Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Edna To Determine The Presence Of Cryptosporidium Spp. In Freshwater Sources In Harlan, Kentucky, Madison Hall

Honors Theses

Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts are transmitted via a fecal-oral route, e.g., water sources, and the parasite is a leading cause of waterborne disease in the United States. Research into Cryptosporidiosis in rural areas is lacking. This study utilized eDNA methods to determine if Cryptosporidium spp. was present in Harlan, Kentucky, an underserved area in Appalachia. We used a pump-powered commercially available Smith-Root Citizen Scientist eDNA (Vancouver, WA) system to filter freshwater sources and collect eDNA. Samples were collected from tap and spring water as controls and three times from five locations on the three tributaries of the Cumberland River: Martins Fork …

Christian Allegories And Social Change In Southern Literature: A Comparative Study Of Mason Tarwater And Atticus Finch In Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away And Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Marlee Ruark

English MA Theses

This thesis compares Mason Tarwater of Flannery O’Connor’s The Violent Bear It Away and Atticus Finch of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird to better understand how each author comments on Christian allegories and social change within their novels. This thesis argues that To Kill a Mockingbird promotes social change through the Christian values of good Samaritanism, nonviolence, and inclusion, while The Violent Bear It Away promotes a problematic Christian message. This thesis identifies how both novels utilize religious allegory. In O’Connor’s novel, the paradoxical and violent prophet figure, Mason Tarwater, uses violence and division to evoke change, while in …

Capfish Project 2nd Edition: Capacity-Building Project To Progress The Implementation Of International Instruments To Combat Iuu Fishing, Korea Maritime Institute, World Maritime University, Ministry Of Oceans And Fisheries, Republic Of Korea

Books

Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is widely recognised as a transdisciplinary problem requiring holistic action at the international, regional and national level. The primary aim of the CAPFISH Project is to build capacity to address IUU fishing in developing states, by providing knowledge and tools to government actors on the front line of the fight against IUU fishing. Since the initiation of CAPFISH in 2021, the Project has offered four capacity-building workshops on IUU fishing. Much of the content of the first two workshops was captured in the first edition of this series. The second edition consolidates and expands …

Leading Toward Solutions To America’S Overcrowding And Underfunding Environmental Preservation Issues, James Seth Caudill

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research aims to better comprehend how the environmental preservation issues of underfunding and overcrowding of America’s parks, recreation areas, and environmental surroundings are solved through quality leadership. These environmental issues are national, state, and community problems. Currently, there exists a wealth of literature on the environmental problems caused by overcrowding and underfunding. Unfortunately, the successful problem-solving ideas identified throughout these works often do not connect with an element of leadership. This research helps fill this identified gap in the currently available environmental preservation resources. This mixed methods study explored the perceptions, ideas, and successful solutions exhibited by environmental preservation …

A Path Planning Framework For Multi-Agent Robotic Systems Based On Multivariate Skew-Normal Distributions, Peter Estephan

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis presents a path planning framework for a very-large-scale robotic (VLSR) system in an known obstacle environment, where the time-varying distributions of agents are applied to represent the multi-agent robotic system (MARS). A novel family of the multivariate skew-normal (MVSN) distributions is proposed based on the Bernoulli random field (BRF) referred to as the Bernoulli-random-field based skew-normal (BRF-SN) distribution. The proposed distributions are applied to model the agents’ distributions in an obstacle-deployed environment, where the obstacle effect is represented by a skew function and separated from the no-obstacle agents’ distributions. First, the obstacle layout is represented by a Hilbert …

An Analysis Of The Preferences, Morphometrics, And Survey Efficacy Of The Freshwater Mussel Community In The Greenup Pool, Ohio River, Jacob Miller

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Greenup Pool is one of the most unique pools of the Ohio River in terms of habitat richness and anthropogenic impact both historical and current. The Greenup Pool spans 61.8 miles reaching from Greenup Dam in Greenup, KY to Robert C. Byrd Dam in Apple Grove, WV. We surveyed 17 sites to assess mussel communities within the Greenup Pool using the 2017 West Virginia Mussel Survey Protocol. At these sites, six 100-meter transects were surveyed for surface and subsurface mussels. Each transect was divided into 10-meter intervals. These surveys resulted in 4,041 live individuals from 21 species, including eight …

Hospitality And Seminary Culture: A Phenomenological Study On The Presence And Practice Of Hospitality Between Seminary Leaders And Students, Jesse Matthew Adams

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

While hospitality is a major biblical doctrine and a requirement of Christian living and outreach, few ministers begin their ministries recognizing the essence and essentiality of hospitality in ministry or intentionally highlight and model it to those they lead. One root cause for this may stem from the seminaries in which our ministers train, that our seminaries have no apparent agreement on a formal framework for teaching hospitality and too few seminaries are marked by a culture of hospitality. This study seeks to establish a formal framework for hospitality in seminary education. Such a framework could be used to instigate …

Benefits Of Medical Thc For Neurological Disorders In The U.S., Andrew Lester, Alexandria Gartin

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Introduction: The introduction of THC into the medical field has allowed medical professionals to offer a new treatment option to aid in their patients treatment plan by decreasing their symptoms of side effects of other medications used for their conditions.

Methodology: This study utilized a literature review. Five databases were used to collect 116 total sources. These sources were reviewed and reduced to 33 sources that were used in the written research. Of these, 16 sources were used in the results section.

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this research was to analyze the prescription use of …

Gut Microbial Metabolite Indole: A Stimulator Of Enteroendocrine Cell Differentiation Via Activation Of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor, James Hart

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Enteroendocrine cells (EECs) regulate energy balance and glucose homeostasis by releasing hormones in response to food intake. Dysregulated EEC differentiation is observed in obesity, while gut microbiota metabolites influence this process. Here, we investigated the role of indole, a biologically active gut microbial metabolite, in EEC differentiation through aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activation. Human intestinal organoids derived from jejunal mucosal biopsies were exposed to indole. Indole treatment significantly increased mRNA levels of chromogranin A, an EEC marker. The effect was reversed by an AhR antagonist, indicating AhR involvement. Indole also upregulated AhR target gene mRNA levels. These findings highlight the …

Characterization Of Food Chain Clostridioides Difficile Isolates In Terms Of Ribotype And Antimicrobial Resistance, Pilar Marcos, Aoife Doyle, Paul Whyte, Thomas R. Rogers, Maire Mcelroy, Seamus Fanning, Jesus Maria Frias, Declan Bolton

Articles

The aim of this study was to characterize C. difficile isolates from the farm, abattoir, and retail outlets in Ireland in terms of ribotype and antibiotic resistance (vancomycin, erythromycin, metronidazole, moxifloxacin, clindamycin, and rifampicin) using PCR and E-test methods, respectively. The most common ribotype in all stages of the food chain (including retail foods) was 078 and a variant (RT078/4). Less commonly reported (014/0, 002/1, 049, and 205) and novel (RT530, 547, and 683) ribotypes were also detected, but at lower frequencies. Approximately 72% (26/36 tested) of the isolates tested were resistant to at least one antibiotic, with the majority …

Virtual Production Shorts, Vinny Argentina

Summer Community of Scholars (RCEU and HCR) Project Proposals

No abstract provided.

For This Project, I Would Like To Create A Short Film, Beginning With My Own Concepts For A Narrative Story And Working Step By Step Towards A Fully Finished Animation, Vinny Argentina, Aislinn Boggan

Summer Community of Scholars (RCEU and HCR) Project Proposals

No abstract provided.

Short Film Adaptation Of Soseki Natsume's Ten Nights' Dreams, Vinny Argentina, Celeste Davis

Summer Community of Scholars (RCEU and HCR) Project Proposals

No abstract provided.

The Other In Southeast Asian Puppetry, Kathy Foley

Representing Alterity through Puppetry and Performing Objects

Southeast Asian wayang/nang talung puppetry presents the local hero as refined. Three types of “others” repeat: 1) comic foreigners, 2) Raja Sabrangan (“Overseas King”) and followers, and 3) physically deformed clown servants. The last two groups are important and may relate to Austronesian concepts of spirit siblings accompanying each person through life.

Introduction: Puppets Have Always Performed Others, John Bell

Representing Alterity through Puppetry and Performing Objects

Puppets and performing objects have always performed alterities, often reflecting biased visions of Others. The papers in this collection about the object performances of Others can help us better understand global histories and cultures.

Pandemic As Transboundary Harm: Lessons From The Trail Smelter Arbitration, Russell A. Miller

Scholarly Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused incalculable harm around the world. The fact that this immense harm can be traced back to a localized outbreak in or near Wuhan, China, raises questions about the responsibility China might bear for the pandemic under public international law. Famously applied in the seminal Trail Smelter Arbitration (1938/1941), the Transboundary Harm Principle provides that no state can use or allow the use of its territory in a manner that causes significant harm in the territory of other states. This article does not intend to tap into the unseemly, xenophobic spirit that animates much of the …

Allow Me To Transform: A Black Guy’S Guide To A New Constitution, Brandon Hasbrouck

Scholarly Articles

Elie Mystal’s Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution works within the tradition of lay synopses of constitutional law, filling a gap among those that came before. Some works have provided nonlawyers with an explicitly Black perspective on major issues in modern civil rights, while others have provided an introduction to constitutional law as a field. Mystal broadens the focus and audience, illuminating constitutional issues with his trademark humor and his life experience as a Black man in America. He creates a comprehensive overview for lay readers, emphasizing the experiences and needs of Black men. The …

Is There A Relationship Between Sport Gambling And Fandom?, Jacob Stonick, Sean Callahan, Caleb Terry

Sport Management Student Projects

Our group looked into the relatioship between sport gambling and the impact it has on the experience of viewing an event.

The Necessity Of Monastic Asceticism: A Case For Retrieval In Contemporary Evangelicalism, Greg Peters

Essays

Within the contemporary evangelical church, there is often little discussion of asceticism despite an emphasis on spiritual disciplines and formation. This article argues that not only does the evangelical church need to embrace and adopt ascetic practices, but these should be based in monastic asceticism, based around the practices of poverty, chastity and obedience. The article first puts forward suggestions as to why the evangelical church does not embrace asceticism, in spite of it being part of its heritage, but then moves to a constructive argument, using an array of ecumenical sources, demonstrating that a monastic asceticism is a biblical …

Fusion, 2023, George Washington University, William H. Beaumont Medical Research Honor Society

Fusion

No abstract provided.

The Emasculation Of Glory: Pestilence, Revolution, And Madness In Mary Shelley’S The Last Man, Olivia Sutton

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

In her apocalyptic novel, The Last Man, Mary Shelley creates a world in which Nature seeks to humble, eliminate, and emasculate empire, reducing humanity to a single man, with the use of plague, revolution, and madness. Empire is the accumulation of political systems that are largely male, patriarchal structures. In the novel, disease acts as a metaphor for revolution and femininity which in turn destroys and deconstructs empire and the legacies of mankind. Susan Sontag’s Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors will provide this research with the vocabulary to draw out the metaphor and the connective tissue …

Analysis Of Eeg Signals Using Nonlinear Dynamics And Chaos: A Review, Germ?N Rodr?Guez-Berm?Dez, Pedro J. Garc?A-Laencina

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

Nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory have been used in neurophysiology with the aim to understand the complex brain activity from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. Although linear methods have been the most used in EEG analysis, nonlinear approaches have been increased their presence because they reveal aspects that cannot be measured from linear approaches. However, published works in this scientific field is still very low. This work describes the fundamentals of EEG signals and its basic concepts related with nonlinear dynamics and chaotic measures of complexity and stability. After that, a short review of the most common EEG-based applications is given in …

Representing Social Influencers And Influence Using Power-Law Graphs, Chiara Francalanci, Ajaz Hussain, Francesco Merlo

Applied Mathematics & Information Sciences

This paper focuses on semantic networks that represent the user opinions expressed by social media users on a given set of topics. These networks are found to follow a power-law degree distribution of nodes, with a few hub nodes and a long tail of peripheral nodes. While there exist consolidated approaches supporting the identification and characterization of hub nodes, research on the analysis of the multi-layered distribution of peripheral nodes is limited. In social media, hub nodes represent social influencers. However, the literature provides evidence of the multi-layered structure of influence networks, emphasizing the distinction between influencers and influence. The …

The Effectiveness Of A Suggested Indicative Program To Measure Cognitive Experiences Towards The Importance Of Intermittent Fasting Diet And Its Impact On Endemic Diseases In Najran Region, Thnaa Mahmoud Hashem Gouda, Hind Eid Aljuhani

Journal of Statistics Applications & Probability

Metabolic syndrome represents a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that includes hypertension, obesity, insulin resistance, cardiovascular, immune diseases and atherogenic yslipidemia, so we are a need for new dietary, lifestyle, and therapeutic options, include fasting emerged as a dietary method proposed for controlling metabolic risk factors. Intermittent fasting has gained attention as a diet for endemic diseases to metabolic health, hence there has been an increasing search to develope innovative therapies to decrease spread metabolic diseases. So this research was aimed the effectiveness of a suggested indicative program to measure cognitive experiences towards the importance of intermittent fasting regimen and its …

Age, Experience, Social Goals, And Engagement With Research Scientists May Promote Innovation In Ecological Restoration, Jakki J. Mohr, Tina M. Cummins, Theresa M. Floyd, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf, Ragan M. Callaway, Cara R. Nelson

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

Innovation in ecological restoration is necessary to achieve the ambitious targets established in United Nations conventions and other global restoration initiatives. Innovation is also crucial for navigating uncertainties in repairing and restoring ecosystems, and thus practitioners often develop innovations at project design and implementation stages. However, innovation in ecological restoration can be hindered by many factors (e.g., time and budget constraints, and project complexity). Theory and research on innovation has been formally applied in many fields, yet explicit study of innovation in ecological restoration remains nascent. To assess the use of innovation in restoration projects, including its drivers and inhibitors, …

Libraries As Community: Investigating Social Infrastructure And Community Cohesion, Mora N. Rehm

Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Libraries are a form of public infrastructure that guide, protect, and preserve the spirit of community. Established as the guarantor of a peaceful, well-informed society, this research evaluates the library's methods and degree of influence over citizens' feelings of community alongside other social phenomena; looking both within and without existing systems, the researcher posits a model of critical librarianship, acknowledging that current practices reinforce existing structures of inequity and privilege. A methodological investigation is then made into the link between library and community through use of secondary data analysis, concluding that strong library systems positively associate with community cohesion on …

Gnetin C For Chemoprevention And Therapy Of Prostate Cancer, Gisella Campanelli

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Prostate cancer is common among aging men. Despite current management, it continues to be associated with a high mortality rate. A need, therefore, exists for improved treatment approaches that target every stage of the disease. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of Gnetin C, a resveratrol dimer found abundantly in melinjo (Gnetum gnemon) seeds, across three different treatment modalities. The first involved a Gnetin C-supplemented diet as a chemopreventive strategy in a high-risk transgenic mouse model which overexpresses MTA1 on a background of Pten heterozygosity (R26MTA1; Pten+/f). The second involved the administration of Gnetin C by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection …

Special Collections As Muse: The Use Of Rare Books And Archives To Inspire Creative Works, Tracy Grimm, Adriana Harmeyer

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The unique and varied collections held by archives and special collections within many academic libraries offer fertile ground for the creative endeavors of students, faculty, and professional artists. This chapter explores direct and indirect methods librarians and archivists may engage creators with primary source materials. Academic libraries do not necessarily need to build art-focused collections in order to support the research of creators. More than subject content, successful engagement with creators is developed by means of collaborative relationships with arts faculty, artists, and galleries to reach student creators and introduce concepts of primary source research as a source of inspiration. …

First Christian Voices: Practices Of The Apostolic Fathers, Michael T. Cooper

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

What were the most important practices in the early church? In this volume, Michael Cooper arranges the writings of the Apostolic Fathers into eight themes that provide deeper understanding about the subjects important to the disciples of the New Testament apostles.

First Christian Voices examines the written testimonies of the late first and second centuries to discover what animated the church in the face of internal and external struggles and growth as the gospel extended to the boundaries of the Roman Empire.

Mission With Prophetic Power: The Journal Of John Woolman, Evan B. Howard, John Woolman

Sacred Roots Spiritual Classics

In Mission with Prophetic Power, Evan Howard introduces us to his good friend John Woolman (1720–1772). In this autobiographical record of his life, Woolman describes his charismatic, contemplative, and evangelical spirituality as he practiced a lifestyle of fair trade (justice) and minimalism (simplicity). Encounter testimonies of the “operations of divine love” in Woolman’s record of the goodness of God.