Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Hydroxide In Classical Proton Hopping Simulations And Amyloid Beta Membrane Pores, Ankita Dutta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

H3O+ and OH- ions display anomalously large diffusion coefficients, a property that is often attributed to their ability to perform structural diffusion which allow these ions to move through aqueous solutions by sequential proton transfers, also known as ‘Grotthuss hopping’. A rearrangement of the local solvation structure is known to be the prerequisite for proton transfer events via these ions. Studying this phenomenon using classical molecular dynamics simulations that do not allow bond rearrangements poses significant obstacles. Here we use a Monte Carlo augmented classical Molecular Dynamics method called the MOBHY algorithm which allows instantaneous changes in protonation states in …

The Effect Of Personal Listening Devices On Subjective Hearing Status, Esther Feldman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Long term or brief exposure to loud noise can trigger the onset of noise-induced hearing loss which can lead to a temporary (TTS) or permanent (PTS) shift in hearing threshold. Occupational noise, or recreational noise such as music can contribute to shifts in hearing levels. Listening to music in person at a concert or when listening on earphones/earbuds and streaming from a smartphone can produce sound pressure levels (SPL) high enough to lead to PTS, TTS, and associated symptoms. A survey of adults was conducted to gain insight into onset of self-perceived temporary hearing loss and tinnitus after short term …

Development Of Platinum(Iv)-Gold(I)-Based Anticancer Agents, Javier E. Lopez-Hernandez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Heterometallic compounds have emerged as prospective multitarget anticancer drugs. These species may display improved efficacy and physicochemical properties compared to the individual metallic fragments, while helping combat drug resistance by exerting effects on multiple pathways. In this thesis we describe the synthesis of new bi- and tri-metallic compounds based on platinum(IV) compounds containing FDA-approved platinum agents, and gold(I) derivatives with known anticancer properties. We demonstrate their toxicity and selectivity against a small panel of renal, bladder, ovarian, and breast cancer cell lines, as well as their synergistic effects. We have selected a trinuclear PtAu₂compound containing the Pt(IV) core …

Positron Emission Tomography In Oncology And Environmental Science, Samantha Delaney

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The last half century has played witness to the onset of molecular imaging for the clinical assessment of physiological targets. While several medical imaging modalities allow for the visualization of the functional and anatomical properties of humans and living systems, few offer accurate quantitation and the ability to detect biochemical processes with low-administered drug mass doses. This limits how physicians and scientists may diagnose and treat medical issues, such as cancer, disease, and foreign agents.

A promising alternative to extant invasive procedures and suboptimal imaging modalities to assess the nature of a biological environment is the use of positron emission …

Bad Becomings: Autobiographical Writing, Queer/Trans Theory, Melancholia, Jacob Elias Aplaca

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bad Becomings surveys queer autobiographical works published over the last 30+ years to better understand the animosities and complicities of the queer and the so-called normative. While the limited scholarship on queer autobiographical writing has characterized this corpus of texts based on an edginess, a radicality, and a rejection of the liberal individual that both flies in the face of “traditional autobiography” and indulges queer theory’s persistent idealization of queer culture as radical and antinormative, this dissertation asks that we suspend our desire for so absolute a differentiation. Rather than assume that “queer” automatically makes “autobiography” radical and antinormative, I …

Listening For Lemurs: Translating Black-And-White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia Variegata) Vocalizations Into Conservation Insights Through Acoustic Monitoring, Carly H. Batist

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of bioacoustic monitoring has undergone a significant evolution in recent years, driven by technological innovations that have revolutionized how researchers study animal vocalizations. Traditionally, bioacoustics was rooted in active acoustic monitoring (AAM), involving human observers using recorders in the field to study animal sounds and understand species' vocal communication. However, the emergence of passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has introduced a new complementary approach, utilizing specialized recorders placed in ecosystems to autonomously capture sounds at wide spatial and temporal scales. My dissertation adopts a translational approach to bioacoustic monitoring, integrating both AAM and PAM techniques to study and survey …

Framing Teacher Migration: An Analysis Of Jamaican Media Coverage From 2016–2023, Denise Wiley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The emigration of teachers from Jamaica has attracted significant media coverage highlighting an increase in resignations and vacancies in many classrooms. This paper analyzes media framing on the topic, and how such framing might preclude the exploration of policy alternatives to address the issue. Methods A qualitative content analysis was conducted on articles published between August 1, 2016, and September 30, 2023. Relevant articles were retrieved from the Gleaner digital archive. Using a survey instrument of 13 questions, a total of 78 articles were analyzed for coding. Results Four frames emerged from the analysis: crisis – urgent attention is required …

Defying Normativity: Reclaiming A Narrative Of Queer Resistance In Young Adult Literature, Christopher Morabito

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At the heart of this dissertation lies a single question: how Queer is Queer Young Adult Literature? As many scholars have argued, Queerness is, in many ways, a literacy, and literature is one of the greatest sponsors of Queer Literacy. While there is certainly no one comprehensive definition of what it means to be queer, it is also true that the general understanding of queerness has changed quite drastically in the last few decades. What was once used as a term to describe someone who is outside of social conventions has slowly begun to lose its sense of “otherness,” and …

Family Fragments: Pressure And Proximity In First-Episode Psychosis, Cassandra B. Seltman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores the value of assuming a position that decenters the identified patient in families with a member with schizophrenia. Instead, a systemic view of the family is taken, as subject to pressures from without and within, and utilizing observable processes for the management and discharge of tension. It attempts the difficult balance of thinking dynamically without sacrificing scientific rigor, considering the social without discounting the biological, and exploring the functionality of the family without collapsing into blame, reductive cause-and-effect thinking, and the search to prioritize one true origin.

When treating family members as discrete units around an identified …

The Animated Cinema Of Bruno Bozzetto, Emilia Gambardella

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The principal aim of this dissertation is to insert Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto into the established narrative of Italian cinema. Although in American and British Film Studies animation has enthusiastically been at the center of many important conversations for the last thirty years, animation has received scant attention within Italian Studies. As such, in the dissertation I discuss a selection of Bozzetto’s animations in relation and comparison to live-action Italian films of the same decades which have been discussed and written about extensively. My dissertation fills this gap in Italian cinema scholarship by drawing on interdisciplinary sources to locate Bozzetto …

Systematics And Comparative Genomics Of The Petaluridae (Odonata: Anisoptera), Ethan R. Tolman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Anisoptera (Insecta: Odonata), or dragonflies exhibit diverse life histories and diversification patterns, with the family Petaluridae standing out as particularly unique. Comprising only 11 extant species, all of which inhabit increasingly threatened fen habitats, Petaluridae are known for their longevity, which can exceed five years, semi-terrestrial lifestyle, and remarkable physical size, ranking among the largest insects on Earth. Despite the evolutionary peculiarities of this family, no previous genomic studies have investigated the Petaluridae. This work presents two high-quality genome sequences and a targeted enrichment dataset to explore the chromosome architecture of Petaluridae, identifies genomic adaptations associated with their distinctive …

Identification Of Mandibular And Maxillary Molars Of Old World Monkeys (Primates, Cercopithecidae) Using 3d Geometric Morphometrics, Eric John Mazelis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study is an attempt to take steps towards quantifying 3D molar shapes of the primate family Cercopithecidae to construct a framework for the automation of identifying the anatomical position and taxonomic affiliations of isolated molars. I introduce a new landmark protocol and present a proposed workflow model which can be applied in the future. For the purpose of this study, I collected and compiled the largest sample of 3D surface scans of varying wear grades of all six cercopithecid molar positions (i.e., M¹-M³ and M₁-M₃). The sample comprises 2641 specimens from …

Metric Schemas And Projections In Three Colombian Folk Genres, Lina S. Tabak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores how stylistic expertise can affect metric perception, through the analysis of three Colombian folk genres—cantos de boga and currulaos from the Pacific region and joropos from the Eastern plains bordering Venezuela. Specifically, it considers the tension between metric perceptions which arise from bottom-up mechanisms for entrainment (such as projections), and those which are based on top-down mechanisms (such as schemata). This tension is at play when more and less musically enculturated listeners perceive entirely different metric structures when listening to identical music.

Taking bottom-up and top-down metric perception as a thread, this dissertation isolates three additional metric …

Mechanistic, Biochemical, And Theoretical Studies Of Phototoxicity And Photobluing, Lloyd M. Lapoot

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis consists of four chapters as detailed below:

Chapter 1 discusses the photoconversion of heptamethine to pentamethine cyanines and of pentamethine to trimethine cyanines. Here, we report mechanistic studies and initial experimental evidence for a previously unexplored 4-carbon truncation reaction that converts the simplest heptamethine cyanine to the corresponding trimethine cyanine. We propose a DFT-supported model describing a singlet oxygen (¹O₂) mediated formation of an allene hydroperoxide intermediate and subsequent 4-carbon loss through a retro-Diels-Alder process. Fluorescence and mass spectrometry measurements provide evidence for this direct conversion process. This 4-carbon truncation reaction adds to growing …

Mechanoresponsive Ets1 Causes Endothelial Dysfunction And Arterialization In Varicose Veins Via Notch4/Dll4 Signaling, B. J. Sreelakshmi, C. L. Karthika, S. Ahalya, S. R. Kalpana

Open Access archive

Varicose veins are the most common venous disorder in humans and are characterized by hemodynamic instability due to valvular insufficiency and orthostatic lifestyle factors. It is unclear how changes in biomechanical signals cause aberrant remodeling of the vein wall. Our previous studies suggest that Notch signaling is implicated in varicose vein arterialization. In the arterial system, mechanoresponsive ETS1 is a transcriptional activator of the endothelial Notch, but its involvement in sensing disrupted venous flow and varicose vein formation has not been investigated. Here, we use human varicose veins and cultured human venous endothelial cells to show that disturbed venous shear …

Timing Of Administration Of Antenatal Magnesium Sulphate And Correlation With Umbilical Cord Blood Magnesium Levels In Preterm Babies, Mrudhula Tummala, Rekha Upadhya, Muralidhar V. Pai

Open Access archive

Background: The effectiveness of MgSO4 for foetal neuroprotection is acknowledged, but the best time to provide it in relation to birth is a conundrum, and dose schedule is yet unknown. Understanding the determinants of the magnesium levels in cord blood aids in determining the appropriate timing and length of administration. Aim and objective: To assess the cord blood magnesium concentration in relation to the timing of MgSO4 and delivery. To achieve ROC in relation to optimum level of cord blood magnesium concentration in relation to neonatal outcome variables. Study design: A prospective observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital …

Structural Heterogeneity Predicts Ecological Resistance And Resilience To Wildfire In Arid Shrublands, Andrii Zaiats, Megan E. Cattau, David S. Pilliod, Rongsong Liu, Patricia Kaye T. Dumandan, Ahmad Hojatimalekshah, Donna M. Delparte, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Context Dynamic feedbacks between physical structure and ecological function drive ecosystem productivity, resilience, and biodiversity maintenance. Detailed maps of canopy structure enable comprehensive evaluations of structure–function relationships. However, these relationships are scale-dependent, and identifying relevant spatial scales to link structure to function remains challenging.

Objectives We identified optimal scales to relate structure heterogeneity to ecological resistance, measured as the impacts of wildfire on canopy structure, and ecological resilience, measured as native shrub recruitment. We further investigated whether structural heterogeneity can aid spatial predictions of shrub recruitment.

Methods Using high-resolution imagery from unoccupied aerial systems (UAS), we mapped structural heterogeneity across …

Targeting Cancers With Ohsv-Based Oncolytic Viral Immunotherapy, Rakin Tammam Nasar, Ifeanyi Kingsley Uche, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

The recent success of cancer immunotherapies, such as immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICIs), monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), cancer vaccines, and adoptive cellular therapies (ACTs), has revolutionized traditional cancer treatment. However, these immunotherapeutic modalities have variable efficacies, and many of them exhibit adverse effects. Oncolytic viral Immunotherapy (OViT), whereby viruses are used to directly or indirectly induce anti-cancer immune responses, is emerging as a novel immunotherapy for treating patients with different types of cancer. The herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) possesses many characteristics that inform its use as an effective OViT agents and remains a leading candidate. Its recent clinical success resulted in …

Development Of Active Packaging Films Using Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) Pods And Calamondin (Citrus X Microcarpa Bunge) Peels, Julienne Stephanie Fabie-Agapin, Dennis Rojas Marcelino

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

This paper presents the properties of active films produced using cacao pods and calamondin peels. An active film is a type of packaging material that is made by incorporating the “active” ingredients for preservation on the packaging film rather than a direct application to foods. In this study, the conversion to active films was done by adding essential oils from lemongrass or calamondin peels, which are both known to exhibit antimicrobial properties. There were five film samples prepared for analysis: cacao-calamondin mixture; cacao-calamondin mixture with lemongrass essential oil; cacao-calamondin mixture with calamondin essential oil; cacao-calamondin mixture with encapsulated lemongrass essential …

Polygenic Liability For Anxiety In Association With Comorbid Anxiety In Multiple Sclerosis, Kaarina Kowalec, Arvid Harder, Casandra Dolovich, Kathryn C Fitzgerald, Amber Salter, Yi Lu, Charles N Bernstein, James M Bolton, Gary Cutter, John D Fisk, Joel Gelernter, Lesley A Graff, Sara Hägg, Carol A Hitchon, Daniel F Levey, Fred D Lublin, Kyla A Mckay, Scott Patten, Amit Patki, Murray B Stein, Hemant K Tiwari, Jerry S Wolinsky, Ruth A Marrie

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Comorbid anxiety occurs often in MS and is associated with disability progression. Polygenic scores offer a possible means of anxiety risk prediction but often have not been validated outside the original discovery population. We aimed to investigate the association between the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item scale polygenic score with anxiety in MS.

METHODS: Using a case-control design, participants from Canadian, UK Biobank, and United States cohorts were grouped into cases (MS/comorbid anxiety) or controls (MS/no anxiety, anxiety/no immune disease or healthy). We used multiple anxiety measures: current symptoms, lifetime interview-diagnosed, and lifetime self-report physician-diagnosed. The polygenic score was computed …

Moral Responsibility And Other Visceral Attitudes Of Western Michigan University Students Toward Food Waste, Quinn Heiser

Masters Theses

Despite the large number of people that go hungry on a regular basis in America, food waste remains a looming issue, globally and nationally. Both American college students and the universities themselves contribute a large portion to the national food waste totals. A dichotomy that is especially curious is the difference between students who live on-campus and whose main source of meals is the dining centers, versus students who live off campus and rely mainly on groceries to make meals independently. However, food waste has seldom been studied in the context of the fact that college is a major transition …

Tale As Old As Time: The Beauty And The Beast Of Probabilistic Genotyping And Its Use In Georgia, Elizabeth Mcdaniel

Mercer Law Review

Deoxyribonucleic acid or as most of us prefer to call it—DNA—is a molecule in an organism that allows the organism to develop and function by carrying genetic information. DNA is what makes us unique. It was first observed in the late 1800s; however, its significance was not fully known until 1953. The use of DNA as evidence in criminal trials did not begin until the 1980s. Subsequently, the first statutes regarding DNA testing were passed in 1994 and 1997. Despite DNA’s late scientific discovery and its even later use in the legal profession, DNA has existed in organisms since their …

Stable State Societies In The Eye Of The Storm: Apocalyptic Forces, John W. Ragsdale

UMKC Law Review

The first part of this Article, also published in the UMKC Law Review, will be incorporated by reference in this work. In this segment the first part will be referred to as "The Eye of the Storm.” This following segment will hereinafter be referred to as "The Apocalyptic Forces."

Stable State Societies In The Eye Of The Storm, John W. Ragsdale

UMKC Law Review

This Article will discuss the values and beliefs that are vital to sustainability and a prelude to the coming battle against the existential threat of climate change. It will examine the components of the core of a homeostatic, balancing-seeking entity that itself is in constant, rhythmic, corrective motion. The stable state counters the incessant, swirling forces that surround the peace within. Paradoxically, the continued resilience of the sustainable state requires constant vigilance and maintenance.

Reckless Parties Should Foot The Bill: Advocating For State Agency Search And Rescue Service Reimbursement, Anna Vanbuskirk

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Protecting Water, Sustaining Communities: Transforming Groundwater Management Entities Into Sources Of Power During And After Environmental Crises, Sarah Matsumoto

UMKC Law Review

Groundwater serves as a vital, limited resource for people all over the world. The United States Geological Survey reports that about 140 million people in the United States rely on groundwater for drinking water, of those, almost 43 million people rely on groundwater from domestic (or private, non-public supply) wells. In rural areas, groundwater is often the only available source of drinking water, making protection of groundwater quality in these regions a paramount concern.

Mirroring the various state regulatory approaches to groundwater management and protection, much of the recent media coverage of groundwater in the West focuses on water allocation …

Advancing Ocean Sustainability For Climate-Resilient Change, Teresa J. Kennedy

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

The United Nations (UN) Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development spans from 2021 to 2030 as a global call to action for marine scientists and Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOPs) to collaboratively create, implement, and communicate science-based solutions to the critical challenges faced by our shared Ocean. The Decade integrates science, policy, and international engagement of a broad base of civil society stakeholders through interdisciplinary research challenges aimed at establishing sustainable marine practices to confront issues related to climate change. This chapter presents a synopsis of the UN-led initiatives that culminated in the launch of the Ocean Decade and …

Adoption As Substitute For Abortion?, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, Justice Samuel Alito relied on adoption as part of the justification for holding that abortion is not constitutionally protected: “States have increasingly adopted ‘safe haven’ laws, which generally allow women to drop off babies anonymously; and that a woman who puts her newborn up for adoption today has little reason to fear that the baby will not find a suitable home.” Using adoption as an adequate substitute for abortion is a long-standing strategy for the antiabortion movement; but it is often embraced by pro-choice advocates as well. This position is supportable only if the …

Poster: Towards Efficient Spatio-Temporal Video Grounding In Pervasive Mobile Devices, Dulanga Kaveesha Weerakoon Mudiyanselage, Vigneshwaran Subbaraju, Joo Hwee Lim, Archan Misra

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

As the use of pervasive devices expands into complex collaborative tasks such as cognitive assistants and interactive AR/VR companions, they are equipped with a myriad of sensors facilitating natural interactions, such as voice commands. Spatio-Temporal Video Grounding (STVG), the task of identifying the target object in the field-of-view referred to in a language instruction, is a key capability needed for such systems. However, current STVG models tend to be resource-intensive, relying on multiple cross-attentional transformers applied to each video frame. This results in runtime complexity that increases linearly with video length. Furthermore, deploying these models on mobile devices while maintaining …

Prescribed-Time Nash Equilibrium Seeking For Pursuit-Evasion Game, Lei Xue, Jianfeng Ye, Yongbao Wu, Jian Liu, D. C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Dear Editor, this letter is concerned with prescribed-time Nash equilibrium (PTNE) seeking problem in a pursuit-evasion game (PEG) involving agents with second-order dynamics. In order to achieve the prior given and user-defined convergence time for the PEG, a PTNE seeking algorithm has been developed to facilitate collaboration among multiple pursuers for capturing the evader without the need for any global information. Then, it is theoretically proved that the prescribed-time convergence of the designed algorithm for achieving Nash equilibrium of PEG. Eventually, the effectiveness of the PTNE method was validated by numerical simulation results.