Digital Commons Network^™

Pursuit Of Precision Medicine: Systems Biology Approaches In Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Models., Brianna Gurdon, Catherine Kaczorowski

Faculty Research 2021

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex disease that is mediated by numerous factors and manifests in various forms. A systems biology approach to studying AD involves analyses of various body systems, biological scales, environmental elements, and clinical outcomes to understand the genotype to phenotype relationship that potentially drives AD development. Currently, there are many research investigations probing how modifiable and nonmodifiable factors impact AD symptom presentation. This review specifically focuses on how imaging modalities can be integrated into systems biology approaches using model mouse populations to link brain level functional and structural changes to disease onset and progression. Combining imaging …

Supervised Learning With Word Embeddings Derived From Pubmed Captures Latent Knowledge About Protein Kinases And Cancer., Vida Ravanmehr, Hannah Blau, Luca Cappelletti, Tommaso Fontana, Leigh Carmody, Ben D Coleman, Joshy George, Justin Reese, Marcin Joachimiak, Giovanni Bocci, Peter Hansen, Carol J Bult, Jens Rueter, Elena Casiraghi, Giorgio Valentini, Christopher Mungall, Tudor I Oprea, Peter N Robinson

Faculty Research 2021

Inhibiting protein kinases (PKs) that cause cancers has been an important topic in cancer therapy for years. So far, almost 8% of >530 PKs have been targeted by FDA-approved medications, and around 150 protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs) have been tested in clinical trials. We present an approach based on natural language processing and machine learning to investigate the relations between PKs and cancers, predicting PKs whose inhibition would be efficacious to treat a certain cancer. Our approach represents PKs and cancers as semantically meaningful 100-dimensional vectors based on word and concept neighborhoods in PubMed abstracts. We use information about phase …

Efficacy And Safety Of Avapritinib In Advanced Systemic Mastocytosis: Interim Analysis Of The Phase 2 Pathfinder Trial, Jason Gotlib, Andreas Reiter, Stephen T Oh, Et Al

Open Access Publications

Advanced systemic mastocytosis (AdvSM) is a rare, KIT D816V-driven hematologic neoplasm characterized by mast cell infiltration and shortened survival. We report the results of a prespecified interim analysis of an ongoing pivotal single-arm phase 2 trial (no. NCT03580655 ) of avapritinib, a potent, selective KIT D816V inhibitor administered primarily at a once-daily starting dose of 200 mg in patients with AdvSM (n = 62). The primary endpoint was overall response rate (ORR). Secondary endpoints included mean baseline change in AdvSM-Symptom Assessment Form Total Symptom Score and quality of life, time to response, duration of response, progression-free survival, overall survival, changes …

Clemson Commencement Program, December 2021, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Bostock Was Bogus: Textualism, Pluralism, And Title Vii, Mitchell N. Berman, Guha Krishnamurthi

Notre Dame Law Review

In Bostock v. Clayton County, one of the blockbuster cases from its 2019 Term, the Supreme Court held that federal antidiscrimination law prohibits employment discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Unsurprisingly, the result won wide acclaim in the mainstream legal and popular media. Results aside, however, the reaction to Justice Neil Gorsuch’s majority opinion, which purported to ground the outcome in a textualist approach to statutory interpretation, was more mixed. The great majority of commentators, both liberal and conservative, praised Justice Gorsuch for what they deemed a careful and sophisticated—even “magnificent” and “exemplary”—application of textualist principles, …

(R1523) Abundant Natural Resources, Ethnic Diversity And Inclusive Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Mathematical Approach, Juliet I. Adenuga, Kazeem B. Ajide, Anthonia T. Odeleye, Abayomi A. Ayoade

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The sub-Saharan African region is blessed with abundant natural resources and diverse ethnic groups, yet the region is dominated by the largest number of poor people worldwide due to inequitable distribution of national income. Existing statistics forecast decay in the quality of lives over the years compared to the continent of Asia that shares similar history with the region. In this paper, a-five dimensional first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations was formulated to give insight into various factors that shaped dynamics of inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa. The validity test was performed based on ample mathematical theorems and the model was …

Adrenocortical Attunement, Reactivity, And Potential Genetic Correlates Among Parent-Daughter Dyads From Low-Income Families, Jennifer Byrd-Craven, Michael M. Criss, Jessica L. Calvi, Lixian Cui, Amanda Baraldi, Amanda Sheffield Morris

Athletic Performance Research

Examining the multitude of influences on the development of adolescent stress responses, especially among low-income families, is a critical and understudied topic in the field. The current study examined cortisol attunement between adolescent girls and parents (mostly mothers) from predominantly low-income, single parent, ethnic minority families before and after an in-laboratory disagreement discussion task. The sample consisted of 118 adolescents (M_age = 13.79 years, 76.3% ethnic minorities, 23.7% European Americans) and primary caregivers (M_age = 40.62 years; Mdn yearly income = $24,000; 43.2% single parents; 50% living below poverty line). We investigated oxytocin receptor (OXTR rs53576) …

Physical Activity May Mitigate Covid-19 Infections In People With Obesity: A Call To Action., Christina D Economos, William H. Dietz, Kathleen Tullie, James F Sallis

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Apache Science Team, Denise L. Jameson

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

Sanger High school has the unique opportunity to offer a wide array of classes and pathways for students to take so that they can meet their educational goals of graduation the move on to higher education or starting a career right out of high school. Students have all these opportunities and benefits to have a strong start out of high school, but ultimately students are unaware of what jobs are related to those choices or pathways that they have decided to take part in. Apache Science Team allows for students to experience and learn about many different careers and opportunities …

Fragments Of The Self, Jessica Swank

All Theses

This body of work addresses humanity’s relationship with digital technology from a personal perspective. Through constructed photography and sculptural work, I point to the connections between humans, machines, and nature, emphasizing the blurred lines between each of these entities. By revealing overlaps and associations between them, I seek to reconcile digital connection and emotional connection. I believe reconciliation may come through the acknowledgment of digital technology’s influence, and the subversion of convenience for the sake of quality human connections.

The images within this series reside at the intersection of self-portraiture and documentary. A dialogue is formed between the subjects through …

Understanding Differences In Underrepresented Minorities And First-Generation Student Perceptions In The Introductory Biology Classroom, Jacob Jantzer, Thomas W. Kirkman, Katherine L. Furniss

Biology Faculty Publications

We used quantitative methods to better understand the perceptions of students in an introductory biology course (Biology 101) at a small, liberal arts college (SLAC) that is also a primarily white institution (PWI). In pre/post surveys, we asked students questions related to their attitudes and beliefs about their professor, classmates, and Biology 101. We were especially interested in the responses and outcomes of underrepresented minorities (URM) and first-generation (FG) students. Our findings suggest URM and FG students have a decreased sense of belonging and increased perceptions of exclusion and differential treatment due to race. These findings can explain, in part, …

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report - Grace M. Davis Agriculture Department, Joshua S. Aguilar

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outlines the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Grace M. Davis High School, the agriculture program, and the community.

Black And Bold Zine, Ramsey Bennani, Mariela Mariano, Britaney Mckinney, Natalia Muro

Student Zines

Two years into the pandemic caused by COVID-19, an unprecedented health crisis that has caught us al l off guard, we look back at how the world has changed since then and in what direction we are moving now.

The purpose of our magazine in the fol lowing pages is to delve into the social, political and economic dimensions of the coronavirus crisis, with special emphasis on the effects this devastating pandemic has had on the African-American community in the United States.

The future will depend on how we react to this event. Solidarity, leadership and generosity as an effective …

Validation Of Landsat 8 High Resolution Sea Surface Temperature Using Surfers, Quinton Vanhellemont, Robert J. W. Brewin, Philip J. Bresnahan, Tyler Cyronak

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Nearshore coastal waters are highly dynamic in both space and time. They can be difficult to sample using conventional methods due to their shallow depth, tidal variability, and the presence of breaking waves. High resolution satellite sensors can be used to provide synoptic views of Surface Temperature (ST), but the performance of such ST products in the nearshore zone is poorly understood. Close to the shoreline, the ST pixels can be influenced by mixed composition of water and land, as a result of the sensor’s spatial resolution. This can cause thermal adjacency effects due to the highly different diurnal temperature …

Domestic Relations, Andrew B. Mcclintock, Allison C. Ellison

Mercer Law Review

This Article addresses significant case law and legislative updates to Georgia domestic relations law that arose during the Survey period from June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2021. Notably, this period includes the state of emergency declared by the Governor and statewide judicial emergency declared by Chief Justice Harold D. Melton on March 14, 2020, in response to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state of Georgia during the first quarter of 2020. The majority of litigation deadlines were reinstated effective July 13, 2020, as part of the Fourth Order Extending Statewide Judicial Emergency issued by the …

Complete Modeling Of The Chondrogenic Environment Under Continuous Low-Intensity Ultrasound, Heather Newell

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Articular cartilage is an avascular tissue that requires therapeutic intervention methods. This work answers the following: determine transducer operation to optimize the bioeffects; calculate the magnitude of pressure exerted on chondrocytes at an injury site; and confirm the theoretical findings by an animal model.

Earlier work has shown that cellular response to US is maximized at the resonance frequency of the cells. Resonance frequencies were calculated for chondrocytes in various layers. The latter configuration closest resembles in vivo conditions and the resonance occurred at 3.8±0.3 ������. The 3D model of US propagation in a rabbit knee was constructed from MRIs …

The Mar-Portugal Plan: How Portugal's Action Plan To Transition Into A Maritime Economy May Prove Challenging Witihn The Current International Regulatory Framework For Deep Sea Mining, Sebastian Blanco

Journal of International Business and Law

No abstract provided.

Implications Of Condition Shifts On Shallow Lakes, Alicia Skolte

Biology Graduate Theses

Shallow lakes have undergone condition shifts throughout time by natural causes, management actions, or a combination of the two. Because shallow lakes are especially vulnerable to shifts towards turbid conditions, management actions on shallow lakes have focused on water level/retainment, biomanipulations, the management/removal of non-native species, and land-use changes. This review compiles a summary on ecosystem shifts including a discussion on the frequency of shifts historically and the importance and causes of those shifts, trophic cascades, and the influence of introduced species in shallow lakes. This review will then examine case-studies of management-linked shifts and explain current shift theory. Next, …

Feeding Patterns And Diet Overlap Of Muskellunge And Co-Occurring Piscivores In Minnesota Lakes, Kamden Glade

Biology Graduate Theses

Muskellunge Esox masquinongy are the largest member of the family Esocidae found in Minnesota and are managed for trophy angling opportunities with large minimum size requirements, limited harvest, and stocking to support existing populations or expand angling opportunities. While Muskellunge impacts at the community level appear minimal based on available literature, relatively little is known about Muskellunge diets, eat the le particularly in Minnesota. In this study, we used gastric lavage to examine gut contents of Muskellunge, Northern Pike Esox lucius, Walleye Sander vitreus, and Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides. Diets were quantified using an index of relative importance (IRI) and …

Synthesis, Characterization And Tribological Properties Of Mo-Dlc, Tirth Ashishbhai Patel

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Diamond like carbon (DLC) films have been extensively used in a wide range of applications over the last decade due to their excellent mechanical and tribological properties. Metallic elements are used to dope DLC films in an effort to overcome some DLC limitations and make it compatible to use it in larger variety of applications. This study focuses on the effect of different processing parameters on DLC deposition, and the effect of Mo content on microstructure, mechanical and tribological properties. Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) technique coupled with magnetron sputtering is used in chamber atmosphere composed of CH4 and …

Relating Linear And Rotational Accelerations With Internal Pressures Developed Inside Human Head Surrogate Models, Arthur Thomas Koster

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a chronic disease process that is difficult to both detect and treat. TBI can result from blast, kinetic, sonic, and electromagnet energy sources. This research focuses on correlating the bulk acceleration of a human-like head model to the localized internal pressure developed in the coup and contrecoup regions due to variable impact loading. Damage resulting in a TBI occurs on a multiscale level from the macroscale down to the damage of each individual neuron. Obtaining a relationship between bulk acceleration and localized internal pressure will allow for further correlation to the damage done on these …

The Effects Of Snagcu Solder Interconnect Package’S Parameters On Electromigration Failure Mechanisms, Yi Ram Kim

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The primary concern of this dissertation is the electromigration (EM) failure mechanism found in Sn-Ag-Cu (SAC) solder alloys integrated in WCSP (wafer-level chip scale package) packaging structure and factors affecting the failure mechanisms. To the end, accelerated electromigration (EM) tests are conducted on SnAgCu (SAC) solder interconnects in wafer-level chip scale packages (WCSPs or WLCSPs) with different package structures and use-condition parameters. The package structure parameters include different under bump metallization (UBM) thicknesses, Sn grain orientation, while the various in use conditions includes pulsed direct current (DC), and alternating current (AC). The major findings made in the studies are presented …

Designing And Advancing Contrast Agents For Ultrasound-Switchable Fluorescence Imaging, Yang Liu

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Fluorescence imaging is a remarkable tool for molecular targeting and multicolor imaging, but it suffers from poor resolution in centimeters-deep tissues. The recently developed ultrasound-switchable fluorescence (USF) imaging has overcome this challenge and achieved in vivo imaging with the help of the indocyanine green (ICG)-encapsulated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (ICG-PNIPAM) contrast agent. As USF imaging advances, there is a great demand to expand the contrast agent bank so that applications can be achieved using different types of contrast agents. Also, there is a need to improve the current ICG-PNIPAM nanogel. This study focused on improving the ICG-PNIPAM nanogel, formulating a novel contrast agent, …

Assessment Of Stormwater Infrastructure For Mitigating Flooding And Non-Point Source Pollution, Helia Farzaneh

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Flooding is the top natural hazard impacting coastal and inland communities in Texas. Beyond its destructive impact on rising waters in communities, flooding-induced stormwater negatively affects the quality of large bodies of water. Stormwater runs over land, washes off pollutants, and deposits them into rivers which causes water quality issues in bays and estuaries. In addition, the stormwater increases nutrients, sediments, oxygen-demanding substances, pathogens, and toxins which results in hypoxia in the aquatic system. During the last 5-6 years, severe storm events such as Tropical Storm Beta (September 2020), Tropical Storm Imelda (September 2019), Hurricane Harvey (August 2017) have caused …

Learning To Swim: An Exploration Of The Terrestrial To Aquatic Transition In Elapids (Squamata: Elapidae), Justin Lawrence Jacobs

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Elapidae is an extremely diverse family of venomous snake that have a nearly global distribution. To conquer such wide swaths of territory the initially fossorial snakes evolved many successful strategies pertaining to reproduction, locomotion, and predation techniques. Here I explore the multiple transitions of terrestrial to aquatic life through a high-density 3D geometric morphometric methodology conducted upon five large datasets of computed tomography (CT) data. This occurs primarily through the comparison of the genus of New World coralsnakes, Micrurus, with sea snakes of Hydrophis and Laticauda and is informed by a scale created to document and classify the disparate life …

Diversity Of The Fanged-Frog Complex, Limnonectes Kuhlii (Anura: Dicroglossidae) On The Mountainous Regions Of Java And Sumatra, Indonesia, Thornton Robert Larson

Biology Dissertations - Archive

The cryptic species complex, Limnonectes kuhlii, previously was considered to have a large range across Southeast Asia. Recent works have started to identify species within the complex using primarily genetic methodologies. The largest absence in elucidating these relationships comes down to sampling. Traditionally sampling across Southeast Asia has been challenging, limiting sampling across the entirety of a species range. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Indonesia. Indonesia has been highlighted as a biogeographical hotspot for species despite limited sampling on any of the main or smaller islands across the archipelago. Countries such as Malaysia and Papua New Guinea that …

Spatiotemporal Variability Of Fishery‐Dependent Indices For The Declining Louisiana Southern Flounder Fishery, David R. Smith, Michael A. Dance, Joe West, Stephen R. Midway

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Body Size, Trophic Position, And The Coupling Of Different Energy Pathways Across A Saltmarsh Landscape, Friedrich W. Keppeler, Jill A. Olin, Paola C. López‐Duarte, Michael J. Polito, Linda M. Hooper‐Bùi, Sabrina S. Taylor, Nancy N. Rabalais, F. Joel Fodrie, Brian J. Roberts, R. Eugene Turner, Charles W. Martin, Olaf P. Jensen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Terrapin Station: Individual, Sex, And Site Factors Related To Turtle Growth Variability, Leigh Anne Harden, Stephen R. Midway, J. Whitfield Gibbons

Faculty Publications

For many turtle species, life history traits such as body size, age at maturity, and somatic growth rate can vary among individuals and habitats and between the sexes. Therefore, it is important to consider factors that may influence growth when modeling (somatic) growth for turtles. Long-term capture-mark-recapture studies lend themselves to studying somatic growth in turtles due to the repeated measurements of individuals over time. We used a long-term dataset to examine growth patterns of philopatric Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, USA. We used a hierarchical three-parameter von Bertalanffy model to estimate individual growth of 44 …

Shark Side Of The Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related To Lunar Phase?, Lindsay A. French, Stephen R. Midway, David H. Evans, George H. Burgess

Faculty Publications

Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results have been preliminary or lacking relationships. We used nearly 50 years of shark attack data from across the globe to test for a relationship between shark attacks and moon phase. We examined factors of geography, shark species, and outcome of attack. From 12 relationships that we tested (totaling 120 comparisons), we found 12 …