Digital Commons Network^™

Metabolism, Fibrosis, And Apoptosis: The Effect Of Lipids And Their Derivatives On Keloid Formation, Chen-Yu Li, Ru-Xin Xie, Shi-Wei Zhang, Jiao Yun, Ai Zhong, Jun-Jie Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Keloids, pathological scars resulting from skin trauma, have traditionally posed significant clinical management challenges due to their persistence and high recurrence rates. Our research elucidates the pivotal roles of lipids and their derivatives in keloid development, driven by underlying mechanisms of abnormal cell proliferation, apoptosis, and extracellular matrix deposition. Key findings suggest that abnormalities in arachidonic acid (AA) synthesis and non-essential fatty acid synthesis are integral to keloid formation. Further, a complex interplay exists between lipid derivatives, notably butyric acid (BA), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), and the regulation of hyperfibrosis. Additionally, combinations of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with BA …

Tumor Treating Fields Increases Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability And Relative Cerebral Blood Volume In Patients With Glioblastoma, Michael Iv, Lewis Naya, Sajal Sanan, Samuel L Van Buskirk, Seema Nagpal, Lawrence D Recht

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: 200 kHz tumor treating fields (TTFields) is clinically approved for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (nGBM). Because its effects on conventional surveillance MRI brain scans are equivocal, we investigated its effects on perfusion MRI (pMRI) brain scans.

METHODS: Each patient underwent institutional standard pMRI: dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) pMRI at three time points: baseline, 2-, and 6-months on-adjuvant therapy. At each timepoint, the difference between T1 pre- versus post-contrast tumor volume (ΔT1) and these pMRI metrics were evaluated: normalized and standardized relative cerebral blood volume (nRCBV, sRCBV); fractional plasma volume (V

RESULTS: Among 13 pMRI datasets …

Drosophila Tweety Facilitates Autophagy To Regulate Mitochondrial Homeostasis And Bioenergetics In Glia, Kirill Kiselyov

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mitochondria support the energetic demands of the cells. Autophagic turnover of mitochondria serves as a critical pathway for mitochondrial homeostasis. It is unclear how bioenergetics and autophagy are functionally connected. Here, we identify an endolysosomal membrane protein that facilitates autophagy to regulate ATP production in glia. We determined that Drosophila tweety (tty) is highly expressed in glia and localized to endolysosomes. Diminished fusion between autophagosomes and endolysosomes in tty-deficient glia was rescued by expressing the human Tweety Homolog 1 (TTYH1). Loss of tty in glia attenuated mitochondrial turnover, elevated mitochondrial oxidative stress, and impaired locomotor functions. The cellular and organismal …

Inspiring New Science To Guide Healthcare In Turner Syndrome: Rationale, Design, And Methods For The Insights Registry, Wendy J Brickman, Iris Gutmark Little, Karen O Klein, Catherina T Pinnaro, Kelly Ranallo, Marybel Good, Shanlee M Davis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Inspiring New Science to Guide Healthcare in Turner Syndrome (InsighTS) Registry is a national, multicenter registry for individuals with Turner syndrome (TS) designed to collect and store validated longitudinal clinical data from a diverse cohort of patients with TS. Herein, we describe the rationale, design, and approach used to develop the InsighTS registry, as well as the demographics of the initial participants to illustrate the registry's diversity and future utility. Multiple stakeholder groups have been involved from project conceptualization through dissemination, ensuring the registry serves the priorities of the TS community. Key features of InsighTS include recruitment strategies to facilitate …

Pluripotency Of A Founding Field: Rebranding Developmental Biology, Crystal D Rogers, Chris Amemiya, Swathi Arur, Leslie Babonis, Michael Barresi, Richard Behringer, Dominique Bergmann, Ben Blackman, C Titus Brown, Bill Browne, Jasmin Camacho, Chiswili Yves Chabu, Ida Chow, Ondine Cleaver, Jonah Cool, Megan Y Dennis, Alexandra Jazz Dickinson, Stefano Di Talia, Margaret Frank, Stewart Gillmor, Eric S Haag, Iswar Hariharan, Richard Harland, Aman Husbands, Loydie Jerome-Majewska, Kristen Koenig, Carole Labonne, Michael Layden, Chris Lowe, Madhav Mani, Megan Martik, Katelyn Mckown, Cecilia Moens, Christian Mosimann, Joyce Onyenedum, Robert Reed, Ajna Rivera, Dan Rokhsar, Loic Royer, Flora Rutaganira, Rachel Shahan, Neelima Sinha, Billie Swalla, Jaimie M Van Norman, Daniel E Wagner, Athula Wikramanayake, Sophia Zebell, Siobhán M Brady

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The field of developmental biology has declined in prominence in recent decades, with off-shoots from the field becoming more fashionable and highly funded. This has created inequity in discovery and opportunity, partly due to the perception that the field is antiquated or not cutting edge. A 'think tank' of scientists from multiple developmental biology-related disciplines came together to define specific challenges in the field that may have inhibited innovation, and to provide tangible solutions to some of the issues facing developmental biology. The community suggestions include a call to the community to help 'rebrand' the field, alongside proposals for additional …

Azithromycin Reduces Hemoglobin-Induced Innate Neuroimmune Activation, Chirayu D Pandya, Hemendra J Vekaria, Miriam Zamorano, Amanda L Trout, Rodney M Ritzel, Christopher Bolden, John C Gensel, Brandon A Miller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) releases blood products into the lateral ventricles and brain parenchyma. There are currently no medical treatments for IVH and surgery is used to treat a delayed effect of IVH, post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. However, surgery is not a cure for intrinsic brain injury from IVH, and is performed in a subacute time frame. Like many neurological diseases and injuries, innate immune activation is implicated in the pathogenesis of IVH. Innate immune activation is a pharmaceutically targetable mechanism to reduce brain injury and post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus after IVH. Here, we tested the macrolide antibiotic azithromycin, which has immunomodulatory properties, to …

Anatomy Of The Female Reproductive Tract Organs Of The Brown Anole (Anolis Sagrei), Bonnie K Kircher, Edward L Stanley, Richard R Behringer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Female reproduction in squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) is highly diverse and mode of reproduction, clutch size, and reproductive tract morphology all vary widely across this group of ~11,000 species. Recently, CRISPR genome editing techniques that require manipulation of the female reproductive anatomy have been developed in this group, making a more complete understanding of this anatomy essential. We describe the adult female reproductive anatomy of the model reptile the brown anole (Anolis sagrei). We show that the brown anole female reproductive tract has three distinct anterior-to-posterior regions, the infundibulum, the glandular uterus, and the nonglandular uterus. The infundibulum has …

Txnrd1 Drives The Innate Immune Response In Senescent Cells With Implications For Age-Associated Inflammation, Xue Hao, Bo Zhao, Martina Towers, Liping Liao, Edgar Luzete Monteiro, Christina Freeman, Hsin-Yao Tang, Aaron Havas, Andrew V Kossenkov, Shelley L Berger, Peter D Adams, David W Speicher, David Schultz, Ronen Marmorstein, Kenneth S Zaret, Rugang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sterile inflammation, also known as 'inflammaging', is a hallmark of tissue aging. Cellular senescence contributes to tissue aging, in part, through the secretion of proinflammatory factors collectively known as the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). The genetic variability of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1) is associated with aging and age-associated phenotypes such as late-life survival, activity of daily living and physical performance in old age. TXNRD1's role in regulating tissue aging has been attributed to its enzymatic role in cellular redox regulation. Here, we show that TXNRD1 drives the SASP and inflammaging through the cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS)-stimulator of interferon genes (STING) …

Sionx Coating Regulates Mesenchymal Stem Cell Antioxidant Capacity Via Nuclear Erythroid Factor 2 Activity Under Toxic Oxidative Stress Conditions, Neelam Ahuja, Kamal Awad, Su Yang, He Dong, Antonios Mikos, Simon Young, Venu Varanasi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Healing in compromised and complicated bone defects is often prolonged and delayed due to the lack of bioactivity of the fixation device, secondary infections, and associated oxidative stress. Here, we propose amorphous silicon oxynitride (SiONx) as a coating for the fixation devices to improve both bioactivity and bacteriostatic activity and reduce oxidative stress. We aimed to study the effect of increasing the N/O ratio in the SiONx to fine-tune the cellular activity and the antioxidant effect via the NRF2 pathway under oxidative stress conditions. The in vitro studies involved using human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to examine the effect of …

Minimal Information For Studies Of Extracellular Vesicles (Misev2023): From Basic To Advanced Approaches, Joshua A Welsh, Deborah C I Goberdhan, Lorraine O'Driscoll, Edit I Buzas, Cherie Blenkiron, Houjian Cai, Tom A P Driedonks, Uta Erdbrügger, Juan M Falcon-Perez, Qing-Ling Fu, Andrew F Hill, Metka Lenassi, Sai Kiang Lim, Mỹ G Mahoney, Sujata Mohanty, Andreas Möller, Rienk Nieuwland, Takahiro Ochiya, Susmita Sahoo, Ana C Torrecilhas, Lei Zheng, Andries Zijlstra, Sarah Abuelreich, Reem Bagabas, Paolo Bergese, Esther M Bridges, Marco Brucale, Dylan Burger, Randy P Carney, Emanuele Cocucci, Rossella Crescitelli, Edveena Hanser, Adrian L Harris, Norman J Haughey, An Hendrix, Alexander R Ivanov, Tijana Jovanovic-Talisman, Nicole A Kruh-Garcia, Vroniqa Ku'ulei-Lyn Faustino, Diego Kyburz, Cecilia Lässer, Kathleen M Lennon, Jan Lötvall, Adam L Maddox, Elena S Martens-Uzunova, Rachel R Mizenko, Lauren A Newman, Andrea Ridolfi, Eva Rohde, Tatu Rojalin, Andrew Rowland, Andras Saftics, Ursula S Sandau, Julie A Saugstad, Faezeh Shekari, Simon Swift, Dmitry Ter-Ovanesyan, Juan P Tosar, Zivile Useckaite, Francesco Valle, Zoltan Varga, Edwin Van Der Pol, Martijn J C Van Herwijnen, Marca H M Wauben, Ann M Wehman, Sarah Williams, Andrea Zendrini, Alan J Zimmerman, Clotilde Théry, Kenneth W Witwer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year-on-year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non-vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional …

Convergent Mapk Pathway Alterations Mediate Acquired Resistance To Fgfr Inhibitors In Fgfr2 Fusion-Positive Cholangiocarcinoma, Timothy P Diperi, Ming Zhao, Kurt W Evans, Kaushik Varadarajan, Tyler Moss, Michael P Kahle, Huiqin Chen, Sunyoung S Lee, Abdel-Baset Halim, Hiroshi Hirai, Volker Wacheck, Lawrence N Kwong, Jordi Rodon, Milind Javle, Funda Meric-Bernstam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background & aims: There is a knowledge gap in understanding mechanisms of resistance to fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitors (FGFRi) and a need for novel therapeutic strategies to overcome it. We investigated mechanisms of acquired resistance to FGFRi in patients with FGFR2-fusion-positive cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients who received FGFRi therapy and underwent tumor and/or cell-free DNA analysis, before and after treatment, was performed. Longitudinal circulating tumor DNA samples from a cohort of patients in the phase I trial of futibatinib (NCT02052778) were assessed. FGFR2-BICC1 fusion cell lines were developed and secondary acquired resistance …

Immune Evasion, Infectivity, And Fusogenicity Of Sars-Cov-2 Ba286 And Flip Variants, Panke Qu, Kai Xu, Julia N Faraone, Negin Goodarzi, Yi-Min Zheng, Joseph S Bednash, Rama K Mallampalli, Linda J Saif, Eugene M Oltz, Daniel Jones, Richard J Gumina, Shan-Lu Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 requires the reassessment of current vaccine measures. Here, we characterized BA.2.86 and XBB-derived variant FLip by investigating their neutralization alongside D614G, BA.1, BA.2, BA.4/5, XBB.1.5, and EG.5.1 by sera from 3-dose-vaccinated and bivalent-vaccinated healthcare workers, XBB.1.5-wave-infected first responders, and monoclonal antibody (mAb) S309. We assessed the biology of the variant spikes by measuring viral infectivity and membrane fusogenicity. BA.2.86 is less immune evasive compared to FLip and other XBB variants, consistent with antigenic distances. Importantly, distinct from XBB variants, mAb S309 was unable to neutralize BA.2.86, likely due to a D339H mutation based on modeling. BA.2.86 had …

Fashion, Freedom, And Feminism: The Transcendent Work Of Rosa Genoni And Her "Tanagra Dress" Reimagined, Christina Trupiano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The fashion industry itself is broad in scope and dependent upon numerous sub-industries to produce its garments. It is heavily dependent upon machinery of all kinds, yet unlike many industries today, it is still also largely reliant on manual labor, specifically minority women labor. This dependance upon manual labor correlates with its long history of worker exploitation and sweated labor. The concentration of exploitative labor practices in the fashion industry have made it a focal point in the ongoing struggle between workers and the downward pressure capitalism and industrialization placed on worker compensation, quality of life and job security.

This …

Socially Safe On Smartphones: How Smartphone Use Reduces Social Risk Taking, Diogo Koch Alves

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Consumers are often faced with decisions that carry a degree of social risk, with uncertain outcomes that could impact their social standing. Examples include choosing the ideal outfit to wear to an upcoming party or selecting a gift to give to a friend. Given the prevalence of smartphones in consumer decision making, I investigate the effect of smartphone use on social risk taking. Across seven studies, I find that smartphone use, relative to the use of other devices, results in a lower propensity to make socially risky decisions. I propose that smartphone use, by increasing the salience of one’s social …

Power And The Press: Reimagining The World By Producing Information Together, Jen Hoyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study of three collectively-organized activist printing projects examines how information production is a strategy for communities to reimagine and reconfigure oppressive power structures. I consider the High School Student Union and their newspaper, the High School Free Press; the women’s collective that took over RAT Subterranean News; and WIMP, a radical printing collective that broke away from the New York City Students for a Democratic Society chapter and supported a variety of progressive movements in New York City in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This research examines how dissatisfaction with oppressive power structures leads individuals to build collective …

Cinema And Ritual: Decolonial Feminist Approaches To Image-Making In The Americas And The Caribbean, Natalie M. Erazo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis project is composed of an open-access syllabus hosted on a CUNY commons site, as well as a paper that examines various films and texts responding to the theme of cinema and ritual. Referenced films will focus on ritual as a decolonial feminist methodological framework, rooted primarily in Afro-descended and Indigenous cosmovisions within Latin America and the Caribbean. From a dance ritual spell warding off U.S. imperialism in present-day Puerto Rico, to a poetic visual eulogy for murdered women in rural Mexico, to a community prayer to Yemaya bringing relief for water scarcity in Cuba to a cautionary tale …

Stereospecific Cross-Coupling Reactions Of Enantioenriched Secondary Alkyltricyclohexyltin Nucleophiles, Meruyert Binayeva

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Transition metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have evolved into a remarkable instrument for the formation of new bonds, and have significantly impacted how we approach to access complex organic molecules. Palladium is currently one of the most popular elements for catalytic applications due to its ability to facilitate powerful carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom couplings. Traditional Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions have primarily concentrated on C(sp2)-C(sp2) cross-couplings, yielding planar products. Considering the use of C(sp3) nucleophiles would offer a viable control of the three dimensional arrangement in molecules. Herein, the first chapter details the history and development of Pd-catalyzed Stille cross-coupling reactions. The use of configurationally …

A Candidate Needs Approach To Job Advertisements, Yuliya M. Cheban-Gore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Organizations currently lack research-based best practice guidance on what information is most helpful for job seekers when deciding which jobs and organizations to apply to. This lack of guidance is a detriment because, typically, recruitment strategies are designed from the perspective of the organization’s needs –which is effective when the job market is organization, rather than candidate-driven. When the market is candidate-driven, it would benefit organizations to view the recruitment process through the lens of job seekers. The current studies focus on understanding one of the beginning stages of recruitment through the lens of job seekers: job advertisements. Through a …

Mechanistic And Engineering Studies Of Lov Photoreceptors In Yeast, Matthew M. Cleere

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A variety of cellular biosensors have evolved which can translate electromagnetic radiation from the environment into biological functions. Light-Oxygen-Voltage (LOV) domains in particular, are a group of photoreceptors that respond to blue wavelengths of light and can become a cellular photoswitch by converting this stimulus through their attached effector domains. For instance, the Helix-Turn-Helix (HTH) DNA-binding activity of the bacterial transcription factor EL222 and the Regulator of G-protein Signaling (RGS) in the fungal membrane associating protein BcLOV4 are both induced by blue-light sensing LOV domains. While previous work has provided the field with a structural characterization of LOV proteins in …

The Construction Of Victimhood In Human Trafficking Intervention Courts, Lauren Moton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Human trafficking intervention courts (HTICs), specialty courts in the US designed to connect trafficking victims to services when they are arrested, require defendants to identify as victims of human trafficking in order to qualify for HTICs' services and other social supports. However, some defendants may be autonomously trading sex, thereby raising questions about the meaning of the term "victim" within HTICs. Therefore, my study asks the following: a) at the institutional level, how do HTICs’ rules, norms, procedures, and stakeholders implement and give meaning to the “victim” label, and why?; and b) at the individual level, how do people who …

From The Outside Looking In: Transmasculine Narrative Identity, Experiences, And Larger Narratives On Social Media, Micah Roldan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Narrative identity development is an essential process in how individuals perceive themselves and the world around them. Often, narrative identity is studied in cisgender heterosexual individuals and applied to others without the acknowledgment of individuals that fall outside of these categories. Drawing upon existing literature and autoethnography, this thesis aims to meaningfully bridge this gap by studying the narrative identity development of transmasculine individuals through the lens of social media. This thesis proposes that the use of social media to share gender transition journeys has created a new digital trans and queer narrative for users and viewers. This narrative is …

Interracial Instagram: Depictions Of Interracial Couples On Instagram, Christie Sillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines depictions of interracial romantic relationships on Instagram, a popular photo- and video-sharing social networking site. Social networking sites like Instagram, whereby users connect with each other by creating, sharing, and consuming content, are prime sites for sociological study because ideas are constantly being (re)made on them. On Instagram, meaning-making is mainly done through the construction of a profile and the posting of images and/or videos. Using a mixed-methods research design of hashtag analysis, digital ethnography, discourse and image analysis, I critically analyze Instagram profiles that depict interracial romantic relationships. In doing so, I develop a contemporary, social …

Values In Evidence-Based Policy: Bridging Socio-Political, Moral, And Epistemic Domains, Karyna Pryiomka

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Values constitute an inescapable constant of any policymaking or evidence-production process. In this dissertation I explore ways in which socio-political, moral, and epistemic values inform evidence production and use in public higher education policy. In “Chapter One: Introduction and Literature Review”, I provide a brief overview of evidence-based policy as a practice. I then discuss three major categories of values, focusing on higher education examples whenever possible. Finally, I present the central study of this dissertation. The central question of my dissertation is In what ways do epistemic, socio-political, and moral values frame the production and deployment of evidence in …

Regulation Of The Intracellular Trafficking Of Ajuba By Cell Density And Cell Cycle-Dependent Mechanisms, Huanhuan Sun

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The intracellular localization of Ajuba, a LIM domain-containing protein, holds essential value for various cellular activities. Previous studies from the laboratory have implicated Ajuba as a repressor of ATR in human cells. This study focused on unveiling the intricate mechanisms governing Ajuba's localization dynamics through studies of its intracellular trafficking under cell cycle-dependent changes, and responses to cell density. Through targeted deletion experiments, it was found that Ajuba's LIM domain plays an essential role in its nuclear localization, while a nuclear export signal (NES) in its preLIM domain guides its exit from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The essential role …

Cancer In Pajamas: Radio, Podcasts, And The Politics Of Free Time In The Digital Age, Daniel Grjonko

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The podcast, an extremely potent fermentation of the radio which was so central to many of the Frankfurt School thinkers, is an important political subject to consider in light of rekindled social discussions concerning a society straddling the line between fascism and socialism. Especially the political podcast, which has become a pulse of intellectual discussion and historical analysis, promises itself simultaneously as a medium of entertainment, pedagogy, and translation into real-world organizing for a different world, true for both the left and the right. The truth, I propose, is a sinister other experience, one which maintains the status quo …

Visualizing Ancient Empire In Tudor England: Imperial Monarchy, Reformation, And The Antique Soldier In The Title Page To Richard Grafton’S Large Chronicle (1569), Peter Nicholas Otis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis analyzes the iconography and visual sources of the title page to the first volume of A chronicle at large and meere history of the affayres of Englande (1569) by the Tudor author Richard Grafton. Representing the visual synthesis of several distinct but interrelated currents that developed in the preceding century, the title page to the Large Chronicle offers a rare glimpse into a transitional moment in the middle Tudor perception and visual representation of the British past. These currents include imperializing royal iconography, with origins in antecedent representations in the late fifteenth century; the entry of the ‘classicizing’ …

Interviews And Perspectives Among Community Members Working With Undocumented Female Border Crossers In The States Along The United States-Mexico Border, Melissa M. Frasco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In order to discuss immigration in the context of the United States, we must dispel the myth that immigration is monolithic. Therefore, when we discuss national identity, gender equality, policy, employment rates, and countless other ordinary topics, we are discussing immigration, as it is embedded in our history and our future. The goal of my research is to delineate the experiences of violence that female border crossers undergo in the process of crossing into the United States via the southernmost border. The data collection process involved four semi-structured interviews to collect oral histories from workers at community-based organizations. These organizations …

Containerization Of Seafarers In The International Shipping Industry: Contemporary Seamanship, Maritime Social Infrastructures, And Mobility Politics Of Global Logistics, Liang Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation discusses the mobility politics of container shipping and argues that technological development, political-economic order, and social infrastructure co-produce one another. Containerization, the use of standardized containers to carry cargo across modes of transportation that is said to have revolutionized and globalized international trade since the late 1950s, has served to expand and extend the power of international coalitions of states and corporations to control the movements of commodities (shipments) and labor (seafarers). The advent and development of containerization was driven by a sociotechnical imaginary and international social contract of seamless shipping and cargo flows. In practice, this liberal, …

Seeing Safety In Red: Expressions Of Interpersonal Gratitude Affects Conservatives’ Political Attitudes In The United States, Kyle M. Anderson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current research focuses on how the expression of interpersonal gratitude might affect conservative attitudes, behaviors, and policy support in the United States. This was investigated either through expressions of gratitude or receiving gratitude to an interpersonally close other, as in Studies 1 and 2, or expressing gratitude to an authority figure or equal in one’s life, as in Study 3. Study 1 showed that expressing gratitude, relative to receiving gratitude, reduced support for general conservative ideology. Using serial mediation analyses, Study 2 demonstrated that expressions of gratitude, relative to receiving gratitude, directly reduced perceptions of relational uncertainty, which increased …

Knowing The Patient As A Person: Social Media Listening And Gadamerian Analysis Of Nurses’ Expressions Shared During The Covid-19 Global Health Pandemic, Janusz A. Kaleta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: COVID-19 has dramatically changed human-to-human interactions from in-person to the nonhuman domain of virtual space. In January 2021, every 28 seconds one person died of COVID-19 in the United States. An average of 3,100 Americans died each day during the deadliest month of the pandemic. As of January 2023, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the USA surpassed 1.000.000 people. In hospitals, human-to-human interactions were often limited to seeing one’s eyes behind the face shields, and respirator masks, and hearing a muffled voice, or sounds of the ventilators. In New York State 452 nurses died during the pandemic.

Research …