Digital Commons Network^™

Desert Plant Endophyte Genome Database: A Curated Repository Of Endophytic Bacterial Genomes Across Arid Ecosystems, Sabiha Parween, Arun Prasanna Nagarajan, Amal K. Alghamdi, Abdul Aziz Eida, Feras F. Lafi, Luma Albanna, Nida Salem, Barakat Abu-Irmaileh, Zaid A. Pirzada, Shahid Siddique, Ruben Garrido-Oter, Paul Schulze-Lefert, Maged M. Saad, Heribert Hirt

All Works

Microbial communities associated with desert plants play a pivotal role in enhancing host survival under extreme environmental stressors, including drought, salinity, and nutrient limitation. The Desert Plant Endophyte Microbial Collection is one of the largest curated repositories of 2500 cultivable endophytic bacteria isolated from 23 native desert plant species across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Pakistan. Representing a broad spectrum of arid microhabitats from inland deserts and mountain wadis to coastal mangroves and date palm oases, the collection supports integrative studies on microbial ecology and plant-microbe interactions in water-limited ecosystems. A central component of this initiative is the Desert Plant Endophyte …

Writing From The Rift: Queer Temporality And The Refusal Of Resolution, Daniela Ruiz Perez

Masters Theses

This thesis develops a phenomenological method for reading speculative literature as a site where queer ecological temporality is experienced rather than explained. Working with Annihilation (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer, The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham, and Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals (2020) by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the project treats reading as a bodily practice shaped by forms of attention. Texts are not interpreted for stable meaning and instead I remain with moments where resolution is withheld. The work is informed by a Marxist attention to how capitalist time organizes labor, productivity, and value, and how …

Dna Methyltransferase Inhibitors In Hematological Malignancies And Solid Tumors, Valentin Wenger, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Robert Zeiser, Michael Lübbert

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation play a fundamental role in oncogenesis and the progression of neoplasms neoplasias. DNA methyltransferase inhibitors (DNMTi) constitute a family of therapeutic agents that impede the methylation at the 5-position on cytosine nucleotides, thereby modulating the epigenetic regulation of tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, and other key regulatory genes. The first-generation DNMTi azacitidine and decitabine have demonstrated substantial efficacy in the treatment of medically non-fit, older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) ineligible for intensive chemotherapy (IC), by virtue of their favorable safety profile. Despite these clinical achievements, however, single-agent DNMTi treatment …

Serendipity In Psychiatric Discoveries: Historical Lessons And Future Imperatives For Clinical Observation, Stanley Lyndon, Vineeth P John

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aims and method: Serendipity has driven many of psychiatry's most important treatments, yet contemporary systems may undermine clinicians' ability to notice and develop unexpected therapeutic effects. This selective narrative review synthesises landmark discovery stories, conceptual accounts of serendipity and contemporary case examples to clarify how chance observations become robust advances.

Results: Across historical and modern examples, serendipitous discoveries consistently reflected the interaction of unexpected events with prepared observers working in supportive institutional and research systems. We identify current barriers created by standardised care, funding and trial structures, and professional fragmentation, and outline a multi-level framework for cultivating serendipity through phenomenological …

Bridging Hypoxia And Vision Loss: The Emerging Role Of Connexins In Local And Systemic Eye Diseases, Xianping Zhang, Yalong Cheng, Jean X Jiang, Yuting Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Hypoxic eye diseases represent a pivotal yet often underappreciated contributor to the onset and progression of many retinal disorders. When hypoxia persists or exceeds the tissue's compensatory capacity, it triggers pathological retinal neovascularization, blood-retinal barrier disruption, and neuronal apoptosis, ultimately resulting in irreversible visual impairment. Connexins (Cxs) form gap junction channels and hemichannels and regulate retinal cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival, thereby playing a central regulatory role in the pathogenesis of hypoxic ocular diseases. In addition to gap junctions, Cx hemichannels promote transmission of molecules between intra- and extracellular environments, further influencing retinal homeostasis under hypoxic stress. This review synthesizes …

Epilepsy Disease Classification: A Community Effort To Enhance The Mondo Disease Ontology, Nicole Vasilevsky, Sarah Gehrke, Kathleen Mullen, Subit Barua, Ian Braun, Tobias Brünger, Curtis Coughlin, Alina Ivaniuk, Daniel Korn, Dennis Lal, Stephanie Marsh, Elaine O'Loughlin, Daniel Olson, Yousif Shwetar, Christalena Sofocleous, Vanessa Vogel-Farley, Heidi Grabenstatter, Melissa Haendel, Christopher Mungall, Sabrina Toro

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Motivation: Epilepsy is a diverse group of neurological disorders affecting over 50 million people worldwide. While common epilepsy types are well studied, rare epilepsies-often severe and genetically complex-pose significant challenges in diagnosis, research, and treatment. Accurate and interoperable etiology and disease classifications are critical for improving data sharing, supporting clinical decision-making, and advancing rare disease research.

Results: To enhance the accuracy of epilepsy-related disease concept representation within the Mondo Disease Ontology (Mondo), we conducted a series of expert-driven workshops in collaboration with the team from the Rare Disease Cures Accelerator-Data and Analytics Platform (RDCA-DAP). Specialists in epileptology, genetics, neurodevelopment, biomedical …

Improving Stem Assessments: Strategies For Increasing The Accessibility And Adoption Of Two-Stage Exams, Kristina Callaghan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over three decades of research have shown that students taught using active learning strategies achieve better learning outcomes compared to those taught using traditional methods. Two-stage exams, which pair a traditional exam with a group component, are an increasingly popular method for incorporating active learning within the assessment component of a course. Previous studies have shown this assessment strategy provides a variety of benefits for students, including increased engagement and collaboration, immediate feedback, and potentially increased content retention. However, the unique circumstances of each instructor can pose a non-trivial barrier to the implementation of two-stage exams. In this thesis, we …

Kenyon Collegian - January 15, 2026

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Whole Genome Sequence Analysis Of Pulmonary Function And Copd In 44,287 Multi-Ancestry Participants, Wonji Kim, Lucinda Antonacci-Fulton, Susan K Dutcher, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Whole genome sequence (WGS) data in multi-ancestry samples supports discovery of low-frequency or population-specific genetic variants associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung function.

RESULTS: We performed single variant, structural variant, and gene-based analysis of pulmonary function (FEV

CONCLUSIONS: Large-scale multi-ancestry WGS analysis improves variant discovery and fine-mapping resolution for lung function and COPD and highlights biologically relevant genes and pathways.

The Disintegration Of Fordism And The Transformation Of Black Anti-Semitism In America, 1945-2005, Mark P. Worrell

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Torture And Absolution: The Shadow Twin Towers Of Atro/City, Cynthia Haynes

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

"Say It Loud, I'M Black And I'M Proud": Organizing Since Katrina, Diane Harriford, Becky Thompson

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Saying Something Or Having Something To Say: Attention Seeking, The Breakdown Of Privacy, And The Promise Of Discourse In The Blogosphere, Gloria E. Jacobs

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The Other Frankfurt School, Mark P. Worrell

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Pattern Recognition In Fast Capitalism: Calling Literary Time On The Theorists Of Flux, Paul Taylor

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Biotech Barbeque: A Regulatory Figuration And Policy Making, Rob Shields, Carrie Sanders

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

The Corinthian Twins: The Mystery Behind Naming King Lune’S Sons, Jono Darville

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Michael Ward’s landmark discovery, as outlined in Planet Narnia, unlocked the hidden structure of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Ward persuasively demonstrated that Lewis used the seven planets of medieval cosmology as an organizing principle for the Narnia series. With his discovery firmly in place, Ward has encouraged others to investigate the Narniad for new planetary connections and influences. To that end, in this article, I argue that C.S. Lewis named Cor and Corin after the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians in The Horse and His Boy, as these names are a perfect fit …

What Does Nature Mean In The Abolition Of Man? Or, The Participatory Ontology Behind The Sublime Waterfall, Chris R. Armstrong

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

If Lewis’s Abolition of Man is simply an argument for objective moral value, or what we have called “the natural law,” then why begin with waterfalls that demand of us certain kinds of aesthetic judgment,[1] and end by saying that technocrats who take Nature in their own hands to control others with it have stepped outside of something larger than moral law, viz. the Tao, the Real itself, and thereby lost their very humanity?[2]

What, that is, is Nature in the Abolition? Certainly, it is not nature as construed in philosophical naturalism after Jane Austen, after the advent …

Teaching The Abolition Of Man, Joel Heck, Robert Koons, Josiah Peterson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

The authors also hope that this article will help readers better understand The Abolition of Man and raise the level of interest in teaching this important book in schools, churches, and in many other venues and that many will find here helpful practical ideas for such teaching.

Discovering C. S. Lewis’S Argument From Awe Against Philosophical Naturalism, Piotr Bylica

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Although Clive Staples Lewis’s (1898–1963) works on the intersection of philosophy and religion were aimed at a broader readership and are indeed well-known among the general public, they are also valued among professional philosophers and theologians alike, especially those focusing on the relations between theism, atheism, and naturalism. His three most popular arguments against naturalism are the Argument from Reason, the Moral Argument, and the Argument from Desire. In that context, the present article aims to show that Lewis actually made use of a fourth type of argument against philosophical naturalism that has so far escaped identification. Since this argument …

C. S. Lewis And The Argument From Reason, Elijah Mcclanahan

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

This essay surveys and demonstrates that the "argument from reason" is a dominant methodological theme in the apologetics of C. S. Lewis.

C. S. Lewis And Artificial Intelligence: An Ai Ethics Problem, Justin E. Edgerly

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

This paper demonstrates that the quest for safe and ethical AI is undermined by much of the philosophy, implicit and explicit, in AI literature and undergirding AI research and development. C. S. Lewis’s writings provide a prescient and penetrating critique of this philosophy and point toward a “regenerate science” that addresses the present need for wisdom in AI development. This paper contributes to the field of AI ethics by presenting several Lewisian concerns about the nature, application, and undergirding philosophy of current and future AI technologies, as well as a Lewisian perspective on the requirements for safe and ethical AI.

Divergent Paths: The Spiritual Friendship Of C. S. Lewis And Dom Bede Griffiths, Martha Abele Mac Iver

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

This essay argues that despite their parallel conversion journeys at Oxford and their lifelong friendship, C. S. Lewis and Dom Bede Griffiths ultimately came to different understandings about the relationship between humans and God and what it means to commune with God in what we commonly call prayer. Despite the frequent mention of prayer in their letters, their views of the way in which God was present within them and what communion with God entailed diverged in significant ways as Griffiths sought to integrate Christian and Hindu conceptions of God. Their own spiritual friendship may have survived this rift, but …

The Destiny Of The Mind, East And West, William S. Haas

Hannah Arendt Marginalia - All

London, Faber and Faber [1956]

Call #: B799 .H15 1956

Contais marginalia, underlining and marginal lining

PDF Information: 124 Pages - 63.1 MB

The Helms-Burton Act And The Wto Challenge: Making A Case For The United States Under The Gatt National Security Exception, Klinton W. Alexander

Florida Journal of International Law

This article analyzes the legality of the Helms-Burton Act under the WTO and GATT rules, with particular emphasis on the national security exception and the use of this exception by the United States to justify its policy towards Cuba and its trading partners. Part one describes the contextual background and specific events leading up to the passage of the Helms-Burton Act and its four key provisions. Part II discusses the international reaction to the passage of Helms-Burton and the growing dissatisfaction among the United States major trading partners with the use of unilateral economic sanctions as a primary tool of …

Specialized Translation And Language Teaching In Moroccan Higher Education: Bridging Theory And Practice Through Research In The Human Sciences, Abdelaali Kharmoum

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

In higher education, which has been profoundly transformed by the globalization of knowledge and linguistic diversity, specialized translation has emerged as a key tool for language learning. It goes far beyond the scope of a simple lexical transfer exercise and has established itself as a space for mediation where theory, practice, cognitive reflection, and cultural sensitivity intersect. The rise of digital technologies machine translation, CAT software, and interactive platforms now offers students easy access to specialized corpora, which are essential in highly technical fields such as medicine, law, and applied sciences, where terminological accuracy remains a fundamental requirement. In the …

Economic Activities And Gender Inclusiveness. A Case Of Maize Production In Tanzania And Integrated Research Review, Mirau Ndetaulwa Mbise

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study examines the participation of men and women in agricultural operations. The study aligns appropriately with United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number five and the importance of engendering development regardless of the nation’s development level. Data were gathered using survey questionnaires and Integrated Research Review (IRR) techniques, and the production function was estimated. Results indicate that male-headed households dominated in the study area. A significant increase in maize production was observed, with more women participating. However, women's engagement in crucial agricultural activities was low. IRR indicates that female-headed households produce less compared to male-headed households. Females spent more time …

Anthropological Perspectives On Epilepsy: Exploring Cultural Beliefs And Treatment Practices In Karagwe And Kyerwa Districts, Kagera, Tanzania, Straton Kakoko Ruhinda

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study investigates the cultural beliefs, perceived causes, and treatment practices associated with epilepsy in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of Kagera Region, Tanzania, through an anthropological lens. Using a qualitative case study design, the research explores how traditional and biomedical systems interact in shaping health-seeking behaviors and treatment outcomes among people with epilepsy (PWE). Data were collected through in-depth interviews with PWE, caregivers, biomedical practitioners, and traditional healers, selected via purposive sampling. Thematic analysis revealed that while biomedical practitioners frame epilepsy as a neurological disorder treatable with anti-epileptic drugs, access to consistent care is hindered by structural limitations such as …

The Mono Basin Project: Remedying Environmental Injustice Through Tribal Beneficial Use Designations, Molly Greene

UC Law Environmental Journal

Due to a history of violence, dispossession, and racism, Native American tribes in California face structural disadvantages and inequities with respect to water rights. At the same time, tribes lack meaningful legal remedies to gain access to the water resources necessary to maintain their ways of life. One key issue is that California water agencies traditionally did not consider tribal water uses when implementing water quality control laws, leaving such uses unprotected. For years, tribes have urged the State to fill in these gaps in the law by adopting tribal beneficial uses (“TBUs”), which would protect tribal water uses, such …

The Effects Of Bone-Remodeling Therapy On Survival, Pain, And Skeletal Related Events In The Setting Of Renal Cell Carcinoma With Bone Metastases: A Multicenter Investigation From A Large Global Health Research Network (Trinetx), Brian H. Im, Kevin K. Zarrabi, Aaron R. Hochberg, Mihir M. Shah, Md, James R. Mark, Joseph K. Izes, Patrick T. Gomella, Costas D. Lallas, Leonard G. Gomella, Adam R. Metwalli

Department of Urology Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common renal malignancy-bone metastases (BM) are indicative of aggressive disease with a poor prognosis. We aim to evaluate the overall mortality of patients with RCC with and without BM, and to elucidate the effects of bone-remodeling therapy on mortality, incidence of skeletal-related events, and opioid usage patterns in patients with BM.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using TriNetX, a large, collaborative network sourced from electronic medical records of over 110 million patients from over 100 healthcare organizations. All adult patients with RCC and RCC with BM were queried.

RESULTS: There …