Digital Commons Network^™

Trends In And Factors Associated With Science Achievement Among Eighth Graders In Saudi Arabia: A Secondary Analysis Of Timss Data, Roba Alzahrani

Theses and Dissertations

This secondary analysis examined trends in and factors influencing science achievement among eighth-grade students in Saudi Arabia, using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). However, Saudi Arabia's performance on the TIMSS science assessments fell below the international average, from 2003 through 2019. In addition, gender differences in science achievement have been observed, with female students outperforming male students by 30 or more points. This study addresses two problems: factors associated with the lower performance of Saudi students on TIMSS science assessments compared to global standards, and the small number of studies which explored factors which …

Kenyon Collegian - May 1, 2025

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Computationally Guided Liquid Crystal-Based Competitive Binding Sensing Platform For Optical Detection Of Spike Protein, Homa Ghaiedi, Shubham Pandey, Sophia Ezendu, Tibor Szilvasi, Karthik Nayani

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A liquid crystal (LC)-based sensing platform for the rapid optical detection of SARS-CoV-2 ' s spike protein's receptor binding domain (RBD) domain is introduced. This platform utilizes a thermotropic LC, hosted on metal-cation decorated substrates, onto which the spike protein can competitively bind. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations guide the experiments that reveal a homeotropic-to-planar transition in the LCs upon exposure to SARS-CoV-2 spike-decorated yeast, providing a basis for sensitive virus detection. The sensor's reversibility/specificity is confirmed through antibody-induced orientation recovery of the LCs initial orientation. Strikingly, the sensor can detect approximate to 2000 copies of the spike protein per …

Combining Historical And Citizen Science Jellyfish Records To Inform Marine Biodiversity Management, John Terenzini, Abigail Mcquatters-Gollop, Laura J. Falkenberg

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Effective management of ecosystems requires knowledge of biodiversity and how it is changing. There are, however, some species and regions for which such data are missing. Combining historical records with those added using non-traditional monitoring methods such as citizen science can fill this gap. Jellyfish are one group for which such an approach is advantageous as jellyfish are difficult to observe, with records particularly lacking for understudied regions outside of Europe and North America. Using Hong Kong as an example, we combine historical jellyfish observation records obtained using traditional methods (published from 1910 to current day) with recent records facilitated …

Lefitolimod In Combination With Ipilimumab In Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors: A Phase I Trial, Mirella Nardo, Mohamed A Gouda, Matthew J Reilley, Amadeo B Biter, Joann Lim, Stacie A Bean, Ly M Nguyen, Priya R Bhosale, Casey R Ager, Coline A Couillault, Sarina A Piha-Paul, Siqing Fu, Apostolia M Tsimberidou, Timothy A Yap, Aung Naing, Jordi Rodon, Vivek Subbiah, Daniel D Karp, Michael A Curran, David S Hong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: TLR9 agonists are immunomodulators that have been of interest for combined use with cancer immunotherapy. TLR9 agonists, such as lefitolimod (MGN1703), significantly increased Th1 response in preclinical models and have demonstrated efficacy in early clinical trials. This trial assessed the safety and preliminary efficacy of the combination of lefitolimod and ipilimumab in patients with advanced solid tumors.

Methods: This was a single-center, open-label, investigator-initiated phase I trial conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Patients received leftolimod either subcutaneously (at escalating doses of 15-120 mg) or intratumorally (at the maximum feasible dose) in combination with ipilimumab …

Tumoral And Circulating Genomic Landscape Inform Survival Differences In Colorectal Carcinomatosis, Michael G White, Reed I Ayabe, Mohammad A Zeineddine, Fadl A Zeineddine, Abdelrahman M G Yousef, Mahmoud Yousef, Norman J Galbraith, J Bryan Iorgulescu, Christopher Scally, Keith Fournier, Timothy E Newhook, Nancy Y You, Jason Willis, Scott Kopetz, George J Chang, John Paul Shen, Abhineet Uppal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Colorectal peritoneal metastases (CPM) are the third most common site of metastatic spread of colorectal cancer and are associated with worse survival than other sites of metastatic disease. In recent years tumoral circulating tumoral DNA (ctDNA) mutational status has been increasingly utilized in clinical decision making for metastatic colorectal cancer patients despite its utility in CPM being poorly understood. Here we describe standard of care performed mutational profiles and associated outcomes for unresectable CPM patients, with a contextual comparison to 160 unresected colorectal liver metastases (CLM) patients. Of 508 patients, 288 (57 %) had CPM alone and 220 (43 %) …

Using A Surgical Risk Predictor To Estimate Percutaneous Cryoablation Adverse Event Risk: A Single Center Comparative Analysis, Prisha Patel, Koustav Pal, Hadi Ahmed, Bill Tang, Iwan Paolucci, Mohammad Khavandi, Peiman Habibollahi, Ketan Shah, Steven Y Huang, Bruno C Odisio, Sanjay Gupta, Kamran Ahrar, Steven Yevich, Joshua D Kuban, Alda Tam, Rahul A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To evaluate the relevance of established surgical risk calculators for predicting complications in patients undergoing percutaneous lung cryoablation (PLC).

Methods: The institution's database was queried for PLC procedures from March 2015 to May 2024, excluding those patients with concomitant local therapies or five or more lesions treated in a single setting. Demographics, frailty metrics as defined by the surgical literature, and procedural variables were collected. To evaluate the suitability of surgical risk estimate calculators, the requisite demographic data were input into the American College of Surgery surgical risk calculator; estimates for length of stay (LOS), serious complications, 30-day readmission, …

Natural History Models For Lung Cancer: A Scoping Review, Renu Sara Nargund, Sayaka Ishizawa, Maryam Eghbalizarch, Paul Yeh, Seyyed Mostafa Mousavi Janbeh Saray, Sara Nofal, Yimin Geng, Pianpian Cao, Edwin J Ostrin, Rafael Meza, Martin C Tammemägi, Robert J Volk, Maria A Lopez-Olivo, Iakovos Toumazis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Natural history models (NHMs) of lung cancer (LC) simulate the disease's natural progression providing a baseline for assessing the impact of interventions. NHMs have been increasingly used to inform public health policies, highlighting their utility. The objective of this scoping review was to summarize existing LC NHMs, identify their limitations, and propose a framework for future NHM development.

Methods: We searched MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore from their inception to October 5, 2023, for peer-reviewed, full-length articles with an LC NHM. Model characteristics, their applications, data sources used, and limitations were extracted and narratively synthesized.

Results: …

Regulation Of Tfeb In Human Placental Cytotrophoblasts And Syncytiotrophoblasts, A Mathew, J S Trausch-Azar, C Azar, M Schuetz, M R Mahjoub, A L Schwartz

2020-Current year OA Pubs

While cellular proteins exist in a dynamic state maintained by the balance of synthesis and degradation, there is a paucity of information on these processes in placental trophoblasts, including within cytotrophoblasts which differentiate into multi-nucleate syncytiotrophoblasts. TFEB, a transcription factor with a myriad of cellular activities, is one of the most abundant genes expressed in syncytiotrophoblasts compared to cytotrophoblasts. TFEB is localized to the nucleus of human BeWo differentiated syncytiotrophoblasts and to the cytoplasm of the undifferentiated cytotrophoblasts. Within both the cytotrophoblasts and syncytiotrophoblasts, TFEB exists in subcellular compartments as both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms and translocates between cytoplasm and …

Treatment And Improved Outcomes Of Three Adult Patients With Guanidinoacetate Methyltransferase (Gamt) Deficiency, Angela Lee, Judith Weisenberg, Elizabeth Toolan, Marwan Shinawi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency is a creatine synthesis disorder caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in

Social Anxiety Moderates The Association Between Adolescent Irritability And Bully Perpetration, Michael T Perino, Jennifer C Harper-Lednicky, Alecia C Vogel, Chad M Sylvester, Deanna M Barch, Joan L Luby

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Preliminary work suggests anxiety moderates the relationship between irritability and bullying. As anxiety increases, the link between irritability and perpetration decreases. We hypothesize that any moderation effect of anxiety is driven by social anxiety symptoms. We sought to explicate the moderating effect of anxiety, while clarifying relations to other aggressive behaviors.

METHODS: A sample of adolescents (

RESULTS: Irritability was significantly related to bullying (

CONCLUSIONS: Understanding how psychopathology interacts with social behaviors is of great importance. Higher social anxiety is linked to reduced relations between irritability and bullying; however, the link between irritability and other aggression remains positive. …

Widespread Pain Phenotypes Impact Treatment Efficacy Results In Randomized Clinical Trials For Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome: A Multidisciplinary Approach To The Study Of Chronic Pelvic Pain Network Study, John T. Farrar, Siobhan Sutcliffe, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Pain clinical trials are notoriously complex and often inefficient in demonstrating efficacy, even for known efficacious treatments. A major issue is the difficulty in the a priori identification of specific phenotypes to include in the study population. Recent work has identified the extent of widespread pain as an important determinant of the likelihood of response to therapy, but it has not been tested in clinical trials for the treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). We explored this hypothesis using data from 3 previously published trials testing treatments for IC/BPS, which suggested modest benefits but did not meet a priori …

Multi-Omic And Spatial Analysis Of Mouse Kidneys Highlights Sex-Specific Differences In Gene Regulation Across The Lifespan, Siqi Chen, Ruiyang Liu, Chia-Kuei Mo, Michael C Wendl, Andrew Houston, Preet Lal, Yanyan Zhao, Wagma Caravan, Andrew T Shinkle, Atieh Abedin-Do, Nataly Naser Al Deen, Kazuhito Sato, Xiang Li, André Luiz N Targino Da Costa, Yize Li, Alla Karpova, John M Herndon, Maxim N Artyomov, Joshua B Rubin, Sanjay Jain, Sheila A Stewart, Li Ding, Feng Chen, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

There is a sex bias in the incidence and progression of many kidney diseases. To better understand such sexual dimorphism, we integrated data from six platforms, characterizing 76 kidney samples from 68 mice at six developmental and adult time points, creating a molecular atlas of the mouse kidney across the lifespan for both sexes. We show that proximal tubules have the most sex-biased differentially expressed genes emerging after 3 weeks of age and are associated with hormonal regulations. We reveal potential mechanisms involving both direct and indirect regulation by androgens and estrogens. Spatial profiling identifies distinct sex-biased spatial patterns in …

Do Bans On Conversion Therapy Impose A Governmental "Orthodoxy" About Sex And Gender?, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

In Part I, this Essay evaluates how orthodoxy arguments featured in Mr. Tingley’s challenge to Washington’s ban on conversion therapy. Part II offers a preliminary analysis of Chiles v. Salazar, ⁴² which the Court will hear during its 2025-2026 Term. I illustrate how the arguments made against Washington’s law by Chiles and her amici draw from the anti-orthodoxy and marketplace of ideas rhetoric found not only in Justice Thomas’s Tingley dissent and his NIFLA opinion but also in Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion in the 303 Creative decision.⁴³ Woven together with these speech arguments are appeals to the Court’s …

Plasma P-Tau217 And Tau-Pet Predict Future Cognitive Decline Among Cognitively Unimpaired Individuals: Implications For Clinical Trials, Rik Ossenkoppele, Tammie L S Benzinger, Suzanne E Schindler, Randall J Bateman, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Plasma p-tau217 and tau positron emission tomography (PET) are strong prognostic biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but their relative performance in predicting future cognitive decline among cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals is unclear. In a head-to-head comparison study including nine cohorts and 1,474 individuals, we show that plasma p-tau217 and medial temporal lobe tau-PET signal display similar associations with cognitive decline on a global cognitive composite test (R

Phase 1, First-In-Human, Single-/Multiple-Ascending Dose Study Of Iluzanebart In Healthy Volunteers, Andreas Meier, Spyros Papapetropoulos, Andrew Marsh, Kelly Neelon, David Stiles, Ryan O'Mara, Evan A Thackaberry, Marco Colonna, Raj Rajagovindan

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of iluzanebart, a fully human monoclonal antibody TREM2 (triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2) agonist, after single- (SAD) and multiple-ascending-dose (MAD) administration.

METHODS: Healthy adult volunteers (N = 136) received intravenous placebo or iluzanebart 1-60 mg/kg (SAD) or 10-60 mg/kg (MAD) followed by serial pharmacokinetics and safety assessments. Safety assessments included adverse events (AEs), vital signs, electrocardiograms, and clinical laboratory evaluations. Pharmacokinetics were assessed through noncompartmental analysis. The study also included open-label cohorts (3, 10, 20, 40, 60 mg/kg SAD; 10, 20, 40 mg/kg MAD) for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection …

Atypical Presentation Of Iars1-Related Disorder: Expanding The Phenotype And Genotype, Parith Wongkittichote, Kira E Jonatzke, Benjamin T Hyde, Lance W Peterson, Mai He, Robert C Mckinstry, Anthony Antonellis, Marwan Shinawi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) catalyze the formation of aminoacyl-tRNA, which is required for protein translation. A growing number of cases are associated with ARS deficiencies. Pathogenic variants in

Elevated P16ink4a Expression Enhances Tau Phosphorylation In Neurons Differentiated From Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Kristopher Holloway, Kashfia Neherin, Yingduo Song, Kazuhito Sato, Andrew Houston, Feng Chen, Li Ding, Hong Zhang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Increased expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16Ink4a (p16) is detected in neurons of human Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains and during normal aging. Importantly, selective eliminating p16-expressing cells in AD mouse models attenuates tau pathologies and improves cognition. But whether and how p16 contributes to AD pathogenesis remains unclear. To address this question, we tested whether induction of p16 expression in neurons exacerbates AD pathologies. We created a doxycycline-inducible system to trigger p16 up-regulation in human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and neurons differentiated from iPSCs. We demonstrated that up-regulated p16 expression in iPSCs reduces cell proliferation, down-regulates cell cycle genes, …

Brain Morphometry In Infants Later Diagnosed With Autism Is Related To Later Language Skills, Luke E Moraglia, Kelly N Botteron, Natasha Marrus, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) presents early in life with distinct social and language differences. This study explores the association between infant brain morphometry and language abilities using an infant-sibling design. Participants included infants who had an older sibling with autism (high likelihood, HL) who were later diagnosed with autism (HL-ASD; n = 31) and two non-autistic control groups: HL-Neg (HL infants not diagnosed with autism; n = 126) and LL-Neg (typically developing infants who did not have an older sibling with autism; n = 77). Using a whole-brain approach, we measured cortical thickness and surface area at 6 and 12 …

Early-Life Factors And Body Mass Index Trajectories Among Children In The Echo Cohort, Chang Liu, Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Identifying atypical body mass index (BMI) trajectories in children and understanding associated, modifiable early-life factors may help prevent childhood obesity.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize multiphase BMI trajectories in children and identify associated modifiable early-life factors.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study included longitudinal data obtained from January 1997 to June 2024, from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort, which included children aged 1 to 9 years with 4 or more weight and height assessments. Analyses were conducted from January to June 2024.

EXPOSURES: Prenatal exposure to substances and stress (smoking, alcohol, depression, anxiety), maternal characteristics (prepregnancy …

High-Dimensional Mediation Analysis For Longitudinal Mediators And Survival Outcomes, Lili Liu, Haixiang Zhang, Yinan Zheng, Tao Gao, Cheng Zheng, Kai Zhang, Lifang Hou, Lei Liu

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mediation analysis with high-dimensional mediators is crucial for identifying epigenetic pathways linking environmental exposures to health outcomes. However, high-dimensional mediation analysis methods for longitudinal mediators and a survival outcome remain underdeveloped. This study fills that gap by introducing a method that captures mediation effects over time using multivariate, longitudinally measured time-varying mediators. Our approach uses a longitudinal mixed effects model to examine the relationship between the exposure and the mediating process. We connect the mediating process to the survival outcome using a Cox proportional hazards model with time-varying mediators. To handle high-dimensional data, we first employ a mediation-based sure independence …

Simulation-Guided Pan-Cancer Analysis Identifies A Novel Regulator Of Cpg Island Hypermethylation Heterogeneity, Xianglin Zhang, Wei Zhang, Jinyi Zhang, Xiuhong Lyu, Haoran Pan, Tianwei Jia, Ting Wang, Xiaowo Wang, Haiyang Guo

2020-Current year OA Pubs

CpG island hypermethylation, a hallmark of cancer, exhibits substantial heterogeneity across tumors, presenting both opportunities and challenges for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. While this heterogeneity offers potential for patient stratification to predict clinical outcomes and personalize treatments, it complicates the development of robust biomarkers for early detection. Understanding the mechanisms driving this heterogeneity is essential for advancing biomarker design. Here, simulation-based analyses demonstrate that tumor purity and the high prevalence of low epi-mutation samples significantly obscure the identification of negative, rather than positive, regulators of CpG island hypermethylation, limiting a comprehensive understanding of heterogeneity sources. By addressing these confounders, we …

A Standardized Nomenclature For The Rods And Cones Of The Vertebrate Retina, Tom Baden, Takeshi Yoshimatsu, Joseph C. Corbo, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Vertebrate photoreceptors have been studied for well over a century, but a fixed nomenclature for referring to orthologous cell types across diverse species has been lacking. Instead, photoreceptors have been variably-and often confusingly-named according to morphology, presence/absence of 'rhodopsin', spectral sensitivity, chromophore usage, and/or the gene family of the opsin(s) they express. Here, we propose a unified nomenclature for vertebrate rods and cones that aligns with the naming systems of other retinal cell classes and that is based on the photoreceptor type's putative evolutionary history. This classification is informed by the functional, anatomical, developmental, and molecular identities of the neuron …

The Multiverse Of Cd46 And Oncologic Interactions, M. Kathryn Liszewski, John P. Atkinson

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Initially identified as a regulator of complement activation on host cells, the known roles of CD46 (membrane cofactor protein [MCP]) have expanded. We now know that this ancient molecule is expressed on almost all nucleated cells as a family of four predominant isoforms. It also is involved in human reproduction, modulation of T cell activation and immunoinflammatory effector functions, autophagy, and the newly identified intracellular complement system (complosome). CD46 is also known as a "pathogen" magnet, being a port of entry for at least seven bacteria and five viruses. Moreover, CD46 has recently emerged as a key player in cancer …

Exploring Host Range Of Klebsiella Pneumonia, Ashlyn Berra

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Bacteriophages, or phages, are viruses that target bacteria. Lytic phages cause the bacteria to lyse (cell death). Klebsiella pneumoniae is a bacterium that is associated with severe urinary tract infections. Some K. pneumoniae are hypervirulent—causing difficult-to-treat infections. Lytic phages of K. pneumoniae can functionally limit bacteria populations. This project explores this dynamic. Strains of K. pneumoniae were mixed with soft agar and poured onto LB plates. The viruses were then spotted in the soft agar cultures. Lysis of bacteria causes clearings after virus introduction. Successful phages could be used in a clinical setting as infection treatment.

Assembly And Annotation Of The Shortnose Gar Mitogenome, Benjamin Moginot

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging technique that ascertains species presence by collecting DNA that is shed by organisms and deposited in the environment. eDNA methods rely on the availability of genomes for target species, and the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) is frequently used due to its abundance in the environment compared to nuclear DNA. One of the shortcomings of current eDNA work is the lack of mitogenomes against which to reference collected DNA samples. To help rectify this, I assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genome of the shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus), a fish extant in the Mississippi River …

Enhancing Personal Writing Using Artificial Intelligence: Does Creativity Influence The Usability Of Artificial Intelligence Interfaces?, Anna Buttell, August Decz

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Creativity, the ability to use imagination to solve complex problems (Kupers et al., 2018), is essential for prosperity. Many questions remain about how AI affects human creative capacity and control (O’Toole, 2024). In this study, we will evaluate whether human creativity impacts the creativity of AI generated text. Using performance-based measures of intelligence and creativity, we will assess human creativity and apply Semantic Distance methods to evaluate essays written with and without the assistance of a static AI model (Reilly, Jamie, et al., 2022). This will allow us to examine how human-AI collaboration impacts the output from AI.

A New Mitochondrial Genome For The Illinois Spring Cavefish, Forbesichthys Agassizii, Richa Patel

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

The Spring Cavefish is a species of conservation concern in Illinois due to habitat degradation and limited survey data. Traditional methods for detecting this species are often hindered by the difficulty in accessing its habitat, leading to a limited understanding of its distribution and ecology. Advances in environmental DNA techniques offer a promising way to more precisely determine F. agassizii’s distribution, but the lack of a reference mitochondrial genome for F. agassizii impedes the development of effective detection assays. In this study, we assembled a complete mitochondrial genome for F. agassizii using existing SRA data.

Synthesis Of Ck-869 Derivatives As Potential Inhibitors Of The Arp2/3 Complex, Elisa A. Guerrero Regalado, Andrew W. Baggett

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

The Actin related protein 2 and 3 complex is (Arp2/3) is a key protein allowing for polymerization necessary to the actin cytoskeleton that aids in cytokinesis, endocytosis, and cellular motility. The Arp 2/3 complex is a seven-subunit protein that allows for the polymerization of actin within a cell by acting as a nucleation site for daughter actin filaments to branch from pre-existing filament strands. The inhibition of Arp 2/3 complex can prevent the motility of harmful pathogens by inhibiting actin comet tail formation. This research may provide further knowledge on the basic science of actin by allowing one specific part …

Providing Care For The Geriatric Population, Asma Nayyar Md

Marshall Journal of Medicine

No abstract provided.