Digital Commons Network^™

Alzheimer's Disease-Linked Risk Alleles Elevate Microglial Cgas-Associated Senescence And Neurodegeneration In A Tauopathy Model, Gillian K Carling, Xiaoying Chen, David M Holtzman, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The strongest risk factors for late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) include the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E (APOE), the R47H variant of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), and female sex. Here, we combine APOE4 and TREM2

Integrative Human-Mouse Gene Expression And Phylogenetics Analysis To Prioritize Genes Of Evolutionary And Biomedical Importance In The Retina And Retinal Pigment Epithelium, Edson Ishengoma, Guglielmo Roma, Shola M. Richards

Tanzania Journal of Science

Mammalian models, such as mice, are often used to study human retinal diseases, but, owing to the evolutionary time-scale separating the two species, some physiological functions involved in vision differ between the two species. Here, public RNA-seq data sets were used to interrogate genome-wide gene expression patterns in mouse and human retina and retinal pigment epithelium in order to identify genes of significance underlying visual signal processing in the two species. Individual genes with distinct and conserved expression patterns across the retinal tissues were identified both within and between species, followed by an assessment of biomedical roles in visual functions, …

The Challenges Of Diet Generalism In A Microbial Predator, Dictyostelium Discoideum, Shreenidhi Perukkaranai Madabhushi

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Organisms vary widely in their diet breadth, ranging from specialists that feed on few resources to generalists that feed on many. Specialists have honed their ability to catch and process specific prey, but generalists must deal with prey that differ in nutritional quality and defensive mechanisms. Have generalist predators overcome costs associated with consuming multiple prey species or do they experience costly trade-offs when handling different prey? Generalist predators also live in environments that vary in the type and abundance of prey species. How do generalists navigate this variation in prey abundance and profitability and seek out their preferred prey? …

Exploring The Sublime Through Sound Design: A Multiplatform Approach, Elsie Mader

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The world around us has always vibrated with constant sound. That audio provides context for everyday activity, the background against which all life is played. To highlight its significance in the human experience, this study explores the impact of audio on emotion through my sound design for Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' morality play Everybody. Creating and describing the design process, this study seeks to discover how sound influences emotional response, shapes mood, and complements visual elements. Aiming to discern what soothes or incites audiences, the design focuses on a juxtaposition between familiar and unfamiliar sounds. Special attention is paid to base elements …

Contribution Of Fish To Food And Nutrition Security In Southern Africa: Challenges And Opportunities In Fish Production, Sahya Maulu, Confred Godfrey Musuka, Montshwari Molefe, Tlou Kevin Ngoepe, Ndakalimwe Naftal Gabriel, Joseph Mphande, Msumenji Phiri, Valdemiro Muhala, Messias Alfredo Macuiane, Mzime Regina Ndebele-Murisa, Oliver Jolezya Hasimuna, Thethela Bokhutlo, Mexford Mulumpwa, Victoria Ndinelago Erasmus, Wilson Jere, Chipo Hazel Dekesa, Chipo Plaxedes Mubaya, Manecas Francisco Baloi, Johannes Angala Iitembu, Enock Siankwilimba, Lin Zhang

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

This study investigated the role of fish in addressing food and nutrition security challenges in Southern Africa, focusing on 10 countries including Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Eswatini, and South Africa. It examined the current state of food and nutrition security, fish production, and fish consumption patterns. Additionally, the study investigated the challenges and opportunities to enhance fish production in these countries thereby enhancing food and nutrition security. The findings revealed persistent challenges such as a high prevalence of food insecurity and malnutrition throughout the region. Fish production is hindered by overexploitation of fishery resources, inadequate fisheries …

How Many Annunciations Are There? Using European Prints To Digitally Explore The Iconographic Style Of Eighteenth-Century Portuguese Azulejos, Rosário S. Carvalho

Artl@s Bulletin

The combination of a computational approach with the expertise of art historians in studying the similarities and differences between European prints and eighteenth-century Portuguese azulejos has led to the emergence of an “iconographic style,” which introduced two major modes of depicting the Annunciation during the period under analysis. The article aims to assess the impact of the circulation of European prints on Portuguese tile coverings to better understand how the images were circulated and to determine their influence in terms of form, style, decoration, iconography and working process on the definition and execution of different iconographic programmes.

En combinant approche …

No Need Of Styles: Building Up Architectural Historiography, Carmen Popescu

Artl@s Bulletin

If styles lost impetus within the methodology of art historiography, in the (parallel) field of architecture, they were firmly rejected one century ago. One might consider that this more radical positioning (particularly in terms of epistemological tools) constituted the very reason for the undeclared but yet consumed divorce between the two disciplines. Attempting to define its specificity but also the autonomy of the discipline, architectural historiography followed a path less directly preoccupied with aesthetics and closer to functionality and technicity. My paper analyses how architectural historiography built up its idiosyncrasy.

Si les styles en tant que catégorie ont perdu de …

Manufacturing National Boundaries? The Notion Of Style Between Identity Constructions And Spatial Approaches, Michela Passini

Artl@s Bulletin

Art historians have long been preoccupied by art’s geographical inscription. But it was during the interwar period that research on the geography of art really took off and was recognized as a field of study in its own right. This is evidenced by the organization of an international congress of art history (Stockholm, September 1933) specifically devoted to art geography.

What was the field covered in 1933 by artistic geography? How did it define its objects? And how an art history marked at the time by an extremely present methodological nationalism did shape geographical approaches?

Depuis les débuts de la …

Style Revisited, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Catherine Dossin, Nicola Carboni

Artl@s Bulletin

The resurgence of the concept of 'style' within the realm of artificial intelligence, particularly in the fields of image classification and style transfer, reignites age-old discussions in art history. Despite the success of algorithmic methods, this revival has been met with significant criticism from art historians. A thorough exploration of the history of the concept of style, its evolution, inherent ambiguities, and diverse applications underscores the challenges art history faces in integrating new computational approaches that aim to describe and analyze styles. This is the central theme of this issue of the Artl@s Bulletin, for which we invited a diverse …

Full Issue, Nhij V2, Newhouse Impact Journal

Newhouse Impact Journal

No abstract provided.

How Do We Embody Our Narratives?, Kevin T. Martinez, Ria J. Gualano, Andrea Stevenson Won

Newhouse Impact Journal

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences that provide unique opportunities for selftransformation, allowing people to both experience and co-author narratives in ways difficult to parallel in more traditional media. Many VR experiences place the user in a virtual world where they are embodied as an avatar. Avatar customization allows users to express and explore aspects of their identities that might otherwise be invisible or difficult to convey through corporeal representation, such as invisible disability, neurodiversity, and chronic pain. This may manifest through affordances translated relatively 1:1 (e.g., clothing) or affordances that expand the bounds of possibility (e.g., enabling the simulation …

Can Immersive Storytelling Lead Us Through The Wilderness Of Climate Chaos? Maybe. But We’Ve Got Some Bushwhacking To Do., Michael O. Snyder

Newhouse Impact Journal

Modern immersive storytelling technologies, such as virtual and mixed reality, present an exciting opportunity to expand awareness and grow empathy around pressing issues like climate change, species loss, and habitat destruction. But does “the ultimate empathy machine”, as Chris Milk dubbed virtual reality in his TED talk, truly possess the power to lead us through the wilderness of climate chaos and into a brighter future? Here we examine how an overfocus on sensory stimuli and the removal of the centrality and primacy of the external storyteller in immersive spaces may be undermining its transformative power as a storytelling medium. To …

Review Of The Diagnosis, Pathophysiology, And Treatment Of Naegleria Fowleri-Induced Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis, Terrance Zhang

MCB Articles

Naegleria fowleri is a thermophilic, ubiquitous, free-living amoeba, but is also known as the “brain-eating” amoeba. This is the etiological agent of a rare and fulminant waterborne disease known as Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) that is acutely fatal in 90-99% of reported cases. Those who come into contact with infested waters are at risk of introducing the amoeba into their upper nasal canal, whence the trophozoite form is known to migrate along the olfactory nerve, through the cribriform plate, and enter the central nervous system. Although the exact pathogenesis of N. fowleri is not known, studies have demonstrated contact-dependent and …

Caffeine And Arrhythmias: A Critical Analysis Of Cardiovascular Responses And Arrhythmia Susceptibility, Adel Khalifa Sultan Hamad

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Caffeine is a frequently consumed stimulant in different foods and beverages: coffee, tea, chocolate, sodas, and energy drinks. While its effects on the cardiovascular system have been extensively studied, there remains controversy surrounding its potential risks, particularly in patients with heart disease. This review provides a complete overview of caffeine's pharmacological properties, sources, and cardiovascular effects, particularly emphasizing its arrhythmogenic potential. The proarrhythmic potential of caffeine, particularly on atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias, is conducted. It explains the mechanism of action, including adenosine receptor antagonism, phosphodiesterase inhibition, calcium mobilization, and catecholamine release of caffeine. Epidemiological evidence and mechanistic insights are …

Survey And Comparative Analysis Of Pollinator Diversity, Abundance, And Foraging Activity Of Diptera And Hymenoptera In Selected Habitats Of South Texas, Melissa Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations

With the declining bee population, non-bee pollinators can serve as an alternative source for pollination. Diptera is a potential source of untapped pollinator resources based on their abundance and visitation rate, but they are understudied in the field of pollination ecology. This study aimed to characterize the pollinator community in selected areas of South Texas. It focused on the Diptera and Hymenoptera families to compare their diversity, relative abundance, foraging behaviors, environmental influences, and vegetation associations. Active sampling and line transect were used in the survey to sample the Hymenoptera and Diptera communities to their family taxonomic rank. Statistical analyses …

The Influence Of Wind Energy Development On Occupancy Of Medium And Large-Sized Mammals In South Texas, Elwynn Sherman

Theses and Dissertations

Conservation paradigms have shifted from single to multi-species approaches for assessing and conserving mammalian populations and the habitats that they occupy. The effect of wind turbine development is an important anthropogenic change to study due to the increasing demand for wind energy in Texas. In this study, I gathered remote camera trap data on medium and large-sized mammal populations in south Texas Tamaulipan thornscrub habitat. The objectives were to determine species presence, the effect of habitat characteristics and anthropogenic disturbances on species occupancy, and the effect of temperature on species detection. The results showed that distance from wind turbines did …

Hyperlocal Gift Economies Under The Duberstein Gift Standard, Nicolás R. Munsen

Notre Dame Law Review Reflection

Hyperlocal gift economies, such as those moderated by the “Buy Nothing Project,” have become increasingly popular in the United States and abroad within the last decade. Explicitly banning the buying, selling, trading, or bartering of goods and services, hyperlocal gift economies instead encourage local community members to give to each other out of their own abundance and without any expectation of return or obligation—in short, to give and receive gifts. But while members of these groups regard these transactions as gifts, it is unclear if the Internal Revenue Service would agree. The Internal Revenue Code’s definition of “gift” in I.R.C. …

Chaos Creator: Misinformation Inoculation In Information Literacy Instruction, Mandi Goodsett

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Combating the spread of misinformation is a struggle that has inspired considerable research in the fields of psychology, education, political science, and information science, among others. Such research has found that “prebunking” or “inoculation” techniques—strategies that reduce the acceptance of misinformation before one has encountered it—have had marked success. However, there is little evidence that librarians are deliberately employing inoculation techniques in their information literacy (IL) instruction. Via a quasi-experimental study, this research explores the effect of prebunking techniques in an IL instruction session on undergraduate students’ ability to recognise misinformation. The prebunking techniques are delivered through a competitive game …

Spartan Daily, December 3, 2024, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2024

Volume 163, Issue 40

Visualization Of Paleocurrents On A Web Application Using Gplates, Anjan Sapkota

MS in Computer Science Theses

Paleocurrents are flow directions derived from features of sedimentary rocks that reveal the direction of the current of wind or water that deposited the sediment. In 2015, Brand et al. created a global database of paleocurrents, which contains over 1,000,000 measurements worldwide: North America, South America, Australia, Great Britain, parts of Western Europe, China, Africa are fairly well represented; Antarctica, Eastern Europe, and Asia are modestly represented and Russia is poorly represented. The contribution of this thesis is a web application that uses the GPlates’ Application Programming Interface (API) to visualize global paleocurrents through time in an interactive way based …

Assessment Tools In Verbal Behavior Research: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Danielle Pisarek

Theses

Assessment tools are an essential component of applied behavior analysis (ABA), offering important information to assist in the design of intervention strategies for individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Previous research has studied the validity, consistency, and effectiveness of some of these tools, with studies such as Dixon et al. (2017), Padilla and Akers (2021), Stewart et al. (2010), and Usry et al. (2017) providing insights into their attributes, shortcomings, and relevance. However, publications focusing on the use of these tools within behavior analytical research are lacking. This systematic literature review (SLR) aimed to identify and analyze …

Public Librarianship & Food Justice: Exploring The Intersections, Christine D'Arpa, Noah Lenstra, Elizabeth Thornburg, Chloe Williams

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

This report explores and examines some of the intersections between public librarianship and food justice. Food justice is a topic many working in public libraries wish to understand and put into action. Many struggle to do so in a way that is sustainable for the institution of the public library. These findings emerged from focus groups with public library workers conducted from November 2023 to March 2024. This report introduces five themes based on focus group conversations. Three themes describe how public library workers think about the intersections of food justice and public librarianship (1-3). Two describe how library workers …

Artificial Creativity: How Artificial Intelligence Will Impact Creativity Via Post-Production, Nicole Dwyer

Honors Thesis

My thesis lives in the world of Post-Production, and it contains both a creative and written component. I was the editor for four Undergraduate thesis projects. Seeking to gain experience in editing various genres, I worked in drama, sports, period piece, coming of age, and adventure. My biggest takeaways from these projects are the importance of organization, communication, time management, and editing with a sense of imagination. I became a more confident, resilient, and prepared editor through these experiences.

Along with the hands-on filmmaking element of my thesis, I also conducted research on how artificial intelligence will impact conceptions of …

Aerodynamic Noise Reduction Of Wind Turbine Blades, Steven Davenport

Honors Theses

This project is presented to meet Western Michigan University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences Senior Design requirements. With wind turbines becoming increasingly popular as a form of energy generation, the need to reduce the aerodynamic noise is needed. Most commercial wind farms use turbines with a NACA 0012 airfoil. Thus, that is the only profile shape considered in this research. Seven modifications were made to a NACA 0012 airfoil to reduce aerodynamic noise. The airfoils were designed in SolidWorks and 3D printed at the WMU College of Aviation. The airfoils were simulated in Ansys Fluent and experimentally tested in …

An In-Depth Investigation Into Yersinia Pestis Phages: Isolating A Yersinia Pestis Phage From Soil And Constructing A Comprehensive Phylogenetic Analysis Of Known Yersinia Pestis Phages, Jacqueline Chavez

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of the plague, has become increasingly resistant to many antibiotics; therefore, alternatives such as phage therapy are necessary. Phage therapy uses combinations of bacteriophages or phages, which are viruses that only infect bacteria. However, phages—especially Y. pestis phages —are severely understudied. Thus, this research has sought to specifically isolate a phage from soil that infects Y. pestis. There were 146 samples that were collected from across the US, focusing on those with reported cases of plague. These samples were enriched with Y. pestis to maximize the amount of potential phage that target Y. pestis. …

Mathematics In Amusement Parks, Kacey Laumann

Honors Projects

This project focuses specifically on the Walt Disney World Park, Magic Kingdom. I started by collecting data through the MyDisneyExperience app. By recording the data, I was then able to create polynomial functions to the fifth the degree. Each attraction received a function which allowed me to predict the wait times for that attraction. Then, by graphing the functions and analyzing the graph using calculus the “best time” and “worst time” to go to the attraction were found. After the analysis the information is used to build a unique schedule for a guest. Then the guest receives this schedule after …

December 2024 Faculty Senate Packet, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Packets

No abstract provided.

Campaign: The Big Blue Is Not For You, Juli-Ann Denny

UN SDG Open Pedagogy Faculty Fellowship: Renewable Assignments

No abstract provided.

Differences In Secondary Consumer Behavioral Responses To Predators On Natural And Artificial Reefs In South Florida, Lauren E. Dalton

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

On coral reefs, intensifying local stressors and climate change reconfigure reef ecosystems, with largely unknown implications for critical ecosystem functions (i.e., predation and secondary consumers). The study investigated differences in fish assemblages on natural and artificial reefs and how predator presence affected secondary consumer (i.e. invertivorous fish) abundance and foraging behaviors on natural versus artificial reefs. The specific objectives of this study were: (i) determine whether secondary consumer abundances differ between artificial and natural reefs and (ii) assess how predator identity influence the foraging behavior of secondary consumers. The study was conducted on shallow natural and artificial reefs in Broward …

Red Grouper (Epinephelus Morio) Neurocranium, David Ferreiro

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

No abstract provided.