Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Functional Connectivity With Learning And Memory In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Lindsay Fadel, Elizabeth Hipskind, Steen E Pedersen, Jonathan Romero, Caitlyn Ortiz, Eric Shin, Md Abul Hassan Samee, Robia G Pautler

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: Functional connectivity (FC) is a metric of how different brain regions interact with each other. Although there have been some studies correlating learning and memory with FC, there have not yet been, to date, studies that use machine learning (ML) to explain how FC changes can be used to explain behavior not only in healthy mice, but also in mouse models of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Here, we investigated changes in FC and their relationship to learning and memory in a mouse model of AD across disease progression.

Methods: We assessed the APP/PS1 mouse model of AD and wild-type controls …

The Fragile Fabric Of Society: An Insight Into Religion In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Tomislav Tadić

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The question of the social function of religion is undoubtedly one of the most important questions at the level of global social ontology. In this context, the sociology of religion turns out to be one of the most significant branches within contemporary sociology. Bearing in mind the events that mark the current global political situation, especially the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine, the need to rethink the relationship between ethnicity and religion as a special expression of the crisis of secularity within the limits of the "radicalized consequences of modernity" further intensifies. The paper is composed of two parts: 1) …

The Challenge Of Implementing Social Justice In A Developing Market Economy: The Case Of Slovakia, Michal Valčo, Kamil Kardis

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Our paper explores the challenges of implementing social justice in Slovakia, a developing market economy with a complex historical background. We provide an overview of Slovakia’s political and socio-economic transformations in the 20th century, focusing on the transition from a state-planned to a market economy (1990–2000). While analyzing contemporary challenges, we explore the role of Michael Novak’s democratic capitalism and Catholic social teaching as moral frameworks for fostering a society with a high level of social justice and cohesion. These approaches, centered on human dignity, solidarity, and ethical entrepreneurship, are contrasted and complemented with Amartya Sen’s capability approach, which offers …

Pr Activities Of Muslim Organizations In Slovakia: Political And Communication Analysis, Vadym Sluysar, Oleh Sokolovskyi, Serhii Kostiuchkov, Mykola Slyusar

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is dedicated to analyzing the PR activities of Muslim organizations in Slovakia, taking into account the political, social, and communicative context. The authors explore the impact of digital technologies on religious communication, examining the use of social media and traditional media to shape the public image of Islamic organizations. Significant attention is given to the issue of islamophobia and the informational strategies aimed at overcoming negative stereotypes about Muslims. The PR campaigns of the "Islamic Foundation in Slovakia" are analyzed, including their role in interfaith dialogue and combating hate speech. The study addresses political challenges, particularly the populist …

Samuel Štefan Osuský’S Critique Of Church And Society In The Face Of Totalitarianism, Michal Valčo, Katarína Valčová

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper provides a systematic review analysis of the relevant works of Slovak philosopher and theologian Samuel Štefan Osuský (1888-1975), focusing on his critical perspective concerning the responses of the Church (mainly the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Augsburg Confession in Slovakia) and society to the ideological and political dangers of fascism and Nazism in 20th-century Central Europe. Drawing on his major writings, including his prophetic 1937 lecture "Filozofia boľševizmu, fašizmu a hitlerizmu" [The Philosophy of Bolshevism, Fascism, and Hitlerism] and the courageous 1942 "Pastiersky list k židovskej otázke" [Pastoral Letter on the Jewish Question], we explore Osuský’s diagnosis of institutional …

Kyiv Christianity In The Portraits Of Metropolitans: Artistic Language And Coding Of Identity In The 18th Century, Oleksandr Lukyanenko, Vitaly Dmytrenko, Vita Dmytrenko, Nazar Maistruk

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The article is devoted to the analysis of the iconography of the Kiev metropolitans of the 18th century as a unique phenomenon of religious Ukrainian Baroque art. The portraits of the bishops are considered not only as representative images of spiritual power, but also as carriers of cultural codes that record a special type of “Kyiv Christianity” formed on the border of Eastern and Western civilizations. Special attention is paid to Baroque aesthetics – the splendor of the bishop’s vestments, the ornamentality, theatricality of the compositions and at the same time the psychological depth of the portrayed. The study shows …

Engraving Justice: Women's Names In Mosque Calligraphy, Zilka Spahić Šiljak

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Spiritual Foundations Of An Unbreakable Ukraine During The War, Olena Rohova, Tetiana Lysokolenko, Iryna Karpan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

An analysis of the spiritual foundations of the ability of Ukrainian society to resist the illegal military aggression of a country whose resources significantly exceed those of Ukraine. Ukraine’s unbreakability is connected to the dominant values and worldview of its representatives, which include spirituality responsible for the resiliency of individuals, the plasticity to perceive challenges of fate, and the responses of radical changes of being. The central idea of resiliency includes the revival of the most important religious, cultural, and historical factors of collective spirituality in Ukrainian society. The religious values introduced into the Ukrainian culture by Christianity as a …

From Trans Health To Vaccines: A Theoretically Driven Model Exploring Factors Related To Susceptibility To Medical Misinformation, Catherine Wall

Theses and Dissertations

Medical misinformation represents a significant threat to both individual and public health. While some consequences of this form of misinformation are relatively benign, there can be serious consequences ranging from a decreased trust in healthcare systems to an increased likelihood of epidemic outbreak and death. One such consequence can be seen in the recent legislative actions taken regarding access to transgender healthcare in the United States. Gender affirming care has been shown to benefit the mental well-being of transgender youth and adults; however, the demonstrably false information that underlies these legislative efforts can and has yielded significant harm. But what …

Beliefs Related To Diagnosing Bpd And Complex Ptsd, Bailey Pascuzzi

Theses and Dissertations

There has been speculation that Borderline personality disorder (BPD) and Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (Complex PTSD) are the same disorder or represent separate disorders on a broader trauma spectrum (Frost et al., 2020; Lewis & Grenyer, 2009). BPD and Complex PTSD share several symptoms but differ in their presentation (Ford & Courtis, 2021). Because the two disorders present so similarly, it could be that clinicians have difficulty differentiating them, leading to misdiagnosis (Miller, 2014). This study examined clinicians’ diagnostic decision-making and stigma toward BPD and Complex PTSD. Participants (N = 426) completed an online survey where they diagnosed a written …

“Some Vague Utopia”: Searching For Urania, Moira L. Neve

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the global pendulum swing of gender trouble marked by the United States’ President’s declaration that there are only two sexes, activists have been rejecting assimilation (ie. defining equality as gay marriage or queer people in the military) within queer studies long before 2025. In the first half of the 20th century, a journal by the name of Urania (1916-1940), privately published and circulated to their home base in the United Kingdom and beyond, five editors (Esther Roper, Eva Gore-Booth, Jessey Wade, Dorothy Cornish, and Irene Clyde/Thomas Baty), challenged the gender binary and the resulting assumptions of heterosexual marriage. This …

Establishing A Conventional Linac-Based Electron Flash Beam, Justin Defrancisco

Theses and Dissertations

Problems: A rediscovered radiotherapy technique, FLASH, involves increasing the dose rate to >40 Gy/s. For a given dose, FLASH is shown to decrease the normal tissue complication probability without affecting the tumor control probability. More preclinical studies are necessary to confirm and enable these desirable properties on humans. Current preclinical investigations have diverse constraints, requiring FLASH apparatuses with flexible parameters and accurate control. However, there are limited FLASH platforms available, the existing ones are costly. Our institution is not in possession of any such infrastructure. Even if available, dosimetry and beam control in FLASH are extremely lacking. There is …

Psychometric Evaluation: Extending The Reliability And Validity Of The Teacher Attribution Measure For Early Elementary (Tam-Ee), Kerensa R. Nagle

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher attributions of student challenging behavior have the potential to influence teacher-student relationships. However, the literature on teachers’ attributions of challenging behavior is sparse and lacks measurement standardization. This limits the replicability and generalizability of research findings. To determine if teacher attributions of student challenging behaviors influence teacher-student relationships, a measure demonstrating a specific score reliability and validity profile is needed. The present study evaluated the item- and scale-level score reliability and validity of a measure of teacher attribution of student challenging behavior, the Teacher Attribution Measure for Early Elementary (TAM-EE; Nemer, 2019), within a sample of teachers (N …

Sex-Specific Regulation Of Mash And Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Role Of Sphk2 In Females, Bria Pierre

Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) is characterized by excessive fat accumulation in the liver, with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) representing a more severe form that can progress to cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The sphingosine kinases and the S1P signaling pathway are key regulators of MASH and HCC progression. While much is known about the mechanisms contributing to MASH-HCC in males, less is known for females. Nevertheless, we previously identified sphingosine Kinase 2 (SphK2) to protect females from MASH-driven HCC. This study first performed differential gene expression analysis on human liver cohorts to examine sex-specific differences in gene expression …

Social Support, Tobacco Attitudes/Perceptions Of Harm, And Asthma Status As Moderators In The Association Between Tobacco Exposure And Cotinine Levels, Rachel L. Pitts

Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco use and exposure are linked to adverse health outcomes (e.g., respiratory conditions) and increased healthcare utilization (e.g., emergency room visits). This study examined the moderating role of social support, tobacco attitudes/perceptions of harm, and asthma status on associations between tobacco use (e.g., combustible product use) and exposure (e.g., secondhand smoke) and cotinine levels among individuals in Richmond, Virginia. We also explored differences in tobacco-related variables by asthma status and associations among tobacco use, secondhand smoke exposure, cotinine levels, and asthma control. Youth (n = 201) and adults (n = 209) (95.7% Black/African American; 60.6% female; 65.8% non-tobacco users; 21% …

Doves And Symbiotic Bacteria: Whole-Genome Assembly And Phylogenomic Inference, Mariam Topchyan

Theses and Dissertations

Part 1

I examined a potential source of variation in phylogenetic inference, investigating whether handling single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) through different methods during reference-guided genome assembly of pigeon and dove species impacts phylogenetic reconstruction and inference. Specifically, I created a custom consensus base calling tool that handles allelic variation through two different approaches, either ignoring heterozygous sites by denoting them as an ambiguous character “N,” or using a pseudo-random choice between supported base variants. Through reference-guided assembly of 108 dove species, I generated two datasets of alignments using both consensus calling methods, created two trees from both datasets via supermatrix and …

Witnessing Intellectual Humility: How A Peer’S Humble Introduction Affects Feedback Receptivity And Social Perception, Stephanie A. Barrientos

Theses and Dissertations

Might intellectual humility (IH) be contagious? Across two studies, we examined how individuals respond to constructive criticism depending on whether the feedback-giver demonstrated IH—defined as acknowledging one’s limitations and valuing learning. We focused on outcomes related to intellectual (or epistemic) openness in the context of writing, including self-focused state IH (acknowledging one’s own knowledge limitations), other-focused IH (valuing the insights of a peer expert), corrigibility (comfort with being corrected), feedback engagement, and attitudes toward future academic help-seeking in writing (AHS).

In Experiment 1, participants received feedback from a peer who conveyed IH through a brief self-descriptive statement. This subtle manipulation …

The Signaling Value Of Input Information: Performance Effects Of Task Difficulty And Effort Sensitivity, Steven D. Smith, William B. Tayler, Tyler F. Thomas, Todd A. Thornock

Faculty Publications

We investigate how the reporting of input information to managers affects employee performance, and how the signaling value of inputs for impression management moderates this effect. We develop theory to predict that the information content of input information (incremental to output measures), and thus its potential for impression management, will depend separately on both the difficulty of the task and the sensitivity of performance to effort. Across three experiments, we predict and find the reporting of input information significantly increases employee effort and performance in difficult relative to easy tasks and in low relative to high effort sensitivity tasks. Our …

Psychological Reactance Theory And Tax Evasion Intentions, Diana Falsetta, Brian C. Spilker

Faculty Publications

This study experimentally examines how tax administration service inefficiencies in the form of tax return processing delays from paper-filed tax returns indirectly affect taxpayer tax evasion intentions through taxpayers’ psychological reactance to the delay. We further consider whether this indirect effect is different when the taxpayer willingly chooses to paper file their tax return versus when the taxpayer is forced to do so. Consistent with Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT), we find that when taxpayers receive delayed refunds, they experience psychological reactance (e.g., anger and frustration with the tax administration) that increases their tax evasion intentions. Further, we find that the …

Unraveling The Reactivity Of Nitrate Ester Explosives: Insights From Femtosecond Time-Resolved Mass Spectrometry And Computational Chemistry, Erica Britt

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uncovers the ultrafast molecular mechanisms underlying the decomposition of nitrate ester explosives—nitroglycerin (NG), ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN), and amyl nitrate—through the integration of femtosecond time-resolved mass spectrometry and advanced computational chemistry. Although these compounds play fundamental roles in both military and civilian contexts, the precise molecular dynamics governing their pronounced reactivity and impact sensitivity have remained inadequately characterized. Our research establishes that low O–NO2 bond dissociation energies are the primary driver of ultrafast fragmentation and high reactivity in all three esters. The distinctive molecular architectures of these esters dictate their explosive properties: NG’s tri-nitrate configuration leads to exceptional …

Predictive Inference For Ion Concentration With Machine Learning And Bayesian Methods, Alexandra B. Ulbing

Theses and Dissertations

Ultraviolet--visible (UV--Vis) spectroscopy produces high-dimensional signals that are strongly collinear, shift with concentration, and exhibit heteroskedastic, non-Gaussian noise. These features make supervised regression from spectra to ionic concentrations statistically challenging and limit the reliability of methods that assume linear structure or homoscedastic errors.

This dissertation develops two complementary frameworks for prediction and uncertainty quantification in UV--Vis spectroscopic regression: (1) frequentist stacked ensembles combined with distribution-free conformal prediction, and (2) Bayesian hierarchical modeling and Bayesian stacking. Together, they provide a unified view of model-based and distribution-free uncertainty across nickel and nickel--cobalt datasets.

The frequentist component builds ensembles of Functional Data Analysis …

Exploring The Role Of Host Immune Responses And Bacterial Sensory Pathways In The Development Of Treponema Denticola-Mediated Periodontal Disease, Annie N. Hinson

Theses and Dissertations

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease driven by dysbiotic microbial communities and maladaptive host responses. Treponema denticola, a spirochete pathobiont, is strongly associated with disease severity. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying its interaction with host tissues and regulation of virulence remain incompletely understood. This work examines both the epithelial immune responses and bacterial transduction systems that shape T. denticola pathogenesis. Transcriptomic analysis of gingival keratinocytes revealed IL-36γ as the most highly induced cytokine following infection with T. denticola. Functional studies demonstrated that IL-36γ induction occurs in a dose- and time-dependent manner through TLR2/6 signaling, requiring the NF-κB, PI3K/Akt, and …

Relationship Extraction Using Retrieval Augmented Generation For Biomedical Dataset, Jannat Jannat

Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing number of structured and unstructured data, obtaining reliable information effectively has become crucial. In the biomedical domain, extracting information from the scientific papers is crucial in order to stay up-to-date with accurate information, given the increased pace by which new research studies are published. This work focuses on identifying relationships between entities that are extracted from the abstracts and titles of biomedical research papers. In this work, we developed a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) based system to automatically identify relations between biomedical entities. We evaluate multiple open source Large Language Models (LLMs) and the number of examples …

Tate Speech: Radicalizing Rhetoric And Multi-Level Marketing Recruitment Strategies In The Manosphere, Carey J. Priebe

Theses and Dissertations

My study aims to uncover the discursive elements behind the gendered recruitment strategies that influencers in the manosphere use to pipeline men and boys into their multi-level marketing (MLM) companies. In the manosphere, male supremacy is presented as desirable and subversive, and MLMs take advantage of emotional and economic instability. My study examines the Twitter (X) account of the popular manosphere influencer Andrew Tate as I trace his rhetoric along a three-pronged gendered recruitment framework, a framework originally developed around women selling essential oils online and funneling their followers into radical alt-right politics. What are the similarities and differences in …

The Proprietor Of Battersea: The Life And Legacy Of American Founder John Banister (1734–1788), Davis C. Simmons

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the multifaceted life of Colonel John Banister (1734–1788) during the eighteenth century. Using a biographical methodology, the study highlights his significance as an American founder from Virginia. It provides a chronological account of his accomplishments and a detailed analysis of his complex character as a politician, slave owner, and public figure of cultural importance. The research draws on primary sources such as letters and official records, as well as secondary sources including biographies and historiographies that have received limited attention. The thesis argues that Banister’s role as a Revolutionary leader and American founder is underrepresented in current …

Functional Analysis Of Ligand Binding Domain 2 Of Outer Surface Protein C Of Borreliella Burgdorferi, Gavin Z. Chambers

Theses and Dissertations

Lyme disease, caused by the spirochete Borreliella burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne infection in North America. A critical determinant of early mammalian infection is outer surface protein C (OspC), a highly variable lipoprotein that is indispensable for spirochete survival but whose precise function remains unresolved. OspC has been proposed to mediate diverse roles, including complement evasion, adhesion, tissue dissemination, and antiphagocytic activity, supporting the view that it is a multifunctional virulence factor. Structural studies have identified two putative ligand-binding domains (LBD1 and LBD2), with LBD2 forming a solvent-exposed crown at the membrane-distal end of the OspC dimer.

To …

Characterization Of Outer Surface Protein C Of Borreliella Role In Host Tropism, Kathryn Mf Chambers

Theses and Dissertations

The Lyme disease spirochetes, Borreliella spp., are maintained in nature through a complex enzootic cycle involving Ixodes ticks and a diverse set of reservoir hosts. The outer surface protein C (OspC) of the bacterium is an essential virulence factor required for transmission from ticks and early infection of mammals. Deletion of ospC abolishes infectivity, yet the precise molecular mechanisms underlying OspC function remain incompletely defined. In this dissertation, I examined the contribution of OspC type identity to host specificity. OspC is highly diverse, with over 30 genetically stable types described. While intra-type sequences are conserved (>95% amino acid …

Learning To Deceive And Persuade: Predictive Agents With Language And Personality Diversity In Social Deduction Games, Aaron M. Shah

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a novel multi-agent architecture that combines Joint Em bedding Predictive Architectures (JEPA), Free Energy Principle (FEP)–inspired planning, and language-based social interaction. The system is evaluated in a custom Werewolf-style hidden-role game, where agents must coordinate, persuade, or deceive under partial observability. Each agent encodes its belief state into a latent representation, predicts future trajectories under candidate actions, and selects votes or eliminations through a planner trained to minimize prediction error. To enable communication, agents are equipped with trainable mouthpieces. A lightweight SpeakerBandit selects from discrete templates using REINFORCE on judge-derived rewards, while a logit-bias head steers a …

A Fault-Tolerant Exchange-Coupled Spin-Ensemble Qubit At Elevated-Temperatures, Aniruddha Chakraborty

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces a novel qubit architecture: the ferromagnetic exchange-coupled spin ensemble qubit (E-qubit), designed to address the noise-induced instability. In this work, the time evolution of the ensemble’s density matrix is studied using the Liouville–von Neumann equation. To benchmark against a single-spin qubit, the gate fidelity of an E-qubit is computed in the presence of thermal noise. Coherence time is also analyzed under identical thermal condition and a linear scaling is observed with qubit size . The results show that, at 6 K , the gate fidelity error (0.7 % ) of the seven- spin ensemble is an order …

Implementation Of Quantized Artificial Neural Networks With Spintronic Stochastic Computing, Saadi Sabyasachi Mr.

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial intelligence or machine learning is going through a rapid expansion. It also incurs significant costs for power and device footprints. Various approaches are being explored to design energy and hardware efficient machine learning models. Stochastic computing has been proposed for efficient machine learning implementation. It requires a source of random number generation which poses some practical challenges. So spintronic solutions such as magnetic tunnel junction has been used for random number generation. Again, spintronic random number generation to implement high precision circuit is prone to device-to-device variations. Hence we designed quantized artificial neural network with spintronic stochastic computing which …