Digital Commons Network^™

Fast Raising: Digital Fundraising As Interaction Rituals, Matthew P. Hartwell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Twice a year, GamesDoneQuick hosts events that showcase the Speed Running Community, a sub-set of the Video Game Community. Since its inception in 2014 through 2021 GDQ has raised $25.7 million that has been distributed to the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders). This collection of studies analyzes the Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 event utilizing the Interaction Ritual Theory framework of Randall Collins to understand how ritualistic social action of this community has been leveraged by event organizers to promote successful crowd funding efforts that benefits organizations outside of the community. Further it expands on …

Solid State Nmr Analysis Of Insect Wing Membranes, Samuel Eddy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Solid State NMR is a powerful tool for analyzing the chemical composition of insects. Previous studies have used Solid State NMR to investigate the chemical composition and investigate the sclerotization (tanning) process of insect exoskeletons. Acquiring sufficient exoskeleton sample for analysis has been relatively simple. This is however not the case for other components of an insect’s physiology, particularly the wing membrane material. The wings of an insect only compose a small percentage of their overall body mass, and many hundreds to thousands of insects must be processed in order to achieve a few milligrams of wing membrane sample. The …

“I’Ll Tell You No Lies”: An Exploration Of Trauma, Memory, And Violence Against Women In North Carolina Murder Ballads, Madison Ava Helman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explores trauma, memory and violence against women in Western North Carolina murder ballads “Tom Dooley,” “Poor Omie Wise,” “Poor Ellen Smith,” “The Ballad of the Lawson Family,” and “Frankie Silver.” I posit that these ballads were influenced by prescriptive societal conceptions of femininity, which in turn influenced societal ideations of violence against women. Using folklore performance theory, I analyze the text and context of these ballads and their subsequent histories, eventually arriving at a template for polyvocality that incorporates multiple ballad variants and encourages diverse performances.

Abundance-Habitat Relationships And Aquatic-Terrestrial Habitat Selection Patterns For Wood Turtles (Glyptemys Insculpta) In The Upper Midwest, Jena Marie Staggs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to range-wide population declines, wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) are under review for federal listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. Understanding how habitat associations and environmental conditions influence population dynamics and spatiotemporal activity patterns is fundamental for designing effective management strategies. Previous work on wood turtle abundance-habitat relationships focused on broad-scale habitat relationships in northeastern North America. However, regional differences in climate, habitat conditions, and land use patterns limit their applicability to much of the wood turtle’s Upper Midwest distribution. Much of our understanding of wood turtle activity patterns is based on radiotelemetry studies, which are biased towards …

Rebuilding The Appalachian Economy From The Ground Up: Towards A Holistic Organizational Framework For Community And Economic Development In Rural Extractive Areas, Brandon M. Dennison

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Central Appalachia specifically and rural extractive areas more generally face some of the most challenging socio-economic realities in North America. Community-based organizations (CBOs) are an important tool for addressing these challenges. As governments intensify efforts to mitigate climate change, and as fossil-fuel industries contract, extracted communities are experiencing economic, cultural, and environmental upheaval. Many leaders call for a “just transition” away from fossil-fuels, which would make local extraction communities whole. However, achieving a truly just transition away from fossil fuels is extraordinarily challenging, and many extracted communities were never whole to begin with. I argue CBOs are the crucial vehicle …

Measuring And Modeling How Plant-Microbe Interactions Control Soil Carbon And Nitrogen Cycling In Managed And Unmanaged Ecosystems, Joanna Ridgeway

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Our understanding of how plant-microbe interactions regulate carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) retention in soil organic matter (SOM) remains uncertain. Conflicting evidence suggests that microbial decomposition can lead to the loss of unprotected particulate SOM, but also that microbial decomposition produces simpler compounds that preferentially form more persistent aggregate- or mineral-protected SOM pools. Further, uncertainty remains in how plant-microbe interactions alter SOM retention in these different pools through litter chemistry controls on microbial decomposition traits and rhizosphere priming. As a result, this uncertainty limits our ability to sustainably manage ecosystems and understand future feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and the global …

Evaluate A Mixer Of Hydrogen Peroxide And Peroxyacetic Acid To Mitigate Microbial Cross-Contamination Of Salmonella Typhimurium And The Surrogate Enterococcus Faecium During Triple-Washing Of Butternut Squash, Jesica M. Temple

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Recent foodborne illness outbreaks have been linked to fresh fruits and vegetables. For public safety, awareness of the risks of contamination from foodborne pathogens that can occur during post-harvest farming practices is essential to prevent foodborne outbreaks. Controlling the spread of foodborne pathogens on produce requires proper washing procedures, antimicrobials and doses. Given the speed and diversity of the produce being distributed, local incidents may become international emergencies. Methods: Studies were included if they assessed the efficacy of antimicrobials and various washing procedures and had to conclude the mitigation of cross-contamination of foodborne pathogens on produce grown in the …

Dynamic Predictions Of Thermal Heating And Cooling Of Silicon Wafer, Hitesh Kumar

Master's Projects

Neural Networks are now emerging in every industry. All the industries are trying their best to exploit the benefits of neural networks and deep learning to make predictions or simulate their ongoing process with the use of their generated data. The purpose of this report is to study the heating pattern of a silicon wafer and make predictions using various machine learning techniques. The heating of the silicon wafer involves various factors ranging from number of lamps, wafer properties and points taken in consideration to capture the heating temperature. This process involves dynamic inputs which facilitates the heating of the …

Driving Simulator : Driving Performance Under Distraction, Kaushik Pilligundla

Master's Projects

This pilot study used a driving simulator experiment to look into how podcast consumption affects driving performance as a continuous distraction. Three volunteers conducted three trials in the study, each with a different driving scenario. Data analysis was done to compare two conditions. The first condition is the Audio, where volunteers listen to podcasts while driving. The second condition is no-audio condition.. The no-audi condition had nothing to play in the background. We used eye-tracking technology to gather gaze data. The study's findings using the post survey and eye fixation data indicate that listening to podcasts leads to continuous distraction …

Detecting Botnets Using Hidden Markov Model, Profile Hidden Markov Model And Network Flow Analysis, Rucha Mannikar

Master's Projects

Botnet is a network of infected computer systems called bots managed remotely by an attacker using bot controllers. Using distributed systems, botnets can be used for large-scale cyber attacks to execute unauthorized actions on the targeted system like phishing, distributed denial of service (DDoS), data theft, and crashing of servers. Common internet protocols used by normal systems for regular communication like hypertext transfer (HTTP) and internet relay chat (IRC) are also used by botnets. Thus, distinguishing botnet activity from normal activity can be challenging. To address this issue, this project proposes an approach to detect botnets using peculiar traits in …

Nosql Databases In Kubernetes, Parth Sandip Mehta

Master's Projects

With the increasing popularity of deploying applications in containers, Kubernetes (K8s) has become one of the most accepted container orchestration systems. Kubernetes helps maintain containers smoothly and simplifies DevOps with powerful automations. It was originally developed as a tool to manage stateless microservices that run seamlessly in containers. The ephemeral nature of pods, the smallest deployable unit, in Kubernetes was well-aligned with stateless applications since destroying and recreating pods didn’t impact applications. There was a need to provision solutions around stateful workloads like databases so as to take advantage of K8s. This project explores this need, the challenges associated and …

Standardizing Patient Transfer Process Among Nurses From Labor & Delivery To Mother-Baby Unit: A Quality Improvement Project, Kiratraj Kaur Grewal

Master's Projects

Purpose: To implement and evaluate the efficacy of a standardized patient transfer process among registered nurses (RN) from Labor & Delivery (L&D) to Mother-Baby Unit (MBU) using PDSA cycle to improve RN satisfaction and reduce patient transfer time
Conceptual Framework: PDSA Cycle
Setting: Labor & Delivery and Mother-Baby Unit of a tertiary care hospital
Methods: The project consisted of collecting both objective (estimated patient transfer time from L&D to MBU) and subjective data (anonymous nursing pre- and post-intervention surveys). Standardization of transfer process included implementing a transfer checklist, patient transfer tool, updating the workflow, and a sample patient transfer video. …

Reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection Rates By Educating Staff On Bundle Interventions, Tirath Kaur

Master's Projects

PURPOSE: Catheter associated urinary tract infection is an undesired burden to the patients and healthcare system. This systematic review explores the published literature and determines the impact of educating nursing staff on the indication of urinary catheter, insertion of foley catheters, maintenance of urinary catheters, and periodical communication between nurses and physicians for changing foley catheters can reduce the CAUTI rates in adult patients in the acute care hospital setting. METHOD: A systemic review was conducted using CINHAL, Science Direct, PubMed, and MEDLINE within the time period of ten years from 2012 to 2022. Eight published articles are reviewed and …

The Effects Of Nursing Bedside Shift Report On Patient Safety And Satisfaction: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Alyssa Wong

Master's Projects

Introduction: Nursing bedside shift report is a recommended strategy to promote the effective exchange of accurate patient information during the handoff process with the goal of decreasing communication errors and adverse patient events. However, adopting this handoff method into nursing practice has been challenging in the clinical setting. This systematic review aims to understand the rationale behind nursing bedside handoff by identifying the advantages and barriers to implementation and exploring how this affects patient safety and experience.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted by searching through electronic databases and Google Scholar to identify English-language peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2012 …

Identification Of Copy Number Variations (Cnvs) Of Epigenetic Factors Related To The Progression Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (Pdac), Pavithra Raju

Master's Projects

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a formidable challenge in oncology due to its aggressive form and late-stage detection. PDAC is known to be influenced by various epigenetic factors like DNA methylation and histone modifications. This study focuses on copy number variations (CNVs) within epigenetic factors which for their role in early diagnosis. Thus, paving the way for identification of potential biomarkers. The epigenetic pipeline was extended based on CNVs and the CNV modified sequences extracted were compared with the wild type sequences of epigenetic PDAC genes. The epigenetic gene KCNJ11 with copy number gain of CNV id 46771406 was used …

Approach To Vaccinating The Pediatric Solid Organ Transplant Candidate And Recipient, Carol M Kao, Marian G Michaels

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Solid organ transplantation (SOT) candidates and recipients are at increased risk for morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable infections. Children are at particular risk given that they may not have completed their primary immunization series at time of transplant or have acquired natural immunity to pathogens from community exposures. Multiple society guidelines exist for vaccination of SOT candidate and recipients, although challenges remain given limited safety and efficacy data available for pediatric SOT recipients, particularly for live-vaccines. After transplant, individual patient nuances regarding exposure risks and net state of immunosuppression will impact timing of immunizations. The purpose of this review is …

Microbiome-Targeting Therapies In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Safety And Efficacy, Anna Deveaux, Jian Ryou, Gautam Dantas, Barbara B Warner, Phillip I Tarr

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Microbiome-targeting therapies have received great attention as approaches to prevent disease in infants born preterm, but their safety and efficacy remain uncertain. Here we summarize the existing literature, focusing on recent meta-analyses and systematic reviews that evaluate the performance of probiotics, prebiotics, and/or synbiotics in clinical trials and studies, emphasizing interventions for which the primary or secondary outcomes were prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis, feeding intolerance, and/or reduction in hospitalization length or all-cause mortality. Current evidence suggests that probiotics and prebiotics are largely safe but conclusions regarding their effectiveness in the neonatal intensive care unit have been mixed. To …

Structural And Biophysical Characterization Of The Secreted, Β-Helical Adhesin Etpa Of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia Coli, Clifford Manyo Ntui, James M. Fleckenstein, Wolf-Dieter Schubert

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a diarrhoeal pathogen associated with high morbidity and mortality especially among young children in developing countries. At present, there is no vaccine for ETEC. One candidate vaccine antigen, EtpA, is a conserved secreted adhesin that binds to the tips of flagellae to bridge ETEC to host intestinal glycans. EtpA is exported through a Gram-negative, two-partner secretion system (TPSS, type Vb) comprised of the secreted EtpA passenger (TpsA) protein and EtpB (TpsB) transporter that is integrated into the outer bacterial membrane. TpsA proteins share a conserved, N-terminal TPS domain followed by an extensive C-terminal domain with …

Eating Disorders In Weight-Related Therapy (Edit): Protocol For A Systematic Review With Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis Of Eating Disorder Risk In Behavioural Weight Management, Hiba Jebeile, Denise E. Wilfley, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The Eating Disorders In weight-related Therapy (EDIT) Collaboration brings together data from randomised controlled trials of behavioural weight management interventions to identify individual participant risk factors and intervention strategies that contribute to eating disorder risk. We present a protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis which aims to identify participants at risk of developing eating disorders, or related symptoms, during or after weight management interventions conducted in adolescents or adults with overweight or obesity. We systematically searched four databases up to March 2022 and clinical trials registries to May 2022 to identify randomised controlled trials of …

Cognition And Education Benefits Of Increased Hemoglobin And Blood Oxygenation In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Joanna P. Macewan, Allison A. King, Andy Nguyen, Anuj Mubayi, Irene Agodoa, Kim Smith-Whitley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Among individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD), decreased hemoglobin is associated with lower oxygen saturation (SpO2) and increased risk of stroke, both of which are associated with lower intelligence quotient (IQ) scores. Thus, increasing hemoglobin and SpO2 in individuals with SCD may increase IQ and educational attainment.

METHODS: A cohort simulation model was built to determine academic performance and educational attainment based on cognitive function (measured by IQ) of a pediatric SCD cohort randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The model contained two key stages: childhood (<10 years) and adolescence (≥10 years). In stage 1, increased hemoglobin and increased SpO2 (assigned to the treatment group) were determinants of higher IQ, prevention of IQ deterioration over time. Increased hemoglobin was also a determinant of decreased stroke risk. In stage 2, improvement in adolescent IQ as a result of treatment was a determinant of academic performance.

RESULTS: In a simulated cohort of 2000 children and adolescents with …

The Pace Of Biological Aging Helps Explain The Association Between Insomnia And Chronic Low Back Pain, Edwin N Aroke, Asia M Wiggins, Joanna M Hobson, Vinodh Srinivasasainagendra, Tammie L Quinn, Pooja Kottae, Hemant K Tiwari, Robert E Sorge, Burel R Goodin

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is associated with insomnia and advanced age. Emerging evidence suggests that the severity of both sleep disorders (like insomnia) and chronic pain are associated with a faster pace of biological aging. We aimed to determine whether the pace of biological age mediates the relationship between insomnia and the impact of cLBP in a sample of community-dwelling adults ages 19 to 85 years. Participants (49 with no pain, 32 with low-impact pain, and 37 with high-impact pain) completed sociodemographic, pain, insomnia, and short physical performance battery assessments. We calculated the pace of biological aging using DunedinPACE …

Expression Of Non-Phosphorylatable S5a-L-Plastin Exerts Phenotypes Distinct From L-Plastin Deficiency During Podosome Formation And Phagocytosis, Xue Lin, Praveen Krishnamoorthy, Emma C Walker, Hemant Joshi, Sharon Celeste Morley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Qunex-An Integrative Platform For Reproducible Neuroimaging Analytics, Jie Lisa Ji, Matthew F Glasser, Michael P Harms, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Neuroimaging technology has experienced explosive growth and transformed the study of neural mechanisms across health and disease. However, given the diversity of sophisticated tools for handling neuroimaging data, the field faces challenges in method integration, particularly across multiple modalities and species. Specifically, researchers often have to rely on siloed approaches which limit reproducibility, with idiosyncratic data organization and limited software interoperability.

METHODS: To address these challenges, we have developed Quantitative Neuroimaging Environment & Toolbox (QuNex), a platform for consistent end-to-end processing and analytics. QuNex provides several novel functionalities for neuroimaging analyses, including a "turnkey" command for the reproducible deployment …

The Relationship Of Trait-Like Compassion With Epigenetic Aging: The Population-Based Prospective Young Finns Study, Henrik Dobewall, Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, Saara Marttila, Pashupati P Mishra, Aino Saarinen, C Robert Cloninger, Igor Zwir, Mika Kähönen, Mikko Hurme, Olli Raitakari, Terho Lehtimäki, Mirka Hintsanen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Helping others within and beyond the family has been related to living a healthy and long life. Compassion is a prosocial personality trait characterized by concern for another person who is suffering and the motivation to help. The current study examines whether epigenetic aging is a potential biological mechanism that explains the link between prosociality and longevity.

METHODS: We used data from the Young Finns Study that follows six birth-cohorts from age 3-18 to 19-49. Trait-like compassion for others was measured with the Temperament and Character Inventory in the years 1997 and 2001. Epigenetic age acceleration and telomere length …

Phagocytosis Is A Primary Determinant Of Pulmonary Clearance Of Clinical Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates, Rick Van Der Geest, Hongye Fan, Hernán F Peñaloza, William G Bain, Zeyu Xiong, Naina Kohli, Emily Larson, Mara L G Sullivan, Jonathan M Franks, Donna B Stolz, Ryota Ito, Kong Chen, Yohei Doi, Melanie J Harriff, Janet S Lee

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION:

METHODS: We screened 19 clinical respiratory

RESULTS: The respiratory

CONCLUSION: Altogether, these findings show that phagocytosis is a primary determinant of pulmonary clearance of clinical

A Novel Approach For Assessing Bias During Team-Based Clinical Decision-Making, Natalie Pool, Megan Hebdon, Esther De Groot, Ryan Yee, Kathryn Herrera-Theut, Erika Yee, Larry A Allen, Ayesha Hasan, Joann Lindenfeld, Elizabeth Calhoun, Molly Carnes, Nancy K Sweitzer, Khadijah Breathett

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Many clinical processes include multidisciplinary group decision-making, yet few methods exist to evaluate the presence of implicit bias during this collective process. Implicit bias negatively impacts the equitable delivery of evidence-based interventions and ultimately patient outcomes. Since implicit bias can be difficult to assess, novel approaches are required to detect and analyze this elusive phenomenon. In this paper, we describe how the de Groot Critically Reflective Diagnoses Protocol (DCRDP) can be used as a data analysis tool to evaluate group dynamics as an essential foundation for exploring how interactions can bias collective clinical decision-making. The DCRDP includes 6 distinct criteria: …

The Function Of Histone Methylation And Acetylation Regulators In Gbm Pathophysiology, Colin Mccornack, Timothy Woodiwiss, Angela Hardi, Hiroko Yano, Albert H Kim

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain malignancy and is characterized by a high degree of intra and intertumor cellular heterogeneity, a starkly immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, and nearly universal recurrence. The application of various genomic approaches has allowed us to understand the core molecular signatures, transcriptional states, and DNA methylation patterns that define GBM. Histone posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have been shown to influence oncogenesis in a variety of malignancies, including other forms of glioma, yet comparatively less effort has been placed on understanding the transcriptional impact and regulation of histone PTMs in the context of GBM. In …

Vigorous-Intensity Exercise As A Modulator Of Cardiac Adipose Tissue In Women With Obesity: A Cross-Sectional And Randomized Pilot Study, Sumsen Thapa, Bharath S Selvaraj, Paige N Davis, Bryan Smith, Amy H Givan, Jose A Perez-Rivera, Pamela K Woodard, Jon D Klingensmith, Maria Fernandez-Del-Valle

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cardiac adipose tissue (CAT) has become an important target for the reduction of disease risk. Supervised exercise programs have shown potential to "significantly" reduce CAT; however, the impact of different exercise modalities is not clear, and the relationships between CAT, physical activity (PA) levels and fitness (PFit) remain unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between CAT, PA and PFit, and to explore the effects of different exercise modalities in a group of women with obesity. A total of 26 women (age: 23.41 ± 5.78 years-old) were enrolled in the cross-sectional study. PA, cardiorespiratory fitness, …

Enhancing The Therapeutic Activity Of Hyperimmune Igg Against Chikungunya Virus Using Fcγriiia Affinity Chromatography, Julie M Fox, Vicky Roy, Bronwyn M Gunn, Glen R Bolton, Daved H Fremont, Galit Alter, Michael S Diamond, Austin W Boesch

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a re-emerging mosquito transmitted alphavirus of global concern. Neutralizing antibodies and antibody Fc-effector functions have been shown to reduce CHIKV disease and infection in animals. However, the ability to improve the therapeutic activity of CHIKV-specific polyclonal IgG by enhancing Fc-effector functions through modulation of IgG subclass and glycoforms remains unknown. Here, we evaluated the protective efficacy of CHIKV-immune IgG enriched for binding to Fc-gamma receptor IIIa (FcγRIIIa) to select for IgG with enhanced Fc effector functions.

METHODS: Total IgG was isolated from CHIKV-immune convalescent donors with and without additional purification by FcγRIIIa affinity chromatography. The …

Down Syndrome And Alzheimer's Disease: A Scoping Review Of Functional Performance And Fall Risk, Selena E Washington, Emily Cler, Cameron Lowery, Susan L Stark

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Alzheimer's disease (AD) occurs in aging adults with Down syndrome (DS) at a higher prevalence and an earlier age than in typical aging adults. As with the general aging adult population, there is an urgent need to understand the preclinical and early phases of AD progression in the adult population with DS. The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize the current state of the evidence and identify gaps in the literature regarding functional activity performance and falls and their significance to disease staging (i.e., mild, moderate, and severe defined staging criteria) in relation to Alzheimer's disease and …