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Ka Here Tāngata:1 Mātauranga And Te Ao Māori In Biocultural Kākāpō (Strigops Habroptilus) Conservation Approaches, Sophie Perfetto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This master's thesis examines conservation as a form of living cultural heritage practice through the co-management of kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a critically endangered parrot and taonga species in Aotearoa New Zealand. Situated within ongoing histories of colonial dispossession and Western frameworks of land and species management, contemporary kākāpō conservation is shaped through the partnership between the Department of Conservation’s Kākāpō Recovery Programme and Ngāi Tahu. Drawing on semi-structured interviews collected during fieldwork from July to August 2025, this study examines how institutional partnerships structure decision-making, authority, and responsibility in contemporary conservation governance. Findings demonstrate that Māori knowledge systems …

Tracing The Flow Of Value In Ecotourism: A Case Study Of Lekki Conservation Center, Lagos, Nigeria, Queen Oluwatobi Olafadehan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the flow of value in ecotourism at Lekki Conservation Center (LCC) in Lagos, Nigeria, using a political ecology framework to analyze how economic benefits, participation opportunities, and environmental impacts are distributed among different community groups. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 16 community members, participant observation, and photographic documentation, the study investigates how surrounding communities perceive and experience ecotourism, how revenue is understood to be distributed, and in what ways communities are included in or excluded from conservation decision-making. The findings reveal that ecotourism at LCC generates benefits that are unevenly distributed, that community participation in governance remains …

Reseeding Relations: Comparing Museum And Indigenous Seed Sharing & Rematriation Protocols In The Midwestern United States, Madeline G. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) paved the way for the repatriation of ancestors and certain cultural objects to Indigenous communities, museums still struggle to address other forms of cultural returns. Heritage seeds, those which hold cultural significance to Indigenous peoples, held within museum collections perpetuates the colonization of Indigenous lifeways. This research examines rematriation as an Indigenous form of cultural return better suited to address these needs than limited repatriation models. I analyze how museums are working to create rematriation processes for their collections which reflect diverse Indigenous epistemologies and ontologies through a three-tiered approach: …

A Computational Micropatterning Approach To Study Caveolae And Protein Localization In Vascular Biology, Andrew B. Grespin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Caveolae are specialized, flask-shaped membrane invaginations highly expressed in endothelium and dysregulated in atherosclerosis. Caveolae play a central role in buffering membrane tension, yet the principles governing their spatial organization remain elusive. Thus, we sought to generate the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of blood vessel caveolar spatial organization. However, cell culturing, the backbone of human-focused biological research, does not standardly do well to model physiologically relevant cell behaviors such as migration or polarity-based tissue formation, particularly for punctate proteins and structures like caveolae. Micropatterns are cell-adhesive shapes that biophysically confine cell(s) to a user defined geometry which stereotype organelle …

Comparison Of Bacteriological Culture And A Multiplex Real-Time Pcr Kit For The Detection Of Mastitis Pathogens In Small Ruminants, Ebru Karakaya Bi̇len, Serpi̇l Kahya Demi̇rbi̇lek, Bariş Güner, Öznur Yilmaz Koç, Ali̇ Ünver, Merve Yildiz, İrem Çakmak, Abdulkadi̇r Keski̇n

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

This study aimed to evaluate the applicability of a multiplex real-time PCR (rPCR) kit, originally developed for bovine mastitis, for detecting mastitis pathogens in small ruminants and reducing bacterial identification time compared with conventional bacteriological culture (BC). Milk samples were obtained from 175 sheep and 124 goats and included cases of clinical mastitis (n = 57) and subclinical mastitis (n = 242). With BC, bacterial growth was detected in 125 of 299 milk samples (41.8%), yielding a total of 169 bacterial isolates. The pathogens most frequently isolated by BC were coagulase-negative staphylococci (58.0%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (9.4%), Staphylococcus aureus …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

No abstract provided.

Comparative Efficacy Of Controlled Internal Drug Release And Medroxyprogesterone Acetate Sponges On Ovulatory Follicle Growth In The Ovsynch Protocol During The Breeding Season In Cyclic Nili Ravi Buffaloes, Muhammad Binyameen, Ali Husnain, Saba Anwar, Muhammad Waseem, Muhammad Saleem

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The objective of the experiment was to compare the dominant follicle size, growth rate of the dominant follicle, estrus response, plasma progesterone concentration, and pregnancy in Nili Ravi buffaloes synchronized by controlled internal drug release (CIDR; 1.38 g) and medroxyprogesterone acetate sponge (MPAS; 250 mg) in the ovulation synchronization (OvSynch) protocol. The experiment had a randomized complete block design. Buffaloes (n = 42) were blocked by parity, body weight, body condition score, and ovarian status, and, within the block, they were randomized to receive either CIDR or MPAS and that day was considered day 0 of the experiment. On days …

Determination Of Hematobiochemical Parameters And Egg Quality Traits Of Turkish Sultan Chickens, Mehmet Naci̇ Oktay, Ruhi̇ Kabakçi, Ali̇ Karapinar, Gökhan Şen, Taha Altuğ, Yasi̇n Şenel

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study aimed to investigate the hematological and biochemical blood parameters, along with selected egg quality traits, of Turkish Sultan chickens. A total of 90 blood samples collected from 60-week-old hens and roosters and 129 eggs collected from 50 hens were analyzed. The findings showed that hematological parameters such as red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and heterophil-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratio, as well as biochemical markers such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and uric acid levels, were significantly higher in roosters. The average egg weight, shape …

The In Vitro Feeding Of Hyalomma Marginatum (Koch, 1844), Nesli̇han Ölmez, Bariş Sari, Zati̇ Vatansever

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Ticks are obligate hematophagous ectoparasites that play a major role in the transmission of pathogens affecting both animals and humans. Investigations into tick biology, pathogen transmission, and the development of effective control strategies have traditionally depended on the extensive use of laboratory animals. Consequently, the development of reliable in vitro feeding systems is a valuable alternative approach with the potential to reduce animal use in tick research. In the present study, a previously described silicone membrane artificial feeding system was modified and applied for the in vitro feeding of Hyalomma marginatum (Koch, 1844). Feeding units were prepared using bovine blood …

Immunohistochemical Expression Of Lgr5 In The Bovine Ovary, Oviduct, And Uterus, Aytül Kürüm, Yasi̇n Özkabadayi, Hakan Kocamiş, Mustafa Türk, Si̇yami̇ Karahan

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein coupled receptor 5 (LGR5) has recently been considered as a stem cell marker seen especially in mitotically active tissues. The aim of the present study was to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of LGR5 in the bovine reproductive tract, which is regularly renewed in response to hormonal changes throughout the estrous cycle. The oviduct (ampulla, isthmus, and fimbria), uterus, and ovary tissue samples were collected from 12 cows at a local slaughterhouse. The samples were further identified as follicular (n = 6) or luteal (n = 6), subjected to routine histological procedures, and processed for immunohistochemical expression of …

Origins Of Mitochondrial Diversity In Turkish Sheep Breeds: Anatolia As A Contact Zone Or Refugial Center?, Nezi̇h Ata, İbrahi̇m Cemal

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

Advances in molecular genetics, especially the integration of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analyses, have significantly transformed our understanding of the origins, geographical centers, and dispersal dynamics of domestication, a field traditionally based on archaeological and morphological evidence. In this study, the mtDNA control-region sequences of 296 individuals from 15 native Turkish sheep breeds were analyzed to clarify their maternal genetic diversity and evolutionary origins. Sequencing of a 531-bp D-loop fragment revealed 53 polymorphic sites and 78 distinct haplotypes, indicating substantial haplotypic diversity (Hd = 0.918) and nucleotide diversity (π = 0.01391) within these populations. All five major ovine mitochondrial haplogroups (A, …

Investigating The Interactions Of Auxiliary Subunits With The Nav1.5 Channel, Lucy Summer Woodbury

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The voltage-gated Nav1.5 channel is responsible for the rapid depolarization of the cardiac action potential. A key feature of the Nav1.5 channel is its rapid activation and inactivation. The C-terminal domain (CTD) of Nav1.5 and subsequent auxiliary subunits that bind there can influence the gating kinetics of Nav1.5. In particular, intracellular fibroblast growth factors (iFGFs) and calmodulin (CaM) both shift the voltage-dependence of inactivation, or steady-state inactivation (SSI), in a depolarizing manner. Recently, a non-canonical CaM binding site was discovered on the A-splice variants of iFGFs. As FGF12A and CaM can interact with each other independent of Nav1.5, a model …

Diet And Microbiome Shape Small-Molecule Cytokinin Pools In Mammals, Eman M. Othman, Elena Bencurova, Pamela Ferretti, Peer Bork, Alvaro Rodriguez Del Rio, Jaime Huerta-Cepas, Ignazio Caruana, Rania Abdel-Latif, Aman Akash, Alfonso Albacete, Feras Lafi, Thomas Dandekar, Muhammad Naseem

All Works

Cytokinins (CKs) are adenine-derived metabolites traditionally characterized as plant hormones, yet their origin, distribution, and functions in mammalian systems remain largely undefined. Using integrated metabolomics, microbiome, and metagenomics approaches, we provide a systematic characterization of CK occurrence and potential sources in mammals. Serum profiling across five animal species revealed consistent detection of multiple CK derivatives, with concentrations markedly lower than in plant tissue. The CK storage form, zeatin-O-glucoside, predominated in mammalian sera, followed by trans-zeatin and kinetin, indicating a CK composition distinct from that in plants. Species-specific differences, such as reduced trans-zeatin in mice and lower kinetin in humans, further …

Single-Nucleus Profiling Reveals A Core Disease Signature And Cell Type-Specific Vulnerabilities In Early Rett Syndrome, Yan Li, Ashley G Anderson, Guantong Qi, Sih-Rong Wu, Jean-Pierre Revelli, Hu Chen, Zhandong Liu, Huda Y Zoghbi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurological disorder caused by MECP2 mutations, creating distinct cellular environments in females (mosaic) versus males (nonmosaic). Despite female patients representing most cases, how mosaicism contributes molecularly to RTT pathogenesis, particularly in presymptomatic stages, remains poorly understood. To address this question, we profiled hippocampal transcriptomes of young female and male RTT mice using bulk and single-nucleus RNA sequencing. We identified a core disease signature of consistently dysregulated genes only in MeCP2− cells across RTT models. Moreover, we uncovered non–cell autonomous effects exclusively in female MeCP2+ excitatory neurons, suggesting that these circuits are more vulnerable early …

Artificial Intelligence In Biomedical Scientific Publishing, Tomasz J Guzik, Victor Aboyans, Stefan Agewall, Steven Bailey, Adrian Baranchuk, Magnus Bäck, Michael Böhm, Robert O Bonow, George W Booz, Giuseppe Boriani, Biykem Bozkurt, Nico Bruining, Davide Capodanno, Çetin Erol, Péter Ferdinandy, Alessia Gimelli, Gerd Heusch, Thomas Kahan, Chim Choy Lang, Gerald Maurer, Robert J Mentz, Marco Metra, Philip Moons, Daniel Piskorz, Massimo Piepoli, Piotr Ponikowski, Alexandra Popma, Bianca Rocca, Juan Sanchis Fores, Philipp Sommer, Rhian M Touyz, Zoltan Ungvari, Pascal Vranckx, Joseph A Hill, Thomas F Lüscher, Filippo Crea

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Artificial intelligence is now embedded across the scientific research and publishing ecosystem, influencing discovery, analysis, knowledge translation, authorship, peer review, and editorial workflows. In cardiovascular and biomedical sciences, these developments offer substantial opportunities to accelerate knowledge generation, integrate complex datasets, and improve efficiency and consistency. At the same time, they introduce new risks related to bias, transparency, data integrity, and authorship responsibility, potentially endangering trust in the scientific record. This commentary examines the evolving role of AI in biomedical publishing, with particular attention to generative models and machine learning tools. We review both benefits and limitations, highlight risks such as …

Open Materials For Ant-Psy 210, Sex And Culture, Melissa Zavala

Open Educational Resources

Sex and Culture explores the cultural construction of human sexuality from the framework of the individual in society. Students will examine the social learning of sexual behaviors, beliefs and practices. Analytic focus will include how culturally prescribed gender roles for men and women inform notions of right and wrong. Specific topics may include institutionalized gender inequality, marriage and the family, homophobia and other issues involved in the relationship between sex and culture. All topics will be considered from a historical and cross-cultural perspectives.

Difficult History During Difficult Times: Amache Junior Rangers, Katelyn Morkovsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My research aims to understand approaches to teaching difficult histories to children at cultural heritage institutions. To do this, I examined the creation process of the Amache Junior Ranger booklet that launched at the site in the fall of 2025. Amache, a WWII Japanese American incarceration center, presents significant interpretive challenges in balancing the traumatic nature of the site with age-appropriate content as well as highlighting the agency people exercised without losing the gravity of the situation. In addition to how the booklet was made, I use my research to situate the booklet in the social and political climate in …

Picturing Africa: Critical Reflections On The Importance Of Imagery In Textbooks, Amber R. Reed, Bailey A. Brown

Essays in Education

While many social studies teachers in the Atlanta metro area are working to combat stereotypical and racist images of Africa, our analysis of three commonly used textbooks demonstrate these are exactly the types of images that tend to get reproduced. This essay draws on an analysis of three commonly used textbooks in Georgia as well as interviews with teachers in the area. We show how stereotypes of Africa as filled with wild animals, primitive, and poverty-stricken are often upheld in publications despite teachers’ fervent desire to dismantle them. Because these images are often decontextualized, it is difficult for teachers and …

The Effectiveness Of Canva Based Dance Learning Media In Increasing Learning Interest Of Grade Viii Students, Maharani Prajustine Hakim, Agus Budiman, Saian Badaruddin

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study aims to test how learning dance through the digital platform Canva affects the interest of students in learning dance at SMPN 2 in Bekasi City. This study uses a quantitative approach with a pre-experimental method through a one group pretest-posttest design. The research sample includes 39 students from class VIII.G, who were chosen through purposive sampling. Data collection was carried out by distributing a learning interest questionnaire that was given before and after the treatment was applied. The intervention included using Canva based learning media for the "Tari Piring" topic. It made use of interactive presentations, visual worksheets, …

On-Device Large Language Model For Enhanced User Experience Customization, Yosef Mirsky, Andrew Felch

Defensive Publications Series

A low-intelligence, or small, large language model (LLM), termed a Vibe LLM, operates on resource-constrained hardware to augment user experiences. The Vibe LLM does not handle direct linguistic interaction with a user; instead, it processes textual output generated by a separate, more resource-intensive LLM that typically resides in the cloud. By analyzing this text, the Vibe LLM extracts contextual information, such as proper nouns, and uses it to control device features like light emitting diode (LED) animations or display colors. For example, the Vibe LLM can identify a team name mentioned in a response and trigger an LED animation using …

Tectonic Influences On The Evolution Of Settlement Decisions In The Near East, Truett Koden W. Marr

Lawrence University Honors Projects

This study asks a fundamental question in archaeology: why do people consistently choose certain places to settle over others? Focusing on the Near East, it investigates how deep-time tectonic features, specifically fault systems, structure long-term settlement decisions by shaping water availability and ecological productivity. To address this, I integrate a large geospatial dataset of 1,023 archaeological sites with 9,075 mapped fault traces across 674 hydrological basins. Using statistics in R, I apply Poisson generalized linear models to test basin-level relationships between site density and fault density and conduct distance-to-fault analyses comparing archaeological sites to randomized controls. These analyses are further …

Intestinal Transplantation: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb, Andres J. Gonzalez Salazar

Grand Rounds

At the conclusion of this activity, learners will be able to:

1. Trace the historical evolution of intestinal transplantation from experimental procedure to clinical reality.
2. Identify clinical indicators for transplant referral in pediatric patients with intestinal failure refractory to rehabilitation.
3. Interpret current intestinal transplant survival data and evaluate emerging innovations in rejection monitoring and immunosuppression.
4. Propose the programmatic requirements for establishing a pediatric intestinal transplant program using national benchmark centers as a framework.

Unveiling The Complexity Of Post-Roman Polity Formation In Pannonia Using Ancient Dna, Yijie Tian, István Koncz, Norbert Faragó, Corina Knipper, Ronny Friedrich, Deven N. Vyas, Levente Samu, Olga Spekker, Tamás Szeniczey, Tamás Hajdu, Balázs Gusztáv Mende, Péter Tomka, Ildikó Katalin Pap, Dávid Czigány, Rita Radzeviciute, Luca Traverso, Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone, Paolo Francalacci, Bernd Schöne, Gábor Tóth, Anna Szécsényi-Nagy, Petrus Le Roux, Kurt W. Alt, Zuzana Hofmanová, Walter Pohl, Johannes Krause, Tivadar Vida, Patrick J. Geary, Krishna R. Vereramah

Ecology & Evolution Faculty Publications

The transformation of the Roman world [fourth to ninth centuries common era (CE)], culminating in the Western Roman Empire’s fall, marked a fundamental transition in European history. Key questions persist regarding the regionally specific nature of this transformation. We generated a paleogenomic dataset to reconstruct post-Roman organizations in the Little Hungarian Plain at microregional resolution. Genetic and archaeological analyses of two Roman (n = 68) and five post-Roman (n = 246) sites reveal a rise in Northern European ancestry, reflecting large-scale population movements into this region. Moreover, despite post-Roman sites sharing similar genetic profiles, material culture, and burial …

Structure-Based Discovery Of Malate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors With Efficacy Against C. Parvum Oocysts, Ankita Bharatbhai Kheni

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cryptosporidium parvum, the etiological agent of Cryptosporidiosis (diarrheal illness) represents a significant global health burden, particularly affecting immunodeficient and pediatric populations. Since the parasite has a highly reduced mitochondrion and relies on glycolysis, enzymes such as C. parvum malate dehydrogenase (CpMDH), which are believed to be indispensable for parasite viability due to their pivotal roles in NAD⁺ regeneration and redox balance, remain largely unexplored as therapeutic targets. The present study employed a multifaceted experimental and computational strategy to evaluate the inhibitory activity of two lead-like and drug-like small molecules, referred to as compound 1.8 and compound 1.5, against the cofactor …

Desert Dichotomies: Climatic Imaginaries Of The Arid+[Ant]Arctic, Amanda Aman

Mavs Open Press Open Educational Resources

Desert Dichotomies is a research-based architecture design studio that examines the impacts of climate change across arid and polar desert environments, revealing unexpected parallels between landscapes often understood as environmental opposites. Focusing on Antarctica, Arctic Alaska and the Sonoran Desert, the project investigates how climate change, resource extraction and human systems of control are transforming ecological processes, water systems and cultural landscapes. While arid deserts face increasing drought and water scarcity, polar deserts are experiencing accelerated warming, ice loss, permafrost thaw and flooding. Despite these contrasting conditions, both regions exhibit similar consequences, including declining water quality, biodiversity loss, infrastructural vulnerability …

Metal Oxide Nanoparticle‑Integrated Phema Hydrogels: Morphology, Chemical Properties, And Biological Interaction, Venkateswar Rao, Collin Cox, Brandon Clark, Arushi Rai, Erick S. Vasquez-Guardado, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Soubantika Palchoudhury

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Hydrogels offer attractive matrices for incorporating inorganic metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) to generate multifunctional hybrid materials, but challenges remain in scalable synthesis and correlating their properties to bio-interaction. Therefore, we report the synthesis and characterization of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) hydrogels, and pHEMA hydrogels encapsulating iron oxide or zinc oxide NPs, using a modified free-radical polymerization. Dose-dependent survivorship studies on Drosophila melanogaster revealed that both NP-embedded hydrogels are tolerated over a wide dose range (e.g., 50–200 mg), although ZnO NP-gels exhibit lower survivorship at some concentrations due to their inherent composition and a wider size distribution of iron oxide NPs.

The Multimodal Video Evaluator (Mve): Codifying Decades Of Empirical Research Into A Systematic Multimedia Design & Evaluation Framework, Koichi Sato

Teaching & Learning with AI

Online higher education relies heavily on instructional videos, yet many faculty-produced media assets inadvertently induce high extraneous cognitive load. Instructional designers frequently face an “expert bottleneck,” lacking the operational bandwidth required to conduct manual, frame-by-frame pedagogical audits across expanding institutional media catalogs. To bridge this research-practice gap, this paper presents an operational blueprint for the Multimodal Video Evaluator (MVE), an open-access, AI-driven workflow designed to automate multimedia quality assurance. Built on a native multimodal artificial intelligence architecture, the MVE concurrently processes visual, auditory, and textual streams to evaluate media assets against 127 research-derived design guidelines rooted in the Cognitive Theory …

From Combustion Emissions To Neurotoxicity: Brain Health Risks Of Military Burn Pits Exposure, Katherine M. Eggers, Zoe A. Keller, Paul Barach, Julie M. Tomáška, Joshua P. Nixon, Janeen H. Trembley, Tammy A. Butterick

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Military burn pits used during post-9/11 U.S. military deployments functioned as uncontrolled combustion systems and were widely utilized to dispose of large volumes of outdoor waste by burning. Burn pits involved heterogeneous waste materials burned under variable temperature and oxygen conditions. These combustion environments generated complex, toxic, multipollutant airborne emission mixtures that included particulate matter (PM2.5), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This narrative review synthesizes epidemiologic, experimental, and mechanistic evidence linking burn pit emissions to disruption of the lung–brain axis and adverse neurological outcomes. We specifically aim to address a critical gap in understanding how combustion-derived …

The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Enhancing Arabic Regional Tv News Stations, Engy Mohamed Elzakazeky

Theses and Dissertations

Arabic regional TV news stations have started using artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for facilitating journalism work, coping with technology, and engaging audiences, as a result of the digital transformation in the television industry. This study examines how Arab regional TV news stations are incorporating AI into their operations, including its uses, opportunities, and limitations, in its early stages, through in-depth interviews with 14 media professionals in 13 Arab news stations. By reflecting on their own experiences, a purposive sample of news editors, managing editors, and graphic designers employed by news channels were interviewed. These media professionals were able …

Role Of Libraries As Sources Of Information On Organic Farming In Oyo State Nigeria, Sobalaje Adewale Joel A. J, Oyetola Solomon Olusegun S. O, Ayano Kekinde Oluwaseun K. O.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ABSTRACT: This study provided the role of libraries as sources of information on organic agriculture to the farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Organic agriculture/farming is the process of producing food naturally. Two hundred (200) questionnaires were distributed for administration, but only one hundred and eighty-five (185) questionnaires were returned, representing 92.5%, and were found useful for this study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyse the returned questionnaires. The data was analysed using frequency tables, simple percentages, and regression analysis tests for dependent and independent variables. The study discovered that 90.8% of the respondents used …