Digital Commons Network^™

Embracing The Abject Identity, Cheryl Lynn Hazelton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Embracing the Abject Identity asserts that there is a parallel relationship between Julia Kristeva’s theory of defining one’s identity through the abject (what we reject) and the existence of an “abject identity.” This individual is determined by their association with the abject (objects, substances, or states) or alliance with others considered to be abject identities. The idea of embodying and embracing the abject is explored as a means to address issues of identity, body politics, and socio-political disparities through video performance and installation work in an accompanying exhibition of the same title.

The Legacy Of Section 230: Case History And Legal Perspective On Free Speech Regulation In The Digital Age, Owen Rosenberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This thesis explores the legal evolution and societal implications of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a landmark provision that shields internet platforms from liability for user-generated content. Since its inception, Section 230 has fostered unprecedented growth in digital communication by allowing platforms to host and moderate content without traditional publisher liabilities. However, with the rise of social media and algorithmic content promotion, the statute's broad immunity has sparked intense debates about platform responsibility. Through case analyses—including Reno v. ACLU, Gonzalez v. Google LLC, and Twitter, Inc. v. Taamneh—this study examines how judicial interpretations of Section 230 have adapted …

Prenatal Tobacco Exposure, Brain Subcortical Volumes, And Gray-White Matter Contrast, Troy B. Puga, Gaelle E. Doucet, Grace Thiel

Student Publications

Importance Maternal tobacco use during pregnancy (MTDP) remains a major public health challenge. However, the complete spectrum of effects of MTDP is not fully understood.

Objectives To examine the longitudinal associations of MTDP and children’s brain morphometric subcortical volume and gray-white matter contrast (GWC) development.

Design, Setting, and Participants Cohort study of children aged 9 to 10 years at wave 1 (October 2016 to October 2018) and at a 2-year follow-up (wave 2; August 2018 to January 2021; aged 11-12 years) across 21 US sites in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Data were analyzed from October 2023 to …

Genome-Wide Association Analyses Identify Distinct Genetic Architectures For Age-Related Macular Degeneration Across Ancestries, Bryan R. Gorman, Georgios Voloudakis, Robert P. Igo Jr., Tyler Kinzy, Christopher W. Halladay, Tim B. Bigdeli, Biao Zeng, Sanan Venkatesh, Matthew P. Johnson, John Blangero

School of Medicine Publications

To effectively reduce vision loss due to age-related macular generation (AMD) on a global scale, knowledge of its genetic architecture in diverse populations is necessary. A critical element, AMD risk profiles in African and Hispanic/Latino ancestries, remains largely unknown. We combined data in the Million Veteran Program with five other cohorts to conduct the first multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of AMD and discovered 63 loci (30 novel). We observe marked cross-ancestry heterogeneity at major risk loci, especially in African-ancestry populations which demonstrate a primary signal in a major histocompatibility complex class II haplotype and reduced risk at the established CFH …

Space Of Resilience: Architecture, Communication, And Immersive Experience In “St Sebastian: Plague Memory”, Mathew Emmett

School of Art, Design and Architecture

This paper examines St Sebastian: Plague Memory, a multi-channel audiovisual installation that redefines architecture through sensory and immersive media. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project unfolds in two phases: first, transforming the interior of the Museo dell’Arte Classica in Rome into an experiential environment that fosters resilience and communal healing, and later evolving into a façade projection for La Notte dei Musei. ¹ Drawing on Mallgrave’s (2013) concept of the body as a neurological experience, the installation transcends traditional physical boundaries, establishing a dynamic spatial framework shaped by embodied interactions. By positioning installations as a form of architecture, this …

Towards A European Governance Framework For Pilgrimage Routes: Challenges, Opportunities And Recommendations, Maria Laura Gasparini, José A. Cortés Vázquez

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Beyond its religious and spiritual traits, pilgrimage is gaining momentum as a sustainable tourism practice, while contributing to several EU priorities, including cultural heritage enhancement, intercultural dialogue, and economic development, particularly in rural areas suffering from depopulation and youth drain. Yet, their potential is hindered by a lack of coordination among the stakeholders involved at interregional and transnational levels, resulting in a far from homogeneous experience along pilgrimage routes. This paper maps out the existing policies and governance frameworks related to pilgrimage in seven European countries (Hungary, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Spain), identifying gaps between regions and opportunities …

Connecting Lighthouses To Spiritual Tourism: The Case Of The Hellenic Lighthouse Network, Polyxeni Moira, Paraskevi Kakaroucha

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Lighthouses operate as carriers of cultural value and encapsulate universal connotations. They are harmoniously integrated in unspoilt landscapes, some of which are considered dystopian. Their delicate albeit resilient structure, settled within dynamic geophysical fields, elicits philosophical quests and metaphysical concerns. Lighthouses are connected to narratives of heroism, solitude, self-efficacy and lunacy, with altruistic keepers and divine or supernatural entities starring in plenty of them. Moreover, lighthouses have been associated with religious facilities and rituals for many centuries. Therefore, they attract people pursuing transformative experiences away from mass tourism locations and could unsurprisingly be included in alternative spiritual tourism itineraries.

Greek …

Tourism Gentrification: The Case Of Mevlana Museum And Its Surroundings, Nuray Turker, Sibel Ayyildiz, Ayse Nur Uslu

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Today, residents experience tourism-driven gentrification in many tourist destinations. Gentrification due to tourism has both beneficial economic and physical effects, but it also has a negative impact on a number of sociocultural, physical, and environmental factors. The aim of this study is to explore the physical, economic, and socio-cultural effects of tourism activities in and around Mevlana Museum in Konya, Turkey, which is home to the tomb of the religious figure Mevlana, a symbol of tolerance and peace, from the perspective of tourism gentrification. To this end, a qualitative study was carried out in January 2023 with 15 Konya-based respondents, …

Increasing The Attractiveness Of Hungarian Religious Pilgrimage Routes, The Case Of Rurallure, Ákos Lencsés, Ildikó Kádárné Kelemen, Ildikó Csepregi, Zsófia Galgócziné Szabó

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

The paper discusses the regional variations and attractiveness of pilgrimage routes in Europe, focusing on the Way of Mary. The Horizon Europe project rurAllure aims to use innovative techniques, such as narrative techniques of cultural heritage and mapping non-religious points of interests, to expand the area around the route and attract younger and spiritually-seeking pilgrims. The study introduces the selection criteria, workflow, and technologies used to enhance the tourism experience along the route, exploring alternative route variants and narrative creating techniques. For this, we describe and analyse the data of Points of Interest (POIs), narratives, and recommended trips generated as …

Redesigning The Hospital Environment To Improve Restfulness, Caellagh D Catley, Kayla Paynter, Kendall Jackson, Ashley Huggins, Jenny Ji, Sai Anusha Sanka, Michelle Simkins, Thomas M Maddox, Patrick G Lyons

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Hospital wards are often not conducive to patient sleep, negatively affecting patient health and experience.

OBJECTIVES: To assess determinants of in-hospital restfulness and to design and test rest-promoting interventions on the wards in partnership with clinicians, staff, and patients.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This rapid-sequential mixed-methods quality improvement study was performed at a large urban academic hospital in St Louis, Missouri, from May 1, 2021, to December 31, 2022, with follow-up through hospitalization. Mixed-methods activities involved purposively selected hospitalized adults on the wards, nurses, hospitalists, and hospital staff. Interventions included all adult hospitalizations on the study wards.

INTERVENTIONS: Sequential …

Medical And Surgical Episodes Among Hospital Participants In The Bundled Payments For Care Improvement-Advanced Program, Keenan J Robbins, Jie Zheng, R J Waken, E John Orav, Arnold M Epstein, Karen E Joynt Maddox

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Hospital participation in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement-Advanced (BPCI-A) initiative has been associated with modest savings and stable clinical outcomes overall, but it is unknown whether the program performs differently for medical and surgical or procedural (henceforth, surgical) episodes.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of BPCI-A participation with Medicare spending and clinical outcomes for medical and surgical episodes.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective difference-in-differences cohort study utilized 100% Medicare fee-for-service inpatient claims for episodes initiated between January 1, 2017, and September 30, 2019, and included 90 days of follow-up. The setting was hospitals participating in BPCI-A and …

Allostatic Load, Educational Attainment, And Risk Of Cancer Mortality Among Us Men, Cynthia Li, Sydney P Howard, Charles R Rogers, Sydney Andrzejak, Keon L Gilbert, Keith J Watts, Malcolm S Bevel, Myles D Moody, Marvin E Langston, Judah V Doty, Adetunji T Toriola, Darwin Conwell, Justin X Moore

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Health disparities among racial and ethnic minoritized populations, particularly for cancer mortality rates, remain a major public health concern. Men from underrepresented backgrounds (Black and Hispanic men, specifically) face the pervasive effects of discrimination in their daily lives, which also contribute to the complex associations among allostatic load (a marker of chronic stress), educational opportunities, and elevated risks of cancer mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the associations among educational attainment, allostatic load, and cancer mortality risk among men.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This is a retrospective cohort analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally …

Integrative Hyperspectral Approaches For Advanced Soil Property Analysis And Environmental Monitoring, Nayma Binte Nur

Theses

Hyperspectral imaging has emerged as a powerful tool for enhancing the analysis of diverse soil properties and environmental monitoring. This study refines the precision of soil biogeophysical analyses by improving the estimation of soil moisture content (SMC), soil organic matter (SOM), total carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) through hyperspectral remote sensing techniques. The research examines the capabilities of two prominent moisture retrieval models: the multilayer radiative transfer model (MARMIT) and the modified soil water parametric (SWAP)-Hapke model. These models are evaluated using hyperspectral imagery derived from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and goniometric data collected across various environmental settings. The findings …

Extreme Wrinkling Of The Nuclear Lamina Is A Morphological Marker Of Cancer, Ting-Ching Wang, Christina R Dollahon, Sneha Mishra, Hailee Patel, Samere Abolghasemzade, Ishita Singh, Vilmos Thomazy, Daniel G Rosen, Vlad C Sandulache, Saptarshi Chakraborty, Tanmay P Lele

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Nuclear atypia is a hallmark of cancer. A recent model posits that excess surface area, visible as folds/wrinkles in the lamina of a rounded nucleus, allows the nucleus to take on diverse shapes with little mechanical resistance. Whether this model is applicable to normal and cancer nuclei in human tissues is unclear. We image nuclear lamins in patient tissues and find: (a) nuclear laminar wrinkles are present in control and cancer tissue but are obscured in hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) images, (b) nuclei rarely have a smooth lamina, and (c) wrinkled nuclei assume diverse shapes. Deep learning reveals the presence …

Individualized Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Neuromodulation Enhances Visuospatial Perception: A Proof-Of-Concept Study, Anthony Allam, Vincent Allam, Sandy Reddy, Eric M Rohren, Sameer A Sheth, Emmanouil Froudarakis, T Dorina Papageorgiou

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

This proof-of-concept study uses individualized functional magnetic resonance imaging neuromodulation (iNM) to explore the mechanisms that enhance BOLD signals in visuospatial perception (VP) networks that are crucial for navigation. Healthy participants (n = 8) performed a VP up- and down-direction discrimination task at full and subthreshold coherence through peripheral vision, and superimposed direction through visual imagery (VI) at central space under iNM and control conditions. iNM targets individualized anatomical and functional middle- and medial-superior temporal (MST) networks that control VP. We found that iNM engaged selective exteroceptive and interoceptive attention (SEIA) and motor planning (MP) networks. Specifically, iNM increased …

Excess Mortality In Persons With Concurrent Hiv And Cancer Diagnoses: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Kamaria L Lee, Varada Sarovar, Jennifer O Lam, Wendy A Leyden, Stacey E Alexeeff, Alexandra N Lea, Rulin C Hechter, Haihong Hu, Julia L Marcus, Qing Yuan, Jennifer R Kramer, Lilie L Lin, Elizabeth Y Chiao, William J Towner, Michael A Horberg, Michael J Silverberg

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background: With extended lifespans for people with human immunodeficiency virus (PWH), there is a corresponding increased burden of chronic illnesses, including cancer. Our objective was to estimate the excess mortality among PWH with cancer compared with people without HIV (PWoH), accounting for the higher background mortality in the general PWH population.

Methods: We identified 39,000 PWH and 387,767 demographically matched PWoH in three integrated healthcare systems from 2000 to 2016. We estimated excess mortality among PWH with cancer, computed as the cancer mortality rate difference-in-difference comparing PWH and PWoH. We evaluated five cancer groups: any cancer; virus-, human papillomavirus-, and …

Onset And Progression Of Disease In Nonhuman Primates With Pde6c Cone Disorder, Monica Ardon, Lily Nguyen, Rui Chen, Jeffrey Rogers, Tim Stout, Sara Thomasy, Ala Moshiri

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: The California National Primate Research Center contains a colony of rhesus macaques with a homozygous missense mutation in PDE6C (R565Q) which causes a cone disorder similar to PDE6C achromatopsia in humans. The purposes of this study are to characterize the phenotype in PDE6C macaques in detail to determine the onset of the cone phenotype, the degree to which the phenotype progresses, if heterozygote animals have an intermediate phenotype, and if rod photoreceptor function declines over time.

METHODS: We analyzed spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and electroretinography (ERG) data from 102 eyes of 51 macaques (aged 0.25 …

Urinary Metal Levels, Cognitive Test Performance, And Dementia In The Multi-Ethnic Study Of Atherosclerosis, Arce Domingo-Relloso, Katlyn E Mcgraw, Susan R Heckbert, Jose A Luchsinger, Kathrin Schilling, Ronald A Glabonjat, Irene Martinez-Morata, Melanie Mayer, Yongmei Liu, Alexis C Wood, Jeff Goldsmith, Kathleen M Hayden, Mohamad Habes, Ilya M Nasrallah, R Nick Bryan, Tanweer Rashid, Wendy S Post, Jerome I Rotter, Priya Palta, Linda Valeri, Timothy M Hughes, Ana Navas-Acien

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: Metals are established neurotoxicants, but evidence of their association with cognitive performance at low chronic exposure levels is limited.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of urinary metal levels, individually and as a mixture, with cognitive tests and dementia diagnosis, including effect modification by apolipoprotein ε4 allele (APOE4).

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The multicenter prospective cohort Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) was started from July 2000 to August 2002, with follow-up through 2018. A total of 6303 MESA participants were included. Data analysis was performed from October 12, 2023, to June 13, 2024.

EXPOSURE: Urine samples were collected at baseline …

Neurofeedback: New Territories And Neurocognitive Mechanisms Of Endogenous Neuromodulation, James Sulzer, T Dorina Papageorgiou, Rainer Goebel, Talma Hendler

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Neurofeedback (NF) is endogenous neuromodulation of circumscribed brain circuitry. While its use of real-time brain activity in a closed-loop system is similar to brain-computer interfaces, instead of controlling an external device like the latter, the goal of NF is to change a targeted brain function. In this special issue on NF, we present current and future methods for extracting and manipulating neural function, how these methods may reveal new insights about brain function, applications, and rarely discussed ethical considerations of guiding and interpreting the brain activity of others. Together, the articles in this issue outline the possibilities of NF use …

Chlorthalidone Vs Hydrochlorothiazide And Kidney Outcomes In Patients With Hypertension: A Secondary Analysis Of A Randomized Clinical Trial, Areef Ishani, Cynthia Hau, Srihari Raju, Jessica K Wise, Peter A Glassman, Addison A Taylor, Ryan E Ferguson, William C Cushman, Sarah M Leatherman

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Hypertension is a risk factor for the development and progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). It is unclear whether different thiazide diuretics have a differential impact on kidney outcomes.

Objective: To compare kidney outcomes in patients with hypertension taking chlorthalidone and hydrochlorothiazide.

Design, setting, and participants: This prespecified secondary analysis of the Diuretic Comparison Project, a randomized clinical trial comparing chlorthalidone and hydrochlorothiazide for the treatment of hypertension, was conducted between June 1, 2016, and June 1, 2022, through Veterans Affairs facilities nationwide. This analysis extended follow-up to December 31, 2023. Veterans 65 years or older with hypertension who …

Improving Prognostication In Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, Daniel G Calame, Kristen S Fisher

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

The Study Of The Epidemiology Of Pediatric Hypertension Registry (Superhero): Rationale And Methods, Andrew M South, Victoria C Giammattei, Kiri W Bagley, Christine Y Bakhoum, William H Beasley, Morgan B Bily, Shupti Biswas, Aaron M Bridges, Rushelle L Byfield, Jessica Fallon Campbell, Rahul Chanchlani, Ashton Chen, Lucy D'Agostino Mcgowan, Stephen M Downs, Gina M Fergeson, Jason H Greenberg, Taylor A Hill-Horowitz, Elizabeth T Jensen, Mahmoud Kallash, Margret Kamel, Stefan G Kiessling, David M Kline, John R Laisure, Gang Liu, Jackson Londeree, Caroline B Lucas, Sai Sudha Mannemuddhu, Kuo-Rei Mao, Jason M Misurac, Margaret O Murphy, James T Nugent, Elizabeth A Onugha, Ashna Pudupakkam, Kathy M Redmond, Sandeep Riar, Christine B Sethna, Sahar Siddiqui, Ashley L Thumann, Stephen R Uss, Carol L Vincent, Irina V Viviano, Michael J Walsh, Blanche D White, Robert P Woroniecki, Michael Wu, Ikuyo Yamaguchi, Emily Yun, Donald J Weaver

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Despite increasing prevalence of hypertension in youth and high adult cardiovascular mortality rates, the long-term consequences of youth-onset hypertension remain unknown. This is due to limitations of prior research, such as small sample sizes, reliance on manual record review, and limited analytic methods, that did not address major biases. The Study of the Epidemiology of Pediatric Hypertension (SUPERHERO) is a multisite, retrospective registry of youth evaluated by subspecialists for hypertension disorders. Sites obtain harmonized electronic health record data using standardized biomedical informatics scripts validated with randomized manual record review. Inclusion criteria are index visit for International Classification of Diseases, 10th …

Artificial Intelligence-Driven Prediction And Validation Of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability And Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion Profiles In Natural Product Research Laboratory Compounds, Jai-Sing Yang, Eddie Tc Huang, Ken Yk Liao, Da-Tian Bau, Shih-Chang Tsai, Chao-Jung Chen, Kuan-Wen Chen, Ting-Yuan Liu, Yu-Jen Chiu, Fuu-Jen Tsai

BioMedicine

Introduction: Our previous research demonstrated that a large language model (LLM) based on the transformer architecture, specifically the MegaMolBART encoder with an XGBoost classifier, effectively predicts the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability of compounds. However, the permeability coefficients of compounds that can traverse this barrier remain unclear. Additionally, the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) characteristics of substances obtained from the Natural Product Research Laboratory (NPRL) at China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) have not yet been determined.

Objectives: The study aims to investigate the pharmacokinetic ADME properties and BBB permeability coefficients of NPRL compounds.

Materials and Methods: A …

Juxtaposition Of Bone Age And Sexual Maturity Rating Of The Taiwanese Population, Wen-Li Lu, Chung-Hsing Wang, Yi-Chun Lin, Fuu-Jen Tsai

BioMedicine

Background Bone age (BA) and sexual maturity rating (SMR) are the imperative measures in assessing adolescent growth and development. However, studies indigenous to the Taiwanese population with regard to the association of SMR and BA in adolescence is scarce. This study attempts to utilize the AI-assessed BA results to establish a relationship between BA and SMR of the Taiwanese population in regard to the initiation of puberty. Materials and methods The electronic medical records with examinations of bone age assessed between January 1st 2019 and December 31st 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Records of the same individuals were retained only the …

Artificial Intelligence (Ai)-Powered Bibliometric Analysis Of Global Trends In Mesenchymal Stem Cells (Mscs)-Derived Exosome Research: 2014-2023, Shih-Chang Tsai, Bing-Han Wan, Fuu-Jen Tsai, Jai-Sing Yang

BioMedicine

Introduction: In recent years, significant progress has been made in regenerative medicine, specifically in using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) due to their regenerative and differentiating abilities. An exciting development in this area is the utilization of exosomes derived from MSCs, which have shown promise in tissue restoration, immune system modulation, and cancer treatment.

Objectives: This study aims to analyze global research trends and the academic impact of MSCs-derived exosomes from 2014 to 2023, providing a comprehensive overview of this emerging field.

Materials and Methods: The Web of Science database selected 948 relevant publications from 2014 to 2023. Artificial intelligence …

Application Of Machine Learning To Identify Risk Factors For Outpatient Opioid Prescriptions Following Spine Surgery, Alexander Bouterse, Andrew Cabrera, Adam Jameel, David Chung, Olumide Danisa

BioMedicine

Introduction: Spine surgery is a common source of narcotic prescriptions and carries potential for long-term opioid dependence. As prescription opioids play a role in nearly 25% of all opioid overdose deaths in the United States, mitigating risk for prolonged postoperative opioid utilization is crucial for spine surgeons.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to employ six ML algorithms to identify clinical variables predictive of increased opioid utilization across spinal surgeries, including anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), posterior thoracolumbar fusion (PTLF), and lumbar laminectomy.

Methods: A query of the author’s institutional database identified adult patients undergoing …

Advanced Whole Transcriptome Sequencing And Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (Ai/Ml) In Imiquimod-Induced Psoriasis-Like Inflammation Of Human Keratinocytes, Lii-Tzu Wu, Shih-Chang Tsai, Tsung‑Jung Ho, Hao-Ping Chen, Yu-Jen Chiu, Yan-Ru Peng, Ting-Yuan Liu, Yu‑Ning Juan, Jai-Sing Yang, Fuu-Jen Tsai

BioMedicine

Introduction: Although the HaCaT keratinocyte model has been used in previous research to study the effects of anti-psoriatic agents, there is still a lack of comprehensive understanding of the mechanism of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced proliferation and signal transduction in psoriasis-like keratinocytes.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanisms and pathways associated with psoriasis-like inflammation caused by IMQ in human keratinocytes.

Materials and Methods: HaCaT cells were exposed to different concentrations of IMQ to induce inflammation similar to that observed in psoriasis. Cell viability was evaluated using the MTT assay and cell morphology was examined using phase-contrast …

Machine Learning-Guided Differential Gene Expression Analysis Identifies A Highly-Connected Seven-Gene Cluster In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Hany Ghazal, El-Sayed A. El-Absawy, Waleed Ead, Mohamed E. Hasan

BioMedicine

Background: One of the most challenging cancers is triple-negative breast cancer, which is subdivided into many molecular subtypes. Due to the high degree of heterogeneity, the role of precision medicine remains challenging. With the use of machine learning (ML)-guided gene selection, the differential gene expression analysis can be optimized, and eventually, the process of precision medicine can see great advancement through biomarker discovery.

Purpose: Enhancing precision medicine in the oncology field by identification of the most representative differentially-expressed genes to be used as biomarkers or as novel drug targets.

Methods: By utilizing data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository …

Integrating Natural Product Research Laboratory With Artificial Intelligence: Advancements And Breakthroughs In Traditional Medicine, Jai-Sing Yang, Shih-Chang Tsai, Yuan-Man Hsu, Da-Tian Bau, Chia-Wen Tsai, Wen-Shin Chang, Sheng-Chu Kuo, Sheng-Chu Kuo, Chien-Chih Yu, Yu-Jen Chiu, Fuu-Jen Tsai

BioMedicine

The Natural Product Research Laboratory (NPRL) of China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) was established in collaboration with CMUH and Professor Kuo-Hsiung Lee from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The laboratory collection features over 6,000 natural products worldwide, including pure compounds and semi-synthetic derivatives. This is the most comprehensive and fully operational natural product database in Taiwan. This review article explores the history and development of the NPRL of CMUH. We then provide an overview of the recent applications and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in new drug discovery. Finally, we examine advanced powerful AI-tools and related software …

Restorative Pedagogy To Build Community In The Classroom: Autoethnographic Reflections From Faculty, Sheila M. Mcmahon, Zahra Ahmed, Michelle Bemiller

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Restorative justice (RJ) is a philosophy and set of practices that center harms and needs. Within a classroom setting, an RJ pedagogical approach invites a process of shared learning that attends to critical issues of equity, power, and voice. Utilizing an autoethnographic approach, this manuscript includes critical reflections from three faculty members from diverse disciplines and positionalities about the use of RJ approaches to teaching in our respective classrooms. This paper includes discussion about the intersection of RJ with critical pedagogy, power differentials, and pragmatic issues of classroom structure learning design.