Digital Commons Network^™

Caregivers' Attachment Relationships With Infants And Toddlers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Rebecca Ellen Roth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health and safety protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its variants continue to influence practices in infant–toddler programs one western state in the United States; caregivers in the state are concerned about attachment relationships with infants and toddlers. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore caregiver perceptions of attachment relationships related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its variants and the influence of health and safety protocols on caregiver practices. The conceptual framework combined attachment and biobehavioral theories. Data from interviews with four infant and six toddler caregivers were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by searching for patterns …

Ecology And Management Of The Crapemyrtle Aphid (Hemiptera: Aphididae) On Crapemyrtle (Myrtales: Lythraceae) In The Southern United States, Caleb J. Wilson, Matthew A. Bertone

Entomology Faculty Publications

Crapemyrtle aphid [Sarucallis kahawaluokalani (Kirkaldy 1907)] (CMA) is an introduced pest of crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia spp. L.), which is among the most common ornamental tree genera in the southern United States. Native to Southeast Asia, CMA has become established on 5 other continents. CMAs produce honeydew as they feed which supports sooty mold growth and can result in leaf defoliation on infested trees. CMAs tend to be most abundant in crapemyrtles planted in locations with extensive surrounding impervious surface cover. A large community of generalist natural enemies are found in close association with CMA, which suggests that CMAs may help conserve …

The Mirror Project: Reflections On The Experiences Of African-American Female Adolescents Experiencing Foster Care, Bahia Anise-Cross Degruy Overton

Dissertations and Theses

As the author Zora Neale Hurston says, "If you're silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it." The Mirror Project (MP) aims to break this silence by giving voice to Black women who have experienced foster care in Portland, Oregon during their adolescence. In focus groups and interviews, participants shared their stories. Racial identity development theory, phenomenology and Afrocentric feminist epistemology provided lenses for gaining insight into their experiences in a predominantly white city. The MP revealed six themes: lack of youth engagement in foster care decisions, the need for a cultural lens in social work, …

Exploring The Mechanical Strength, Antimicrobial Performance, And Bioactivity Of 3d-Printed Silicon Nitride-Peek Composites In Cervical Spinal Cages, Cemile Basgul, Paul Desantis, Tabitha Derr, Noreen J. Hickok, Ryan M. Bock, Steven M. Kurtz

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

In this study, our goal was to assess the suitability of a polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) polymer composite for antimicrobial three-dimensional (3D)-printed cervical cages. Generic cage designs (PEEK and 15 vol.% Si3N4-PEEK) were 3D-printed, including solid and porous cage designs. Cages were tested in static compression, compression shear, and torsion per ASTM F2077. For antibacterial testing, virgin and composite filament samples were inoculated with Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli. In vitro cell testing was conducted using MC3T3-E1 mouse preosteoblasts, where cell proliferation, cumulative mineralization, and osteogenic activity were measured. The 3D-printed PEEK and Si3N4-PEEK cages exhibited adequate mechanical …

Scgist: Gene Panel Design For Spatial Transcriptomics With Prioritized Gene Sets, Mashrur Ahmed Yafi, Md Hasibul Husain Hisham, Francisco Grisanti, James F Martin, Atif Rahman, Md Abul Hassan Samee

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

A critical challenge of single-cell spatial transcriptomics (sc-ST) technologies is their panel size. Being based on fluorescence in situ hybridization, they are typically limited to panels of about a thousand genes. This constrains researchers to build panels from only the marker genes of different cell types and forgo other genes of interest, e.g., genes encoding ligand-receptor complexes or those in specific pathways. We propose scGIST, a constrained feature selection tool that designs sc-ST panels prioritizing user-specified genes without compromising cell type detection accuracy. We demonstrate scGIST's efficacy in diverse use cases, highlighting it as a valuable addition to sc-ST's algorithmic …

Polyaminer-Bulk Is A Deep Learning-Based Algorithm That Decodes Alternative Polyadenylation Dynamics From Bulk Rna-Seq Data, Venkata Soumith Jonnakuti, Eric J Wagner, Mirjana Maletić-Savatić, Zhandong Liu, Hari Krishna Yalamanchili

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a key post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism; yet, its regulation and impact on human diseases remain understudied. Existing bulk RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)-based APA methods predominantly rely on predefined annotations, severely impacting their ability to decode novel tissue- and disease-specific APA changes. Furthermore, they only account for the most proximal and distal cleavage and polyadenylation sites (C/PASs). Deconvoluting overlapping C/PASs and the inherent noisy 3' UTR coverage in bulk RNA-seq data pose additional challenges. To overcome these limitations, we introduce PolyAMiner-Bulk, an attention-based deep learning algorithm that accurately recapitulates C/PAS sequence grammar, resolves overlapping C/PASs, captures non-proximal-to-distal APA changes, …

Lotic-Sipco2: Adaptation Of An Open-Source Co2 Sensor System And Examination Of Associated Emission Uncertainties Across A Range Of Stream Sizes And Land Uses, Andrew L. Robison, Lauren E. Koenig, Jody D. Potter, Lisle E. Snyder, Christopher W. Hunt, William H. Mcdowell, Wilfred M. Wollheim

Faculty Publications

River networks play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle, as relevant sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Advancements in high-frequency monitoring in aquatic environments have enabled measurement of dissolved CO2 concentration at temporal resolutions essential for studying carbon variability and evasion from these dynamic ecosystems. Here, we describe the adaptation, deployment, and validation of an open-source and relatively low-cost in situ pCO2 sensor system for lotic ecosystems, the lotic-SIPCO2. We tested the lotic-SIPCO2 in 10 streams that spanned a range of land cover and basin size. Key system adaptations for lotic environments included prevention of biofouling, …

Medication Utilization For Patients With Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Nasal Polyposis (Crswnp) And Asthma In 12 Months Pre- And Post-Dupilumab Initiation, Emily Garvey, Bita Naimi, Alexander Duffy, Chase Kahn, Douglas Farquhar, Marc Rosen, Mindy Rabinowitz, Damaris Pena Evertz, Jessica Most, Elina Toskala, Gurston G. Nyquist

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

Key Points:

• This study examines the impact of dupilumab on medication use for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyposis (CRSwNP) and asthma patients.
• Patients on dupilumab had a reduction in oral/inhaled/topical steroids, antibiotics, and leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs).
• The reduction in medication use had no impact on total polyp or SNOT-22 scores.

Isokinetic Versus Isotonic Resistance Training: Defining The Mechanisms Of Hypertrophy And Exercise Execution Methods, George Daughtry

Doctorate in Kinesiology

Abstract

Purpose: To determine strength changes and hypertrophy differences at the biceps brachii between an isokinetic bicep curl machine created by C&M Machines and preacher curl exercise with a standard curl bar. The study also aimed to determine the effectiveness of the aforementioned machine and to give insight into this unique method of training.

Methods: A medical clearance form and a Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire was implemented to evaluate ability to exercise. 10 subjects (n=10) were recruited, were 20.3 years old (20 +/- 2), and were cleared for rigorous exercise. Subjects were randomly assigned to a control group …

Human-Driven Fire And Vegetation Dynamics On The Caribbean Island Of Barbuda From Early Indigenous To Modern Times, Allison R. Leblanc, Lisa M. Kennedy, Michael J. Burn, Université Laval, Sophia Perdikaris

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

We present a multiproxy analysis of a sediment core from Freshwater Pond, Barbuda, one of just a few inland paleoenvironmental records from the Lesser Antilles. Our results shed light on the relative contributions of climate variability and Pre- and Post-Columbian human activities to vegetation and fire dynamics on Barbuda. The presence of macroscopic charcoal and pollen of ethnobotanically-useful and disturbance-indicator plant taxa in the sediment record suggests that Pre-Columbian subsistence activities occurred within a few kilometers of the pond between ~150 BCE and ~1250 CE. Our record extends anthropogenic fires back into the early Ceramic (500 BCE–1500 CE) and possibly …

Students' Attitudes Toward Computers At The College Of Nursing At King Saud University (Ksu), Osama A. Samarkandi

Dissertations

Computer knowledge and skills are becoming essential components technology in nursing education. Saudi nurses must be prepared to utilize these technologies for the advancement of science and nursing practice in local and global communities.

Little attention has been directed to students' attitudes about computer usage in academic communities in Saudi Arabia. Their attitudes about the use of computers for the enhancement of learning are relatively unknown. Few research studies have been identified that explicate Saudi Arabian nursing students' attitudes toward computer usage for the acquisition of knowledge and skills.

Males and females matriculate at King Saud University (KSU), but attend …

Relation Of Life Sciences Students’ Metacognitive Monitoring To Neural Activity During Biology Error Detection, Mei Grace Behrendt, Caron Clark, Mckenna Elliott, Joseph Dauer

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Metacognitive calibration—the capacity to accurately self-assess one’s performance—forms the basis for error detection and self-monitoring and is a potential catalyst for conceptual change. Limited brain imaging research on authentic learning tasks implicates the lateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate brain regions in expert scientific reasoning. This study aimed to determine how variation in undergraduate life sciences students’ metacognitive calibration relates to their brain activity when evaluating the accuracy of biological models. Fifty undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory life sciences course completed a biology model error detection task during fMRI. Students with higher metacognitive calibration recruited lateral prefrontal regions linked in …

The Significance Of Moral Agency For Socioeconomic Justice And Its Absence In Islamic Economics And Finance, Omar Javaid

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics

The paper attempts to build a case for the moral agency of individuals operating within organic social networks – in contrast to the impersonal nature of financial institutions – as a necessary medium for practicing Islamic economic principles, for the goal of achieving socioeconomic justice in society. Through comparative analysis, the paper argues that the modern institutional framework due to its impersonal nature, capitalist orientation, agency cost, and socially disintegrative nature is not a suitable medium for advancing the agenda of Islamic economics. A market environment where individuals exercise their moral agency to the fullest is perhaps necessary. To make …

A Book Review On “Economics And Economic Policy: Islamic Perspective”, Wan Omar Khairi

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Islamic Economics

Since its establishment as a formal discipline during the First Makkah Conference in 1976, Islamic Economics has garnered significant attention from scholars around the world. Over more than four past decades, dedicated Islamic economists have strived to produce a textbook of exceptional value, aiming to provide universities with a comprehensive resource that imparts profound insights into the Islamic perspective on economics. However, this undertaking has not been without its challenges, both internal and external. Amidst the pursuit of this noble goal, a growing sense of dissatisfaction has emerged among earlier generations of Islamic economists. They perceive a concerning trend within …

Psychological Distress And Behavioral Vigilance In Response To Minority Stress And Threat Among Members Of The Asian American And Pacific Islander Community During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Andrew S. Franks, Rin Nguyen, Y. Jenny Xiao, Dena Abbott

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Stigmatization, hostility, and violence towards the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community have increased sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to conduct research to promote understanding of the effects of such stigmatization on the AAPI community. Accordingly, the present study used a combined minority stress and integrated threat framework to examine whether factors related to AAPI identity would moderate the relationship between stigmatization/threat associated with AAPI identity and increased psychological distress and behavioral vigilance. AAPI individuals were recruited online from both Turk Prime and Reddit and completed measures of perceived stigmatization; integrated threat; depression, anxiety, and stress; …

Vitamin E Biofortification: Enhancement Of Seed Tocopherol Concentrations By Altered Chlorophyll Metabolism, Ping Qin, Peng Chen, Yuanwei Zhou, Wei Zhang, Yunyun Zhang, Jingjing Xu, Lu Gan, Yingnan Liu, Jill Romer, Peter Dörmann, Edgar B. Cahoon, Chunyu Zhang

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Homogentisate Phytyltransferase (HPT) catalyzes condensation of homogentisate (HGA) and phytyl diphosphate (PDP) to produce tocopherols, but can also synthesize tocotrienols using geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGDP) in plants engineered for deregulated HGA synthesis. In contrast to prior tocotrienol biofortification efforts, engineering enhanced tocopherol concentrations in green oilseeds has proven more challenging due to the integral role of chlorophyll metabolism in supplying the PDP substrate. This study show that RNAi suppression of CHLSYN coupled with HPT overexpression increases tocopherol concentrations by >two-fold in Arabidopsis seeds. We obtained additional increases in seed tocopherol concentrations by engineering increased HGA production via overexpression of …

The Spliceosome-Associated Protein Cwc15 Promotes Mirna Biogenesis In Arabidopsis, Bangjun Zhou, Huihui Yu, Yong Xue, Mu Li, Chi Zhang, Bin Yu

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play a key role in regulating gene expression and their biogenesis is precisely controlled through modulating the activity of microprocessor. Here, we report that CWC15, a spliceosome-associated protein, acts as a positive regulator of miRNA biogenesis. CWC15 binds the promoters of genes encoding miRNAs (MIRs), promotes their activity, and increases the occupancy ofDNA-dependent RNA polymerases atMIR promoters, suggesting that CWC15 positively regulates the transcription of primary miRNA transcripts (pri-miRNAs). In addition, CWC15 interacts with Serrate (SE) and HYL1, two key components of microprocessor, and is required for efficient primiRNA processing and the HYL1-pri-miRNA interaction. Moreover, CWC15 interacts with …

Final 2024 Residential Metals Abatement Program (Rmap) Whitehall Borrow Submittal #2, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Intouch Week Of February 26, 2024, New York Medical College

InTouch

• CSSC Receives Grant from Children’s Dream Foundation
• Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., to Address 35^th Annual Graduate Student Research Forum
• Promoting Wellness During National Heart Month
• Lactation Rooms Available on Campus
• Tell Us What You Think
• LCME Element of the Week
• Student Spotlight: SOM Student Nadia Briones Sings a New Tune in Medicine

Regulation And Function Of Pp2a-B56delta And Its Pathological Variants, Kali A. Smolen

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

B56δ is a regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase PP2A, which is responsible for the majority of phosphoserine and phosphothreonine dephosphorylation within a cell. PPP2R5D-Related Developmental Disorder is characterized by intellectual disability, autism-spectrum disorder, hypotonia, and epilepsy and is caused by de novo single nucleotide changes in PPP2R5D, the gene that encodes B56δ, resulting in missense mutations (i.e. E198K, E420K, etc.). Yet, the molecular mechanisms impacted by these variants are unknown. To investigate these mechanisms as described in Chapters 2 and 3, we generated HEK293 cells harboring a single nucleotide change in the endogenous locus of PPP2R5D to recapitulate two pathogenic …

Clinical Benefit From Docetaxel +/- Ramucirumab Is Not Associated With Mutation Status In Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients Who Progressed On Platinum Doublets And Immunotherapy, Kang Qin, Kaiwen Wang, Shenduo Li, Lingzhi Hong, Priyadharshini Padmakumar, Rinsurongkawong Waree, Shawna M Hubert, Xiuning Le, Natalie Vokes, Kunal Rai, Ara Vaporciyan, Don L Gibbons, John V Heymach, J Jack Lee, Scott E Woodman, Caroline Chung, David A Jaffray, Mehmet Altan, Yanyan Lou, Jianjun Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Docetaxel +/- ramucirumab remains the standard-of-care therapy for patients with metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) after progression on platinum doublets and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The aim of our study was to investigate whether the cancer gene mutation status was associated with clinical benefits from docetaxel +/- ramucirumab. We also investigated whether platinum/taxane-based regimens offered a better clinical benefit in this patient population. A total of 454 patients were analyzed (docetaxel +/- ramucirumab n=381; platinum/taxane-based regimens n=73). Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared among different subpopulations with different cancer gene mutations and between patients who received docetaxel …

The Future Of Targeted Therapy For Leiomyosarcoma, Ryan A Denu, Amanda M Dann, Emily Z Keung, Michael S Nakazawa, Elise F Nassif Haddad

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Leiomyosarcoma (LMS) is an aggressive subtype of soft tissue sarcoma that arises from smooth muscle cells, most commonly in the uterus and retroperitoneum. LMS is a heterogeneous disease with diverse clinical and molecular characteristics that have yet to be fully understood. Molecular profiling has uncovered possible targets amenable to treatment, though this has yet to translate into approved targeted therapies in LMS. This review will explore historic and recent findings from molecular profiling, highlight promising avenues of current investigation, and suggest possible future strategies to move toward the goal of molecularly matched treatment of LMS. We focus on targeting the …

A Flexible Inventory Of Survey Items For Environmental Concepts Generated Via Special Attention To Content Validity And Item Response Theory, John A. Vucetich, Jeremy T. Bruskotter, Benjamin Ghasemi, Claire E. Rapp, Michael Paul Nelson, Kristina M. Slagle

Michigan Tech Publications

We demonstrate how many important measures of belief about the environmental suffer from poor content validity and inadequate conceptual breadth (dimensionality). We used scholarship in environmental science and philosophy to propose a list of 13 environmental concepts that can be held as beliefs. After precisely articulating the concepts, we developed 85 trial survey items that emphasized content validity for each concept. The concepts’ breadth and the items’ content validity were aided by scrutiny from 17 knowledgeable critics. We administered the trial items to 449 residents of the United States and used item response theory to reduce the 85 trial items …

Examining Speech-Language Pathology Research Relating To People With Traumatic Brain Injury In China: A Scoping Review, Guanyu Wei

Student Scholarship

Background/Aims Although there are many researchers reviewing the existing evidence related to traumatic brain injury from speech-language pathologists’ perspectives, there have been no attempts to review the existing research evidence in Standard Chinese to the best of the authors’ knowledge. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and synthesise the existing research evidence available in China for therapy related to individuals with traumatic brain injury within the speech-language pathologists’ scope of practice. Methods This scoping review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. The literature search was conducted using databases that …

Chimes: February 26, 2024, Calvin University

Chimes

The Messy Middle: A Christian university's history of navigating disagreement and dissent by Savannah Shustack & Ethan Meyers

FAFSA changes streamline application, delay aid by Maya Oeverman

Lenten prayer walk at Calvin Ecosystem Preserve connects nature with church calender by Nolan Cowan

Abstraction to hold annual Hackathon on March 15 by Jacob Westra

Greenhouse guardians: Bug-driven sustainability by Beck Gardner

Calvin chemistry department to restructjure upper-level courses by Ewan Parker

"A hidden gem": The Bruce Dice Mineralogical Museum by Liana Hirner

Minke Whale Entanglement In Static Fishing Gear: Identifying Consistent Areas Of High Risk In Western Scotland, Jessica Rayner, Clare B. Embling, Conor Ryan, Lauren Hartny-Mills

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Entanglement in static fishing gear is the largest cause of non-natural mortality for minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) in Scottish waters. To mitigate whale entanglement, one priority is to identify areas where the risk of entanglement is consistently high. Sightings data for minke whales and creel fleets were collected by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, during vessel line transect surveys conducted between 2008 and 2014. Habitat modelling was used to relate survey, environmental, and temporal variables to the co-occurrence of minke whales and creels in coastal waters of western Scotland. This revealed that minke whale occurrence was related to depth, …

Evidence Review And Considerations For Use Of First Line Genome Sequencing To Diagnose Rare Genetic Disorders, Kristen M Wigby, Deanna Brockman, Gregory Costain, Caitlin Hale, Stacie L Taylor, John Belmont, David Bick, David Dimmock, Susan Fernbach, John Greally, Vaidehi Jobanputra, Shashikant Kulkarni, Elizabeth Spiteri, Ryan J Taft

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Early use of genome sequencing (GS) in the diagnostic odyssey can reduce suffering and improve care, but questions remain about which patient populations are most amenable to GS as a first-line diagnostic test. To address this, the Medical Genome Initiative conducted a literature review to identify appropriate clinical indications for GS. Studies published from January 2011 to August 2022 that reported on the diagnostic yield (DY) or clinical utility of GS were included. An exploratory meta-analysis using a random effects model evaluated DY based on cohort size and diagnosed cases per cohort. Seventy-one studies met inclusion criteria, comprising over 13,000 …

A Simple Method For Rapid Cloning Of Complete Herpesvirus Genomes, Jan Knickmann, Laura Staliunaite, Olha Puhach, Eleonore Ostermann, Thomas Günther, Jenna Nichols, Michael A. Jarvis, Sebastian Voigt, Adam Grundhoff, Andrew J. Davison, Wolfram Brune

School of Biomedical Sciences

Herpesviruses are large DNA viruses and include important human and veterinary pathogens. Their genomes can be cloned as bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) and genetically engineered in Escherichia coli using BAC recombineering methods. While the recombineering methods are efficient, the initial BAC-cloning step remains laborious. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a simple, rapid, and efficient BAC-cloning method based on single-step transformation-associated recombination (STAR) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The linear viral genome is directly integrated into a vector comprising a yeast centromeric plasmid and a BAC replicon. Following transfer into E. coli, the viral genome can be modified using standard BAC …

Sex And Gender In Ageing And Longevity: Highlights From An International Course, Giuseppina Candore, Giulia Accardi, Anna Aiello, Giovannella Baggio, Tiziana Bellini, Vittorio Calabrese, Anna Paola Carreca, Ignazio Carreca, Anna Masucci, Monica Cattaneo, Serena Dato, Danilo Di Bona, Luca Fabris, Caterina Gambino, Gabriele Di Lorenzo, Claudio Franceschi, Mattia Emanuela Ligotti, Maria Cristina Manfrinato, Annibale Alessandro Puca, Martina Tamburello, Roberta Vassallo, Calogero Caruso

Translational Medicine @ UniSa

Gender medicine is a multidisciplinary science and represents an important perspective for pathophysiological and clinical studies in the third millennium. Here, it is provided an overview of the topics discussed in a recent course on the Role of Sex and Gender in Ageing and Longevity. The paper highlights three themes discussed in the course, i.e., the interaction of gender/sex with, i) the pathophysiology of age-related diseases; ii), the role of genetics and epigenetics in ageing and longevity and, iii) the immune responses of older people to pathogens, vaccines, autoantigens, and allergens. Although largely unexplored, sex and gender are modulators …

The Effect Of Irrigation Periods And Potassium Fertilizer On (Sorghum Bicolor L.) Crop Production In Marib Governorate, Fadel N Nasser Saeed Masaud, Abdo Bakri Ahmed Fakirah

Hadhramout University Journal of Natural & Applied Sciences

The experiment was carried out on an agricultural research farm in Ma’rib Governorate during the 2021-2022 seasons with the aim of studying the effect of four irrigation periods (5, 7, 10, 15 days) and four levels of potassium sulfate fertilizer (50% K2O), 0, 50, 100, and 150 kg/ha., using a randomized complete block design, on the ratio of leaves/stems, number of branches/m2, and green fodder yield (tons/ha) for the sorghum crop Sorghum bicolor L. The results of the research showed the superiority of irrigation periods (7 days) in all the traits studied. The results showed an increase in green fodder …