Digital Commons Network^™

Unveiling The Vulnerability Of Return Migration: A Feminist Embeddedness Perspective On Bangladeshi Women Workers, Faraha Nawaz, Tania Afrin Tonny

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study explores the vulnerability of migrant workers returning to Bangladesh through the lens of van Houte and Davids’ (2008) embeddedness framework. Centering women’s narratives offers a feminist method of embeddedness, focusing on the economic, social, and psychosocial dimensions of returning migrants’ experiences. This paper addresses the vulnerabilities experienced by women upon their return, particularly those returning from the Middle East. Drawing on qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 30 Bangladeshi women domestic workers, this study identifies two primary causes for their return from the Middle East to Bangladesh: coercion by family members and coercion by employers. The findings indicate …

Minnesota School Boards Association Communications Internship, Anna Houston

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

My internship at Minnesota School Boards Association allowed me to gain more experience within the communications field. This internship allowed me to see how current communications professionals are working within the non-profit sector that isn’t directly related to environmental matters. It was beneficial to learn from these experts while improving on my hard and soft skills within the communications field. This will help show future employers that I didn’t just study communications, but I actively practiced this work within the communications field. The Minnesota School Boards Association is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1920 in St. Peter MN. The …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Metoo Activism Representation In Nepalese News Coverage: Privileged Bodies, Masculine Gaze, And Absentees Others, Grisha Mainali

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Alongside other women of the world, Nepalese women have been fighting against gender violence and sexual harassment to create a violence-free society for decades. In 2017, the MeToo movement took a turn by becoming a transnational digital movement with 85+ countries adopting and localizing the movement. Despite hundreds of women participating in the movement, the documentation of the MeToo movement in Nepal has primarily been limited to a few newspapers and news articles. This research addresses a gap in scholarship in documenting the Nepali movement and focuses on the case study of the MeToo movement in Nepal to explore how …

An International Law Of The Emotions, Emily Kidd White

All Papers

Talk of the emotional or affective turn in international law is relatively recent though it tracks and echoes several other critical methods movements, including the turn to history, in the study of international law and, so too, a two-decade long wave of law and emotions research in several domestic legal systems. The affective turn in international law in several instances aims to critique a post-Cold War optimism that held out the promise that a rules and reason-based international order would work to abate war, and secure peace, prosperity and efficient capital flows. As outlined by the editors of this volume …

Decoding Heterogeneity In Human Aging: Omic Biomarkers Of Age-Related Disorders, Yaroslav Markov

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Biological aging unfolds along multiple heterogeneous trajectories shaped by both acquired molecular drift and inherited genetic variation. This dissertation investigates two complementary axes of aging heterogeneity: (1) stochastic, individually acquired epigenomic deviations; and (2) genotype-defined risk exemplified by the APOEε4 allele, the strongest genetic determinant of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

1) Stochastic Epigenetic Mutation Detection

We developed SEMdetectR, a robust R-based pipeline for identifying and quantifying stochastic epigenetic mutations (SEMs) -- rare, outlier CpG methylation events that accumulate idiosyncratically with age. Using technical replicates from three independent cohorts, we uncovered previous methodological flaws undermining SEM reliability and trained a machine …

Social Factors Variably Predict Salivary Cortisol Levels In Tufted Capuchins, Aiko Amano

Master’s Theses

Glucocorticoids (GCs) have become a prime focus in studies involving the relationship between psychosocial factors and physiology. For social animals, determining the social variables that relate to both GC release and buffering can help tease apart the complex interplay between the psychological and physiological dynamics of individuals and their communities. A 2019 study found relationships between social factors and hair cortisol in a group of socially housed tufted capuchin monkeys in which social support correlated negatively with cortisol levels while received aggression correlated positively. The present study examined the relationships between similar social measures and salivary cortisol in the same …

Chromosome Segregation Dynamics During Meiosis I, Meiosis Ii, And Mitosis Cell Divisions In Acheta Domesticus (House Crickets), Sweta Aryal

Master’s Theses

Chromosomes exhibit diverse types of organization and movement during the cell division process. Meiosis is essential for sexual reproduction, producing haploid cells from diploid precursors. In meiosis I, homologous chromosomes pair up, and separate in anaphase I, with two chromatids moving toward each pole. In meiosis II, the sister chromatids move to opposite poles during anaphase II and produce haploid cells. In contrast, in mitosis, the chromosomes are copied and distributed to produce genetically identical diploid somatic cells. Understanding the behavior of chromosomes during mitosis and meiosis is significant for accurate chromosome segregation to prevent birth defects and diseases like …

Same Dynamics, Different Graph: Exploring Correlations, Similarities, And Renormalization Of Dynamics On Networks Using Temporal Distance Theory, Matthew Hockenbrock

Master’s Theses

Analyzing dynamics that take place on graphs (networks) is fundamental to modern network theory, with applications spanning biology, social networks, and engineering systems. A significant body of research exists that considers the similarity and scaling of network topologies. However, understanding how dynamic behavior varies across different graph topologies - particularly how signals propagate and dynamic behaviors scale between small and large networks - remains a significant challenge.

To address this challenge, this thesis presents a comprehensive framework to analyze how dynamic signals propagate and scale on network topologies using temporal distance theory. Three research goals were accomplished. First, a …

Evaluation Of Sex Trivalent Chromosome In Giant Shield Mantis (Rhombodera Megaera) And Holocentric Chromosome In Milkweed Bug (Oncopeltus Fasciatus), Hedyeh Davoudi Kianersi

Master’s Theses

Aneuploidy, which refers to the abnormal number of chromosomes within a haploid set, has a significant effect in both physical and cognitive process of development. Proper chromosome segregation during cell division is crucial to prevent aneuploidy. Chromosome segregation is affected by the alignment of chromosomes on the metaphase plate as well as the position of centromere on the chromosome. Many arthropod species have sex chromosomes that either naturally are unpaired or pair in ways that differ for the usual patterns for autosomes. Also, some arthropods possess unique centromere position on their chromosomes which directly affects chromosome segregation pattern. Evaluating the …

Biomedical Privacy And Security: Histology Image Vulnerabilities And Blockchain Solutions, Eric Ni

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Biomedical research increasingly relies on vast datasets, such as genomic sequences, electronic health records, and histology images, to advance scientific knowledge and clinical applications. However, the sensitive nature of biomedical data poses significant privacy risks, particularly with emerging capabilities of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. This dissertation addresses two central challenges in biomedical data privacy and security: quantifying privacy risks associated with histology images and developing innovative blockchain-based methods to ensure secure data storage and sharing.

The first part of this work investigates the vulnerability of histology images—commonly perceived as safe for public sharing—to privacy breaches. Utilizing advanced computational …

Water Tent: Implementation Guide Grades 3-8, Beth Young, Alicia Carlson, Haley Wicklein

Earth Around Us

No abstract provided.

Queer Life In Nineteenth-Century America: A Historical Literature Review, Vivian Wright

SURF Posters 2025

In recent political discourses, queerness has often been treated as a modern phenomenon, and many people tend to think of queerness as a twentieth-century invention. Historians, however, have shown this to be false; an extensive amount of historical work details the lives of those who did not conform to sexual or gender norms in nineteenth-century America. This review surveys such works, analyzing nearly twenty different works spanning the course of nearly fifty years. By examining these works chronologically, the development of the field of queer history can be understood in the context of social and political developments occurring in the …

Electronic Resources Updates - 2024 Q4, Brigitte Galauner, Gregg Harris

Electronic Resources Quarterly Updates

No abstract provided.

Contact Pathway Factors As Potential Modifiers Of Bleeding Related To Factor Xi Deficiency, Ivy R. Han, Leah Rosenfeldt, Courtney Young, Bal Krishan Phd, Rachel Cantrell Phd, Cassie Sprague, Mousa Kharnaf, William Abplanalp, Joseph Palumbo Md

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Factor XI (FXI) deficiency, also known as Hemophilia C, is characterized by mild to moderate bleeding symptoms. However, the factors that modify bleeding severity in FXI deficiency are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated whether components of the contact activation pathway can act as modifiers of bleeding in the context of FXI deficiency. Using a tail vein transection (TVT) model in rats, we assessed bleeding in four experimental groups: wild-type Sprague-Dawley rats, Prekallikrein knockout (PKK^-/-) rats, rats treated with a FXI-inhibiting antibody, and PKK-/- rats treated with the FXI antibody.

Under anesthesia, each rat underwent a …

Morphology And Synaptic Connections Of A T7 Bipolar Cell In Mouse Retina, Lauren Groen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will aim to identify ribbon outputs and post-synaptic partners of type 7 bipolar cells in a mouse retina. Using the software WebKnossos, a three-dimensional skeleton of three to four type 7 bipolar cells will be traced. Ribbon synapses will then be located along the cells' axon terminals, and the types of cells that are receiving the synaptic output will be identified. The goal of this project is to provide a better understanding of how type 7 bipolar cells interact with other neurons in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) of the retina.

Analysis Of Sled Dog Biomechanics, Natalie Bender

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper is an analysis of data collected by Dr Rachel Olson and her team. The data was collected from the same set of sled dogs before and after training for the Iditarod race. The goal of this paper is to draw conclusions on whether the gait of sled dogs’ change with fitness level. The data was cleaned in R to find the average peak for forelimb joint angles per run for each dog. The data was analyzed with 3 different ANOVAs – one including both the shoulder and carpus, one for just the shoulder, and one for just the …

Effects Of Diet Composition On Physical Parameters In Danio Rerio, Isabella Hemphill

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With the use of zebrafish as a common model organism for human health, the reduction of confounding variables in their care is key. Many commercialized zebrafish diets are available for purchase, but each one consists of a different ratio of these crucial macronutrients. This study aimed to determine the effects long-term diets high in one macronutrient would have on the morphometrics, heart, liver, and protein content of zebrafish. Four diets were fed over a period of almost two years- high lipid, high carb, high protein, and a control diet. The control diet was the standard feed used in this lab, …

Exploring Psychological Implications Of The Contemporary Lung Transplant, Isaac C. Machar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Since its inception in 1963 at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, more than 50,000 lung transplant procedures have been performed. During its 50-year anniversary, 2023 saw just over 3,000 lung transplants performed in the United Sates. However, as this procedure continues to increase in execution each year, it is critical that the psychological implications of this procedure are explored. In this paper, I hope to develop an understanding of the psychological background of contemporary lung transplantation. Reviewing the lung and double lung transplant, the goal is to apply biopsychology principles to the field. Background information about transplant science is …

Improvement Of Cellular Pattern Organization And Clarity Through Centrifugal Force, Lauren E. Mehanna, James D. Boyd, Shelley Remus-Williams, Nicole M. Racca, Dawson P. Spraggins, Martha E. Grady, Brad J. Berron

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Rapid and strategic cell placement is necessary for high throughput tissue fabrication. Current adhesive cell patterning systems rely on fluidic shear flow to remove cells outside of the patterned regions, but limitations in washing complexity and uniformity prevent adhesive patterns from being widely applied. Centrifugation is commonly used to study the adhesive strength of cells to various substrates; however, the approach has not been applied to selective cell adhesion systems to create highly organized cell patterns. This study shows centrifugation as a promising method to wash cellular patterns after selective binding of cells to the surface has taken place. After …

Integrating Protein Language Model And Molecular Dynamics Simulations To Discover Antibiofouling Peptides, Ibrahim A. Imam, Shea Bailey, Duolin Wang, Shuai Zeng, Dong Xu, Qing Shao

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Antibiofouling peptide materials prevent the nonspecific adsorption of proteins on devices, enabling them to perform their designed functions as desired in complex biological environments. Due to their importance, research on antibiofouling peptide materials has been one of the central subjects of interfacial engineering. However, only a few antibiofouling peptide sequences have been developed. This narrow scope of antibiofouling peptide materials limits their capacity to adapt to the broad spectrum of application scenarios. To address this issue, we searched for antibiofouling peptides in the vast sequence pool of the microbiome library using a combination of deep learning-based high-throughput search and molecular …

Research News, Publications, 2025, Volume 3, Soumyajit Majumdar

Publications (2015-)

Publications that appeared during the period of July 1 - September 30, 2025.

Research News, Publications, 2025, Volume 4, Soumyajit Majumdar

Publications (2015-)

Publications that appeared during the period of October 1 - December 31, 2025.

Research News, Grants, 2025, Volume 2, Soumyajit Majumdar

Grants (2015-)

Grants and contracts awarded during April - June 2025.

Advancing The Characterization Of Geophysical Signals Through Array Processing And Artificial Intelligence, Miro Ronac Giannone

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

In geophysics, seismic and infrasound observations are routinely employed to constrain the nature and origin of events. Seismoacoustics, as a discipline, is built upon the simultaneous detection and integrated analysis of these data types. This joint approach is critical not only for advancing scientific understanding but also for supporting global monitoring efforts in hazard mitigation and nuclear explosion treaty verification. The data analyzed in this dissertation were recorded by array deployments, which consist of multiple sensors arranged in predetermined configurations to enhance signal detection, resolve directionality, and quantify waveform coherence. Leveraging these array recordings, I introduce novel approaches which combine …

How Do Religious Beliefs, Practices, And Experiences Impact Mental Health?, Samantha Coyne, Margo Gregor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following literature review discusses the influence religious practices, beliefs, and experiences impact mental health. The discussion will revolve around three main religions: Catholocism, Judaism, and other denominations of Christianity. Negative and positive influences of religion on mental health were found and discussed.

Exploring The Effects Of Road Salt On Earthworm Species, Alea Mry Koston

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This study examines the effects of two road salts, sodium chloride (NaCl) and calcium magnesium acetate (CMA), on the health of two earthworm species: Eisenia fetida and Lumbricus terrestris. Over a 4-week period, approximately 168 earthworms were exposed to varying concentrations of either NaCl, CMA, or mixed ratios of both, with a control group included for comparison. The experiment involved monitoring the changes in earthworm weight and measuring their contraction rates to determine physiological responses. Statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in weight or activity between NaCl and CMA treatments for either species. However, higher concentrations of NaCl resulted in …

Daf-12’S Effects On Lifespan In C. Elegans, Randhir S. Multani

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

We tested the hypothesis that daf-12 has the ability to upregulate mir-84 and mir-241 in C. elegans. Rifampicin helps C. elegans live longer by reducing glycation and activating daf-16. It is not clear if daf-12 is needed for this to happen. Daf-16 turns on genes that promote a longer lifespan. Daf-12 increases mir-84 and mir-241 and helps daf-16 become active so it can turn on genes that relate to lifespan. C. elegans were divided into four groups: wild-type, wild-type with RIF, daf-12 RNAi, and daf-12 RNAi with RIF. Worms were incubated at 20°C. An LDH assay and protein assay …

The Signal Of Airplane Combustion In Soil At A Small Airport In Ohio, Rachel Engels

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Leaded gas has been banned for automobile use in the interest of public health since 1996. However, leaded gas is still used for small piston aircraft so the engine can run safely. To investigate potential environmental impacts of leaded gas, 90 soil samples were taken from around a small airport in Ohio. Soil elemental composition was measured by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), soil organic content determined by Loss-on-Ignition (LOI), and soil ferrimagnetic content measured by magnetic susceptibility. There is an unmistakable airplane fuel combustion signal in the soil at the ends of the runway, where aircraft wait to take off on …

Expression And Purification Of Cytochrome P450 46a1 For Resonance Raman Spectroscopy, Lauren Jirles

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Researchers are targeting cytochrome P450 46A1 (CYP46A1), an enzyme critical for brain cholesterol homeostasis, as a potential therapeutic approach for neurological diseases. CYP46A1 plays a key role in cholesterol turnover in the brain by catalyzing the conversion of cholesterol to 24S-hydroxycholesterol (24HC) and is linked to Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology. Given its critical role in brain health, CYP46A1 represents a promising target for therapeutic intervention in neurological disorders. The goal of this project was to express the CYP46A1 protein in GC5 E. coli cells and purify the protein using chromatographic techniques including affinity and ion exchange chromatography. Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy was …

Effects Of Energy Drinks On Crayfish Physiology, Melyna Sweeney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Energy drinks have become the drink of choice among many college students due to the rush of energy it provides via the megadose of caffeine (Vercammen et al. 2019). Because of their newfound popularity, there is much research to be done about the effects on human physiology. Energy drinks are known to increase endurance in muscles of rat subjects (Imagawa et al. 2009) and stimulate enhanced “alertness” (Smit & Rogers, 2002). The purpose of this research was to uncover the potential effects that energy drinks have on metabolic rate and/or stress responses in crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), with the …