Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Expression Of Cgmp-Dependent Protein Kinase G (Pkg) From Plasmodium And Toxoplasma, Tsopmo Asaah

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Malaria and Toxoplasmosis are life threatening diseases to humans. The search for a cure and control of these diseases is still one of the major challenges of scientists worldwide. In this research we focused on two Malaria species; Plasmodium bergei² (Pb) and Plasmodium falciparum¹ (Pf) and also on Toxoplasma gondii. Part of the life cycle of these organisms is regulated by the enzyme cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase G (PKG)⁴. This is our drug target in this research. We believe that inhibiting this enzyme will be a great step in fighting these diseases. In this research, we devised a comparative study …

Fair + Equitable August/September 2025, International Association Of Assessing Officers

Fair + Equitable

The August/September 2025 issue of F+E offers a number of stories on the upcoming annual conference in Orlando, including:

• Orlando's must-try dining
• Updated annual conference session schedule
• 2026 IAAO Board candidate profiles
• IAAO's new podcast for the assessment community
• IAAO and TAF met in KC work on efforts to gain acceptance of mass appraisal experience at the state level
• Review of upcoming property tax policy and administrative survey results
• Resources and assistance offered by The Paul V. Corusy Memorial Library to IAAO members
• Albuquerque turning motels into housing
• Thought leader article on what property assessment professionals needs to know
• New …

Cultivating Identity, Workforce Readiness, And Heutagogical Lifelong Learning: The Case For Student-Trained Ai Agents In Postsecondary Education, James Hutson

Faculty Scholarship

The accelerated integration of human-centered artificial intelligence and human-computer intelligent interaction (HCII) into postsecondary education has inaugurated a paradigm shift in how learners develop cognitive, socio emotional, and professional competencies. This article argues that requiring students to iteratively build and refine custom AI agents—digital “clones” or GPTs trained on their evolving beliefs, knowledge, values, and interests addresses three pressing challenges facing contemporary higher education. First, the process of self-modeling via agent training compels deep self-reflection, fostering socio-economic development and identity formation during the critical neurodevelopmental period that extends into the mid-twenties. Second, as industry trends increasingly prioritize the creation of …

City Of Rock Falls V. Aims Industrial Services, Llc, Emily Buikema

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The ability of Illinois municipalities to enforce municipal ordinances is now clearer after the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in City of Rock Falls v. Aims Industrial Services, LLC. This case answers the question as to whether a trial court has discretion to balance the equities in deciding whether or not to grant a municipality’s request for injunctive relief when expressly authorized by an ordinance. This Case Note summarizes the procedural history of City of Rock Falls v. Aims Industrial Services, LLC, discusses the competing cases representing a circuit split prior to the resolution of this case, analyzes the decision by …

The Latin Exclusion: Examining The Eu And The White House’S Policy Favoritism Toward Migrant Sending Latin American Nations While Punishing Similar Pressures Globally, Nicolas Garon

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Too often, negative perceptions of a country, whether from its government or a few citizens, result in broad restrictions applied to all nationals, either formally through policy or informally through officials’ discretion. A global norm persists in which nationals from poorer countries facing migratory pressures are subjected to heightened scrutiny and restrictive measures that deter movement to wealthier nations. Regardless of how liberal a receiving country may claim to be, states consistently adopt conservative stances on migration. Western nations, as primary destinations, often impose the harshest measures, such as travel bans and additional visa requirements, frequently based on speculative migration …

Empowering Writers: Integrating Digital Prewriting Tools In The Research Writing Process, Heather A. Rundo

Language Arts Journal of Michigan

This practitioner article explores the integration of digital prewriting tools, specifically MindMeister and VoiceThread, in a high school sophomore honors English class during a research writing unit. The author, a classroom teacher, discusses the challenges students face in research writing and seeks to enhance their confidence and organization skills. Drawing insights from student and teacher perspectives on writing strengths and weaknesses, the article delves into the significance of prewriting as a fundamental component of the writing process.

76 | Maresha Iv: The Subterranean Complexes Of The Hellenistic City, Ian Stern

IAA Reports—Monograph Series of the Israel Antiquities Authority

This volume provides an archaeological study of 152 subterranean complexes at ancient Maresha, including an overview of the site, geological background, typological analysis of chamber types, and documentation of all surveyed installations. Two brief excavation reports offer insights into material culture and daily life during the Hellenistic period. Carved decorative elements—such as niches, altars, reliefs, and betyls—highlight religious diversity and cultural syncretism among Maresha’s residents. Twenty-one inscriptions, mostly Greek with three Semitic, provide rare direct evidence of the activities, identities, and experiences of individuals who used these underground spaces, adding a human dimension to the material findings. Special attention is …

Too Big To Fail? Using Microsatellites To Examine The Population Genetics Of Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis Olivaris) In Missouri Impoundments, Aaron Krolow

Dissertations

Flathead Catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) is a popular sportfish managed for recreational and commercial uses. Currently, managers in Missouri have implemented various reservoir-specific bag and length limits for P. olivaris to create sustainable populations of quality-sized individuals available for anglers to capture. In conjunction with field studies to estimate growth rates and size/age distributions, I developed and scored 15 microsatellite markers to estimate the effective population (Ne) and population structure within 10 Missouri reservoirs. I assessed the power of the markers to get acceptably precise estimates of Ne using NEoGen assuming life-history parameters (e.g., age at maturity, longevity and fecundity) estimated …

Monitoring And Understanding Momentary Affect Intensity From Smartphone Sensors: Investigating The Role Of Time Resolutions And Semantic Locations, Yiqin Zhu

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Momentary affect intensity refers to the momentary strength or intensity of emotional experience and shows wide associations with critical psychological and behavioral phenomena. Traditional self-report approaches to assess affect intensity require people’s attention and are prone to missingness and recall bias. Wide and cheap smartphone access offers opportunities to monitor and understand real-time affect intensity. This study had three specific aims: (a) To evaluate the potential for a state-of-the-art explainable artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to predict momentary affect intensities without active inputs, we tested how well Temporal Fusion Transformers (TFTs) can predict momentary affect intensity in an unseen test sample; …

An Injectable, Dual-Curing Hydrogel For Controlled Bioactive Release In Regenerative Endodontics, Meisam Omidi, Daniela S. Masson-Meyers, Jeffrey M. Toth

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Regenerative endodontics seeks to restore the vascularized pulp–dentin complex following conventional root canal therapy, yet reliable neovascularization within the constrained root canal remains a key challenge. This study investigates the development of an injectable, dual-curing hydrogel based on methacrylated decellularized amniotic membrane (dAM-MA) and compares its performance to a conventional gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA). The dAM-MA platform was designed for biphasic release, incorporating both free vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for an initial burst and matrix-metalloproteinase-cleavable VEGF conjugates for sustained delivery. The dAM-MA hydrogel achieved shape-fidelity via thermal gelation at 37 °C and possessed tunable stiffness (0.5–7.8 kPa) after visible-light irradiation. …

A Comparative Study Of Land Use Regulations And Impact On Coastal Estuaries, Mabel W. Dadzie

All Theses

The study presents a mixed method and longitudinal assessment of land cover change, estuarine land loss, and policy implemented to address the past and anticipated estuarine losses in the Cooper River and North and South Santee watershed over the past twenty years. This study uses National Land Cover Dataset from 2001 to 2021, NOAA’s SLR projection data and planning documents from 1990 to 2025 to examine policy evolution among ten major themes. The results illustrate significant changes in land cover, notably the transition of wetlands, agriculture, and forests to developed land, as well as an evident spike in the integration …

Differing Impacts Of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Device Leads On Tricuspid Regurgitation, Sophie A. Leon, Melissa Austin, Nayeem Nasher, Daler Rahimov, Faizaan Siddique, Chitra Parikh, Danial Ahmad, Vakhtang Tchantchaleishvili, Behzad B. Pavri

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Placement of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED) with leads that traverse the tricuspid valve is thought to contribute to tricuspid regurgitation (TR). However, there are relatively limited data comparing the impact of different CIED lead types on the incidence and progression of TR. This study sought to quantify the change in TR severity following implantation of CIEDs with different lead types.

METHODS: Patient data were collected on individuals with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD), right ventricular-paced pacemakers (RV-PM), and His bundle-paced pacemakers (His-PM) placed by a single provider at a single institution between 2016 and 2019. Patients with extravascular CIED …

Effect Of Cigarette Smoke Extract And Nutrient Deficiency On Energy Metabolism And Biosynthesis: An In Vitro Intervertebral Disc Explant Culture Study, Avery E. Madden

All Theses

Low back pain consistently ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide, with degenerative changes in spinal intervertebral discs (IVDs) recognized as a key contributor. Degeneration arises from the disruption of mechanical and biological cues within the disc’s cartilaginous tissue, often exacerbated by aging or injury. In recent decades, cigarette smoking has also been identified as a significant risk factor, as IVD degeneration is more prevalent among individuals with a history of smoking. Smoke inhalation is thought to promote degeneration both directly, by exposing cells to water-soluble toxic chemicals in smoke; and indirectly, through nutrient deficiency resulting from vasoconstriction and …

Assessing Grafted Triploid Watermelon And Yellow Nutsedge Growth In Saline Agroecosystems, Joseph F. Bazzle

All Theses

In an effort to better understand how saltwater intrusion events will impact watermelon growers a field trial was conducted to study how saline irrigation water will impact weed growth and seedless watermelon productivity at a joint Clemson University and USDA ARS facility. Weed management has always been a hurdle in vegetable crop production systems, requiring extensive labor even in a conventional setup. For organic growers, often the only economical approach is a combination of mechanical weed control techniques, including plastic mulches, tarps, and hand weeding. For watermelon growers, plastic mulch remains the most effective form of organic weed control available. …

Consumer Preferences For Blockchain Technology In Tracking Carbon Footprint And Organic Claims In Animal-Based Foods, Josie Nasekos

All Theses

In 2022, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) program set aside over $3 billion to be invested in 141 projects for agricultural products produced using practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon sequestration. Although the majority of the PCSC funding was canceled in 2025, save a few selected projects that could potentially receive funding under the USDA’s new Advancing Markets for Producers initiative, there is no USDA-certified label to verify the climate-smart commodities that already received funding or similar products that exist in the market. However, third-party verified carbon footprint labels can …

Microplastics And Other Plastic-Like Microdebris In Sediments From The Dart River And Estuary, Southwest England, Maia Killian, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Surficial sediment samples (n = 10) collected from a transect of a river-estuary (Dart) in southwest England have been analysed for geochemical characteristics, anthropogenic metals (Cr, Cu, Sn, Pb, Zn), and microplastics (∼50 μm–5 mm) and other microplastic-like debris. Results indicated the finest grains towards the lower river and upper estuary, a seaward increase in sedimentary Ca, and loss on ignition ranging from about 0.7 to 4 %. Anthropogenic metals were heterogeneously distributed throughout the catchment with maximum concentrations in the river or lower estuary. Microplastics were dominated by fibres, with concentrations ranging from 110 to 1800 kg−1 and composition …

Individual Noise-Tolerance Profiles And Neural Signal-To-Noise Ratio: Insights Into Predicting Speech-In-Noise Performance And Noise-Reduction Outcomes, Subong Kim, Susan Arzac, Natalie Dokic, Jenn Donnelly, Nicole Genser, Kristen Nortwich, Alexis Rooney

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background/Objectives: Individuals with similar hearing sensitivity exhibit varying levels of tolerance to background noise, a trait tied to unique individual characteristics that affect their responsiveness to noise reduction (NR) processing in hearing aids. The present study aimed to capture such individual characteristics by employing electrophysiological measures and subjective noise-tolerance profiles, and both were analyzed in relation to speech-in-noise performance and NR outcomes. Methods: From a sample of 42 participants with normal hearing, the neural signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)—a cortical index comparing the amplitude ratio between auditory evoked responses to target speech onset versus noise onset—was calculated, and individual noise-tolerance profiles were …

The Role Of Social Media In Spreading Hearth Information During Heallth Crises, Aseel Al-Ajarmah, Faten Hamad

Journal of Arts and Social Sciences

Access to information strongly contributes to the advocacy of sustainable development. Social media can facilitate availability and accessibility of information during crisis times. This research investigates the role, and difficulties of using social media to spread health information among the Jordanian society. A questionnaire was disseminated to all faculty members at health schools at The University of Jordan (N=415) of whom 380 responded (91.5% response rate). The results indicate that social media are highly recognised as a practical platform to increase public awareness during pandemics. However, there is a need for measures to limit the spread of fake news and …

Participatory Community Archiving To Preserve And Sustain North Georgia Appalachia’S Language, Literacy Practices, And Histories, Leah Panther Dr., Lindsey Walker, Presley Dyer, Tyler Osborn, Kerri Abernathy

Georgia Library Quarterly

This case study presents Swappin’ Stories, a community-based archiving event that serves as a model for public and participatory archiving. The event aimed to address gaps and misrepresentations of southern Appalachia by gathering the voices, artifacts, and stories of Towns County residents. By centering local narratives, it sought to foster a sense of community identity and offer an authentic portrayal of North Georgia, distinct from the narratives shaped by popular media and political figures. This case highlights the potential of community-driven archives to reclaim and reshape regional histories.

Large Scale Deletion And Rebalancing Within The K1c Kafirin Family In Sorghum, Tyler W. Ferris

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Monech (sorghum) is cultivated as food for humans and livestock and is valued for its low input requirements. However, sorghum grain protein is deficient in the essential amino acid lysine and has poor protein digestibility because of the abundance of proline-rich kafirins that constitute >70% of proteins that form low-digestibility protein bodies. To reduce kafirin expression in the endosperm, and elicit wholesale proteome rebalancing to increase non-kafirin proteins, a single-guide RNA (sgRNA) Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR/Cas9) construct was previously used to target members of the highly-repetitive alpha-kafirin family, k1C in RTx430 sorghum. The …

Plant Nutrient Interactions In High-Yielding Soybean Environments, Victoria Inklman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant nutrient demands and limitations are usually studied individually by nutrient. Here, we investigated how nitrogen (N) limitation in high-yielding soybean environments affects the uptake, removal, and residual of other plant macro- and micronutrients. The objective of this study was to quantify the uptake, removal, and residual levels of soybean macro- and micronutrients under N-limited conditions and to identify nutrient priorities for high-yielding soybean systems. Aboveground plant samples at physiological maturity were collected in 19 high-yielding soybean fields with N limitation across the state of Nebraska. Reference plots with ample N supply were included within each field to compare macro- …

Crop, Soil Nutrient, And Soil Health Responses Within Integrated Crop And Livestock Systems, Alyssa K. Hall

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We evaluated the influences of grazing livestock on crop production, soil nutrients, and soil health indicators of integrated crop livestock systems using three experiments during a seven-yr. period. Objectives were to (1) determine livestock grazing and cropping system effects on crop yield and soil properties across six yr. in corn-soybean (C-S) and wheat-corn-soybean (W-C-S) systems with and without periodic composted manure application, (2) explore seasonal variation in soil nutrient patterns over two yr., and (3) measure residual responses for corn grain yield plus soil health indicators in yr. seven following a six-yr. study. In experiment 1, neither livestock grazing ( …

On Unions, Resistance, And The Supreme Court: What I Learned From Being Wrong After Janus, Aaron Tang

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Deletion Remedy, Daniel Wilf-Townsend

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

De Minimis Doesn't Belong Here: Footnote Nine's Potential Consequences For The Future Of Individual Rights, Alex Rivenbark

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tetd: Trusted Execution In Trust Domains, Zhanbo Wang, Jiaxin Zhan, Xuhua Ding, Fengwei Zhang, Ning Hu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Intel TDX empowers cloud service providers to construct confidential virtual machines called trust domains (TDs) on x86 platforms. Similar to its counterparts from AMD and Arm, TDX's hardware based protection over integrity and secrecy of virtual machine memory and vCPU states inevitably hinders legitimate virtual machine management such as introspection. At the presence of compromised high-privileged software (e.g., the guest kernel), neither the cloud service provider nor the TD owner can securely carry out a task within the TD. To tackle this problem, we propose TETD, an in-TD trusted execution technique without trusting any TD system software. Our design does …

Oblivious Digital Tokens, Mihael Liskij, Xuhua Ding, Gene Tsudik, David A. Basin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

A computing device typically identifies itself by exhibiting unique measurable behavior or by proving its knowledge of a secret. In both cases, the identifying device must reveal information to a verifier. Considerable research has focused on protecting identifying entities (provers) and reducing the amount of leaked data. However, little has been done to conceal the fact that the verification occurred.We show how this problem naturally arises in the context of digital emblems, which were recently proposed by the International Committee of the Red Cross to protect digital resources during cyber-conflicts. To address this new and important open problem, we define …

Development Of A Homogenized Material Model For Carbon Fiber–Aluminum Transition Joints Using Fea And Optimization, Nicholas M. Couch

All Theses

The integration of metals and composites in automotive structures improves manufacturability and overall structural performance. The proposed Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) joint provides a promising solution for joining aluminum and carbon fiber; however, modeling its behavior across an entire vehicle can be computationally expensive. To address this challenge, a homogenized material card is developed to efficiently capture the joint’s mechanical response while maintaining computational efficiency. A novel characterization method is implemented, employing implicit simulations and optimization techniques to determine the effective material properties of the UAM transition joint. This approach enables rapid iteration of material parameters, facilitating the efficient evaluation …

Life Cycle Assessment Of The Cultivation Of Lettuce In A Hydroponic System Using The Nutrient Film Technique, Raquel Jordan

All Theses

Hydroponic systems are an emerging method of soilless crop cultivation typically done inside a greenhouse where nutrients are delivered dissolved in water rather than being supplied from the soil. Potential benefits of hydroponic systems include reduced irrigation requirements, higher crop yield per area, and the ability to grow crops year-round in nontraditional areas such as urban settings, cold climates, and sites with contaminated soil. However, hydroponic systems tend to have high energy requirements for lighting and climate control, which can yield significant environmental impacts. To explore the environmental impacts of cultivating lettuce in a nutrient film technique (NFT) hydroponic system, …

Machine Learning Based Medical Ultrasound Image Classification And Grad-Cam Interpretation, Victoria C. Hemphill

All Theses

This work takes a step in creating a diagnostic tool for the classification decision process of Achilles tendinopathy using ultrasound images. An attention-based multiple instance learning model is developed to classify the images. Typically, doctors capture multiple ultrasound images of the Achilles tendon during a study to determine a complete diagnosis. Multiple instance models adopt this behavior by providing a single label for a set of instances (images). The images are grouped into ”bags” at the study level and passed into the model. The MIL model then uses its attention property to assign an importance score to each image to …