Digital Commons Network^™

Apoe-Targeted Therapeutics For Alzheimer’S Disease, Hussein N. Yassine, Cristelle Hugo, Bernadette O’Donovan, Isaiah O. Stephens, Lance A. Johnson, Gregory Cole, Julia Tcw, Jan Johansson, Kassandra Kisler, Ornit Chiba-Falek

Physiology Faculty Publications

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is the major lipid transport protein in the brain. Produced primarily by astrocytes and microglia, it delivers cholesterol and other lipids for membrane repair, synaptic maintenance, and immune regulation. Through interactions with specific lipid receptors, APOE maintains neuronal and vascular health. The APOE ε4 allele (APOE4), carried by approximately one-quarter of the population, has an altered protein conformation, which reduces lipid transport efficiency and modifies receptor binding. These changes disrupt lipid homeostasis, increase risk of chronic unresolved neuroinflammation and vascular inflammation, and cause breakdown of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), thus increasing neuronal vulnerability to disease pathology and …

Integrating Heritage Assets Into Peatland Restoration: Finding, Assessing And Valuing The Palaeoenvironmental Archive, Heather Davies, Ralph Fyfe

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Peatland restoration projects aim to improve the delivery of ecosystem services. Cultural heritage and Historic Environment assets are usually identified as co-beneficiaries of restoration but are not commonly well-integrated at the planning or design stages. This paper considers the heritage value of upland peatlands and methods for integrating these values in ecosystem services approaches. Taking Exmoor National Park as a case study, an extensive walkover survey identified 119 small mires and assessed their cultural heritage asset potential. Many were not previously recognised as part of the Historic Environment potential of the upland. A novel valuation system based on proximity of …

Threads Of Attachment: Exploring Relationship Development Among Marginalized Populations Of Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors, Eunique S. Powell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA), traumatic sexual violence within trusted relationships, continues to impact children in the United States and often leads to insecure attachments in adulthood. There was a gap in the literature concerning the experiences of adult survivors of CSA within marginalized communities, where such experiences are frequently ignored. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was to explore how adult survivors of CSA from marginalized populations develop attachments. Bowlby argued that maintaining mental health in adulthood depends on forming healthy and secure relationships during childhood. Bowlby’s attachment theory served as the framework to understand how early attachment …

Discovery Of A Novel Small Molecule Degrader Of Wild Type And Mutant Estrogen Receptors Using Dna Encoded Libraries, Anil Kumar Devakrishnan, Chandrashekhar Madasu, Yong Wang, Ramkumar Modukuri, Kurt M Bohren, Kevin R Mackenzie, Damian W Young, Suzanne A W Fuqua, Martin M Matzuk, Murugesan Palaniappan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Estrogen receptor α (ERα) variants with mutations in the ligand binding domain (LBD) are less sensitive than wild type to standard-of-care drugs that bind ERα directly. To identify novel small-molecule drugs that target ERα mutants, we screened our multibillion-compound DNA-encoded libraries against ERα LBD variants. CDD-1274, which was highly enriched with all three variants, blocked spontaneous coactivator peptide recruitment to mutant ERα LBDs and inhibited estradiol-driven proliferative markers in several ER-positive breast cancer cell lines, but not in ER-negative breast cancer cells. We demonstrated that CDD-1274 induced proteasomal degradation of ERα variants in breast cancer cell lines and caused Y537S …

Low Mutation Rate But High Male-Bias In The Germline Of A Short-Lived Opossum, Yadira Peña-García, Richard J Wang, Muthuswamy Raveendran, R Alan Harris, Paul B Samollow, Jeffrey Rogers, Matthew W Hahn

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Age and sex have been found to be important determinants of the mutation rate per generation in mammals, but the mechanisms underlying these factors are still unclear. One approach to distinguishing between alternative mechanisms is to study species that reproduce at very young ages, as competing hypotheses make different predictions about patterns of mutation in these organisms. Here, we study the germline mutation rate in the gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelphis domestica, a laboratory model species that becomes reproductively mature at less than 6 mo of age. Whole-genome sequencing of 22 trios reveals one of the lowest mutation rates per generation …

Slc35g3 Is A Udp-N-Acetylglucosamine Transporter For Sperm Glycoprotein Formation And Underpins Male Fertility In Mice, Daisuke Mashiko, Shingo Tonai, Haruhiko Miyata, Martin M Matzuk, Masahito Ikawa

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Despite the recognized importance of glycans in biological phenomena, their complex roles in spermatogenesis and sperm function remain unclear. SLC35G3, a 10-transmembrane protein specifically found in early round spermatids, belongs to the sugar-nucleotide transporter family, indicating its involvement in glycan formation. In this study, we found that Slc35g3 knockout male mice were sterile due to impaired sperm functions in uterotubal junction passage, zona pellucida binding, and oocyte fusion. Mouse SLC35G3 has UDP-GlcNAc transporter activity, and its ablation caused abnormal processing of the sperm plasma membrane and acrosome membrane proteins. Reported human SLC35G3 mutations (F267L and T179HfsTer27) diminished the UDP-GlcNAc transporter …

Exploring The Vitronectin Binding Affinity And Cell Viability Effect Of Small Molecule Metabolites From Medicinal Plants For Neuroblastoma, Stephenie C. A Alaribe, Sofia Granados-Aparici, Akolade R. Oladipupo, Isaac Vieco-Marti, Blessing E. Titilayo, Gordon Allen, Rosa Noguera

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research

High-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NB) is an aggressive form of childhood cancer with a five-year survival rate of less than 50%, underscoring the need for more efficacious and less toxic treatments. The glycoprotein vitronectin (VN) has been linked to poor prognosis in patients with HR-NB, thus inhibitors of VN function represent a promising avenue for molecular mechanotherapy. This study investigated the binding affinity between the somatomedin B (SMB) domain of VN and natural compounds from the medicinal plant, Olax subscorpioidea, targeting the plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). The therapeutic potential of α-amyrin (AMY), lupeol (LUP), and olax chalcone A (olax CHA) was tested …

Immunogenomic Diversity Of Triple-Negative Breast Cancers In Obese And Non-Obese Black And White Women, Fokhrul Hossain, Denise Danos, Jovanny Zabaleta, Xiao-Cheng Wu, Luis Del Valle, Chindo Hicks, Jiande Wu, Jerneja Tomsic, Susan Neuhausen, Yuan Chun Ding, Kavitha Mukund, Zahra Mesrizadeh, Shankar Subramaniam, Augusto Ochoa, Victoria Seewaldt, Lucio Miele

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Racial disparities in incidence and outcomes of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have been attributed to ancestry, socioeconomic factors and/or obesity. We studied 253 TNBCs from 128 Black and 125 White women. Arms were balanced for age, AJCC stage, histological grade and molecular subtypes, and differed significantly in BMI distribution, obesity, and Area Deprivation Index. We examined survival rates, whole-transcriptome RNASeq and genetic ancestry. In our sample, Black race or obesity were not intrinsically predictive of poor outcomes. TNBC molecular portraits varied with stage and biological aggressiveness, irrespective of race. We identified a novel group of TNBCs with a distinctive luminal-like …

Transforming Public Services For Stem Students And Faculty, Tessa Withorn, Robert Detmering

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Despite institutional priorities to expand STEM education and research activity, some academic libraries struggle to engage faculty and students in these disciplines with library resources and services. This column shares and reflects on how strategic liaison librarianship can address the needs of STEM programs at a large, public university. Implementing new services around research impact and data management and building fruitful connections with STEM researchers has reinvigorated and increased engagement with the library. In the future, a team-based liaison model shows promise for sustaining relationships and forging new paths that communicate the value and impact of the library.

Shade As An Agro-Technique To Improve Gas Exchange, Productivity, Bioactive Potential, And Antioxidant Activity Of Fruits Of Hylocereus Costaricensis, Milena Maria Tomaz De Oliveira, Noemi Tel-Zur, Francisca Gislene Albano-Machado, Daniela Melo Penha, Monique Mourão Pinho, Marlos Bezerra, Maria Raquel Alcântara De Miranda, Carlos Farley Herbster Moura, Ricardo Elesbão Alves, William Natale, Márcio Cleber De Medeiros Corrêa

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Hylocereus species are promising for enhancing fruit productivity in arid regions, but high solar radiation often leads to yield loss. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term impact of different shading levels on the physiological performance, productivity, and post-harvest quality of Hylocereus costaricensis under semi-arid conditions. Plants were grown in the field under two shade levels, i.e., 35 and 50% and their performances were compared to plants under control, i.e., 0% of shade or full sunlight. The nighttime CO₂ assimilation and productivity increased significantly by 310.5 and 114.6% and 34.3 and 50.14% for plants under 35 and 50% of …

Genome-Wide Discovery Of Multiple Sclerosis Genetic Risk Variant Allelic Regulatory Activity, Marissa Granitto, Lois Parks, Molly S Shook, Carmy Forney, Xiaoting Chen, Lee E Edsall, Omer A Donmez, Sreeja Parameswaran, Kristen S Fisher, Aram Zabeti, Lucinda P Lawson, Matthew T Weirauch, Leah C Kottyan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Multiple sclerosis is an immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with a complex etiology involving environmental and genetic factors. Numerous genetic risk loci for multiple sclerosis have been nominated through genome-wide association studies, with most associated variants residing in noncoding regions. However, further work is needed to understand how genetic variation contributes to disease-related alterations to gene expression. Here, we use Massively Parallel Reporter Assays to identify genetic risk variants with genotype-dependent enhancing or silencing activity within a set of 14,275 variants distributed among multiple sclerosis risk loci that have reached genome-wide or suggestive significance. We applied our …

Dendritic Inhibition Effects In Memory Retrieval Of A Neuromorphic Microcircuit Model Of The Rat Hippocampus, Nikolaos Andreakos, Vassilis Cutsuridis

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Background: Studies have shown that input comparison in the hippocampus between the Schaffer collateral (SC) input in apical dendrites and the perforant path (PP) input in the apical tufts dramatically changes the activity of pyramidal cells (PCs). Equally, dendritic inhibition was shown to control PC activity by minimizing the depolarizing signals in their dendritic trees, controlling the synaptic integration time window, and ensuring temporal firing precision. Objectives: We computationally investigated the diverse roles of inhibitory synapses on the PC dendritic arbors of a CA1 microcircuit model in mnemonic retrieval during the co-occurrence of SC and PP inputs. Results: Our study …

Phenomenon-Based Learning And Storylines In K-12 Science Education: A Systematic Review Of Current Research, Implementation, And Future Directions, Kate Ireton Walker, Noushin Nouri

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Phenomenon-based learning (PhBL) and storylines represent emerging pedagogical approaches in K-12 science education that emphasize student-centered inquiry and real-world connections, yet comprehensive synthesis of research in this field remains limited. This systematic review synthesizes current literature on PhBL and storyline approaches to identify key themes, implementation practices, and research gaps in K-12 science education. Using PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched education journals, identifying 24 articles published between 2013 and 2024. Qualitative inductive analysis revealed six major themes through iterative coding and collaborative discussion. Six interconnected themes emerged: (1) Theoretical Foundations encompassing constructivist frameworks and pedagogical principles; (2) Curriculum Design and …

Phanerozoic Paleoenvironmental And Paleoclimatic Evolution In Svalbard, Aleksandra Smyrak-Sikora, Peter Betlem, Victoria S. Engelschiøn, William J. Foster, Sten Andreas Grundvåg, Mads E. Jelby, Morgan T. Jones, Grace E. Shephard, Kasia K. Śliwińska, Madeleine L. Vickers, Valentin Zuchuat, Lars Eivind Augland, Jan Inge Faleide, Jennifer M. Galloway, William Helland-Hansen, Maria A. Jensen, Erik P. Johannessen, Maayke Koevoets, Denise Kulhanek, Gareth S. Lord, Tereza Mosociova, Snorre Olaussen, Sverre Planke, Gregory D. Price, Lars Stemmerik, Kim Senger

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Sedimentary rocks can provide information about the Earth paleoenvironment and are studied extensively to understand the causes and consequences of global climate changes in deep time. They facilitate long-time perspectives that constrain climate models and provide analogues for how Earth systems may respond to, and recover from, intervals of profound environmental change, including projected anthropogenic change. The Norwegian Svalbard archipelago offers an extensive Phanerozoic stratigraphic record that reflects the geological evolution of the northern flanks of continental assemblages that include Laurentia, Eurasia, and Pangea. Svalbard’s Phanerozoic sedimentary and paleoclimatic archive is controlled largely by Svalbard’s overall northward plate-tectonic motion from …

Integrated Analysis Of The Safety Of Fecal Microbiota, Live-Jslm In Adults With Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile Infection From Five Prospective Clinical Trials: An Update, Christine Lee, Paul Feuerstadt, Thomas Louie, Lindy Bancke, Beth Guthmueller, Adam Harvey, Frederikke Hoeyer, Robert Orenstein, Erik R Dubberke, Sahil Khanna

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Fecal microbiota, live-jslm (RBL) is approved in the United States and Canada for prevention of recurrent

OBJECTIVES: Provide an updated integrated safety analysis, incorporating final safety data from Punch CD3-OLS.

DESIGN: Safety data were combined from five RBL trials: three phase II and two phase III trials.

METHODS: Adult participants had documented rCDI and completed SOC therapy before receiving one or two doses of RBL or placebo, rectally administered as one treatment course. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were recorded for ⩽6 months.

RESULTS: TEAEs were reported in 70.9% (845/1192) of RBL recipients; most TEAEs were mild to moderate and …

Life As An Intern For Njit Stem For Success, Christopher Tava

STEM Month

I joined the STEM for Success Team in May 2023 with two main goals. The first goal was to reach 100 hours worth of contributions, as part of a mandatory internship requirement to graduate from the Academy for Mathematics, Science, & Engineering (AMSE). I reached that goal by early October 2023, although I have been motivated to continue my work with NJIT beyond that hour target. The second goal was to accomplish something that I was proud of with the resources that the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) provided me. I had heard of former students of AMSE that …

Genomic And Metabolic Network Characterization Of Fusarium Species, Hend Hussain Mueenuddin

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Fusarium covers the wide genus of fungi with over 400 species that are key in agricultural and medical practice. The purpose of the current study was to perform a comprehensive genomic profiling of the 19 Fusarium species that were captured in the National Centre of Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database. The study was made to make a comparison of the data, based on the descriptive statistics of every species, with graphical representation images enabling clear demonstration of the numbers. The study indicated that the chromosomal numbers were in the range of 0-15, the gene count was roughly 11000 -19000, while that …

Chinese Communist Party Infiltration Of U.S. Pacific Islands: Protecting American National Security Through Defending Strategic Pacific Assets, Contessa Amedore

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Many Americans picture the U.S.’s Western most border to be the coast of California. However, when threats have historically formed in the Pacific, U.S. Pacific Island territories have served as the nation’s first line of defense. Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have slowly but ambitiously deployed new age or ‘unrestricted’ warfare tactics against the United States and allies in their long awaited plan to assume global hegemony. Their illegal infiltration and psychological operations have gone past Taipei and reached American soil in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. This paper examines how the (CCP) uses unrestricted warfare …

Potential Biomarkers Of Leptin And Insulin Resistance In Clinical-Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis And Related With Diabetes Mellitus In Male Patients: Cross-Section Study, Zeena Hussien Khudair, Abeer Cheaid Yousif Al-Fatlawi, Ahmed Qasim Jaafar Al-Haidari

Al-Ameed Journal for Medical Research and Health Sciences

Background Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the large arteries, a buildup of fatty plaque inside the arteries, leading to narrowing and hardening of the blood vessels. Objective: Find the relation of leptin and insulin resistance in clinical-subclinical coronary atherosclerosis and its relationship with diabetes mellitus. Material and Method: The cross-sectional study includes 90 males with a mean age of 33.00±6.131. They were used in the present study and divided into 45 patients with clinical coronary atherosclerosis, with a mean age of 34.500±4.949, and 45 patients with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, with a mean age of 32.250±7.228, with ages ranging from …

Qpie Mathematics — Resonance Fields For Coherence: Defensive-Publication Abstract & Introduction, Teddy Burroughs

Defensive Publications Series

QPIE (Quantum Perspective Is Everything) extends the Streltsov–Singh–Dhar–Bera–Adesso (2015) program that operationally links quantum coherence and entanglement by introducing a triadic, time-explicit, and observer-inclusive information field. Where classical resource theory defines coherence as a static scalar derived from density matrices and bounded by monotonicity/convexity under incoherent operations, QPIE formalizes coherence as a dynamic resonance process among system (S), ancilla (A), and observer (O). The framework adds three core constructs: (i) observer-weighted monotonicity, admitting constructive feedback when the observer’s informational state aligns with the system; (ii) holo-convexity, which generalizes linear convexity to account for emergent cooperative order across ensembles; and (iii) …

Dual-Spectrum Multi-Layer Holographic Projection System With Shadow-Based Positional Sensing For Interactive Spatial Computing, Lorenzo Lbn Bernardini

Defensive Publications Series

The present invention discloses a revolutionary dual-spectrum multi-layer holographic projection system that fundamentally redefines the paradigm of human-computer spa- tial interaction by eliminating the necessity of wearable apparatus while simultaneously enabling tactile manipulation of volumetrically-rendered virtual objects. The system achieves this through an innovative architectural decoupling wherein visible-spectrum multi-projector arrays generate stratified holographic imagery across multiple depth planes, while a parallel infrared sensing subsystem performs continuous shadow-pattern analysis to extract precise three-dimensional positional information of the user within the interac- tion volume. This spectral bifurcation resolves the fundamental paradox inherent in prior art wherein projection and sensing mechanisms interfere through …

Unearthing The Undead Prejudice: How ‘Feminist Science’ Creates A More Empirically Accurate Scientific Framework By Revealing The Inherent Bias In All Investigate Methodologies, Horatio Holloway

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Superintelligence And The Burden Of Intelligence: A Zapffean Critique Of Ai, James (Xiaolong) Wang

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Protecting Particularity: An Ecumenical Theory Of Gender, Taika Sorensen

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Episteme Vol. 36

Episteme

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Igf1 And Igf1-R Levels As Risk-Related Indicators And Early Detection Tools In Estrogen Receptor–Positive Breast Cancer, Randa M. Lua’I, Khawla A. Kasar, Marwa A. Hassan

AUIQ Technical Engineering Science

Breast cancer (BC) remains one of the most common malignancies in women, with its development strongly influenced by hormonal and growth factor signaling. The insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and its receptor (IGF1-R) are increasingly recognized as key contributors to breast carcinogenesis, particularly in relation to estrogen receptor (ER) status. This study aimed to evaluate circulating IGF1 and IGF1-R levels among Iraqi women with BC and to explore their diagnostic and biological relevance. A total of 90 participants were enrolled, including 65 patients with histologically confirmed BC (41 ER-positive and 24 ER-negative) and 25 healthy controls. Serum concentrations of IGF1 …

Cv: Philip Blankenship (Behavioral Neuroscience), Philip Blankenship

Psychology Department Faculty Curricula Vitae

No abstract provided.

Spatial Patterns Of Salamander Density Across Human Disturbance Gradients In Warner Parks​, Siobhan M. Day

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Amphibians are sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance, making them valuable indicators of recreational impacts in urban parks. This study examines salamander occurrence across five research sites within Warner Parks, Nashville, Tennessee, which differ in trail density and foot traffic intensity. Salamander observations were compiled from two sources: field surveys conducted in Summer 2025 and iNaturalist records spanning the past 10 years. For spatial analysis, each site was defined by a 200 m radius buffer to include local habitat, and trail networks were further buffered at 10 m, 25 m, and 50 m to quantify salamander occurrence relative to trail proximity using …

Cv: Young "Paul" Kim (Computer Engineering), Young "Paul" Kim

ECaMS Department Faculty Curricula Vitae

No abstract provided.

“Home.”: A Trauma-Informed Children’S Book Exploring Secure Attachment For Children In Foster Care, Keeli Langford

Undergraduate Theses

Estimates suggest 6% of U.S. children (nearly half a million) will be placed in foster care at any point between their birth and eighteenth birthday (Turney & Wildeman, 2017). This population of children is subject to multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; Turney & Wildeman, 2017). Such ACEs include parental divorce, parental incarceration, parental abuse, a household member with a psychological disorder, violence exposure, or a household member grappling with substance use. Exposure to childhood ACEs can negatively affect children behaviorally, emotionally, socially, and academically (Lawrence et al., 2006; McGuire et al., 2021). Research indicates youth in foster care are more …