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Morphological And Autofluorescence Signatures For The Identification Of Vaginal Cells In Mixture Samples Containing Saliva And/Or Epidermal Cells, Hannah L. Burden

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

In forensic casework the identification of body fluids at a crime scene can frequently play an important role in reconstructing the events that occurred. There are several bodily fluid identification methods to characterize unknown stains recovered as evidence. However, there has not been a reliable method for detecting the presence vaginal cells and/or differentiate it from other forensically relevant tissue types that may be recovered from a crime scene. The detection of vaginal fluid is important for forensic casework due to the abundance of sexual assault kits that are not only backlogged but continue to be submitted to the lab …

Nitrate-Stimulated Release Of Naturally Occurring Sedimentary Uranium, Jeffrey Westrop, Pooja Yadav, Pj Nolan, Kate M. Campbell, Rajesh Singh, Sharon E. Bone, Alicia H. Chan, Anthony Kohtz, Donald Pan, Olivia Healy, John R. Bargar, Daniel D. Snow, Karrie A. Weber

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Groundwater uranium (U) concentrations have been measured above the U.S. EPA maximum contaminant level (30 μg/L) in many U.S. aquifers, including in areas not associated with anthropogenic contamination by milling or mining. In addition to carbonate, nitrate has been correlated to uranium groundwater concentrations in two major U.S. aquifers. However, to date, direct evidence that nitrate mobilizes naturally occurring U from aquifer sediments has not been presented. Here, we demonstrate that the influx of high-nitrate porewater through High Plains alluvial aquifer silt sediments bearing naturally occurring U(IV) can stimulate a nitrate-reducing microbial community capable of catalyzing the oxidation and mobilization …

Regulation Of Cathepsin L Expression And Activity By Cell Confluence And The Circadian Clock, Prashant Gaikwad

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Cathepsin L is a lysosomal cysteine protease that is encoded by the CTSL gene in humans. Previous results have shown that CTSL expression and activity towards the DNA repair protein XPA are elevated in lysates of confluent/quiescent HaCaT keratinocytes. Because other nuclear proteins, including 53BP1 and histone H3, have also been reported to be CTSL substrates under conditions of cell differentiation, senescence, or quiescence, CTSL expression and activity (cleavage) of multiple nuclear proteins was examined in lysates from HaCaT cells and other cell lines at various days after plating and cell confluency. Our study found that adding CTSL inhibitors to …

Anomaly Detection In Multi-Seasonal Time Series Data, Ashton Taylor Williams

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Most of today’s time series data contain anomalies and multiple seasonalities, and accurate anomaly detection in these data is critical to almost any type of business. However, most mainstream forecasting models used for anomaly detection can only incorporate one or no seasonal component into their forecasts and cannot capture every known seasonal pattern in time series data. In this thesis, we propose a new multi-seasonal forecasting model for anomaly detection in time series data that extends the popular Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model. Our model, named multi-SARIMA, utilizes a time series dataset’s multiple pre-determined seasonal trends to increase …

Comparative Study Of Mof's In Phosphate Adsorption, Eniya Karunamurthy

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High concentrations of phosphate are known to adversely affect the environment. Excess phosphate can lead to eutrophication that eventually fosters uncontrollable growth of aquatic plants and algae. This can result in depletion of oxygen content which adversely impacts underwater organism’s survival rates. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) consist of organic linkers in conjunction with metal ions or clusters arranged within a crystalline structure. They are highly porous and have larger surface area due to their ability to possess extensive void spaces while remaining bulky in nature. MOFs can absorb phosphate from aqueous solutions. We have investigated the use of commercially available …

Autonomy :A Modern Perspective, Riley Schwanz

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Organizational leaders want to retain employees who are healthy and motivated. Physical and mental health issues are on the rise in America for younger and older generations. Researchers have found that higher levels of autonomy relate to improved mental health, physical health, job satisfaction, performance, and the list goes on. However, a gap in the literature is a lack of understanding of the complex relationships between autonomy and outcomes, both functional and dysfunctional. I found that intrinsic motivation and autonomy support can compensate for lower levels of autonomy in one’s work. These new findings provide researchers and organizational leaders with …

Quantifying The Effects Of Dredged Sediment Application On Soil Properties And Plant Responses In Combination With Common Agricultural Field Management Practices, Ashley N. Julian

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Successful crop production relies on soils with balanced physical, chemical and biological properties. Demand for greater crop yields has led to the breakdown of soil properties through detrimental agricultural practices. To combat soil degradation, farmers employ field management practices including cover crop application, crop rotation strategies and organic soil amendment addition. These practices, used independently or in combination, can improve soil stability, increase soil nutrient content and functions of beneficial soil microbiota while increasing crop yield. Despite showing promise as an organic soil amendment, dredged sediments are still not well understood, due in part to the fresh or weathered conditions …

Development And Validation Of A Norm Violation Sexual Harassment Scale, Krista N. Harris

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Sexual harassment continues to be an important area of study. However, there’s a dearth of research regarding sexual harassment towards others that considers sex, gender, and sexual orientation. Previous research has suggested that gender harassment and heterosexist harassment are intertwined (Leskinen & Cortina, 2014), but little research has examined how the empirical and conceptual overlap of gender harassment and heterosexist harassment could allude to a more general construct, norm violation sexual harassment. Norm violation sexual harassment is an overarching construct focusing on norm violations rather than sex, gender, or sexual orientation specifically. Using two samples, my study demonstrates evidence for …

Kv2.1 Dysfunction Underlies The Onset Of Symptoms In Sod1-G93a Mouse Model Of Als, Andrew J. Deutsch

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease which targets motoneurons (MNs), yet underlying disease mechanisms are not well understood. Evaluating the intrinsic excitability of MNs in ALS could lead to a better understanding of mechanisms causing neurodegeneration. The SOD1-G93A (SOD) model is the most commonly studied animal model of ALS. However, past studies have shown highly conflicting results on SOD MN excitability. Interestingly, I show that depending on the level of membrane depolarization, SOD MNs show opposite results of both hyper- and hypo-excitability. This reveals that differences in the methodology of measuring excitability can heavily impact the study results. …

Lipin1 Improves Membrane Integrity In Dystrophic Muscles Of Mdx Mice, Abdulrahman Jama

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked genetic disorder that affects 1 in 3500 male births worldwide. It is characterized by mutations in the dystrophin gene that results in the loss of functional dystrophin. Dystrophin deficiency leads to instability of the sarcolemma alongside increased inflammation, necrosis and fibrosis resulting in membrane rupture and eventual muscle fiber death. There are currently no effective treatments for DMD. Here we show that Lipin1 expression is significantly downregulated at the mRNA and protein levels in gastrocnemius muscle of mdx mice, the DMD mouse model. Lipin1 has a dual function as a phosphatidic acid phosphatase …

The Effect Of Pomegranate Consumption On The Gut Microbiome, Brant Bandow

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Pomegranate is known to have antioxidant and prebiotic qualities that have been shown to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria while reducing inflammation in the gut. Inflammation in the gut is an issue that results in many health problems including obesity and colon cancer. In this study, an experimental group received a daily pomegranate supplement for three weeks where a control group did not receive any supplement. After sequencing gDNA isolated from fecal samples from both before and after the trial period there was a significant difference between the two groups. The largest amount of variability is attributed to the …

A Fecal Survey To Evaluate The Prevalence Of Enteric Viruses In Laboratory Mice, Amina Khatun

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The study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of four enteric viruses in mouse research facilities that may not be captured by routine pathogen screening. Fecal samples were collected from contact-sentinel mouse cages between April 2022 and January 2023, and screened for the presence of viral genome by RT-qPCR. Out of a total of 50 samples, murine norovirus and murine astrovirus were detected in two (4%) and one (2%) sample, respectively, while murine adenovirus and murine rotavirus were not detected. Furthermore, all samples were screened for the presence of infectious murine noroviruses and astroviruses using the RAW264.7 and Vero cells …

Deciphering The Pathway Of Human Astrovirus Release From Infected Cells, Joshua Eduful

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During infection, viruses are released from infected cells and spread to neighboring cells either through a lytic pathway (by rupturing cells), a non-lytic pathway (such as the use of extracellular vesicles), or both pathways. Human astroviruses (HAstV) are highly prevalent non-enveloped positive sense RNA viruses. They are separated into three clades, classic-type, MLB-type and VA-type, in humans. They are identified as the third leading cause of viral gastroenteritis in children, the elderly, and immunocompromised patients. Yet, little is known about the replication, transmission, immunity, and epidemiology of these viruses. Thus, I sought to investigate the possible pathways HAstV utilize to …

Characterization Of The Roles Of Mitochondria In The Toxicity Of Α-Synuclein In A Respiratory Cell Model, Breonna Elizabeth Gillespie

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Although α-synuclein (α-syn) has been linked genetically and pathologically to Parkinson’s disease, the mechanism by which it drives disease pathogenesis is not fully understood. When α-syn is overexpressed in yeast, it forms abnormal cytoplasmic accumulations and leads to cell death, resembling the phenotypes observed in neurons. Such yeast models have been widely used to uncover molecular mechanisms of α-syn toxicity, but the induction of α-syn relies on growing yeast in galactose, a fermentable carbon source. Yeast does not require cellular respiration when grown in galactose, thus limiting the understanding of α-syn toxicity when cellular respiration is essential for neurons. We …

A Novel Role Of Lipin1 In The Regulation Of Expression And Function Of Nnos, Ayat Azzam

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Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe and progressive muscular dystrophy that develops in the skeletal muscles because of mutations in the dystrophin gene. Dystrophin stabilizes sarcolemma and assembles neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) into the dystrophin-associated protein complex on the sarcolemma. The absence of dystrophin triggers the delocalization of nNOS and contributes to the misregulation of muscle development, blood flow, muscle fatigue, and inflammation. Lipin1 was reduced in the skeletal muscles of patients with DMD and the mdx mouse model of DMD. In this study, we explored the role of lipin1 in the regulation of nNOS expression and function. …

Characterization Of Atr Kinase Function In Quiescent Human Keratinocytes When Exposed To Solar Simulating Uv Radiation, Hrishikesh Tryambak Kadam

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Cell cycle control, DNA repair, and cell survival have all been linked to the ataxia-telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) kinase, a vital part of the DNA damage response system. In this work, we looked at the role of ATR kinase in human keratinocytes that were dormant and exposed to solar simulating light (SSL). Our findings demonstrated that SSL activates the ATR kinase, phosphorylating downstream substrates such as KAP1, Chk2, and H2AX. In addition, we noticed that quiescent keratinocytes exposed to SSL experienced a decrease in viability when ATR kinase activity was inhibited. Our research indicates that in quiescent keratinocytes exposed to …

Validation Of A Cell Line Model For Studying Xpd Protein Function In Nucleotide Excision Repair, Naga Swathi Sree Kavuri

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The various environmental factors like toxic chemicals, chemotherapeutic agents and UV radiation impact human health by altering physiological functions of the normal living cells. One of the main consequences of exposure to these factors is DNA damage. Although, living system have inherent DNA repair mechanisms such as Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER), which removes DNA lesions from the genome in the form of small, approximately 30-nt-long DNA oligonucleotides. The accumulation of unrepaired DNA adducts as a result of this NER deficiency causes a variety of syndromes, including Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP), Cockayne Syndrome, Neurological syndrome, and carcinoma of skin. To understand more …

Dna Instability At (Attct) Microsatellites In Human Cells, Venicia Alhawach

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Microsatellites are short tandem repeats of DNA (1-9 nucleotides) that are unstable in the genome. They can expand and contract which leads to mutations and rearrangements that jeopardize genomic integrity. When encountered by a replication fork, repeats of these microsatellites can form non-B DNA structures which cause replication forks to stall and collapse eventually leading to double stranded breaks (DSBs) and replication stress. One form of repair of replication dependent DSBs happens via break induced replication (BIR), a highly mutagenic repair pathway. The main objective of this study is to understand how ATTCT pentanucleotide repeats affect replication and chromosomal instability …

Microsatellite Induced Genomic Instability And Mutagenesis Through Break Induced Replication, Rujuta Yashodhan Gadgil

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Faithful DNA replication is essential to maintain genomic integrity. Compromises in this process are among the prime causes of cancer and other genetic disorders. Among several factors that can interfere with error-free DNA replication, the formation of non-B DNA structures by microsatellite sequences is critical. Microsatellites are 1-9 bp long tandem repetitive regions that can form secondary structures like hairpins, triplex, Gquadruplex etc. and undergo expansions due to replication fork stalling to cause several diseases. Hairpin forming microsatellites have been shown to induce DNA DSBs and lead to genetic instability and mutagenesis. The goal of this study is to understand …

Repeated Occupational-Level Exposure To The Pesticide Malathion Leads To Neuronal Atrophy In The Dorsal Root Ganglion, Arian K. Mcneil

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Environmental exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides, such as malathion, is a risk factor for neuropathy and neurodegeneration. Toxic levels of OPs irreversibly inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activity, leading to acute paralysis and even death as the neurotransmitter acetylcholine accumulates at cholinergic synapses. In addition, there is compelling evidence that repeated low-level “occupational-like” exposure to OPs is associated with somatosensory defects but the cellular mechanisms for this effect are unclear. We show sensory neuron cell size in the dorsal root ganglia is significantly reduced in rats exposed to occupational level malathion. However, co-administration of a reversible AchE inhibitor, galantamine, prevented this effect.

Crying Wolf: Neo-Patriots, Critical Race Theory, And The Constitutional Protection Of "Dangerous" Ideas, Bryan K. Fair

Articles

Most Americans do not realize that, notwithstanding the First Amendment's free speech guarantee, for most of our nation's history, judges sent men and women to prison for expressing ideas considered too "dangerous." It was not until the late 1960s that the Supreme Court rejected the clear and present danger doctrine, insisting that statutes banning speech must draw a distinction between advocacy of ideas and advocacy of imminent lawless action. The Court held that under that constitutional norm, the government could not send a Klansman to prison for expressing racist, anti-Semitic, or otherwise dangerous or offensive ideas. Since then, banning the …

Food And Drug Regulation: Statutory And Regulatory Supplement (2023), Adam I. Muchmore

Faculty Scholarship

This Statutory and Regulatory Supplement is intended for use with its companion casebook, Food and Drug Regulation: A Statutory Approach (2021). This is not a traditional statutory supplement. Instead, it contains selected, aggressively edited provisions of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), related statutes, and the Code of Federal Regulations. The Supplement includes all provisions assigned as reading in the casebook, as well as a few additional provisions that some professors may wish to cover. The excerpts are designed to be teachable rather than

Automated Morphological Phenotyping Using Learned Shape Descriptors And Functional Maps: A Novel Approach To Geometric Morphometrics, Oshane O. Thomas, Hongyu Shen, Ryan L. Raaum, William E. H. Harcourt-Smith, John D. Polk, Mark Hasegawa-Johnson

Publications and Research

The methods of geometric morphometrics are commonly used to quantify morphology in a broad range of biological sciences. The application of these methods to large datasets is constrained by manual landmark placement limiting the number of landmarks and introducing observer bias. To move the field forward, we need to automate morphological phenotyping in ways that capture comprehensive representations of morphological variation with minimal observer bias. Here, we present Morphological Variation Quantifier (morphVQ), a shape analysis pipeline for quantifying, analyzing, and exploring shape variation in the functional domain. morphVQ uses descriptor learning to estimate the functional correspondence between whole triangular meshes …

Editorial: Morphoevodevo: A Multilevel Approach To Elucidate The Evolution Of Metazoan Organ Systems, Andreas Wanninger, Pedro Martinez, Néva P. Meyer

Biology

Editorial on the Research Topic MorphoEvoDevo: a multilevel approach to elucidate the evolution of metazoan organ systems.

Journal Of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume, 2023

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

Using Voting As A Lens To Teach Central Tendency And Impact K-8 Future Teachers, Ha Nguyen, Heidi Eisenreich

Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

This study discusses how teaching K-8 preservice teachers (PSTs) about the measures of central tendency through the context of the voting process impacted their learning about mathematics as well as the voting process and issues that may arise. Being a well-informed citizen, especially for people who will be teaching in the next few years, is important as they will influence many children in the future. Findings show changes in the PSTs' perspectives on the voting process, voting issues, and learning center measures. Additionally, PSTs indicated they enjoyed learning about the measures of central tendency through context of the voting process …

Persistence And Quality Of Vegetation Cover In Expired Conservation Reserve Program Fields, Mark W. Vandever, Kenneth Elgersma, Sarah K. Carter, Ai Wen, Justin L. Welty, Robert S. Arkle, Timothy J. Assal, David S. Pilliod, David M. Mushet, Rich Iovanna

Faculty Publications

For nearly 40 years, the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) has implemented practices to reduce soil erosion, improve water quality, and provide habitat for wildlife and pollinators on highly erodible cropland in the United States. However, an approximately 40,470 ha (10 million acres) decline in enrolled CRP land over the last decade has greatly reduced the program's environmental benefits. We sought to assess the program's enduring benefits in the central and western United States by (1) determining the proportion of fields that persist in CRP cover after contracts expired, (2) identifying the type of agricultural production that CRP fields shift to …

The Exoskeleton Of Environmental Law: Why The Breadth, Depth And Longevity Of Environmental Law Matters For Judicial Review, Sanne H. Knudsen

Articles

Environmental law is pragmatic, inevitable, and intentional. In the aggregate, the numerous federal environmental statutes are not simply a patchwork of ad hoc responses or momentary political breakthroughs to isolated public health problems and resource concerns. Together, they are a group of repeated, legislatively-backed commitments to embrace self-restraint for self-preservation.

Self-restraint and discipline are the essence of environmental law. Indeed, if one studies the patterns and repeated choices in environmental law 's many statutory texts, one can start to appreciate environmental law 's indispensable role in society: it serves as an enduring "exoskeleton," a sort of protective armor created over …

Novel Approaches To Compute Manifold Operators With The Radial Basis Functions Method, Jacob James Blazejewski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The bulk of this dissertation is mainly composed of four chapters, which are organized as follows: Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the Radial Basis Functions (RBF) method by briefly outlining its historical developments and reviewing the RBF interpolation and the RBF-Finite Difference (FD) methodologies, and their advantages/disadvantages. Chapter 2 describes the Orthogonal Gradients (OGr) method and the Fast OGr method and how these can be used to compute differential operators restricted to hypersurfaces and space curves ($\Gamma$) embedded in R3. We will highlight a challenge of pairing Fast OGr with RBF-FD on nearly flat local clusters and how to …

Establishing Degradation Of The C. Elegans Dream Complex In The Germline, Christina M. Boody

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The highly conserved Dp, Rb, E2F, and MuvB (DREAM) complex is responsible for the transcriptional repression of cell cycle genes. The DREAM complex has been extensively studied in somatic (non-reproductive) cells, but there is a gap in knowledge regarding how the DREAM complex may function in germ (reproductive) cells. To demonstrate loss-of-function of DREAM in the germline, we used the auxin-inducible degron (AID) system to establish degradation of LIN-54, a subunit of DREAM’s MuvB subcomplex, and the Retinoblastoma-like pocket protein LIN-35 in C. elegans. Using transgenic lines that express the Arabidopsis thaliana TIR1 E3 ubiquitin ligase ubiquitously through all …