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Mountain Communities During A Time Of War: A Case Study Of The Hutsul Region In The Carpathian Mountains Of Ukraine, Pavlo Rybaruk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the ethno-ecological technologies employed by the Hutsul people within the highland agrarian economy of the Carpathian Mountains. Over centuries, the Hutsuls have developed ethno-ecological technologies that maintain ecological integrity while supporting community livelihoods.

The study addresses three primary research questions: What are the most important ethno-ecological technologies of the Hutsul highland economy? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be applied to economic, agricultural, and tourism development in the Hutsul region? How might these traditional ethno-ecological practices be combined with contemporary approaches to encourage sustainable development in the region?

The research explores the devastating impact of the Russian …

Perceptions Of Practitioners: An Examination Of Practices For Retention And Support Of Special Education Teachers, Megan L. O'Dell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher attrition remains a critical challenge in public education, particularly among special education teachers who face unique legal, instructional, and emotional demands. This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of current and former K–5 special education teachers to better understand the practices and resources that influence their decision to remain in or leave the profession. The central research question investigated how leadership, professional learning, and working conditions shape teacher sustainability in special education roles. Twelve participants, including six currently employed special education teachers and six who had exited the profession, participated in semi-structured interviews. Data analysis revealed five major themes: …

Emergence Of Inflammatory Fibroblasts With Aging In Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome Associated Pulmonary Fibrosis, Brandon J.H. Banaschewski, Sylvia N. Michki, Sneha Sitaraman, Ruby Pan, Joanna Y. Wang, Dominique Stewart, Mary Kate Goldy, Susan M. Lin, Edward Cantu, Jeremy B. Katzen, Maria C. Basil, Amir M. Emtiazjoo, Jamie L. Todd, Jason J. Gokey, Jonathan A. Kropski, David B. Frank, Jarod A. Zepp, Lisa R. Young

Surgery Faculty Publications

The longitudinal cellular interactions that drive pulmonary fibrosis are not well understood. To investigate the disease underpinnings associated with fibrosis onset and progression, we generated a scRNA-seq atlas of lungs from young and aged mouse models of multiple subtypes of Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS), a collection of rare autosomal recessive diseases associated with albinism, platelet dysfunction, and pulmonary fibrosis. We have identified an age-dependent increase in SAA3⁺ inflammatory lung fibroblasts in HPS mice, including in double-mutant HPS1-2 mice which develop spontaneous fibrosis. HPS1 fibroblasts show increased expression of IL-1R1, whereas alveolar type II epithelial cells from HPS2 mice induce the …

Genomic, Transcriptomic, And Immunogenomic Landscape Of Over 1300 Sarcomas Of Diverse Histology Subtypes, Alex Soupir, Oscar E. Ospina, Oliver Hampton, Michelle Churchman, Michael Radmacher, Dale Hedges, David Mckean, Phaedra Agius, Saman Zeeshan, Nathan D. Seligson, Raphael Pollock, David Liebner, James L. Chen, Gabriel Tinoco, Bodour Salhia, Martin Mccarter, Breelyn A. Wilky, Benjamin J. Miller, Michael J. Cavnar, John S. Groundland, Bryan P. Schneider, Gregory Riedlinger, Stephen B. Edge, Christopher A. Moskaluk, Kenneth Cardona, Abdul Rafeh Naqash, Ricardo J. Gonzalez, John E. Mullinax

Surgery Faculty Publications

Given their rarity and diversity, a fundamental understanding of the genomic underpinnings for many sarcoma subtypes is still lacking. To better define the molecular landscape of this group of diseases, we perform matched whole exome sequencing and RNA sequencing on a cohort of 1340 sarcoma tumor specimens. We identify recurrent somatic mutations and observe an increased mutational burden in metastatic vs. primary samples (p < 0.001). We observe frequent copy number alterations including whole genome doubling, with this feature being more common in metastatic tumors (p = 0.026). Estimation of immune cell abundances followed by hierarchical clustering identifies five immune subtypes ranging from low to high and we observe inferior overall survival in immune deplete clusters compared to immune enriched (p < 0.01). Interestingly, GIST predominantly form a distinct “immune intermediate” cluster that is marked by a specific enrichment for NK cells (FDR < 0.01).

Neurotensin Promotes Hepatic Steatosis By Regulating Lipid Uptake And Mitochondrial Adaptation In Hepatocytes, Moumita Banerjee, Jun Song, Baoxiang Yan, Haoming Wu, Shaghayegh Norouzi, Tomoko Sengoku, Savita Sharma, Teresa W.M. Fan, Eun Lee, Daheng He, Chi Wang, Jinpeng Liu, Timothy M. Schmitt, Tianyan Gao, Heidi L. Weiss, Jing Li, B. Mark Evers

Surgery Faculty Publications

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a multifactorial disease characterized by hepatic steatosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction resulting in the incomplete digestion of surplus fat is one of the key factors that lead to hepatic steatosis but the reason for this remains unclear. We investigated the role of neurotensin (NTS), a gut hormone, in inducing maladaptive fat metabolism in steatotic liver. We identify CD36 and PGC1α, two critical drivers of MASLD, as direct NTS signaling targets in the liver. NTS upregulates CD36, a free fatty acid receptor, in hepatocytes and promotes long chain lipid uptake. Conversely, NTS inhibits PGC1α, which acts …

Mir-181a-5p Mediates The Effects Of Bmp4 On Intestinal Cell Proliferation And Differentiation, Chang Li, Yuning Zhou, Zhijie Yin, Yinping Jiang, Jinpeng Liu, Heidi L. Weiss, Qingding Wang, B. Mark Evers

Surgery Faculty Publications

The intestinal mucosa undergoes a dynamic process of continual proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Delineating the mechanisms involved in intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) differentiation is crucial to our understanding of not only normal gut adaptation but also aberrant intestinal growth. Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling is a pivotal regulator of intestinal proliferation and differentiation. However, the molecular underpinnings of the BMP pathway in this context are not entirely known. Here, we show a key role for the BMP4/microRNA (miR)-181/glycolysis signaling pathway in the maintenance of intestinal epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. Treatment with BMP4 increased the expression of enterocyte markers and …

Prevalence And Biological Impact Of Clinically Relevant Gene Fusions In Head And Neck Cancers, Emily L. Hoskins, Raven Vella, Julie W. Reeser, Michele R. Wing, Eric Samorodnitsky, Altan Turkoglu, Leah Stein, Elizabeth Breuning, Zachary A. Risch, Wilnelly M. Hernandez-Sanchez, Lianbo Yu, Michelle Churchman, Nancy Single, Jad Chahoud, Antonio Jimeno, Michael J. Cavnar, Matthew Reilley, Courtney Scaife, Kenneth G. Nepple, Minh Phan, Bryan Schneider, Stephen Edge, Bodour Salhia, Aliza Leiser, Trisha M. Wise-Draper, Michael K. Wendt, Sameek Roychowdhury

Surgery Faculty Publications

Head and neck cancer (HNC) is the seventh most common cancer worldwide. Currently-approved systemic therapies include chemotherapy, anti-EGFR antibodies, and PD-1 immunotherapy, with few genomic-based targeted therapies. Gene fusions involving cancer-driving kinase genes such as FGFR, NTRK, and ALK are clinically targetable in other solid tumors; however, there is limited knowledge about their prevalence in HNC. Here, we describe the genomic landscape and the biological impact of oncogenic fusions in a combined dataset of over 13,000 HNC tumors (excluding salivary gland tumors). We identified 66 cases (2.8%) harboring oncogenic fusions, including previously-reported FGFR3 fusions (n = 19) and gain-of-function EGFR …

Privacy Rights: Their Evolution, Expansion, And Narrowing, Rebecca Nichole Ivans

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Privacy rights in the United States have evolved significantly through judicial interpretation, with reproductive rights playing a central role in their expansion and contraction. This paper examines how the Supreme Court's treatment of reproductive rights has shaped the broader understanding of constitutional privacy rights, focusing on landmark cases from Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) to Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022).

The analysis begins by exploring how the Court first established privacy rights through "penumbras" found within various constitutional amendments, particularly in Griswold's protection of contraceptive access for married couples. The paper traces the expansion of these rights through subsequent …

Predictive Ai Models For Phishing Attack Detection: A Data-Driven And Statistical Analysis Approach, Suhail Othman Alfalasi

Theses

Phishing has remained a serious threat to cybersecurity, as this type of attack can easily bypass detection systems that are either rule-based or blacklist-based. The proposed thesis work will present a solution that will make use of both statistical analysis and machine learning to correctly identify a phishing website. The solution will make use of a hybrid approach comprising statistical-based preprocessing methodologies, such as PCA and decision tree-based feature selection, to filter the crucial URL features that a website may possess. A carefully balanced dataset has been utilized, as well as a non-parametric approach utilizing the Mann-Whitney U-test to validate …

The Political Dynamics Of Constitutional Law, Neal Devins

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

What Makes A Con Law "Doctrine" And Why Does It Matter?, Allison Orr Larsen

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

A few years ago, I started wondering about the “major questions doctrine” (or MQD) in administrative law, and I found myself asking: “When did that become a thing?” I was familiar with the cases that stand for the proposition that Congress does not lightly delegate high stakes questions to administrative agencies—cases that date back to 2000 and specifically to a decision about cigarette advertising and the FDA. But up until 2022, it was rare for courts and commentators to refer to that collection of cases as a “doctrine.” Today, by contrast, the major questions doctrine is bread and butter administrative …

Information Literacy In The Artificial Intelligence Era: A Proposed Framework, Radwan Ali, Matthew L. Wilson

Communications in Information Literacy

Artificial intelligence (AI) systems and applications have become ubiquitous across daily life. While AI offers numerous positive opportunities, it also presents numerous challenges. Information literacy (IL) advocates are concerned about the risks that accompany AI systems. Given the universal reach of AI with its potential pitfalls and perils, researchers and practitioners from various fields and disciplines should inform the dialogue on AI’s development and application. A critical aspect of this dialogue comes in the form of information literacy. Our paper aims to answer the question “How can information literacy guide users in navigating and shaping artificial intelligence technologies?” by establishing …

The Relationship Between Perceived Transactional Distance, Cultural Values, And Online Instruction Among Higher Education Students: A Quantitative Analysis, Judith Kay Guetzow

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative survey research study examines potential correlations and influences on the learning of students enrolled in online classes at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The study specifically investigates whether transactional distance (TD) as conceptualized in Michael G. Moore’s Transactional Distance Theory (TDT), and cultural values such as power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UA), and collectivism (CO) as defined in Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory, are associated with, and impact the learning experiences of online students. The analysis primarily centers on students’ perceived transactional distance and their self-reported cultural orientations.

Epidemiological Patterns And Variability In Acute Brain Injury: A Multicenter Registry Analysis In South Korea's Neurocritical Care Units, Heewon Jeong, So Hee Park, Yoon-Hee Choo, Dong-Wan Kang, Yong Soo Kim, Bosco Seong Kyu Yang, Huimahn Alex Choi, Sung-Min Cho, Eun Jin Ha, Jiwoong Oh, Han-Gil Jeong

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Background: Specialized neurocritical care (NCC) improves outcomes in acute brain injury (ABI), but significant variability exists in practices across and hospitals within South Korea's developing national NCC system. This study aims to assess clinical variability among patients with ABI across six tertiary NCC units (NCCUs) in South Korea and evaluate center-specific effects on clinical outcomes.

Methods: A multicenter registry of patients with ABI admitted to NCCUs between April 2023 and April 2024 was analyzed. A descriptive analysis was conducted to evaluate demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics across centers. Variability across centers was quantified using the average standardized mean difference (SMD) …

Ddt Exposure Induces Microglial Activation And Disease-Associated Microglial Signatures: Relevance To Mechanisms Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Isha Mhatre-Winters, Aseel Eid, Nicole Blum, Yoonhee Han, Ferass M Sammoura, Long-Jun Wu, Jason R Richardson

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of amyloid-β plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and neuroinflammation. Previously, we reported that serum levels of dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), the primary metabolite of the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), were significantly higher in AD patients compared to age-matched controls and that DDT exposure worsened AD pathology in animal models.

Objective: Here, we investigated the effect of DDT on neuroinflammation in primary mouse microglia (PMG) and C57BL/6J mice.

Methods: DDT-induced inflammatory and disease-associated microglial (DAM) gene expression were determined in PMG by qPCR and immunocytochemistry, with and without pretreatment with the sodium channel antagonist tetrodotoxin (TTX). Furthermore, …

Between Hard And Soft Power: A Historical Analysis Of U.S. Defense Diplomacy, Shuhei Takahashi

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

In recent years, countries around the world—those of Europe but also Japan, China, and Russia—have accelerated their efforts to use military assets as instruments of diplomacy. This trend has contributed to the rising prevalence of the term “defense diplomacy” in national security discourse. The United States is no exception. Its abundant military assets and its global network of bases clearly demonstrate that it is the world’s leading practitioner of defense diplomacy. Yet the United States lacks a clear strategic document outlining the concept. Moreover, because existing definitions remain theoretically ambiguous and methods for assessing the effectiveness of defense diplomacy initiatives …

Operation Paperclip And The Use Of National Security: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, Kirsten Hawkins

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

National security is a term that many are familiar with in the twenty-first century. In the United States it is commonly believed that its widespread use began after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. However, this work examines how the United States government has used the term and changed its definition in its application during Operation Paperclip. Operation Paperclip was a Second World War operation created to secure the scientific and technical research of German scientists at the end of the war in 1945.

This thesis examines Operation Paperclip and its expansion …

Community Approaches To Digitally Documenting And Sharing Conjunto Music In The South Texas Borderlands, René Antonio Ballesteros

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the rich tradition of conjunto music within the South Texas borderlands, examining how integrating community engagement and digital humanities methodologies can effectively enhance the documentation, conservation, and presentation of this place-based expressive culture. Recognizing existing archival gaps, the research employed community-engaged programming to gather and preserve valuable cultural data. A key methodology outcome involved creating digital maps utilizing place-based data related to conjunto music sites and activities, subsequently integrating these maps into an ArcGIS Online story map for public online access. The findings demonstrate the significant potential of community collaboration and digital humanities tools in amplifying cultural …

Testing Microscopic Approaches For Cementochronology In The 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection, Portugal, Amando Luis Montalvo Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Age-at-death estimation is a key component to the creation of a biological profile in forensic anthropology. Acellular extrinsic fiber cementum annulations have been shown to correlate with chronological age. Cementochronology examines this correlation through the sum of the alternating translucent bands and opaque annuli, and the age of eruption of a tooth. While several microscopy techniques have been used, there is no consensus on the most optimal. This study will assess the reliability, precision and accuracy of three microscopy techniques: Brightfield (BF), Phase Contrast (PC) and Differential Interference Contrast (DIC). PC was the most reliable (rTEM= 10.4%), the most precise …

Towards Trustworthy Federated Learning, Alina Basharat

Theses and Dissertations

Federated learning is a collaborative training model in which multiple clients optimize aglobal model by transmitting updates to a coordinating server while keeping raw data on-device, thereby reducing direct data exposure and enabling iterative global improvement. However, the iterative communication process is vulnerable to malicious attackers that either deliberately destroy the model or curious to infer raw data. Moreover, learning from multiple agents may result in unfair results. To enhance trustworthiness within this setting, we employ two-sided norm-based screening (TNBS) that removes both abnormally large and abnormally small updates, pair it with a q-fair objective to emphasize high-loss (disadvantaged) clients, …

When Textures Trim Drag: Micro-Structures For Adaptive Drag Reduction And Flow Authority, Miguel Angel Olvera

Theses and Dissertations

Turbulent boundary layers are a major source of drag and performance loss. This thesis investigates Triangular Porous Texturing (TPT), apex-forward microstructures with optional bleed channels, as a passive concept for simultaneously reducing skin friction and strengthening boundary layer momentum near separation. Low-speed wind tunnel tests are conducted over tripped turbulent boundary layers on flat plates with three surfaces: a smooth baseline, a solid-crest TPT array isolating the knife-edge “slip-cut” effect, and a porous-bleed TPT array whose paired micro-channels vent a small fraction of the free stream. Time-resolved PIV provides wall-normal velocity fields; skin friction is inferred from near-wall shear, and …

Clinical Phenotypes Of Motor Neurone Disease In A Kenyan Hospital-Based Population, Effie Nailah Kamadi, Jasmit Shah, Juzar Hooker, Thomas Jenkins, Dilraj Sokhi

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background: Motor neurone disease (MND) presentation is globally heterogenous and data on the clinical phenotype in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is scarce. We sought to address this by describing the profile of MND patients in a Kenyan hospital-based population.

Methods: The medical charts of all adult MND patients assessed in the facility between January 2010 and December 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. The biographical data and clinical features of these patients were captured from their electronic and manual health records and statistical analysis performed.

Results: In total, 160 patients had their data analyzed. The male to female ratio was 1.76:1. The median …

2025 December, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for December of 2025.

The Him Profession And Roles: Understanding Our Path, To Plan For The Future, Kerryn Butler-Henderson, Susan H Fenton, Karima Lalani, Trixie Kemp, Salma Arabi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The health information management (HIM) profession has a history spanning more than a century, with the first peak body established in Australia more than 75 years ago (Health Information Management Association of Australia [HIMAA], 2024a). While the role title of the health information manager has changed over time, its primary function has remained the same—tooversee the governance of health data and information. This chapter presents the history of the HIM profession and professional bodies, including their involvement in informing policy and systems in Australia and other countries, and international organisations. Next, the chapter draws on literature examining the roles of …

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report- Mount Whitney High School, Matthew C. Medeiros

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This project reviews the Mount Whitney High School Agricultural Education Program. Through evaluation of our program's needs, there was a lack of chapter promotion outside of social media. A chapter website was created to highlight Classroom, FFA, and SAE opportunities available to students in our program.

Improvisation Of Mands Using Augmentative And Alternative Communication, Lauren Decker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Research shows that young children who use pictures to communicate can use colors, shapes, and functions of items to request when the specific picture of the item is not available. This problem-solving skill is called improvisation, which this study taught to a preschool aged participant with communication delays. A four-year-old preschool student was able to make these requests with basic colors, shapes, and three function pictures. They also were able to make these requests for items not taught to them in different settings. This suggests that improvisation training can be successfully implemented with preschool aged children with communication delays and …

Neural Rrp6 Depletion Drives Circrna Accumulation And Motor Impairment In Drosophila Melanogaster Neurons, Joseph Serio

Honors Theses

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of ubiquitous eukaryotic RNAs created by back splicing. These noncoding RNAs can modulate gene expression and are implicated in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. To limit the contribution of circRNAs to aging and pathobiology, it is essential to understand how turnover of these molecules is regulated, as it is not clear which enzymes are chiefly responsible for degrading circRNAs in neurons. This study evaluates the roles of ribonucleases potentially involved in neural circRNA turnover using the model fly Drosophila melanogaster. A mifepristone-activated GAL4/UAS GeneSwitch expressed RNAi transgenes and inactivated the ribonucleases. Flies were evaluated on …

Alexander Asboth: Hungarian Separatist And Union Civil War General, Paul T. Brueske

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This thesis reveals the experiences of a Hungarian Separatist, Alexander Asboth, and how he applied those experiences in the American Civil War. It examines Asboth’s biography, his expansive view of the Union, and how he differed from many commanding officers in the Western theater. Moreover, this thesis illuminates Asboth’s military service, including his leadership of a diverse force at Barrancas, Florida, and adds to the understudied collaboration of foreign-born officers and Black soldiers in Gulf Coast Civil War history.

During the 1848 Hungarian separatist movement, Asboth served as an Army staff officer under the leader Lajos Kossuth. However, the separatists …

Application Of Graph Neural Networks On Phase Space Graphs For Cybersecurity, Parker H. Cole

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Non-linear phase space analysis may be used to represent time-series data as graph data with transitions between states in the time domain. By studying these transitions, we can predict anomalies within the system. Previous research has demonstrated success in learning from phase graphs for malware and seizure detection. These solutions either require extracting global features or converting the graph into an image for convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which adds a layer of complexity and limits the size and potential expressiveness of a graph. To sidestep current limitations, this study proposed Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) for analyzing phase graphs. GNNs do …

Feedback Strategies In The Market With Uncertainties, Mustapha Nyenye Issah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

This paper explores how established firms use strategic advertising to deter new competitors in uncertain markets. Specifically, it models a situation where market demand evolves unpredictably - captured by the CKLS stochastic process, and the incumbent firm may be either strong or weak, a fact hidden from potential entrants. For a company already in the market, advertising is not just about driving immediate sales, it is a strategic tool to project an image of strength and deter potential new competitors. On the other side, a business thinking about entering that market faces a high-stakes, irreversible decision. It will typically hold …