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Ijrtp Volume 12(Iii) Editorial / Introduction, Dr. Taruna

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Editorial / Introduction to Special Issue derived from Papers Presented at International Conference on Religious Tourism (ICRT-2023), held at the Department of Management Studies, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Lucknow, (U.P), India, 27-28 March 2023

January 7, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Materiality Of Traumatic Experience And The Limits Of Representation In Hassan Bani Ameri’S Gonjeshkha Behesht Ra Mifahmand (Sparrows Understand Heaven), Maryam Ghodrati

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

This paper examines the materialization of trauma as both a narrative and embodied phenomenon in Hassan Bani Ameri’s 2006 novel, Gonjeshkha Behesht ra Mifahmand, using contemporary narrative and trauma theory. The postmodernist narrative, told from the perspective of a photojournalist, reconstructs events surrounding the death of a celebrated Iran-Iraq War commander. I argue that traumatic truths resist full integration into conventional frameworks of understanding, evident in the novel’s non-linear, fragmented narrative and its shift from visual realism to confessional surrealism in an ending that challenges traditional storytelling and historical documentation. By vividly simulating the sensory processing of traumatic memories, the …

Nutritional, Phytochemical, And Antimicrobial Properties Of Carica Papaya Leaves: Implications For Health Benefits And Food Applications, Rajni Choudhary, Ravinder Kaushik, Ansab Akhtar, Suvendu Manna, Jyoti Sharma, Aarti Bains

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Papaya leaves (PLs) are known for their therapeutic benefits and traditional use in treating inflammation, infections, and various health conditions. Rich in bioactive compounds, PLs are studied for their potential applications in functional foods. This study analyzed their nutritional, phytochemical, structural, thermal, and antimicrobial properties to evaluate their role as a health-promoting ingredient. METHODS: Phytochemicals were quantified spectrophotometrically and identified via GC-MS. Antioxidant activity was assessed using DPPH and FRAP assays. Mineral content was determined using ICP-OES. Structural and thermal properties were evaluated using FTIR, XRD, and calorimetry, and antimicrobial activity was tested via the agar well diffusion method. …

Ypfs Lessons Learned Oral History Project: An Interview With Francesco Papadia, Francesco Papadia, Mercedes Cardona, Stella Schaefer-Brown

Documents

No abstract provided.

Rpa And Rad27 Limit Templated And Inverted Insertions At Dna Breaks, Yang Yu, Xin Wang, Jordan Fox, Qian Li, Yang Yu, P J Hastings, Kaifu Chen, Grzegorz Ira

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Formation of templated insertions at DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is very common in cancer cells. The mechanisms and enzymes regulating these events are largely unknown. Here, we investigated templated insertions in yeast at DSBs using amplicon sequencing across a repaired locus. We document very short (most ∼5-34 bp), templated inverted duplications at DSBs. They are generated through a foldback mechanism that utilizes microhomologies adjacent to the DSB. Enzymatic requirements suggest a hybrid mechanism wherein one end requires Polδ-mediated synthesis while the other end is captured by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) or by alternative end joining (Alt-EJ). This process is exacerbated …

Student And Physician Views Of How The Dobbs Decision Affects Training And Practice Location Preferences: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study, Morgan S Levy, Simone A Bernstein, Sarah M Mcneilly, Abigail Liberty, Shira Fishbach, Shikha Jain, Jessica A Gold, Vineet M Arora

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: By allowing for abortion bans and restrictions to take effect in the majority of US states, the 2022 Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization decision portends to have lasting impacts on patient care and the physician workforce. Notably, it is already beginning to impact practice location preferences of US health care workers, evidenced by declining application rates to residency programs in abortion-restrictive states since 2022. Yet, there remains a gap in the literature regarding why this trend exists.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe what factors are driving the practice location preferences of medical students and physicians after the …

Modulation Of Stemness And Differentiation Regulators By Valproic Acid In Medulloblastoma Neurospheres, Natália Hogetop Freire, Alice Laschuk Herlinger, Julia Vanini, Matheus Dalmolin, Marcelo A C Fernandes, Carolina Nör, Vijay Ramaswamy, Caroline Brunetto De Farias, André Tesainer Brunetto, Algemir Lunardi Brunetto, Lauro José Gregianin, Mariane Da Cunha Jaeger, Michael D Taylor, Rafael Roesler

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Changes in epigenetic processes such as histone acetylation are proposed as key events influencing cancer cell function and the initiation and progression of pediatric brain tumors. Valproic acid (VPA) is an antiepileptic drug that acts partially by inhibiting histone deacetylases (HDACs) and could be repurposed as an epigenetic anticancer therapy. Here, we show that VPA reduced medulloblastoma (MB) cell viability and led to cell cycle arrest. These effects were accompanied by enhanced H3K9 histone acetylation (H3K9ac) and decreased expression of the MYC oncogene. VPA impaired the expansion of MB neurospheres enriched in stemness markers and reduced MYC while increasing TP53 …

How Research Into Citizenship Education At University Might Enable Transformative Human Rights Education, Piers Von Berg

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article presents a new research design for pedagogical research at university. The design demonstrates how personal and cultural citizenship education can be a form of transformative human rights education by nurturing citizens who challenge patterns of exclusion. It draws on shared traditions of citizenship and human rights education that have focused on lived experiences of injustice and uses spaces that mitigate prevailing power structures. These ideas have shaped a new pedagogical action research design that uses theories and practices of transformational learning, authentic reflection, and participatory theatre to stimulate ‘becomings’ in civic identity and agency. ‘Becoming’ is a form …

The C-Terminal Phdvc5hch Tandem Domain Of Nsd2 Is A Combinatorial Reader Of Modified H3k4 And Tri-Methylated H3k27 That Regulates Transcription Of Cell Adhesion Genes In Multiple Myeloma, Andrea Berardi, Charlotte Leonie Kaestner, Michela Ghitti, Giacomo Quilici, Paolo Cocomazzi, Jianping Li, Federico Ballabio, Chiara Zucchelli, Stefan Knapp, Jonathan Licht, Giovanna Musco

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Histone methyltransferase NSD2 (MMSET) overexpression in multiple myeloma (MM) patients plays an important role in the development of this disease subtype. Through the expansion of transcriptional activating H3K36me2 and the suppression of repressive H3K27me3 marks, NSD2 activates an aberrant set of genes that contribute to myeloma growth, adhesive and invasive activities. NSD2 transcriptional activity also depends on its non-catalytic domains, which facilitate its recruitment to chromatin through histone binding. In this study, using NMR, ITC and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the tandem PHD domain of NSD2 (PHDVC5HCHNSD2) is a combinatorial reader of unmodified histone H3K4 and tri-methylated H3K27 …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Bimetallic Plasmonic Nanoparticles Using Linear And Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Daniel Babayode

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent exploration in the field of nanomaterials has led to the investigation of noble metal nanoparticles for various nanomedical applications. The spectroscopy of these nanoparticles is studied using both linear and nonlinear optical processes such as second harmonic generation (SHG), two-photon fluorescence (TPF), and extinction spectroscopy. Details pertaining to the growth dynamics of silver-gold core-shell (Ag@Au CS) nanoparticles (NPs) and gold-silver-gold core-shell-shell (Au@Ag@Au CSS) nanoparticles (NPs) are currently being investigated in order to obtain better control and optimization of the nanoparticle size and surface morphology. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that the nanoparticles have tunable core and shell sizes …

The Link January 7, 2025, Access To Justice Institute

The Link Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Development Of Cardiac Tissue Chip Platforms For In Vitro Modeling Of Myocardial Fibrosis, Caleb Graham

All ETDs from UAB

Myocardial fibrosis often accompanies cardiovascular disease of varying etiologies. Initial reparative myocardial remodeling following insult, characterized by fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transdifferentiation and myofibroblast-mediated collagen deposition, can become a chronic, maladaptive process if injurious stimuli are not removed and inflammation persists, and the resultant fibrosis worsens cardiac function through myocardial stiffening and arrhythmogenic disruption of cardiomyocyte coupling. There are no FDA-approved therapies targeting myocardial fibrosis, in large part due to the complexity of the disease process. In vitro models can serve as useful complements to in vivo studies as they allow for significantly greater control over experimental variables. Cardiac tissue chips (CTCs) are …

Voices From Rural Classrooms: African American Girls’ Middle School Experiences And Engagement With Science, Malysa Chandler

All ETDs from UAB

Although the number of women pursuing science careers has increased, there is still a very low representation of African American women in science-related professions. In effort to ignite the interest of African American women in science-related careers, a shift will need to take place in the pedagogical practices of middle school teachers that will increase African American girls’ engagement in science. This shift in pedagogical practices will require the conjoining efforts of informal science programs that operate under the same pedagogical practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the middle years science experiences of African American girls …

Sialylation Of Tnfr1 By St6gal1 Modulates Receptor Dynamics And Determines Cell Fate, Jihye Hwang

All ETDs from UAB

Abnormal glycosylation has long been identified as a key feature of cancer. Aberrant glycan structures on tumor cells arise from the dysregulation of select glycosyltransferases. For example, sialyltransferase ST6GAL1 is notable for its high expression in various cancers, including breast, colon, ovarian, and pancreatic. ST6GAL1 introduces α2-6-linkage sialylation to N-glycans on proteins, endowing cancer cells with stem cell-like properties. This modification contributes to resistance to apoptosis mediated by death receptors like TNFR1. Despite its significance in cancer, the regulatory mechanisms controlling ST6GAL1 expression remain largely unexplored. Additionally, it is unclear whether the apoptosis-resistant effect of sialylation is caused by an …

Development Of Momordica Saponin-Based Vaccine Adjuvants, Hyunjung Kim

All ETDs from UAB

Vaccine adjuvants are indispensable substances that help induce a fast, potent, and durable immune response when administered with vaccine antigens. Among the FDA-approved vaccine adjuvants for human use, three of the most recently approved ones contain saponin adjuvant QS-21. To address QS-21’s inherent drawbacks, we investigated the adjuvant activity of a series of saponin-based semisynthetic vaccine adjuvants, including VSA-1 and VSA-2, prepared from natural Momordica saponins I and II in one-step. The natural saponins precursors are isolated from the widely available and inexpensive seeds of Momordica cochinchinensis SPRENG. In general, VSA adjuvants can enhance both humoral and cellular immune responses …

Keep Your Head Up King, Your Crown Is Slippin': An Anti-Deficit Critical Phenomenological Analysis Of Black Male Stem Educators' Experiences, Desmond R. Parker

All ETDs from UAB

Black males comprise approximately 3% to 5% of the overall K-12 teaching workforce. The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are overrepresented in this shortage. This research project aimed to shed light on the experiences of Black male STEM educators to better understand what garnered their interests in STEM, and what ultimately led them to step into the STEM classroom. This study used a critical anti-deficit framework and hermeneutic phenomenological philosophy to understand the experiences of 10 Black male STEM educators in Alabama ranging from three to 30 years of teaching experience. Research data were collected through two semi-structured …

Women In The Workplace: Part 1: Utahns’ Awareness, Understanding, And Attitudes, Susan R. Madsen, Kolene Anderson

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

During the fall of 2023, Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) researchers conducted a statewide study to establish a baseline for public perceptions related to the awareness, understanding, and attitudes about challenges that Utah women and girls face. In early 2024, we published 20 short research summaries¹ that shared the results of this comprehensive study. Then, in the fall of 2024, we administered this survey, with slight changes, around the state of Utah for the second time. This is the first of six white papers to share the results of the new data.

Overall, this comprehensive study was designed …

A Survey On Food Ingredient Substitutions, Hyunwook Kim, Revathy Venkataramanan, Amit P. Sheth

Publications

Diet plays a crucial role in managing chronic conditions and overall well-being. As people become more selective about their food choices, finding recipes that meet dietary needs is important. Ingredient substitution is key to adapting recipes for dietary restrictions, allergies, and availability constraints. However, identifying suitable substitutions is challenging as it requires analyzing the flavor, functionality, and health suitability of ingredients. With the advancement of AI, researchers have explored computational approaches to address ingredient substitution. This survey paper provides a comprehensive overview of the research in this area, focusing on five key aspects: (i) datasets and data sources used to …

Development Of Sacb-Based Counterselection For Efficient Allelic Exchange In Fusobacterium Nucleatum, Peng Zhou, Bibek G C, Bo Hu, Chenggang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Fusobacterium nucleatum, prevalent in the oral cavity, is significantly linked to overall human health. Our molecular comprehension of its role in oral biofilm formation and its interactions with the host under various pathological circumstances has seen considerable advancements in recent years, primarily due to the development of various genetic tools for DNA manipulation in this bacterium. Of these, counterselection-based unmarked in-frame mutation methods have proved notably effective. Under suitable growth conditions, cells carrying a counterselectable gene die, enabling efficient selection of rare, defined allelic exchange mutants. The sacB gene from Bacillus subtilis, encoding levansucrase, is a widely used …

(Missed) Opportunities To Build Solidarity: A Critical Analysis Of Spanish-English Bilingual Children’S Books, Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, Allison Briceño

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Two-way dual language (TWDL) programs have traditionally served white and non-Black Latinx students, with limited attention to other cultures and races. This limitation can result in the erasure of Afro-Latinx culture from bilingual programs. This study explores the ways Black characters are represented in bilingual picturebooks, which can serve to perpetuate or combat anti-blackness within bilingual education. We completed a critical content analysis of Spanish-English bilingual picturebooks that include Black or Afro-Latinx characters, employing LatCrit and BlackCrit theoretical frameworks to explore how Black characters are positioned. Findings show a significant dearth of bilingual books that include Black or Afro-Latinx characters. …

Issue Thirty Two Full Text

SIGNED: The Magazine of The Hong Kong Design Institute

No abstract provided.

Review Of: Women Talking [Film]—Sarah Polley, Rebecca Janzen

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Women Talking (directed by Sarah Polley) is a film that was released in 2022 and is based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name. Both the film and the novel are, in turn, based on events that took place in the early 2000s in Manitoba Colony, Bolivia, where Old Colony Mennonite men raped and assaulted women and girls in their own community. This review contextualizes the movie by explaining Old Colony Mennonite beliefs, religious practices, and migrations, and then it summarizes the film and offers some thoughts about outsiders’ fascination with the film. [First paragraph.]

Review Of: Fooling With The Amish: Amish Mafia, Entertaining Fakery, And The Evolution Of Reality Tv—Dirk Eitzen, Stewart M. Hoover

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

In a way, this book takes on a rather banal and straightforward task: a scholarly account of the very curious phenomenon known as “Amish Reality Television.” This genre is an easy mark for critique by the serious-minded scholar or observer of contemporary religion. These programs, including Amish in the City, Breaking Amish, Return to Amish, and Amish Mafia (there are others) are far from authentic representations of their subject matter, and for anyone who knows much about Amish or Pennsylvania German culture, the poetic license of these productions is obvious. Amish culture and life have always been open to this …

Symposium Review: Strictly Observant: Amish And Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Women Negotiating Media [2nd Ed], Emma Rosenberg, Sheila Petre

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Far too often, female agency within strictly observant religious groups is dismissed. Especially in secular scholarship, the perceived voicelessness of these women remains largely unchallenged. Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar’s sophisticated and compelling book, Strictly Observant: Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Women Negotiating Media, destroys this superficial and monolithic understanding. Using media consumption as a lens, Neriya-Ben Shahar reveals the pivotal role that Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish women play in safeguarding their communities from the threats of secularism and immorality. [First paragraph.]

Riding The Wave: Tech Tsunami'S Rhetoric Enables Plain Anabaptist Adopters, Cory Anderson

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Arguably, no book has shaped plain Anabaptist discourse about technology more than Gary Miller’s Tech Tsunami. Since its 2016 publication, the book has achieved near-canonical status within certain Conservative and Old Order Anabaptist circles, particularly among business owners wrestling with technology adoption. The book’s influence extends beyond the original text—an audiobook and a youth edition (Tech Talk, 2021) circulate widely, discussion groups form around its ideas, and its vocabulary infiltrates conversations about church rules. The book’s success builds on Miller’s existing platform; his works Kingdom Focused Finances, Church Matters, and Life in a Global Village helped establish him as a …

Symposium Review: Virtually Amish: Preserving Community At The Internet’S Margins—Lindsay Ems, Harry Argo, Dan Raber, Jonathan Stoll

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Ems’s book, “Virtually Amish,” is a significant contribution to research on Amish survival and how the Amish continue to endure the influence of modernized technological capitalism on their faith, values, and way of life. The underlying questions address not only whether increased exposure to digitization will accelerate their assimilation but, more significantly, how they are able to address such challenges. [First paragraph.]

Symposium Review: Facing Infotainment Technologies: Evolution Beyond Human [2nd Ed], Steven Yoder, Gerald Mast, Karlin High

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

Daniel Mast offers a very detailed review of the ever-changing world of information technology and entertainment. The book opens by addressing the pleasure and entertainment aspects of technology and later focuses on how technology has become more advanced and has the potential to be used to monitor and control people. The intended audience is the plain Mennonite, Amish, and Brethren people. He writes from the perspective that the Bible is the final authority and cites many Biblical verses to make his case clear; the Bible gives reason for concern about the infotainment flood. As well as the Bible, the author …

Migration, Trauma, And Tweeback: Perspectives On Russian Mennonite Identity In Elina Penner’S Novel Nachtbeeren, Berit Jany

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, a group of about 2.5 million Russia Germans immigrated to Germany, benefiting from the German law that recognizes citizenship to ethnic Germans who arrived in the territory as late ethnic Germans resettlers. Including their children, this subset of Germany’s population now numbers about 3.5 million, and about 350.000 Russia Germans have a Mennonite background. Of the 500.000 Plautdietsch-speaking people worldwide, about 200,000 of them live in Germany. In her debut novel, Nachtbeeren, the author Elina Penner illuminates the everyday life of German Mennonites from the Soviet Union and the successor …

‘We Wish To Keep A Wall Of Reserve’: Modesty Practice And Discourse Within Old Order Amish And Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities, Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

This study advances our understanding of modesty practices within religious groups by examining mixed-gender groups among Old Order Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. Through ethnographic participant observation and semi-structured interviews, my research addresses three questions central to understanding modesty practices: How do members of these religious bodies define and enforce acceptable practices of modesty and body management in mixed-gender settings? What mechanisms transmit written and unwritten rules within these groups? And how do religious leaders and texts shape modesty discourse and practices? Drawing on Hobsbawm’s differentiation between old and invented traditions, this comparative analysis reveals …