Digital Commons Network^™

Preliminary Microbial Community Analysis Of Non-Native And Native Plants In The Depauw Nature Park Quarry Bottom, Madeleine Cruz, Dana Dudle

Annual Student Research Poster Session

The DePauw Nature Park Quarry Bottom is a former limestone quarry that was mined for decades and then lay dormant. Through the years, it has developed from being uninhabited to being populated by a diversity of organisms at every scale of life. All organisms in the Quarry Bottom must withstand the changing conditions of the quarry, including the proliferation of invasive plants that are well-adapted to stress. In particular, two invasive wetland grasses, Phragmites and Typha have observed competitive interactions, increased spatial distributions, and possible influence on native species. We have studied these species at our scale of life, but …

Light Stress And Leaf Characteristics In Prairie Fleabane In A Limestone Quarry, Guoqing Evelyn Tuohy

Annual Student Research Poster Session

DePauw’s nature park was an active limestone quarry for 60 years and has been going through primary succession since 1977. This harsh and disturbed environment can make it difficult for plants to survive. In this study, I aimed to investigate the Erigeron strigosus (Prairie Fleabane), a native plant commonly found in open, disturbed areas. I wanted to examine how the amount of light affected leaf traits in Erigeron strigosus because I had observed and hypothesized that in sunny areas, the leaf orientation changed, and the size of the leaves was smaller, and in shady areas, the leaves would be in …

Human Transferrin Receptor Bispecific Trem2 Antibody Creation And Its Insightful Use In Alzheimer's Disease, Amelia Mclaren, June Javens-Wolfe

Annual Student Research Poster Session

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, affecting an estimated 7.2 million seniors in the United States. AD can develop in the brain for twenty years or more before symptoms appear, such as memory loss, which could enable a diagnostic window for intervention. AD causes neurons to be damaged or destroyed due to the accumulation of amyloid-beta protein fragments and an abnormal form of tau protein. The protein Transmembrane Receptor Expressed by Myeloid Cells, TREM2, is essential in regulating the microglial response to amyloid-beta and tau accumulation in the AD brain. Microglia, the brain’s resident immune cell, has …

Underrecognized Classics In Philosophy: Expanding The Depauw Philosophy Curriculum, Ian Smith, Jeremy Anderson, Rich Cameron, Erik Wielenberg, Jen Everett

Annual Student Research Poster Session

The Philosophy Department spent the summer developing a reading list for a future Phil. 200 course that would focus on classics not currently represented in the curriculum. One way we framed our goal was through the question, “what works should students have read by the time they reach their 300 and 400 level philosophy courses?” To this end, a work’s potential to broaden the scope of how I—as a current undergraduate philosophy major—understand my discipline, provided the department with an evaluative perspective to complement that of the faculty.

Adipose Tissue Estrogen Receptor-Alpha Overexpression Ameliorates High-Fat Diet–Induced Adipose Tissue Inflammation, Marion C. Hope, Christian A. Unger, M. Chase Kettering, Cassidy E. Socia, Ahmed K. Aladhami, Barton C. Rice, Darya S. Niamira, Ben P. Wiznitzer, Diego Altomare Ph.D., William E. Cotham, Reilly T. Enos

Faculty Publications

Context

We created an innovative mouse model that enables inducible overexpression of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα), specifically in adipose tissue (Adipo-ERα↑). Objective

We aimed to investigate how elevated Adipo-ERα↑ influences the development of high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity in both male and female mice. Methods

Male and female Adipo-ERα↑ mice and littermate controls were fed a low-fat diet (LFD) or HFD for 13 weeks. Adipo-ERα↑ was induced at the initiation of dietary treatment. Body morphology and composition, hepatic lipid accumulation, glucose tolerance, fasting insulin concentrations, and adipose tissue mRNA profiling were assessed. Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to determine circulating and adipose …

Role Of Growth Factors In The Pathogenesis Of Systemic-Sclerosis-Associated Fibrosis, Fabian A. Mendoza, Sonsoles Piera-Velazquez, Sergio A. Jimenez

Jefferson Institute of Molecular Medicine Papers and Presentations

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology characterized by a severe fibroproliferative vasculopathy and frequently progressive cutaneous and internal organ fibrosis. The small-vessel vasculopathy and the tissue fibrotic alterations are responsible for the most serious clinical and pathological manifestations of the disease and for its high mortality. Despite the high severity and frequent mortality, there are currently no optimal therapeutic approaches for SSc, and its complex pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. Numerous studies have suggested that growth factors and related regulatory macromolecules released from inflammatory and other cells present in the affected tissues play a …

2025-10-01 Caudill Connection, Morehead State University. Caudill College Of Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences.

Caudill Connection

Caudill Connection newsletter for October of 2025.

Aging In America: Implications For Family Resource Management, Becky Smith, Portia Johnson, Brandan Wheeler, D E Kiss, Ann A. Berry

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

The Stanford Center on Longevity reports life expectancy has surged over the last 120 years. Unfortunately, living longer may not equate to living with a higher quality of life without considering the amount, type, and uses of all resources available to individuals and families as they age. Family Resource Management (FRM) is the science and art of how individuals and families make decisions to develop and allocate resources, including money, time, energy, space, material, and health assets, and networks of support to meet their goals. Living longer means making more decisions and developing and allocating more resources to enhance the …

Uni Schedule Of Classes: Policies And Procedures, Fall 2025, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Schedule of Classes

A listing and schedule of the courses being taught as well as policies and procedures concerning attending classes at the University of Northern Iowa.

Pentanary And Hexanary Alkali Lanthanide Germanates Grown From Lanthanide Rich Flux Growth Reactions, Gregory Morrison, K. Pilar Zamorano, Virginia G. Jones, Ethan N. Adams, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Single crystals of five compounds of a new structure type, the K3Nd52Ge12O100F7 type, were grown from lanthanide rich reactions using a KF/KCl flux: K3Ln52Ge12O100F7 (Ln = Nd, Eu), K3Ln52Ge12O100+δF7-δ (Ln = Pr, Tb), and K3Ca0.872Nd51.128Ge12O99.128F7.872. The five compounds crystallize in the cubic space group I-43d with lattice parameter 22.0350(2) Å for K3Nd52Ge12O100F7. The structure consists of a 3D checkerboard of LnX8, LnX7, LnX6, and GeO4 polyhedra, where X = O/F, and can be conceptually derived from the fluorite structure. K3Eu52Ge12O100F7 exhibits the fluorescence typical of Eu³⁺.

Cervical Hpv 18 Detection Is Associated With High-Grade Cervical Dysplasia In Kenyan And Ugandan Women Living With Hiv, Miriam Nakalembe, Collins Mpamani, Jane Namugga, Carolyn Nakisige, Grace Banturaki, Phillip Tonui, Peter Itsura, Omenge Orango, Kapten Muthoka, Anthony Ngeresa

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objectives Cervical cancer, caused by “high-risk” (HR) HPV, is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women living in Kenya and Uganda. Women living with HIV (WLWH) are at a high risk for HR-HPV infection. This longitudinal, observational cohort analysis was conducted to identify factors that are important among WLWH in prediction of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 or 3 (CIN2/3).

Methods Data of this analysis was based on a study of HPV natural history and cervical cancer among Kenyan and Ugandan WLWH. Demographic, behavioral and biological data were collected; HR-HPV DNA testing of cervical …

Cervical Hpv 18 Detection Is Associated With High-Grade Cervical Dysplasia In Kenyan And Ugandan Women Living With Hiv, Miriam Nakalembe, Collins Mpamani, Jane Namugga, Carolyn Nakisige, Grace Banturaki, Phillip Tonui, Peter Itsura, Elkanah Orang'o, Kapten Muthoka, Anthony Ngeresa

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Objectives Cervical cancer, caused by “high-risk” (HR) HPV, is the most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer deaths among women living in Kenya and Uganda. Women living with HIV (WLWH) are at a high risk for HR-HPV infection. This longitudinal, observational cohort analysis was conducted to identify factors that are important among WLWH in prediction of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grades 2 or 3 (CIN2/3).

Methods Data of this analysis was based on a study of HPV natural history and cervical cancer among Kenyan and Ugandan WLWH. Demographic, behavioral and biological data were collected; HR-HPV DNA testing of cervical …

Learn To Fly: Enabling Deep Learning Based Perception And Control In Aerial Robotics, Krishna Muvva

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly deployed in dynamic, GPS degraded, and cluttered environments, yet their autonomy remains fundamentally constrained by limitations in onboard perception and real-time control. This dissertation addresses these challenges by proposing a unified framework that co-designs deep learning-based perception and model-based control, organized around three core thrusts: Learn to Track, Learn to Localize, and Learn to Evade.

Learn to Track develops dynamic and adaptive perception control mechanisms that optimize CNN inference for target tracking. A control-aware CNN framework dynamically adjusts inference frequency based on UAV motion, reducing latency while maintaining visual lock. An adaptive CNN with …

Smarter Disease Detection From Electronic Health Record Data: An End-To-End Ai-Augmented Pipeline For Computable Phenotyping, Dylan Owens

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

Electronic Health Records (EHR) contain a wealth of structured and unstructured patient data that can be leveraged for computable phenotyping, the process of algorithmically identifying patient cohorts with specific diseases or conditions. Traditional rule-based phenotyping approaches, while interpretable, often struggle with scalability, portability across institutions, and effective use of unstructured clinical narratives. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) present new opportunities for synthesizing complex free-text information into concise, clinically meaningful representations. However, integrating LLMs into phenotyping workflows requires careful design to maintain transparency, interpretability, and measurable uncertainty—features essential for clinical adoption and downstream applications such as decision support.

We …

Forbidden Knowledge: School Libraries, The First Amendment, And The Right To Receive Information, Natalie H. Berg

Washington Law Review

In the past five years, numerous Republican legislators and conservative parental groups have aggressively pushed to restrict sexual content in public schools. Many school districts have adopted policies that limit what topics are covered in class, and several statewide laws have legitimized and mandated these policies. Consequently, books featuring queer themes or characters are rapidly disappearing from public school libraries. These library restrictions, or book bans, have sparked substantial controversy and litigation.

This Comment examines state laws restricting public school libraries in Texas, Florida, and Iowa, arguing that these library restrictions violate the First Amendment on multiple grounds. Additionally, it …

The Effect Of Fascicular Elastin On The Mechanical And Functional Properties Of Healthy, Damaged, And Healing Tendon, Shawn Pavey

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Mechanical properties of tendon are highly influenced by structural protein composition and microscopic sub-structures. Within the largest subunit of tendon, the fascicle, the role of the elastin protein remains understudied despite impressive extensibility and fatigue resistance of its resulting elastic fibers. While previous work catalogued contributions of fascicular elastin across tendon type and species, the anticipated effects of elastin in fatigue and healing have not yet been explored. While previous knockout mouse models showed that disruption of elastic fibers led to altered mechanical properties (e.g., increased linear modulus), these models depended on heterozygous elastin deficiency or indirect knockout of proteins …

Economías De Reciprocidad En Un Paisaje Neocolonizado: La Plaza Almirante Brown Como Nodo Socioecológico Repensar La Belleza, La Pertenencia Y Las Plantas Desde La Educación Ambiental Y El Valor Plural Isp Report, Yereni Bruno-Sanchez

Argentina: People, Environment, and Climate Change in Patagonia and Antarctica

This study seeks to understand how ecological imperialism present in urban green spaces affects the optimal functioning of the reciprocal economies that sustain these places, through the case of Plaza Almirante Brown in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The perceptions, values, and emotions that visitors attribute to this urban ecosystem are analyzed, as well as the social dynamics that keep it alive. The work acknowledges and respects the sense of place already established, while identifying a gap in the plaza's relational economy linked to the limited presence and public understanding of native flora. It proposes that the incorporation of …

Urban Noisy Miner Populations And Vegetation Composition Hinders Small Bird Communities In Urban Sydney, Australia And Canberra, Australia, Libby Hennes

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Increasing urbanization to prioritize habitats that are eucalypt dominant with poor understory density has resulted in an overabundance of the native honeyeater the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). Noisy Miners are incredibly aggressive, especially towards birds that are smaller than them. This is believed to have contributed to declining small bird populations in remnant woodland patches that are dominated by Noisy Miners. This same pattern was discovered in urban greenspaces across Sydney, Australia and Canberra, Australia during November 2025. Small birds were almost completely absent in sites in Sydney and small birds in Canberra had a strong negative correlation with the …

It's Alive! Comparing Wet And Dry Sclerophyll Revegetation In Wollemi National Park Following The 2019-2020 Bushfires, Bethany Hall

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Wollemi National Park is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Areas and contains many endemic plants and animals. Increasingly severe fires are threatening the area. This study aims to compare how dry and wet sclerophyll sites are recovering after the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires. We surveyed eight wet sites and nine dry sites that were burned early in the bushfires. Diameter at breast height (DBH) and resprouting vigor was measured to determine if and how well trees were recovering. Dry sites experienced higher resprouting vigor compared to wet sites. Wet sites had a higher number of unique trees …

Spectrum, Volume 55, Issue 4, Sacred Heart University

Newspapers (Obelisk & Spectrum)

Highlights include: Second Annual P.I.E.R. Conference -- Laudato Si’ Initiative Expands to Office -- PRSSA Prepares Students for Real-World Success -- Fall Festivities at SHU -- TAP Presents “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” -- Sacred Heart Hockey Ranked First in Preseason Polls

Pacific Rxtracts - October 2025, Pacific Rxtracts

Pacific RxTracts

Articles:

• The Resurgence of Cardiac Glycosides in Heart Failure
• Wayrilz: New Breakthrough for Persistent or Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia
• Atrasentan: An Emerging Therapy in IgA Nephropathy
• The Second FDA-Approved MASH Treatment
• New Pharmacist-Driven Calcitonin Protocol Delivers Cost Savings in Hypercalcemia of Malignancy Care
• Baxdrostat Offers Hope for Patients with Resistant Hypertension
• Challenging the Norm: Anticoagulant Discontinuation is Safe Postablation
• Olezarsen: Redefining Triglyceride Control Through APOC3 Inhibition
• Semaglutide and Tirzepatide Linked to Increased Risk of Vision Disorders
• At Last, a Step Forward in Gastric and GEJ
• Tarlatamab: A Breakthrough in Relapsed Small Cell Lung
• Expanded FDA Approval for Darolutamide
• Linvoseltamab: Redefining Multiple …

Zero Textbook Cost Syllabus For Env 3070 (Agroecology), Benjamin Iuliano

Open Educational Resources

Our relationships with the food we eat are deeply personal, but also connect us to a wide array of people, plants, animals, and landscapes around the world. Encompassing a diversity of scholarly approaches, the field of agroecology seeks to understand the interactions among these components, draw attention to the consequences of our present industrial food system, and create the conditions for more sustainable and just futures. In this course, students will learn about the science, practice, and social movement of agroecology through lectures, course discussions, field trips, and hands-on activities.

J.A.M: What Epiphyte Load And Frugivore Abundance In Ficus Species Can Tell Us About Disturbance Regimes In Tropical North Queensland, Jordan Trinidad

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The Wet Tropics Bioregion hosts a startling diversity of species, many of which are endemic and/or endangered. The habitats in which these species are found have been threatened by intensive logging post-European settlement, which has increased the susceptibility of the isolated remnant fragments to cyclone-related disturbances. In this study, we surveyed the visitation rates of frugivores to Ficus species between Cape Tribulation and Yungaburra in Northeast Queensland, Australia, as well as the epiphyte abundance supported by these trees. We found that in upland rainforest, the forces of cyclones and habitat fragmentation act in confluence on epiphyte abundance via the moderation …

Effects Of Provisioning On Two Species Of Rock-Wallaby (Petrogale Mareeba And Petrogale Assimilis) In North Queensland, Australia, Eve Oliker

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Provisioning, the act of providing food, water, or shelter to wild animals, can lead to habituation, resulting in changes in behavior, abundance, and distribution (Newsome & Rodger, 2008). In North Queensland, a colony of Mareeba rock-wallaby (Petrogale mareeba) at Granite Gorge has been provisioned for over 45 years, mainly through direct hand-feeding, while a group of allied rock-wallaby (Petrogale assimilis) in Magnetic Island has experienced shorter and less consistent provisioning. This study investigated whether long-term provisioning causes more severe behavioral changes, higher aggression, and larger aggregation sizes. Approximately one week was spent observing each population. Scan sampling was utilized to …

Habits And Habitats: Activity Budgets Of Platypuses (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus) Across Varying Habitat Types And Environmental Conditions In The Hobart Rivulet, Wyatt Nowacek

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The habitat preferences and activity budgets of platypuses (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) was recorded in the Hobart Rivulet in Hobart, Tasmania. Twenty-three sites were sampled for platypus presence over 21 days for a total of 784 surveys at various times between 6:00 and 20:00 during which current weather and river conditions were recorded. Fifty-eight platypuses were observed, and their behaviors were recorded in 15-minute periods for a total 5.86 hours of behavioral data. During observations the type and duration of their behaviors was recorded. The habitat assessment at the sites included factors that may impact platypus occurrence, behavior, or abundance such as …

Why Antimicrobial Resistance Pipelines Fail On Cyanobacteria: What Custom Databases Reveal Instead, Maeve Musselman

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (C-HABs) are increasing as climate change and nutrient enrichment create favorable environments for cyanobacteria. Although bloom-forming cyanobacteria can persist in extreme and polluted conditions, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and metal resistance (MR) play significant roles in bloom persistence and response to treatments, both remain understudied. Currently, most AMR detection pipelines use clinical databases developed for human pathogens which routinely fail to detect resistance genes in environmental microbes. This study evaluated AMR and MR profiles in seven freshwater cyanobacteria using both clinical AMR pipelines (CARD, ResFinder, ARG-ANNOT) and a custom environmental resistance database specifically designed to include metal …

What’S On The Menu? An Observational Study Of The Predatory Ecology Of Pseudochromis Fuscus, Navya Mittal

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

Understanding the foraging behaviour of small reef predators is important for determining how they influence reef fish and cryptobenthic community structure. This study examined the predatory behaviour of Pseudochromis fuscus, a mesopredatory reef fish known to consume high numbers of juvenile damselfish recruits. In contrast to previous studies, no successful captures of juvenile recruits were observed, despite numerous attempted strikes. Instead, benthic invertebrates appeared to be the primary food source across all three time periods examined (full moon, mass coral spawning, and new moon). Behavioural differences were observed among periods, with significantly higher pursuit attempts during the new moon, likely …

Contradicting Effects Of Three Firefighting Chemicals On Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis Infection, Naomi Meyers

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The spread of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis around the world has led to the decline of many species; however, Australian amphibian populations are especially vulnerable to the effects of the fungus. The combination of endemism, small geographical ranges, and a climate that supports fungal growth has led to the presumed extinction of 6 endemic species since the disease was first discovered. In addition to this fungus, amphibians are also facing pressure from the increasing prevalence of wildfires. As wildfires become more common and more destructive, scientists are rushing to find chemicals that aid firefighters in slowing down and reducing the intensity of …

Presence And Change Of Fluorescence In Two Broadcast Spawning Hermaphroditic Coral Species Through Development From Egg To Early Settlement, Mollie Kroll

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The Great Barrier Reef is home to a variety of hermaphroditic broadcast spawning coral species that only release gametes to reproduce once a year. The limited opportunity to collect these gametes to understand a scleractinian coral’s early ontogeny caps the knowledge on their development prior to early settlement on the reef substrate. Corals can produce green fluorescent proteins during their development, but the biological function for this fluorescence is still widely hypothesized. This study aims to track hermaphroditic broadcast spawning species fluorescence, Acropora millepora and Platygyra sp., during their development from egg to early settler. The expression of green fluorescent …

Relating Natural Dispersal And Expansion Of Mangrove Forests To Local Australian Restoration Methods, August Jones

Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology

The combined vulnerability and importance of mangrove forests have spurred efforts to preserve their remaining natural stage and restore their land area made unsuitable by storms or coastal development. Globally, both private and government organizations have participated in mangrove ecosystem recovery through standard methodology and principles such as replantation and ecosystem rehabilitation. However, research into the costs and outcomes of these programs has ruled that many of them suffer low success rates due to a lack of suitable areas for rehabilitation, citing a poor understanding of the ecosystem typology and lack of long-term measures to avoid eventual degradation. This study …