Digital Commons Network^™

Motivators And Barriers To Healthy Food Consumption: Qualitative Study With Gen Z Living In Bratislava, Emel Yarimoglu, Lucia Vilcekova

AMTP Proceedings 2025

People in Europe have been caring about physical activity, healthy eating, and healthy body weight. The study aimed to explore the motivators and barriers to healthy food consumption among university students living in Bratislava, Slovakia. Qualitative research was conducted with sixteen students, and data were collected by written text. Self-reported written data were collected by convenience sampling and analyzed via content analysis. Four motivators of healthy food consumption were revealed (personal appearance, health-consciousness, physical activity, and social), and four barriers to healthy food consumption were obtained (functional, personal, psychological, and social). This research is original since it demonstrated motivators and …

Avatars And The Real World: A Study Of The Personal And Organizational Impact Of Virtual Identities, Gema Bonales-Daimiel, Eva Citlali Martínez-Estrella, Belén Moreno-Albarracín

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This research is proposed according to the main goal of analyzing the impact of avatars in the building of a digital identity and social interactions in the metaverse. In order to achieve it, a mix of methods has been applied (interviews, survey and content analysis), from an exploratory approach and from a triple perspective: perceptions of brands, users and psychology experts. Findings reflect a concordance between avatars and personal identities, a less marked trend to try new identities, and the persistence of physical stereotypes. From brands perspective, avatars allow them to connect with their audiences and simplify commercial transactions. For …

Detecting Compromised Hardware Integrity With Machine Learning In Multicore Processors, Alexander Beekman

Theses

Due to the globalization of the Integrated Circuits (IC) manufacturing process, the trust surrounding hardware reliability has become compromised through methods such as injection of malicious hardware (including hardware trojans), hardware backdoors, IP theft, and counterfeit hardware. This thesis will focus on the issue of counterfeit hardware. As the complexity of modern day hardware has increased, detecting counterfeits has become increasingly difficult. Current methods of physical and electrical inspection are limited in both depth and size limitations. Physical inspections are only useful for identifying counterfeits that manifest physically, while electrical testing requires expensive and extensive setups. Computational evaluation of all …

Nh Learning Everywhere 4-H Livestock Science - 4-H Volunteer Mentor Service Description, Unh Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Nh Learn Everywhere 4-H Livestock Science - Youth Planning Form, Unh Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Neurd Offers Automated Proofreading And Feature Extraction For Connectomics, Brendan Celii, Stelios Papadopoulos, Zhuokun Ding, Paul G Fahey, Eric Wang, Christos Papadopoulos, Alexander B Kunin, Saumil Patel, J Alexander Bae, Agnes L Bodor, Derrick Brittain, Joann Buchanan, Daniel J Bumbarger, Manuel A Castro, Erick Cobos, Sven Dorkenwald, Leila Elabbady, Akhilesh Halageri, Zhen Jia, Chris Jordan, Dan Kapner, Nico Kemnitz, Sam Kinn, Kisuk Lee, Kai Li, Ran Lu, Thomas Macrina, Gayathri Mahalingam, Eric Mitchell, Shanka Subhra Mondal, Shang Mu, Barak Nehoran, Sergiy Popovych, Casey M Schneider-Mizell, William Silversmith, Marc Takeno, Russel Torres, Nicholas L Turner, William Wong, Jingpeng Wu, Szi-Chieh Yu, Wenjing Yin, Daniel Xenes, Lindsey M Kitchell, Patricia K Rivlin, Victoria A Rose, Caitlyn A Bishop, Brock Wester, Emmanouil Froudarakis, Edgar Y Walker, Fabian Sinz, H Sebastian Seung, Forrest Collman, Nuno Maçarico Da Costa, R Clay Reid, Xaq Pitkow, Andreas S Tolias, Jacob Reimer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We are in the era of millimetre-scale electron microscopy volumes collected at nanometre resolution1,2. Dense reconstruction of cellular compartments in these electron microscopy volumes has been enabled by recent advances in machine learning3–6. Automated segmentation methods produce exceptionally accurate reconstructions of cells, but post hoc proofreading is still required to generate large connectomes that are free of merge and split errors. The elaborate 3D meshes of neurons in these volumes contain detailed morphological information at multiple scales, from the diameter, shape and branching patterns of axons and dendrites, down to the fine-scale …

A Novel Method For Semi-Quantitative Detection Of Hpv16 And Hpv18 Mrna With A Low-Cost, Open-Source Fluorimeter, Kathryn A Kundrod, Mary E Natoli, Chelsey A Smith, Jackson B Coole, Megan M Chang, Emilie Newsham Novak, Elizabeth Chiao, Elizabeth A Stier, Jane R Montealegre, Michael E Scheurer, Philip E Castle, Kathleen M Schmeler, Rebecca R Richards-Kortum

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Despite global calls to eliminate cervical cancer, rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality remain high in resource-limited settings, where it is challenging to implement and sustain screening, diagnosis, and treatment programs. The presence of high-risk HPV mRNA in cervical cells is a sensitive and specific biomarker of cervical precancer. Yet, current testing methods are too costly and complex for use in resource-limited settings. Here, we present a novel method for semi-quantitative detection of HPV16 and HPV18 mRNA with minimal infrastructure requirements. The assay relies on isothermal reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) with real-time fluorescence readout, demonstrated on rugged, …

Crispr/Cas9 Gene Therapy Increases The Risk Of Tumorigenesis In The Mouse Model Of Hereditary Tyrosinemia Type I, Tong Chen, Mercedes Barzi, Nika Furey, Hyunjae R Kim, Francis P Pankowicz, Xavier Legras, Sara H Elsea, Ayrea E Hurley, Diane Yang, David A Wheeler, Malgorzata Borowiak, Beatrice Bissig-Choisat, Pavel Sumazin, Karl-Dimiter Bissig

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background & aims: The therapeutic potential of CRISPR gene editing has been demonstrated in various animal models; however, little is known about its long-term consequences. This study seeks to bridge this gap by investigating the lasting consequences of CRISPR gene therapy in an animal model of hereditary tyrosinemia type I (HT-I). We compared the standard of care-nitisinone, a small molecule inhibitor of hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPD)-with the deletion of the Hpd gene by CRISPR gene therapy. Both treatments block flux through tyrosine catabolism and thereby prevent the accumulation of toxic catabolites in HT-I.

Methods: We assessed the efficacy and safety of …

Insights Into Protection Against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infection: Time To Officially Confirm Another Phenotype?, Todia P Setiabudiawan, Philip C Hill, Andrew R Dinardo, Reinout Van Crevel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Immune correlates of protection against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remain elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Dallmann-Sauer and authors demonstrate that lack of tuberculin skin test (TST) and interferon γ release assay (IGRA) conversion among people with HIV despite years-long Mtb exposure is associated with alveolar lymphocytosis, including specific poly-cytotoxic T cells, and M1-type alveolar macrophages with a stronger ex vivo response to the pathogen. Studies in these rare individuals, termed "TB resisters" and in tuberculosis household contacts who are repeatedly IGRA negative in the months after a specific exposure event (known as "early clearers") help elucidate manipulatable …

Glucose Uptake In Pigment Glia Suppresses Tau-Induced Inflammation And Photoreceptor Degeneration, Mikiko Oka, Sho Nakajima, Emiko Suzuki, Shinya Yamamoto, Kanae Ando

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Brain inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Glucose hypometabolism and glial activation are pathological features seen in AD brains; however, the connection between the two is not fully understood. Using a Drosophila model of AD, we identified that glucose metabolism in glia plays a critical role in neuroinflammation under disease conditions. Expression of human MATP (hereafter referred to as Tau) in the retinal cells, including photoreceptor neurons and pigment glia, causes photoreceptor degeneration accompanied by the formation of dark-stained round inclusion-like structures and swelling of the lamina cortex. We found that inclusion-like structures …

De Novo Variants In Rybp Are Associated With A Severe Neurodevelopmental Disorder And Congenital Anomalies, Monika Weisz-Hubshman, Lindsay C Burrage, Sharayu V Jangam, Jill A Rosenfeld, Sandra Von Hardenberg, Anke Bergmann, Manuela Friederike Richter, Malgorzata Rydzanicz, Rafal Ploski, Agnieszka Stembalska, Wendy K Chung, Rebecca R Hernan, Foong Y Lim, Theresa Brunet, Steffen Syrbe, Boris Keren, Solveig Heide, David R Murdock, Hongzheng Dai, Fan Xia, Shamika Ketkar, Brian Dawson, Vinodh Narayanan, Hillary K Graves, Undiagnosed Diseases Network, Michael F Wangler, Carlos Bacino, Brendan Lee

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Purpose: Polycomb group proteins are key epigenetic transcriptional regulators. Multiple neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with pathogenic variants of the genes encoding Polycomb group proteins. RYBP is a core component of the noncanonical Polycomb Repressor Complex 1; however, its role in disease is unclear.

Methods: Functional consequences of RYBP variants were assessed using in vitro cellular and in vivo Drosophila melanogaster studies.

Results: We described 7 individuals with heterozygous de novo variants of RYBP and their clinical findings, including severe developmental delay, dysmorphisms, and multiple congenital anomalies. We showed that all single-nucleotide variants in RYBP localize to the N-terminal domain of …

Otolith And Genomic Data Reveal Temporal Insights Into Stocking Across A Large River Basin In A Mobile, Long-Lived Australian Freshwater Fish Species, Katherine A Harrisson, Luciano B Beheregaray, Christopher M Bice, Emily J Booth, Chris J Brauer, Gavin L Butler, David Dawson, Olga Dudchenko, Benjamin G Fanson, Graeme Hackett, Annique Harris, Matthew J Jones, Parwinder Kaur, Wayne M Koster, Kyne Krusic-Golub, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Jason A Lieschke, Jarod Lyon, John R Morrongiello, Nicholas P Murphy, James O'Dwyer, Scott M C Raymond, Meaghan L Rourke, Arron Strawbridge, Jason D Thiem, Zeb Tonkin, Jian D L Yen, Brenton P Zampatti

Staff and Researcher Publications

Freshwater ecosystems and their biota are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic stressors. In response to declining fish stocks, hatchery and stocking programmes are widely implemented as core components of restoration and management strategies, with positive outcomes for some wild populations. Despite this, stocking remains contentious due to potential genetic and ecological risks to wild populations. Monitoring and evaluation of stocking outcomes are critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of wild populations, but identification of stocked individuals post-release remains a key challenge, particularly for mobile species. In this study, we combined otolith (natal origin and age) and genomic data to identify …

Control Of Industrial Robots Based On Artificial Intelligence, Bryan Lara Medrano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Industrial robots are vital in developing smart factories, creating the need for more efficient and modern control systems. As a result, investigators and scholars are dedicating great effort to advancing this field et al. [27]. Literature showcases significant progress in various areas, including the control of articulated arms and advancements in human-robot interfaces, self-decision-making, object recognition, decision-making, and routing planning. This manuscript describes a novel technique for predicting the movement of a robotic arm based on artificial neural networks. We have implemented an artificial intelligence method based on artificial neural networks to analyze the possible routing of a robotic arm …

Creating Sensory-Friendly Early Childhood Classrooms: Educator Training And Implementation Of Inclusive Tools, Carly Pylat

Capstone Projects

This doctoral capstone project focused on improving sensory-informed care at Grand Rapids Community College Early Childhood Learning Laboratory (GRCC ECLL), which serves children from six weeks to six years of age. Occupational therapy’s (OT) role in supporting self-regulation and participation through sensory integration was central to the project. A gap was identified in staff understanding of sensory processing, the absence of formal training, and inconsistent access to materials supporting regulation. To address this, five objectives were accomplished: surveying staff, developing and trialing a shared sensory toolkit, delivering professional development on sensory systems, leading an interactive trauma and sensory module for …

Autism Spectrum Disorder And Neurodiversity: Sensory, Behavior, Trauma-Informed And Interdisciplinary Considerations, Sawyer Hodgkins

Capstone Projects

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diagnosis that commonly receives occupational therapy (OT) services for sensory and behavioral intervention to promote participation and performance in daily activities. Additionally, individuals with ASD typically receive applied behavior therapy (ABA) to work on similar goal areas while benefiting from a trauma-informed approach. Many resources offer education and advocacy for the ASD population, but they lack a comprehensive and engaging format suitable for a wide range of audiences. This capstone project focused on developing an hour-long video providing an overview of ASD and neurodiversity, education regarding interdisciplinary, sensory, behavioral, and trauma-informed approaches, and concluded …

Safe Sensations In Flight: Integrating A Sensory-Based Protocol For The Flight Experience To Support The Knowledge Of Neurodiverse Conditions, Jillian French

Capstone Projects

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by challenges with social interactions, communication, and repetitive behaviors (Autism Speaks, 2024). The level of support required to carry out activities of daily living can vary for neurodiverse individuals. According to the Center for Disease Control (2025), one in 31 children are diagnosed with Autism indicating an increase in prevalence. Occupational therapists (OTs) are uniquely equipped to support individuals with Autism by helping them engage in meaningful occupations involving community mobility, such as air travel. In accordance with the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework – 4 (OTPF-4), OTs can provide support to individuals with neurodiverse …

Behavioral Insights From Robotic Pet Interactions In Dementia Care, Hannah Lindstrom

Capstone Projects

Animal assisted therapy has become a common holistic option to negate decreasing functional outcomes within the dementia population, though these pets often are high maintenance; therefore, robotic pets may be a viable solution. To use robotic pets in practice with individuals with dementia, we need to know the mechanisms behind human-robot interaction and common behaviors shown during this interaction. Therefore, the focus of this doctoral capstone experience was to conduct an observational study of behaviors dementia patients display when interacting with robotic pets. Objectives met during this doctoral capstone experience included recording participants behaviors in the presence of a robotic …

The Impact Of Reminiscent Kits In Reducing Behaviors In Individuals With Dementia, Moriah Holloway

Capstone Projects

This capstone project explored the use of reminiscent kits, including robotic companion pets and hyper-realistic baby dolls, as a non-pharmacological intervention to reduce behavioral symptoms in individuals with dementia. This topic is highly relevant to occupational therapy, as it supports engagement, emotional regulation, and quality of life through meaningful, person-centered activity. The project addressed a gap in accessible, individualized interventions that can be adapted across varying cognitive levels in dementia care. The objective was to design a functional program that could be implemented by staff, focusing on residents in both high-functioning and advanced stages of dementia. Interventions were tailored based …

Growing South Dakota (Spring 2025), College Of Agriculture, Food And Environmental Sciences

Growing South Dakota (Publication of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences)

[Page] 2 Keeping South Dakota's food supply safe
[Page] 6 Controlling environmental listeria
[Page] 8 Inaugural 2+2 vet program class graduates
[Page] 10 Faculty honored for excellence
[Page] 12 New leader for agronomy, horticulture, plant science
[Page] 14 Students spend spring break in South Africa
[Page] 16 Hadacek offers advice to fellow graduates
[Page] 17 Park Interpretation and Management Club starts
[Page] 18 On the front lines with invasive species
[Page] 22 Director Karla Trautman retires
[Page] 24 Helping navigate precision ag
[Page] 26 Growing bigger, better beef
[Page] 28 Jackrabbits Then and Now

Ccr7 Regulated Mechanisms That Limit The Adaptive Immune Response, Jaisel Amilcar Cervantes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

C-C chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is critical in guiding T cell migration within the thymus and peripheral lymphoid tissues, shaping the adaptive immune response by promoting central tolerance and regulating immune homeostasis. Although its role in lymphocyte trafficking is well established, the molecular mechanisms by which CCR7 influences thymocyte development and T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire formation remain less understood. This study examines how CCR7 deficiency impacts thymic selection, TCR diversity, and the signaling events that shape repertoire restriction. Using a homozygously deleted CCR7 murine model, we found that the absence of CCR7 results in a less restricted TCR repertoire …

Alpha-Synuclein Phosphomimetic Y39e And S129d Knock-In Mice Show Cytosolic Alpha-Synuclein Localization Without Developing Neurodegeneration Or Motor Deficits, Youngdoo Kim, Bhupesh Vaidya, Joseph Mcinnes, Huda Y Zoghbi

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and nonmotor symptoms. Its pathological hallmarks include the accumulation of misfolded alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites. Phosphorylation of α-Syn is a prominent feature of these inclusions, but its role in disease pathogenesis remains unclear. To identify the role of α-Syn phosphorylation in synucleinopathy, we generated two Snca knock-in (KI) mouse models carrying phosphomimetic mutations at SncaY39 or SncaS129 (Snca^Y39E or Snca^S129D) which manipulated epitopes phosphorylated in the PD brain. Both Snca^Y39E and Snca^S129D KI mice displayed increased α-Syn phosphorylation, enhanced …

Environmental Geography And Law: Toward A Synthesis, Michaela Anang-Hadjicostandi, Sophia Borgias, Karrigan Börk, Ann M. Eisenberg, Guadalupe M. Franco, Cinnamon Carlarne Hirokawa, Keith H. Hirokawa, Jonathan London, Melinda Morgan, Jessica Owley, Shannon Roesler, Sonya Ziaja

Articles

This Article introduces the new interdisciplinary field of Environmental Geography and Law, which has deep roots in ecology, social science, and law. Environmental and natural resources laws are situated in specific times and places where the climate, ecosystems, history and political economy influence both the land and the law. These places drive and constrain the way law develops. In turn, the law shapes places, from the dispossession and forced migration of indigenous groups, to land development via railroad land grants, to patterns of resource extraction and infrastructure development. Past efforts to integrate law and geography have focused more on critical …

Multi-Species Telemetry Quantifies Current And Future Efficacy Of A Remote Marine Protected Area, Morgan E. Gilmour, Kydd Pollock, Josh Adams, Barbara A. Block, Jennifer E. Caselle, Alex Filous, Alan M. Friedlander, Edward T. Game, Elliott L. Hazen, Marie Hill, Nick D. Holmes, Kevin D. Lafferty, Sara M. Maxwell, Douglas J. Mccauley, Robert Schallert, Scott A. Shaffer, Nicholas H. Wolff, Alex Wegmann

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Large-scale marine protected areas (LSMPAs; > 1000 km²) provide important refuge for large mobile species, but most do not encompass species' ranges. To better understand current and future LSMPA value, we concurrently tracked nine species (seabirds, cetaceans, pelagic fishes, manta rays, reef sharks) at Palmyra Atoll and Kingman Reef (PKMPA) in the U.S. Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. PKMPA and the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone encompassed 39% and 54% of species movements (n = 83; tracking duration range: 0.5–350 days), respectively. Species distribution models indicated 73% of PKMPA contained highly suitable habitat. Under two projected future scenarios (SSP …

G-Distance: On The Comparison Of Model And Human Heterogeneity, Lenard Dome, Andy J. Wills

School of Psychology

Models are often evaluated when their behavior is at its closest to a single, sometimes averaged, set of empirical results, but this evaluation neglects the fact that both model and human behavior can be heterogeneous. Here, we develop a measure, g-distance, which considers model adequacy as the extent to which models exhibit a similar range of behaviors to the humans they model. We define g as the combination of two easily interpretable dimensions of model adequacy: accommodation and excess flexibility. We apply this measure to five models of an irrational learning effect, the inverse base-rate effect. g-Distance identifies two models, …

Law And Historical Materialism, Jeremy K. Kessler

Faculty Scholarship

Since the financial crisis of 2008, left-leaning legal thought has experienced a renaissance within the American academy. From law and political economy to critical race theory to feminist legal studies to Marxist legal theory, new perspectives have flourished, and marginalized traditions have been revived and revised. These new perspectives and revisionist projects all share an intellectual debt to the critical legal studies (“CLS”) movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. That movement’s critique was focused on functional accounts of law: accounts that understood legal change as primarily responsive to the demands of extralegal social and economic forces. Some of those …

Disqualification, Immunity, And The Presidency, Gillian E. Metzger

Faculty Scholarship

Trump v. Anderson and Trump v. United States were two momentous decisions in a momentous Supreme Court term. Sharing then former — and now current — President Trump as a party, the decisions hold important implications for presidential power and accountability.

Anderson arose from a suit brought by Colorado voters to challenge Trump’s inclusion on the Republican primary ballot in that state. They argued that Trump organized and incited the mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and disrupted the Electoral College vote count and certification. In their view, this disqualified him from serving as President under section …

The Restatement Of Children And The Law: Modern Regulation In A Developmental Framework, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

In May 2024, the membership of the American Law Institute approved the Restatement of Children and the Law, the first Restatement to focus on the law regulating children and families. The combined efforts of five Reporters (Elizabeth Scott, Reporter, and Richard Bonnie, Emily Buss, Clare Huntington and Solangel Maldonado, Associate Reporters), working for almost nine years, this new Restatement covers most of the legal landscape of American law's relationship to children. It is organized in four Parts: Part I, Children in Families, deals with parental rights and authority and state intervention in families; Part II, Children in Schools, covers children's …

Material Memory, Rebecca S. Talbot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Material Memory is an exhibition showcasing a curated collection of ceramic and quilted sculptures and prints. With works on pedestals, suspended quilts, and framed prints, this exhibit embodies the physical and emotional landscapes of home. The use of household objects to construct the artworks conveys themes of family memories trapped in domestic clutter.

Some Things Askew: Cautionary Quips And Satirical Scenarios, David C. Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Some Things Askew: Cautionary Quips and Satirical Scenarios is a collection of sculptures and drawings that depict objects from a dreamlike, dystopian world. Each piece contributes to a larger narrative that illustrates the presumed inhabitants of this skewed landscape, chronicling their journeys, interactions, and existence within it. Faux paint treatments conceal the diverse materials employed in the creation of these works. This self-reflective story conveys themes of perseverance and hope as the characters strive to survive—and even flourish—amidst the dark and unusual circumstances they face. A hint of sarcastic humor and whimsy permeates the collection, offering comic relief and emphasizing …

Communication During Perimmigration: A Life-Line Interview Method Study, Giada Roberta Rossi

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis examines the communication challenges faced by migrants and their impact on acculturation using a new approach. The study analyzed autobiographical memories of immigrants’ communication to explore both positive and negative experiences over time. The study extends previous intercultural communication research by using the Life-Line Interview Method (LIM) (Assink & Schroots, 2010) to collect autobiographical narratives from twelve participants about their communication journeys. The findings reveal consistencies with past intercultural communication research insofar as uncertainty and identity problems were pervasive, but also positively extends past research arguing that supportive environments, characterized by culturally responsive educators and peer networks, play …