Digital Commons Network^™

Machine Learning-Enhanced Surface-Enhanced Spectroscopic Detection Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In The Human Placenta, Oara Neumann, Yilong Ju, Andres B Sanchez-Alvarado, Guodong Zhou, Weiwu Jiang, Bhagavatula Moorthy, Melissa A Suter, Ankit Patel, Peter Nordlander, Naomi J Halas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The detection and identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives, polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), are essential for environmental and health monitoring, for assessing toxicological exposure and their associated health risks. PAHs/PACs are the most dangerous chemicals found in tobacco smoke, and cigarette use during pregnancy can convey these molecules to the developing fetus through the placenta. This exposure is associated with many negative health outcomes, from premature birth to sudden infant death syndrome and adverse neurodevelopmental disorders. This study demonstrates the use of surface-enhanced Raman and surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopies for direct detection of PAHs/PACs in human placental …

Unveiling The Genetic Landscape Of Coronary Artery Disease Through Common And Rare Structural Variants, Kruthika R Iyer, Erica P Young, Nathan O Stitziel, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have identified several hundred susceptibility single nucleotide variants for coronary artery disease (CAD). Despite single nucleotide variant-based genome-wide association studies improving our understanding of the genetics of CAD, the contribution of structural variants (SVs) to the risk of CAD remains largely unclear.

METHOD AND RESULTS: We leveraged SVs detected from high-coverage whole genome sequencing data in a diverse group of participants from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine program. Single variant tests were performed on 58 706 SVs in a study sample of 11 556 CAD cases and 42 907 controls. …

Late Holocene Coastal And Estuarine Environments Of The Shanghai Area, People's Republic Of China, Li Jinan, Yan Qinshang

The Geographical Bulletin

Four major sedimentary environments have been identified in the Shanghai area which were deposited over the past 7,000 years, 3 to 20 meters above a Pleistocene basal clay. These are marsh, lagoon, recurved spit and tidal flat. The morphology west of Shanghai is a fresh water marsh since it was not transgressed by rising Holocene sea levels. In the central area, a recurved spit and lagoon had developed from 6,500 years B.P. to 3,500 years B.P. However, the tidal flat has characterized coastal sedimentation in the eastern part of Shanghai since 3,000 years B.P.

Tracking The Effects Of Time Zone Shift On An Individual’S Circadian Rhythm, Amaka Eziakonwa, Erich Stahmer, Amega Nguyen, Samuel Park, Madison Payne, Alexis Salinas, Deborah Bell-Pedersen, Julie A. Zacharias-Simpson

Annual Research Symposium

This poster presentation aims to understand how a rapid time-zone change can affect an individual’s circadian rhythms. By quantifying changes in physiological rhythms, the study seeks to develop targeted therapeutic interventions to mitigate the negative effects of jetlag.

Can We Eliminate The Negative Consequences Of Circadian Desynchronization Caused By Night Shift Work By Using A Light Therapy Lamp To Simulate A Sunset?, Amega Nguyen, Madison Payne, Amaka Eziakonwa, Erich Stahmer, Alexis Salinas, Samuel Park, Julie A. Zacharias-Simpson, Deborah Bell-Pedersen

Annual Research Symposium

This poster aims to understand the relationship between desynchronosis of circadian rhythms and night-shift work and how light therapy can mitigate some of the issues of desynchronosis. This study seeks to develop therapies for disrupted circadian rhythms from night-ship works.

Circadian Rhythm And Its Impact On Balance And Physical Performance, Angel Oliver, Christian Mccormick, Eseosa Aigbe, Tanner Erwin, Ariela Khandadash, Benjamin Khavkin, Samuel Park, Jutta Ward, Deborah Bell-Pedersen

Annual Research Symposium

This study explores the relationship between circadian rhythms and human performance across three key domains: cardiovascular endurance, vestibular function, and strength. Through the review of data obtained through performance testing at two different time points along with 24-hour physiological tracking, this study attempts to find correlations between circadian function and physical performance.

Quantifying The Impact Of Circadian Rhythm On Cognitive Domains: An Objective Assessment, Christian Mccormick, Angel Oliver, Neha Doppalapudi, Austin Gibson, Micah Kwallek, Bardia Movafagh, Samuel Park, Jutta Ward, Deborah Bell-Pedersen

Annual Research Symposium

This poster presentation explores the relationship between an individuals circadian clock and its effects on cognitive performance and overall cognitive function. By assessing the rhythms of multiple physiological parameters, this study aims to draw a connection with cognitive function in order to provide potential avenues for individualized treatments for those with disorders affecting cognitive function.

Investigating The Impact Of Shift Work On Circadian Rhythms And Health In Healthcare Workers, Dominique Gillette, Grace Godfrey, Jacob Godfrey, Angela Nguyen, Hannah Gewaid, Carissa Salamatin, Sharon Sengphanith, Samuel Park, Colin Burton, Neha Doppalapudi, Daniel Oraee, Deborah Bell-Pedersen

Annual Research Symposium

This poster presentation aims to discuss how working the night shift contributes to health risks through the disruption of circadian rhythm in healthcare workers. We hope to gain insight on the relationship between these disturbances and the circadian clock in order to establish strategies that optimize healthy lifestyles for healthcare workers.

The Multifaceted Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Perceptions Of Overall Health, Krystal Robinson, Grace Godfrey, Jacob Godfrey, Carissa Salamatin, Renee Chang, Payson Broome, Dominique Gillette, Kevin Tarrio, Sherli Koshy-Chenthittayil, Karen Duus

Annual Research Symposium

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Previous studies have indicated both mental health and overall physical health can decline due to heightened sedentary behavior. This project investigates these concepts further by analyzing individual’s perceptions of their overall physical and mental health during the pandemic using Qualtrics and R. Participants aged 18 and older (n > 200) provided pre- and post-quarantine data with subgroup comparisons by gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, residence, and coping mechanisms. Initial results revealed a significant decline in …

Using Variations In The Circadian Rhythm To Identify Optimal Vaccination Times In Healthy Adults Who Receive An Influenza Vaccine, Payson Broome, Karen Duus, Thrisha Reddy, Krystal Robinson, Jutta Ward, Michael Desouza, Samuel Park, Terry Ann Else, Deborah Bell-Pedersen

Annual Research Symposium

This proof-of-concept quasi-experiment investigated the relationship between circadian phase and immune response to the 2024-2025 influenza vaccine. This study will provide insight into the ideal physiological circadian phase to receive the influenza vaccine, better defining the relationship between circadian biology and immunity, and supporting a simple and cost-effective strategy to optimize influenza vaccine efficacy.

Sex-Based Differences In The Utility And Outcomes Of Left Ventricular Assist Devices, Mirvat Alasnag, Waleed Alhabeeb, Feras Khaliel

Journal of the Saudi Heart Association

The totality of evidence suggests that there remains a significant disparity in the use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) and heart transplantation (HT) in women. This disparity persists even after accounting for differences in baseline characteristics, comorbidities, and cardiovascular risk factors between men and women undergoing LVAD implantation as a bridge to HT. Generally, women are less likely to undergo HT, leading to a higher mortality rate in women on the HT waiting list. The differences in risk profiles and device-related complications may account for the sex-related disparities in the assignment of device therapies. These findings warrant an urgent …

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part Xxxv. Parabuthus Starhai Sp. N. From Somalia (Puntland) (Buthidae), František Kovařík

Euscorpius

A new species Parabuthus starhai sp. n. from Somalia (Puntland) is described. Combination of two characters, pectine teeth number 56–59 in both sexes and pedipalp chela length/ width ratio 3.65 in male and 5.47 in female differ P. starhai sp. n. from all other species in the region. Included is also a map of distribution of Parabuthus species in the Horn of Africa.

Lonza Partners With Unh To Offer Life Sciences Scholarship And Mentorship Program, Unh Communications And Public Affairs

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

The Rider (2025-02-17), Rebeca Salinas

The Rider Archives

Vol. 10, No. 19

The Unfolding Story Of Protein Misfolding Causing Alzheimer Disease In Recipients Of Human Pituitary Growth Hormone, Evan G. Graber, Sayed M. Hadi Hosseini, Darrell M. Wilson, Alan D. Rogol

Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Faculty Papers

Human growth hormone (hGH) has been in clinical use for children with GH deficiency (GHD) since the late 1950s. The original formulations were considered very safe with few adverse events reported. That changed remarkably in 1985 when the first patients with GHD, who had been treated with cadaveric hGH, were diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). Fortunately, that same year a robust supply of recombinant hGH was released to the market whose adverse event profile did not include CJD. Patients who had received National Hormone and Pituitary Program hGH have been continuously followed since 1985. It is clear that prions are …

Sidi Zin Archaeological Project: New Investigations Into The Acheulean And Middle Stone Age In Tunisia, Eslem Ben Arous, Nabiha Aouadi, Lotfi Belhouchet, Héla Mekki, Kaïs Trabelsi, Mosbah Mabrouki, El Mabrouk Essid, Noômène Fehri, Qingfeng Shao, Christophe Falguères, Vincent Lebreton, Patrick Roberts, Robert Patalano

Biological and Biomedical Sciences Department Faculty Journal Articles

The Sidi Zin Archaeological Project aims to bridge understanding of the Acheulean–Middle Stone Age transition in northern Tunisia, a relatively understudied region in the context of hominin evolution. The Sidi Zin locality will provide chronological, palaeoenvironmental, geomorphological and cultural insights into Acheulean and Middle Stone Age occupations in Tunisia.

A Qualitative Exploration Of Urgent Care Clinic Providers’ Experiences With Patients With Mental Health Concerns, Teresa L. Hodges

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

With mental health concerns on the rise in the United States and around the world, there has been a call for non-traditional avenues for the treatment of patients with mental health needs. Existing research indicates that in the current post-pandemic era, urgent care clinic providers have begun playing a pivotal role in the treatment of patients with mental health concerns. However, there is a lack of research currently available on the lived experiences of urgent care clinic providers treating of patients with mental health concerns. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of urgent care …

The Daily Gamecock: February 2025, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

2025

No abstract provided.

Mcsa Forum Minutes 02/17/2025, Morris Campus Student Association

Morris Campus Student Association

No abstract provided.

Climate Change As A National Emergency: Exploring Executive Powers, Greg Giunta

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

Nonadhesive Membranes: Preparation And Characterization Of Modified Phbhx Membranes, Funda Alkan, Murat Demi̇rbi̇lek, Oktay Aydin, Berrak Gümüşkaya Öcal, Neli̇sa Laçi̇n Türkoğlu, Mustafa Türk, Mehmet Ali̇ Onur

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

After abdominal surgery, there is a possibility of adhesions between the abdominal organs and the abdominal wall. Theadhesions can lead to problems such as chronic pain, intestinal blockage, and infertility. To prevent adhesion, antiadhesion patchescan be used. In this study, poly hydroxybutyrate-co-hexanoate membranes were fabricated as antiadhesion patches and modified witheither fatty acids or polyethylene glycol. The homogeneity and protein absorption of the membranes were assessed. The effects onblood coagulation factors were determined and the adhesion-proliferation properties of human fibroblast cells on the membranes weredetermined. The results show that myristic acid slightly increases surface free energy (40.7 ± 4.2 mN/m), …

Change Detection Analysis Using Remote Sensing And Gis Approaches For Lake Manzala, Egypt, Mohamed Eraki, Rasha Abd El Ghany, Sameh El Kafrawy, Mostafa Rabah

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Manzala Lake, the largest natural freshwater body in Egypt, is situated in the northeastern part of the Nile Delta. It faces major environmental challenges, largely due to pollution from untreated industrial effluents, sewage, and agricultural runoff. As part of Egypt's national initiative to rehabilitate its lakes, a development project was launched in 2017 and concluded in June 2022. The project aimed to purify the lake by eliminating contaminants, clearing invasive vegetation, deepening the canals, the study focuses on assessing land cover changes using remote sensing and GIS, and offers some recommendations for sustainable lake use following the development efforts. The …

America Runs On Biodiesel: Implementation Of A New Federal Mandate For Increased Renewable Energy Fuel, Asia Jackson

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

The Lived Experiences Of Police Officers’ Responses To Stranger And Familial Child Abductions, Kennedy Pierce

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When the media covers stories of child abductions, a common misconception is who the abductor is. Despite what the news broadcasts, a child is more likely to be abducted by a family member or acquaintance than a stranger. This qualitative study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of police officers’ responses to stranger and familial abductions using a phenomenological approach to determine how schemas may shape police officers’ perceptions, specifically concerning responding to child abductions. Schema theory suggests schemas are formed based on an occurrence between an individual and their surrounding environment. Nine interviews were conducted of police officers …

The Role Of Urinary Microbiome Analysis In The Diagnostic Approach And Management Of Urinary Incontinence: A Systematic Review, Pouyan Shaker, Zohreh Roshani, Ehsan Timajchi, Zahra Sharifi, Sarah Nikzadfar Goli, Behrooz Broumand, Mohammad Ali Shafiee

Student Publications

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a significant global health issue that impacts mainly middle-aged women, severely affecting their quality of life. Emerging research highlights the urinary microbiome's complex role in the etiology and management of UI, with microbial dysbiosis potentially influencing symptom severity and treatment outcomes. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the current evidence on the urinary microbiome's role in diagnosing and managing UI, focusing on variations in microbial composition across UI subtypes. We identified 21 studies, mostly employing 16S rRNA sequencing to characterize urinary microbiota and their associations with various UI subtypes, including urgency urinary incontinence (UUI), overactive bladder …

Chimes: February 17, 2025, Calvin University

Chimes

Confusion, apprehension run high among faculty as gravamen decision still up in the air by McKenna Wilkinson, Sarah Sparling & Ethan Meyers

Mayor David LaGrand, Calvin alum, shares his vision for Grand Rapids by McKenna Wilkinson & Sarah Sparling

The future and past of interdisciplinary minors by Elisabeth Stevens

Valentine's Week In A Nutshell by Natasha Jayaputra

"Team One": Women's acrobatics and tumbling makes history with first varsity match by Zach Kern

Late-Night concert sparks excitement for performing at Calvin by Stella Stachowiak

Resilience, Joshua Liashenko

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Once a ubiquitous framework for assessing the capacity for recovery, perseverance, and success in the face of adversity, resilience has been met with growing critiques in its application. As a frequently used “pretty word” within health disparities research, resilience has come to signify how at-risk communities overcome hardship in ways this work argues overdetermine their labor, activist potential, and existence. This critique examines resilience through the lens of ethnographic research conducted among transgender and nonbinary healthcare providers who provide gender-affirming care within their communities. As a marginalized community experiencing transphobia and increasing structural barriers to life-affirming and life-saving healthcare, trans …

Triswinunetr Lobe Segmentation Model For Computing Dir-Free Ct-Ventilation, Gabriela Roque Oliveira Nomura, Aarom T. Luong, Ananya Prakash, Annabelle Alemand, Tanish Bhowmick, Alisa Ali, Jaimie Ren, Basil Rehani, Girish Nair, Richard Castillo, Yevgeniy Vinogradskiy, Edward Castillo

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Purpose: Functional radiotherapy avoids the delivery of high-radiation dosages to high-ventilated lung areas. Methods to determine CT-ventilation imaging (CTVI) typically rely on deformable image registration (DIR) to calculate volume changes within inhale/exhale CT image pairs. Since DIR is a non-trivial task that can bias CTVI, we hypothesize that lung volume changes needed to calculate CTVI can be computed from AI-driven lobe segmentations in inhale/exhale phases, without DIR. We utilize a novel lobe segmentation pipeline (TriSwinUNETR), and the resulting inhale/exhale lobe volumes are used to calculate CTVI. Methods: Our pipeline involves three SwinUNETR networks, each trained on 6,501 CT image pairs …

Recent Developments In Heterologous Expression Of Cellulases Using The Pichia Pastoris Expression System: A Comprehensive Literature Review, Nazish Muzaffar, Abdur Raziq, Muhammad Waseem Khan, Niaz Muhammad Khan, Bushra Shahid, Anbareen Gul, Hayat Ullah

Biological Engineering Student Research

Cellulosic biomass is considered an important and sustainable source of renewable energy, which needs a complex mixture of different enzymes for its degradation. After amylase, cellulases are the second most important enzymes, gain more importance due to their broad range of applications at the industrial level, and are considered more economical and environmentally friendly; researchers have focused more on the production of cellulase with its higher expression rate and low cost. Pichia pastoris, a methylotrophic yeast strain, has a more effective and well-established system for the production of heterologous proteins, particularly for industrial enzymes. Moreover, its readily achievable high-density …

Modelling The Behavior Of Human Crowds As Coupled Active-Passive Dynamics Of Interacting Particle Systems, Thoa Thieu, Roderick Melnik

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

The modelling of human crowd behaviors offers many challenging questions to science in general. Specifically, the social human behavior consists of many physiological and psychological processes which are still largely unknown. To model reliably such human crowd systems with complex social interactions, stochastic tools play an important role for the setting of mathematical formulations of the problems. In this work, using the description based on an exclusion principle, we study a statistical-mechanics-based lattice gas model for active-passive population dynamics with an application to human crowd behaviors. We provide representative numerical examples for the evacuation dynamics of human crowds, where the …