Digital Commons Network^™

Psychological Influences On Reaction When Faced With Failure And Difficult Experiences, Marcus Cunha

Honors Theses

The current study investigated the impact of psychological traits on emotional reactions in the face of challenges. The study employed tasks designed to induce negative psychological states, such as a Learned Helplessness (LH) task (Hooper & McHugh, 2013) and the difficult Compound Remote Associate (CRA) task (Bowden & Jung-Beeman, 2003). A correlational study was conducted using a within-subjects design. All participants were given initially the same questionnaires measuring the following predictor variables: Grit, Need for Cognition (NFC), Psychological Flexibility (PF), Trait Cognitive Fusion (CF), and Emotional Stability. Participants then engaged in the LH and CRA tasks followed by completing outcome …

Investigation Of The Anticancer Activity Of Phenylbismuthbis(4-Carboxychalcone), Megan Baker

Undergraduate Theses

Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in the US. While much progress has been made, there is still a significant need for novel therapies. Chalcones are privileged, natural products that have shown cytotoxic activity and potential as chemotherapeutics in multiple cancerous cell lines. Additionally, bismuth complexes of small organic molecules have been shown to have anti-tumor activity. The anti-proliferative activity of phenylbismuthbis(4-carboxychalcone), a bismuth-coordinated chalcone was assessed in multiple cancer cell lines using MTS assays. The compound demonstrated micromolecular inhibition. Additionally, mechanism of action studies were performed to assess if the anti-proliferative activity seen is due to …

Effects Of Uv Filter Pollutants On The Growth Of Cucurbits And Possible Implications For Humans, Leia Staples

Undergraduate Theses

One main area of concern is the use of personal care products and pharmaceuticals in society and their long-term persistence when released into the environment (Chaturvedi et al. 2021). Cucurbits, however, are well-known for taking up pollutants (Namiki et al. 2013, Christou et al. 2019, Komives et al. 2009), so it essential to ensure that these pollutants do not negatively affect growth or productivity of plants. These plants are particularly useful in society because they have many health benefits and are consumed regularly by humans. While much research has been done on how much of the pollutant travels throughout the …

"And No Birds Sing": The Environmental Ethics Of Carson, Keats, Sagan, And Oliver, Savannah Bloom

Undergraduate Theses

This project aims to create resonances and synchronicities between the works of science writers Rachel Carson and Carl Sagan and poets John Keats and Mary Oliver. It puts their environmental ethics in conversation with one another with a focus on shared literary practices and ecocritical and ecocentric sensibilities. Is the work of poetry, particularly poetry participating in the Romantic tradition, compatible with science writing? The ultimate goal is to demonstrate the symbiosis between science and literature and the necessity of bridging scientific and poetic discourse in regard to addressing climate and the environment. Each chapter pairs a science writer with …

Islamic Intellectual Property, Tabrez Y. Ebrahim

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Spotted Eagle Ray (Aetobatus Narinari) Jaw, Lili M. Mcelhill, Alison G. Novara, David W. Kerstetter

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

No abstract provided.

Garbage Float, Gabor Papp, Max Woolverton, Scott Ulatowski, Daniel Ross, Nicholas Gayle, Bryan Merchan-Aragon, Noah Yco, Nicholas Fawcett, Jared Wright, Abdulaziz Salman G Alshahrani, Andrew Mcquire

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

Trash pileup in our waters is an increasing problem. Removing floating plastics and debris from our ecosystem would reduce mortality rate of marine animals. Solutions for this already exist but most of them are proprietary and expensive. Therefore, an autonomous, publicly available and cheap alternative was developed to skim and clean the water surface from garbage.

Biblically Responsible Investing: Should Christians Avoid Or Engage?, Logan Young

Senior Honors Theses

Christians over the last twenty to thirty years have started to discuss how to engage in investing. This has birthed the movement of Biblically Responsible Investing out of Socially Responsible Investing. There is a tension that exists within Biblically Responsible Investing between the two different ways Christians believe they should participate in investing: avoiding companies through screening and engaging with companies through shareholder engagement. Both of these can have a significant impact on the economy and specific companies. A Biblical worldview surrounding stewardship of resources and seeking to store up treasures in Heaven must be considered as Christian look at …

The Zircon, April 19, 2024 [Spoof Issue], Dordt University

Dordt Diamond

No abstract provided.

Hippocampus Diffusivity Abnormalities In Classical Trigeminal Neuralgia, Shaun Andrew Hanycz, Alborz Noorani, Peter Shih-Ping Hung, Matthew R. Walker, Ashley B. Zhang, Timur H. Latypov, Mojgan Hodaie

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

INTRODUCTION: Patients with chronic pain frequently report cognitive symptoms that affect memory and attention, which are functions attributed to the hippocampus. Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder characterized by paroxysmal attacks of unilateral orofacial pain. Given the stereotypical nature of TN pain and lack of negative symptoms including sensory loss, TN provides a unique model to investigate the hippocampal implications of chronic pain. Recent evidence demonstrated that TN is associated with macrostructural hippocampal abnormalities indicated by reduced subfield volumes; however, there is a paucity in our understanding of hippocampal microstructural abnormalities associated with TN.

OBJECTIVES: To explore …

Investigating A Family Of Fungal Pseudopeptidases With Bioinformatics Tools, Andy Zhao

Honors Theses

Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions; however, some proteins related to enzymes lack enzyme activity. To investigate changes that occur as enzymes becomes pseudoenzymes, I studied a unique family of fungal carboxypeptidases. I identified all fungal carboxypeptidase protein sequences in the NCBI database, constructed an alignment and phylogenetic tree for sequence comparison, and used Alphafold2 for 3D modeling of representative proteins. Fourteen unique groups were identified. All fungal proteins selected are separated into 3 categories, predicted to be active, intermediate, and inactive, respectively. Proteins predicted to be pseudoenzymes contained additional loops in mutation hotspots not found in predicted active enzymes. This research …

Integrative Bioinformatics-Gene Network Approach Reveals Linkage Between Estrogenic Endocrine Disruptors And Vascular Remodeling In Peripheral Arterial Disease, Venkataraghavan Ramamoorthy, Muni Rubens

All Publications

Vascular diseases, including peripheral arterial disease (PAD), pulmonary arterial hypertension, and atherosclerosis, significantly impact global health due to their intricate relationship with vascular remodeling. This process, characterized by structural alterations in resistance vessels, is a hallmark of heightened vascular resistance seen in these disorders. The influence of environmental estrogenic endocrine disruptors (EEDs) on the vasculature suggests a potential exacerbation of these alterations. Our study employs an integrative approach, combining data mining with bioinformatics, to unravel the interactions between EEDs and vascular remodeling genes in the context of PAD. We explore the molecular dynamics by which EED exposure may alter vascular …

Chapter 4: Safeguarding U.S. National Interests In The Maritime Environment

International Law Studies

The Commander’s Handbook on the Law of Naval Operations is used in the United States and throughout the world as a restatement of U.S. doctrinal law positions on matters affecting the operations of the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Judge advocates and legal advisers have occasion to conduct deeper research to identify the context and source of the rules reflected in the Commander’s Handbook. Responding to this need, an Annotated Supplement to The Commander’s Handbook was produced in 1997 and published as volume 73 of International Law Studies. In the intervening decades, …

Calcium Ions Effect On Planaria Feeding Behavior, Jonathan Newman, Natalie Gonzalez, Erika L. Doctor, Cassandra S. Korte

Student Publications and Presentations

Calcium is a well-known nutrient required for animal body function, playing a role in muscle contraction, movement, and neurological messaging. Laboratories use planaria, invertebrate flatworms, as a common model to study motility. These invertebrates have the ability to absorb nutrients such as calcium through their skin which aid in their metabolic processes. We hypothesize that how we house model organisms can affect the quality and outcome of our experiments. In other laboratories planaria are grown in different types of water. Which led us to ask how do different waters effect planaria motility and feeding behaviors for specific species? To test …

Mortality Index Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Megan N. Ashworth

Student Publications and Presentations

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are associated with immediate and long-term consequences that can be divided into primary and secondary injuries. A primary injury results from the direct damage inflicted on the brain by the impact, whereas a secondary injury takes time to manifest due to the cascade of molecular events that lead to cellular damage and death within the brain. This study analyzes mortality as a secondary injury following repetitive traumatic brain injuries in the presence of a human neurodegenerative genetic risk factor, APOE Îμ4. The High Impact Trauma (HIT) device developed by Katzenberger et al. (2013) was utilized to …

Simple Guide To Starting A Research Group, Patricia Condon, Julie Simpson, Jessica A. Bolker, William C. Clyde, Summer B. Cook, Eleanor M. Jaffee, Jennifer Miksis-Olds, Cari A. Moorhead, Christopher Neefus, Cesar J. Rebellon, Nathan A. Schwadron, Michael J. Simmons, R. Scott Smith, John E. Sparrow, Sharon Tarleton, May-Win Thein, Anita R. Tucker, Karen T. Van Gundy, James Wible

Integrity in Research and Scholarship

Conducting cutting-edge research and scholarship becomes more complicated with each passing year; forming a collaborative research group offers a way to navigate this increasing complexity. Yet many individuals whose work might benefit from the formation of a collaborative team may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of attempting to build and maintain a research group. We propose this simple guide for starting and maintaining such an enterprise.

This version (V2, 2024) updates the original version (V1, 2019) with two new topics, expanded content, and additional resources.

An Ethnography Of Permaculture In Southwest Michigan, Lily Burke

Honors Theses

Permaculture is a holistic design system for meeting human and environmental needs in a sustainable way, using local conditions and circumstances to shape land use and food production practices. My project questions what it means to practice permaculture in southwest Michigan, and how environmental ideological commitments can translate into action and practice. Ethnographically investigating these questions through semi-structured interviews and participant observation with individuals in the permaculture community, along with extensive reading of permaculture materials, my study adds to research on applications and adoptions of permaculture in suburban contexts, and sheds light on how ecological ideological commitments can translate into …

Sign-A-Mander: A Mobile App That Enhances Asl Learning With Computer Vision, Sandrine Adap

Honors Theses

Several machine learning researchers have developed algorithms recognizing American Sign Language (ASL), but few have applied the algorithms to real-world situations, such as with portable ASL learning applications. This project develops a beta version of a mobile application designed to allow beginner ASL learners to practice basic ASL vocabulary and receive feedback about their signing accuracy. Building on Dongxu Li et al.’s I3D sign language recognition algorithm and 2000-word dataset, the app seeks to determine whether the I3D algorithm can sufficiently recognize a user’s motions when recorded from a mobile device and accurately classify whether or not the user signed …

The Effects Of Age And Type Of Rearing On Contrafreeloading Behavior In Female Goats, Carly Weems

Honors Theses

Contrafreeloading (CFL) is the willingness of an animal to work for food. This study continues the 2022 pilot study, in which thirteen female goats from the Andrews University Sustainable Agriculture Department were tested to see if there was any correlation between age and contrafreeload in goats, and additionally investigates whether or not there is any correlation between type of rearing and contrafreeloading behavior in female goats. The pilot study found no direct correlation between age and contrafreeloading, therefore early life feeding techniques were also considered for this study.

Eighteen female goats representing three different age groups and three types of …

Ai Assistance In The Drug Development Process: Reaching For A Regulatory Framework, Haley Giaramita

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tetravalent Nanovaccine That Inhibits Growth Of Hpv-Associated Head And Neck Carcinoma Via Dendritic And T Cell Activation, Romano Josi, Daniel E Speiser, Simone De Brot, Anne-Cathrine Vogt, Eva M Sevick-Muraca, Genrich V Tolstonog, Martin F Bachmann, Mona O Mohsen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The global incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated head and neck carcinoma is on the rise, in response to this a tetravalent therapeutic vaccine named Qβ-HPVag was developed. This vaccine, utilizing virus-like particles (VLPs) loaded with toll-like receptor ligands and chemically coupled to four HPV16-derived peptides, demonstrated strong anti-tumor effects in a murine head and neck cancer model. Qβ-HPVag impeded tumor progression, increased infiltration of HPV-specific T cells, and significantly improved survival. The vaccine`s efficacy was associated with immune repolarization in the tumor microenvironment, characterized by expanded activated dendritic cell subsets (cDC1, cDC2, DC3). Notably, mice responding to treatment exhibited …

Therapeutic Strategies For Rb1-Deficient Cancers: Intersecting Gene Regulation And Targeted Therapy, Mo-Fan Huang, Yuan-Xin Wang, Yu-Ting Chou, Dung-Fang Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The retinoblastoma (RB) transcriptional corepressor 1 (RB1) is a critical tumor suppressor gene, governing diverse cellular processes implicated in cancer biology. Dysregulation or deletion in RB1 contributes to the development and progression of various cancers, making it a prime target for therapeutic intervention. RB1's canonical function in cell cycle control and DNA repair mechanisms underscores its significance in restraining aberrant cell growth and maintaining genomic stability. Understanding the complex interplay between RB1 and cellular pathways is beneficial to fully elucidate its tumor-suppressive role across different cancer types and for therapeutic development. As a result, investigating vulnerabilities arising from RB1 deletion-associated …

The Representation Of Young Black Male Characters In 80s And 90s Sitcoms, Tavin M. Cochran

Honors College Theses

Sitcoms are a great formulaic art form. Characters being in ridiculous situations in front of a live studio audience to emphasize the complexities of life is an exciting way of storytelling. When I was younger, I noticed that I would relate to the main characters as if their flaws were my own. I enjoyed doing it. When I began relating to side characters as well, I understood the different roles in sitcoms. You will have a main character and a side character to compliment them. Seeing another young black male on television made me feel represented. Many shows have given …

Bioresorbable, Wireless, Passive Sensors For Continuous Ph Measurements And Early Detection Of Gastric Leakage, Shuo Li, Yameng Xu, Ying Yan, Jorge Zárate Rodriguez, Mitchell A Pet, Chet W Hammill, Matthew R Macewan, Wilson Z Ray, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Continuous monitoring of biomarkers at locations adjacent to targeted internal organs can provide actionable information about postoperative status beyond conventional diagnostic methods. As an example, changes in pH in the intra-abdominal space after gastric surgeries can serve as direct indicators of potentially life-threatening leakage events, in contrast to symptomatic reactions that may delay treatment. Here, we report a bioresorbable, wireless, passive sensor that addresses this clinical need, designed to locally monitor pH for early detection of gastric leakage. A pH-responsive hydrogel serves as a transducer that couples to a mechanically optimized inductor-capacitor circuit for wireless readout. This platform enables real-time …

Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Ba.1 Variant Infection Of Human Colon Epithelial Cells, Avan Antia, David M Alvarado, Qiru Zeng, Luis A Casorla-Perez, Deanna L Davis, Naomi M Sonnek, Matthew A Ciorba, Siyuan Ding

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, characterized by multiple subvariants including BA.1, XBB.1.5, EG.5, and JN.1, became the predominant strain in early 2022. Studies indicate that Omicron replicates less efficiently in lung tissue compared to the ancestral strain. However, the infectivity of Omicron in the gastrointestinal tract is not fully defined, despite the fact that 70% of COVID-19 patients experience digestive disease symptoms. Here, using primary human colonoids, we found that, regardless of individual variability, Omicron infects colon cells similarly or less effectively than the ancestral strain or the Delta variant. The variant induced limited type III interferon expression and showed …

Analyzing Drosophila Melanogaster Circadian Rhythms Using Dam3 And Shiny-R Analysis, Maria Eduarda Couto Dourado, Kimberly D. Rowland

Student Publications and Presentations

Circadian rhythms are changes in behavior over a 24-hour period, that most animals experience. Light and darkness have the biggest influence on the behavior change. (U.S. DHHS). Flies reared in dark environments even more than 300 generations still have circadian rhythms (reference). This study analyzes data from the DAM, which allows us to study circadian rhythms in flies after various treatments and conditionings. Flies exposed to a dark environment for a week after two treatments were analyzed for any changes to their normal patterns. Comprehending the circadian rhythms of Drosophila is essential for grasping the molecular and genetic foundations of …

Gen Z Demographics Who Avoid Brands That Abuse Animals, In The U.S. In 2022, Blanka Dobias

Student Publications and Presentations

As of late, there has been controversy surrounding the moral and ethical values of animal testing. This can be seen in how the younger generation (Generation Z), is more conscientious about the goods they buy from brands that are known to test their products on animals (Achabou et al., 2020). The goal of this study is to determine if there is a significant difference between different Generation Z demographics (men vs. women, high education vs. low education, urban vs, rural) and how likely they are to purchase items from brands that abuse animals. Based on my data source (the Gen …

Does Heat Influence Planaria Flatworm Location?, Logan-Marie Torry, Cassandra S. Korte

Student Publications and Presentations

Planaria flatworms swim away from both light and heat. They show the strongest photophobic responses to ultraviolet (UV) light and clear thermotaxic responses to temperatures above 30°C. This experiment seeks to test whether planaria can be conditioned to swim towards light when exposed to heat as a negative stimulus. Previous research suggests that planaria can learn through conditioning when exposed to different types of sweeteners in both dark and light environments. We predict that if planaria think that dark environments will be warmer, then they would choose to swim towards the light when given the choice between the two environments. …

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, The Migrant

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.