Digital Commons Network^™

Youth Activism And The City: An Urban Political Ecology Of Flooding In Porto Alegre, Brazil, Nadine Lorini Formiga

Geography Undergraduate Senior Theses

This thesis examines the catastrophic 2024 flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil—locally known as "The Flood"—through the lens of young environmental activists' experiences in Porto Alegre. Drawing on urban political ecology, disaster studies, and climate justice frameworks, this research examines how colonial-era urban planning and infrastructure influenced the socio-environmental conditions that led to The Flood, how the disaster affected young activists' relationships with their city, and what climate justice might entail in this context. Through (auto)ethnographic fieldwork conducted from July to August 2024, including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, walk-throughs, and social media analysis, this study engages primarily with Eco …

More Equal Than Others: Taxonomic Bias In Animal Management, Barrett L. Christie

Animal Sentience

Oldfield & Bonano (2024) point out not only the scarcity of research on fish welfare but also significant taxonomic bias in broader research on these species. This bias extends to the management practices of aquaria and zoos, where the focus is on higher vertebrates. More resources need to be allocated to research to address this disparity. We also need to develop welfare constructs that recognize the inherent differences between aquatic and terrestrial species, taking into account the unique ecological contexts and behavioral patterns of fishes.

A Library Of Lineage-Specific Driver Lines Connects Developing Neuronal Circuits To Behavior In The Drosophila Ventral Nerve Cord, Jelly H M Soffers, Erin Beck, Daniel J Sytkowski, Marianne E Maughan, Devasri Devarakonda, Yi Zhu, Beth A Wilson, Yu-Chieh David Chen, Ted Erclik, James W Truman, James B Skeath, Haluk Lacin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Understanding developmental changes in neuronal lineages is crucial to elucidate how they assemble into functional neural networks. Studies investigating nervous system development in model systems have only focused on select regions of the CNS due to the limited availability of genetic drivers that target specific neuronal lineages throughout development and adult life. This has hindered our understanding of how distinct neuronal lineages interconnect to form neuronal circuits during development. Here, we present a split-GAL4 library composed of genetic driver lines, which we generated via editing the genomic locus of lineage-specific transcription factors and demonstrate that we can use this library …

Structure-Function Coupling In The First Month Of Life: Associations With Age And Attention, Ursula A Tooley, Jeanette K Kenley, M Catalina Camacho, Aidan Latham, Dimitrios Alexopoulos, Ashley N Nielsen, Tara A Smyser, Barbara B Warner, Joshua S Shimony, Jeffrey J Neil, Joan L Luby, Deanna M Barch, Cynthia E Rogers, Christopher D Smyser

2020-Current year OA Pubs

How brain structure relates to function is a critical and open question in neuroscience. Here, we characterize regional variation in structure-function coupling, capturing the degree to which a cortical region's structural connections relate to patterns of coordinated neural activity in healthy, term-born neonates (

One Health Integration To Control And Prevent Zoonoses: Application Of Organizational Theory Literature, Lisset M. Dumet Poma, Sherril Gelmon, Julia M. Goodman, Seth E. O’Neal

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmitted between animals and people that disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The One Health (OH) approach aims to integrate systems, incentivizing collaboration among animal, human, and environmental systems to address zoonoses and improve health. Innovative solutions for effectively and sustainably achieving systems integration are needed. Organizational theories can facilitate the study of the context of OH implementation, applying comprehensive approaches that recognize the interconnections among organisms, the environment, and social systems, including the diverse entities needing integration (e.g., policy, community, public organizations). This narrative review examines organization and systems literature to provide recommendations for …

Source-Specific Nitrate And Nitrite Intake And Association With Colorectal Cancer In The Danish Diet, Cancer And Health Cohort, Dorit W. Erichsen, Nicola P. Bondonno, Pratik R. Pokharel, Susanne M. Rosthoj, Catherine P. Bondonno, Liezhou M. Zhong, Jorg Schullehner, Torben L. Sigsgaard, Peter Fjeldstad Hendriksen, Frederik Dalgaard, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Jonathan M. Hodgson, Christina C. Dahm, Anja Olsen, Anne Tjonneland, Cecilie Kyro

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: Nitrate and nitrite, present in food and drinking water, may contribute to colorectal cancer (CRC) through the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds (NOCs). This study examined source-specific associations with CRC and subtypes, considering potential dietary and lifestyle factors that influence NOC formation. Methods: In the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Cohort (N=54,610), nitrate/nitrite intake was estimated from comprehensive databases and national monitoring data. Over 27 years, 2245 CRC cases (1508 colon and 737 rectal) were identified via the Danish Cancer Registry. Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for sociodemographic, diet, and lifestyle factors were used to examine associations, with stratified …

Leveraging An Arts-Based Approach To Foster Engagement, Nurture Kindness, And Prevent Violence, Yok-Fong Paat, Diego Garcia Tovar, Nathan W. Myers, Max C. E. Orezzoli, Anne M. Giangiulio, Sarah L. Ruiz, Angela V. Dorado, Luis R. Torres-Hostos

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Drawing from the insights of community partners, this study explored the roles and benefits of arts-based approaches to foster civic learning, critical media literacy, and community engagement. It also uncovered approaches to promote kindness, prevent violence, and combat online extremism, offering insights into strategies that may enhance community engagement and create a positive impact. We presented our model framework, a detailed case study of our project, and qualitative methods incorporating 15 interviews with our community partners to capture a broad range of perspectives and experiences. Interviewees were community partners who collaborated with our project in organizing events and activities using …

Enhancing Dementia Classification For Diverse Demographic Groups: Using Vision Transformer-Based Continuous Scoring Of Clock Drawing Tests., Mengyao Hu, Yi Lu Murphey, Tian Qin, Edmundo R Melipillán, Laura B Zahodne, Richard Gonzalez, Vicki A Freedman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Alzheimer's disease and related dementias significantly affect older adults' quality of life. The clock-drawing test (CDT) is a widely used dementia screening tool due to its ease of administration and effectiveness. However, manual CDT-coding in large-scale studies can be time-intensive and prone to coding errors and is typically limited to ordinal responses. In this study, we developed a continuous CDT score using a deep learning neural network (DLNN) and evaluated its ability to classify participants as having dementia or not.

Methods: Using a nationally representative sample of older adults from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), we …

Staff Education On Uti Screening, Antimicrobial And Antibiotic Resistance, And Poor Regimen Adherence, Shereen Robinson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This staff education project focused on enhancing nurses’ knowledge of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance intended to promote screening for UTIs. The practice problem addressed was lack nurses’ knowledge of UTI screening and antibiotic resistance. Inadequate screening contributed to increased UTI rates, re-occurrences, and complications such as delirium. It was essential to address the issue because nurses are at the frontline regarding educating, screening, and providing care to patients with UTIs. Knowledgeable nurses can implement standard practices to ensure adequate screening for UTIs. Effective screening would enhance early treatment and minimize misuse and unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions. …

Effective Adapted Psychotherapy Approaches For Autistic Adults: Perspectives From Clinical Psychologists, Emily Morgan Hilton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Autistic adults face a high risk of co-occurring mental health challenges, yet standard psychotherapy often fails to meet their unique needs, raising concerns about treatment effectiveness. This qualitative study aimed to understand how clinical psychologists decide on therapeutic approaches and adaptations for their autistic adult clients through three research questions: RQ1: How do clinical psychologists decide on the appropriate therapeutic approach they use with their autistic adult clients? RQ2: How do clinical psychologists decide which adaptations are appropriate to implement in psychotherapy with their autistic adult clients? RQ3: Does the therapeutic approach affect how a clinical psychologist chooses appropriate adaptations …

Sickle Cell Disease Induces Chromatin Introversion And Ferroptosis In Cd8+ T Cells To Suppress Anti-Tumor Immunity, Zilong Zhao, Benxia Hu, Yalan Deng, Melinda Soeung, Jun Yao, Lanxin Bei, Yaohua Zhang, Pengju Gong, Lisa A Huang, Zhou Jiang, Jian Gao, Shuang Peng, Tina K Nguyen, Menuka Karki, Bora Lim, Cassian Yee, Jared K Burks, Qing Zhang, Li Ma, Jianjun Gao, Nizar M Tannir, Leng Han, Dihua Yu, Linghua Wang, Michael A Curran, Maria A Gubbiotti, Giannicola Genovese, Boyi Gan, Wenbo Li, Pavlos Msaouel, Liuqing Yang, Chunru Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding how genetic disorders affect CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment is key to improving cancer immunotherapy. Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD), the most prevalent inherited blood disorder, have a higher risk of developing certain cancers than the general population, but the mechanisms driving this increased risk remain unclear. Our study revealed that SCD altered CD8+ T cell 3D genome architecture, triggering ferroptosis and weakening anti-tumor immunity, thereby promoting tumor growth. Using murine and humanized SCD models, we found that disrupted chromosomal interactions in CD8+ T cells reduced the expression of anti-ferroptotic genes, including SLC7A11 and hydrogen sulfide …

Arid4b: An Orchestrator From Stem Cell Fate To Carcinogenesis, Rakhee Rathnam Kalari Kandy, Madan Kumar Arumugam, Mukesh Pratap Yadav, Bibhuti Bhusan Mishra, Jyotika Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

All biological processes, from embryonic development to cancer, are tightly controlled by the interactions between genetics and epigenetics. An array of epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, histone/chromatin modifications, and noncoding RNA-mediated targeting, are essential to regulate the heritable changes that occur during multiple cellular processes. A failure in proper regulation results in inappropriate gene expression that ultimately leads to pathological states. Groundbreaking advances in genomics and transcriptomics have revealed the potential involvement of epigenetics in various physiological and pathological states. The promising clinical and preclinical results shown by epigenetics drugs further underscore the central role of epigenetics in multiple …

Sickle Cell Disease Induces Chromatin Introversion And Ferroptosis In Cd8+ T Cells To Suppress Anti-Tumor Immunity, Zilong Zhao, Benxia Hu, Yalan Deng, Melinda Soeung, Jun Yao, Lanxin Bei, Yaohua Zhang, Pengju Gong, Lisa A Huang, Zhou Jiang, Jian Gao, Shuang Peng, Tina K Nguyen, Menuka Karki, Bora Lim, Cassian Yee, Jared K Burks, Qing Zhang, Li Ma, Jianjun Gao, Nizar M Tannir, Leng Han, Dihua Yu, Linghua Wang, Michael A Curran, Maria A Gubbiotti, Giannicola Genovese, Boyi Gan, Wenbo Li, Pavlos Msaouel, Liuqing Yang, Chunru Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding how genetic disorders affect CD8

Toward Culturally Responsive Interpretation: Native American Histories, Lifeways, And Ways Of Knowing At The High Desert Museum, Carol Fitzsimmons, Ajena Cason Rogers

Dissertations

Many public museums and historic institutions reflect settler colonial culture and are primarily non-Native led. Although these institutions are trusted, many have perpetuated cultural harm through the theft of belongings, the misrepresentation of stories and histories, and the inaccurate portrayals of cultural content. When interpreting Native American experiences, many non-Native institutions struggle to co-create culturally responsive interpretation. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to apply the four-truth framework, developed by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to better understand how the High Desert Museum approached the interpretation of Native American content and stories and to explore how …

2025 Hillsborough County Agricultural Fair 4-H Animal Shows, Carrie A. Finke

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Role Of Autonomic Dysfunction In Initiating Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation In A Canine Sterile Pericarditis Model, Seungyup Lee, Don W. Wallick, Celeen Khrestian, Dragan Juzbasich, Daniel Laurita

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Autonomic dysfunction plays a significant role in initiating postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) by causing atrial ectopic triggers, potentially through mechanisms such as increased sympathetic activity and altered vagal tone. These atrial ectopic triggers can easily induce POAF, especially in the presence of vulnerable substrates such as pericardial inflammation or structural remodeling. Objective: To test the hypothesis that autonomic dysfunction causes atrial ectopic triggers or POAF in the canine sterile pericarditis model. Methods: Ten sterile pericarditis dogs were studied on postoperative Days 2−3. Autonomic dysfunction was induced by stellate ganglion nerve stimulation (SNS, 5–15 mA; 4–10 Hz; pulse width 0.5–5 …

Loss Of Methyltransferase And Hypomethylated M6a Sarcomere Transcripts Leading To Early-Onset Dilated Cardiomyopathy, Sophie Marie Hand, Yi Zhao, Donna Li, Savanna Burke, Hee-Woong Lim, Jessie Yester, Vidu Garg, Federica Accornero, Xiao Li, Deqiang Li, Jihyun Jang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Histotripsy: A Novel Non-Invasive Ultrasound Technology For Precision Thrombolysis In Acute Ischemic Stroke Management, Ameer E. Hassan, Thomas Dreyer, Yousef Khalili

School of Medicine Publications

BackgroundStroke remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Traditional treatments for ischemic stroke such as mechanical thrombectomy and pharmacological thrombolysis are often less effective or inaccessible for certain patient populations, particularly those with delayed hospital arrival, contraindications to thrombolytics, or in regions with limited access to endovascular care. This study investigates the feasibility of using histotripsy, a non-invasive ultrasound technology, to precisely liquefy thrombi in an artificial experimental setup.MethodsClot analogs were introduced into sample tubes, and focused ultrasound was applied using optimized parameters, including pulses per burst, repetition rates, and output amplitudes. These parameters were systematically adjusted to …

Insights Into The Floral Senescence Effects Of Nanoparticles, Vuk Uskoković

Administration and Staff Articles and Research

Flowers could be valuable addenda to nanomedicine labs as in vivo models crossing the gap between the cell culture and small mammals. However, as it is shown here, floral models continue to be predominantly utilized within resource-limited research environments and remain largely underrepresented in mainstream biomedical investigations conducted by well-funded institutions in the developed world. The ability to delay the senescence of Orange Jubilee wildflowers was tested here on three types of nanoparticles: selenite-doped hydroxyapatite (HAp), citrate-stabilized HAp, and superparamagnetic iron oxide. Integration of selenite into the HAp crystal lattice produced a mild increase in the senescence rate …

The Biblical Foundations Of Conservation Biology, Aaron G. Corbit Phd

The Journal of Biblical Foundations of Faith and Learning

The purpose of this essay is to contextualize the biological discipline of conservation biology within the Seventh-day Adventist Biblical worldview. It does so by evaluating, from a Biblical perspective, the four “normative postulates” of the discipline that were advanced by one of the fathers of modern conservation biology, Michael E. Soulé. Soulé’s normative postulates were that 1) Diversity of organisms is good, 2) Ecological complexity is good, 3) Evolution is good, and 4) Biotic diversity has intrinsic value. I will argue that the Bible affirms Soulé’s first two postulates because the account of creation in Genesis affirms that God created …

Benefits Of A Faculty Mentored Personalized Instructional Program For Dental Students, Terry E. Hoover, Parvati H. Iyer Dr.

Pacific Journal of Health

The rigors and focus required of dental education often leaves students without time to pursue in-depth learning experiences in areas of personal interest related to dentistry/healthcare. In response to student interest in such learning and enrichment opportunities, a Personalized Instructional Program (PIP) course was created at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry to allow students to engage in a faculty-mentored experiential learning project of their own creation. With its already condensed three-year curriculum, there was initial concern at Pacific Dugoni about whether an additional self-regulated experience could fit into students’ already busy schedules. Thirty hours of curricular time was …

Lulucf Is More Than A Mouthful: How The United States Could Implement The European Union’S Land Use, Land-Use Change, And Forestry Policy To Help Fight Against The Us Agricultural Lobby And Fight Climate Change, Isabella Neihardt

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Climate change is this generation’s defining issue, and one that has passed the point of requiring critical attention and response. Agriculture is a major contributor to anthropogenic global warming, but it has largely evaded environmental regulation in the United States (US) due to “agricultural exceptionalism” and a powerful agricultural lobby. Activities in the land use, land-use change, and forestry (“LULUCF”) sector can effectively offset carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from agricultural activities through a process known as a “carbon sink.” In the European Union (EU), the agricultural sector is already regulated through Regulation (EU) 2023/839, the first LULUCF regulation of its …

Race To The Bottom: Is Seabed Mining Worth The Cost?, Linda Nhon

GNSI Publications

There is a recent resurgence in seabed mining, particularly in the potential excavation of polymetallic nodules (PMN) for cobalt, nickel, and copper in response to the tight competition for critical minerals between the United States and China. From the 1970s to the 1980s, increased government funding in the seabed mining industry sparked a surge of academic research and international collaboration in deep-ocean exploration. Although not the sole driver of this ballooning interest, Project Azorian—the CIA’s audacious mission aboard the Glomar Explorer to recover the sunken Soviet nuclear submarine K-129—was undeniably catalytic in generating enthusiasm. Purportedly constructed by the aviation mogul …

Neural Representations Of Valence And Arousal In Kung Fury, Jason A. Davis

Cognitive Science Senior Theses

Emotions are a core component of human experience and behavior, yet after decades of scientific research, it is still difficult to uncover the neural substrates related to emotion. Recent advances in neuroscience have examined how we interpret emotional signals from static images of facial expressions, but less work has sought to understand how the brain constructs our emotional experiences (Chen, 2020). To investigate such idiosyncratic experiences across participants, we employed naturalistic stimuli to model the real-time, reliable changes in activity that correspond to changes in emotional experience. A primary element of emotional experience is core affect, defined as the mental …

Mechanisms Underlying Estrous Cycle-Dependent Changes In Incubated Cocaine Craving, Erin Elizabeth Wannen

Theses and Dissertations

Cues associated with cocaine use are one of the most common relapse triggers and understanding what promotes cue-induced cocaine craving and relapse is a critical question in the field. Human studies have shown that these measures are impacted by fluctuations in ovarian hormone levels, as higher levels of estradiol promote cue-induced cocaine craving in women while higher levels of progesterone reduce craving in both sexes. Enhanced or incubated cue-induced cocaine seeking or craving also changes across the rodent reproductive (estrous) cycle as levels of estradiol and progesterone fluctuate, with enhanced seeking behavior observed during the estrus stage of the cycle. …

Lrrc8 Channel Complexes Counterbalance Katp Channels To Mediate Swell-Secretion Coupling In Mouse Pancreatic Β Cells, Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz, Chen Kang, Litao Xie, John D. Tranter, Sumit Patel, Rahul Chadda, Maria S. Remedi, Rajan Sah

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells is initiated by membrane potential depolarization, followed by activation of voltage-gated Ca2+ channels to trigger Ca2+-mediated insulin vesicle fusion with the β cell plasma membrane. Here, we show that β cell swelling associated with glucose metabolism was sensed by LRRC8 channel complexes and contributed to insulin secretion. Hypertonic perfusate (360-380 mOsm) dose dependently impaired glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by counteracting β cell swelling. Hypotonic perfusate alone, independent of glucose stimulation or KATP channel closure, was sufficient to increase β cell intracellular Ca2+ and trigger insulin secretion. Inhibition of sodium-potassium-chloride cotransporter-1 with bumetanide, which diminished the …

Sea Cucumbers Could Hold Key To Stopping Cancer Spread, Clara Turnage

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Sea cucumbers are the ocean's janitors, cleaning the seabed and recycling nutrients back into the water. But this humble marine invertebrate could also hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer.

Selective Anti-Tumor And Normal Tissue Sparing Effects Of Flash Radiotherapy In A Simple Algebraic Model Of Radiochemical Kinetics, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Working Papers

Background: This short paper presents the solution to an open problem in medical physics: how and when FLASH radiotherapy can have a selective anti-tumor effect. FLASH radiotherapy gives a single large dose of ionizing radiation to a cancer patient within a time span of a few milliseconds, unlike conventional radiotherapy which is divided into several dose fractions given weekly, each lasting about 10 minutes. In some animal models FLASH seems to improve tumor cell killing without damaging normal tissues. However, the mechanism of the selective anti-tumor effect remains elusive. Methods: To explore effects of tissue hypoxia in tumors, a model …

Determining Accurate Pore Structures Of Polypropylene Membrane For Ecmo Using Fe-Sem Under Optimized Conditions, Makoto Fukuda, Yoshiaki Nishite, Eri Murata, Koki Namekawa, Tomohiro Mori, Tsutomu Tanaka, Kiyotaka Sakai

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Long-term ECMOs are expected to be put into practical use in order to prepare for the next emerging severe infectious diseases after the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2019-2023. While polypropylene (PP) and polymethylpentene (PMP) are currently the mainstream materials for the hollow fiber membranes of ECMO, the PP membrane coated with a silicone layer on the outer surface has also been commercialized. In this study, we sought a method to accurately observe the detailed pore morphologies of the PP membrane by suppressing irreversible changes in the morphology in SEM observation, which is a general-purpose observation with higher resolution. As a …

Current Cutting-Edge Omics Techniques On Musculoskeletal Tissues And Diseases, Xiaofei Li, Liang Fang, Sade W Clayton, Dakota R Kamm, Cuicui Wang, Farshid Guilak, Simon Y Tang, Gretchen A Meyer, Jie Shen, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Musculoskeletal disorders, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, bone fracture, intervertebral disc degeneration, tendinopathy, and myopathy, are prevalent conditions that profoundly impact quality of life and place substantial economic burdens on healthcare systems. Traditional bulk transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have played a pivotal role in uncovering disease-associated alterations at the population level. However, these approaches are inherently limited in their ability to resolve cellular heterogeneity or to capture the spatial organization of cells within tissues, thus hindering a comprehensive understanding of the complex cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these diseases. To address these limitations, advanced single-cell and spatial omics techniques …