Digital Commons Network^™

Pesticide And Pathogen Exposure Causes Idiosyncratic Gene Expression Responses Across Four Diverse North American Bumble Bee Species, Rubén Martín-Blázquez, Sydney A. Cameron, Austin C. Calhoun, James P. Strange, Ben M. Sadd

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Bumble bee (Bombus Latreille) populations of certain species have declined precipitously in North America over several decades. Hypotheses for declines include exposure to the pathogen Nosema bombi and neonicotinoid pesticides. Importantly, populations of some bumble bee species remain stable despite their presumed exposure to these same stressors. We hypothesise that declining and stable species exhibit distinct responses to N. bombi and neonicotinoids, detectable as differential gene expression profiles. To test this, we exposed larvae of Bombus occidentalis (declining) and B. impatiens (stable) to N. bombi and to the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, plus a combination of both. RNA-seq analysis revealed almost …

Investigating The Psychometric Properties Of A Set Of Local Stem Literacy Instruments In Rasch Model, Lijun Shen

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This study investigates the psychometric features of the See Blue STEM literacy inventories (SBSTEMs, including the elementary version SB-E and the middle school version SB-M) to determine their validity in measuring STEM literacy. Using data from elementary and middle school students participating in the See Blue STEM camp in 2019 and 2021-22, this research employed the Rasch Partial Credit Model (PCM) to analyze item-level performance and identify DIF items across various demographic subgroups (race, gender, free-lunch status, and potential first-generation status) and camp delivery modes (online versus in-person). Results indicated that both the elementary (SB-E) and middle school (SB-M) versions …

Femtech In Context: A Critical Conceptual (Re)View, Danica Facca, Jodi Hall, Gail Teachman, Joanna Redden, Lorie Donelle Phd, Rn, Fcan

Publications

Emerging as a commercial category in 2016, ‘femtech’ has been publicly celebrated as a category of consumer-based digital health technologies designed to support the unmet and systemically marginalized health needs of women in areas such as menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause, through data-driven apps, wearables, and self-diagnostic tools. Since its emergence, the term femtech has become culturally significant and has taken on a life of its own across commercial, public, and healthcare discourses. Despite the growth of femtech scholarship, clarity is lacking on how different disciplines have challenged the assumptions about sex, gender, health, technology, and innovation that shape …

Harnessing Team Science In Dementia Research: Insights From The Alzheimer’S Disease Research Group In South Carolina, Sayema Akter, Eric Mishio Bawa, Nicholas Riccardi, Daniel A. Amoatika, Margaret C. Miller Ms, Ph.D., Otis L. Owens Mph, Ph.D., Caps, Lorie Donelle Phd, Rn, Fcan, E Angela Murphy, Daping Fan, Melissa Moss, Mihyun Lim Waugh, Sue E. Levkoff Scd, Msw, Sm, Freda Allyson Hucek, Jean Neils-Strunjas Ph.D, Ccc-Slp, Swann Arp Adams Ph.D., Ms, Face, Roger Newman-Norlund, Sarah Newman-Norlund Ph.D., James Hardin Ph.D., John Absher, Bankole A. Olatosi Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Lumi Bakos Ph.D., Quentin Mccollum, Chris Rorden, Leonardo Bonilha, Daniela B. Friedman

Publications

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are complex and rapidly growing public health challenges that require integrative, collaborative approaches. To meet this need, the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) of South Carolina, a state-funded partnership across multiple institutions, has embraced a team science model that brings together expertise from four key disciplines: neuroimaging-neurology, health sciences, molecular biology, and engineering. This paper highlights the work at the University of South Carolina (USC) and how each discipline contributes uniquely yet collaboratively within a recurring loop model framework. Extending from USC's Cancer Prevention and Control Program, the framework guides scientific growth through four …

Lives And Lessons Of Zoo Animals, Nicole Emlen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This project was an interdisciplinary museum exhibit that was displayed at the Montana Natural History Center between April 4 and May 12, 2025. It displays my photographs that I took of some of the animals I worked with during my summer 2024 internship at ZooMontana. In this project, I educate the public about three main functions of zoos--rescue, conservation, and education--through the stories and lives of four species. These animals all have unique stories that are important to share to improve public knowledge of why zoos are important and how we can improve relationships between humans and wildlife. Photography is …

Foraging Opportunists: Encouraging Reconnection With The Land, Madelyne Miller, Sylvia Blodorn, Aine Fannon, Ada Scott, Luke Pruitt

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Contextualizing the history of opportunist and native plant species opens options for land management and reconnection to cultural land practices. By recognizing that opportunist species often spread as a result of relocation for practical usage, we determine that reintroducing these uses can lead to an escalation in harvesting these plants. Uses of opportunist plants are diverse and include food sources, artistic practices, and medicine. Foraging also leads to improved human-land-connectedness as well as a deeper connection to ancestral and cultural traditions, which has been found to improve mental health. Focusing on this method of land management will limit the need …

No Evidence For Warming-Driven Extirpation Of Tallgrass Prairie Plants, Emily D. Horner, Meredith Zettlemoyer

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

More and more species face extinction as our climate warms. Understanding how climate change influences local extinctions may help us comprehend and predict global extinctions. Ultimately, local extinctions stem from declines in vital rates such as survival, growth, and reproduction. One way to examine how warming might have affected local extinctions is to compare responses between locally extinct versus extant (still present) species. In this comparative framework, more negative effects of warming on locally extinct species’ (but not extant species’) vital rates would suggest a role of warming in their local extinction. We also expect that locally extinct species would …

The Legal Debate: Corner Crossing And Public Land Access, Kaden Leverenz

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Is it legal to cross from one corner of public land to an adjacent corner of public land across checkerboarded landscapes in the American West? This question regarding corner crossing has become one of the most prominent and unresolved issues in public land access. Although federal courts in Iron Bar Holdings v. Cape (2025) confirmed corner crossing, without touching or damaging private land, does not constitute trespass, the legal landscape still remains unsettled. Public land users play a significant role in shaping the direction of this issue, as demonstrated by past public mobilizations against large-scale land sell-offs. Therefore, this paper …

Balancing Timber Harvest And Biodiversity: Impacts Of Selective Logging On Wildlife In The Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize, Kilynn Groen

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Selective logging is often promoted as a sustainable forestry practice that maintains biodiversity and ecosystem function, yet its ecological consequences remain under examined, particularly in tropical forests. This study investigates how selective logging affects wildlife communities in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize. Using remote camera trap data from 22 sites (9 unlogged forest sites and 13 logged (stump) sites), we assessed species richness, trophic structure, and environmental predictors of wildlife abundance. While overall wildlife captures and species richness did not differ significantly between forest and stump habitats, principal component analysis revealed strong community-level separation, with stump habitats supporting distinct species …

Assessing Intra-Seasonal Changes In Summer Elk Diet Composition, Ava E. Window

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Elk (Cervus canadensis) require adequate forage to fulfill their seasonal nutritional requirements. Elk undergo their highest nutritional demands during summer to support critical life functions such as late gestation, lactation, and juvenile growth. However, variations in plant phenology significantly influence the quality and quantity of forage available to elk during the summer season. As summer advances and plant communities mature, forage quality often declines, leading to a landscape that imposes greater nutritional constraints on elk. As a result, prior research on elk foraging habits has primarily focused on late summer. This has led to limited knowledge surrounding the …

Dementia Caregivers’ Perspectives On Technology’S Place In Care Practices: Mixed Methods Survey, Julia A. Scott, Emma Cepukenas, Mckenzie Himes, Kennedy Anderson, Kiren Grewal, An Mai, Sheila Yuter, Patricia M. Simone

Psychology

Background:

As the number of individuals diagnosed with dementia continues to grow, collective caregiving capacity is simultaneously declining. As a result, caregivers often face significant stress and burnout, which negatively impacts both their well-being and the quality of care they are able to provide. To address these challenges, various forms of technology have been developed to support caregiving responsibilities for people with dementia. Barriers to widespread adoption include the cost of technology, lack of caregiver training, limited awareness of available solutions, privacy and ethical concerns, and resistance to change from both caregivers and care recipients. By identifying these key insights, …

Kenyon College Course Catalog 2025-2026

Kenyon College Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Hymate: A Hybrid Mamba And Transformer Model For Ehr Representation Learning, Md Mozaharul Mottalib, Thao-Ly Phan, Rahmatollah Beheshti

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Electronic health Records (EHRs) have become a cornerstone in modern-day healthcare. They are a crucial part for analyzing the progression of patient health; however, their complexity, characterized by long, multivariate sequences, sparsity, and missing values-poses significant challenges in traditional deep learning modeling. While Transformer-based models have demonstrated success in modeling EHR data and predicting clinical outcomes, their quadratic computational complexity and limited context length hinder their efficiency and practical applications. On the other hand, State Space Models (SSMs) like Mamba present a promising alternative offering linear-time sequence modeling and improved efficiency for handling long sequences, but focus mostly on mixing …

Gene Polymorphisms As Risk Factors In Rickets Patients With Vitamin D Deficiency: A Scoping Review, Wahyuni D. Parmasari, I-Gusti Aw. Ardani, Ida B. Narmada, Alexander P. Nugraha, Eddy H. Habar, Kuntaman, Theresia I. Budhy, Retno D. Wulandari, Dea Delicia

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

Foxe1 Rs4460498 And Rs3758249 Polymorphisms And Its Interactions As The Risk Factor Of Non-Syndromic Cleft Palate Among Indonesian, Saskia L. Nasroen, Florence Meliawaty, Rhabiah E. Fithriyah, Puteri Ak. Sujaya, Rachael P. Pramesti, Sabila F. Wiadi

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

Profile And Characteristic Dental Anomalies And Oral Hygiene Status In Down Syndrome Children, Nurlindah Hamrun, Ameta Primasari, Elza Ibrahim, Asmawati Amin, Syakriani Syahrir, Fadhlil Ua. Rahman, Aprivita Lt. Padang, Aziza D. Risqillah

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

Piladang (Solenostemon Scutellarioides (L.) Codd) Leaf Ethanolic Extract Increases Growth Factors In Chronic Periodontitis Rat Models, Christiana C. Prihastuti, Agatha T. Purnamasari, Irma Khoerunisa, Amilia Ramadhani, Nuryanti, Tuti S. Suhesti

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

The Potential Of Black Soybean (Glycine Max (L.) Merr.) Extract Gel In The Healing Process Of Gingivitis In Vivo, Khusnul M. Listari, Ranny Rachmawati, Nungky Devitaningtyas, Audrey Renata, Tasya Indisa, Avillasyah Akbar

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

Navigating Challenges In Dentomaxillofacial Science By Integrating Genetics, Clinical Innovation, And Educational Intervention: Editorial Review, H. Hasanuddin, Acing H. Mude, Muhammad Ikbal, Erni Marlina, Muhammad Ruslin

Journal of Dentomaxillofacial Science

No abstract provided.

Assessing Social Cognition In The Clockδ19 Mouse Model Of Bipolar Disorder, Eden Fraatz

Psychology Theses

No abstract provided.

Spectrum Of The Lakes: Using Satellite Remote Sensing To Unveil Water Color In Minnesota's Sentinel Lakes For Water Quality Monitoring, Andrew J. Dooley, Wondwosen M. Seyoum, Catherine M. O'Reilly

Faculty Publications - Geography, Geology, and the Environment

Traditional water quality monitoring methods often face limitations of equipment costs and labor demands, requiring innovative approaches to effectively assess the ecological health of inland lakes across vast areas. This research explores the application of free, publicly available water color chromaticity analysis for midcontinent lakes in Minnesota, USA. We examined water color variations in Minnesota’s Sentinel Lakes using Landsat 8 OLI data to analyze surface reflectance samples collected from the deepest area within each lake during the late summer, corresponding to peak annual insolation and trophic activity. The median dominant visible wavelength was used to characterize water color. Results indicate …

Faith In Small Things: The Rlds Church, The New Left, And The Global 1970s, David J. Howlett

Religion: Faculty Publications

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Above And Belowground Biomass Of A Multidecadal Restored Tallgrass Prairie Chronosequence And Its Influence On Soil Carbon Dynamics, Adam John Bauer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Evidence supports the idea that tallgrass prairie restoration has the potential to sequester carbon, but the influences of site age and quality on restored tallgrass prairie carbon dynamics are not well known. This dissertation characterizes a multidecadal tallgrass prairie chronosequence and evaluates the influence of both restoration quality and time since restoration on biomass and soil carbon dynamics using both remotely sensed and field data collected from Nachusa Grasslands tallgrass prairie restorations. It also expands on the traditional aspatial analyses using geographically weighted data to examine the spatiotemporal variation in environmental variables that influence restored tall grass prairie carbon dynamics. …

Interdependence And Identity: Moral Relation In An Historical World, Bennett B. Gilbert

History Faculty Publications and Presentations

The twin concepts in the title will be introduced in the contexts of the philosophy of history and of philosophical personalism, as distinct from (though related to) their uses as logical and metaphysical categories. Overviews of varieties of philosophy of history and of basic principles I employ are foundations of the argument. Concepts, or ideas, in general have, I argue, real existence through the way that personal agents use them in creating the histories of human relations. I introduce a Personalist account, which has a more thoroughly diachronic character. Further remarks on the power of ideas to create relations expands …

Artificial Intelligence & Criminal Justice: Cases And Commentary, Benjamin Perrin

All Faculty Publications

When I was given the chance to develop a seminar this year at UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, I jumped at the opportunity to develop something new and engaging. After brainstorming ideas with students, it quickly became evident that there was substantial interest and enthusiasm for a seminar on the growing integration of artificial intelligence and the criminal justice system.

Embarking on this journey has been a steep learning curve for me as my students and I worked together to shape the course along with input from generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, along with open-source …

The Adaptive Roles Framework: Trauma Adaptations And Identity Formation, Steffannie Roache

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Adaptive Roles Framework is a culturally grounded conceptual model that explains how individuals develop patterned behavioral, emotional, and relational strategies in response to family systems, culture, trauma exposure, and social environments. Rather than conceptualizing behavior through pathology or personality typology, the framework positions behavioral patterns as adaptive survival strategies, responses that increased safety, belonging, or stability within specific environments and were reinforced over time because they worked. The framework identifies seven adaptive roles observed consistently across individuals, families, workplaces, and communities: the Guardian, the Translator, the Assimilator, the Archive Keeper, the Time Jumper, the Intellectual Escape Artist, and the …

The Chitlins Effect: Distinguishing Cultural Resilience From Normalized Harm, Steffannie Roache

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Chitlins Effect is a practice framework developed to help behavioral health professionals distinguish between culturally rooted strengths and trauma-based patterns in the communities they serve. Named after a cultural example rooted in Black American history — where necessity became tradition, and survival became meaning — the framework describes how beliefs, behaviors, and coping mechanisms are transmitted across generations, becoming normalized within families, communities, and cultures even when those patterns carry harm. This paper introduces the conceptual foundation of the framework, situates it within existing research on historical trauma, intergenerational transmission, and social determinants of health, and outlines its application …

Electrocardiographic Assessment Of National-Level Triathletes: Sinus Bradycardia And Other Electrocardiographic Abnormalities, Mike Climstein, Kenneth S. Graham, Michael Stapelberg, Joe Walsh, Mark Debeliso, Kent Adams, Trish Sevene, Chad Harris

Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: High-intensity endurance training induces specific cardiac adaptations, often observed through electrocardiographic (ECG) changes. This study investigated the prevalence of ECG abnormalities in national-level Australian triathletes compared to sedentary controls. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted involving 22 triathletes and 7 sedentary controls. Standard 12-lead ECGs assessed resting heart rate, ECG intervals, and axis deviation. Peak oxygen consumption was evaluated in triathletes to correlate with ECG indices and left ventricular mass, derived via echocardiography. Results: Triathletes exhibited significantly lower resting heart rates (53.8 vs. 72.1 bpm, −34%, p = 0.04), shorter QRS durations (0.088 vs. 0.107 ms, −21.6%, p …

“Clinical-Bfr”: An Exploratory Blood Flow Restriction Protocol Focusing On Clinical Application, Fabricio Eduardo Rossi, Kassiana De Araújo Pessôa, Zhi Xia, Jakob Lauver, Daniel Newmire, Jason Michael Cholewa, Steven Machek, Mario Alves De Siqueira Filho, Fabio Santos Lira, Antonio Herbert Lancha Jr, Emilia Zawieja, Nelo Eidy Zanchi

Kinesiology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: Traditional blood flow restriction resistance training (BFR-Trad) is a cost-effective and time-efficient exercise modality that offers significant skeletal muscle benefits, including strength and mass gains. Despite employing low loads, BFR-Trad may not be well tolerated by all populations due to its high intensity, painassociated muscle discomfort, low affectivity, and cardiovascular responses. Consequently, reducing BFR intensity may be an interesting approach to making traditional BFR more clinically applicable. This was approached through the proposal of the present Clinical BFR.

Methods: Twenty-two healthy, untrained subjects (both female and male) aged between 18 and 30 years participated. Subjects completed three sessions of …

"In This House, We Pull Ourselves Up By Our Bootstraps": The Foundations Of Parliamentary Sovereignty In The United Kingdom, New Zealand, And Sweden, Andrew Hull

Emory International Law Review Recent Developments

This paper considers the legal foundations of parliamentary sovereignty in three states: the United Kingdom, the Realm of New Zealand, and the Kingdom of Sweden. Two of these countries hail from the common law legal family, while Sweden is a civil law country with Nordic legal characteristics. After initial discussion of parliamentary sovereignty and Carl Schmitt’s theory of sovereignty, I will consider each of these states’ examples of parliamentary sovereignty in turn. We shall see the historical development of these three countries’ parliamentary sovereignties deeply implicates the other four of Zweigert and Kötz’s factors for defining legal styles: legal thinking, …