Digital Commons Network^™

The First Insight Into Mitochondrial Dna Haplogroup Prediction For The Population Originating From Medieval Bosnia, Abdurahim Kalajdzic, Naris Pojskic, Adisa Ahmic, Merima Miralem, Lejla Lasic, Mirela Dzehverovic, Belma Jusic, Amela Pilav, Lejla Pojskic, Edin Bujak, Tarik Corbo, Rifat Hadziselimovic

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Population genetic studies have shown that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian (B&H) population is a part of the European gene pool, but until now there is limited information about the genetic structure of ancient B&H populations. In this regard, the aim of our study was to determine the frequency and distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups for medieval Bosnian population. Thirty-four samples, excavated from medieval necropolises located in the B&H according to the borders of medieval Bosnia, were subjected to analysis in this study. Sequencing of the mtDNA HVS1 region and RFLP analysis were performed for haplogroup determination. In our study, all 32 …

Insect Abundance And Richness Response To Ecological Reclamation On Well Pads 5–12 Years Into Succession In A Semi-Arid Natural Gas Field, Michael F. Curran, Jasmine Allison, Timothy J. Robinson, Blair L. Robertson, Alexander H. Knudson, Bee M. M. Bott, Steven Bower, Bobby M. Saleh

Extension Research

Natural gas extraction is a critical driver of the economy in western North America. Ecological reclamation is important to ensure surface disturbance impacts associated with natural gas development are not permanent and to assist native biota. Previous studies in semi-arid natural gas fields within Sublette County, Wyoming, USA have shown insects respond favorably to 1–3-year-old well pads undergoing reclamation compared to older successional reference vegetation communities dominated by Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata spp. Wyomingensis). Here, we examined well pads which were initially seed 5, 8, 10, 11, and 12 years prior to our study. We used a free, image-based …

Conservation Co-Governance As A Cure: Investigating Aotearoa New Zealand's Conservation Co-Governance Model As A Blueprint For Restoring Navajo Sovereignty In Managing Canyon De Chelly, Shana R. Herman

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Minimal Specialization: The Coevolution Of Network Structure And Dynamics, Annika King

Theses and Dissertations

The changing topology of a network is driven by the need to maintain or optimize network function. As this function is often related to moving quantities such as traffic, information, etc., efficiently through the network, the structure of the network and the dynamics on the network directly depend on the other. To model this interplay of network structure and dynamics we use the dynamics on the network, or the dynamical processes the network models, to influence the dynamics of the network structure, i.e., to determine where and when to modify the network structure. We model the dynamics on the network …

Visible-Light Photocatalytic C-H Amination Of Arenes Utilizing Acridine-Lewis Acid Complexes, Matthew R. Lasky, En Chih Liu, Matthew S. Remy, Melanie S. Sanford

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

This report describes the development of a visible-light photocatalytic system for C(sp²)-H amination that leverages in situ-generated photocatalysts. We demonstrate that the combination of acridine derivatives and Lewis acids form potent photooxidants that promote the C-H amination of electronically diverse arenes upon irradiation with visible-light (440 nm). A first-generation photocatalyst composed of Sc (OTf)₃ and acridine effects the C-H amination of substrates with oxidation potentials ≤ +2.5 V vs SCE with pyrazole, triazole, and pyridine nucleophiles. Furthermore, the simplicity and modularity of this system enable variation of both Lewis acid and acridine to tune reactivity. This enabled …

Gardner-Webb’S Department Of Natural Sciences Receives Funds For Undergraduate Researchers, Office Of University Communications

Gardner-Webb NewsCenter Archive

North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) awarded two of 11 Undergraduate Research Program Grants to students in the Gardner-Webb Department of Natural Sciences. Tuyet “Snow” Anh Nguyen, a chemistry major, and Kyndal Elaina Jackson, a biology major, received over $500 each to complete their research in the 2024 Fall Semester.

‘A Mirror For Fellow-Citizens’: Cicero’S Proto-Transformational Leadership Ideal Of The Rector Rei Publicae, Evan Rw Dutmer

New England Classical Journal

In this article, I situate Cicero’s discussion of the rector rei publicae and orator perfectus in the De republica and De oratore in the context of James MacGregor Burns’s theory of the transformational leadership in his influential 1978 Leadership. I then consider how Cicero’s rector rei publicae would exhibit leadership behaviors of the Full Range Leadership Model, a popular operationalization of transformational leadership theory. Throughout, I also consider the limitations of applying transformational leadership as an interpretive frame for an ancient Roman leader such as Cicero. Cicero’s vision, I contend, can only succeed in being proto-transformational. The result of this …

Spatial Roost Networks And Resource Selection Of Female Wild Turkeys, Nicholas W. Bakner, Erin E. Ulrey, Patrick H. Wightman, Nick A. Gulotta, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

Faculty Publications

Wildlife demography is influenced by behavioural decisions, with sleep being a crucial avian behaviour. Avian species use roost sites to minimize thermoregulation costs, predation risk and enhance foraging efficiency. Sleep locations are often reused, forming networks within the home range. Our study, focusing on female eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) during the reproductive season, used social network analysis to quantify both roost site selection and network structure. We identified roost networks which were composed of a small percentage of hub roost sites connecting satellite roosts. Hub roosts were characterized by greater values of betweenness (β = 0.62, s.e. = …

Closing The Communication Gap: Alignment Of Competency Performance Levels Between Ume And Gme, Anita Wilson, Phd, Katherine Berg, Md, Aaron Douglas, Phd, John Caruso, Md, Gretchen Diemer, Md, Kathleen Day, Ms, Rosemary Frasso, Phd, Steven Herrine, Md, David Abraham, Phd

JeffMD Academic Affairs

Purpose and Background

Graduate medical education (GME) program directors receive a minimal amount of information from the undergraduate medical education (UME) programs regarding an intern’s specific level of competence. This project’s purpose was to align the local undergraduate competency-based medical education program objectives (MEPOs) and GME outcomes measured during intern year. Previous studies show the gap in communication between UME and GME exists due to a lack of a shared mental model regarding competency performance.^{1, 2}

Immune Responses Of Neonatal (14-Day Old) And Adult (6 Weeks Old) Mice Lung And Spleen Cells To Gamma-Irradiated Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Stimulation, Oyinkansola F. Adeyemi

Biotechnology Theses

Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a global health challenge, especially in vulnerable populations like neonates, whose immune systems are still developing. Understanding the immune responses to Mtb in neonates is critical for the development of better vaccine and treatment strategies. Building upon previous research from our laboratory, which demonstrated that γMtb stimulated neonatal mice (0, 3, and 7 days old) lung cells displayed distinct cytokine profiles and increased expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cell subpopulations than adult mice lung cells. In the current study, we investigated age-dependent immune responses in 14-day-old (neonates) and 6-week-old (adults) mice. We found …

Generation And Characterization Of Lipid Nanoparticles For Dna Plasmid Delivery And Pharmacological Characterization, Sahana John

Biotechnology Theses

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have shown promise for delivering nucleic acids like DNA plasmids, but packaging large plasmids remains challenging. The findings and experimental work detailed in this thesis are geared towards providing a proof of concept and providing preliminary confirmation of the guiding principle.

We synthesized LNPs containing cationic lipids (D-Lin-MC3) to encapsulate the large pLVX-ZsGreen and psiCHECK (luciferase) plasmids (~10-14kb) using a microfluidic system. Characterization included size, charge, morphology, plasmid encapsulation efficiency and in vitro/in vivo studies. The LNP-pDNA particles were ~100nm in size with high encapsulation efficiency. The LNPs efficiently transfected 293T cells with low cytotoxicity, enabling strong …

Host-Microbe Interactions And The Developing Gut Microbiome In Infants With Cystic Fibrosis, Paige E. Salerno

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a progressive genetic disease that leads to dysfunction of ion transport across epithelial cell membranes. A major hallmark in CF is chronic inflammation in the intestine, though the mechanisms by which this occurs are still unknown. Here, we describe the developing microbiome in CF infants. We first performed metagenomic sequencing on a longitudinal cohort of CF infants and compared the microbial dynamics of these samples to multiple non-CF cohorts. Through various computational approaches, we reveal a delay in the maturation of the microbiome in CF compared to non-CF, characterized by shifts in abundance and prevalence of …

Molecular-Level Studies Of Nanopatterned Biomolecules With Atomic Force Microscopy, Ashley R. Walker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an analytical technique in which a tipped probe is gently scanned across the surface in a raster pattern to generate digital images of a sample at the nanoscale. The AFM instrument has three general operational modes, which are contact, non-contact and tapping-mode, that can be used to examine materials at the atomic level. Single-molecular details of biological molecules and other soft organic materials can be captured with minimal denaturation in either ambient or liquid environments when using tapping-mode AFM. In tapping-mode, the probe is driven to oscillate vertically while the tip is scanned across the …

Dev-Resnet: Automated Developmental Event Detection Using Deep Learning, Ziad Ibbini, Manuela Truebano, John I. Spicer, Jamie C.S. Mccoy, Oliver Tills

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Delineating developmental events is central to experimental research using early life stages, permitting widespread identification of changes in event timing between species and environments. Yet, identifying developmental events is incredibly challenging, limiting the scale, reproducibility and throughput of using early life stages in experimental biology.We introduce Dev-ResNet, a small and efficient 3D convolutional neural network capable of detecting developmental events characterised by both spatial and temporal features, such as the onset of cardiac function and radula activity. We demonstrate the efficacy of Dev-ResNet using 10 diverse functional events throughout the embryonic development of the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Dev-ResNet …

Early Outcomes Of Mr-Guided Sbrt For Patients With Recurrent Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Spencer Poiset, Sophia Shah, Louis Cappelli, Rani Anné, Karen Mooney, Maria Werner-Wasik, Talya Laufer, James Posey, Daniel Lin, Atrayee Mallick, Harish Lavu, Babar Bashir, Charles Yeo, Adam Mueller

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Local treatment options for locally recurrent pancreatic adenocarcinoma (LR-PAC) are limited, with median survival time (MST) of 9-13 months (mos) following recurrence. MRI-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (MRgSBRT) provides the ability to dose escalate while sparing normal tissue. Here we report on the early outcomes of MRgSBRT for LR-PAC.

METHODS: Patients with prior resection of pancreatic adenocarcinoma with local recurrence treated with MRgSBRT at a single tertiary referral center from 5-2021 to 2-2023 were identified from our prospective database. MRgSBRT was delivered to 40-50 Gy in 4-5 fractions with target and OAR delineation per institutional standards. Endpoints included local …

Emotional Regulation On Modulating Associations Between Depression And Physical Activity As Characterized Via Deep Learning, Franklin Ye Ruan

Computer Science Senior Theses

Emotional regulation and physical activity are known to be associated with depression; however, a deeper understanding of how emotional regulation may strengthen or weaken the bonds between depressive symptoms and physical activity may aid clinicians and researchers in developing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for those adversely affected by depression. As part of the Tracking Depression Study, this analysis uses data collected from 306 participants diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. To study their behavior, we analyze actigraphy data, or longitudinal physical activity intensity data, as it relates to depression severity, quantified by the daily PHQ-9 questionnaires. We study these associations through …

Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Hematological Health In Latin America, Lina M. Barrios, Ms

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Hematological malignancies, also known as blood cancers, such as leukemia, lymphomas, and myelomas, are a significant health concern globally. The incidence of these malignancies has dramatically increased over time, leukemias being the leading cause. The incidence of blood cancers in Latin America exhibits regional variability, with leukemia being the emerging cause as the most prevalent type in children and young adults. However, the overall incidences are oddly lower than in developed countries, potentially due to the underreporting of the cases and the lack of cancer registries. This situation implies a critical need for improving surveillance and data collection methods to …

Maternal Mental Health And Breastfeeding Duration: The Role Of Optimism And Coping Strategies., Alison Bacon, Alyson Norman, Eleanor Mason

School of Psychology

Background/AimsMental health can influence the likelihood that a woman will initiate and continue breastfeeding behaviour that is associated with improved infant and maternal health. Mental health outcomes are associated with variables such as optimism and coping. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between coping, optimism and mental health, and their impact on breastfeeding duration.MethodsA total of 612 women who had breastfed completed an online questionnaire comprising the hospital anxiety and depression scale, cognitive emotional regulation questionnaire, brief coping orientation to problems experienced inventory and life orientation test. Data were analysed using correlations, ordinal linear regression and …

Novel Role And Mechanisms Of Brd4 In Mediating Mesothelial To Mesenchymal Transition And Pleural Fibrosis, Felix Kankam

Biotechnology Theses

Pleural fibrosis is characterized by myofibroblast accumulation and increased expression of collagen and other extracellular matrices due to injury to the pleura and remodeling. Mesothelial to mesenchymal transition (MesoMT) is an important pathological event that contributes to the pool of myofibroblasts although its regulation remains incompletely understood. Recent research has reported the role of BRD4, a member of the bromodomain extra terminal domain (BET) family, in developing fibrosis in the heart and the lungs. One recent study showed that MEOX1 is a downstream target of BRD4 and mediated cardiac fibroblast activation. Our joint work also demonstrated that NOX4 is implicated …

Math, Chatgpt, And You: The Problem With Mathematical Accuracy In Large Language Models, Alexandre M. Hamel

Computer Science Senior Theses

ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) currently do a good job at generating novel text across many domains, but math remains a consistent issue when it comes to the accuracy of answers generated by these models. My research into various ways to manipulate the model have led me to the conclusion that a general closed form solution to help LLMs with math is both unrealistic and likely impossible. LLMs can be trained more successfully as you narrow the problem space, but consideration must be taken on the part of human user to recognize when an LLM is detrimental to …

Hyperoxia-Induced Mir-195 Causes Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia In Neonatal Mice, Patrick Philpot, Fred Graumuller, Nicole Melchiorre, Varsha Prahaladan, Xander Takada, Srinarmadha Chandran, Melissa Guillermo, David Dickler, Zubair H Aghai, Pragnya Das, Vineet Bhandari

Department of Pediatrics Faculty Papers

Background: Exposure to hyperoxia is an important factor in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm newborns. MicroRNAs (miRs) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of BPD and provide a potential therapeutic target. Methods: This study was conducted utilizing a postnatal animal model of experimental hyperoxia-induced murine BPD to investigate the expression and function of miR-195 as well as its molecular signaling targets within developing mouse lung tissue. Results: miR-195 expression levels increased in response to hyperoxia in male and female lungs, with the most significant elevation occurring in 40% O₂ (mild) and 60% O₂ (moderate) BPD. …

Hymenopteran Parasitoids Of Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera Frugiperda (J.E. Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)) In Australia, With The Description Of Five New Species In The Families Braconidae And Eulophidae, Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries, Melina M. Miles, Tareva-Chine C. Atkin-Zaldivar, Andy G. Howe, Siva Subramaniam, Donna M. Chambers, Frezzel Praise J Tadle, Saleh Adnan, Verni Sivasubramaniam, Alice Woodward, Helen Spafford, Brian Thistleton

Biosecurity Research Articles

Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) is an invasive pest of agricultural crops including sweet corn and maize. The moth was first recorded in Australia in January 2020 and is now considered established in most states and territories, and research is underway to develop management strategies. Extensive rearing of S. frugiperda larvae and eggs occurred from March 2020 to April 2023 to understand the parasitoid complex present in Australia and identify potential biological control agents. We report here on the hymenopteran parasitoids reared during this period, which were identified using a combination of morphology and COI DNA barcoding, and provide …

Adaptation To Tolerate High Doses Of Arabinoxylan Is Associated With Fecal Levels Of Bifidobacterium Longum, Edward C. Deehan, Zhengxiao Zhang, Nguyen K. Nguyen, Maria Elisa Perez-Muñoz, Janis Cole, Alessandra Riva, David Berry, Carla M. Prado, Jens Walter

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Dietary fiber supplements are a strategy to close the ‘fiber gap’ and induce targeted modulations of the gut microbiota. However, higher doses of fiber supplements cause gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms that differ among individuals. What determines these inter-individual differences is insufficiently understood. Here we analyzed findings from a six-week randomized controlled trial that evaluated GI symptoms to corn bran arabinoxylan (AX; n = 15) relative to non-fermentable microcrystalline cellulose (MCC; n = 16) at efficacious supplement doses of 25 g/day (females) or 35 g/day (males) in adults with excess weight. Self-reported flatulence, bloating, and stomach aches were evaluated weekly. Bacterial taxa …

Small-Molecule Disruptors Of The Interaction Between Calcium- And Integrin-Binding Protein 1 And Integrin Α, Kalyan Golla, Adam Yasgar, Manjuprasanna Voddarahally Nagaraju, Meghna U. Naik, Bolormaa Baljinnyam, Alexey V. Zakharov, Sankalp Jain, Ganesha Rai, Ajit Jadhav, Anton Simeonov, Ulhas P. Naik

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

Thrombosis, a key factor in most cardiovascular diseases, is a major contributor to human mortality. Existing antithrombotic agents carry a risk of bleeding. Consequently, there is a keen interest in discovering innovative antithrombotic agents that can prevent thrombosis without negatively impacting hemostasis. Platelets play crucial roles in both hemostasis and thrombosis. We have previously characterized calcium- and integrin-binding protein 1 (CIB1) as a key regulatory molecule that regulates platelet function. CIB1 interacts with several platelet proteins including integrin αIIbβ3, the major glycoprotein receptor for fibrinogen on platelets. Given that CIB1 regulates platelet function through its interaction with αIIbβ3, we developed …

Understanding Russian Disinformation And How The Joint Force Can Address It, Michael J. Kelley

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Russia will dominate information warfare if the United States does not treat disinformation as central to Russian strategy. This article examines the vital role disinformation played in post–Cold War Russian strategy, including its strategy in the current Russia-Ukraine War, and in a departure from previous scholarship, this article observes that US defense leaders are aware of Russian disinformation but have failed to assess its impact or sufficiently negate Russian influence. The article also reviews current US efforts and suggests proactive ways to counter Russia’s disinformation strategy.

A Programmable Look-Up Table-Based Processing In Memory Architecture For Massively Parallel, Energy-Efficient Processing Of Data-Intensive Applications Within Dram, Purab Ranjan Sutradhar

Theses

As modern computing workloads become increasingly data-intensive, the limitations of traditional digital computing hardware, especially in terms of communication bandwidth between memory and processors, are becoming more apparent. Surprisingly, the performance and energy efficiency of the state-of-the-art are not primarily constrained by the computing power of advanced processing architectures but rather by the low communication bandwidth between the memory and the processor. This challenge necessitates a clever re-architecting of digital computing hardware to make the communication between the processor and the memory more energy-efficient, faster, and capable of supporting significantly higher bandwidth. Memory-centric computing emerges as a novel, alternate computing …

Education Reform: Exploring Human Services Needed To Address Disparities In Urban, Antonio Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This investigation sought to delve into the complex issues surrounding racial and institutional racism within urban educational frameworks, emphasizing the substantial role that systemic obstacles and prejudices play in perpetuating educational inequities. Amidst an expanding corpus of literature on this topic, the nuanced contributions of human service interventions to ameliorate these inequities have been somewhat overlooked. The objective of this research was to fill this knowledge void by examining the perspectives and experiences of a diverse range of professionals within the K-12 educational sector, from a human services standpoint. The study utilized qualitative research methodology, gathering data through interviews with …

Impact Of Workplace Racial Discrimination On The Health Of Black Men, Denise Richardson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived racially discriminatory experiences of Black men in the workplace in New York City and how those incidents affected their overall health. The study used Critical Race Theory as the theoretical framework and analyzed data gathered through semi-structured interviews with 10 participants. Findings from coding analysis indicated that Black men routinely engaged in acts of John Henryism to receive positive recognition as they navigated negative societal stereotyping, namely proving that they, as individuals, were not negative stereotypes. Additionally, the study revealed that exposure to racial discrimination in the workplace …

Draft Genome Sequences Of Three Lactobacillus Crispatus Strains, Isolated From The Female Urinary Tract, Cerena Sedano, Natalie Stegman, Maria Steiling, Briana Jackson, Catherine Putonti

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Lactobacillus crispatus is a frequent member of the female urogenital microbiota. Here, we present the draft genome assemblies of three L. crispatus strains: UMB4356, UMB5661, and UMB6244. All strains were isolated from voided urine samples from females with type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic Alterations And Cellular Responses To Β-Hydroxybutyrate Treatment In Breast Cancer Cells, Hadas Fulman-Levy, Raichel Cohen-Harazi, Bar Levi, Lital Argaev-Frenkel, Ifat Abramovich, Eyal Gottlieb, Sarah Hofmann, Igor Koman, Elimelech Nesher

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The ketogenic diet (KD), based on high fat (over 70% of daily calories), low carbohydrate, and adequate protein intake, has become popular due to its potential therapeutic benefits for several diseases including cancer. Under KD and starvation conditions, the lack of carbohydrates promotes the production of ketone bodies (KB) from fats by the liver as an alternative source of metabolic energy. KD and starvation may affect the metabolism in cancer cells, as well as tumor characteristics. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of KD conditions on a wide variety of aspects of breast cancer cells …