Digital Commons Network^™

South Carolina And The Blue Ridge Rail Road, 1852 To 1873: Dreams Of Linking The South And West, Steve E. Gibson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While the 1850s were productive and railroading did innovate with the initial adoption of steel, the embrace of the telegraph, the use of coal as a fuel, and the opening of generally long railroads, particularly in South Carolina, the railroads themselves generally remained conservative (almost timid) in their business models and strategic thinking. This was especially true in the South. Northern railroads recognized the need to connect major cities, connect seaports with crop productive hinterlands, and generally understood that railroad mobility, mixed economic development, and prosperity were intertwined and mutually reinforcing with the prosperity of both the railroad and the …

Perspectives Of Korean Christian Worshipers On Spontaneous And Liturgical Dance In Worship Engagement, Young Mee Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While the Bible recognizes dance as a form of worship and certain cultures have embraced it for its potential to deepen faith, dance has experienced restricted acceptance in numerous societies and denominations and has received minimal scholarly attention, limited to the study of liturgical dance. This study explores ways for Korean Christian worship, predominantly characterized by Oriental conservative principles, to consider dance as a regular form of worship expression. Exploring responses in a context where spontaneous dance is seldom studied contributes to a deeper understanding of this dance form as a worship practice. The study involves in-depth interviews with six …

A Phenomenological Study Examining The Effects Of Restrictive Factors On Previously Incarcerated Individuals’ Chances Of Recidivism, Tawanda Shantell Heim-Jones

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the effects of perpetual restrictions and stigmatization for previously incarcerated individual’s vulnerability and efforts to reduce recidivism in society. The theories guiding this study are Bandura’s (1986) social theory as it explains the relationship between the theory of self-efficacy and motivation, and Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs accompanied by humanistic and existential theorists Viktor Frankl’s (1946) logotherapy and Carl Roger’s (1951) humanistic psychology as it emphasizes basic needs for human existence and success which are contradicted by hinderance of perpetual restrictions. Because of the mass stigmatization of people who have been …

The Benefits Of Trail Running: A Quantitative Inquiry Into The Cognitive Domain, Jack Edward Lemaire

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This crossover study aimed to investigate the impact on human cognition of an acute bout of trail running at 5 kilometers in distance as measured by a unique cognitive testing battery. It is well documented that aerobic exercise such as trail running provides enormous neuroprotective benefits through various physiological processes, including vascular adaptations and neurotrophin production. To date, no investigation into how a shorter duration trail run specifically impacts cognition has been conducted. For this crossover study, 22 participants were recruited using convenience sampling methods from adults fitting the necessary inclusion criteria from within the greater Nashville area. Participants were …

Living Art: The Arabian Horse Industry Boom And Bust, 1970-1990, Jill R. Wright

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The Arabian horse world in the 1980’s was characterized by high prices followed by an unprecedented fall of the market. The Arabian horse industry was a boom and bust cycle, much like the Dutch Tulipmania of the 1630’s. Many breeders reveled in the status of owning an Arabian and prospered in this inflated market. They could make a quick profit buying a horse and reselling it a short time later, as the prices quickly rose. High prices, which were the boom, turned out to be the issue. The horses, referred to by many as living art, were not a good …

Common Ground: A Phenomenological Ethnographic Inquiry In Intercultural Communication, Telling Stories With The Oglala Lakota People On The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Sd, Laura C. Fong

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

An interdisciplinary and collaborative movement in cross-cultural research is emerging and challenging Western academic practices in the United States. As a non-indigenous Communications scholar working on the Pine Ridge Reservation, I was unable to find a model, or scholarship that included the practical application of theory and methods for scholarship with Indigenous Americans. Over a ten-year period, I documented stories and worked with Lakota elder Unci Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance and her son Nathan Blindman to develop a mutually beneficial working relationship.

Successful cross-cultural scholarship using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) methodologies, Intercultural Communication Theory …

Exploration Of The Congruence Between Environmental Concerns And Eco-Spirituality Programming At Retreat Centers As Experienced By Participants, Jean Golicz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple-embedded case study was to explore the role of environmental awareness and concerns in influencing engagement in retreat practices that were organized around the theme of eco-spirituality and the impact on organizational leadership and program development at two retreat centers in the northeastern region of the United States. Roman Catholic retreat centers were the focus of the study as they endeavored to fulfill leadership directives reflected in the papal encyclical Laudato si’. The centers examined offered immersion in nature, reflection on the interdependence of organic systems, and the development of action plans to address environmental issues. …

Helmholtz Cage: Software Development And Implementation For Cubesat Testing, Gustavo A. Cotom Lopez

University Honors Theses

This paper details the successful development and deployment of a Helmholtz cage system, designed to produce precisely controlled magnetic fields for testing and calibration purposes. The core focus was on creating a robust, modular software architecture enabling independent current modulation on each axis, comprehensive serial communication between multiple microcontrollers, and real-time data acquisition from the MR3 magnetometer. All software components, including the serial communication drivers, control algorithms, command line interface, and calibration routines, were developed from the ground up. The system was fully operational upon completion: all hardware components functioned as intended, serial communication with each subsystem was reliable, and …

A Hierarchy Of Pdz Domain Scaffolding Proteins Clusters The Kv1 K+ Channel Protein Complex At The Axon Initial Segment, Wei Zhang, Victoria L Palfini, Yu Wu, Xiaoyun Ding, Allison J Melton, Yudong Gao, Yuki Ogawa, Matthew N Rasband

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Action potentials are initiated and modulated at the axon initial segment (AIS) by highly clustered ion channels. Voltage-gated Kv1 potassium channels underlie most outward AIS K+ current. AIS Kv1 channels exist in a large protein complex including ADAM22, Caspr2, and LGI1. However, their clustering mechanisms remain unknown. Because Kv1 channels have a highly conserved PDZ-binding motif, we used CRISPR-based genome editing to screen 18 PDZ domain-containing proteins identified in our previous AIS proximity proteome for their AIS localization. Among these, we found that the scaffolding proteins SCRIB and PSD93 are highly enriched at the AIS. Using CRISPR-mediated knockout, cell surface …

Diverse Cell Types Establish A Pathogenic Immune Environment In Peripheral Neuropathy, Julie Choi, Amy Strickland, Hui Qi Loo, Wendy Dong, Lilianne Barbar, A Joseph Bloom, Yo Sasaki, Sheng Chih Jin, Aaron Diantonio, Jeffrey Milbrandt

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Neuroinflammation plays a complex and context-dependent role in many neurodegenerative diseases. We identified a key pathogenic function of macrophages in a mouse model of a rare human congenital neuropathy in which SARM1, the central executioner of axon degeneration, is activated by hypomorphic mutations in the axon survival factor NMNAT2. Macrophage depletion blocked and reversed neuropathic phenotypes in this sarmopathy model, revealing SARM1-dependent neuroimmune mechanisms as key drivers of disease pathogenesis. In this study, we investigated the impact of chronic subacute SARM1 activation on the peripheral nerve milieu using single cell/nucleus RNA-sequencing (sc/snRNA-seq). Our analyses reveal an expansion of immune cells …

Implications Of Using Edna As A Monitoring Tool In The Elk River Estuary, Christy Wheatley, Fernando Martinez, Trinity Spencer

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

This study compares the efficacy of environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling to traditional capture- based methods such as seine netting and minnow trapping for monitoring fish assemblages in the Elk River estuary. The Elk River estuary is located in Humboldt County, California and hosts a diverse range of fish species due to its tidal influences and brackish habitat. A restoration is planned for this area, thus it is important to explore the effectiveness of different fish monitoring methods that could be used to evaluate restoration success. For this capstone project, we conducted a pilot study at five sites within the Elk …

The Fourth Amendment And Defending Domestic Networks, Anthony M. Rodrigues J.D., Ll.M.

Ohio Northern University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Navigating The Role Of E-Cadherin Gene In Gastric Carcinoma, Ali Fadhil , Hashim, Asaad Hashim, Wafaa Redha Al-Sabbagh, Maha Sabah Majeed

Al-Ameed Journal for Medical Research and Health Sciences

Gastric cancer (GC) ranks the fifth most common cancer globally. It is a profoundly aggressive neoplasm with a high mortality rate. E-cadherin encoded by the gene CDH is involved in the pathogenesis of different malignant tumors including gastric cancer. It is enrolled in the progression, invasion and spread of the tumor. The E-cadherin is crucial for epithelial cells adherent together and it's down regulation loosens this connection which facilitate the cellular movement and changing into the epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT), a fact predominant in GC. This review focuses on the structure of E-cadherin, its function and pathogenesis in the development of GC …

Renal Patients’ Perception Of Self-Efficacy Through Rapport And Trust With Registered Dietitians, Michelle Denise Broussard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

End stage renal disease requires dietary education and behavior modifications to manage the condition. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the role of rapport and trust between the patients and registered dietitians and its impact on self-efficacy. The study was implemented over 12 weeks in multi-site dialysis units in urban Georgia. The health belief model was used as the framework to explain the participants’ desire toward self-efficacy. Data were obtained for the 14-item Health Care Relationship Trust scale and the self-efficacy scales and analyzed using multiple linear regression. A convenience sample of 125 patients between the ages …

Continuous Gas Phase Ammonia Adsorption On Rice Husk Biochar, Alejandro Lete, Gloria Gea, Jesús Ceamanos, José Luis Sánchez, Noemí Gil-Lalaguna, África Navarro, Isabel Fonts

Bio-Char IV

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Engineering The Immune Response To Biomaterials, Abolfazl Salehi Moghaddam, Mehran Bahrami, Einollah Sarikhani, Rumeysa Tutar, Yavuz Nuri Ertas, Faleh Tamimi, Ali Hedayatnia, Clotilde Jugie, Houman Savoji, Asma Talib Qureshi, Muhammad Rizwan, Chima V. Maduka, Nureddin Ashammakhi

Michigan Tech Publications

Biomaterials are increasingly used as implants in the body, but they often elicit tissue reactions due to the immune system recognizing them as foreign bodies. These reactions typically involve the activation of innate immunity and the initiation of an inflammatory response, which can persist as chronic inflammation, causing implant failure. To reduce these risks, various strategies have been developed to modify the material composition, surface characteristics, or mechanical properties of biomaterials. Moreover, bioactive materials have emerged as a new class of biomaterials that can induce desirable tissue responses and form a strong bond between the implant and the host tissue. …

Understanding Host-Pathogen Interactions Using The Caenorhabditis Elegans – Orsay Virus Experimental Model, Chika Fujii

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Over an evolutionary timeline, viruses have evolved ways to exploit biochemical pathways of the host for their propagation, whereas host organisms developed mechanisms to recognize virus infection and cope with them. Consequently, a better understanding of the different host factors involved in virus replication could provide insights into potential biological pathways or molecules for therapeutic targeting. Furthermore, detailed dissection of the mechanisms of virus sensing could reveal fundamentally important aspects of virus sensing that are evolutionarily conserved to mammals and offer insights into potentially underexplored areas of research. The C. elegans experimental model offers a useful platform for studying evolutionarily …

Motivations To Learn English Among First-Year Undergraduate Chinese Students, Yunyu Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the motivations to learn English among first-year Chinese undergraduates enrolled at an American university in the southeastern United States and it is essentially grounded in theories such as Self-Determination Theory and Achievement Goal Theory. It addresses a central research question about how is motivations to learn English shaped by external and internal factors among the first-year undergraduate Chinese students? Recognizing that many Chinese students experience low levels of interest and confidence in English, the study explores internal and external factors that shape motivations, including emotional engagement, cultural and academic expectations, and supportive roles played by teachers and …

The Role Of Cephalic Mechanosensory Bristles In Flight Initiation Of The Oleander Hawkmoth, Daphnis Nerii, Maitri Manjunath

Theses and Dissertations

During flight, insects sense air movement past their bodies via sensory bristles distributed all over their body. These bristles provide mechanosensory feedback to their nervous system, thereby modulating wing motion to cope with ambient wind conditions. In many insect systems including locusts, moths, etc., flight can be rapidly initiated by stimulating a set of bristles called cephalic bristles on their head. Rapid initiation of flight requires diverse, distributed flight-related reflexes to be simultaneously activated.

Thus, we hypothesized that cephalic bristles directly and simultaneously trigger diverse flight-related reflexes. We tested this hypothesis using the Oleander hawkmoth, Daphnis nerii, as our study …

Effects Of Fibrogenic And Non Fibrogenic Nanomaterials On Cellular And Molecular Responses In Thp-1 Macrophage, Adedayo E. Oyerinde

Biotechnology Theses

Traditional toxicological testing of nanomaterials is often low-throughput and time-consuming. Here, we aimed to develop an economically viable in vitro assay to prescreen nanomaterials with fibrogenic potential. To this end, we tested the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as cytokines (pro- and anti-inflammatory) by macrophages following treatment with fibrogenic and non-fibrogenic nanomaterials. Both classes of nanomaterials induced ROS indistinguishably, suggesting that ROS production doesn’t predict nanomaterial fibrogenicity. We observed higher levels of IL1β and IL6 in macrophages treated with fibrogenic nanomaterials. Analysis of single-cell RNA-Sequencing data of fibrotic lungs from rodents and humans revealed overexpression of Brain …

A Review Of Medical Ethics In Orthopaedic Surgery: Current Foci And Future Considerations, Ryan X Lam, Zhi Mei Sonia He, Ruhi Thapar, Maggie Wang, Dion G Birhiray, Matthew Milad, Lara Ouellette, Umar Ghilzai, Tucker J Cushing, M Brent Price, Brenden B Ronna, Omar H Atassi, Christopher H Perkins, John R Dawson, William M Granberry, Melvyn A Harrington, Douglas R Dirschl, Lorenzo R Deveza

Library Staff Publications

Medical ethics education is a required component of orthopaedic surgery resident training per the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) guidelines, although no standardized curriculum currently exists.

Beyond the 4 principles of bioethics (autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice), additional ethical concepts relevant to orthopaedic care include utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, moral intuitionism, microethics, and narrative ethics.

Ethical themes identified in the literature relevant to orthopaedic surgery include the ethics involved in medical decision-making, use of new technologies, caring for vulnerable patients, performing high-stakes procedures, the impacts of trainee status on patient care, and patient attitude regarding conflict of interest.

Ethical …

Subcortical Correlates Of Consciousness With Human Single Neuron Recordings, Michael Pereira, Nathan Faivre, Fosco Bernasconi, Nicholas Brandmeir, Jacob E Suffridge, Kaylee Tran, Shuo Wang, Victor Finomore, Peter Konrad, Ali Rezai, Olaf Blanke

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Subcortical brain structures such as the subthalamic nucleus or the thalamus are involved in regulating motor and cognitive behavior. However, their contribution to perceptual consciousness remains unclear, due to the inherent difficulties of recording subcortical neuronal activity in humans. Here, we asked neurological patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation to detect weak vibrotactile stimuli applied on their hand while recording single neuron activity from the tip of a microelectrode. We isolated putative single neurons in the subthalamic nucleus and thalamus. A significant proportion of neurons modulated their activity while participants were expecting a stimulus. We found that the firing …

Renal Denervation Improves Cardiac Function And Exercise Duration In A Miniswine Model Of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction, David J. Lefer, Thomas E. Sharp, Amy L. Scarborough, Amelia G. Haydel, Sanjiv J. Shah, Zhen Li, Traci T. Goodchild

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Aims: Overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system is a common underlying mechanism in development and progression of several heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) comorbidities. Decreasing renal sympathetic nerve activity using catheter-based renal denervation (RDN) systems have shown efficacy in treating resistant hypertension and cardiac dysfunction in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The purpose of this study was to determine if modulation of renal sympathetic nerve activity by RDN improves cardiac function and exercise tolerance in a clinically-relevant minipig model of cardiometabolic HFpEF. Methods and results: Multiple HFpEF comorbidities were induced in adult female Göttingen minipigs by mineralocorticoid …

Workplace Mobbing, Job Satisfaction, And Intent To Leave The Information Technology Industry, Sherry Elaine Baker-Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Some information technology leaders are increasingly concerned about employees’ intent to leave their organizations, as it contributes to higher turnover rates, increased recruitment costs, and potential disruptions to project continuity and service delivery. Grounded in affective events theory, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between workplace mobbing, job satisfaction, and the intent to leave the information technology industry. The study surveyed 101 information technology employees residing in the United States who had experienced workplace mobbing. The participants completed the Negative Acts Questionnaire, the Job Satisfaction Questionnaire, and the Turnover Intention Questionnaire. Results from a …

Commencement, Philadelphia (2025), Philadelphia College Of Osteopathic Medicine

Commencements

Philadelphia Campus Commencement Program, 2025. Degrees include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology, Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology, Doctor of Psychology in School Psychology, Educational Specialist in School Psychology, Master of Science in Applied Behavioral Analysis, Master of Science in Applied Positive Psychology, Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling, Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences, Master of Science in Forensic Medicine, Master of Science in Health Sciences - Physician Assistant Studies.

Commencement Speaker: John J. Lynch III.

Cost-Effective Solutions For High-Throughput Enzymatic Dna Methylation Sequencing, Amy Longtin, Marina M. Watowich, Baptiste Sadoughi, Rachel M. Petersen, Sarah F. Brosnan, Kenneth Buetow, Qiuyin Cai, Cayo Biobank Research Unit, Vanderbilt University, Michael D. Gurven, James P. Higham, Heather M. Highland, Yi-Ting Huang, Hillard Kaplan, Thomas S. Kraft, Yvonne A. L. Lim, Jirong Long, Amanda D. Melin, Michael J. Montagne, Jamie Roberson, Kee Seong Ng, Michael L. Platt, India A. Schneider-Crease, Jonathan Stieglitz, Benjamin C. Trumble, Vivek Venkataraman, Ian J. Wallace, Jie Wu, Noah Snyder-Mackler, Angela Jones, Alexander G. Bick, Amanda J. Lea

ESI Publications

Characterizing DNA methylation patterns is important for addressing key questions in evolutionary biology, development, geroscience, and medical genomics. While costs are decreasing, whole-genome DNA methylation profiling remains prohibitively expensive for most population-scale studies, creating a need for cost-effective, reduced representation approaches (i.e., assays that rely on microarrays, enzyme digests, or sequence capture to target a subset of the genome). Most common whole genome and reduced representation techniques rely on bisulfite conversion, which can damage DNA resulting in DNA loss and sequencing biases. Enzymatic methyl sequencing (EM-seq) was recently proposed to overcome these issues, but thorough benchmarking of EM-seq combined with …

Multicomponent Parenteral Lipid Emulsions Do Not Prevent Liver Injury In Neonatal Pigs With Obstructive Cholestasis, Greg Guthrie, Caitlin Vonderohe, Valeria Meléndez Hebib, Barbara Stoll, Douglas Burrin

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Biliary atresia (BA) is a pediatric liver disease that often necessitates parenteral nutrition (PN) to support growth due to impaired liver function. While soy-based lipid emulsions (SLE) are commonly used in PN, they may contribute to cholestatic liver injury. In contrast, mixed lipid emulsions (MLE) show promise in preventing cholestasis in infants without BA, potentially by restoring bile flow. However, their effectiveness in patients of complete bile duct obstruction, as seen in BA, remains uncertain. To explore the potential benefits of MLE in BA, we utilized a neonatal pig model of bile duct ligation (BDL). Pigs underwent either BDL or …

The Perk/Atf4 Pathway Is Required For Metabolic Reprogramming And Progressive Lung Fibrosis, Jyotsana Pandey, Jennifer L Larson-Casey, Mallikarjun H Patil, Chao He, Nisarat Pinthong, A Brent Carter

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Asbestosis is a prototypical type of fibrosis that is progressive and does not resolve. ER stress is increased in multiple cell types that contribute to fibrosis; however, the mechanism(s) by which ER stress in lung macrophages contributes to fibrosis is poorly understood. Here, we show that ER stress resulted in protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK; Eif2ak3) activation in humans with asbestosis. Similar results were seen in asbestos-injured mice. Mice harboring a conditional deletion of Eif2ak3 were protected from fibrosis. Lung macrophages from asbestosis individuals had evidence of metabolic reprogramming to fatty acid oxidation (FAO). Eif2ak3fl/fl mice had increased oxygen …

A Checklist Of Illinois Centipedes (Chilopoda), Gerald Summers, J. A. Beatty, Nanette Magnuson

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Records for 45 centipede species occurring in Illinois are given with a brief discussion of general habitat features and the effects of certain environmental factors on specific distribution patterns. The chilopod fauna of Illinois includes species from southeastern, western, and northern physiographic regions and represents a richer mixture of chilopod species than is found in any adjacent state.

Description And Biology Of Bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) In Michigan, Robert W. Husband, Roland L. Fischer, T. Wayne Porter

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The distribution of Michigan Bombinae was first studied by Milliron (1939). Records of Michigan bumblebees were included in Cockerell (1916) Franklin (1912). Lutz and Cockerell (1920). and Mitchell (1962). Other major studies in the Great Lakes Region were Chandler (1950) for Indiana, Medler and Carney (1%3) for Wisconsin, Husband (1966) for Michigan, Macfarlane (1974) for Ontario, LaBerge and Webb (1962) for Nebraska, Stevens (1948) for North Dakota, Frison (1926) for Illinois, and Neave (1933) for Manitoba. The purpose of this paper is to add to the information presented by Milliron (1939) and to complement the works by Chandler, Medler and …