Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of Deep Neural Architecture For Continuous Sign Language Video Generation, Natarajan B

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a deep neural network based sign language video generation framework for translating the multilingual sentences into sign videos. This thesis addresses the challenges persist with the sign language video generation such as (i) Handling longer sequences of input sentences and new words (ii) Pose estimation with higher accuracy (iii) High quality photo realistic sign gesture video generation (iv) Improving realism in sign video generation. Hence, the thesis focuses four contributions to address the above issues.

The first contribution of this thesis automates the translation of multilingual sentences into sign glosses without manual intervention by incorporating Hybrid Neural …

Ammonium Chemotaxis In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Gabela Nelson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Analysis of ammonium chemotaxis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is largely hindered, compared to that of phototaxis, despite equal importance on flagellated microalgal physiology. A major contribution of this shortfall is the lack of proper assay method. We developed a simple Petri dish assay method in which light is homogenously exposed while patterns of the cellular migration are tracked with a function of time. Using the method, new findings were revealed. First, this research presented that a strain lacking the eyespot organelle required for light gradient-sensing exhibits similar chemotactic behavior compared to a wild-type strain, suggesting Chlamydomonas sense an ammonium gradient not …

The Practice Of Silence And Solitude And Its Results, Lizzie Suwala

Senior Honors Theses

Silence and solitude as a spiritual discipline is seen across many different worldviews including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Humanism, and can be exercised alongside disciplines like prayer, meditation, and mindfulness. Each worldview has a unique purpose in why silence and solitude is practiced such as to commune with God, to prepare one’s heart for times of prayer, to avoid suffering, to experience revelations, and to find peace in an anxious world. Loneliness stems from unmet expectations of social interactions that lead to aversion in one’s current relationships and within themselves. Understanding the purpose of silence and solitude leads to the …

Detection And Characterization Of Copy Number Variation In Three Differentially-Selected Nellore Cattle Populations, Lorena F. Benfica, Luiz F. Brito, Ricardo D. Do Bem, Leticia F. De Oliveira, Henrique A. Mulim, Larissa G. Braga, Joslaine N.S.G. Cyrillo, Sarah F.M. Bonilha, Maria Eugenia Z. Mercadante

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Introduction: Nellore cattle (Bos taurus indicus) is the main beef cattle breed raised in Brazil. This breed is well adapted to tropical conditions and, more recently, has experienced intensive genetic selection for multiple performance traits. Over the past 43 years, an experimental breeding program has been developed in the Institute of Animal Science (IZ, Sertaozinho, SP, Brazil), which resulted in three differentially-selected lines known as Nellore Control (NeC), Nellore Selection (NeS), and Nellore Traditional (NeT). The primary goal of this selection experiment was to determine the response to selection for yearling weight (YW) and residual feed intake (RFI) on Nellore …

1st Person Ev With Electronic Differential, Tessa Biondo

Honors Theses

The First Person EV with Electronic Differential for Vehicle Dynamics Analysis project makes a significant leap forward in the exploration of electric vehicle (EV) stability and performance enhancement. Lead by a team of skilled electrical engineering students under the guidance of WMU’s associate Professor Dr. Sandun Kuruppu, this project aims to improve EV stability by optimizing power and torque distribution between wheels using an electronic differential system. The project encompasses the design and assembly of a 1/7^th scale custom electric vehicle, capable of remote control via a first-person view (FPV) camera and modified USB wheel and pedal assembly. The …

Veterinarian Perception Of The Impact Of Covid-19 On The Mortality Of Pets, Jason Bainbridge

Honors Theses

The pandemic led to many changes in society, changes that may have affected pets either directly or indirectly from the new way people had to live life. The primary variable of investigation is if the changes were significant enough to affect pets enough to see a trend in mortality. This thesis used a survey, sent out to veterinarians for their perspective, to see the effects the pandemic had on the mortality of pets, as well as any secondary variables. This survey had 38 responses, with 34 being eligible to complete the survey. The survey did not obtain the information of …

The Pml1-Wdr5 Axis Regulates H3k4me3 Marks And Promotes Stemness Of Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer, Chun-Peng Pai, Han Wang, Darcie D. Seachrist, Neel Agarwal, Joshua A. Adams, Zhenghao Liu, Ruth A. Keri, Kaixiang Cao, William P. Schiemann, Hung-Ying Kao

Faculty Scholarship

The alternative splicing of PML precursor mRNA gives rise to various PML isoforms, yet their expression profile in breast cancer cells remains uncharted. We discovered that PML1 is the most abundant isoform in all breast cancer subtypes, and its expression is associated with unfavorable prognosis in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers. PML depletion reduces cell proliferation, invasion, and stemness, while heterologous PML1 expression augments these processes and fuels tumor growth and resistance to fulvestrant, an FDA-approved drug for ER+ breast cancer, in a mouse model. Moreover, PML1, rather than the well-known tumor suppressor isoform PML4, rescues the proliferation of PML …

Production Of Mrna Vaccine For Influenza, Christina Miller

Honors Theses

The objective of this project is to design a process to produce an mRNA influenza vaccine that serves as an alternative to conventional influenza vaccines, replacing current options with innovative mRNA technologies. Given that older populations are most likely to follow up on immunizations consistently, and the increasing average age worldwide, the market for this project appears to be expanding in the next 80 years. Additionally, experts predict more frequent mutations and outbreaks of viral disease from a variety of factors including globalization and global temperature trends. Rapid response to these viral outbreaks will continue to be as, or even …

Academic Senate - Minutes, 4/16/2024, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Scapegoats, Michelle Leigh Brown

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Why The Dobbs Court Got It Wrong: Connecting The Dots Between Opposition To Abortion And Gender Animus, Shoshanna Ehrlich

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Chatting With Online Agent, Guoxi Robert Zhang

Honors Theses

This study investigates trust in AI-generated language fluency. Participants engaged with both human and AI-generated content, varying in fluency. Findings were to favor trust in fluent human and AI interactions over disfluent ones. Understanding fluency's impact can inform AI design and encourage critical thinking when dealing with AI-generated content. By using qualitative analysis of think-aloud reports, we examined strategies that people use to assess texts labeled as human-generated and AI-generated content.

Revolutionizing Diabetic Foot Ulcer Care: The Senotherapeutic Approach, Guiqin Zhang, Priyadarshani Nadeeshika Samarawickrama, Li Gui, Yuan Ma, Mei Cao, Hong Zhu, Wei Li, Honglin Yang, Kecheng Li, Yang Yang, Enfang Zhu, Wen Li, Yonghan He

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a prevalent and profoundly debilitating complication that afflicts individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). These ulcers are associated with substantial morbidity, recurrence rates, disability, and mortality, imposing substantial economic, psychological, and medical burdens. Timely detection and intervention can mitigate the morbidity and disparities linked to DFU. Nevertheless, current therapeutic approaches for DFU continue to grapple with multifaceted limitations. A growing body of evidence emphasizes the crucial role of cellular senescence in the pathogenesis of chronic wounds. Interventions that try to delay cellular senescence, eliminate senescent cells (SnCs), or suppress the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) have shown …

Self-Assembled Sting-Activating Coordination Nanoparticles For Cancer Immunotherapy And Vaccine Applications, Xiaoqi Sun, Xuehui Huang, Kyung Soo Park, Xingwu Zhou, Andrew A Kennedy, Carla D Pretto, Qi Wu, Ziye Wan, Yao Xu, Wang Gong, Jonathan Z Sexton, Andrew W Tai, Yu Leo Lei, James J Moon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The cGAS-STING pathway plays a crucial role in innate immune activation against cancer and infections, and STING agonists based on cyclic dinucleotides (CDN) have garnered attention for their potential use in cancer immunotherapy and vaccines. However, the limited drug-like properties of CDN necessitate an efficient delivery system to the immune system. To address these challenges, we developed an immunostimulatory delivery system for STING agonists. Here, we have examined aqueous coordination interactions between CDN and metal ions and report that CDN mixed with Zn2+ and Mn2+ formed distinctive crystal structures. Further pharmaceutical engineering led to the development of a functional coordination …

The Pacifican April 16, 2024 A Year In Review, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Development Of Novel Analytical Methods For The Investigation Of Mammalian Tissues And Cells, Grace A. Binder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation endeavors to advance the frontiers of analytical chemistry by addressing critical challenges across three distinct chapters. In the first chapter, the focus is on the evaluation of digestion methods for the analysis of trace metals in mammalian tissues and the Standard Reference Material NIST 1577c. The primary goal is to optimize methodologies, laying the groundwork for reliable trace metal analysis and furthering our understanding of their roles in biological systems.

Transitioning into the realm of immunomodulation, the second chapter elucidates immune response, disease and treatment through the optimization and discovery of STING modulators, utilizing the luciferase assay for …

Emerging Variants Develop Total Escape From Potent Monoclonal Antibodies Induced By Ba4/5 Infection, Chang Liu, Raksha Das, Aiste Dijokaite-Guraliuc, Daming Zhou, Alexander J Mentzer, Piyada Supasa, Muneeswaran Selvaraj, Helen M E Duyvesteyn, Thomas G Ritter, Nigel Temperton, Paul Klenerman, Susanna J Dunachie, Neil G Paterson, Mark A Williams, David R Hall, Elizabeth E Fry, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Jingshan Ren, David I Stuart, Gavin R Screaton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 is driven in part by a need to evade the antibody response in the face of high levels of immunity. Here, we isolate spike (S) binding monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from vaccinees who suffered vaccine break-through infections with Omicron sub lineages BA.4 or BA.5. Twenty eight potent antibodies are isolated and characterised functionally, and in some cases structurally. Since the emergence of BA.4/5, SARS-CoV-2 has continued to accrue mutations in the S protein, to understand this we characterize neutralization of a large panel of variants and demonstrate a steady attrition of neutralization by the panel of …

Who Said I Was A Cookie, Madison Ashley Hunter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Who Said I Was A Cookie is a poetry collection filled to the brim with fear-stained journal entries, calling-my-mama-for-the-5th-time-today rants, prayers about finding home within myself, half completed checklists as soundtracks and the sting of their cry for wanting to be whole, and satirical and soul immersing questionnaires. Readers receive a golden ticket to the party where every version of myself finally meets one another and devises a plan to ignore the false flavors of Black womanhood that people have menacingly mixed for me to embody while also baking the version of myself I desire to be. This is a …

A Pxrf, Ftir And Sem/Eds Analysis Of The White Pigment On White Cross-Lined Ware, Rachel Pinkman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The current study will examine the composition of the pigment used for decorating a type of Predynastic Egyptian ceramic vessels known as “white cross-lined ware” or “C-ware.” Two collections of white cross-lined ware have been analyzed by visual analysis, portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy with an electron dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The composition of this pigment may help scholars understand and recognize trade networks within and/or outside of Egypt, the types of materials Egyptian potters used and if different pigment recipes were employed for C-ware at different Predynastic sites. Furthermore, the identification …

Comparative Landscape Genetics And Dynamics In Demography Within Sympatric Ursids In Southeast Alaska, Philip Russell Douchinsky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The landscape along the northwest coast of North America structures species populations in and around Southeast Alaska. Brown bears (Ursus arctos) and American black bears (U. americanus) are sympatric in this region. They are similarly sized omnivores and interspecific competition directly affects the resources available to each species as brown bears are larger, more aggressive, and can competitively exclude; however, black bears can better utilize dispersed food sources. Within this system I asked two questions about brown and black bears in Southeast Alaska. The first question had two parts; how has the environment structured gene flow in both species, and …

Host Response During Unresolved Urinary Tract Infection Alters Female Mammary Tissue Homeostasis Through Collagen Deposition And Timp1, Samantha Henry, Xue-Yan He, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Exposure to pathogens throughout a lifetime influences immunity and organ function. Here, we explore how the systemic host-response to bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) induces tissue-specific alterations to the mammary gland. Utilizing a combination of histological tissue analysis, single cell transcriptomics, and flow cytometry, we identify that mammary tissue from UTI-bearing mice displays collagen deposition, enlarged ductal structures, ductal hyperplasia with atypical epithelial transcriptomes and altered immune composition. Bacterial cells are absent in the mammary tissue and blood of UTI-bearing mice, therefore, alterations to the distal mammary tissue are mediated by the systemic host response to local infection. Furthermore, broad …

Novel Jak Inhibitors To Reduce Graft-Versus-Host Disease After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation In A Preclinical Mouse Model, Sena Kim, Peter Ruminski, Megh Singh, Karl Staser, Kidist Ashami, Julie Ritchey, Sora Lim, John F Dipersio, Jaebok Choi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) is a highly effective, well-established treatment for patients with various hematologic malignancies and non-malignant diseases. The therapeutic benefits of allo-HCT are mediated by alloreactive T cells in donor grafts. However, there is a significant risk of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), in which the donor T cells recognize recipient cells as foreign and attack healthy organs in addition to malignancies. We previously demonstrated that targeting JAK1/JAK2, mediators of interferon-gamma receptor (IFNGR) and IL-6 receptor signaling, in donor T cells using baricitinib and ruxolitinib results in a significant reduction in GvHD after allo-HCT. Furthermore, we showed that balanced …

Natural Products In Food And Agriculture, Stephen O. Duke

Oxford ICSB

Before the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) existed, I was Director of a USDA weed management lab. Two of my interests were natural products as herbicides and the chemical ecology of weed/crop interactions (allelopathy). Dr. James McChesney and I had several conversations about his vision for the NCNPR on the University of Mississippi campus. I was very interested in becoming a part of this, as his plan was to have a USDA lab that would study natural products for use in food and agriculture as part of the center. The USDA Agricultural Research Service established the Natural Product …

Chemistry, Biology, And Safety Of Volatile Organics From Aromatic And Medicinal Plants, Nicole Stevens

Oxford ICSB

Introduction Sleep is an important foundation of health, yet the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that about 30% of adults to not get the recommended minimum of 7 hours’ sleep per night. Prescription treatments may help, but they carry risks such as side-effects, dependency, and medication interaction. Natural botanical extracts are a therapeutic possibility for improving sleep quality, but additional research is needed on their efficacy and safety. A system of natural products based on lavender was developed and tested in a human clinical study to evaluate effect on sleep, blood and safety markers, and gene expression modulation …

A Survey Of Melatonin In Dietary Supplement Products Sold In The U.S., Rahul Pawar

Oxford ICSB

In the United States, melatonin products are widely available to consumers as dietary supplements. During the past few decades, melatonin products have gained increased popularity primarily as a sleep aid, with a variety of product forms available for different age groups of consumers. Recent reports have highlighted a rise in melatonin ingestion among children reported to poison control centers across the U.S. The increased use of melatonin-containing dietary supplements and reported deviation from labeled quantities has emphasized the need for additional research to better understand products in the marketplace.
The objective of this work was to measure the melatonin content …

Informing Modifications To Social Participation And Navigation (Span) For Adolescents With Social Anxiety Incorporating Pet Dogs, Nicole Porter, Gary Bedell, Jason Getzler, Megan Mueller

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Social anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health challenges of adolescence and profoundly impacts social participation. This study obtained adolescent and parent feedback to inform a future modification of Social Navigation and Participation (SPAN) for use with adolescents with social anxiety incorporating pet dogs.

Methods: The study had two phases: Phase 1 included interviews with adolescents with social anxiety (n = 8) about their social participation experiences, strategies, pet dogs, and thoughts on a proposed intervention to promote social participation; and Phase 2 included on-line survey completed by the adolescents and their parents (n = 14) assessing …

Ai Propulsion Of Globalization, Aleksandra Drozd

Liberty University Research Week

The invention and continual growth of artificial intelligence (AI) on the global stage have significantly shaped the world’s economies, governments, societies and their cultures. The new industrial revolution and the subsequent race of the world’s leading powers have led to increased international joint efforts and exchange of information, simultaneously reducing barriers to trade and communication. Meanwhile, emerging technologies deploying AI have driven changes in human behavior and culture, and challenged the traditional nation-state model. Within the same time frame, the world stage has undergone profound transformations with a clear trend of globalization, the tightening of international relations and closer cooperation …

Museum Exhibition Project: Hands Of Extinction, Katy Fulkerson

Liberty University Research Week

Problem Statement The research problem stated that I was to conceptualize an original museum exhibition and create promotional materials, mock displays of the exhibit, and utilize environmental graphic principles. First, I had to determine the topic, then name and visual identity, and finally I took those elements and created both display spaces and additional promotional materials. I was required to create mockups of two main exhibit walls, an entrance wall, one outdoors advertisement, and design a custom handout. Since this was a project mostly devoted to environmental design, most of the designs were made with intention of connecting with its …

Sensory Rooms, Adonai Brown

Liberty University Research Week

What makes up a sensory room? Sensory rooms were created for people with sensory issues (primarily found in the autistic community.) The rooms have since proved to help not only people with disabilities, but a wide range of people who simply enter the room for any amount of time. Sensory issues can range from being under- responsive (hyposensitivity), over- responsive (hypersensitivity), or craving (sensory seeking). Our recommendation for design is to create a nature, wilderness environment using mountains, forest trees, and stargazing. It would also be beneficial to have thermal control elements. Along with that, we also propose that there …

Teaching Citation Politics Through Literature Review Topographies: Towards Cultivating Relational Writing Practices, Mairi Mcdermott

Feminist Pedagogy

Feminism teaches how power works and circulates through our often-unquestioned everyday practices. Since becoming a professor, I have committed myself to this feminist teaching by demystifying--and reimagining--habituated practices, relations, and expectations in higher education that produce and are produced through cis-hetero-patriarchal capitalist White supremacy. Since literature reviews and citation practices are core materials scholars work with, I invite doctoral students to consider different ways these materials can be engaged in efforts to craft transgressive knowledges and worlds through our research. In this article, I describe an assignment designed to disrupt hegemonic patriarchal inheritances in the conventions of writing literature reviews …