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Genetic Variation Of Dna Repair And Oxidative Stress Genes Associated With Breast Cancer-Related Fatigue Pre-Treatment, Tara Davis, Catherine M. Bender, Yvette Conley, Alex Conway, Theresa Koleck

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is commonly experienced by women with breast cancer. Biological underpinnings of CRF are poorly understood. Inflammatory responses including oxidative stress and DNA repair mechanisms could influence CRF. This study suggests genetic risk models may identify risk for CRF occurrence and severity in women with breast cancer.

Detailed abstract attached.

Vaccination Against Onchocerca Volvulus Induces Igg-Mediated Protective Immunity Dependent On Neutrophils And Complement, Nathan M. Ryan, Jessica A. Hess, Mohini Nakhale, Annabel A. Ferguson, William Stump, Sara Belko, Rachel Monane, Robert S. Pugliese, Nikolai Petrovsky, Benjamin L. Makepeace, Sean A. Gray, Darrick Carter, Sara Lustigman, David Abraham

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

Onchocerciasis remains a significant cause of morbidity and economic loss in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the existence of effective therapeutics, a prophylactic vaccine targeting the etiologic agent, Onchocerca volvulus, is needed to control ongoing disease and transmission. Mice were vaccinated against O. volvulus with a fusion of the recombinant antigens Ov-103 and Ov-RAL-2 (Ov-FUS-1) with Advax-CpG adjuvant. Immunized mice developed protective immunity with the killing of third-stage larvae (L3) within 36 h of challenge infection. IgG from immunized mice passively transferred protective immunity to naïve mice, indicating that antigen-specific IgG mediated parasite elimination. Neutrophils were the most abundant subset of immune …

Defining Endotypes Of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia In Preterm Infants To Improve Precision-Based Therapies., Megha Sharma, Gangaram Akangire, Noah H. Hillman, Winston M. Manimtim, Mark Ivan Attard, Venkatesh Sampath

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains a debilitating disease in premature infants. The chronic pathogenesis of BPD with complex prenatal and postnatal programming challenges attempts at precisely defining or treating disease. While existing BPD definitions categorize disease severity, a lack of consideration of disease heterogeneity and endotypes has contributed to the failure of clinical trials to improve BPD outcomes. Recent studies have used advanced lung imaging techniques, echocardiography, and lung function tests to identify airway, parenchymal, and vascular BPD endotypes. These endotypes carry different prognoses and require endotype-specific treatment strategies to optimize infant outcomes. In this Review, we focus on the pathogenic …

Leveraging Khanmigo Generative Ai-Powered Tool For Personalized Tutoring To Learn Scientific Concepts, Nedim Slijepcevic, Ali Yaylali

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This mixed-methods study investigated the effectiveness of Generative AI (GenAI) powered intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in undergraduate physics education, specifically comparing learning outcomes between students using Khanmigo (Khan Academy's AI tutor) and Google search engine. The study involved 69 undergraduate students divided into two groups (Khanmigo and Google search engine), with a third Paper-only group emerging during the experiment. Participants completed pre and posttests using the Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) and participated in structured interviews about their learning experiences. Quantitative analysis revealed significant learning gains across all conditions but found no statistically significant differences between groups in terms of …

2025-10-22 Ufc Celebrates Filipino American History Month, Phillip Agonoy

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Metabolism In Bacteria, Jana Wieschollek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC: CO2, HCO3⁻, CO32⁻) plays a central role in the metabolism of all living organisms. DIC is necessary for steps in essential biosynthetic processes, such as the synthesis of amino acids and nucleobases; in autotrophic bacteria, organic molecules are synthesized entirely from DIC. To ensure a steady supply of CO2 and HCO3 - needed for biosynthesis and/or autotrophy, organisms use bicarbonate transporters to increase the cytoplasmic concentration of this anion, and carbonic anhydrase (CA) to speed the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3 -, both in the cytoplasm and at the cell surface. This dissertation investigates DIC metabolism …

The Dark Side Of Synchrony: Investigating Affective Valence As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Physiological Synchrony And Team Performance, Caroline N. Deal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Team processes are severely understudied, likely given their dynamic nature. Physiological synchrony (PS) may provide a solution, as PS provides a proximal, objective measure of team processes. PS is believed to develop through affect contagion, such that team members who catch each other’s emotions are more likely to physiologically synchronize. Extant research has found relationships between PS and performance; however, many questions remain regarding the nature, scope, and directionality of this relationship. I proposed that PS in the context of a positively valenced emotion would be beneficial to team performance, while PS characterized by a negatively valenced emotion would be …

Rtx-303, An Orally Bioavailable Polθ Polymerase Inhibitor That Potentiates Parp Inhibitors In Brca Mutant Tumors, Gurushankar Chandramouly, William Fried, John Gordon, Douglas Ralph, Channita Keuk, Sangeeta Kumari, Mercy Ramanjulu, William Auerbacher, Leonid Minakhin, Taylor Tredinnick, Bernadette Tiberi, George Morton, Robert Betsch, Kathy Q. Cai, Umeshkumar M Vekariya, Mrityunjay Tyagi, Tomasz Skorski, Sergey Karakashev, Neil Johnson, Wayne E. Childers, Xiaojiang S. Chen, Richard T. Pomerantz

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

DNA polymerase θ (Polθ) is a polymerase-helicase fusion protein that is synthetically lethal with homologous recombination (HR) factors, such as BRCA1/2, and confers resistance to PARP inhibitors (PARPi) and other genotoxic cancer therapies. Previously developed Polθ polymerase (Polθ-pol) inhibitors (Polθi) exhibited limited pharmacological activity and metabolic stability, warranting the development of a Polθi with improved drug-like properties. Here, we developed RTx-303, a selective allosteric small-molecule Polθ-pol inhibitor that exhibits 5.1 nM IC50, 88% oral bioavailability, and a prolonged half-life along with its equipotent metabolite. X-ray crystallography highlights the development of a solvent-exposed side-chain that is essential for the optimal drug-like …

Oxygen Supply Capacity Of The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab,, Marty Sims

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, inhabits shallow bays and estuaries where it encounters variable oxygen levels. Moreover, each year, the biomedical industry harvests hemolymph from hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs to use in bacterial contamination testing, yet the effects of bloodletting on their physiology are relatively unknown. This study aims to determine the oxygen supply capacity of Limulus polyphemus in relation to environmental hypoxia and biomedical bloodletting. Study animals were collected from the intertidal waters of Tampa Bay, Florida. Experiments included a control group that did not undergo substantial blood-volume reduction and a treatment group from which 10% of …

The Genome Sequence Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Adelges Tsugae Annand 1924, Bryan M.T. Brunet, Dustin T. Dial, Gaelen R. Burke, Carol D. Von Dohlen, Julia Douglas Freitas, Haley Sanderson, Afiya R. Chida, Samantha J. Jones, Fergal J. Martin, Leanne Haggerty, Stephen W. Scherer, Ioannis Ragoussis, Steven J.M. Jones, Robert G. Foottit, Nathan P. Havill

Biology Faculty Publications

The genome of the hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is presented in 10 chromosomal pseudomolecules along with 132 unplaced scaffolds for a combined length of 216.56 Mb. The genome is highly contiguous with an N50 of 20.54 Mb and its longest scaffold 37.41 Mb in length. The assembly recovered 97.7% of benchmarked universal single-copy Hemiptera orthologs (BUSCO) with an overall completion score of 98.6%. On the basis of chromosomal synteny with other aphid genomes, the hemlock woolly adelgid’s genome is composed of eight autosomes and two sex (X) chromosomes. Annotation of the assembly identified 11,800 coding genes, 1,930 …

Mir147 Promotes Mucosal Integrity And Healing In Intestinal Inflammation, Agnieszka K Czopik, Arash Dabiri, Chia-Hao Tung, Victoria Vaughn, Xiangsheng Huang, Jinlian Wang, Hui Li, Nicolas F Moreno, Natalia V Piwko, Katherine Figarella, Hongfang Liu, Zhongming Zhao, Xiaoyi Yuan, Holger K Eltzschig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The intestinal mucosal epithelium forms a barrier between luminal contents and the body. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate mucosal homeostasis by controlling inflammatory responses and structural integrity. Here, we discovered a protective role for miR147 in intestinal inflammation using a miR147tdTomato reporter mouse. miR147 was enriched in the intestines, with the highest expression in the colonic epithelial cells at the luminal surface, with prominent expression in differentiated enterocytes. Mice with general or intestinal epithelial deletion of miR147 showed increased intestinal inflammation and diminished mucosal healing during colitis. RNA sequencing of miR147-deficient cells showed dysregulated immune signaling, with upregulated proinflammatory cytokine pathways and …

First Principles Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Infrared And Raman Vibrational Spectra Of H5o2 +, D5o2 +, Dh4o2 +, And D4ho2 + From 50 To 300 K, Oluwaseun Omodemi, Martina Kaledin

Faculty Articles

We report molecular dynamics simulations of infrared (IR) and Raman spectra of H5O2+ and its deuterium-substituted analogs. We use the well-tested HBB potential and dipole surfaces along with a recently fitted polarizability surface of CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ quality. The focus of the present work is to provide new insights into the O···O stretch region, located in the [500–700] cm–1 spectral range, by means of analyzing the spectra over a broad range of temperatures: from 50 to 300 K. Also, rovibrational thermal averaging was performed to untangle the unusually complex spectra of partially deuterated isotopologues DH4O2+ and D4HO2+ with H and D minority …

On The Ecological Impact Of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers In Europe: Early Holocene (Mesolithic) And Last Interglacial (Neanderthal) Foragers Compared, Anastasia Nikulina, Anhelina Zapolska, Maria Antonia Serge, Didier M. Roche, Florence Mazier, Marco Davoli, Elena A. Pearce, Jens Christian Svenning, Dave Van Wees, Ralph Fyfe, Katharine Macdonald, Wil Roebroeks, Fulco Scherjon

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Recent studies have highlighted evidence of human impact on landscapes dating back to the Late Pleistocene–long before the advent of agriculture. Quantifying the extent of vegetation transformations by hunter-gatherers remains a major research challenge. We address this challenge by comparing climate-based potential natural vegetation cover with pollen-based vegetation reconstructions for the Last Interglacial and the Early Holocene. Differences between these datasets suggest that climate alone cannot fully explain the pollen-based vegetation patterns in Europe during these periods. To explore this issue, we used an upgraded version of the HUMan impact on LANDscapes (HUMLAND) agent-based model (ABM), combined with a genetic …

A Quantitative, Bayesian-Informed Approach To Gene-Specific Variant Classification: Updated Expert Panel Recommendations Improve Classification Of Tp53 Germline Variants For Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, Cristina Fortuno, Megan N Frone, Jessica Mester, Miguel De La Hoya, Phuong L Mai, Tina Pesaran, Maria Isabel Achatz, Rebecca Bassett, Carolina Bustamante, Stephanie Crowley, Kelvin Cesar De Andrade, D Gareth Evans, Bingjian Feng, Laura Fuqua, Maria Isabel Harrell, Jessica N Hatton, Robert Huether, Chimene Kesserwan, Kristy Lee, Suzanne P Macfarland, Jamie L Maciaszek, Kara Maxwell, Kelly Mcgoldrick, Maureen Murphy, Bita Nehoray, Judith Penkert, Emilia Modolo Pinto, Sharon E Plon, Alison Schwartz-Levine, Ashley S Thompson, Wenyi Wang, Gerard P Zambetti, Kristin Zelley, Paul A James, Sharon A Savage, Christian P Kratz, Amanda B Spurdle

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Germline pathogenic variants in TP53 cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome, with significantly elevated cancer risk from infancy. Accurate classification of TP53 variants is essential to guide clinical management and surveillance, yet many variants remain classified as variants of uncertain significance (VUS). To improve classification accuracy and reduce the proportion of VUS, the ClinGen TP53 Variant Curation Expert Panel (VCEP) has updated its specifications.

Methods: The updated specifications incorporate the latest ClinGen recommendations and methodological advances, providing greater granularity for multiple evidence types, and also introduce the novel use of variant allele fraction as evidence of pathogenicity, particularly in the context of …

Genome-Wide Association Study Of Childhood B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Reveals Novel African Ancestry-Specific Susceptibility Loci, Cindy Im, Andrew R Raduski, Lauren J Mills, Kashi Raj Bhattarai, Robert J Mobley, Kelly R Barnett, Zhanni Lu, Kenneth Liao, Nathan Anderson, Rebecca A Johnson, Erica Langer, Anthony J Hooten, Alix E Seif, Kathrin M Bernt, Matthew Tsang, Brandon A Mamou, Luis Gil-De-Gómez, Julie A Wolfson, Danielle N Friedman, Neerav Shukla, Laura J Klesse, Erin L Marcotte, Lingyun Ji, Alice Dang, Minjie Luo, Yiming Zhong, Jalen Langie, Charleston W K Chiang, Adam De Smith, Joseph L Wiemels, Andrew Dewan, Xiaomei Ma, Catherine Metayer, Zhaoming Wang, Heather H Nelson, Nathan Pankratz, Tianzhong Yang, Saonli Basu, Lucie M Turcotte, Jun J Yang, Daniel Savic, Michael E Scheurer, Logan G Spector

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common pediatric malignancy. Given racial/ethnic differences in incidence and outcomes, B-ALL genome-wide association studies among children of African ancestry are needed. Leveraging multi-institutional datasets with 840 African American children with B-ALL and 3360 controls, nine loci achieved genome-wide significance (P <  5 × 10−8) after meta-analysis. Two loci were established trans-ancestral susceptibility regions (IKZF1, ARID5B), while the remaining novel loci were specific to African populations. Five-year overall survival among children carrying novel risk alleles was significantly worse (83% versus 96% in non-carriers, P = 4.8 × 10−3). Novel risk variants were also associated with subtype-specific disease (P <  0.05), including higher susceptibility for a subtype overrepresented in African American children (TCF3-PBX1) and lower …

Cross-Cultural Perspectives On Psychological Research Practices And Opportunities: Do We All Have The (Same) Chance?, Irena Boskovic, Nisali Perera, Henry Otgaar

Psychological Research on Urban Society

The dominance of "WEIRD" (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) authors might indicate significant differences in research practices between them and non-WEIRD researchers or highlight issues such as inequality and publishing bias. In this survey, using a convenience sample of researchers worldwide (N = 72), we examined current research practices and researchers' views on the feasibility of advancements in employed methodologies among and between researchers in both WEIRD and Non-WEIRD countries. Our results showed that research practices are fairly uniform across cultures, by researchers commonly relying on (student) convenience samples, using statistical packages such as SPSS and R, utilizing …

The Effects Of Combined Fasting And Exercise On Inflammatory Cytokine Concentrations In Healthy Adults: A Randomized Crossover Study, Landon S. Deru, Austin F. Duersch, Spencer C. Cleverly, Hunter D. Chamberlain, Elizabeth Z. Gipson, Parker G. Graves, Cameron G. Jacobsen, Larry A. Tucker, Bruce W. Bailey

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 18(6): 1252-1268, 2025. https://doi.org/10.70252/APHT9483 The object was to assess the effects of adding exercise to a 36-hour fast on the inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1. The study was a randomized crossover design with counterbalanced conditions in community members living near a single academic institution. Participants included twenty healthy adults (11 male). The intervention consisted of two 36-h water-only fasts, one of which was initiated with a bout of treadmill exercise. Venous blood was taken at baseline, 12-h, 24-h, and 36-h of fasting. Area under the curve and timepoint analyses were computed. The area under …

Incidence And Risk Factors Of Metabolic Syndrome In Track And Field Throwing Athletes, Taylor Browning, Samuel Headley, Elizabeth M. Mullin, Margaret T. Jones, Andrew R. Jagim, Jennifer Fields

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 18(6): 1199-1211, 2025. https://doi.org/10.70252/HOKT7948 Track and field (T&F) throwers are a prominent subgroup of athletes that may be at risk for the development of Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) and other cardiometabolic disease conditions. However, limited research exists examining the prevalence of MetSyn in these athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the incidence of MetSyn and associated risk factors in collegiate throwers. Collegiate Division I men (n=17) and women (n=4) T&F throwers participated in a single day of lab assessments, which included anthropometrics, body composition, blood pressure, a venous blood draw, and aerobic …

Onde Tonali E Coscienza: Un Modello Matematico Avanzato Per L'Induzione Informazionale, Lorenzo Lbn Bernardini, Elia Tedeschi Et, Origines Technologies

Defensive Publications Series

Abstract

Questo studio rappresenta un'estensione significativa del precedente modello matematico sulla trasmissione di informazioni attraverso le onde tonali. Partendo dall'analisi della relazione tra vibrazione, tempo, direzionalità ed espressione, questo paper introduce una formalizzazione avanzata delle interazioni tra onde tonali e stati di coscienza. Proponiamo un framework matematico che descrive i meccanismi di ripetibilità, induzione informazionale e propagazione spazio-temporale delle onde tonali, con particolare attenzione alle loro proprietà analoghe ai sistemi di apprendimento neurale. Il modello formalizza inoltre il concetto di "attimo" come dimensione esperienziale della coscienza in relazione alle onde tonali. Le implicazioni teoriche e le applicazioni pratiche di questo …

Examining Ethical Implications Regarding Biologically Assigned Males At Birth Participating In Athletics With Biologically Assigned Females At Birth: Transgender Sport Through The Lens Of Macintyre's Three Rival Versions Of Moral Enquiry, Jana J. Espy M.S., Kirk G. Mensch Phds

Journal of Religion and Business Ethics

This article investigates transgender participation in athletics and the ethical implications of competing in sport emphasizing divergent categories regarding biological sex at birth in comparison to arguments based on gender identity preference. We examine this topic utilizing MacIntyre’s Three Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry, highlighting competing and often incommensurate narratives within collegiate sport. We also elucidate concerns about the possibility of increased risk related to Bandura’s Moral Disengagement and associated harmful effects that could result in athletes and others who might disengage from their own moral self-sanctions to conform to a narrative or opinion incommensurate with their philosophical or …

Renoprotective Potential Of Ciprofloxacin, Prednisolone, And Infliximab In Acetic Acid-Induced Ulcerative Colitis Rats, O. A. Oyesola, O. E. Olayemi, B. I. Kukoyi

AUIQ Complementary Biological System

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with systemic manifestations, including renal impairment mediated by oxidative stress, inflammation, and electrolyte imbalance. This study investigated the renoprotective potential of ciprofloxacin, prednisolone, and infliximab in rats with acetic acid–induced UC. Fifty male Sprague–Dawley rats (180–200 g) were divided into five groups (n = 10): control, UC control, UC + ciprofloxacin (50 mg/kg, p.o.), UC + prednisolone (4 mg/kg, p.o.), and UC + infliximab (5 mg/kg, i.p.). UC was induced by rectal instillation of 4% acetic acid, and treatments were administered for 42 days. Serum urea, creatinine, electrolytes, and malondialdehyde (MDA) …

Purple Tomatoes Boost Nutrition Crop Value And Create New Opportunities For United States (U.S) Agriculture, Tariq Alam

Agronomic Crops

The agricultural landscape in the United States is continually evolving, with growers and the tomato industry seeking innovative ways to meet consumer demands while enhancing profitability. The introduction of both bioengineered and classically bred anthocyanins-enriched purple tomatoes presents a unique opportunity for U.S. growers to cultivate a high-value crop that appeals to niche markets and commands premium pricing. Bioengineered purple tomatoes achieve high anthocyanin levels through the introduction of snapdragon transcription factors, while classically bred 'Indigo Rose' purple tomatoes are developed via classical breeding methods, providing an alternative for consumers who prefer traditionally bred products. Specifically, the purple tomato holds …

2025 October 21 - Medical Student Education Committee Retreat Minutes, Medical Student Education Committee, East Tennessee State University

Medical Student Education Committee Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Marriage Of Reason And Imagination In British Romantic Poetry, Evelina Mykhovska

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

There is a general consensus among literary critics that the Romantic Era stands for a celebration of Imagination and an elevation of the latter to a status of a superior mental faculty. This generalization, however, fails to acknowledge that the project of the Romantics was not so much to extol Imagination over Reason, as to unify the two faculties. In fact, the work of major Romantic poets in Britain reveals that what the Romantics mean by “Imagination” is actually Imagination unified with Reason (that is, “Primary Imagination” unified with “Primary Reason,” the merging of which forms the “One Mind”), and …

Draft Genome Of Corynebacterium Glycinophilum S209 Isolated From Healthy Human Skin, Sandra Jablonska, Lila Nelson, Grace Finger, Alex Kula, Catherine Putonti

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Corynebacterium glycinophilum is an understudied species of this genus, although it has been identified in dairy products as well as the human skin microbiome. Recently, we isolated a strain from the skin of a healthy human female, and here, we present the draft genome of this isolate, C. glycinophilum S209.

Marigold-Silver Nanoparticles (Agnps) Complex: Characterization, Therapeutic Potential, And Future Approaches For Lung Injury Via Antioxidant And Anti-Inflammatory Effects, Navdeep Kaur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) and other lung conditions are a key cause of the problems facing global health, as they greatly increase morbidity, death, and the financial burden. In order to achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, which is to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable illnesses by one-third by 2030, updated epidemiological statistics are crucial for directing prevention, control, and treatment measures. One of the major reasons of illness and death globally is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lung damage and the emergence of CRDs, such as asthma, emphysema, COPD, and other respiratory disorders, are largely …

Formulation And Characterization Of Albumin Nanoparticles For Nsclc Photochemotherapy, Faisal Mohammad Shamim Khan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and is a leading cause of worldwide cancer-related death, which is a strong motivation to develop more efficacious approaches to its treatment. This thesis outlines the construction of folate-targeted bovine serum albumin (FA-BSA) nanoparticles co-loading Chlorin e6 (Ce6), a photodynamic therapy photosensitizer, and Evofosfamide (EVO), a hypoxia-activated prodrug, to enable synergistic photochemotherapy. The 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) is a water-soluble carbodiimide coupling reagent and used for amide bonds between carboxylic acid and amines. FA-BSA nanoparticles were prepared through a desolvation approach and stabilized through crosslinking by the carbodiimide reagent …

Inferred Global Dense Residue Transition Graphs From Primary Structure Sequences Enable Protein Interaction Prediction Via Directed Graph Convolutional Neural Networks, Islam A. Ebeid, Haoteng Tang, Pengfei Gu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Introduction: Accurate prediction of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is crucial for understanding cellular functions and advancing the development of drugs. While existing in-silico methods leverage direct sequence embeddings from Protein Language Models (PLMs) or apply Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to 3D protein structures, the main focus of this study is to investigate less computationally intensive alternatives. This work introduces a novel framework for the downstream task of PPI prediction via link prediction.

Methods: We introduce a two-stage graph representation learning framework, ProtGram-DirectGCN. First, we developed ProtGram, a novel approach that models a protein's primary structure as a hierarchy of …

A Quality Improvement Project To Standardize Sexual Dysfunction Screening In Primary Care, Ashley M. D’Anna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual health is an essential aspect of overall well-being but is often overlooked in primary care due to provider discomfort, time constraints, and lack of standardized screening protocols. This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to implement a consistent approach to screening for sexual dysfunction using the Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), a validated five-item tool assessing sex drive, arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction. Guided by Swanson’s Theory of Caring and Pender’s Health Promotion Model, the project emphasized compassionate, patient-centered care and the promotion of health-enhancing behaviors.

Using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework, the ASEX tool was incorporated into annual wellness visits following …

Immortality, The Philosophical Discussion Group

The Philosopher's Stone

• Immortality