students With Emotional Behavioral Disabilities: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Jessica Lynn Masters

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of elementary educators in a large suburban district who have engaged in the co-teaching model to support the reintegration of students with or at risk for emotional and behavioral disabilities from self-contained classrooms to the general education classroom. The theories that guided this research were the theory of planned behavior, developed and refined by Ajzen, and the attribution theory, developed by Weiner. Together, these theories support the connection between teacher factors, teacher perspectives, and predictable engagement in the behavior, such as supporting and facilitating inclusion for students …

Zero Torque Compliant Mechanisms Employing Pre-Buckled Beams, Pietro Bilancia, Samuel Porter Smith, Giovanni Berselli, Spencer P. Magleby, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

The concept of a statically balanced mechanism with a single rotational degree of freedom is presented. The proposed device achieves static balancing by combining positive stiff- ness elements and negative stiffness elements within a nuclear domain. Two designs are discussed. The first is composed of an Archimedean spiral and two pinned-pinned pre-buckled beams. The overall mechanism is modeled via an analytical approach and the element dimensions are optimized. The optimal configuration is then tested through finite element analysis (FEA). A second approach replaces the spiral beam with elastic custom-shaped spline beams. An FEA optimization is performed to determine the shape …

Georgia Academy Of Science 2023 Annual Meeting Program, Al Mead, Dominic Desantis, Hasitha Mahabaduge, Samuel Mutiti, Kristine White, Cason Kelley

Georgia Journal of Science

This is the program of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Academy of Science.

Meeting Minutes, Wku Staff Council

Staff Council

Minutes of March 2023 meeting.

The Process Of The Intergenerational Succession Of Leadership In A Family Business, Bojan Dolar, Roberto Biloslavo

Economic and Business Review

Background and objective: In this paper, we explore first-generation leadership succession in family businesses which, despite extensive literature on the subject, remains insufficiently understood. Our goal is to acquire new knowledge and understanding regarding this phenomenon with a view to making it more effective.

Method: The basis of our research is a qualitative multiple case study that includes six medium-sized manufacturing family businesses. We conducted semi-structured interviews with incumbents, successors and family representatives, and analysed the data obtained using the content analysis method.

Results: The data analysis and interpretation led to a definition of the category “The way ahead: the …

Sex In Church: The Christian Vocation Of Sexuality Within The Ecclesial Community, Sarah Talena Rusche

Master of Art Theology Thesis

Rusche, Sarah Talena. “Sex in Church: The Christian Vocation of Sexuality Within the Ecclesial Community.” Master’s thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2023. 71 pp.

Sex is characterized as an individualistic endeavor by both Christian and non-Christian thinkers. The culture of the world gives license to every individual to choose what kind of sexual experiences they would like to give and receive, while the culture of Christianity isolates individuals navigating the complexities of sexuality. In response to this individualism, this thesis argues that a faithful sexual ethic orders itself according to God’s will for His creation by considering the needs of the ecclesial …

Reflect To Connect, Sophia Rae Guzules

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

Engineering statics is an important course and a prerequisite for many subsequent courses for many engineering majors. It is often students’ first exposure to technical engineering sciences. Most statics concepts are addressed in ways disconnected from students’ prior experiences and interests. Utility Value Interventions (UVIs) have been employed in fields like biology and chemistry to help students connect concepts in class and their lives outside the classroom. However, UVI usage in engineering so far has been limited. In this Senior Project paper, I will describe the process that the team Critical Research in Engineering and Technology Education (CREATE) and I …

Tanaidacea - Recent Scholarship (2000-Present), Gary Anderson

Tanaidacea - Recent Scholarship

No abstract provided.

College Of Graduate Programs And Honors Studies Newsletter - March 2023, College Of Graduate Programs And Honors Studies, Wright State University

College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies Newsletter

An eight page newsletter created by the College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies at Wright State University. This newsletter includes a upcoming events, message from the dean, and more.

The Gazette March 1, 2023, Langston University

LU Gazette, 2020-2029

The student newspaper for Langston University

The Afit Engineer, Volume 5, Issue 1, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology

AFIT Documents

In this issue:

• 2023 Graduation
• WMD research at AFIT
• NOAA aerosol research at AFIT
• AFIT Model Shop

Pan-Arctic Soil Moisture Control On Tundra Carbon Sequestration And Plant Productivity, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Koen Hufkens, Beniamino Gioli, Barbara Bailey, George Burba, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Jennifer D. Watts, Kyle A. Arndt, Mary Farina, John S. Kimball, Martin Heimann, Mathias Göckede, Martijn Pallandt, Torben R. Christensen, Mikhail Mastepanov, Efrén López-Blanco, Albertus J. Dolman, Roisin Commane, Charles E. Miller, Josh Hashemi, Lars Kutzbach, David Holl, Julia Boike, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Elyn R. Humphreys, Oliver Sonnentag, Gesa Meyer, Gabriel H. Gosselin, Philip Marsh, Walter C. Oechel

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Long-term atmospheric CO₂ concentration records have suggested a reduction in the positive effect of warming on high-latitude carbon uptake since the 1990s. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reduced net carbon sink of northern ecosystems with increased air temperature, including water stress on vegetation and increased respiration over recent decades. However, the lack of consistent long-term carbon flux and in situ soil moisture data has severely limited our ability to identify the mechanisms responsible for the recent reduced carbon sink strength. In this study, we used a record of nearly 100 site-years of eddy covariance …

Molecular Peptide Grafting As A Tool To Create Novel Protein Therapeutics, Anton A. Komar

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

The study of peptides (synthetic or corresponding to discrete regions of proteins) has facilitated the understanding of protein structure-activity relationships. Short peptides can also be used as powerful therapeutic agents. However, the functional activity of many short peptides is usually substantially lower than that of their parental proteins. This is (as a rule) due to their diminished structural organization, stability, and solubility often leading to an enhanced propensity for aggregation. Several approaches have emerged to overcome these limitations, which are aimed at imposing structural constraints into the backbone and/or sidechains of the therapeutic peptides (such as molecular stapling, peptide backbone …

Hypothalamic Menin Regulates Systemic Aging And Cognitive Decline, Lige Leng, Et. Al, Jingqi Yan, Jie Zhang

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Aging is a systemic process, which is a risk factor for impaired physiological functions, and finally death. The molecular mechanisms driving aging process and the associated cognitive decline are not fully understood. The hypothalamus acts as the arbiter that orchestrates systemic aging through neuroinflammatory signaling. Our recent findings revealed that Menin plays important roles in neuroinflammation and brain development. Here, we found that the hypothalamic Menin signaling diminished in aged mice, which correlates with systemic aging and cognitive deficits. Restoring Menin expression in ventromedial nucleus of hypothalamus (VMH) of aged mice extended lifespan, improved learning and memory, and ameliorated aging …

Center For Grassland Studies, March 2023

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

New Assistant Director for The Center for Grassland Studies, David Wedin

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Jerry Volesky (Interim Director)

Congratulations December 2022 Graduates

New Grazing Lands Ecologist for Grassland Studies, Nic McMillan

New Administrative Associate for Grassland Studies, Ashley Branting

Apply Now for CGS Scholarships and Assistantship, https://grassland.unl.edu/grassland-systems/grazing-livestock-scholarships

New Guidelines for Reducing Eastern Redcedar in Grasslands by Dillon Fogarty

Year One Barta Brothers Ranch Collaborative Adaptive Management Update by Craig Allen

Nebraska Grazing Conference, August 8-9, 2023 by Daren Redfearn

Forty Years Reflection on Grassland Fire Weather by David Wedin

Nebraska Youth Range …

Biochar Application: A Sustainable Approach To Improve Soil Health, Shubh Pravat Singh Yadav, Sujan Bhandari, Dibya Bhatta, Anju Poudel, Susmita Bhattarai, Puja Yadav, Netra Ghimire, Prava Paudel, Pragya Paudel, Jiban Shrestha, Biplov Oli

Extension Publications

Soil is a fundamental part of successful agriculture, and its quality has to be improved to maximize crop yield and soil fertility. To increase crop productivity and soil fertility, biochar can be applied to the soil. Biochar is a solid carbon-rich product produced from biomass of agricultural crop residues, wastes, and wood, through pyrolysis in an oxygen-deficient condition. Carbon sequestration through biochar is important because of its potential applications in recycling wastes, retaining nutrients in the soil and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. In this review, we explore the various applications of biochar to ensure the safe and sustainable …

Wofford Today Spring 2023, Wofford College. Office Of Marketing And Communications

Wofford Today

No abstract provided.

Child Abuse In Residential Homes Of Ghana, Alyssa Minor

Ballard Brief

Children placed in residential homes in Ghana suffer from physical violence and physical neglect more often than children in family-based homes. In overcrowded residential homes, many basic needs are often not being met, and the use of physical violence is common due to inadequate funding, lack of training, lack of clear policies, and years of normalizing violent disciplinary actions. This problem of child abuse within residential homes of Ghana creates financial burdens on the country and negative psychosocial effects for children suffering from neglect or physical violence, hindering their ability to reach their full earnings potential. Very few interventions have …

#Blackatuark: Digital Counterpublic Memories Of Anti-Black Racism On Campus, T. Jake Dionne, Joe Hatfield, Gabrielle Willingham

Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations

After #BlackLivesMatter protests in summer 2020, many leaders in the US South reevaluated monuments dedicated to the confederate and segregation eras. Black affiliates of the University of Arkansas used the Twitter hashtag #BlackatUARK to demand the removal of memorials commemorating a segregationist senator and share their experiences of anti-Black racism on campus. We argue that #BlackatUARK provides a counterpublic memorial of campus life that opposes and transforms dominant public memories, geographies, and subjectivities. Our analysis of the hashtag expands the conceptual boundaries of the kairos/metanoia partnership to show how digital counterpublic memories gain momentum and produce tangible rhetorical effects across …

Dna Assays For Genetic Discrimination Of Three Phragmites Australis Subspecies In The United States, Denise L. Lindsay, Xin Guan, Nathan E. Harms, James T. Cronin, Laura A. Meyerson, Richard F. Lance

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Premise: To genetically discriminate subspecies of the common reed (Phragmites australis), we developed real-time quantitative (qPCR) assays for identifying P. australis subsp. americanus, P. australis subsp. australis, and P. australis subsp. berlandieri.

Methods and Results: Utilizing study-generated chloroplast DNA sequences, we developed three novel qPCR assays. Assays were verified on individuals of each subspecies and against two non-target species, Arundo donax and Phalaris arundinacea. One assay amplifies only P. australis subsp. americanus, one amplifies P. australis subsp. australis and/or P. australis subsp. berlandieri, and one amplifies P. australis …

A Preliminary Volterra Lotka Model Analysing Cancer, Intracellular Parasite, And Immune Cells Interaction, Nadia Boutabba, Gehan Abuelenain

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of immune and tumor cell densities in the presence of a parasite using the prey- predator Volterra-Lotka model in a biological system, assuming that the parasite is either a down or up-regulator of the induced immune cells. Thus, we analysed the model for equal and non equal initial conditions and report their impact on the populations growth.

Predictive Analysis Of Misuse Of Alcohol And Drugs Using Machine Learning Algorithms: The Case Of Using An Imbalanced Dataset From South Africa, Alexander Boateng, Christopher Odoom, Eric Teye Mensah, Sarah Mensah Fobi, Daniel Maposa

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

Drug and alcohol misuse has become a significant global distraction to the development of the youths and future leaders, especially in South Africa. The ideal solution to these unhealthy practices is for institutions, governments, and individuals to put preventive measures such as counselling, sanctions, and fines to help control drug and alcohol misuse. However, it is challenging to know the group of people or individuals engaged in such deteriorating activities by merely monitoring individuals physically. It makes it difficult even to plan the measures to control the issue. Therefore this paper has applied and compared six supervised machine learning algorithms …

Survey On Linear Integral Equations And The Laguerre Polynomials, Muhammad Hakim Ali Qasmi, Ali Hasan, Ali Akgu ̈L, Muhammad Farman, Salem M. Aljazzar, Faisal Al-Showaikh

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

In this paper, we dealt with Integral Equations (IEs). Many real-world problems are modeled in the form of IEs. Nowadays, IEs are used frequently as a replacement for Differential Equations. There are various methods to deal with IEs such as ADM, VIM, and HPM, etc. Here in this work, we used Galerkin Method. In this method, we considered Laguerre Polynomials (some other polynomials may also be used). In the method, the Galerkin equation is solved by using Maple Code for getting unknown constants, solutions, and Graphs.