Digital Commons Network^™

Custom Cathode Optimization For Electropolishing Additively Manufactured 316l Stainless Steel, Kasandra Escarcega Herrera

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) has become increasingly popular for its ability to rapidly manufacture complex metallic parts. However, the surface properties of as-built LPBF parts may degrade overall performance due to tortuous surface features. Consequently, post-processing like electropolishing (EP) to reduce the surface asperities is often needed for LPBF parts to perform as expected. Utilizing experimental and computational approaches, this project aims to more uniformly EP complex shaped parts made from LPBF 316L. For the experimental approach, parts with a three-dimensional T-shape were printed out of 316L stainless steel and EP using an acidic-based and a polyethylene glycol/NaCl-based electrolyte. …

Women, Collective Creative Practice, And Community Health, Anne Hensley

Honors Theses

A growing body of research shows that art therapy yields positive outcomes for those experiencing stress and mood disorders. Creative arts therapies have been shown to lower cortisol, improve personal and universal outlook, decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression, increase self-esteem and confidence, alleviate burnout, help individuals to cope with trauma, and support brain function through activity-dependent plasticity. However, little research has been done on collective and collaborative arts, and the enhanced benefits communal practice might bring. Additionally, art therapy is inaccessible to many, due to a dearth of practitioners and cultural and socioeconomic barriers to participation. Peri-, menopausal, and …

Why Law "Beyond The State" Need Not Be A Threat To Democratic Values, Paul Schiff Berman

Buffalo Law Review

Discussions of “law beyond the state” almost inevitably run into objections from those who believe that sub- or supranational legal orders necessarily subvert local democratic governance. Self-proclaimed populists and others express concern that the “will of the people” will be unduly subjected to the dictates of “cosmopolitan elites”1 or local factions, or corporate capture. These objections range across the political spectrum. Those on the right tend to focus on concerns that transnational orders will impose human rights or immigration rules on a national polity, while those on the left worry about trade regimes that might impose local labor or environmental …

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session December 12, 2024, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

Acceptance of the Agenda

Approval of the Minutes (September 26, 2024 and October 16, 2024 Meetings)

Remarks by the Chair of the Board

Remarks by the President

Updates by the Faculty Senate President

Updates by the Western Student Association President

Updates by the Graduate Student Association President

Presentation: Advancing EV Technology through Education

Public Comments Regarding Action Items

Action Items

Policy and Procedures for Periodic Assessment of the University President

Presidential Assessment

Consent Item

A. Personnel Report

B. Curriculum Proposals

C. Commercial Lease Agreement - 603 Ransom, Kalamazoo, MI

D. Natural Gas Pipeline Easement at West Hills

E. Membership Change …

Synthesis Of Glycan Antigens For Therapeutic Antibodies And Glycoconjugate Vaccines, Synthesis Of An Inflammatory Pentasaccharide, And Design And Synthesis Of Ceragenins For Use In Medical Devices And Osteomyelitis, Shawn Gubler

Theses and Dissertations

A promising approach in combatting infections from antibiotic resistant bacteria/fungi is using therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that can bind the outer surfaces of microbes. We have developed a synthetic vaccine platform that can rapidly generate mAbs against surface glycans from desired strains, such as lipopolysaccharides and capsular polysaccharides. To create therapeutic antibodies against Ruminococcus gnavus, Burkholderia multivorans, and Staphylococcus aureus, we synthesize glycan antigens from each strain that are necessary for use in our glycoconjugate vaccine platform. Blooms of the Gram-positive bacterium Ruminococcus gnavus have been correlated with inflammatory bowel disease, and recently a polysaccharide produced by this organism was …

Politics Of Peace: How Social Media Impacts Advocacy In Relation To International Conflict, Madeline Shonholtz, Christopher M. Jackson

Honors Thesis

Social Media is one of the great communicators with hundreds of platforms being used regularly to connect with others, share important life updates, and occasionally see news postings. This paper tackles the question of whether or not social media, with a focus on three platforms: Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter), make an impact when it relates to an individual's opinion on International Conflict. Through data comparison and analysis, the answer will be uncovered as to whether or not social media has an impact and if so, how has that impact changed overtime with the comparison of data from 2016 …

December 12, 2024, The Dakota Student

The Dakota Student

No abstract provided.

The Temporal Construction Of Fossil Fuel Threat In Who Reports: A Corpus-Based Cognitive Pragmatic Study, Nawal M. Abed, Huda H. Khalil

Uruk Journal of Human Sciences

The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors public global health and tries to assist vulnerable populations in their pursue to achieve optimal health. WHO has always voiced concerns regarding health and environmental impacts of fossil fuel consumption. Reviewing WHO website shows various reports on fossil fuel impacts from multiple perspectives. The paper aims to examine the temporal construction of fossil fuel threat in WHO reports. Such construction aims to encourage people to take preventive measures within time span that precedes the impact of the threatening element. To accomplish this aim, the paper employs Cap’s (2013, p. 16) temporal proximization strategy as …

The Mass Murder Epidemic Of The United States: Policy, Reflections, And The Way Through, Isaiah Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This work is an in-depth look at American culture and how the culture has shaped gun policies in the U.S. I also examine various policies that could be used to mitigate mass shootings in the United States, as well as some of the reasons these incidents have become so prevalent.

Automate To Create: Simplifying Workflows In Small Film Productions, Adam Bonny

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis aims to provide guidance for film students and small in- dependent productions on streamlining their film productions, with a particular focus on simplifying the postproduction workflow. While there’s a significant written component to this thesis, it remains classified as a ‘creative project’ and thus may not look like traditional scholarly research of media arts in some as- pects, mainly by focusing on the technical considerations of filmmaking rather than critical study and media theory. It is split into two parts. First, it will detail the research and the decision-making behind the creation of a Notion template aimed at …

Disrupting The Status Quo: Narratives Of Women Of Color Leaders At California Community Colleges, Lesley Doricely Meza

LMU Theses and Dissertations

The California Community College (CCC) system is the largest higher education system in the United States and serves diverse students. However, CCC’s leadership does not mirror the diversity of its student population. Senior-level positions continue to be dominated by White men, highlighting the lack of diversity among leadership at these institutions and exposing the ongoing underrepresentation of women, especially women of color (WOC), in leadership positions due to the ingrained hierarchal and patriarchal systems in CCCs. This qualitative study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of WOC, who are midlevel administrators at the CCC system. A …

Safety, Immunogenicity, And Efficacy Of A Recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Vectored Vaccine Against Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus And Heartland Bandavirus, Philip Hicks, Tomaz B. Manzoni, Jonna B. Westover, Raegan J. Petch, Brianne Roper, Brian B. Gowen, Paul Bates

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (STSV) is a recently emerged tickborne virus in east Asia with over 18,000 confirmed cases. With a high case fatality ratio, SFTSV has been designated a high priority pathogen by the WHO and the NIAID. Despite this, there are currently no approved therapies or vaccines to treat or prevent SFTS. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) represents an FDA-approved vaccine platform that has been considered for numerous viruses due to its low sero-prevalence in humans, ease in genetic manipulation, and promiscuity in incorporating foreign glycoproteins into its virions. Methods: In this study, we developed a …

Sulfhydryl-Containing Compounds And Iron Homeostasis: Mechanisms Of Labile Iron Pool Dysregulation And Consequences For Cellular Health, Steven Lowell Mann Christiansen

Theses and Dissertations

While iron's unique coordination chemistry and redox activity have resulted in its broad incorporation into biological systems, dysfunction in key iron-regulating mechanisms can transform these biochemical advantages into factors that contribute to several pathological conditions. This dissertation explores the complex interactions between iron and sulfhydryl-containing compounds (SCCs), with particular focus on glutathione's (GSH) role in stabilizing iron reactivity juxtaposed with homocysteine's (Hcy) ability to disrupt iron homeostasis and promote disease progression. Through rigorous biochemical analysis and experimentation, we demonstrate that Hcy disrupts iron regulation through several mechanisms: (1) Hcy competitively displaces protective iron-binding molecules in the Labile Iron Pool (LIP), …

Optimized Fabrication Of Dendritic Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles As Efficient Delivery System For Cancer Immunotherapy, Varsha Godakhindi, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Sudip Kumar Dam, Farzana Ferdous, Andrew Z. Wang, Mubin Tarannum, Jonathan Serody, Juan L. Vivero-Escoto

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the past decade, cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized the field of oncology. Major immunotherapy approaches such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, adoptive cell therapy, cytokines, and immunomodulators have shown great promise in preclinical and clinical settings. Among them, immunomodulatory agents including cancer vaccines are particularly appealing; however, they face limitations, notably the absence of efficient and precise targeted delivery of immune-modulatory agents to specific immune cells and the potential for off-target toxicity. Nanomaterials can play a pivotal role in addressing targeting and other challenges in cancer immunotherapy. Dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (DMSNs) can enhance the efficacy of cancer vaccines …

Economic Evaluation Of A Community Dental Care Model For People Experiencing Homelessness, Tan Minh Nguyen, Robert Witton, Lyndsey Withers, Martha Paisi

Peninsula Dental School

Aim The study aims to conduct economic evaluation of the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE) programme for people experiencing homelessness over an 18-month period, when compared to a hypothetical base-case scenario (‘status quo'). Methods A decision tree model was generated in TreeAge Pro Healthcare 2024. Benefit-cost analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis were performed using data informed by the literature and probabilistic sensitivity analysis (Monte Carlo simulation with 1,000 cycles). The pre-determined willingness-to-pay threshold was estimated to be £59,502 per disability-adjusted life year (DALY) averted. Costs (£) and benefits were valued in 2020 prices. Health benefits in DALYs included dental treatment for …

Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Using Pure Methanol, Ryan Spragg

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Fuel cell technology has attained significant appeal as a form of renewable energy in recent years due to its diverse applications, various fuel types, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Of the various fuel cell types, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) hold a set of distinct advantages for stationary and small portable applications. These advantages include faster refueling compared to battery charging, high gravimetric energy density, and ease of production and use compared to hydrogen. However, the DMFC has numerous technical hurdles that prevent its widespread adoption into the commercial market. Namely, the slow reaction kinetics in the anode and the …

Culturally Responsive Social-Emotional Training And Supplemental Resources For Early Childhood Teachers, Danielle Johnson

Masters Projects

Black students are overrepresented in discipline and behavior referrals in the early childhood setting. Given the increasing need for young black children to learn social emotional skills, how can teachers effectively support them with inadequate curriculum? There is significant research that shows the possible reasons why there is an over representation of black students being labeled as a behavior problem in early childhood educational settings. These reasons can create a negative cycle for black students causing much harm to their education and their views of school. Teachers can attempt to resolve this issue by implementing a culturally responsive Social-Emotional Learning …

Creating A Colab Notebook Based On The Tutorial Of The Simpy Python Library, Mary Deepika Basani

Masters Projects

This project introduces an interactive Google Colab notebook designed to familiarize users with the core functionalities of the SymPy Python library, a powerful tool for symbolic computation. SymPy offers an extensive range of capabilities essential for mathematical modeling, algebraic operations, calculus, and matrix manipulations. The notebook serves as an educational platform, allowing users to experiment with small examples and explore practical applications of symbolic computation in real time. Organized into sections, the notebook focuses on key SymPy features such as simplification, equation solving, differentiation, integration, and matrix operations. Each section includes clear explanations, practical demonstrations, and interactive exercises, helping users …

A Conjugate Of An Egfr-Binding Peptide And Doxorubicin Shows Selective Toxicity To Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Phi-Phung Than, Shih-Jing Yao, Emad Althagafi, Kamaljit Kaur

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Selective targeting of cancer cells via overexpressed cell-surface receptors is a promising strategy to enhance chemotherapy efficacy and minimize off-target side effects. In this study, we designed peptide 31 (YHWYGYTPERVI) to target the overexpressed epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Peptide 31 is internalized by TNBC cells through EGFR-mediated endocytosis and shares sequence and structural similarities with human EGF (hEGF), a natural EGFR ligand. Unlike hEGF, peptide 31 does not induce cell migration in TNBC cells. A novel conjugate of peptide 31 with doxorubicin (Dox) retains selectivity for TNBC cells and exhibits significant toxicity comparable …

Elevated Ambient Temperature Associated With Reduced Infectious Disease Test Positivity Rates: Retrospective Observational Analysis Of Statewide Covid-19 Testing And Weather Across California Counties., Nicholas Wing-Ping Kwok, Joshua Pevnick, Keith Feldman

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: From medication usage to the time of day, a number of external factors are known to alter human body temperature (BT), even in the absence of underlying pathology. In select cases, clinical guidance already suggests the consideration of clinical and demographic factors when interpreting BT, such as a decreased threshold for fever as age increases. Recent work has indicated factors impacting BT extend to environmental conditions including ambient temperature. However, the effect sizes of these relationships are often small, and it remains unclear if such relationships result in a meaningful impact on real-world health care practices.

OBJECTIVE: Temperature remains …

Ire1Α Silences Dsrna To Prevent Taxane-Induced Pyroptosis In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Longyong Xu, Fanglue Peng, Qin Luo, Yao Ding, Fei Yuan, Liting Zheng, Wei He, Sophie S Zhang, Xin Fu, Jin Liu, Ayse Sena Mutlu, Shuyue Wang, Ralf Bernd Nehring, Xingyu Li, Qianzi Tang, Catherine Li, Xiangdong Lv, Lacey E Dobrolecki, Weijie Zhang, Dong Han, Na Zhao, Eric Jaehnig, Jingyi Wang, Weiche Wu, Davis A Graham, Yumei Li, Rui Chen, Weiyi Peng, Yiwen Chen, Andre Catic, Zhibin Zhang, Bing Zhang, Anthony M Mustoe, Albert C Koong, George Miles, Michael T Lewis, Meng C Wang, Susan M Rosenberg, Bert W O'Malley, Thomas F Westbrook, Han Xu, Xiang H-F Zhang, C Kent Osborne, Jin Billy Li, Matthew J Ellis, Mothaffar F Rimawi, Jeffrey M Rosen, Xi Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Chemotherapy is often combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) to enhance immunotherapy responses. Despite the approval of chemo-immunotherapy in multiple human cancers, many immunologically cold tumors remain unresponsive. The mechanisms determining the immunogenicity of chemotherapy are elusive. Here, we identify the ER stress sensor IRE1α as a critical checkpoint that restricts the immunostimulatory effects of taxane-chemotherapy and prevents the innate immune recognition of immunologically cold triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). IRE1α RNase silences taxane-induced dsRNA through RIDD (Regulated IRE1-Dependent Decay) to prevent NLRP3 inflammasome–dependent pyroptosis. Inhibition of IRE1α in Trp53−/− TNBC allows taxane to induce extensive dsRNAs that are sensed …

Characterizing The Risk Of Meteorite Ejecta To Future Lunar Surface Operations, Jacob Yates

Theses and Dissertations

In-situ materials provided adequate shielding against the risk of meteorite ejecta for future lunar surface operations. Both regolith simulant and simulant-epoxy mixtures stopped simulated ejecta projectiles with velocities at or near lunar escape velocity. Those depth penetrations for those two in-situ related materials were shallow inside 3 cm and may prove to be influential in future mission planning of lunar surface operations. The lunar surface poses a potential risk from meteoroid ejecta for future lunar surface operations. The safety ramifications of long-term crewed missions for the Artemis program, NASA’s lunar program, are being investigated or reconsidered from the previous Apollo …

The Rise, Fall, And Resurgence Of Phage Therapy For Urinary Tract Infection, Jacob J Zulk, Kathryn A Patras, Anthony W Maresso

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In the face of rising antimicrobial resistance, bacteriophage therapy, also known as phage therapy, is seeing a resurgence as a potential treatment for bacterial infections including urinary tract infection (UTI). Primarily caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli, the 400 million UTI cases annually are major global healthcare burdens and a primary cause of antibiotic prescriptions in the outpatient setting. Phage therapy has several potential advantages over antibiotics including the ability to disrupt bacterial biofilms and synergize with antimicrobial treatments with minimal side effects or impacts on the microbiota. Phage therapy for UTI treatment has shown generally favorable results in recent …

Kenyon Collegian - December 12, 2024

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Out-Of-Focus Signal Rejection For In Vivo Po2 Measurements Using Two-Photon Phosphorescence Lifetime Microscopy, Qi Pian, Baoqiang Li, Ikbal Şencan-Eğilmez, Xiaojun Cheng, Jay Dubb, Xinyue Huang, Buyin Fu, Srinivasa Rao Allu, Mohammad Abbas Yaseen, Anna Devor, Sergei A Vinogradov, Sava Sakadžić

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Two-photon phosphorescence lifetime microscopy has been a key tool for studying cerebral oxygenation in mice. However, the accuracy of the partial pressure of oxygen (pO

Firsthand Versus ‘Secondhand’ Perspectives Of Harm: Emphasising Teens’ Firsthand Perspectives Of Online Sexual Content, Harrison W. See, Giselle Woodley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This article examines interview data from 24 Australian families, exploring how teens express perceived harms associated with online Sexually Explicit Material (SEM). For many teens, an encounter with SEM occurs prior to their first partnered sexual experience, often before their first kiss (Crabbe et al. 1; Power et al. 11; Woodley et al., Teen Perspectives 2). Of relevance was how teens expressed the potential harms of online SEM. Specifically, this article examines the difference between instances of teens expressing perceptions of SEM via the perspectives of others (secondhand perspectives) in contrast with instances of teens citing their own encounters with …

Climbing The Not-For-Profit Leadership Ladder In Australia: Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion, Cheng Yen Loo, Shajimon Peter, Ian Moore, Michael Grove, Loretta Baldassar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This qualitative study examines equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the leadership roles of not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) where a significant number of social workers engage in professional practice. Two focus groups—one with members of the senior management of NPOs (n = 5) and another with emerging (aspiring and less experienced) leaders of NPOs (n = 6)—were conducted to gather perspectives and opinions on EDI in their organizations’ leadership roles. Four major themes emerged from the findings for promoting EDI, which include a whole of organization commitment, multilevel consideration with recruitment, mentorship, training, and advisory board as an untapped potential. Recommendations …

The Old Sword And The Sea: A Medieval European Sword Off The Coast Of Newe-Yam, Joppe Gosker, Jacob Sharvit, Izhak Hershko, Dan Braitman, Yotam Asscher

'Atiqot

This article examines a sword discovered on the seabed near Newe-Yam, providing an analysis of its physical characteristics. The location of the discovery and the submarine iron corrosion processes are described. The sword, covered in a biogenic crust, was studied using non- and minimally invasive techniques, and compared with contemporary swords. A European origin and an approximate date in the twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE are proposed. The study also discusses the role of swords in Medieval European society, their association with authority and chivalry, and the romantic perceptions concerning Crusader swords.

The Fortifications Of Tel Burna: A Reappraisal After Twelve Seasons Of Excavations (2010–2022), Aharon Tavger, Chris Mckinny, Deborah Cassuto, Jane Gaastra, Steven Ortiz, Itzhaq Shai

'Atiqot

Tel Burna’s prominent summit, encompassed by a 70 × 70 m casemate fortification, has attracted attention since at least the nineteenth century CE. An analysis of the archaeological data collected during ongoing excavations at the tell indicates that these fortifications were built in the late tenth or early ninth century BCE. The fortification of this Judahite stronghold, located on the border with Philistia, remained in use for the next 200 years. Recently, evidence has come to light of a massive undertaking to reinforce and strengthen the western side of the casemate wall in the late eighth century BCE. The authors …

Encryption-Capable Keyboard, Radu Stefan

Defensive Publications Series

A cloud platform can receive encrypted data from a keyboard. A client device that includes the keyboard can connect to the cloud platform via a network. The keyboard can receive input from input components. A keyboard controller of the keyboard can encrypt the received input into encrypted data. The client device can receive encrypted data from the keyboard. The client device can transmit the encrypted data to the cloud platform without decrypting the encrypted data. At the cloud platform, the encrypted data can be decrypted by a decryption module, and used for an application of the cloud platform.