Digital Commons Network^™

A New Framework For Investigating The Biological Basis Of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy [Ao Spine Recode-Dcm Research Priority Number 5]: Mechanical Stress, Vulnerability And Time, Benjamin M Davies, Oliver Mowforth, Aref-Ali Gharooni, Lindsay Tetreault, Aria Nouri, Rana S Dhillon, Josef Bednarik, Allan R Martin, Adam Young, Hitoshi Takahashi, Timothy F Boerger, Virginia Fj Newcombe, Carl Moritz Zipser, Patrick Freund, Paul Aarne Koljonen, Ricardo Rodrigues-Pinto, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, Jefferson R Wilson, Shekar N Kurpad, Michael G Fehlings, Brian K Kwon, James Harrop, James D Guest, Armin Curt, Mark R N Kotter

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Study design: Literature Review (Narrative).

Objective: To propose a new framework, to support the investigation and understanding of the pathobiology of DCM, AO Spine RECODE-DCM research priority number 5.

Methods: Degenerative cervical myelopathy is a common and disabling spinal cord disorder. In this perspective, we review key knowledge gaps between the clinical phenotype and our biological models. We then propose a reappraisal of the key driving forces behind DCM and an individual's susceptibility, including the proposal of a new framework.

Results: Present pathobiological and mechanistic knowledge does not adequately explain the disease phenotype; why only a subset of patients with …

Review Of The Invasive Forage Grass, Guinea Grass (Megathyrsus Maximus): Ecology And Potential Impacts In Arid And Semi-Arid Regions, Pushpa Soti, Vanessa Thomas

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Several introduced African grasses are known to present recurring patterns of invasiveness and cause a severe impact on the diversity and functioning of ecosystems worldwide. Megathyrsus maximus (Guinea grass), a forage grass species native to South Africa, is reported to be highly invasive and pose a serious threat to native biodiversity in the introduced range. Despite the severe ecological threats posed by M. maximus worldwide, there is a dearth of information on the ecological and agroecological impact of M. maximus when growing in unintended areas. In this review, we present general information on M. maximus, its distribution and ecological …

Mental Construal And Alterations In Emotional Memory, Olivia D. Beers

Dissertations

Psychological distancing refers to a shift from a psychologically immersed perspective that involves thinking about the details of an event (concretely) or stepping back from it and watching the event from an outside point of view (abstractly)––this can help individuals change how they feel about the experience. Investigating how construal levels affect emotional memories may provide more insight into how individuals may potentially alter the recall of their memories. The current study reflects a new examination of the effect of primed high and low construal levels on the recall of positive and negative arousing stimuli. This study included a pilot …

Role Of Simulation In Open Varicose Veins Surgery: A Systematic Review, Muhammad Ammar Pirzada, Fareed Ahmed Shaikh, Shoaib Badini, Nadeem Ahmed Siddiqui

Department of Surgery Docs

Objective: To assess the types and effectiveness of simulators present for open varicose vein surgery.
Methods: The systematic review was conducted at The Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi and comprised studies published from 1st January 2000 to 30th June 2020 related to open varicose vein surgical procedures done on simulators. Databases searched were PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, Cochrane and Scopus using appropriate key words. The primary outcome of the review was to assess the effectiveness of different types of simulators used for varicose vein surgery.
Results: Of the 286 articles found, 6(2%) were included. A variety of simulators ranging from …

Desiring Jesus: Ellen White And Worship, David A. Williams

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Extensive Identification Of Genes Involved In Congenital And Structural Heart Disorders And Cardiomyopathy, Nadine Spielmann, Gregor Miller, Tudor I Oprea, Chih-Wei Hsu, Gisela Fobo, Goar Frishman, Corinna Montrone, Hamed Haseli Mashhadi, Jeremy Mason, Violeta Munoz Fuentes, Stefanie Leuchtenberger, Andreas Ruepp, Matias Wagner, Dominik S Westphal, Cordula Wolf, Agnes Görlach, Adrián Sanz-Moreno, Yi-Li Cho, Raffaele Teperino, Stefan Brandmaier, Sapna Sharma, Isabella Rikarda Galter, Manuela A Östereicher, Lilly Zapf, Philipp Mayer-Kuckuk, Jan Rozman, Lydia Teboul, Rosie K A Bunton-Stasyshyn, Heather Cater, Michelle Stewart, Skevoulla Christou, Henrik Westerberg, Amelia M Willett, Janine M Wotton, Willson B Roper, Audrey E Christiansen, Christopher S Ward, Jason D Heaney, Corey L Reynolds, Jan Prochazka, Lynette Bower, David Clary, Mohammed Selloum, Ghina Bou About, Olivia Wendling, Hugues Jacobs, Sophie Leblanc, Hamid Meziane, Tania Sorg, Enrique Audain, Arthur Gilly, Nigel W Rayner, Impc Consortium, Genomics England Research Consortium;, Marc-Phillip Hitz, Eleftheria Zeggini, Eckhard Wolf, Radislav Sedlacek, Steven A Murray, Karen L Svenson, Robert E Braun, Jaqueline K White, Lois Kelsey, Xiang Gao, Toshihiko Shiroishi, Ying Xu, Je Kyung Seong, Fabio Mammano, Glauco P Tocchini-Valentini, Arthur L Beaudet, Terrence F Meehan, Helen Parkinson, Damian Smedley, Ann-Marie Mallon, Sara E Wells, Harald Grallert, Wolfgang Wurst, Susan Marschall, Helmut Fuchs, Steve D M Brown, Ann M Flenniken, Lauryl M J Nutter, Colin Mckerlie, Yann Herault, K C Kent Lloyd, Mary E Dickinson, Valerie Gailus-Durner, Martin Hrabe De Angelis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Clinical presentation of congenital heart disease is heterogeneous, making identification of the disease-causing genes and their genetic pathways and mechanisms of action challenging. By using in vivo electrocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography and microcomputed tomography imaging to screen 3,894 single-gene-null mouse lines for structural and functional cardiac abnormalities, here we identify 705 lines with cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial hypertrophy and/or ventricular dilation. Among these 705 genes, 486 have not been previously associated with cardiac dysfunction in humans, and some of them represent variants of unknown relevance (VUR). Mice with mutations in Casz1, Dnajc18, Pde4dip, Rnf38 or Tmem161b genes show developmental cardiac structural abnormalities, …

Interrogating The Nonincorporation Of The Grand Jury Clause, Roger Fairfax

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

With the Supreme Court's recent incorporation-in Ramos v. Louisiana of the Sixth Amendment's jury unanimity requirement to apply to the states, the project of "total incorporation" is all but complete in the criminal procedure context. Virtually every core criminal procedural protection in the Bill of Rights has been incorporated through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to constrain not only the federal government but also the states with one exception. The Fifth Amendment's grand jury right now stands alone as the only federal criminal procedural right the Supreme Court has permitted states to ignore. In one of the …

Tracking Cryptic Sars-Cov-2 Lineages Detected In Nyc Wastewater, Davida S. Smyth, Monica Trujillo, Devon A. Gregory, Marc C. Johnson, John J. Dennehy, Et Al.

Biology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Tracking SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity is strongly indicated because diversifying selection may lead to the emergence of novel variants resistant to naturally acquired or vaccine-induced immunity. To monitor New York City (NYC) for the presence of novel variants, we deep sequence most of the receptor binding domain coding sequence of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from the New York City wastewater. Here we report detecting increasing frequencies of novel cryptic SARS-CoV-2 lineages not recognized in GISAID’s EpiCoV database. These lineages contain mutations that had been rarely observed in clinical samples, including Q493K, Q498Y, E484A, and T572N and share many mutations …

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Research Agenda For Healthcare Epidemiology., Lona Mody, Ibukunoluwa C. Akinboyo, Hilary M. Babcock, Werner E. Bischoff, Vincent Chi-Chung Cheng, Kathleen Chiotos, Kimberly C. Claeys, K C Coffey, Daniel J. Diekema, Curtis J. Donskey, Katherine D. Ellingson, Heather M. Gilmartin, Shruti K. Gohil, Anthony D. Harris, Sara C. Keller, Eili Y. Klein, Sarah L. Krein, Jennie H. Kwon, Adam S. Lauring, Daniel J. Livorsi, Eric T. Lofgren, Katreena Merrill, Aaron M. Milstone, Elizabeth Monsees, Daniel J. Morgan, Luci P. Perri, Christopher D. Pfeiffer, Clare Rock, Sanjay Saint, Emily Sickbert-Bennett, Felicia Skelton, Katie J. Suda, Thomas R. Talbot, Valerie M. Vaughn, David J. Weber, Timothy L. Wiemken, Mohamed H. Yassin, Matthew J. Ziegler, Deverick J. Anderson, Shea Research Committee

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

This SHEA white paper identifies knowledge gaps and challenges in healthcare epidemiology research related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a focus on core principles of healthcare epidemiology. These gaps, revealed during the worst phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, are described in 10 sections: epidemiology, outbreak investigation, surveillance, isolation precaution practices, personal protective equipment (PPE), environmental contamination and disinfection, drug and supply shortages, antimicrobial stewardship, healthcare personnel (HCP) occupational safety, and return to work policies. Each section highlights three critical healthcare epidemiology research questions with detailed description provided in supplementary materials. This research agenda calls for translational studies from laboratory-based …

Δnp63 Regulates A Common Landscape Of Enhancer Associated Genes In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Marco Napoli, Sarah J Wu, Bethanie L Gore, Hussein A Abbas, Kyubum Lee, Rahul Checker, Shilpa Dhar, Kimal Rajapakshe, Aik Choon Tan, Min Gyu Lee, Cristian Coarfa, Elsa R Flores

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Distinct lung stem cells give rise to lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). ΔNp63, the p53 family member and p63 isoform, guides the maturation of these stem cells through the regulation of their self-renewal and terminal differentiation; however, the underlying mechanistic role regulated by ∆Np63 in lung cancer development has remained elusive. By utilizing a ΔNp63-specific conditional knockout mouse model and xenograft models of LUAD and LUSC, we found that ∆Np63 promotes non-small cell lung cancer by maintaining the lung stem cells necessary for lung cancer cell initiation and progression in quiescence. ChIP-seq analysis of lung basal cells, …

K-Ras And P53 Mouse Model With Molecular Characteristics Of Human Rhabdomyosarcoma And Translational Applications, Kengo Nakahata, Brian W Simons, Enrico Pozzo, Ryan Shuck, Lyazat Kurenbekova, Zachary Prudowsky, Kshiti Dholakia, Cristian Coarfa, Tajhal D Patel, Lawrence A Donehower, Jason T Yustein

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is the most common soft tissue sarcoma in children, with overall long-term survival rates of ∼65-70%. Thus, additional molecular insights and representative models are critical for identifying and evaluating new treatment modalities. Using MyoD-Cre-mediated introduction of mutant K-RasG12D and perturbations in p53, we developed a novel genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) for RMS. The anatomic sites of primary RMS development recapitulated human disease, including tumors in the head, neck, extremities and abdomen. We confirmed RMS histology and diagnosis through Hematoxylin and Eosin staining, and positive immunohistochemical staining for desmin, myogenin, and phosphotungstic acid-Hematoxylin. Cell lines from GEMM tumors …

Occurrence And Chemical Characteristics Of Microplastic Paint Flakes In The North Atlantic Ocean, Andrew Turner, Clare Ostle, Marianne Wootton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Non-fibrous microplastics sampled by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Survey throughout the North Atlantic Ocean during 2018 have been recorded and a selection (n = 17, or 16.7%) physically and chemically characterised. The average abundance of non-fibrous particles captured by the plankton silks and detectable by microscopy was estimated to be around 0.01 m-3, with the highest concentrations evident in shelf seas of northwest Europe. Amongst the samples analysed, median size was 180 μm and, based on visible properties (e.g., brittleness, layering) and infra-red spectra, all but one were identified as flakes of paint. Semi-quantitative analysis by energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence …

The Bioaccumulation Testing Strategy For Nanomaterials: Correlations With Particle Properties And A Meta-Analysis Of In Vitro Fish Alternatives To In Vivo Fish Tests, R. D. Handy, N. J. Clark, D. Boyle, J. Vassallo, C. Green, F. Nasser, T. L. Botha, V. Wepener, Den Brink Nw Van, C. Svendsen

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

This meta-analysis identifies linkages between the tiers in the bioaccumulation testing strategy.

The Use Of Virtual Reality In Environment Experiences And The Importance Of Realism, M. Newman, B. Gatersleben, K. J. Wyles, E. Ratcliffe

School of Psychology

IntroductionVirtual reality (VR) can be extremely useful in simulating nature when physical presence is not possible. Additionally, it allows for environments to be customised (e.g., weather, or topography) and facilitates the design of controlled experimental settings. However, VR can involve the use of expensive equipment and complex software to create highly realistic immersive experiences. But is it necessary for experiences to rival the latest Hollywood blockbuster? This paper explores whether such investment can be valuable in research on nature experiences.StudiesTwo studies were conducted to examine how realism of environmental presentations impact affective responses and participant perceptions. Study One (n = …

Thermal Safety Margins Of Plant Leaves Across Biomes Under A Heatwave, Nawatbhrist Kitudom, Sophie Fauset, Yingying Zhou, Zexin Fan, Murong Li, Mingjian He, Shubin Zhang, Kun Xu, Hua Lin

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Climate change has great impacts on forest ecosystems, especially with the increasing frequency of heatwaves. Thermal safety margin (TSM) calculated by the difference between body temperature and thermotolerance threshold is useful to predict thermal safety of organisms. It has been widely used for animals, whereas has rarely been reported for plants. Besides, most of the previous studies used only thermotolerance to estimate thermal safety or used thermotolerance and air temperature (Ta) to calculate TSM. However, leaf temperature (Tl) is the real "body" temperature of plant leaves. Tl decoupling from Ta might induce large error in TSM. Here, we investigated TSM …

Dentistry In A Multicultural Society: The Impact Of Animal-Based Products On Person-Centred Care, Kamran Ali, Pooja Gupta, Emma Turay, Lorna Burns, Zoe Brookes, Mahwish Raja

Peninsula Dental School

Cultural competence of healthcare professionals requires a combination of awareness, knowledge and skills to provide healthcare services to culturally and lingually diverse populations. The aim of this paper is to raise awareness regarding animal-based constituents in dental products which may not be acceptable to patients from different cultural, spiritual, or religious backgrounds. Animal-based products are used widely in medicine and dentistry. However, patients and sometimes even dental professionals may not be aware of this. This paper identifies some common products used in clinical dentistry which are derived from animal-based sources and discusses the implications of their use in a multicultural …

Positive Behavioural Support In The Uk: A State Of The Nation Report, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

The 2013 International Journal of Positive Behavioural Support (IJPBS) special issue acknowledged the evolving nature of positive behavioural support (PBS). This “state of the nation” report seeks to provide clarity around the questions that have arisen in respect of “who PBS is for”. It proposes an updated, refined definition of PBS and a guide to future PBS delivery for the UK that captures the developments and issues arising as described below. An overview of current andsignificant research provides a clear narrative about the evidence base “for” PBS, including what the research tells us about how “not to do” PBS. The …

Imidazole Derivative Improves Antioxidant Status And Causes Differential Alteration Of Redox-Status In Drosophila Melanogaster, Elizabeth Temidayo Oluwayemi, Oluwakemi Josephine Awakan, Abiodun Omokehinde Eseola, Winfried Plass, Oluyomi Stephen Adeyemi

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

This study investigated the toxicity of a new imidazole compound, 1-(1,4,5-triphenyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-naphthalen-2-ol, through the evaluation of selected oxidative stress markers and antioxidants. Both male and female D. melanogaster (3–5 days old) were fed a diet containing the imidazole derivative (20, 50, and 100 mg IMZ/kg diet) for five days. After cessation of imidazole treatment, half the population of the imidazole-exposed flies was homogenized for biochemical assays, while the other half of the flies was allowed to have a normal diet for an additional five days to see if any induced effect would be resolved. Imidazole derivatives did not significantly …

Perceptions On Governance For Effective Adaptation To Climate Change Within Community-Based Wildlife Conservancies In Kenya, S. Kibet, Oliver Vivian Wasonga

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Community-based wildlife conservancies (CBC) represent a broad spectrum of new management arrangements and benefit sharing partnerships in natural resource management by none state agents, but who, by virtue of their collective location and activities, are critically placed to shape the present and future status of these resources. This approach of wildlife management is increasingly gaining popularity as an option for achieving sustainable co-existence and complementarity between wildlife conservation and livestock production in the drylands of Kenya. Despite difference in ownership and governance structure in place, all conservancies have instituted new rules of control and access. This study sought to understand …

The Cleaned Approach For Flagging And Addressing Environmental Issues, A. Notenbaert, B. Paul, R. Van Der Hoek, J. Mukiri

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

While livestock presents an important livelihood strategy for many smallholders, it is also held responsible for important environmental impacts. In this paper, we used an online survey to identify the perceptions of global livestock experts on environmental impacts of livestock and how these might be tackled. We then explored how the CLEANED environmental ex-ante assessment tool (Comprehensive Livestock Environmental Assessment for improved Nutrition, a secured Environment and sustainable Development = CLEANED) responds to this and how it can be used to influence decision making towards more environmentally-friendly livestock production.

According to the survey, there was general agreement between researchers, development …

Survey Of The Farm Management, Focusing On The Regional Difference And Cattle Farming In Burkina Faso, H. Kumagai, T. Kawashima, A. Sienou, F. Nagumo

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Burkina Faso the history using of cattle as draft power for cultivation is not long. This study was conducted to investigate the farm management, focusing on the regional difference and the presence of cattle farming in the country. Interview was carried out on 30 farms from B Province in the Centre-West Region consisting of 8 non-cattle owners (BNs) and 22 cattle owners (BCs), and on 9 farms of cattle owners from H Province in the Haut-Bassins Region (HCs) in November 2013. The average household sizes of BNs, BCs and HCs were 16.5, 27.2 and 31.3, respectively. The ratios of …

The Rise Of Community-Based Natural Resource Management Strategies As Explained By Transaction Costs, Keely A. Fisher, Marc R. Donnelly, Collin Adams

Undergraduate Economic Review

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) is favored over its predecessor, the fortress approach, for common pool resource (CPR) management. We strive to identify variables associated with successful CBNRM programs, and analyze whether their presence transaction costs can explain the shift in favored conservation strategy. By examining nine case studies of large mammals in Africa, we found that out of eight variables, moderate monitoring and adequate program incentives were the most critical various factors in determining CBNRM program outcomes. Furthermore, these variables, as well as others, contributed to a decrease in transaction costs.

A Non-Euclidean Story Or: How To Persist When Your Geometry Doesn’T, Rami Luisto

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Too little mathematics has been written in prose. Thus we prove here, via a fantasy novellette, that a locally L-bilipschitz mapping f : X → Y between uniformly Ahlfors q-regular, complete and locally compact path-metric spaces X and Y is an L-bilipschitz map when Y is simply connected. The motivation for such a result arises from studying the asymptotic values of BLD-mappings with an empty branch set.

As far as the author is aware, the result is new, even though it would not be hard for specialists in the field to prove. The proof is essentially a modest extension of …

Lessons Learned From The Disorder Of Operations, Egan J. Chernoff

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The purpose of this article, in general, is to explore certain possible outcomes associated with an underaged gambler attempting to collect his rightful winnings. More specifically, this article is a thought experiment investigating the union of (1) skill testing questions, (2) the equation that recently broke/divided the internet, and (3) how different outcomes render different elements of the thought experiment moot. For example, when the final arbiter has total dominion over a particular outcome, the mathematics of a skill testing question is rendered moot. The article concludes with a discussion revealing how disorder of operations could be considered the teaching …

In Search Of Star Clusters: An Introduction To The K-Means Algorithm, Marcio Nascimento

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This article is a gentle introduction to K-means, a mathematical technique of processing data for further classification. We begin with a brief historical introduction, where we find connections with Plato’s Timæus, von Linné’s binomial classification, and the star clustering concept of Mary Sommerville and collaborators. Artificial intelligence algorithms use K-means as a classification methodology to learn about data in a very accurate way, because it is a quantitative procedure based on similarities.

The Hamster Diaries, Pamela B. Pierce

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

When the pandemic hits, the author acquires a hamster, who provides some humorous anecdotes and some much-needed inspiration.

Teiresias, Proportions, And Sexual Pleasure, Spyros Missiakoulis

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In this short article, I claim that Teiresias, the blind prophet of Apollo, in order to answer the question of whether “in sexual intercourse the woman had a larger share of pleasure than the man did”, measured the abstract concept of sexual pleasure and acted as a present-day scholar. With the help of numerical, not geometrical, proportions, he ended up with the conclusion “a man enjoyed one-tenth of the pleasure and a woman nine-tenths”.

Ash Wednesday - 2 March 2022, Gerard Moore

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

A Content Analysis Of Websites Of Indian Medical Research Institutions In Respect To Library Services In Covid-19 Pandemic Situation, Subhas Chandra Majhi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) unique challenges to all the educational system in present time. The unexpected and suddenly outbreak of library professionals for the COVID-19 to general working time. The library professional takes some other dission for contuning library service like digital platform wherever possible and to provide adequate remote services to the users. Given the extrinsic challenges in providing services during a public health emergency, the purpose of this paper is to find out how medicine and technology became a saviour for the medical research institutions of India during the COVID -19 pandemic. The study explores the type …

Open Access Institutional Digital Repositories Of Saarc Countries: A Webometric Analysis, Kousik Samanta

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper reveals a webometric study on the Institutional Digital Repositories (IDR) of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Countries. The SAARC countries include eight countries i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In this study, a selected search engine is used to find out the number of link webpages in each IDR in with different types of links. The search engine has been used to search and collect data. The data collection method extensively makes use of five special key words like site:URL/site Address, link:URL/site Address, link:URL/site Address AND site:URL/site Address, link:URL/site …