Digital Commons Network^™

Framing Iowa’S “Fragile Giants”, Blake L. Mayberry

The Geographical Bulletin

The cultural landscape of Iowa has changed significantly in the last thirty years, coincident with larger changes in the national and global economies . The Loess Hills–a geologic landform consisting of eroded 15,000-yearold deposits of eolian glacial silt spanning seven counties in western Iowa–have become a political and discursive battle ground for postindustrial restructuring . The State of Iowa sought to create a tourism- and recreationbased economy for western Iowa as a response to rural population loss and unemployment . In 1997, the state’s largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, started an editorial campaign to advocate for a national park …

A Marine Knowledge System For Ocean Affairs: Integrating Data, Evaluating Usage, And Enabling Sustainable Marine Management, Yu-Jen Pan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study presents the evolution and assessment of the Marine Knowledge Education System (MKES), designed to improve user acceptance among students in professional marine science courses in Taiwan. The MKES leverages real-world maritime cases from the General Coast Guard Administration and is built upon existing technologies like cloud services, social networks, and data analysis tools. The technology acceptance model (TAM) provides the theoretical underpinning for the assessment of user confidence. Data was collected from 190 participants through purposive sampling. Path analysis confirmed all hypothesized relationships within the TAM with statistical significance (p < 0.001). Additionally, paired-sample t-tests revealed a significant increase in student acceptance of the MKES after integrating it into the marine science curriculum. These findings underscore the capacity of the MKES as a digital learning tool to enrich course pedagogy and improve student learning outcomes, thereby offering valuable support in advancing the education of professional marine managers.

Taste Masked Of Eplerenone Using Egg Box Method, Asmaa Mohammed Rashid

Maaen Journal for Medical Sciences

Eplerenone is a selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist employed to manage hypertension, central serous retinopathy, and chronic heart failure. It has a highly bitter taste, which reduces patient compliance with the drug.

The aim of this study was masking the very bitter taste of the eplerenone to improve patient compliance especially for geriatric patient.

The medication was encapsulated utilizing the ionic gelation process, in which a 1% w/w sodium alginate solution was utilized to form egg box structures.Two different concentrations of CaCl2 (0.5.1%w/v) were used as cross-linkers, and different drug: polymer ratios were tested. The formulas were evaluated based on their …

Minutes 9-4-2024 | Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee, Annette Carter

Institutional Animal Care & Use Minutes

No abstract provided.

Embodiment, Plasticity, And The Re/Production Of Gender, Sex, And Race In Human Biology, Meredith Wilson

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

This paper historically situates human biology research by engaging with feminist science and technology scholars to show how a key mechanism of embodiment, plasticity, is used to re/produce sex and gender binaries in anthropological research and beyond. I begin by defining embodiment and demonstrating its reliance on plasticity. Next, I discuss plasticity and review how and why it has been taken up in human biology research. After, I engage with the works of feminist, trans, and queer scholars who have examined the connection between embodiment, plasticity, and the creation of Western binarized sex and gender. Further, I present how the …

A Spectrum Of Violence: The Intersection Of Antemortem And Postmortem Embodiment In Migrant Death Investigation At The U.S.-Mexico Border, Molly A. Kaplan, Caroline Znachko

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

The objective of the present literature review is to examine how the humanitarian crisis of migrant death at the U.S.-Mexico border epitomizes the antemortem and postmortem dimensions of structural violence and the lasting effects it can have on the human body. After describing the ongoing migrant death crisis, we review embodiment constructs in biological anthropology pertaining to structural violence and marginalization across the life course. We then survey studies examining skeletal and dental biomarkers of structural violence as embodied in migrant populations, including oral pathology, dental modifications, porotic hyperostosis, cribra orbitalia, enamel hypoplasia, cranial fluctuating asymmetry, vertebral neural canal size, …

Environmental Sensitivity Index (Esi) Feasibility Study Of All-Hazards Indices Expansion, Research Planning, Inc

Coastal Response Research Center

Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) products are developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support planning for and responding to coastal oil and chemical spills. ESI data describe a variety of coastal resources that are at risk from oil spills that include sensitive shorelines (e.g., marshes, tidal flats), biological resources (e.g., birds, shellfish beds), and human-use resources (e.g., public beaches, water intakes). ESI maps and datasets include shoreline types that are ranked according to their sensitivity to oil and chemical spills. This index was the original focus of ESI maps and has been a standard for industry and …

Hold The Phone: The Short- And Long-Run Impacts Of Connecting Indian Women To Digital Technology, Giorgia Barboni, Anwesha Bhattacharya, Erica Field, Rohini Pande, Natalia Rigol, Simone Schaner, Aruj Shukla, Charity Moore

Discussion Papers

Access to smartphones and mobile internet is increasingly necessary to participate in the modern economy. Yet women significantly lag men in digital access, especially in lower-income settings with gender gaps that span other dimensions - and where digital gaps threaten to deepen existing analog inequities. We study the short- and long-term effects of a large-scale state-sponsored program in India that aimed to close digital gender gaps by transferring free smartphones to women while constructing 4G towers to bring rural areas online. The program was well implemented, reversing gender gaps in smartphone ownership in the short run. However, many women lost …

The Endoplasmic Reticulum As An Active Liquid Network, Laura M. Westrate, Zubenelgenubi C. Scott, Samuel B. Steen, Greg Huber, Elena F. Koslover

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The peripheral endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms a dense, interconnected, and constantly evolving network of membrane-bound tubules in eukaryotic cells. While individual structural elements and the morphogens that stabilize them have been described, a quantitative understanding of the dynamic large-scale network topology remains elusive. We develop a physical model of the ER as an active liquid network, governed by a balance of tension-driven shrinking and new tubule growth. This minimalist model gives rise to steady-state network structures with density and rearrangement timescales predicted from the junction mobility and tubule spawning rate. Several parameter-independent geometric features of the liquid network model are …

Insights Into Foraging Behavior From Multi-Day Sound Recording Tags On Goose-Beaked Whales (Ziphius Cavirostris) In The Southern California Bight, Shannon N. Coates, David A. Sweeney, Erin A. Falcone, Stephanie L. Watwood, Brenda K. Rone, Stacy L. De Ruiter, Jay Barlow, Karin A. Dolan, Ronald P. Morrissey, Nancy A. Dimarzio, Susan M. Jarvis, Russel D. Andrews, Gregory S. Schor

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) are deep-diving cetaceans known for their elusive nature and specialized foraging behavior. In 2019 and 2020, six telemetry tags were deployed on these whales in Southern California, resulting in 395 h of acoustic and diving data. Foraging dives were manually identified by the presence of echolocation pulses and buzzes, and generalized additive models assessed factors influencing foraging behavior. The median bathymetric depth at foraging sites was 1,419 m (IQR = 359), and the maximum dive depth was highly correlated with bathymetry depth. Individuals started echolocating on descent at a median depth of 410 m (IQR = …

Gladys Mitchell House Collection, Dan Bonenberger, Jaclyn Panter, Katherine St. Amand, Ian Tomashik, Kate Zorn

Digital Heritage Preservation Collection

This collection explores the life of Gladys Mitchell and the home she shared with her family on Detroit's Eastside. Gladys and her husband, Ossian Sweet, lived with her parents Benjamin and Rosella in a residence on 9322-24 Cairney Street from 1922 to 1925 before moving to the now-historic bungalow at 2905 Garland Street, located about a mile southeast. In 1925, when the Sweets moved into an all-white neighborhood, their experience led to a landmark Supreme Court case that affirmed African Americans' rights to homeownership, including the right to defend their private property.

Benjamin Mitchell and his wife, Rosella, rented the …

A Genetic Screen In Drosophila Uncovers A Role For Senseless-2 In Surface Glia In The Peripheral Nervous System To Regulate Cns Morphology, Haluk Lacin, Yuqing Zhu, Jose T Dipaola, Beth A Wilson, Yi Zhu, James B Skeath

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Despite increasing in mass approximately 100-fold during larval life, the Drosophila CNS maintains its characteristic form. Dynamic interactions between the overlying basement membrane and underlying surface glia are known to regulate CNS structure in Drosophila, but the genes and pathways that establish and maintain CNS morphology during development remain poorly characterized. To identify genes that regulate CNS shape in Drosophila, we conducted an EMS-based, forward genetic screen of the second chromosome, uncovered 50 mutations that disrupt CNS structure, and mapped these alleles to 17 genes. Analysis of whole genome sequencing data wedded to genetic studies uncovered the affected gene for …

Transorbital Alternating Current Stimulation In A Double-Masked Randomized Clinical Trial: Visual Functional Effect And Quality Of Life, Maria De Los Angeles Ramos Cadena, Ashley Sohn, Heather Livengood, Ting-Fang Lee, Batsheva Rubin, Jiyuan Hu, Bernhard A. Sabel, Rachel Matayev, Joseph Panarelli, Gadi Wollstein, Joel S. Schuman

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy and safety of repetitive transorbital alternating current stimulation (rtACS) treatment by assessing vision-related quality of life and visual function outcome in subjects treated with rtACS versus sham-control.

STUDY DESIGN: Double masked, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial (NCT03188042).

SUBJECTS: Sixteen subjects with moderate-to-advanced glaucoma (visual field [VF] mean deviation [MD] ≤-6.00 decibels) randomized into sham (9 subjects) or rtACS intervention (7 subjects) groups.

METHODS: Subjects underwent 10 rtACS sessions over 2 weeks. All subjects had comprehensive ocular examination at baseline, 1-week, and 4-weeks posttreatment.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), VF MD, number of …

Intracellular Islatravir-Triphosphate Half-Life Supports Extended Dosing Intervals, Xiaowei Zang, Wendy Ankrom, Walter K. Kraft, Ryan Vargo, S Aubrey Stoch, Marian Iwamoto, Randolph P Matthews

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Antiretroviral therapy has substantially reduced morbidity, mortality, and disease transmission in people living with HIV. Islatravir is a nucleoside reverse transcriptase translocation inhibitor that inhibits HIV-1 replication by multiple mechanisms of action, and it is in development for the treatment of HIV-1 infection. In preclinical and clinical studies, islatravir had a long half-life (t½) of 3.0 and 8.7 days (72 and 209 hours, respectively); therefore, islatravir is being investigated as a long-acting oral antiretroviral agent. A study was conducted to definitively elucidate the terminal t½ of islatravir and its active form islatravir-triphosphate (islatravir-TP). A single-site, open-label, non-randomized, single-dose phase 1 …

A Revision Of Hong Kong Harvestmen : Biodiversity, Ecological Preferences And Geographical Distribution, Kai Teck Desmond Tan

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Opiliones, or harvestmen, is a common animal found throughout the world, there are currently over 6,650 species worldwide but the actual number is estimated to exceed 10,000, making it the third largest order in the class Arachnida. Despite its diversity, it is a rather understudied group. In Hong Kong, there are four described species, but the most recent relevant literature dates back to the at least the early 20th century. This thesis focuses on two common species found in Hong Kong: one previously described species (Heterobiantes geniculatus) and one new species (Pseudoleiobunum lutulentum sp. nov.). I …

Screening Of Anti-Prion Compounds Using The Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification Technology, Sandra Pritzkow, Isaac Schauer, Ananya Tupaki-Sreepurna, Rodrigo Morales, Claudio Soto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prion diseases are 100% fatal infectious neurodegenerative diseases affecting the brains of humans and other mammals. The disease is caused by the formation and replication of prions, composed exclusively of the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc). We invented and developed the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technology for in vitro prion replication, which allow us to replicate the infectious agent and it is commonly used for ultra-sensitive prion detection in biological fluids, tissues and environmental samples. In this article, we studied whether PMCA can be used to screen for chemical compounds that block prion replication. A small set of compounds previously …

Crizotinib Enhances Parp Inhibitor Efficacy In Ovarian Cancer Cells And Xenograft Models By Inducing Autophagy, Janice M Santiago-O'Farrill, Alicia Blessing Bollu, Hailing Yang, Vivian Orellana, Marc Pina, Xudong Zhang, Jinsong Liu, Robert C Bast, Zhen Lu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) can encounter resistance through various mechanisms, limiting their effectiveness. Our recent research showed that PARPi alone can induce drug resistance by promoting autophagy. Moreover, our studies have revealed that anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) plays a role in regulating the survival of ovarian cancer cells undergoing autophagy. Here, we explored whether the ALK-inhibitor crizotinib could enhance the efficacy of PARPi by targeting drug-induced autophagic ovarian cancer cell and xenograft models. Our investigation demonstrates that crizotinib enhances the anti-tumor activity of PARPi across multiple ovarian cancer cells. Combination therapy with crizotinib and olaparib reduced cell viability and …

G Protein Selectivity Profile Of Gpr56/Adgrg1 And Its Effect On Downstream Effectors, Raida Jallouli, Ana L Moreno-Salinas, Andréanne Laniel, Brian Holleran, Charlotte Avet, Joan Jacob, Trang Hoang, Christine Lavoie, Kendra S Carmon, Michel Bouvier, Richard Leduc

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

GPR56, an adhesion G-protein coupled receptor (aGPCRs) with constitutive and ligand-promoted activity, is involved in many physiological and pathological processes. Whether the receptor's constitutive or ligand-promoted activation occur through the same molecular mechanism, and whether different activation modes lead to functional selectivity between G proteins is unknown. Here we show that GPR56 constitutively activates both G12 and G13. Unlike constitutive activation and activation with 3-α-acetoxydihydrodeoxygedunin (3αDOG), stimulation with an antibody, 10C7, directed against GPR56's extracellular domain (ECD) led to an activation that favors G13 over G12. An autoproteolytically deficient mutant, GPR56-T383A, was also activated by 10C7 indicating that the tethered …

Smart Toys For Sensing And Soothing Distress In Pediatric Patients, Jonathan Daniel Bonilla

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis develops and evaluates child-centered technologies to support remote monitoring of pediatric patients, with an emphasis on childhood cancer and pediatric chronic pain. For these and many other health conditions, current therapies tend to focus on treating physical symptoms yet neglect the psycho-emotional aspects of managing the illness. However, such mental states play a major role in recovery. Research has shown that cancer patients with better mental health have better prognoses, higher possibilities of remission, and faster healing processes, while chronic pain patients with better mental health report lower levels of pain. To enable more personalized, continuous, and scalable …

Chylopericardium And Superior Vena Cava Syndrome Caused By Central Venous Occlusion From Indwelling Hemodialysis Catheters, Daniel Underberg, Nicholas Demario, Sebastian Rodriguez, Khulkar Mirzozoda, Mark Decaro, Gregary Marhefka

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

Chylopericardium is a rare condition. Causes include superior vena cava syndrome resulting from indwelling catheters. We present a case of this condition in a 42-year-old man with end-stage renal disease treated with hemodialysis through a right subclavian vein catheter. He underwent successful endovascular stenting with resolution of his symptoms and chylopericardium.

High Impact Malware Targeting Maritime Infrastructure, Kevin Jones, Kimberly Tam

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Malware, of varying degrees of sophistication, is a growingproblem for any and all computing devices. With computing devices becoming more integrated into daily life across all sectors, malware has amore diverse cyberspace to affect. There is existent research examiningthe problem of malware from various perspectives: Personal Computers, smartphones, Internet of Things devices, etc. The majority of thisresearch has, in the past, focused on Information Technology (IT) devices and IT issues. More recently, there is an emerging body of workwith a focus on Operational Technology (OT), in various domains, suchas power grids, communication infrastructure, and factories. Unlike IT,OT directly monitors and/or …

Interannual Homing To Reproductive Sites And Transboundary Migration In Black Seabream Spondyliosoma Cantharus, With Implications For Management, Peter Davies, Thomas Stamp, Alice Hall, Allison Atterborne, Jen Lewis, George P Balchin, Alice Tebb, Sarah Ward, Francis Binney, Samantha Blampied, Alexander Plaster, Charlie Hubbard, Nick Rogers, Matthew Wiseman, Ronan Conlon, Shion E A Reynell, Emma V Sheehan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Fish spawning aggregations are vulnerable to overexploitation, which can have severe ecological, social, and economic consequences. Knowledge on the spatial ecology of aggregating species is often lacking, but is crucial for their effective conservation. This study explores the spawning site residency, interannual fidelity, and migration of black seabream Spondyliosoma cantharus using acoustic (n = 55) and conventional (n = 2397) tagging within and outside Marine Conservation Zones in the southern UK. Detections and recaptures of tagged fish indicated that black seabream display significant interannual fidelity to nesting areas, but that residency of individuals at nesting areas was short relative to …

Intestinal Microbiome As A Diagnostic Marker Of Coronary Artery Disease: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Yomna E. Dean, Mohamed A. Shebl, Mohamed Doma, Rafeek W. Elmezayen, Jose J. Loayza Pintado, Samah S. Rouzan, Noheir Ashraf Ibrahem Fathy Hassan, Yasmeen E. Yaqout, Akiko Tokunaga, Chukwuebuka Anozie

School of Medicine Publications

Background: The intestinal microbiome has been recently linked to several metabolic and chronic disorders, one of which is coronary artery disease (CAD). Our study aimed to analyze the intestinal microbiome of CAD patients and assess the eligibility of dysbiosis as a diagnostic marker of CAD.

Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science were searched using terms, such as 'CAD' and 'microbiome'. Only observational controlled studies were included. R version 4.2.2 was used for the analysis.

Results: A significant association was found between the CAD group and increased Simpson and Shannon Indices compared with the control group (MD=0.04, 95% CI=0.03-0.05, …

Prospects And Challenges Of Tissue-Derived Extracellular Vesicles, Justin C Lee, Roslyn M Ray, Tristan A Scott

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered a vital component of cell-to-cell communication and represent a new frontier in diagnostics and a means to identify pathways for therapeutic intervention. Recently, studies have revealed the importance of tissue-derived EVs (Ti-EVs), which are EVs present in the interstitial spaces between cells, as they better represent the underlying physiology of complex, multicellular tissue microenvironments in biology and disease. EVs are native, lipid bilayer membraned nano-sized particles produced by all cells that are packaged with varied functional biomolecules including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. They are implicated in short- and long-range cellular communication and may elicit …

Myc Induces Oncogenic Stress Through Rna Decay And Ribonucleotide Catabolism In Breast Cancer, Jitendra K Meena, Jarey H Wang, Nicholas J Neill, Dianne Keough, Nagireddy Putluri, Panagiotis Katsonis, Amanda M Koire, Hyemin Lee, Elizabeth A Bowling, Siddhartha Tyagi, Mayra Orellana, Rocio Dominguez-Vidaña, Heyuan Li, Kenneth Eagle, Charles Danan, Hsiang-Ching Chung, Andrew D Yang, William Wu, Sarah J Kurley, Brian M Ho, Joseph R Zoeller, Calla M Olson, Kristen L Meerbrey, Olivier Lichtarge, Arun Sreekumar, Clifford C Dacso, Luke W Guddat, Dominik Rejman, Dana Hocková, Zlatko Janeba, Lukas M Simon, Charles Y Lin, Monica C Pillon, Thomas F Westbrook

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Upregulation of MYC is a hallmark of cancer, wherein MYC drives oncogenic gene expression and elevates total RNA synthesis across cancer cell transcriptomes. Although this transcriptional anabolism fuels cancer growth and survival, the consequences and metabolic stresses induced by excess cellular RNA are poorly understood. Herein, we discover that RNA degradation and downstream ribonucleotide catabolism is a novel mechanism of MYC-induced cancer cell death. Combining genetics and metabolomics, we find that MYC increases RNA decay through the cytoplasmic exosome, resulting in the accumulation of cytotoxic RNA catabolites and reactive oxygen species. Notably, tumor-derived exosome mutations abrogate MYC-induced cell death, suggesting …

Parasitic Contamination Of Soil In The Southern United States, Christine Crudo Blackburn, Sally Mingshuang Yan, David Mccormick, Lauren Nicholas Herrera, Roumen Borilov Iordanov, Mark Daniel Bailey, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Peter J Hotez, Rojelio Mejia

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Parasites are generally associated with lower income countries in tropical and subtropical areas. Still, they are also prevalent in low-income communities in the southern United States. Studies characterizing the epidemiology of parasites in the United States are limited, resulting in little comprehensive understanding of the problem. This study investigated the environmental contamination of parasites in the southern United States by determining each parasite's contamination rate and burden in five low-income communities. A total of 499 soil samples of approximately 50 g were collected from public parks and private residences in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. A technique using …

“A Fear Of Anything Large And Alive, And Not Easily Tamed Or Destroyed”: Kaiju In The Lord Of The Rings, Kristine Larsen

Journal of Tolkien Research

The publication of The Lord of the Rings (1954-5) coincided with the start of the so-called kaiju movement in popular culture, featuring giant, sentient, and destructive creatures. Famously originating with Godzilla (1954), kaiju films have persistently cornered a portion of the popular culture market over the past 70 years; therefore, the genre would be presumed to play a role in audience expectations for the depictions of such creatures in the Jackson adaptations of the novels. In light of the June 2024 limited run of remastered versions of Jackson’s LOTR film trilogy, I analyze four of his interpretations of …

Emmanuel Mounier’S Four Books On Communitarian Personalism: Engaging With Existentialism, Marxism, And & Teilhard De Chardin, Joe Holland

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Review Of Monastic Ecological Wisdom: A Living Tradition, Katherine Howard

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Cosmic Partnership: Hildegard Of Bingen’S Vision Of An Integral Ecology, Almut Furchert

The Journal of Social Encounters

Though Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), Benedictine Abbess and polymath, canonized and proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 2012, has been named a patron of ecology, only fragments of her ecological philosophy exist. This article attempts to introduce Hildegard’s polyphonic work by outlining her theology of viriditas as the green thread that connects her cosmological, anthropological, and ethical theory and to show how it constructs the relationship between humanity and creation as a cosmic partnership. Hildegard's striking visual style is not only inspired by her appreciation of the natural world, but deeply grounded in her theology. This theology entails an ethical …