Digital Commons Network^™

Prolonged Antibiotic Use In A Preclinical Model Of Gulf War Chronic Multisymptom-Illness Causes Renal Fibrosis-Like Pathology Via Increased Micro-Rna 21-Induced Pten Inhibition That Is Correlated With Low Host, Ayushi Trivedi, Dipro Bose, Punnag Saha, Subhajit Roy, Madhura More, Jonathan Skupsky, Nancy G. Klimas, Saurabh Chatterjee

HPD Articles

Gulf War (GW) veterans show gastrointestinal disturbances and gut dysbiosis. Prolonged antibiotic treatments commonly employed in veterans, especially the use of fluoroquinolones and aminoglycosides, have also been associated with dysbiosis. This study investigates the effect of prolonged antibiotic exposure on risks of adverse renal pathology and its association with gut bacterial species abundance in underlying GWI and aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms leading to possible renal dysfunction with aging. Using a GWI mouse model, administration of a prolonged antibiotic regimen involving neomycin and enrofloxacin treatment for 5 months showed an exacerbated renal inflammation with increased NF-κB activation and pro-inflammatory …

In An Animal’S Shoes: Facing Animal Suffering As A Difficulty Of Reality, Konstantin Deininger

Between the Species

This paper examines the challenges posed by confronting the topic of animal suffering in animal husbandry. The predominant positions within animal ethics mainly focus on the moral status of humans and animals, arguing that killing farm animals is morally wrong due to specifiable intrinsic properties that grant farm animals significant moral status. Such positions are derived from a detached perspective that advocates for rational consistency. This paper opposes this detached perspective. By drawing on Cora Diamond’s concept of a difficulty of reality, it contends that facing animal suffering, including changing one’s habits and attitudes towards this suffering, is instead best …

Teaching Hispanic Culture, Diversity, And Tolerance Through Hispanic Dances And Music: Two Approaches For Flamenco & Caribbean Dances, Chita Espino-Bravo Ph.D., D. Nicole English

Modern Languages Faculty Publications

A Sociology Approach: Dance can be a useful tool for teaching students about culture and community. Through the language of Dance and Music (Caribbean Dance), context is given to social facts, which engages and informs students about such social issues as history, Colonialism,social class, gender, race/ethnicity, and social justice. The added bonus of using Dance as a lens is that it involves active, embodied learning (Dewey, English, Mead), making the material more memorable, meaningful, and relevant to the learner. A Communicative Approach (Task-based Learning Activity) & Language for Specific Purposes:Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a derivative of the Communicative Approach …

Case Report And Literature Review Of An Atypical Polymyalgia Rheumatica And Its Management, Saad Bilal Ahmed, Saara Ahmad, Hanmei Pan

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a systemic inflammatory disease of the elderly population that increases in incidence as age advances. It is characterised by the sudden or sub-acute onset of symptoms affecting the shoulder and pelvic girdles, often accompanied by constitutional symptoms. Due to the lack of consensual diagnostic criteria and specific laboratory or radiological investigations for PMR, its diagnosis can be very challenging, particularly because it can be mimicked or masked by other geriatric syndromes. PMR responds well to glucocorticoid treatment, but if left untreated, can lead to morbidity and poor quality of life. We present the case of an …

Economic Complexity, Institutions, And Property Rights, Aribah Aslam, Maryam Ishaq, Ghulam Ghouse, Bismillah Khan

European Management Studies

Objectives/Background: Property rights play a fundamental role in economics through rights to asset and resource owners, thereby enhancing their economic efficiency. The study investigates the relationship between property rights and economic complexity across countries classified by income levels, including high, middle, and low-income nations. Methods: The study utilized Robust Least Square (RLS) to obtain results from a secondary data set. Results: Our analysis reveals a positive relation between economic complexity and property rights across all income groups. It is suggested to have potential developmental paths for countries based on their income status such as those of low income and middle …

The Kepler Giant Planet Search. I. A Decade Of Kepler Planet-Host Radial Velocities From W. M. Keck Observatory, Lauren M. Weiss, Howard Isaacson, Andrew W. Howard, Benjamin J. Fulton, Erik A. Petigura, Daniel Fabrycky, Daniel Jontof-Hutter, Jason H. Steffen, Hilke E. Schlichting, Jason T. Wright, Corey Beard, Casey L. Brinkman, Ashley Chontos, Steven Giacalone, Michelle L. Hill, Molly R. Kosiarek, Mason G. Macdougall, Teo Močnik, Alex S. Polanski, Emma V. Turtelboom, Dakotah Tyler

Pacific Faculty Work

Despite the importance of Jupiter and Saturn to Earth’s formation and habitability, there has not yet been a comprehensive observational study of how giant exoplanets correlate with the architectural properties of close-in, sub-Neptune-sized exoplanets. This is largely because transit surveys are particularly insensitive to planets at orbital separations ≳1 au, and so their census of Jupiter-like planets is incomplete, inhibiting our study of the relationship between Jupiter-like planets and the small planets that do transit. To investigate the relationship between close-in, small and distant, giant planets, we conducted the Kepler Giant Planet Survey (KGPS). Using the W. M. Keck Observatory …

Credit Risk Modeling Using Interpreted Xgboost, Marcin Hernes, Jędrzej Adaszyński, Piotr Tutak

European Management Studies

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to develop a credit risk assessment model usingb the XGBoost classifier supported by interpretation issues. Design/methodology/approach: The risk modeling is based on Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) in the research. It is a method used for regression and classification problems. It is based on a sequence of decision trees using a gradient-based optimization method of the loss function to minimize the errors of weak estimators. We use also methods for performing local and global interpretability: ceteris paribus charts, SHAP and feature importance approach. Findings: Based on the research results, it can be concluded that …

Perceived Brand Authenticity As The Answer To Global Crises, Magdalena Grębosz-Krawczyk

European Management Studies

Purpose: The aim of the article is to assess the impact of perceived brand authenticity and its different dimensions on the brand choice of young consumers. Design/methodology/approach: The experiment was applied in the study. A sample of 180 Polish young respondents from Lodz region participated in the study in December 2022. Findings: The research results confirm that perceived brand authenticity positively affects the brand choice in case of young consumers, even if a higher price is applied. The most important PBA dimension in the case of mineral water is the brand naturalness. The study also proved that the brand origin …

Tourism And Visitor Management In Protected Areas Post-Pandemic: The English Context, Denise Hewlett, Richard Gunton, Debra Gray, Ainara Terradillos, Sheela Agarwal, Natalia Lavrushkina, Danny Byrne

Plymouth Business School

Protected areas comprise of some of the most precious and sensitive habitats on the planet. However, many of these areas are also used as major tourism and leisure destinations. Managed well, these areas can safeguard biodiversity conservation with multiple positive benefits to local populations and economies. Yet, where not carefully planned and managed, there has long been recognition of the possibility of negative impacts on natural environments and social consequences for local communities. This chapter considers such impacts experienced in Dorset, UK, post the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reviews how effective some of the most commonly used tools …

Structural Basis For Dna Proofreading, Gina Buchel, Ashok Nayak, Karl Herbine, Azadeh Sarfallah, Viktoriia Sokolova, Angelica Zamudio-Ochoa, Dmitry Temiakov

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

DNA polymerase (DNAP) can correct errors in DNA during replication by proofreading, a process critical for cell viability. However, the mechanism by which an erroneously incorporated base translocates from the polymerase to the exonuclease site and the corrected DNA terminus returns has remained elusive. Here, we present an ensemble of nine high-resolution structures representing human mitochondrial DNA polymerase Gamma, Polγ, captured during consecutive proofreading steps. The structures reveal key events, including mismatched base recognition, its dissociation from the polymerase site, forward translocation of DNAP, alterations in DNA trajectory, repositioning and refolding of elements for primer separation, DNAP backtracking, and displacement …

Is Homoeopathy Contributing To The Universal Health Coverage Goal Of #Healthforall?, Subhash Kaushik

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

The expansion of health service coverage, a key target of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, has seen limited progress in recent years, further hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the financial protection has witnessed a decline. Fifty percent of the global population lacks access to essential health services. An estimated 2 billion people grapple with financial hardships resulting from out-of-pocket health expenses, including 344 million individuals residing in extreme poverty.

On 12 December 2012, a historic resolution endorsing the acceleration of progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as a paramount international development priority was unanimously endorsed by the United …

Impact Of Homoeopathy Along With Yoga As An Integrated Pilot Project With The National Programme For Prevention And Control Of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases And Stroke: A Cross-Sectional Study, Roja Varanasi, Shashi Giri, Jyotika Bhatti, Khushboo Garg, Gurudev Choubey, Ramesh Supadu Bawaskar, Umakanta Prusty, Raveender Chinta, Manjula Narang, Praveen Oberai, Anil Khurana, Leimapokhpam Swasticharan, Raj K. Manchanda, Npcdcs-Ayush (Homoeopathy) Integration Project Study Group

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Background: There is a growing concern about the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their risk factors globally.

Objectives: This study assesses the impact of the integration of Ayush (homoeopathy along with yoga) in the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Stroke at the level of patients and conventional physicians.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on the participants already enrolled for the treatment of NCDs at 22 Ayush-Lifestyle Disorders clinics in four districts across India. Participants of any gender, aged 30 years or older, were included. A structured …

Chronic Alcoholic Pancreatitis With Necrotising Exacerbation And Pseudocyst Treated With Homoeopathy: A Case Report, Bipin Sohanraj Jain, Tanvir Abdul Hamid Sheikh

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Introduction: Chronic alcoholic pancreatitis with necrotising exacerbation and pseudocyst is a condition with a poor prognosis. The disease pathology, along with a history of trauma, and alcohol dependence, adds up to the severity making it more difficult to treat. The main surgical management is cyst drainage. Individualised homoeopathic medicine can resolve this without surgical intervention.

Case Summary: In a case with a combination of pathology, trauma and addiction, arriving at a homoeopathic similimum can be challenging. The present case study demonstrates the management of a patient in a semi-comatose state with abdominal rigidity and ultrasonographic evidence of pancreatic …

Tinea Capitis Treated With Homoeopathic Medicine Pulsatilla Nigricans: A Case Report, Khushboo Garg, Divya Bansal, Aayush Mittal

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Introduction: Tinea infection is a common complaint encountered in day-to-day practice with increasing incidence, especially in countries such as India over the past decade. Tinea capitis is predominantly a disease of prepubertal children characterised by lesions of variable morphology on the scalp associated with itching, erythema, signs of inflammation and hair loss. Prompt recognition and treatment are necessary to prevent its spread due to its contagious nature, associated hair loss and the resultant psychological impact on social life. Individualised homoeopathic treatment has a significant scope in treating and combating such conditions cost-effectively through the totality of symptoms.

Case Summary …

Bleeding Nasal Polyp In A Child, Treated With Individualised Homoeopathy: A Case Report, Ranjit Sonny

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Introduction: A nasal polyp (NP) is a type of growth inside the nose or sinuses typically presenting with nasal congestion, nasal obstruction and anosmia or hyposmia. It is amenable to the individualised homoeopathic treatment. In this case, we present how an NP in a female child was successfully treated with individualised homoeopathy.

Case Summary: A case of NP in a 5-year-old female child presented to the outpatient department in November 2021. It was bleeding frequently, especially when hurt. It blocked the right nostril and was visible from the outside. Acidum nitricum (Acid-nit) was prescribed based on the totality …

Research Highlights, Shweta Singh, Gurpreet Singh

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Research Highlights

Acknowledgement To Reviewers (2023), Ijrh Editorial Board

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

The Editorial Board gratefully acknowledges the invaluable inputs of the following experts, who reviewed manuscripts for the Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy in 2023. Their timely inputs enabled a fair and rigorous peer review process, and we are sincerely thankful for the same.

Parent Physical And Psychological Aggression And Youth Dating Violence: A Latent Class Analysis Approach, Heidi Adams Rueda, Kaitlyn Paxton Ward, Steven Hoffman

Social Work Faculty Publications

Adolescent dating violence is a national public health issue and research suggests that aggressive parenting may predict the likelihood that a child will subsequently experience abuse. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of parent physical and psychological aggression on adolescent dating violence perpetration and victimization. Data derived from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study resulted in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of adolescents in dating relationships at the age of 15 years (N = 952). Utilizing both parent and adolescent data which assessed parenting practices at ages 3, 5, 9, and 15, …

University Studies Annual Assessment 2022-2023, Portland State University. University Studies Program

University Studies Annual Assessment Reports

Annual in-depth examination and assessment of Portland State University's general education model, the University Studies Program. The tools and methods used to assess student learning are faculty driven and developed.

Reacting To The Past As Education For Leadership, Javier S. Hidalgo

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

How can courses on leadership effectively cultivate students’ leadership skills? This reflective essay explores how one form of role-playing called Reacting to the Past can promote students’ leadership skills and deepen their understanding of leadership. Reacting to the Past is a series of immersive role-playing simulations that are set at key moments in history and that require students to play the part of historical actors over the course of several weeks. I argue that Reacting to the Past encourages students to practice leadership skills in an authentic context, improves students’ understanding of leadership by allowing them to observe and participate …

Writing Centers & The Dark Warehouse University: Generative Ai, Three Human Advantages, Joe Essid

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

Institutions are scrambling, at an unaccustomed pace, to adapt to generative artificial intelligence. While justified concerns focus on plagiarism, the nature of student learning, and changes to assignments, recent scholarship has largely ignored the potential for faculty and staff unemployment that may accompany acceptance and deployment of the new technology. As we ponder seismic changes in higher education, one voice should join, indeed lead, campus discussions. Writing center professionals have proven adept at weathering technological changes, budget cuts, administrative big ideas, and professional marginalization for more than half a century. Early on, centers were sometimes dismissed as mere “fix-it shops” …

A General Model Of Good Executive Leadership In Policy Contexts, Thad Williamson

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

This commentary stipulates a general model of policy leadership, encompassing decision-making, implementation, and evaluation. The model stresses attaining clarity about the nature of the issue being addressed, the values at stake, and the possible outcomes of alternative courses of action. While focused on the context of elected executives in municipal government, the stipulated model has broader applicability to other contexts. The article contends that following the model may both improve the effectiveness of political leaders and help build consensus (or compromise) among distinct political actors.

Comprehensive Assessment Of Economic, Productive, Phenotypic, And Morphometric Traits In Azikheli Buffalo Breed Of Northern Pakistan, Nadar Khan, Bakhtawara Bibi, Tariq Ahmad, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Muhammad Ibrahim

Journal of Bioresource Management

The study was conducted to illuminate the phenotypic, morphometric, and productive characteristics of the Azikheli buffalo breed. One thousand two hundred pure Azikheli buffaloes (male: female) were randomly selected from the main hub of the Azikheli buffalo breed in Swat (Azikhel). The data were analyzed for comparison and frequency distribution. Phenotypic characteristic of the female buffalo shows that more than 73 % of the body color was golden yellowish. In contrast, in males, this value was 83 %, followed by white-albino and grayish colors. The shape of horns were semi sickle and grayish in color. Morphometric parameters of the breed …

Ethnobotanical Study Of Antihemorrhagic Plants In The Skikda Region (North East Of Algeria), Nabila Souilah, Hamdi Bendif, Abdelkrim Benaradj, Abdelouaheb Belaid, Scherazad Mekious

Journal of Bioresource Management

Our survey was carried out at the level of 17 Municipalities of the Province of Skikda. Questionnaire sheets were distributed to 55 herbalists and 350 locale population (informants). The processing of survey data with the local population shows us that women (52 %) have more knowledge of phytotherapy compared to men (48 %) with a fairly high level of education. For the herbalists, we found that most are men (85.45 %) aged between 31-40 years (29.09 %) and 41-50 years (25.45 %), and with level of university study (36.36 %). On the other hand, 52.73 % of herbalists said they …

College Students’ Loneliness, Feelings About Social Media, And Depressive Symptoms During Covid-19: Between And Within-Person Temporal Associations, Karen Kochel, Catherine L. Bagwell, Samara Rosen

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

During COVID-19, many institutions of higher education implemented health protocols that reduced college students’ in-person interactions and prompted an uptick in their social media use. Although social media has often been implicated in the development of psychosocial difficulties, we tested an alternate hypothesis – that, during the pandemic, students’ feelings about social media for interpersonal connection (i.e., FSMIC), would contribute to reductions in loneliness and depressive symptoms. To investigate temporal associations between loneliness, FSMIC, and depression, we estimated random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPM), permitting the disaggregation of between- and within-person effects. Participants (N = 517 undergraduates, M_age = …

Antifungal Activity Of Homoeopathic Medicines Towards Alternaria Solani Of Solanum Lycopersicum Plant – An In Vitro Study And On-Farm Trial, Akkilla Suya, Vettrivel Arul, Rajamanickam Kandasamy

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Background: The overuse of pesticides has damaged biodiversity, raising concerns about the potential for genetic mutations in humans and other organisms caused by pesticide residues in food. The recent research has demonstrated that homoeopathic medicines can act as fertilisers for plant nourishment.

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the antifungal activity of homoeopathic medicines in vitro and on-farm trials.

Methods: The impact of homoeopathic medicines, Sulphur 30C, Ocimum basilicum 30C and Cuprum metallicum 30C, on inhibiting the mycelial growth of Alternaria solani was studied in-vitro using Agar well-diffusion assay. In an on-farm trial using Solanum lycopersicum (PKM-1 …

Examining The Relationship Between School Academic Optimism, Enabling School Structures, And Student Achievement In New Jersey Public Schools During The Post-Pandemic Period, Mark Schwarz

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study investigated the relationships between student achievement and the school characteristics of academic optimism and enabling structures. Perceptual data were collected from a sample of 496 faculty members across 67 schools in 25 districts in northern NJ. These data were then merged with demographic and student achievement data from the New Jersey Department of Education for analysis through descriptive and inferential statistics. The study was modeled after prior studies outside of New Jersey and before the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

The study found that enabling structures were well correlated with school academic optimism and that optimism, in turn, …

Exploring The Associations Between Being Single, Romantic Importance, And Positive Well-Being In Young Adulthood, Nicole K. Watkins, Jonathon J. Beckmeyer, Tyler B. Jamison

Faculty Publications

Objective: The goal was to explore if perceived romantic relationship importance moderated associations between single status and young adults' positive well-being.

Background: Singlehood is often framed within a deficit framework, with the expectation that being single during young adulthood may be costly for well-being. That approach, however, does not account for young adults' romantic goals, which may shape how being single is connected to well-being.

Method: Participants were 909 American young adults, ages 18–35 (M = 26.6, 51% female, 81% heterosexual, 58% White, non-Hispanic), who completed an online survey in December 2019.

Results: Being single, compared to having a romantic …

Concrete Or Abstract? The Effects Of Picture Concreteness And Mental Illness Prevalence On Destigmatizing Mental Illnesses, Roma Subramanian, Sungkyoung Lee, Jonathan Santo, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study investigated how picture concreteness (cartoon versus photo) and mental illness prevalence level (high versus low) in mental health messages influence mental illness stigma via a within-subjects online experiment (N = 92). Findings revealed that, compared to cartoons, photos elicited greater empathic closeness, decreased social distancing intention (especially for the low-prevalence mental illnesses of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder), and increased intention to support mental health policies. Compared to photos, cartoons increased comprehension (especially for the high-prevalence mental illnesses of depression and anxiety) and reduced personal responsibility for mental illness. Messages about high-prevalence mental illnesses compared to low-prevalence mental illnesses …

A Critical Computing Curriculum Design Case: Exploring Tribal Sovereignty For Middle School Students, Kristin A. Searle, Aubrey Rogowski, Colby Tofel-Grehl, Mengying Jiang

Journal of Computer Science Integration

We report on our efforts to design an integrated computing curriculum for middle school students in Montana that is in line with the Kapor Center’s focus on culturally sustaining-revitalizing pedagogies. Montana provides a unique context for doing this work because a state constitutional mandate requires all K-12 students to learn about tribal histories and cultures through Indian Education For All (IEFA). IEFA centers around seven essential understandings about Indigenous peoples in Montana that are integrated across content areas. In addition, implementation of Montana’s CS standards began in the 2021–2022 school year. In the curricular design, we sought to bring together …