Digital Commons Network^™

Computational Advances For Single-Cell Proteomics, Hannah Boekweg

Theses and Dissertations

The overarching goal of biologists is to characterize biological systems. When the workings of a system are understood, they can be fixed, broken, preserved, mimicked, and even replicated. The field of proteomics seeks to characterize systems through the lens of proteins. Proteins are referred to as the 'workhorse' of the cell to illustrate that they perform most functional tasks within the cell. These tasks are highly varied, including enzymatic activity, structural support, transport, storage, cell signaling, gene regulation, immune response, and more. Proteomics has been instrumental in new biological discoveries by characterizing the functional state of cells. A new area …

Crispr-Dcas9 Genomic Engineering For Boosting The Therapeutic Potential Of Extracellular Vesicles, Iker Martinez Zalbidea

Theses

Degenerative disc disease is a major contributor to low back pain, characterized by inflammation of the intervertebral disc (IVD), degradation of the extracellular matrix, loss of hydration, and cell death. Current therapies fail to address these underlying mechanisms, underscoring the need for regenerative strategies. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) exhibit immunomodulatory and regenerative potential, but their efficacy is hampered by the harsh microenvironment of the degenerated IVD. Acellular MSC-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have shown therapeutic potential and offer a promising alternative for IVD regeneration. Here, we explore CRISPR-dCas9 mediated activation of TSG6 and STEAP3 to boost the therapeutic potency and biogenesis …

Tomato Seedling Performance In Five Commercial Organic Growing Media With And Without Supplemental Fertilizer, Elizabeth Maynard, Wenjing Guan, Petrus Langenhoven, Lori A. Hoagland

Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture Faculty Publications

Commercially available growing media permitted for use in certified organic production differ substantially in quantity and availability of essential macronutrients. Nutrient availability from fertilizers applied during production will depend on chemical, biological, and physical characteristics of both media and fertilizers; therefore, best practices for fertilizing seedlings are likely to differ. This study evaluated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) emergence, seedling growth, and posttransplant performance when grown in five organic growing media with and without supplemental fertilizer during transplant production in three diverse locations. A 5N–0.88P–3.32K–3Ca (5–2–4) dry fertilizer was tested in all media, and a liquid 3N–0.88P–2.49K (3–2–3) fertilizer was …

In-Service Teachers’ Awareness And Professional Development In Egyptian Public Schools, Hanan Mohamed Metawea

Theses and Dissertations

Neuroscience is an emergent field that focuses on studying brain structure and understanding its significance in the learning process. There has been a recent movement in how to bridge the gap between neuroscience concepts and education by incorporating neuroscience principles into the teaching process. However, there have been limited studies in Egypt on how educators understand and utilize neuroscience principles in the classroom. This qualitative exploratory case study examines Egyptian teachers’ understanding of neuroscience concepts and how they apply them in their teaching practices. This case study was carried out in two government schools, including interviews with 11 teachers representing …

Finding Meaning In Loss: The Role Of Attachment Styles, Coping Strategies, And Resilience, Salma Seyam

Theses and Dissertations

Grief is a deeply personal yet universal experience impacted by personal, social, and cultural factors. The present study examines how attachment styles, coping mechanisms, and resilience impact both grief intensity and the ability to find meaning after a loss, within an Egyptian sample. While previous studies have explored the experience of grief, few have looked at these factors within a Middle Eastern cultural context. A total of 140 bereaved Egyptians who experienced the loss of a loved one within the past three years completed standardized measures assessing grief intensity (Prolonged Grief Disorder-Revised; PG-13-R), coping strategies (Brief COPE), meaning-making (Grief and …

The Instrumentalization Of The Unprivileged Combatants By Western Countries Aimed To Oppress National Liberation Wars, Fares Mahmoud Def-Allah Abdelhamid

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is purported to be the humanization of wars. Nonetheless, the atrocities committed in wars and the war criminals’ impunity suggest the failure of IHL. Notwithstanding, some voices call for reforming and developing IHL. In contrast, this thesis argues that IHL should be rejected entirely since the distinction between privileged and unprivileged combatants indicates that IHL is biased against anti-colonizers. It is biased in three senses. Firstly, IHL, particularly the distinction between privileged and unprivileged combatants, is dominated by Western rationality, which can be noticed in the domination of the civilization concept with its …

The Cellular Mechanisms Of Alzheimer's Disease Protection By The Pilra G78r Variant, Wenhan Cheng

Theses and Dissertations

Microglial dysfunction is increasingly linked to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Immune receptors like TREM2 and CD33 play opposing roles in microglial activity. TREM2 activation triggers immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM) signaling to promote microglial activities, including amyloid-β clearance, but variants in TREM2 such as R47H that impair its function increase AD risk. In contrast, CD33 is an inhibitory receptor that contains an immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) which transmits signals that suppress microglial function. An AD-protective variant in CD33 alters CD33 activity, potentially enhancing TREM2 function. PILRA is another inhibitory immune receptor expressed by microglia that contains an ITIM. A naturally …

Texture Classification Through Deep Residual Networks And Feature Interpretability, Ankit Kumar

Master’s Dissertations

Texture classification plays a critical role in various real-world and industrial applications such as material recognition in manufacturing, medical image diagnostics, surface defect detection, and agricultural monitoring. The ability to distinguish textures reliably enables automation and enhances the precision of intelligent systems. Traditional methods like Local Binary Patterns (LBP), Gabor filters, and wavelet-based descriptors have been used extensively for texture analysis. While these techniques are effective under controlled conditions, they suffer from limited robustness to changes in illumination, scale, and viewpoint. Moreover, handcrafted features often fail to capture the intricate texture structures present in real-world surfaces. The KTH-TIPS2a dataset introduces …

Mucin4 (Muc4) Antibody Labeled With An Nir Dye Brightly Targets Pancreatic Cancer Liver Metastases And Peritoneal Carcinomatosis, Sunidhi Jaiswal, Siamak Amirfakhri, Javier Bravo, Keita Kobayashi, Abhijit Aithal, Sumbal Talib, Kavita Mallya, Maneesh Jain, Aaron M. Mohs, Robert M. Hoffman, Surinder K. Batra, Michael Bouvet

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of deaths related to cancer. It is a highly aggressive malignancy and often metastasizes quickly to other parts of the body and organs. The most effective cure is surgical resection, which also is limited by tumor identification and clear tumor margin visualization. Previously, we used MUC4 antibodies labeled with IRDye800CW (anti-MUC4-IR800) to target primary human pancreatic cancer in orthotopic cell line mouse models.

METHODS: In the present study, we established a pancreatic cancer liver metastasis mouse model by implanting a tumor fragment in the liver and a peritoneal carcinomatosis mouse model by …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Benefits Of Art Education For Elementary Students With Autism, Brenda Lynn Miller

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was the lack of knowledge regarding art teachers’ perceptions of the social and emotional benefits of art classes for elementary school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary school art teachers’ perspectives regarding the social and emotional benefits of school-based art education for elementary school students with ASD. Schweizer et al.’s art therapy model was the conceptual framework. Semistructured interviews from 12 elementary school art teachers were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using axial coding procedures and thematic analysis. Results produced the …

Diversifying Cybersecurity: Evaluation Of An Internet Of Things (Iot)-Based Cybersecurity Training Course Designed To Bridge The Diversity Gap, Maureen Namukasa, Bhoomin B. Chauhan, Carlie Swords, Curtice Gough, Weronika Dymanus, Catherine Diresta, John Vitali, Vivek Sharma, Tj Oconnor, Meredith Carroll

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an eight-module Cybersecurity course at increasing the learning outcomes of middle and high school students with little to no experience, including underrepresented minorities (URMs) in Cybersecurity. Twice we administered and evaluated the Cybersecurity course, which included hands-on IoT-based activities, utilizing collaborative learning, scaffolding, and representation-based learning strategies. Using a quasi-experimental, within-subjects, repeated measures design, each participant experienced a pretest, the course, and a post-test to evaluate the impact on learners’ self-efficacy, interest, and knowledge. The results revealed that (1) at pre-test, female (p = .001) and in one course administration minority …

Microglial Phagocytosis In Epilepsy: Mechanisms And Impact, Abhijeet S Barath, Long-Jun Wu

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Microglia are resident immune cells critical in maintaining brain homeostasis via their surveillance and phagocytosis function. Under disease contexts such as seizures and epilepsy, microglial phagocytic signalling is activated in response to both inflammatory and non-inflammatory cell death. This process involves a range of well-characterized 'find me' and 'eat me' signals, phagocytic receptors, and less well-characterized intracellular signalling pathways. In addition, epigenetic and transcriptional regulators orchestrate microglial responses to seizures, including the integration of phagocytic and inflammatory pathways. Interestingly, although inhibiting phagocytosis has been shown to improve neuronal survival and cognitive performance after seizures, it paradoxically increases the risk of …

Examining Associations Between Sleep Variability And Treatment Outcomes In A Clinical Sample Receiving Psychotherapy Treatment For Alcohol Use Disorder, Charles A. Manzler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sleep disturbances are highly prevalent among individuals with AUD. Sleep and alcohol have a bidirectional relationship such that alcohol damages sleep-promoting brain regions, and impaired sleep exacerbates cognitive and emotional deficits that can promote alcohol use. Despite the evidence that sleep improves across treatment for AUD, these improvements have had inconsistent associations with treatment outcomes. This may result from previous research focusing solely on mean values of sleep parameters rather than daily within-person variability. Sleep variability is emerging as an important correlate of physiological dysregulation and is connected to a range of negative symptoms that may promote alcohol use. The …

Quantifying Wellbore Effects During Co2 Sequestration In A Saline Aquifer, Uzoma Johnpaul Ajugwe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a strategy for mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from large stationary sources like fossil-fuel-fired power stations. One method of CCS involves carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in deep saline aquifers, where supercritical CO2 is injected into an aquifer. The success of such projects depends on accurate predictions of CO2 behavior within the subsurface, which are obtained through numerical simulations.

TOUGHREACT, a renowned simulation tool, models subsurface fluid flow, geochemical interactions, and solute transport, providing insights into the feasibility of CO2 sequestration projects. A critical aspect of these simulations is the apportioning of …

Recovery Of A Fly, A Louse, And Mites From A Rotting Ovenbird (Seiurus Aurocapilla) Carcass, Lawrence Hribar

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Snakes As Prey Of Foraging White Ibis (Eudocimus Albus) In Seminole County, Florida, Erich Hofmann

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Cover, Florida Field Naturalist

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Status Of The White-Winged Parakeet (Brotogeris Versicolurus) In Southeast Florida, Avery Chan

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Cover, Florida Field Naturalist

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

A Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis Cardinalis) Preying On A Brown Anole (Anolis Sagrei), Stephen Spotte

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Cover, Florida Field Naturalist

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Lntercultural Communication

Communication Research Trends

The 1950s novel, The Ugly American, symbolized the mentality that generated the study of intercultural communication. The 'uglies' were the 'beautiful people' of the embassy set who made no effort to learn the language or culture and barely concealed their disdain for the 'locals' in rare excursions outside the golden ghetto of transplanted Western culture. The hero, a homely agronomist, went out among the peasants of Southeast Asia, gradually immersed himself in their culture and found he had much to learn from them. He alone communicated.

In the centuries of colonialism there have long been 'ugly imperialists', but the national …

Phosphatase-Substrate Prediction Using Heterogeneous Knowledge Graph, Jannatul Ferdaus, Marzieh Ayati, Hansapani Rodrigo

Research Symposium

Background: Phosphatase-substrate interactions may serve as biomarkers for diseases, offering crucial insights to support early diagnosis. Analyzing these substrate-specific interactions is also crucial in recommending different drugs. In our research, we constructed a knowledge graph that provides a comprehensive network representation, capturing diverse relationships among biological entities relevant to phosphatases.

Methods: Our knowledge graph represents 5 unique nodes- kinase, phosphatase, substrate, drug, and disease. The connections between the nodes are obtained from DrugMap (drug and their target proteins; disease and their associated proteins), STRING protein-protein interaction, DEPOD 2019 (phosphatase and their substrate), PhosphoSitePLUS (kinases and their substrate), and UniProt. As …

Assessment Of The Relationship Between Serum Vitamin D Levels And Its Cardiovascular Outcomes: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Study, Reza Madadi, Sina Bakhshaei, Arian Tavasol, Mahmood Gorjizad, Rouhollah Hemmati, Masood Zangi

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

Introduction: Cardiovascular events are the most common cause of mortality worldwide. Various studies have shown the relationship between serum 25- hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH) D] levels and cardiovascular events. The purpose of this study is to investigate the meta-analysis of the relationship between serum 25(OH) D levels and the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including stroke, coronary heart disease, peripheral arterial disease, and aortic disease in the population. Method: Using valid keywords and searching the Medline, Science Direct, Scopus, and web of sciences databases, 22 papers were compiled. Data analysis was performed in the group of people with low serum 25(OH)D …

Socio-Economic Comparative Study For Lake Manzalah And The Existing State, Abd-Elkhalek Z.M., El- Sonbaty, O.M., Hassan N.S., El-Karachily, A.F.

Blue Economy

The annual fish catch of Lake Manzalah, the most Fertile and largest natural lake in Egypt, in the thirties had been satisfying:34.2% of total fish demand in Egypt. But due to its nature (as any capture open industry, free entry, common property, the lake in the beginning of the new century had been deteriorating due mainly to spread of out-law intruders, encroachments, and several types of pollutions. Water area of the lake decreased from 3150km² to504km² now. Fish catch drastically dropped from 74 thousand tons in 2000 to about 37 thousand tons in 2007.National responsible parties were forced to interfere …

Exploring The Association Of Vitamin B12 Deficiency And Dental Health In Older Adults, Man Hung, Amir Mohajeri, Jacob Marx, Corban Ward, Martin S. Lipsky

Institute on Aging Publications

Background

Vitamin B12 plays a crucial role in overall health, yet its impact on dental health, particularly dental caries, remains underexplored. Older adults are at an increased risk of vitamin B12 deficiency and dental disease, but the relationship between these two factors is not well understood. This study examines the association between serum vitamin B12 levels and dental health in older adults using data from the NHANES 2011–2014 cycles.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using NHANES data from 1,907 participants aged 65 and older. Serum vitamin B12 levels were categorized as normal (>221 pmol/L), marginal (148–221 pmol/L), and …

Growing Pains: Relations Between Racial Discrimination And Body Esteem With Ethnic-Racial Identity By Pubertal Timing For Female Adolescents Of Color, Emily J. Takamasa

Theses and Dissertations

Puberty is a near-universal experience among adolescents, and yet rarely have researchers considered the racialized contexts and salience it has, for girls of color. Using the phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST), this study examines the relation between pubertal timing, body esteem, racial discrimination and ethnic racial identity (ERI) components (affirmation, exploration, resolution) among adolescent girls of color (n = 218, Mage = 15.7, U.S. sample). Results showed that higher body esteem predicted greater ERI exploration and resolution, particularly for girls with average or late pubertal timing. Additionally, racial discrimination was linked to higher ERI exploration and resolution only …

Beyond Diversity Initiatives: Building A Community Of Care In Scientific Societies, Richelle L. Tanner, Kathryn Wilsterman

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

"In this Professional Biologist article, we present one such reframing that centers individualized care through structural changes. We argue that psychological and sociological motivations of belonging and social capital in the academy are funda- mental challenges contributing to the cultural problems within STEM fields and are particularly present within professional scientific societies. In support of this argument, we present survey- based data alongside significant literature from the humanities. In this reframing supported by existing organizational culture literature and our survey results, we suggest that scientific societies are uniquely positioned to promote significant cultural change within STEM by focusing on building …

Sars-Cov-2 Nsp15 Enhances Viral Virulence By Subverting Host Antiviral Defenses, Allen Caobi, Tamarand L Darling, Adrianus C M Boon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SARS-CoV-2 encodes numerous virulence factors, yet their precise mechanisms of action remain unknown. We provide evidence that the SARS-CoV-2 nonstructural protein 15 (nsp15) enhances viral virulence by suppressing the production of viral double-stranded (dsRNA), a potent inducer of antiviral signaling. The viral variants lacking nsp15 endoribonuclease activity elicited higher innate immune responses and exhibited reduced replication in human stem cell-derived lung alveolar type II epithelial cells, as well as in the lungs of infected hamsters. Consistently, these variants caused significantly less weight loss and mortality compared to wild-type (WT) virus in K18-hACE2 mice. Mechanistically, the cells infected with nsp15 mutants …

Harboring Change: Legacy Contamination, Plant-Metal Dynamics, And The Fate Of A Boston Marsh, Emma Brooks

Graduate Masters Theses

Coastal wetlands within the Boston Harbor watershed provide numerous ecosystem services and community benefits but are challenged by anthropogenic influence including a legacy of pollution and increasing mean sea level. In this thesis, I will consider the historic and present sources of contamination in Boston Harbor, the role an individual salt marsh species (Salicornia depressa) plays in the movement of heavy metals, and how projected sea level rise and urbanization may affect future marsh viability. These complex issues are explored through a case study of Pattens Cove, a 9.6-acre parcel of state-managed land in Dorchester, MA home to …