Digital Commons Network^™

Ablation Of Sam50 Is Associated With Fragmentation And Alterations In Metabolism In Murine And Human Myotubes, Bryanna Shao, Mason Killion, Ashton Oliver, Chia Vang, Faben Zeleke, Kit Neikirk, Zer Vue, Edgar Garza‐Lopez, Jian‐Qiang Shao, Margaret Mungai, Jacob Lam, Qiana Williams, Christopher T. Altamura, Aaron Whiteside, Kinuthia Kabugi, Jessica Mckenzie, Maria Ezedimma, Han Le, Alice Koh, Estevão Scudese, Larry Vang, Andrea G. Marshall, Amber Crabtree, Janelle I. Tanghal, Dominique Stephens, Ho‐Jin Koh, Brenita C. Jenkins, Sandra A. Murray, Anthonya T. Cooper, Clintoria Williams, Steven M. Damo10 M. Damo, Melanie R. Mcreynolds, Jennifer A. Gaddy Gaddy, Celestine N. Wanjalla, Heather K. Beasley, Antentor Hinton Jr.

Biology Faculty Research

The sorting and assembly machinery (SAM) Complex is responsible for assembling β‐barrel proteins in the mitochondrial membrane. Comprising three subunits, Sam35, Sam37, and Sam50, the SAM complex connects the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes by interacting with the mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing system complex. Sam50, in particular, stabilizes the mitochondrial intermembrane space

bridging (MIB) complex, which is crucial for protein transport, respiratory chain complex assembly, and regulation of cristae integrity. While the role of Sam50 in mitochondrial structure and metabolism in skeletal muscle remains unclear, this study aims to investigate its impact. Serial block‐face‐scanning electron microscopy and computer‐assisted …

Compositional Practices In The Accompaniment Of Celtic Trad Music, Mason Taylor

Composition/Recording Projects

n this research paper, I look at how traditional Irish folk musicians—“Trad” as it is commonly referred to by musicians in the style––approach, think of, and perform accompaniment, specifically the contrapuntal style that is common amongst mandolin and bouzouki players. Trad has evolved greatly over the years. Originally, Trad was performed without any form of accompaniment—no guitar, no piano, no cello. Many solo instruments, such as the flute and the fiddle, would play the same melody with the only harmony occurring at moments where performers would momentarily diverge from the melody with an improvised ornament. Somewhere along its varied history, …

Teacher Perceptions Of Instructional Influence On Students’ 21st Century Soft Skills Retention And Transference, Zoraida Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many career and technical education (CTE) programs have moved from face-to-face to virtual internships (VIs) to train students who are expected to enter the job market. The problem was that many graduates of CTE VIs demonstrate 21st century soft skills during VIs, but upon entering the workplace, are unable to demonstrate the same soft skills. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to explore secondary CTE teachers’ perceptions of how their instruction during VIs influenced students’ 21st-century soft skills to make student skills retainable and transferable; the TPACK conceptual framework was used as a lens for analysis. Semi-structured open-ended …

Terrestrial Birth And Body Size Tune Ucp1 Functionality In Seals, Michael J. Gaudry, Jane Khudyakov, Laura Pirard, Cathy Debier, Daniel Crocker, Paul G. Crichton, Martin Jastroch

Pacific Faculty Work

The molecular evolution of the mammalian heater protein UCP1 is a powerful biomarker to understand thermoregulatory strategies during species radiation into extreme climates, such as aquatic life with high thermal conductivity. While fully aquatic mammals lost UCP1, most semiaquatic seals display intact UCP1 genes, apart from large elephant seals. Here, we show that UCP1 thermogenic activity of the small-bodied harbor seal is equally potent compared to terrestrial orthologs, emphasizing its importance for neonatal survival on land. In contrast, elephant seal UCP1 does not display thermogenic activity, not even when translating a repaired or a recently highlighted truncated version. Thus, the …

The Insufficiency Of The Causal Mechanisms Of Scientific Naturalism, Aaron R. Crosby

Masters Theses

Chance and physical necessity, serving as the two accepted causal mechanisms of scientific naturalism, are incapable of explaining the origins of gravity, the gravitational constant, and other fine-tuning parameters associated with Big Bang Cosmology. This thesis explores the origins of Scientific Naturalism, the discovery of fine-tuning parameters associated with Big Bang Cosmology, and several theories proposed under the paradigm of scientific naturalism that attempt to explain, through either chance or physical necessity, how the universe originated.

A Contemporary Pauline Apologetic Toolkit, Jayne Bertovich

Masters Theses

This thesis recounts that societal history is repeating itself in modern times whereby there is a pattern of similarity with the Millennials and Generation Z and ancient audiences of the Apostle Paul in terms of paganism and humanism at the forefront of hearts and minds pushing back on Christianity (albeit today’s exposure to post-modernism and digital influences do not present in the ancient world of the Apostle Paul). Similarly, the ancient world was interested in the advances of its day of science and philosophy. The Millennials and Generation Z population, a majority of the population globally, are ripe for the …

Noticing The Brush Strokes: Literary Markers In Hebrew Narratives, Shelbey Hunt

Masters Theses

As the people who set out to write, edit, and form the Bible may have used embellishments to enhance their narratives, could they also have left literary markers to help the reader chart a course between the historical and the enhanced? The purpose of this thesis is to find these literary markers. Exposing any potential grammatical or syntactical signpost can help the reader understand how they should view a given Biblical story and help reveal the messages the authors behind the scripture were sharing. The book of Jonah will be used as a case study to both discover and elaborate …

Imputation Of 3d Genome Structure By Genetic-Epigenetic Interaction Modeling In Mice., Lauren Kuffler, Daniel A Skelly, Anne M Czechanski, Haley J Fortin, Steven C. Munger, Christopher L. Baker, Laura G Reinholdt, Gregory W. Carter

Faculty Research 2024

Gene expression is known to be affected by interactions between local genetic variation and DNA accessibility, with the latter organized into three-dimensional chromatin structures. Analyses of these interactions have previously been limited, obscuring their regulatory context, and the extent to which they occur throughout the genome. Here, we undertake a genome-scale analysis of these interactions in a genetically diverse population to systematically identify global genetic-epigenetic interaction, and reveal constraints imposed by chromatin structure. We establish the extent and structure of genotype-by-epigenotype interaction using embryonic stem cells derived from Diversity Outbred mice. This mouse population segregates millions of variants from eight …

Osint Research Studios: A Flexible Crowdsourcing Framework To Scale Up Open Source Intelligence Investigations, A. Mukhopadhyay, Sukrit Venkatagiri, K. Luther

Computer Science Faculty Works

Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) investigations, which rely entirely on publicly available data such as social media, play an increasingly important role in solving crimes and holding governments accountable. The growing volume of data and complex nature of tasks, however, means there is a pressing need to scale and speed up OSINT investigations. Expert-led crowdsourcing approaches show promise, but tend to either focus on narrow tasks or domains, or require resource-intense, long-term relationships between expert investigators and crowds. We address this gap by providing a flexible framework that enables investigators across domains to enlist crowdsourced support for discovery and verification of …

Compliance Design Options For Offline Cbdcs: Balancing Privacy And Aml/Cft, Panagiotis Michalopoulos, Odunayo Emmanuel Olowookere, Nadia Pocher, Johannes Sedlmeir, Andreas Veneris, Poonam Puri

Conference Papers

Many central banks are researching and piloting digital versions of fiat money, specifically retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Core to these systems’ design is the ability to perform transactions even without network connectivity. Due to the lack of direct involvement of third parties in these offline transfers, various regulatory requirements that are key in the financial space need to be accommodated. This paper deploys a compliance-by-design approach to evaluate technologies that can balance privacy with anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing (AML/CFT) measures. It classifies privacy design options and corresponding technical building blocks for offline CBDCs, along with their impact …

Understanding The Challenges Of Perspective Transformation In Prison: Biographical Narratives Of Foreign National Students Of A Second Chance School In Greece, Antigoni K. Efstratoglou, George A. Koulaouzides

Journal of Prison Education Research

Education has borne the burden of prisoners’ reform since the early days of modern prison. Several studies attest to its transformative potential, taking a short-term perspective. Rarely the experience of being a student, while incarcerated, is examined in the context of the wider biography. This paper uses perspective transformation theory as a point of departure to study how imprisonment influences adult learning. Building on biographical narratives of ten foreign national students of a Second Chance School at the largest Greek remand establishment, and participant observation of relevant class discussions, we argue that imprisonment impedes perspective transformation, strengthening structural inequalities and …

Volume Cxliii, Number 20, April 26, 2024, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

Equipping Local Pastors To Develop A Comprehensive Chaplaincy Ministry For The Cullman County Sheriff's Office, Matthew W. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Law enforcement officers’ high incidence of suicides and career abandonment is often attributed to work stress and inadequate support. The unmet emotional, physical, and spiritual needs further compound this situation. The researcher addressed the problem of unmet needs by training local pastors to serve as chaplains. Seven deputies, including six males and one female, and ten ministers, including eight males and two females, participated in the program. The training sessions included the following topics: introduction to law enforcement chaplaincy, personal issues LEOs’ battle, ministry of presence, building relationships, the chaplain’s purpose and role, qualities desired in a chaplain, ride-alongs, death …

Priming Through Persuasion: Towards Secure Password Behavior, Rizu Paudel, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

Users tend to create weak passwords even for the important accounts. The prior research shed light on user’s insecure password behavior, and why the interventions, including requirement specification (e.g., password composition policies) and feedback systems (e.g., password meters) fail in practice. To this end, we propose and evaluate the concept: priming-through-persuasion in the realm of secure password creation. In particular, we created visual designs, aimed at priming users about the repercussions of weak passwords before their password creation. We base our designs on two forms of persuasion methods: pathos and logos. Pathos appeals to people’s emotion in order to persuade …

Mall Chevrolet Inc V. General Motors Llc

2024 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Friedrich Lu V. Comcast Cable Communications Llc

2024 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Kathleen Wright-Gottshall V. State Of New Jersey

2024 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Geico V. Mount Prospect Chiropractic Center Pa

2024 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Autism And The Body Of Christ: Understanding, Accommodating, And Accepting Autistic Believers In The Church, Kaitlyn Cook

Senior Honors Theses

Autism is a neurotype that causes a different set of strengths and weaknesses and thus should be embraced and accommodated within the church. Not only are autistic believers able to grasp Christian concepts, but they also have different perspectives and skills that can be instrumental in building up the church. Promoting a correct view of autism and accommodating neurodiversity within the church will allow autistic believers to follow God’s command to be part of a body and build up the church. The church can employ several strategies to create an accessible environment for believers on the spectrum, including creating sensory-safe …

Channel Prediction For Underwater Acoustic Communication: A Review And Performance Evaluation Of Algorithms, Haotian Liu, Lu Ma, Zhaohui Wang, Gang Qiao

Michigan Tech Publications

Underwater acoustic (UWA) channel prediction technology, as an important topic in UWA communication, has played an important role in UWA adaptive communication network and underwater target perception. Although many significant advancements have been achieved in underwater acoustic channel prediction over the years, a comprehensive summary and introduction is still lacking. As the first comprehensive overview of UWA channel prediction, this paper introduces past works and algorithm implementation methods of channel prediction from the perspective of linear, kernel-based, and deep learning approaches. Importantly, based on available at-sea experiment datasets, this paper compares the performance of current primary UWA channel prediction algorithms …

Nampt, Il-6, And Vaspin Gene Expressions And Serum Protein Levels In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus And Related Complication, Süheyla Pınar Çelik, Damla Nur Parıltı, Leyla Açık, Mehmet Muhittin Yalçın, İlhan Yetkin, Eldeniz Yunusov

Turkish Journal of Biology

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is the most common type of diabetes and occurs due to insufficient insulin secretion or inability to use existing insulin and the effects of environmental factors. Although there are many studies on the pathophysiology of T2DM, the mechanisms playing a role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction have not been fully elucidated. Some adipokines secreted from adipose tissue, which are the primary regulators of insulin resistance, affect immune and inflammatory functions. Altered adipokine profiles have been observed in obesity and T2DM, leading to severe metabolic risks and changes in insulin sensitivity. This …

A Cold Laboratory Hyperspectral Imaging System To Map Grain Size And Ice Layer Distributions In Firn Cores, Ian E. Mcdowell, Kaitlin M. Keegan, S. Mckenzie Skiles, Christopher P. Donahue, Erich C. Osterberg, Robert L. Hawley, Hans-Peter Marshall

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are covered in a layer of porous firn. Knowledge of firn structure improves our understanding of ice sheet mass balance, supra- and englacial hydrology, and ice core paleoclimate records. While macroscale firn properties, such as firn density, are relatively easy to measure in the field or lab, more intensive measurements of microstructural properties are necessary to reduce uncertainty in remote sensing observations of mass balance, model meltwater infiltration, and constrain ice age – gas age differences in ice cores. Additionally, as the duration and extent of surface melting increases, refreezing meltwater will greatly alter …

Spectral Properties Of Wetlands In Michigan Using Remote Sensing To Identify And Classify Wetlands In Roscommon County, Michigan, Kolin Williamson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biological, geological, and physical. These are only a handful of the many environmental aspects that wetlands functions maintain and protect. Unfortunately, wetlands within the United States have been razed at an alarming rate. The State of Michigan has not gone through this unscathed either, loosing over 1000 acres of wetland a year. One of the most important tools to prevent this destruction are the maps and programs that show where these essential ecosystems are located. The current, federally-created maps and imaging software in use by environmental consultants and contractors may not be up to date which can pose challenges for …

“It’S Hard For Him To Make Choices Sometimes And He Needs Guidance”: Re-Orienting Parental Control For Children, Prakriti Dumaru, Hanieh Atashpanjeh, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

With access to devices and online platforms at an increasingly younger age, it is essential to protect children from potential online risks. In our studies, we particularly focused the parents who have a child under 13 years of age. To this end, deriving from developmental psychology, we base our low-fidelity prototype design (termed as ‘treatment’) on a set of design principles focusing on open communication, instilling self-regulation, and availing granularity along with designs of existing Google’s parental control as a baseline. First, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 21 parents to understand their perceptions, including suggestions for design improvement within our …

Determining The Role Of Ddr2 In Acquired Chemo-Resistance In Ovarian Cancer, Alyssa Oplt

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer is the 5th leading cause of cancer death in women with a 5-year survival rate around 30%. Up to 80% of ovarian cancer patients experience disease recurrence and the majority of those cases are resistant to treatment. Therefore, there is a need to understand the mechanisms of chemo-resistance in order to create new therapies and increase patient survival. To accomplish this, I first developed novel, chemo-resistant, syngeneic mouse ovarian cancer cell lines by serial passaging ovarian cancer cells through mice and treating with increasing doses of chemotherapy. These cell lines fill a need in the field for matched …

Dissecting The Role Of Chromatin Remodeling In Direct Lineage Reprogramming, Kunal Jindal

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Direct reprogramming, the direct forced conversion of one somatic cell type to another has widespread applications in regenerative medicine. Owing to its highly complex nature, discovery and validation of new factors for direct reprogramming is challenging and many current protocols suffer from low conversion efficiency, failing to create mature cell types comparable to their in vivo counterparts. Recent advances in single-cell have coupled cell ancestry and transcriptomic state measurement in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) assays. In reprogramming and development, these have allowed mapping lineage specific transcriptional changes both before and during cell fate specification. These methods work by encoding lineage …

Linking Reactive Nitrogen Species Within The Vadose Zone With Surface Irrigation, Kaitlyn Richards

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study investigated the relationship between irrigation methods and the mobilization of nitrogen in the vadose zone, focusing on soil properties, water dynamics, and nitrogen species distribution. Data collected from dryland and pivot-irrigated soil cores reveal distinct patterns in water content, bulk density, soil texture, pH, conductivity, and nitrogen concentrations. Results indicated that water content has a major influence in nitrogen availability and microbial activity. Nitrate-N and ammonium-N concentrations varied between dryland and pivot soils, with notable disparities observed. In dryland soils, nitrate-N concentrations varied widely across depth intervals, with notable accumulation in deeper layers, while ammonium-N concentrations exhibited a …

Returning, Exploring, And Developing: A Threefold Cultural Program For Third Culture Kids, Early Adolescents, And School Staff, Natalie Dignoti

Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural & International Education Plan II Graduate Projects

This program takes a threefold approach to addressing the unique needs of third culture kids, early adolescents, and school staff through repatriation support, cultural awareness and exchange, and professional development. An introduction describes the specific characteristics of both third culture kids and early adolescents and defines the purpose of each component of the program. A thorough literature review provides background information and justification for the gaps that the program seeks to fill. For each of the three components, theoretical frameworks illuminate the issues addressed by the program, as well as guiding principles for navigating the target population’s needs. Following each …

Jargon To Jackpot: The Financial Impact Of Infusing Pop Culture References In Social Media, Madelynn Solow

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This research explores the impact of incorporating pop culture references in a company's Twitter feed on the company's stock price. Pop culture is integral to people's everyday lives, providing a sense of familiarity and fun between individuals. Many companies have started leveraging pop culture references on social media platforms like Twitter to establish a relatable and engaging connection with diverse consumer demographics. The primary purpose of this research is to investigate whether this strategy is beneficial within the stock market. It is hypothesized that incorporating pop culture references on Twitter can lead to increased sales and higher stock prices, as …

The Alchemy Of Diversification: A Deep Dive Into The Stock-Bond Correlation, Evan Coffey

Business and Economics Honors Papers

This research delves into the intricate dynamics of the stock-bond correlation, seeking to reveal the underlying factors that drive its fluctuations. Through a comprehensive analysis of empirical data, it investigates the diverse array of influences that contribute to the variability in the relationship between stock and bond returns. Factors such as inflation, unemployment, market volatility, FED policy, and market growth are scrutinized for their impact on altering the correlation pattern. Additionally, the research explores the implications of the stock-bond correlation on portfolio diversification. By explaining the multifaceted nature of the correlation, this study provides valuable insights for investors, policymakers, and …