Digital Commons Network^™

Efficient Gene Editing For Heart Disease Via Elip-Based Crispr Delivery System, Xing Yin, Romain Harmancey, Brion Frierson, Jean G Wu, Melanie R Moody, David D Mcpherson, Shao-Ling Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Liposomes as carriers for CRISPR/Cas9 complexes represent an attractive approach for cardiovascular gene therapy. A critical barrier to this approach remains the efficient delivery of CRISPR-based genetic materials into cardiomyocytes. Echogenic liposomes (ELIP) containing a fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled decoy oligodeoxynucleotide against nuclear factor kappa B (ELIP-NF-κB-FITC) were used both in vitro on mouse neonatal ventricular myocytes and in vivo on rat hearts to assess gene delivery efficacy with or without ultrasound. In vitro analysis was then repeated with ELIP containing Cas9-sg-IL1RL1 (interleukin 1 receptor-like 1) RNA to determine the efficiency of gene knockdown. ELIP-NF-κB-FITC without ultrasound showed limited gene delivery in …

A Short-Term, Randomized, Controlled, Feasibility Study Of The Effects Of Different Vegetables On The Gut Microbiota And Microrna Expression In Infants, Lynn E. Ferro, Kyle Bittinger, Sabrina P. Trudo, Kaleigh E. Beane, Shawn W. Polson, Jae Kyeom Kim, Jillian C. Trabulsi

General Human Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The complementary diet influences the gastrointestinal (gut) microbiota composition and, in turn, host health and, potentially, microRNA (miRNA) expression. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of altering the gut microbial communities with short-term food introduction and to determine the effects of different vegetables on the gut microbiota and miRNA expression in infants. A total of 11 infants were randomized to one of the following intervention arms: control, broccoli, or carrot. The control group maintained the milk diet only, while the other groups consumed either a broccoli puree or a carrot puree on days 1–3 along with their milk diet …

Alternative Education Center Teachers' Experiences With Identifying Dyslexia Characteristics In Students: A Phenomenology, Natasha P. Peoples

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study explore the experiences of 10 participants teaching at a North Texas alternative education center, focusing on identifying dyslexia characteristics. The research is grounded in self-efficacy theory and phonological deficit theory, which both contribute to understanding lifelong effects of reading difficulties, particularly dyslexia. Self-efficacy theory emphasizes task-specific beliefs, while phonological deficit theory underscores the importance of accurate letter sound representation for a strong alphabetic foundation. Employing a phenomenological approach, the study gathers participants' perceptions, employing a triangulation method for data collection through interviews, questionnaires, and document analysis. Data analysis followed Moustakas' modification of the Van Kaam method to …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Military-Connected Students Transitioning From The Military Way Of Life To Higher Education: A Qualitative Study, Earnest Kincade

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to better understand the phenomenon of the lived experiences of military-connected students transitioning from the military way of life to higher education. This study was guided by Schlossberg’s 4S theory on transitioning adults as related to situations, self, support, and strategies concerning military-connected students in Alaska. The participants were chosen by criterion sampling to select students based on their military affiliation, who attended the universities in the United States, and who have experienced multiple transitions related to the military lifestyle of their parents. The data collection process involved an initial questionnaire using …

Male Motivation To Pursue Social Work: A Causal-Comparative Study Investigating The Differences In Male Students’ Motivational Orientation And Field Of Study, Laura A. Dimarcantonio

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, causal-comparative study was to investigate if there is a difference in the motivational orientation of male social work students and men in traditional fields of study. Men are underrepresented in social work degree programs in the United States, yet their unique voice and experience are needed to meet the diverse workforce goals of the profession and provide equitable services to all individuals. Participants for the study were drawn from a convenience sample that included 252 students enrolled in baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral-level social work, computer science, engineering, and math programs at four universities in …

The Effect Of Formal Mentorship Programs On Nurse Faculty Retention: An Integrative Review, Lisa Livingston

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The nursing shortage has been a hot topic for decades, and literature supports a need to address this issue. Although faculty are critical to educating the nurses of the future, the shortage has impacted nurse faculty numbers as well. Nursing shortages are predicted to increase over the next decade. Evidenced-based interventions are critical to help sustain the nursing workforce. This integrative review highlights the importance of formal mentorship programs for new nurse faculty as a retention strategy for use by administrators of schools of nursing.

The Effect Of Music On Spiritual Well Being Among Hospice Patients, Mathai Abraham

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The life expectancy of a hospice patient is approximately six months or less. Hospice care is not for the cure of the disease. It is the care provided to the patients for the symptom management of the disease. Hospice care, known as end-of-life care, is very important for a comfortable and peaceful passage. Holistic care for the hospice patient is the goal of the hospice care plan. A hospice patient’s spiritual well-being can be maintained by spiritual support through a spiritual presence and spiritual conversation; all hospice care institutions' disciplines can provide adequate spiritual aid through their interaction with patients, …

What Are The Facilitators And Barriers To Health Literacy For African American Females In Maryland, Ages 18 Or Older, In The Medicaid Versus Commercial Lines Of Business?, Angel Oluwatumininu Benson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative case study's goal is to identify patterns in the health disparities experienced by African American women and to identify the factors that help and hinder African American females' ability to become health-literate consumers in the commercial and Medicaid markets. This study focuses on African American women's health outcomes and how they relate to health literacy. The purpose of this study is to increase health literacy for the African American population of women, specifically ages 18 and older. Various trends in health literacy are observed among all demographics. An example of this, specifically with African American women, is the …

The Lived Experiences Of Women In Higher Education Administrator Roles Through The Salary Negotiation Process At The Time Of Hire: A Phenomenological Study, Nancy Kay Hernandez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of salary negotiation at the time of hire for women in full-time administrator positions at Texas institutions of higher education. Eagly’s social role theory guided this study to explain gender roles and negotiation. A qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach was used to explore the experiences of women in higher education administrator roles during the salary negotiation process. Institutions within the south-central regions of Texas, including public and private colleges and universities, served as the site for this study. Participants were 12 women in full-time administrator positions at …

A Correlational Study Of The Resilience Factors That Promote Mental Health In First Responders, Tamara Rae Grayson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Too often, the title first responder (FR) has been correlated with mental illnesses, such as depression, anxiety, substance use, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There was a need to address the mental health of this unique at-risk population prior to developing a mindset that being a FR translates into also suffering from mental illness, due to repeated exposure to traumatic situations. The purpose of this correlational study was to identify the resilience factors in FRs, what unique and untreated exposure to traumatic events looks like in FRs, what normal treatment and early interventions for mental illnesses in FRs is, the …

Suicide In Black Adolescents: How Does The Relationship And Attachment Styles Impact The Grieving Experience Of Non-Custodial Black Grandmothers, Edith Marie Walton-Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to gain insight into the relationship and grief experiences of the non-custodial Black/African American grandmother(s) who have lost a grandchild by suicide. The theories guiding this study are attachment theory, psychosocial stages of development, and grief and loss. The central research questions are used to explore the attachment and relationship between the Black grandmother(s) and grandchild(ren) and whether suicide changes the grieving experience. Participants were selected through purposeful sampling. The sample size for this study includes six Black women between the ages of 48-65 who are non-custodial grandmothers and have experienced grief …

The Lived Experiences Of In-Service Teachers' Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Education: A Hermeneutical Phenomenology, Joshua J. Jackson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to identify, describe, and interpret the lived experiences of in-service teachers with culturally responsive education. The theory guiding this study was the social cognitive theory, emphasizing reciprocal determinism, or the bi-directional relationship between the personal, environmental, and behavioral determinants. This study's central question asked, " What are the lived experiences of in-service teachers concerning the concept of culturally responsive education?" The study took place in a large, suburban school district in Florida. The researcher selected 10 participants who have at least three years of classroom experience and have received an equity-micro-credential, which …

A Phenomenological Study Of Resource Parents' Experiences Providing For The Educational Needs Of Children With Adverse Childhood Experiences, Skyler Nicole Wells

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine the lived experience that resource parents (e.g., kinship, foster, adoptive) undergo to care for the education needs of their children with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). The theory guiding this study is Bandura’s theory on social learning (1977). Bandura explained how behaviors and skills from a model were used to guide the central research question: What are the lived experiences of resource parents caring for the educational needs of children with ACEs? Data was collected from 12 adults living in a rural county in Virginia using writing prompts, interviews, and focus …

An Independent Analysis Of A Retrospective Cohort Of 30,423 Covid-19 Patients Treated At Ihu-Mediterranean In Marseille, France: Part 2, A Real-Life Assessment Of Covid-19 Vaccination Efficacy, Valere Lounnas, Eleftherios Gkioulekas, Marc Rendell, Alexis Lacout, Xavier Azalbert, Christian Perronne

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

A cohort of 30,423 Covid-19 patients treated between March 2020 and December 2021 at the IHU-Méditerranée Infection in Marseille (France) was retrospectively analyzed in terms of treatment attempted and disease worsening factors to quantify vaccination efficacy with respect to the composite endpoint of transfer to intensive care unit or death, within a couple of months (56 days) from admission. Within limitations of the data and of the models, after adequate adjustment for sampling biases, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to determine unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the subset of patients admitted after the Covid-19 vaccination program was …

Influence Of Stressful Life Events On The Development Of Type 2 Diabetes, Joshua T. Minks

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between distress and the development of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the presence of established risk factors. Distress secondary to mental health disparities, stressful life events, and work conditions has been shown to promote insulin resistance and the development of T2DM.

Subjects (N=79) diagnosed with T2DM within the previous six months were recruited from SSM Health Centers and VA Medical Centers in the greater St. Louis area. They completed the Recent Life Changes Questionnaire, ENRICHD Social Support Instrument, and a demographic survey and analyses were conducted to determine differences between the veteran …

The Emerging Importance Of Skull-Brain Interactions In Traumatic Brain Injury, Peixi Zhao, Rui Jin, Bin Zhao, Le Han, Wenjuan Chen, Nina Hao, Yi Cui, Ankit Madan, Joy Awosika, Shane Lloyd, Yili Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and Objective

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have been widely applied and studied in the treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, and have achieved good results. However, in clinical practice, it has been observed that only some patients respond well to ICIs, and some patients may experience various degrees of adverse reactions during the treatment. Timely evaluation of the potential therapeutic effects and adverse reactions of ICIs for patients has important clinical significance. This review aimed to summarize recent progress regarding efficacy-associated biomarkers for ICIs in GI cancer.

Methods

The literature on ICI treatment in GI cancers was searched in the …

Cost Of Capital And Climate Risk In The Indonesian Bonds Market, Maulana Harris Harris Muhajir

Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking

This study analyzes the impact of climate risk, cost of capital, and macroeconomic variables on the Indonesian bond market, focusing on non-ESG aware and ESG-aware bonds. Using a regression analysis, we found that the cost of capital has a significant negative effect on bond yields, highlighting the importance of policymakers focusing on initiatives that can lower the cost of capital for investors. Inflation rate was also found to have a significant positive effect on non-ESG aware bonds, which is a unique feature of the Indonesian bond market. We found that ESG-aware bond yields were negatively significant, indicating that investors are …

February 29, 2024, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Criterion Assessing The Level Of Relationship Of Multiple Identified Characteristics For Classification, Mirzoyan Mirzaaxmedovich Kamilov, Oybek Zokirovich Koraboshev, Bobomurod Mamitjonovich Tojiboev

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

This article discusses an optimized version of the standard design developed by Yu.I.Zhuravlev, an optimization procedure through an algebraic approach based on precedent algorithms that solves the problem of pattern identification. The formation of the convex hull of the recognition operator and corrective procedures of information models by mutual compensation of each other was also studied. In addition, the functional connection of recognition operators and the definition of idempotent connection of operators are analyzed.

Mental Health First Aid (Mhfa) Training Of First Responders, Rebecca Leigh Bandy

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study aimed to address the gap in the mental health training of first responders. Mental health issues have increased and continue to increase each year and is leading to more emergency calls being made about individuals with mental illnesses or in a mental health crisis. With this increase in calls related to mental health, first responders are not prepared to handle these calls. This study examined the effectiveness of a mental health training program, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), on first responders’ knowledge, stigmas, comfort level, confidence level, ability to identify mental health symptoms, and benefits for first responders …

The Impact Of Women’S Roles In The Preservation Of Nature: Analysis Of Ecofeminism On Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk, U'Um Qomariyah, Sumartini Sumartini, Qurrota Ayu Neina, Dyah Prabaningrum

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

The roots of the catastrophe, environmental pollution, and the decline in culture are the empirical assumptions of positivistic humans. A strategy of deconstructing and reconstructing the epistemological framework of knowledge is needed through the creation (counter) of a positivistic view that can determine the attitudes and roles of a person, both men and women, towards the environment. On this basis, this article aimed to explain women's role in preserving nature as a critical analysis of the ecological perspectives of literary texts. This research utilized qualitative descriptive and ecofeminist methods in the eco-criticism discourse. The ecofeminist method refers to methods related …

High School Teachers’ Readiness For The Implementation Of Merdeka Curriculum In English Language Teaching, Teresa Angelina Kaluge, Usmi Usmi

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Curriculum influences the approaches to teaching and learning foreign languages. The newly introduced Merdeka Curriculum in Indonesia has not been implemented by all high schools yet. The readiness of foreign language teachers was one of the influential factors for the school acceptance of the new curriculum. This study examined the readiness of foreign language teachers from high schools that have not yet implemented the Merdeka Curriculum. Data were obtained through questionnaires which were distributed to the English teachers and other subject teachers from several high schools in Indonesia. The results showed that there were two main dimensions that influenced the …

Color Symbolism And Resistance In Shaila Abdullah’S Saffron Dreams, Hasnul Insani Djohar, Lailla Sekar Dwi Komalasari

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

This study analyzes how Shaila Abdullah's Saffron Dreams portrays and resists Orientalists' stereotypes of Muslim women. Through Saffron Dreams, Abdullah attempts to put up a fight against the negative stereotypes of Orientalists toward Muslim women. It is shown based on how the main protagonist is portrayed as a Muslim Pakistani-American woman who lost her husband in 9/11, experiencing mistreatment from her host land society due to the spreading negative stereotypes of Muslim women. By utilizing Close Textual Analysis, this study focuses on examining how the novel depicts and resists the Muslim women's stereotype by Orientalists. This study discovers that the …

The Combined Immunohistochemical Expression Of Ambra1 And Sqstm1 Identifies Patients With Poorly Differentiated Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma At Risk Of Metastasis: A Proof Of Concept Study, Michael H. Alexander, William J. Cousins, Tom Ewen, Andrew P. South, Penny Lovat, Niki Stefanos

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) incidence continues to increase globally with, as of yet, an unmet need for reliable prognostic biomarkers to identify patients at increased risk of metastasis. The aim of the present study was to test the prognostic potential of the combined immunohistochemical expression of the autophagy regulatory biomarkers, AMBRA1 and SQSTM1, to identify high-risk patient subsets.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort of 68 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded primary cSCCs with known 5-year metastatic outcomes were subjected to automated immunohistochemical staining for AMBRA1 and SQSTM1. Digital images of stained slides were annotated to define four regions of interest: the normal …

Pan-Cancer Proteogenomics Characterization Of Tumor Immunity, Francesca Petralia, Weiping Ma, Tomer M Yaron, Francesca Pia Caruso, Nicole Tignor, Joshua M Wang, Daniel Charytonowicz, Jared L Johnson, Emily M Huntsman, Giacomo B Marino, Anna Calinawan, John Erol Evangelista, Myvizhi Esai Selvan, Shrabanti Chowdhury, Dmitry Rykunov, Azra Krek, Xiaoyu Song, Berk Turhan, Karen E Christianson, David A Lewis, Eden Z Deng, Daniel J B Clarke, Jeffrey R Whiteaker, Jacob J Kennedy, Lei Zhao, Rossana Lazcano Segura, Harsh Batra, Maria Gabriela Raso, Edwin Roger Parra, Rama Soundararajan, Ximing Tang, Yize Li, Xinpei Yi, Shankha Satpathy, Ying Wang, Maciej Wiznerowicz, Tania J González-Robles, Antonio Iavarone, Sara J C Gosline, Boris Reva, Ana I Robles, Alexey I Nesvizhskii, D R Mani, Michael A Gillette, Robert J Klein, Marcin Cieslik, Bing Zhang, Amanda G Paulovich, Robert Sebra, Zeynep H Gümüş, Galen Hostetter, David Fenyö, Gilbert S Omenn, Lewis C Cantley, Avi Ma'ayan, Alexander J Lazar, Michele Ceccarelli, Pei Wang, Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite the successes of immunotherapy in cancer treatment over recent decades, less than <10%-20% cancer cases have demonstrated durable responses from immune checkpoint blockade. To enhance the efficacy of immunotherapies, combination therapies suppressing multiple immune evasion mechanisms are increasingly contemplated. To better understand immune cell surveillance and diverse immune evasion responses in tumor tissues, we comprehensively characterized the immune landscape of more than 1,000 tumors across ten different cancers using CPTAC pan-cancer proteogenomic data. We identified seven distinct immune subtypes based on integrative learning of cell type compositions and pathway activities. We then thoroughly categorized unique genomic, epigenetic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes associated with each subtype. Further leveraging the deep phosphoproteomic data, we studied kinase activities in different immune subtypes, which revealed potential subtype-specific therapeutic targets. Insights from this work will facilitate the development of future immunotherapy strategies and enhance precision targeting with existing agents.

Managing Saline And Sodic Soils And Irrigation Water, Burdette Barker, Grant Cardon, Matt Yost, Melanie Stock, Earl Creech, Jody Gale

All Current Publications

Salt is an important factor in plant and soil management. Excessive salt concentrations in soil can cause water to be less available to plants because of the osmotic forces of salt in the soil water. Excessive concentrations of different ions can also be toxic to plants. In agricultural soils and irrigation water, salts are typically described in two ways: (1) total salt concentration or salinity, and (2) sodicity, or the concentration of sodium relative to other cations (positively charged atoms or compounds). Understanding the effect of both total salinity and sodicity on plants and soils, along with management and reclamation …

Factors Influencing Local Control After Mr-Guided Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (Mrgsbrt) For Adrenal Metastases, Rupesh Kotecha, Tugce Kutuk

All Publications

Purpose: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an effective treatment for adrenal gland metastases, but it is technically challenging and there are concerns about toxicity. We performed a multi-institutional pooled retrospective analysis to study clinical outcomes and toxicities after MR-guided SBRT (MRgSBRT) using for adrenal gland metastases.

Methods and materials: Clinical and dosimetric data of patients treated with MRgSBRT on a 0.35 T MR-Linac at 11 institutions between 2016 and 2022 were analyzed. Local control (LC), local progression-free survival (LPFS), distant progression-free survival (DPFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated using Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test.

Results: A total of 255 …

Genetic Algorithm For Automated Parameterization Of Network Hamiltonian Models Of Amyloid Fibril Formation, Gianmarc Grazioli, Andy Tao, Inika Bhatia, Patrick Regan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The time scales of long-time atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are typically reported in microseconds, while the time scales for experiments studying the kinetics of amyloid fibril formation are typically reported in minutes or hours. This time scale deficit of roughly 9 orders of magnitude presents a major challenge in the design of computer simulation methods for studying protein aggregation events. Coarse-grained molecular simulations offer a computationally tractable path forward for exploring the molecular mechanism driving the formation of these structures, which are implicated in diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and type-II diabetes. Network Hamiltonian models of aggregation are centered around …

Pd-1 Inhibition Combined With Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy, To Better Serve Patients With Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Metastases From Gastrointestinal Cancer, Michael Chuong

All Publications

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer is the most frequent kind of cancer to involve the retroperitoneal lymph nodes (RPLNs). Radiotherapy (RT) is common treatment of RPLN metastases in patients with GI cancer, while RT is local. Meanwhile, most patients have extra-retroperitoneal metastases. Immunotherapy plus RT have showed effective in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. However, whether the combination therapy is effective on GI cancer with RPLN metastases. In our study, we would estimate the effect of programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibition in association with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).

Methods: Metastatic GI cancer patients with RPLN who were treated at a single …

Vkorc1 Polymorphisms And Complete Resistance To Vitamin K Antagonists: About Two Cases., Ilham Benyamna, Houda El Fissi, Fadoua Bouzid, Abdelhamid El Mousadik, Najat Alif

BioMedicine

Complete resistance to vitamin K antagonists is a rare but serious. It can complicate therapeutic management, especially when direct oral anticoagulants cannot be used. Some single mutations in the VKORC1 gene have been identified in patients partially or completely resistant to vitamin K antagonists. We report the cases of two women in their fifties who presented an unexplained peripheral venous thrombosis. The aetiological assessment did not show any abnormalities. Genetic testing showed that both patients had the VKORC1 5417GG genotype. The VKORC1 3673 genotype was GG in case 1 and GA in case 2. The two patients showed complete resistance …