Digital Commons Network^™

Where The Soul Belongs: The Search For A Meaningful Life Through Han Funerary Art — With A Focus On The Mawangdui T-Shaped Painting And Jinqueshan Han Tomb Silk Painting, Tong Su

Theses - ALL

Perceptions of life and death are deeply embedded in the artistic expressions of a society, shaped by its cultural, philosophical and social environment. This study explores how funerary paintings from the early Han dynasty - the Mawangdui T-shaped painting and the Jinqueshan Han tomb silk painting - reflect evolving views of life and the afterlife under changing social conditions. While both paintings derive from the funerary traditions of Chu culture and Daoist beliefs in immortality, their differences highlight a significant shift: the Mawangdui T-Shaped Painting emphasizes ascent to the heavenly world through nature worship and ancestral connections, while the Jinqueshan …

Illustration As Analysis: Discussing Gender Bias And Stereotypes In The Design Of Female Characters In Chinese Video Games, Hanyu Shi

Theses - ALL

This research is dedicated to examining gender bias in the design of female characters in Chinese video games, and exploring how illustration strategies can effectively promote the transformation of female characters from stereotypical and one-dimensional to more diverse and three-dimensional representations.Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this research synthesizes and applies a multifaceted research approach that includes a literature review, sociological and feminist theoretical frameworks, semi-structured interviews, in-depth case studies, and visual cultural analysis. By combing the existing literature and several computer game cases on the market, this research reveals the profound influence of traditional cultural concepts …

Preliminary Assessment Of Hematopoietic Cell Kinase Gene Expression In Wistar Rats Fed Sampea-11 And Sampea 20t Diets, Stephen Dio Titus, Salisu Muhammed, Priscila Benjamin, Achilus Francis, Samuel Gadzama Ishaya, Christian Nelson, Kennedy Banja Samuel, Shuaibu M. Bala

Polytechnic Journal

Dietary factors play a crucial role in modulating immune responses, including inflammatory processes. This study investigates the expression of the hematopoietic cell kinase (HCK) gene in Wistar rats fed exclusively with two novel cowpea cultivars, SAMPEA-11 and SAMPEA 20T, to evaluate their potential immunomodulatory effects. The experiment employed a randomized controlled design with six Wistar rats divided into three groups: SAMPEA-11, SAMPEA 20T, and a control group fed a standard diet. Gene expression analysis was performed using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), with GAPDH serving as the reference gene for normalization. The results demonstrated significant upregulation of HCK gene expression in …

Self-Powered Rapid Antigen-Specific T-Cell Response Assay For Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Infections, Bo Ning, Sutapa Chandra, Yongchun Pan, Riti Sharan, Ngan Ha, Sanjay Singh, Alexandra Portillo Varela, Lin Li, Qingli Wu, Alexander Kay, Gugu P Maphalala, Clement Adu-Gyamfi, Santiago Carrero Longlax, Anna M Mandalakas, Smriti Mehra, Christopher J Lyon, Edward A Graviss, Andrew R Dinardo, Tony Hu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) that evaluate an individual’s T-cell activation response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)-specific peptides serve an important role in diagnosing tuberculosis (TB). However, there are substantial challenges to the use of IGRAs in resource-limited settings. Further, IGRA diagnostic performance can also be compromised in anergic individuals. Here we describe a microfluidic chip-based antigen-specific T-cell response assay (ASTRA) that automates the detection of M.tb-specific T-cell activation responses to facilitate screening for latent M.tb infection and TB. We observe that ASTRA demonstrates high specificity for M.tb infection in independent patient cohorts. Compared with IGRA, ASTRA shows greater …

Potent Acridone Antimalarial Against All Three Life Stages Of Plasmodium, Papireddy Kancharla, Rozalia A. Dodean, Yuexin Li, Xiaowei Zhang, Sean Kelly, Jordan Charlton, Angley Binauhan, Laurize Garcia, Diana Caridha, Jane X. Kelly, Multiple Additional Authors

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

New antimalarial therapeutics ideally should target all three major life cycle stages. Here we present an acridone antimalarial chemotype that is potent against blood, liver, and mosquito stages of malaria parasites, with the potential for single-dose cure of bloodstream infections, radical cure of liver infections, and blocking of transmission to mosquitoes. Attributes of lead candidate T111 include potent in vitro activity against cultured parasites, ex vivo activity against clinical isolates, oral single dose cure in an asexual blood stage rodent model, inhibition of sexual blood stage parasites, activity against relapsing parasites in non-human primate liver cells, prevention of parasite development …

Advances In Mechanical Circulatory Support (Mcs): Literature Review, Jasmine K. Dugal, Arpinder S. Malhi, Yuvraj Singh, Rooz Razmi, Joshua Vance, Divyansh Sharma

Department of Internal Medicine Faculty Research

Heart failure is a heterogeneous disorder that can lead to cardiogenic shock. Mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices can replace the cardiac function in an attempt to bridge patients to transplant or they can serve as destination therapy to improve overall patient functionality and in turn quality of life. Currently utilized MCS devices include devices such as Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs), Biventricular Assist Devices (BiVADs), Impella, Total Artificial Hearts (TAHs), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). This literature review examines a range of studies, case reports, and meta-analyses to present current approaches to mechanical circulatory support (MCS), along with the challenges …

Demanding More From Distance Learning: The Virtual & Democratized Futures Of Legal Education, Antonio M. Coronado, Gabriela Elizondo-Craig

Seattle University Law Review Online

Antonio M. Coronado and Gabriela Elizondo-Craig examine the transformative potential of online legal education through their work at Innovation for Justice, where they lead virtual legal training programs for community-based justice workers. They trace the development and limitations of ABA Standard 306, highlighting how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed both the rigidity of traditional legal education and the possibilities of technology-enabled learning. Drawing on adult education theory and best practices in online pedagogy, Coronado and Elizondo-Craig challenge prevailing critiques of distance legal education and advocate for a learner-centered, accessible, and inclusive model. Their experience demonstrates how online legal education, when intentionally …

An Fgfr-P53 Developmental Signaling Axis Drives Salivary Cancer Progression, Julia M. R. Billington

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC) is the most frequently occurring salivary gland malignancy.Here, we investigated transcriptomic profiles of human fetal and adult salivary glands and MEC tumors to assess programs involved in MEC progression. Molecular and genetic analyses revealed that MEC tumors and fetal salivary glands share proliferative and developmental gene expression profiles that implicate an FGFR-p53 signaling axis in salivary MEC progression. Based on these findings, we developed a genetically engineered mouse model of advanced MEC via targeted expression of the CRTC1-MAML2 oncogene in salivary ductal cells. Specifically, CRTC1- MAML2 expression combined with p53 dysregulation in salivary ducts rewires FGF signaling …

The Synthesis Of A Photo-Affinity Probe Library For The Fatty Acid Amide Proteome And The Endocannabinoid System Within, Robert E. Feeney Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fatty acid amides are a large family of endogenous metabolites with significant biological activity, including that of the endocannabinoid system. Currently little is known about how this system of tightly regulated compounds works within humans. This work lays the foundation to explore the structure-activity relationship driving the selectivity of ligand-protein interactions involved with fatty acid amides. A library of activity-based proteomic profiling probes for fatty acid amides has been synthesized to this end. Additionally, progress towards phytocannabinoid probes has been made as well.

Corrosion Mitigation And Monitoring Of Bridge Tendons And Failure Forecasting Of Wastewater Force Mains, Stanley Chike Agbakansi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Corrosion remains a significant threat to civil infrastructure, resulting in costly repairsand potential structural failures. This dissertation addresses three critical aspects of corrosion: mitigation and monitoring of post-tensioned bridge tendons, and failure forecasting of wastewater force mains due to internal corrosion.

First, the research investigates the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitors (CIs) applied via pressure injection (impregnation) in post-tensioned tendons. The protective mechanisms and long-term performance of various inhibitors were evaluated to identify the most effective formulations. Among the tested inhibitors, MCI-2020 — a water-based, migratory, mixed-type corrosion inhibitor — demonstrated the most promising results, showing excellent corrosion protection while preserving …

Why Deliberate Practice Is Not A Basis For Teacher Expertise, Jim Hordern, Nick Pratt, Peter Kelly, Katherine Evans

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

In this paper we examine the notion of ‘deliberate practice’, which has formed the basis of several teacher education programmes in England and the United States and promises to improve the quality of teaching via highly structured training programmes. We identify early criticisms of deliberate practice and unpack the assumptions embedded in its underpinning thinking. We demonstrate that deliberate practice is insufficient as a basis for teacher expertise as teaching is not a ‘performance profession’, the activities of teachers cannot all be easily or meaningfully decomposed, and the ‘goals’ of teaching are not solely geared towards maximising measurable student attainment. …

Development Of Lead-Free Perovskite Passivated Core/Shell Perovskite Nanocrystals With Enhanced Optoelectronic Properties And Environmental Stability, Hanjie Lin

Dissertations - ALL

All-inorganic lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have great optoelectronic properties with promising applications in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, photodetectors, solar cells, and photocatalysis. However, the applications of perovskite NCs face many challenges, including environmental issues and poor endurability of the perovskite-based devices caused by the intrinsic toxicity of Pb and the poor stabilities of perovskites against moisture, heat and light. To address those issues of the lead halide perovskite NCs, we utilized stable lead-free perovskite as a shell to protect the lead halide perovskite NCs, as well as developed lanthanide ions (Ln3+) doped/based-lead-free perovskite NCs to enhance their optical properties, …

Cultivating Post-Soviet Gardens: Seed Saving And The Household Plot In Rural Tajikistan, Katherine Macdonald

Dissertations - ALL

Over the last five years, local NGOs across Tajikistan have established community-based seed banks to support households cultivating agrobiodiverse kitchen gardens. While social movements to preserve local crop varieties are well-documented in other rural contexts, they are new to Central Asia and had gone without study. This dissertation brings together insights from political ecology, feminist political economy, and critical agrarian studies to explore how and why this effort emerged and what rural women’s participation in it signals about life-making in Tajikistan’s post-Soviet countryside. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork and document analysis, I argue that community-based seed banks are a response to …

Curating Climate Change: Information Flows Across And Within Social Media Platforms, Yiran Duan

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explores how climate change information spreads on X (formerly Twitter) and what content from YouTube travels to X, focusing on climate change related tweets posted during November 2022. Using content analysis, machine learning, and case studies, about 114,000 tweets and their embedded YouTube videos were analyzed. The findings show that not all climate-related content is equally shared, some information is more likely to spread than others. The findings also indicate that users with a moderate number of followers are the ones connecting YouTube and X, rather than those with the highest follower counts on X. The findings are …

Peran Unit Pengelola Darah Rumah Sakit Terhadap Peningkatan Kinerja Layanan Transfusi Darah: Tinjauan Literatur Naratif, Adhika Putra Marsaban, Mardiati Nadjib

Jurnal ARSI : Administrasi Rumah Sakit Indonesia

The performance of hospital blood transfusion services is crucial for patient safety and overall operational effectiveness. Blood management, as a vital and limited resource, plays a significant role. Traditional centralized blood management models often face challenges regarding response speed, potential waste, and quality control. As an alternative, Unit Pengelola Darah Rumah Sakit (UPDRS) offers the potential for performance enhancement. This narrative literature review is based on 16 relevant scientific articles identified through a database search (Scopus, Proquest, Wiley, Google Scholar) and a selection process visualized with a PRISMA diagram. Key findings identified significant impacts on cost efficiency, time efficiency (faster …

Academic Summaries (Human Rights Violations Issue), Erica Jensen

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: Sea Bear: A Journey For Survival, Emily Ketron

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

First Opinion: A River Of Dust: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa And The Amazon, Kennedy Morrison, Tatum Ward

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

Pedagogical Beliefs Of The Form Five Biology Teachers In Trinidad And Tobago On Teaching Strategies: Chalk And Talk, Ict, Cooperative Learning, And Concept Map, David Chand

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

This study explored the pedagogical beliefs and teaching strategies of Biology teachers in high-performing secondary schools in Trinidad. Teachers believed Chalk and Talk was an effective method for students’ high achievement in Secondary School’s Board Examination. Teachers’ inherent beliefs about their teaching practices should be integrated in Teacher Education curriculum.

Investigation Of Neuropsychological Symptoms And Changes In Gut Microbiome Physiology As Risk Factors For Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea In Patients With Breast Cancer, Komal P. Singh

Sigma Foundation for Nursing Research Grant Reports

The primary objective of this study was to investigate associations between chemotherapy-induced nausea (CIN) and gut microbiome characteristics over one cycle of chemotherapy.

The Dynamics Of Daily Area And Depth Of Grazing And Herbage Intake Of Cows In A Five Day Paddock System, M H. Wade, J L. Peyraud, G Lemaire, E A. Comeron

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Optimisation of animal production per unit area results in a penalty to individual animal production and herbage intake. The objective of the present study was to examine the dynamic changes in a grass sward in relation to declining production and herbage intake in five day paddocks grazed by dairy cows. The study formed part of a larger project to examine the effects of stocking rate and grazing method upon milk production and herbage intake that is reported by Peyraud et al. (1989).

The Relationship Of Herbage Intake Of Cattle To Herbage Mass, And Its Utilization On Rotationally Grazed Pasture, T Okajima, K Sawada, H Noriike, H Yokota

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the central part of Honshu island in Japan, seasonal vari­ation of herbage mass is also large (Okajima et al., 1985). So, when the grazing managements, i.e. stocking rate, grazing intensity etc., were not appropriate, part of herbage produced was lost through standing dead and litter, or grazing cattle lose their body weight. Sward characteristics affect the grazing behaviour of cattle (Jamieson and Hodgson, 1979), and then affect the herbage production and utilization. Relative herbage intake of cows was related to sward height (Baker et al., 1981). So, sward height was used as the indicator of the grazing management in …

The Effect Of Daily Herbage Allowance On The Ingestive Behavior Of Dairy Cows, M Rogalski, J Kryszak, Z Karzoun

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In conditions of pasture feeding sward selection and con­sumption by grazing animals is strongly influenced by char­acters of herbage (Forbes, 1986). Quantitative and qualitative state of the sward affects its consumption primarily through changes of such elements in animal behaviour as grazing time and number and size of bites (Hodgson, 1982, 1985). Rela­tivelyt much research has been done to investigate the response to the grazed sward of such ruminants as sheep, while the response of cattle, and particularly of dairy cows, has received much less attention (Arnold, 1981 ; Holmes, 1980). This paper presents results of investigations on the effect …

Effect Of Grazing On Pasture Production In South-West Western Australia, K.M S. Curtis, A C. Dunlop, T O. Albertson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

INTRODUCTION With a mediterranean climate in the south-west of Western Australia, pastures are composed of annual species from the genera Trifolium, Hordeum, Lolium, Bromus, Vulpia, Erodium and Artotheca. The length of the growing season ranges from 9 months near the coast to less than 5 months in the eastern wheatbelt. Seven million hectares of pastures are grazed predominantly by Merino sheep (about 33 millions). Stoking rate is the major factor affecting wool production on farm. An increase in stocking rate reduces wool production per sheep.Increasing the stocking rate reduces total pasture growth (Dunlop, et al., 1984) and changes the botanic …

Development Of A General Relationship Between Stocking Rate And Animal Production, J.M Van Heerden, N M. Tainton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

One of the best known mathematical representations of the relationship between stocking rate and individual animal pro­duction, that of Mot (1960), postulated a modified exponential relationship. Subsequent workers, however, derived a linear relationship between stocking rate and production per animal unit, at least at stocking rates beyond a certain minimum value. One of these relationships, that of Jones & Sandland (1974), is widely used in South Africa. The results of grazing trials with sheep on complex grass/legume mixtures in the winter rainfall region of South Africa (van Heerden & Tainton, 1987-1988), however, suggested a degree of non-linearity in this relation­ship. …

Mixed Animal Species Grazing Under Temperate And Semi-Arid Conditions, T Nolan, J Connolly, L M. Guillon, C Sall, K Dieye, K Dieye, H Guerin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Mixed grazing has been practiced for a long time, under a variety of climatic conditions, combinations of animal species and grazing managements (Nolan and Connolly, 1977). They suggested that although mixed grazing research progress was impeded by difficulties associated with the increased number of variables involved it offered greater opportunity to improve resource use. The purpose of this paper is to present results from recent research carried out under temperate and semi-arid conditions related to individual animal and per unit area outputs, animal/vegetation relationships and complemetary patterns of grazing behavious in relation to more efficient and balanced use of vegetation …

The Influence Of Clothes On The Thermoregulatory Behavior And The Protection Against External Parasites Of Grazing Cattle, M Sakurai, A Yamada

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Under the monsoon climate, maximum temperature showed 34 °C in August and minimum temperature showed - 15 °C in February, total rainfall amounting to 1.700 mm. Through the welfare of the grazing cattle, both hot, rain and frosty environ­ment influence the animal production (Bennett et al., 1984; Done-Currie Jr et al., 1984; Fraser, 1983). In order to improve the welfare of grazing cattle under hot, cold, rain and attacks of the external parasites, the efficiency of cattle clothes were studied.

Comparison Of Energy Budget In Pastures By System Model: Intensively Managed Pasture Vs. Extensively Managed Pasture, M Shiyomi, N Koyama, M Tsuiki, K Ochiai, H Kobayashi, S Shioya, T Ami

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An annual gain of 1 ton cattle body weight per ha was attained in an intensively managed pasture (IMP) of the National Grassland research Institute, NGRI, in 1986. In this experiment the efficiency of solar energy converted into herbage and cattle body was not directly determined although seasonal changes in herbage and animal biomasses were measured. In current report, the energy budget for herbage and cattle body in this pasture was estimated and compared with that in an extensively managed pasture (EMP) using a system model.

Cattle Grazing Of Bahiagrass (Paspalum Notatum Flugge) Sward Canopy As Influenced By Dung Deposition, M Hirata, Y Sugimoto, M Ueno

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

It is commonly observed in a grazed pasture that the grazing animal rejects the herbage on and near the dung pat (Marsh and Campling, 1970). However, quantitative information on the dung-induced changes in herbage consumption is very limited. In this study, cattle grazing of the dung-deposited sward canopy is compared with that of the dung-free sward canopy in order to clear the cattle dung effect on the herbage consumption in a bahiagrass pasture.

Faeceal Recoveries Of The Alkanes Of Plant Cuticular Waxes In Penned And In Grazing Sheep, H Dove, R W. Mayes, M Freer, J B. Coombe, J Z. Foot

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The saturated odd-chain hydrocarbons (alkanes) of plant cuticular waxes, with chain lengths in the range C25-C35, can be used as internal markers for estimating herbage digestibility (Mayes and Lamb, 1984). In similar fashion, orally-admini­stered even-chain alkanes (e.g. C23, C32 or C36) can be used to estimate faecal output (Mayes et al., 1986). These calculations, if done separately, require assumptions or information about the faecal recovery of alkanes. An alternative approach is to use one natural and one synthetic alkane, adjacent in chain length, to directly estimate herbage intake since, in this case, the incomplete recoveries have been shown to cancel …