Digital Commons Network^™

A Bivalent Self-Amplifying Rna Vaccine Against Yellow Fever And Zika Viruses, Peter Battisti, Matthew R. Ykema, Darshan N. Kasal, Madeleine F. Jennewein, Samuel Beaver, Abbie E. Weight, Derek Hanson, Jasneet Singh, Julie Bakken, Noah Cross, Pauline Fusco, Jacob Archer, Sierra Reed, Alana Gerhardt, Justin G. Julander, Corey Casper, Emily A. Voigt

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Student Research

Introduction: Yellow fever (YFV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses cause significant morbidity and mortality, despite the existence of an approved YFV vaccine and the development of multiple ZIKV vaccine candidates to date. New technologies may improve access to vaccines against these pathogens. We previously described a nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC)-delivered self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vaccine platform with excellent thermostability and immunogenicity, appropriate for prevention of tropical infectious diseases.

Methods: YFV and ZIKV prM-E antigen-expressing saRNA constructs were created using a TC-83 strain Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus-based replicon and complexed with NLC by simple mixing. Monovalent and bivalent vaccine formulations were injected intramuscularly …

Students In The Gardner-Webb University College Of Arts And Sciences Recognized In Awards Ceremony, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences recently presented awards to students in recognition of their hard work, dedication and excellence.

Integrative Systems Approach To Cell Line Design: From Bistability To Metabolic Byproduct Reduction To Amino Acid Prototrophy, Bhanu Chandra Mulukutla, Chris Mccready

Cell Culture Engineering XIX

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Assessment Of Biotransformation Rates, Biomagnification, And Bioconcentration Factors Of Difficult-To-Test Substances Using In Vitro Rainbow Trout Liver Subcellular Fractions, Mark A Cantu, Beatrice Chee, Talia R Cole, Yung-Shan Lee, Frank A P C Gobas

Faculty and Staff Publications

In vitro hepatic biotransformation assays have been proposed as methods for expediting and improving bioaccumulation assessment for substances that are difficult to test in conventional in vivo bioaccumulation assays and to reduce animal testing. However, to date, there has been no convincing evidence to demonstrate the ability and limitations of in vitro assays to estimate in vivo biotransformation rates and corresponding bioconcentration and biomagnification factors of difficult-to-test substances in fish. The present study presents the first measurements of in vitro biotransformation rates of superhydrophobic and highly volatile linear and cyclic siloxanes in rainbow trout liver S9 subcellular fractions and the …

Insights Into Cortical Organization And Executive Dysfunction In Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Madeleine Reading

Theses and Dissertations

Cortical gyrification is essential for cognitive development, yet its relationship with executive functioning (EF) in pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains unclear. This study examined whether children with TBI exhibit atypical cortical folding in EF-related regions and whether these differences relate to EF performance. Using FreeSurfer 7.1.1, we analyzed local gyrification index (LGI) in 206 participants (ages 5-18) from 14 sites within the ENIGMA Pediatric msTBI Working Group. Vertex-wise regression revealed that longer time since injury (TSI) was associated with increased gyrification in the right fusiform gyrus and multiple left-hemisphere regions, suggesting region-specific neuroplasticity. Contrary to expectations, higher GCS scores …

Self-Supervised Learning And Its Applications In Medical Image Analysis, Siladittya Manna

Doctoral Theses

Self-supervised learning (SSL) enables learning robust representations from unlabeled data and it consists of two stages: pretext and downstream. The representations learnt in the pretext task are transferred to the downstream task. Self-supervised learning has appli- cations in various domains, such as computer vision tasks, natural language processing, speech and audio processing, etc. In transfer learning scenarios, due to differences in the data distribution of the source and the target data, the hierarchical co-adaptation of the representations is destroyed, and hence proper fine-tuning is required to achieve satisfactory performance. With self-supervised pre-training, it is possible to learn repre- sentations aligned …

If You Can’T Beat Hemp, Join Hemp: A Policy Argument For A Federal Regulatory Framework Encompassing Intoxicating Hemp Derivatives And Marijuana And Why Re-Scheduling Marijuana Isn’T The Answer, Frances Alaina Rodriguez

University of Miami Business Law Review

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill) legalized industrial hemp and its downstream uses by removing hemp from the definition of marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Its enactment led to the explosion of a multi-billion dollar intoxicating hemp derivatives (IHD) market. This boom, combined with growing state–level marijuana legalization, presents a unique opportunity for comprehensive federal cannabis reform.

This Note argues that the traditional pathways for marijuana legalization—rescheduling through the Controlled Substances Act or state-by-state legislation—are inadequate given the emergence of a federally legal but largely unregulated IHD industry. Instead, this Note proposes a unified federal …

Lsab Minutes April 29, 2025, Shawna Battle, Maryke H. Barber

WRL: Library Student Advisory Board Minutes

No abstract provided.

From The Ground Up: Community-Based Participatory Research Reclaiming The Science Of Lead, Juan Manuel Rubio, Bavisha Kaylan, Anthony Diaz, Patricia Flores, Maya Cheav, David C. Bañuelas, Ashley Green, Annika Hjelmstad, Ariane Jong-Levinger, Tim Schütz, Maya Carrasquillo, Alana M. W. Lebron, Jun Wu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

For decades, the dominant approach to lead poisoning has been to focus on homes affected by lead paint and to treat children who are already suffering from lead poisoning. This individualizing approach developed in the context of the defunding and deregulation of government agencies in the 1980s. In recent years, however, community–academic partnerships have reframed lead as an environmental issue produced by the development of the lead industry in the twentieth century and connected to overlapping histories of exploitation, discrimination, and inaction. These community-based projects have contributed to shifting research agendas (by emphasizing historical analysis and the study of the …

Voices Raised, Spring 2025, University Of Dayton. Women's Center

Women’s Center Newsletter

Newsletter editor: Gabby Campana

In this issue:

• Leading with Purpose, by Ajá McMichel
• Women and Religion: Resistance, Reverence, and Radical Faith, by Meg Cole
• “One is Not Born, But Rather Becomes, A Woman”: Revisiting The Second Sex, by Nikita Khasgiwale
• Women's History Month, Spring Semester Events
• From the Director's Desk, by Leah L. Ward, Ph.D.

Fuel Of The Future: Toward Biodiesel Synthesis With Metal-Organic Frameworks, Loïc La-Branche

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

In the face of mounting climate and energy crises, the employment of eco-friendly resources is critical. The green initiative for fuels demands a renewable, economic resource with minimal carbon footprint and toxicity. Biodiesel, sourced from the transesterification of natural oils and alcohols, has gained attention as a sustainable alternative to petroleum with appreciably lower carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. Industrial biodiesel production, however, is limited by the need for using homogenous catalysts which require, anhydrous and pure feedstocks, constituting more than 70% of manufacturing expenses. Nonetheless, the use of metal-organic frameworks, porous crystalline materials composed of a three-dimensional network of …

One Size Doesn’T Fit All: Towards Design And Evaluation Of Developmentally Appropriate Parental Control Tool, Prakriti Dumaru, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

As children progress through developmental stages, they undergo substantial biological, cognitive, and social changes, creating unique needs for online safety across different age groups (e.g., young children, tweens, teens). The existing parental control tools fail to account for these differences, leaving a notable gap in the literature on parental mediation. To this end, we conducted 10 focus group sessions with a total of 20 parents to understand their preferences for age-appropriate design components that promote self-regulation and open communication, followed by an ideation workshop with four UX design experts to translate these preferences into customized features. We then evaluated these …

Organic Anion Lithium Ionic Cocrystal Compounds And Compositions, Michael John Zaworotko, Naga Duggirala, Adam John Smith, Roland Douglas Shytle

USF Patents

A cocrystal having the formula LiX·aM, or a solvate or hydrate thereof, wherein X is a conjugate base of an organic acid, M is a neutral organic molecule, and a is from 0.5 to 4, pharmaceutical compositions comprising such cocrystals, cocrystal solvates, or cocrystal hydrates, and methods of preparing such cocrystals, cocrystal solvates, or cocrystal hydrates, and such pharmaceutical compositions.

Iditarod’S Effect On Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 Disease Progression In A Drosophila Melanogaster Model, Delaney Grace Humphrey

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is caused by CTG-repeat expansion in the DMPK gene, leading to skeletal muscle weakening and wasting. Irisin, a muscle-secreted cytokine released during exercise, promotes muscle growth, repair, and metabolism. Given irisin’s role in promoting muscle growth, we explored how activity-induced Idit expression impacts muscle function in a Drosophila model of DM1. Healthy control (CUG20) and DM1 (CUG250) flies were generated using the UAS-Gal4 system. CUG20 and CUG250 flies underwent a three-week exercise regimen, with the goal of increasing levels of Iditarod protein, the fruit fly homolog of irisin. Following exercise training, muscle function was assessed …

The Effect Of Cellular Glucose Levels On Inotersen-Mediated Target Reduction In In Vitro Cell Models, Andrea Durwin

Honors Scholar Theses

Antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) drugs are a new therapeutic modality to treat rare as well as common diseases. These drugs work to reduce disease by targeting the mRNA of the gene that causes the disease, therefore limiting the proteins that further propagate the signs and symptoms of the disorder. Many people who suffer from more severe diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), and a wide array of cancers, utilize ASO drugs for treatment, but the drug is also used with those suffering from more common diseases such as diabetes. The efficacy of ASO drugs to silence their mRNA …

Bacterial Microbiomes In Different Depths Of Sand At The Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hays S. Roth

Honors Theses

Microbial communities in sand play essential roles in their ecosystems, yet little is known about how bacterial diversity and function vary across different sand depths. This study investigated bacterial microbiomes at varying depths (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 cm) on Biloxi East Beach, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and assays of extracellular enzyme activity. 11,161 amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were identified across all samples, with the most abundant bacterial phyla being Planctomycetota, Gammaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidota. Depth had a significant impact on bacterial community composition, with surface layers having more diverse bacterial communities. Microbial diversity …

Using The Million Mutation Project Strains Of C. Elegans To Identify Candidate Genes Linked To Abnormal Amphetamine-Induced Behaviors, Nicole Litvinchuk

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

Amphetamine (Amph) is a psychostimulant drug that increases extracellular dopamine at the dopaminergic synapses, making chronic Amph users liable to addiction. This project aims to identify yet uncharacterized candidate genes within the dopaminergic system and determine their involvement in amphetamine-induced behaviors. In C. elegans, Amph causes a dopaminedependent behavior named Swimming induced paralysis (Swip). We used Swip to screen animals for altered Amph response. To facilitate the identification of genes involved in the mechanism of action of Amph, we utilized C. elegans strains from The Million Mutation Project (MMP) bearing random but well-characterized mutations. Out of all the MMP strains …

Powering Up Clinical Practice: Mastering Clinical Literature Search Techniques In Embase, Evelyn Wang

HSLIC Faculty and Staff Instructional Resources

This workshop presentation, "Powering Up Clinical Practice: Mastering Clinical Literature Search Techniques in EMBASE," is designed to enhance healthcare professionals’ skills in conducting effective clinical literature searches using EMBASE. The session covers efficient navigation of EMBASE, transforming clinical questions into search concepts, developing advanced search strategies with keywords and Emtree terms, applying search tips (Boolean logic, truncation, wildcards), conducting pilot searches, refining search strategies, and managing results for clinical decision-making. Additional resources and HSLIC services are introduced to support literature review and research workflows.

The Extracellular Matrix As A Barrier To C1q Synapse Tagging, Kayla Difede

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

This project examined C1q’s distribution in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and its specialized structures, perineuronal nets (PNNs), to explore the potential protective role the ECM plays against synaptic pruning. Traditionally, C1q deposits at weak synapses, initiating the complement cascade and signaling microglia to remove them. Preliminary data from the lab show that C1q accumulates in the ECM, suggesting a sequestering mechanism to protect synapses from C1q “tagging” and further elimination. In fact, initial observations indicate that most C1q clusters were not directly associated at the synapse. Using microscopy with fluorescent synaptic markers (Gephyrin-GFP, Homer-GFP), we assessed C1q’s spatial distribution relative …

Pparα Regulates Er–Lipid Droplet Protein Calsyntenin-3Β To Promote Ketogenesis In Hepatocytes, Lauren F. Uchiyama, Alexander Nguyen, Kevin Qian, Liujuan Cui, Khoi T. Pham, Xu Xiao, Yajing Gao, Yuta Shimanaka, Marcus J. Tol, Laurent Vergnes, Karen Reue, Peter Tontonoz

Physiology Faculty Publications

Ketogenesis requires fatty acid flux from intracellular (lipid droplets) and extrahepatic (adipose tissue) lipid stores to hepatocyte mitochondria. However, whether interorganelle contact sites regulate this process is unknown. Recent studies have revealed a role for Calsyntenin-3β (CLSTN3β), an endoplasmic reticulum–lipid droplet contact site protein, in the control of lipid utilization in adipose tissue. Here, we show that Clstn3b expression is induced in the liver by the nuclear receptor PPARα in settings of high lipid utilization, including fasting and ketogenic diet feeding. Hepatocyte-specific loss of CLSTN3β in mice impairs ketogenesis independent of changes in PPARα activation. Conversely, hepatic overexpression of CLSTN3β …

A Mean Field Theory For Pulse-Coupled Neural Oscillators Based On The Spike Time Response Curve, Carmen C. Canavier

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

A mean field method for pulse-coupled oscillators with delays used a self-connected oscillator to represent a synchronous cluster of N - 1 oscillators and a single oscillator assumed to be perturbed from the cluster. A periodic train of biexponential conductance input was divided into a tonic and a phasic component representing the mean field input. A single cycle of the phasic conductance from the cluster was applied to the single oscillator embedded in the tonic component at different phases to measure the change in the cycle length in which the perturbation was initiated, that is, the first-order phase response curve …

Non-Finite Clause Use In Disciplinary Research Writing: A Formulaic Sequence-Based Functional Comparison Between Expert And Student Writers, Xixin Qiu

Faculty Scholarship

Non-finite clauses (NFCs), despite their increasingly recognized role in second language (L2) acquisition and academic writing as part of a multidimensional conceptualization of syntactic complexity, have not been analyzed in functional and discipline-specific perspectives. This study addresses this gap by providing a linguistic-descriptive account of NFC use in expert and advanced student English research writing. Using a 2.26-million-word corpus of published research articles and student manuscripts in Agricultural Science, this study profiles the distribution of NFC subtypes and identifies frequent discoursal functions realized by non-finite verb-centered formulaic sequences. The findings reveal significant differences in NFC use across writer groups, with …

Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty And Stenting (Ptas) In Patients With Symptomatic Intracranial Vertebrobasilar Artery Stenosis (Ivbs), Ramtin Pourahmad, Kiarash Saleki, Sina Zoghi, Ramtin Hajibeygi, Hamed Ghorani, Amin Javanbakht, Sina Goodarzi, Parsa Alijanizadeh, Kelly Trinh, Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Ghasemi-Rad

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Approximately 20% of all transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) and ischaemic strokes occur within the posterior circulation, with vertebrobasilar stenosis identified as the cause in roughly 25% of the cases. Studies have shown that about a quarter of these patients have atherosclerotic stenosis of at least 50% of the vertebrobasilar artery. Stenosis has been shown to be associated with an increased risk of 90-day recurrent vertebrobasilar stroke, particularly in the first few weeks, which is significantly higher when compared with patients with stenosis of the anterior circulation. Therefore, aggressive treatment is important for the patient's prognosis. Stenting is emerging as …

Mapping The Developmental Profile Of Ventricular Zone-Derived Neurons In The Human Cerebellum, Anders W Erickson, Henry Tan, Liam D Hendrikse, Jake Millman, Zachary Thomson, Joseph Golser, Omar Khan, Guanyi He, Kathleen Bach, Arpit Suresh Mishra, Janja Kopic, Zeljka Krsnik, Ferechte Encha-Razavi, Giulia Petrilli, Fabien Guimiot, Evelina Silvestri, Kimberly A Aldinger, Michael D Taylor, Kathleen J Millen, Parthiv Haldipur

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The cerebellar ventricular zone (VZ) is the primary source of progenitors that generate cerebellar GABAergic neurons, including Purkinje cells (PCs) and interneurons (INs). This study provides detailed characterization of human cerebellar GABAergic neurogenesis using transcriptomic and histopathological analyses and reveals conserved and unique features compared to rodents. We show that the sequential progression of neurogenesis is conserved and occurs before 8 postconception weeks. Notably, PC differentiation occurs in the outer subventricular zone (SVZ), a region absent in the mouse cerebellum. Human PCs are generated during a compact two-week period before the onset of cerebral cortex histogenesis. A subset of human …

Immune Cells And Arrhythmias, Joshua A Keefe, Jian Wang, Jiangping Song, Li Ni, Xander H T Wehrens

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cardiac arrhythmias are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that resident and infiltrating cardiac immune cells play direct, mechanistic roles in arrhythmia onset and progression. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary and expert commentary on the role of each immune cell subtype in the pathogenesis of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias.

Towards An Explicit Understanding Of Network Governance In Urban Forestry Management: A Case Study Of Portland (Or), Usa, Quadri Olatunbosun Taiwo, Vivek Shandas

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

As the climate continues to warm, and municipal leaders look for cost-effective and timely approaches to urban sustainability, one increasingly sought-out approach is the use of tree canopy to cool neighborhoods. Despite widespread efforts to expand tree canopy in cities, an overwhelming body of evidence suggests that urban green space is declining across the U.S., yet little is known about the factors that propel these changes. Understanding the institutional and governance systems can help identify the opportunities for slow consistent declines. Using social network analysis (SNA) metrics, we examined stakeholder roles in power structures and decision-making processes within Portland, Oregon’s …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of Urban Stream Syndrome On Macroinvertebrate Functional Feeding Diversity And Organic Matter Processing In Streams, Helena Loucas

Longwood Senior Theses

Urbanization causes the degradation of streams described as the Urban Stream Syndrome, resulting in increased contamination, altered stream morphology, and reduced taxonomic richness. Macroinvertebrates vary in their tolerance to the impacts of urbanization, therefore the reduction of taxonomic richness increases the abundance of tolerant species and decreases the abundance of intolerant species. Aquatic macroinvertebrates are specialized feeders, falling into five functional feeding groups which affect ecosystem processes such as the decomposition of organic matter. Through a reduction of intolerant taxa, functional feeding diversity will be reduced because the functional feeding groups are not equally distributed across all tolerance levels. This …

Synthesis Of Organosilicon Substituted Fₓpczn For The Preparation Of Silica-Based Photo-Catalysts, Reagan E. Daly

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study began with the synthesis, purification, and catalytic application of hexadeca fluoro phthalocyanine zinc (F₁₆PcZn) derivatives functionalized with organosilane consuming thiol groups. The F₁₆PcZn was synthesized by reacting tetrafluorophthalonitrile (TFPN) with zinc acetate (Zn(OAc)₂) in 1-chloronaphthalene as a solvent, under a controlled heating process at 185°C for 90 minutes. The resulting blue solid was purified via vacuum filtration and recrystallization techniques to remove residual solvents and by-products, yielding pure F₁₆PcZn. The purity of the product was assessed through UV-Vis spectroscopy, MALDI analysis, and a molar extinction coefficient was determined.

Subsequent nucleophilic substitution of the fluorine atoms on F₁₆PcZn with …

Comparing Parasitism And Resistance To Flow In Two Populations Of Elimia Virginica, Morgan G. Hicok, Abbie Tomba, Kate Green

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Snails are important in freshwater ecosystems as primary consumers and are good indicators of the stability of a habitat. Trematodes are parasitic flatworms that infect freshwater snails and can cause changes in metabolic function and growth. Flow rates and water levels are now more variable due to climate change, increasing stress and dislodgment in the snail population. This study investigates how parasites, shell morphology, and native flow environment influence resistance to disturbance. Elimia populations were sampled for differences in parasitism, shell morphology, and ability to withstand high flow environments in two different rivers. Sample sites at the Potomac River were …

Exploring Bis-Dinitrocarboxyphenyl-Kryptofix-22 Derivatives As Precursors For Heterogeneous Catalysts In Biodiesel Production, Priscilla Agrinsoni

Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses

The growing demand for sustainable fuel alternatives has increased interest in biodiesel production. Current methods are costly due to the need for high-purity feedstocks. Alkaline homogeneous catalysts are commonly used due to their low cost and easy accessibility; however, they are non-reusable, produce low-quality glycerol, and have extensive purification requirements. This research investigates the catalytic performance of a bis-dinitrocarboxyphenylkryptofix- 22 derivative. This derivative is referred to as a “linker”. Its catalytic activity was tested through transesterification reactions. It appears to exhibit limited catalytic activity. This research seeks to lay the groundwork for the future development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as …