Digital Commons Network^™

Consistent Intraocular Pressure Reduction By Solid Drug Nanoparticles In Fixed Combinations For Glaucoma Therapy, Da Huang, Pedro Norat, Lin Qi, Anna Chernatynskaya, James D. Cole, Vimalin Jeyalatha Mani, Lei Xu, Xiaorong Liu, Hu Yang

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Efficient topical drug delivery remains a significant challenge in glaucoma management. Although nanoparticle formulations offer considerable promise, their complex preparation processes, co-delivery issues, and batch consistency have hindered their potential. A scalable fabrication strategy is developed here for preparing solid drug nanoparticles (SDNs) with enhanced drug delivery efficiency. Utilizing hydrophobic antiglaucoma drugs brimonidine (BM) and betaxolol (BX), uniform fixed combination BM/BX SDNs are fabricated through a continuous process, improving batch-to-batch consistency for combined glaucoma treatment. With trehalose being used as a lyoprotectant, BM/BX SDNs can be stored as dry powder and easily reconstituted in phosphate buffered saline. Importantly, reconstituted BM/BX …

Improving Bovine Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, Lauren Gatenby

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite large efforts, there has been minimal improvements in bovine intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the last few decades. In this study, we investigate methods to improve embryo development rates with ICSI in cattle through addressing sperm and oocyte factors and modifying injection methods. Inducing the acrosome reaction in bull sperm prior to injection with progesterone increased cleavage (46.2% vs 16.2%) and blastocyst (21% vs 3.8%) rates compared to controls, respectively. Supplementing glutathione during in vitro maturation of the oocyte did reduce free reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the oocyte, but did not improve embryo development rates with ICSI or …

Photoactivated Cyclic Polyphthalaldehyde Microcapsules For Payload Delivery, Youngsu Shin, Jared M. Schwartz, Anthony C. Engler, Brad Jones, Oleg Davydovich, Paul A. Kohl

Faculty Publications

Microcapsules with a cyclic polyphthalaldehyde (cPPA) shell and oil core were fabricated by an emulsification process. The low ceiling temperature cPPA shell was made phototriggerable by incorporating a photoacid generator (PAG). Photoactivation of the PAG created a strong acid which catalyzed cPPA depolymerization, resulting in the release of the core payload, as quantified by 1H NMR. The high molecular weight cPPA (197 kDa) yielded uniform spherical microcapsules. The core diameter was 24.8 times greater than the cPPA shell thickness (2.4 to 21.6 μm). Nonionic bis(cyclohexylsulfonyl)diazomethane (BCSD) and N-hydroxynaphthalimide triflate (HNT) PAGs were used as the PAG in the microcapsule shells. …

Social Anxiety, Voice Confrontation And Voice Recognition: A Bilingual Exploration, Jigar Jogia, Justin Thomas, Mariapaola Barbato, Richard Bentall

All Works

Many people dislike the sound of their voices, especially when listening back to audio recordings (voice confrontation). Previous research reports that disliking the sound of one's voice is associated with elevated levels of social anxiety. The present study investigated the relationship between social anxiety and voice dislike and voice misrecognition among a bilingual population: Arabic (L1) and English (L2). Participants (N = 176) completed self-report measures of social anxiety and own voice liking. Additionally, they performed a novel own voice recognition task, assessing their ability to recognise a recording of their voice, differentiating it from digitally altered versions of the …

Economic Behavior And Hiv Risk Behavior Among Vulnerable Women: A Prospective Randomized Control Study In Southern Uganda, Joshua Kiyingi

Brown School Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the estimated population of women engaged in sex work (WESW) is 2.5 million, aged 15 to 49 years (Laga et al., 2023). WESW face numerous challenges, including high-risk behaviors that expose them to HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), drug and alcohol abuse, criminalization, discrimination, mental health problems, and limited healthcare access. Globally, WESW are significantly affected by HIV, with new infections continuing to rise. Recent estimates show that although 8% of all new HIV infections are among WESW, 32.8% of them are unaware of their HIV status (UNAIDS, 2021a). The risk of acquiring HIV is 30 …

Nitrate, Nitrite, And Iodine Concentrations In Commercial Edible Algae: An Observational Study, Patricia Casas-Agustench, Jade M. Hayter, Odelia S. B. Ng, Lauren V. Hallewell, Nathaniel J. Clark, Raul Bescos

School of Health Professions

Edible algae are a natural source of nutrients, including iodine, and can also contain nitrogen in the form of nitrate (NO₃⁻) and nitrite (NO₂⁻) as they can fix nitrogen from seawater. This study aimed to analyse the NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, and iodine concentrations in eighteen macroalgae and five microalgae species commercially available in the United Kingdom. NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻ concentrations were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and iodine was determined using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). NO₃⁻ and iodine concentrations in …

Obese African American Women’S Perceptions Of Transition From College To Workforce, Alea Lycorish

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rate of obesity continues to rise among adults in the United States, and African American (AA) women are at greater risk in comparison with any other group. This matter has become an alarming public health crisis. Obese AA women also face a higher risk of discrimination in the workforce. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to increase the understanding of the perceptions and experiences of bachelor degree educated, overweight AA women during the postgraduate phase, who entered the workforce within the past 10 years. The theoretical framework used in this study was Crenshaw’s intersectionality theory. The …

Cardinal Medical Laboratory: A Lesson In Laboratory Information Management Systems With Clinical Chemistry Cases, Cristy E. Moss

Open Educational Resources

Project Abstract: Medical laboratory science is a health profession focused on the analysis of biological specimens and the dissemination of that information to clinicians for medical decision-making and treatment of disease. This field is rapidly growing, often including massive leaps in the integration of technology into the daily routine of an MLS. In particular, the laboratory information system (LIS) is software whose introduction into the laboratory was made necessary by the growth of the field and the implementation of increasingly automated methods for patient testing. The LIS allows the technologist to communicate with the automated analyzers, evaluate information sent from …

Overview Of The Mosaic Expedition: Ecosystem, Allison A. Fong, Clara J.M. Hoppe, Nicole Aberle, Carin J. Ashjian, Philipp Assmy, Youcheng Bai, Dorothee C.E. Bakker, John P. Balmonte, Kevin R. Barry, Stefan Bertilsson, William Boulton, Jeff Bowman, Deborah Bozzato, Gunnar Bratbak, Moritz Buck, Robert G. Campbell, Giulia Castellani, Emelia J. Chamberlain, Jianfang Chen, Melissa Chierici, Astrid Cornils, Jessie M. Creamean, Ellen Damm, Klaus Dethloff, Elise S. Droste, Oliver Ebenhöh, Sarah L. Eggers, Anja Engel, Hauke Flores, Agneta Fransson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The international and interdisciplinary sea-ice drift expedition “The Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate” (MOSAiC) was conducted from October 2019 to September 2020. The aim of MOSAiC was to study the interconnected physical, chemical, and biological characteristics and processes from the atmosphere to the deep sea of the central Arctic system. The ecosystem team addressed current knowledge gaps and explored unknown biological properties over a complete seasonal cycle focusing on three major research areas: biodiversity, biogeochemical cycles, and linkages to the environment. In addition to the measurements of core properties along a complete seasonal cycle, dedicated projects …

Unique Genetic And Risk-Factor Profiles In Clusters Of Major Depressive Disorder-Related Multimorbidity Trajectories, Andras Gezsi, Sandra Van Der Auwera, Hannu Mäkinen, Nora Eszlari, Gabor Hullam, Tamas Nagy, Sarah Bonk, Rubèn González-Colom, Xenia Gonda, Mikko Kuokkanen

School of Medicine Publications

The heterogeneity and complexity of symptom presentation, comorbidities and genetic factors pose challenges to the identification of biological mechanisms underlying complex diseases. Current approaches used to identify biological subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD) mainly focus on clinical characteristics that cannot be linked to specific biological models. Here, we examined multimorbidities to identify MDD subtypes with distinct genetic and non-genetic factors. We leveraged dynamic Bayesian network approaches to determine a minimal set of multimorbidities relevant to MDD and identified seven clusters of disease-burden trajectories throughout the lifespan among 1.2 million participants from cohorts in the UK, Finland, and Spain. The …

The Moderating Effect Of Social Support On The Relationship Between Occupational Distress And Somatic Symptoms Among Catholic Clergy, Aldo Antonio Molina-Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Clergy exhibit significantly higher rates of stress, mortality, and chronic disease than the general population. Despite existing research on clergy stress, there remained a gap in understanding how social support affected the relationship between occupational distress and somatic symptoms among Catholic clergy in the United States. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental correlational study was to determine if perceived supervisor support and perceived organizational support moderated the relationship between occupational distress and somatic symptoms among clergy. The stress-buffering model of social support was used as the theoretical framework. Data were collected through surveys from a sample of 253 Catholic priests …

The Role Of Gdf5 In Regulating Enthesopathy Development In The Hyp Mouse Model Of Xlh, Melissa Sorsby, Shaza Almardini, Ahmad Alayyat, Ashleigh Hughes, Shreya Venkat, Mansoor Rahman, Jiana Baker, Rakshya Rana, Vicki Rosen, Eva S Liu

Staff and Researcher Publications

X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) is caused by mutations in PHEX, leading to rickets and osteomalacia. Adults affected with XLH develop a mineralization of the bone-tendon attachment site (enthesis), called enthesopathy, which causes significant pain and impaired movement. Entheses in mice with XLH (Hyp) have enhanced bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Indian hedgehog (IHH) signaling. Treatment of Hyp mice with the BMP signaling blocker palovarotene attenuated BMP/IHH signaling in Hyp entheses, thus indicating that BMP signaling plays a pathogenic role in enthesopathy development and that IHH signaling is activated by BMP signaling in entheses. It was previously shown that mRNA expression of …

Using Deepsignalingflow To Mine Signaling Flows Interpreting Mechanism Of Synergy Of Cocktails, Heming Zhang, Yixin Chen, Philip Payne, Fuhai Li

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Complex signaling pathways are believed to be responsible for drug resistance. Drug combinations perturbing multiple signaling targets have the potential to reduce drug resistance. The large-scale multi-omic datasets and experimental drug combination synergistic score data are valuable resources to study mechanisms of synergy (MoS) to guide the development of precision drug combinations. However, signaling patterns of MoS are complex and remain unclear, and thus it is challenging to identify synergistic drug combinations in clinical. Herein, we proposed a novel integrative and interpretable graph AI model, DeepSignalingFlow, to uncover the MoS by integrating and mining multi-omic data. The major innovation is …

Mitral Annular Disjunction And "Pseudo" Mitral Annular Disjunction In Mitral Valve Prolapse, Tam T Doan, Shaine A Morris

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Molecular Docking, Pharmacological Profiling, And Molecular Dynamics Simulation Of Potential Antihyperuricemic Agent From Secondary Metabolites Of Dillenia Philippinensis Rolfe (Dilleniaceae), Louie Rince C. Suyo, John P. Paulin, Nicole Clarence Louise L. Gapaz, Markus Brent S. Arevalo, Vince Tyrell P. Yongco, Librado A. Santiago

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Crystal accumulation in the joints due to increased serum uric acid (sUA) may lead to an inflammatory condition called gout. Increased sUA is caused by the excessive reabsorption of the urate anion transporter-1 (URAT-1). Therefore, URAT-1 inhibition will promote uric acid excretion and reduce the risk of having gout. Dillenia philippinensis Rolfe, often known as katmon, is an endemic plant in the Philippines with bioactive compounds associated with several therapeutic benefits. The present study represents the first scientific inquiry into the antihyperuricemic potential of compounds isolated from D. philippinensis. This study aimed to assess the interaction of URAT-1 with …

Heroes Of The Memphis Civil Rights Movement: Maxine A. Smith And Russell B. Sugarmon, Jr., Elizabeth Gritter

Heroism Science

Two intertwined leaders of the modern civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s in Memphis, Tennessee, were Maxine Atkins Smith and Russell B. Sugarmon, Jr., both of whom were African American. Both were born in Memphis in 1929, and they shared commonalities in their personal histories and rose to become key leaders of the Memphis movement. Along with displaying courage and persistence, they were true pioneers in the Black freedom struggle in Memphis and Shelby County who employed organizational skills and community involvement as key to their social activism. This article examines their early activism from the mid-1950s until …

Childhood Adhd: Treated Vs. Untreated -- Treatments, Implications, & Outcomes, Melissa Glenn

Master of Arts in Human Services

Childhood ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a common childhood condition. While older researchers claimed that stimulant medication used to treat ADHD could lead to substance abuse, more recent research has proven otherwise. Some researchers claim that instead of causation, ADHD medication can even be preventative regarding future criminality and substance abuse. This paper reviews historical and current applicable research regarding treatments and statistics for treated and untreated childhood ADHD and aims to provide valuable insight and discussion. The analysis will discuss the effectiveness of both non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions. Continued research into this condition is beneficial for children, caregivers, …

Risk And Protective Factors For Psychopathology During The Developmental Period 0-25 Years, Pamela Cotton

Master of Arts in Human Services

Research has shown that mental health disorders can have their onset in the period of

childhood and adolescence. This is a relatively recent discovery, as most of history

has studied mental health conditions only in adults. Today it is known that the global

onset of first mental health disorder occurs before age 14 in one third of the cases and

before the age of 18 in almost half of cases across the world (Solmi et al., 2022;

Dragioti et al., 2022). Research has uncovered risk and protective factors for

psychopathology in certain mental health conditions, such as Autism Spectrum

Disorder …

Parent & Child Aces: How They Impact Parenting Practices & Child Development, Gracie Lenz

Master of Arts in Human Services

Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are adverse events that occur in childhood and can have a profound impact on an individual’s health and development. Recent trends in literature surrounding ACEs have sought to explore the relationship between parental adversity and the intergenerational transmission of risk for adversity to the child. The aims of this review are as follows: 1) to examine current literature on how adversity impacts parenting, whether that be stemming from childhood or current in the family. 2) how parenting practices and adversity impact children’s health and development. To accomplish these objectives, research was conducted primarily by using …

Child Abuse And The Negative Role It Plays Throughout A Childs Lifetime, Mckenna Ellingson

Master of Arts in Human Services

Child abuse is very common termonology across the entire globe, states, communities, and even rural and urban areas. This writing will cover many topics within child abuse that discusses the impact that child abuse has on children through physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence and how it causes substantial adverse health, educational, and behavioral consequences throughout the child lifespan. The goals will to be to explore different types of abuse and how it impacts the child's brain, development, and stages throughout their lifetime. This writing was aimed to review the most comprehensive studies of the …

2024 August 20 - Faculty Senate Agenda And Minutes, Faculty Senate, East Tennessee State University

Faculty Senate Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

Differences In Race And Gender Of Retired Servicemembers In The Decision To Reenlist, Samantha R. Loeza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of the study was to examine the race and gender differences among retired enlisted service members in work self-determination regarding the decision to reenlist. Existing research indicated little to no information regarding these factors. The independent variables are race and gender, and the dependent variable is work self-determination in the decision-making to re-enlist. This research utilized an adapted version of the Work Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation Scale, an 18-item assessment of work motivation theoretically grounded in self-determination theory. Only retired active-duty enlisted service members between the ranks of E-5 through E-9 were surveyed. Regarding race, this study only …

An Inclusive Research And Education Community (Irec) Model To Facilitate Undergraduate Science Education Reform, Denise L. Monti, Julia C. Gill, Tamarah L. Adair, Sandra D. Adams, Yesmi Patricia Ahumada-Santos, Isabel Amaya, Kirk Anders, Justin R. Anderson, Mauricio S. Antunes, Mary Ayuk

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Over the last two decades, there have been numerous initiatives to improve undergraduate student outcomes in STEM. One model for scalable reform is the inclusive Research Education Community (iREC). In an iREC, STEM faculty from colleges and universities across the nation are supported to adopt and sustainably implement course-based research – a form of science pedagogy that enhances student learning and persistence in science. In this study, we used pathway modeling to develop a qualitative description that explicates the HHMI Science Education Alliance (SEA) iREC as a model for facilitating the successful adoption and continued advancement of new curricular content …

Gardner-Webb Summer Fellow Kyndal Jackson Furthers Research On Antimicrobials, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

Through a Summer Scholar Fellowship, Gardner-Webb University senior Kyndal Jackson extracted essential oil from ground caraway seeds. A meticulous process, her research could someday play a role in helping scientists discover purified compounds that inhibit bacterial growth (antimicrobials). The project is part of an ongoing set of experiments conducted by students in the Department of Natural Sciences.

Grs 2024 Program Booklet, Joel Ward

Graduate Student Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Zero-Burning Policy In Land Preparation: Social Changes And Its Impact On Communities And The Environment, Sulistya Ekawati, Robert Siburian, Surati Surati, Ari Nurlia, Yanarita Yanarita, Letsu Vella Sundary

Forest and Society

In Indonesia, forest and land fires have become an annual occurrence, with devastating effects. Following major fires in 2015, the government implemented policies restricting the use of fire in land preparation. This policy has affected the livelihoods of traditional farmers who still use fire for land clearing. The research aims to analyze the social changes that have occurred among traditional farmers as a result of the policy to ban burning in land preparation, and to assess its impact. The study was undertaken in Pulang Pisau Regency (Central Kalimantan) and Ogan Komering Ilir Regency (South Sumatera). Findings reveal two types of …

Livelihood Vulnerability To Climate Change Of Casava Smallholders In Central Highlands Of Vietnam, Sen Lê, Hac Hien Nguyen

Forest and Society

This study utilized the Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) within the IPCC framework (LVI-IPCC) for cassava farming households in the central highlands of Vietnam. Data were gathered from a household survey (364 households) in Krong Bong and Ea Kar districts, Dak Lak province, in-depth interviews (22 key informants) and two focus group discussions. By analyzing variations in LVI components and conducting a Poisson regression analysis, the results revealed that cassava farming households in the studied areas exhibited moderate vulnerability to climate change and variability. Variations in vulnerability levels were observed between the two districts, with disparities found across sensitivity, exposure, and …

Academic Achievement Among Ncaa Division 2 Student-Athletes And Non-Athletes, Shane D. Scholten, Holden Thomas Daum, Luke Thomas Daum

Research & Publications

There is a lack of published research on the evaluation of academic success among student-athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 2 (D2) institutions. Our study focused on comparing academic performance and career prospects between student-athletes and non-athletes (traditional students) at a D2 university. A survey measuring academic and career-related variables was administered to 170 participants, with 92 (54%) being student-athletes and 78 (46%) being non-athlete students. Our findings revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of study hours, grade point average, and academic motivation. Moreover, there were no disparities in declared majors, expected graduation …

Revealing The Multilevel Actors Power Network In Mangrove Forest Governance - Insights From The Sundarbans, Bangladesh, Md Faisal Abedin Khan Khan, Md Saifur Rahman, Ahmad Maryudi, Carsten Schusser, Lukas Giessen

Forest and Society

Having diversified ecological and socio-economic function of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forests (SMF), its governance significantly relies on the power relations among multidisciplinary actors present at the multiple level of jurisdictions from national to local level. The analysis elicits the identification of actors and the extraction of their interrelationships based on different power resources, which frame power interaction of the multilevel mangrove governance for the SMF of Bangladesh. Actors were identified by snowball approach and then qualitative interviews to them were carried out. A web-based mapping tool was used for extracting social network analysis of multilevel power relations for the Sundarbans’ …

Why Is Multi-Business Forestry Needed To Overcome The Low Performance Of Forestry Governance And Food Security In Indonesia?, Suryanto Suryanto, Dodik Ridho Nurrochmat, Suria Darma Tarigan, Iskandar Zulkarnaen Siregar, Ishak Yassir, Mangarah Silalahi, Irdika Mansur, Rhett D. Harisson, Agus Wahyudi, Lutfy Abdulah

Forest and Society

The 0.6% contribution of the forestry sector to GDP is considered very low despite 64.1% of Indonesia's land area being allocated as forests. Most of the 64.8% production forest allocated is not yet optimized for strengthening national food security, in which Indonesia is ranked 65th in the world. Therefore, an innovative forest management system is needed to synergize timber and non-timber production. This paper presents a multi-business forestry (Mb-F) implementation strategy analyzed through a dynamic system-based multi-criterion decision-making tool named Super Model Mb-F (SM Mb-F). SM Mb-F is built based on a causal loop diagram (CLD), which describes the dynamic …