Digital Commons Network^™

Multiscale Computational Chemistry Studies Of The Catalytic Mechanisms Of Non-Heme Fe(Ii)/2-Oxoglutarate-Dependent Oxygenases, Simahudeen Bathir Jaber Sathik Rifayee

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Enzymes catalyze complex biological transformations. Non-heme Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG)–dependent enzymes are highly versatile catalysts capable of selective C–H oxidation, enabling transformations such as hydroxylation, halogenation, desaturation, demethylation, ring rearrangements, epoxidation, and electrophilic aromatic substitution. These enzymes are involved in various biological processes, including fatty acid metabolism, hypoxic signaling, collagen maturation, and transcriptional regulation. Computational Modeling provides detailed knowledge of the enzymes including atomistic details of the important catalytic species, conformational and electronic effects, which are crucial to enzyme engineering and drug design efforts. This dissertation implements advanced multi-scale molecular modelling techniques including Molecular dynamics and Quantum Mechanic / Molecular Mechanics calculations …

Indigenous-Industrial Heritage: Centering Indigenous Voices In Minnesota's Iron Range, Larissa A. Juip

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Industrial heritage refers to the material remains, sites, landscapes, and practices associated with industrial and extractive activities. As a field, it has historically been concerned with the conservation, management, and interpretation of industrial sites and activities and forms a central narrative within Minnesota's museums. Yet such accounts often privilege object-centered narratives while silencing the presence, knowledge, and contributions of Indigenous and Descendant communities, obscuring their enduring relationships to extractive landscapes. In recent decades, critiques of traditional industrial heritage approaches have identified gaps in the discipline related to the exclusion of marginalized populations, including Indigenous Peoples. Minnesota is home to eleven …

The Combinatorics Of Integer Partitions Enumerated By Some Exotic Weights, Hunter Waldron

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Identities of integer partitions generally state that two dissimilar appearing families of partitions are in fact equinumerous when both are restricted to any fixed size. Euler's theorem is a classic example of such an identity, which equates the number of partitions with odd parts to the number of partitions with distinct parts. Lately, analogs of known partition identities involving weights other than size have begun to attract research interest. This dissertation is an investigation of two such weights. In Chapter 2, we study Schmidt weights, which count only parts with indices belonging to some given subset of the positive integers. …

Iron Ore Tailings Reprocessing By Electrostatic Separation Plus Two Stages Froth Flotation, Vincent Bailey Arohunmolase

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The reprocessing of tailings is crucial for recovering valuable iron and reducing the environmental impact associated with tailings disposal. This study investigates the practicality of reprocessing tailings to enhance iron oxide content, combining electrostatic separation with a two-stage froth flotation process using oleic acid (direct flotation) and amine (reverse flotation). The primary goal is to efficiently recover valuable iron from tailings, thereby reducing waste and promoting sustainable resource utilization. The process aims to upgrade the iron oxide content to around 93-99% Fe₂O₃, making the recovered material suitable for the production of direct-reduced iron.

Electrostatic separation was …

Effectiveness, Coherence, And Justice Implications Of Clean Energy Policies In The United States, Josephine Amponsem

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Public policies have been adopted and implemented at various government levels in the United States, aiming to facilitate the clean energy transition process. This dissertation examines three distinct but related dimensions of clean energy policies: policy effectiveness, policy coherence, and distributional policy impact. First, I evaluate the impact of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) on clean energy adoption at the utility level using a quasi-experimental design: the Difference-in-Difference estimation. Secondly, I use the state of California as a case study to investigate the role of policy coherence in public policy success. Thirdly, I investigate whether communities with different …

China, Feminism, And The Legacy Of Confucius, Sor-Hoon Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the double burden of paid work and family demands leads Chinese women to think twice about marriage and children, we can rush to blame Confucianism’s sexism. But this is a mistake, writes Sor-hoon Tan. We need to separate Confucian philosophy from the oppressive patriarchal norms of its time. Confucian values of care and cultivation can enrich today’s feminism and support equal opportunities for all.

How Deep-Level And Surface-Level Board Diversity, Formal And Informal Social Structures Affect Innovation, Guoli Chen, Po-Hsuan Hsu, Yen Teik Lee, Daniel Z. Mack

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Despite a growing interest in understanding how board diversity shapes firms’ innovation, findings about the impact of board diversity have remained mixed. In this paper, we conceptualize board diversity as two forms – deep-level and surface-level – and find that these two forms of board diversity have opposing effects on a firm's innovation. We also theorize how formal and informal social structures can strengthen the positive effect of deep-level diversity yet simultaneously weaken the negative impact of surface-level diversity. We test our hypotheses with a panel of 42,432 firm-year observations from 2000 to 2019. Our paper contributes to the literature …

Anatomical Depiction: How Showing A Product's Inner Structure Shapes Product Valuations, Seo Yoon Kang, Junghan Kim, Arun Lakshmanan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Anatomical depiction is a technique where the product is decomposed into components that are spatially arranged in a layer-by-layer manner to visually explicate its inner structure. The authors demonstrate that anatomical depiction, compared to non-anatomical depiction, enhances product valuation. This effect occurs because anatomical depiction elicits a ‘coming together’ of the inner components in consumers’ minds thereby evoking a gestalt image of the product – a process labeled simulated assemblage. The elicitation of simulated assemblage in turn boosts their confidence in the product’s performance. Two field experiments first demonstrate that anatomical depiction leads to greater engagement in online settings such …

Location And Extent Of Disease Predicts Outcome Of Neurofibromatosis Type 1-Related Pediatric Low-Grade Gliomas, Sneha M Chaturvedi, Arohi Saxena, Ahmad Hassan, Ali Mian, Chelsea Kotch, Nicole M Brossier

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Abdominal Wall "Morbidity" Of The Extensile Anterolateral Approach To The Thoracolumbar Spine, Alekos A Theologis, Andrew P Collins, Kanwar Parhar, Munish C Gupta

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: To assess patients' perceptions of their abdominal wall following extensile anterolateral approaches to the thoracolumbar spine for adult spinal deformity (ASD) using validated questionnaires.

METHODS: Adults who underwent anterior-posterior thoracolumbar spinal operations to the pelvis for ASD in which the anterior fusion was performed through an extensile anterolateral approach were reviewed. Three questionnaires were administered at least 1 year following surgery and included The Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative Survey (AHS-QC), The Patient Scar Assessment Scale (PSAS), and The Anterior Abdominal Incision Questionnaire (AAIQ).

RESULTS: Fifty-one patients (80.4% female, median age 65 years) were included. Average follow-up was 2.8 …

Dfcp1 Is A Regulator Of Starvation-Driven Atgl-Mediated Lipid Droplet Lipolysis, Victoria A Ismail, Meg Schuetz, Zak N Baker, Jean A Castillo-Badillo, Teri V Naismith, David J Pagliarini, David J Kast

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Lipid droplets (LDs) are transient lipid storage organelles that can be readily tapped to resupply cells with energy or lipid building blocks, and therefore play a central role in cellular metabolism. Double FYVE Domain Containing Protein 1 (DFCP1/ZFYVE1) has emerged as a key regulator of LD metabolism, where the nucleotide-dependent accumulation of DFCP1 on LDs influences their size, number, and dynamics. Here we show that DFCP1 regulates lipid metabolism by directly modulating the activity of Adipose Triglyceride Lipase (ATGL/PNPLA2), the rate-limiting lipase driving the catabolism of LDs. We show through pharmacological inhibition of key enzymes associated with LD metabolism that …

Viral Kinetics Among Persons Living With Hiv (Plwh) On Dolutegravir-Based Antiretroviral Regimen: A Retrospective And Prospective Analysis From Selected Hiv Clinics In Ghana, Samuel Badu Nyarko, Joel Adu Twum, Aikins Sarpong Obeng, Helena Dede Djangba, Oksana Ryabinina, Foster Kyei, George Boateng Kyei, Nicholas Ekow Thomford

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Dolutegravir (DTG)-based antiretroviral therapy has demonstrated superior efficacy, tolerability, and durability when compared to other HIV treatment regimens. However, monitoring viral kinetics is critical for determining treatment efficacy and making sound judgments. The purpose of this study was to assess viral kinetics in people living with HIV (PLWH) on DTG-based ART and identify characteristics related to virologic response in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana.

METHODS: Among people living with HIV (PLWH) attending HIV clinics between January 2020 and December 2023, a prospective and retrospective analysis of viral kinetics and clinical data were carried out. Data on viral loads, clinical …

Testing Job Wellbeing Indicators Among Community Behavioral Health Workers: Community-Based Participatory Research, Sadaaki Fukui, Wei Wu, Jennifer Garabrant, Michelle P. Salyers, Nathaniel Dell, Emily Bass, Jaime Greenfield, Gary Morse

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Many community behavioral health organizations (CBHOs) continue to struggle with their employees' reduced job wellbeing and job disengagement (i.e., turnover intentions, actual turnover). Understanding employees' job wellbeing priorities in their organizational contexts is essential to address the challenges, especially for workers in diverse work settings such as CBHOs. We used community-based participatory research (CBPR) strategies to develop and test job wellbeing indicators. The current study implemented 11 indicators with 168 people employed at a CBHO through initial and 6-month follow-up surveys. Positive endorsement of job wellbeing indicators differed based on employees' demographic (e.g., race, education, marital status) and job (e.g., …

Zika Virus Encephalitis Causes Transient Reduction Of Functional Cortical Connectivity, Shannon C Agner, Lindsey M Brier, Jeremy D Hill, Ethan Y Liu, Annie Bice, Rachel M Rahn, Shengxuan Chen, Joseph P Culver, Robyn S Klein

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SIGNIFICANCE: Determining the long-term cognitive impact of infections is clinically challenging. Using functional cortical connectivity, we demonstrate that interhemispheric cortical connectivity is decreased in individuals with acute Zika virus (ZIKV) encephalitis. This correlates with decreased presynaptic terminals in the somatosensory cortex. During recovery from ZIKV infection, presynaptic terminals recover, which is associated with recovered interhemispheric connectivity. This supports the contribution of synapses in the cortex to functional networks in the brain, which can be detected by widefield optical imaging. Although myeloid cell and astrocyte numbers are still increased during recovery, RNA transcription of multiple proinflammatory cytokines that increase during acute …

Town Of Dunbarton, New Hampshire For The Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2024, Dunbarton Town Representatives

Dunbarton, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Examining And Classifying Reasons For Missing Viral Loads Among Adults Living With Hiv: An Extended Outcome Investigation And Ascertainment Approach In Western Kenya, Harriet Fridah Adhiambo, Jayne Lewis-Kulzer, Edwin Nyagesoa, Sarah Gimbel, Eliud Akama, Dorothy Mangale, Lina Montonya, Ingrid Eshun-Wilson, Sarah Iguna, Everlyne Nyandieka, Elizabeth Bukusi, Lisa Abuogi, Thomas Odeny, Maya L. Petersen, Elvin H. Geng

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Gaps in HIV RNA monitoring persist globally impeding the ability to determine clinical progress and outcomes. This study systematically evaluated provider (e.g., guideline non-adherence), system (e.g., laboratory error) and participant-level (e.g., refusal) drivers of missed viral load (VL) monitoring measurements among people with HIV in Kenya. Adults aged 18-65 years were followed across five health facilities in Kenya as part of a clinical trial (NCT#02338739) where HIV RNA monitoring was done routinely. Instances of missed VL despite being indicated per Kenyan guidelines were identified. An algorithm for assessing root causes of missing HIV RNA was developed and generalized linear models …

Exploring The Role Of Irf4 In The Sensitivity Of Mantle Cell Lymphoma Cells To Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors, Artjoms Portnojs

Peninsula Medical School Theses

Introduction and aim: Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is an aggressive subtype of B-cell lymphoma. Therapy using Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors has improved clinical outcomes but primary and secondary resistance to BTK inhibitor (BTKi) therapy affects more than half of MCL patients. Resistance most often arises through gene mutations in cells protected from BTKi effects within the local tissue microenvironment. This thesis develops previous work by the group identifying IRF4 as a central mediator of resistance to BTK inhibitors in MCL; the thesis aims to understand how resistance develops and to identify mechanisms to prevent or overcome BTKi resistance in …

Differential Expression Of Proteins Involved In Sev Biogenesis And Secretion In Parkinson’S Disease And Dementia With Lewy Bodies, Anis Sahoo

Peninsula Medical School Theses

Exosomes, small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), play a pivotal role in cell-to-cell communication, carrying diverse biomolecules such as proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. Their ability to transport these molecules makes them fundamental to various physiological processes and valuable in diagnosing and treating disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). To fully utilise sEVs potential, more attention is needed to understand not only the cargo, but also proteins and pathways involved in the biogenesis of EVs, particularly in the context of diseases. This thesis explores changes in sEV-associated proteins in synucleinopathies, notably Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).Aims1. In …

The Discovery Of P62-Dependent Processing Bodies, Elizabeth Barrow

Peninsula Medical School Theses

The cellular degradation process autophagy can be a selective process during which, cellular components, such as excess proteins, can be marked for degradation by the post translational modification ubiquitination. Proteins that act as selective autophagy receptors can recognise the ubiquitinated substrates and target them to the selective autophagy pathway, facilitating their degradation and thereby mediating cellular homeostasis. The selective autophagy receptor Sequestome 1 (p62) undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) to form p62 bodies to mediate the autophagic degradation of ubiquitinated proteins. At the time of this research, it was unknown whether p62 could exist in a differential droplet form to …

Improving The Efficiency Of Modelling Complex Physical Activity Data Using Longitudinal Compositional Data Analysis, Jade Chynoweth

Peninsula Medical School Theses

Physical activity (PA) data are often objectively collected using an accelerometer worn by the participant, with data collected over a pre-specified period. PA has historically been summarised as a single numerical measure, often the number of minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA, disregarding PA performed at lower intensities. The number of minutes spent in PA during the collection period is also associated with wear time of the accelerometer. Therefore, modelling all PA intensities as proportions of the total is more appropriate.Standard statistical methods cannot model more than one intensity of PA within a single model, as the intensities are likely to …

Acute, Low-Grade Inflammation Elevates White Matter Sensitivity To Ischaemia, Alex Mellor

Peninsula Medical School Theses

Ischaemic brain injuries, including ischaemic stroke, are highly prevalent neurological diseases. Acute, low-grade inflammation, often resulting from peripheral infection, has emerged as a risk factor. White matter axons, and their supporting glia, are susceptible to both ischaemic and neuroinflammatory injury. The mechanisms behind ischaemic injury in white matter are well established. However, the white matter response to acute, low-grade inflammation, and how this can interact with co-morbidities such as cerebral ischaemia, are yet to be examined. This thesis evaluated the response of white matter to acute, low-grade inflammation and the downstream effects this had on its sensitivity to ischaemia. Here, …

A Clinical Practice Review Of Optimizing The Approach For Correction Of Thoracolumbar Deformity— When And How To Perform Anterior Releases And Fusion, Brian M. Phelps, Munish C. Gupta

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Accuracy And Reliability Of Video-Based Range-Of-Motion Assessments In Postreconstruction Brachial Plexus Patients, Christopher J. Dy, Stephen J. Demartini, Eshan Sane, David M. Brogan, Planet Study Group

2020-Current year OA Pubs

PURPOSE: Following surgical reconstructions considered successful, many patients with brachial plexus injuries (BPI) have limited limb motion. In addition to manual muscle testing, clinicians typically measure active range of motion (AROM). AROM measurement relies on in-person examination and manual goniometers or visual estimation, both of which are subject to interobserver variability. The purpose of this proof-of-concept study was to evaluate reliability of video-based AROM assessments. We hypothesized that video-based assessment of AROM would have high inter-rater reliability (IRR) among surgeons who perform BPI reconstruction.

METHODS: We video recorded a standardized examination in a convenience sample of 8 postreconstruction BPI patients …

Caregiver Worry About Covid-19 As A Predictor Of Social Mitigation Behaviours And Sars-Cov-2 Infection In A 12-City U.S. Surveillance Study Of Households With Children, Steven M Brunwasser, Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVE: Understanding compliance with COVID-19 mitigation recommendations is critical for informing efforts to contain future infectious disease outbreaks. This study tested the hypothesis that higher levels of worry about COVID-19 illness among household caregivers would predict lower (a) levels of overall and discretionary social exposure activities and (b) rates of household SARS-CoV-2 infections.

METHODS: Data were drawn from a surveillance study of households with children (

RESULTS: Caregivers with high enrollment levels of worry about COVID-19 illness were more likely to reduce direct social contact outside the household, particularly during the U.S.'s most deadly pandemic wave. Households of caregivers with …

Efficacy And Safety Of Dostarlimab In Combination With Chemotherapy In Patients With Dmmr/Msi-H Primary Advanced Or Recurrent Endometrial Cancer In A Phase 3, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial (Engot-En6-Nsgo/Gog-3031/Ruby), Matthew A Powell, Carolyn Mccourt, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

OBJECTIVES: Part 1 of the RUBY trial (NCT03981796) demonstrated improved survival in patients with primary advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer (EC) treated with dostarlimab plus carboplatin-paclitaxel versus placebo plus carboplatin-paclitaxel. Here, we examine additional efficacy and safety data from patients with mismatch repair deficient/microsatellite instability-high (dMMR/MSI-H) EC in the RUBY trial.

METHODS: Patients were randomized 1:1 to dostarlimab 500 mg or placebo plus carboplatin-paclitaxel every 3 weeks for 6 cycles followed by dostarlimab or placebo every 6 weeks for up to 3 years. In the dMMR/MSI-H population of RUBY Part 1, analysis of progression-free survival by investigator assessment compared with …

Early Changes In Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of Remapped Circuits And Global Networks Predict Functional Recovery After Stroke In Mice, Ryan M Bowen, Jake Lee, Brendon Wang, Keith R Lohse, Hanyang Miao, Jonah A Padawer-Curry, Asher J Albertson, Eric C Landsness, Adam Q Bauer, Jin-Moo Lee

2020-Current year OA Pubs

SIGNIFICANCE: Stroke is the leading cause of chronic disability in the United States. How stroke size affects post-stroke repair and recovery is poorly understood.

AIM: We aim to investigate the effects of stroke size on early repair patterns and determine how early changes in neuronal circuits and networks predict functional outcomes after stroke.

APPROACH: We used wide-field optical imaging, photothrombosis, and the cylinder-rearing assay to examine changes in neuronal circuit and network activity in the context of functional recovery after stroke.

RESULTS: Larger strokes ablating

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that diffuse patterns of remapping, and desynchronization and hyperconnectivity of cortical …

Piezo1-Mediated Calcium Influx Transiently Alters Nuclear Mechanical Properties Via Actin Remodeling In Chondrocytes, Jaquelin M Garcia-Castorena, Rosa Riester, Miranda Gamino-Ornelas, Nikitha Ada, Farshid Guilak, Marina Danalache

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mechanosensation allows cells to generate intracellular signals in response to mechanical cues from their environment. Previous research has demonstrated that mechanical stress can alter the mechanical properties of the nucleus, affecting gene transcription, chromatin methylation, and nuclear mechanoprotection during mechanical loading. PIEZO1, a mechanically gated Ca

Expert Consensus On The Diagnosis And Management Of Digoxin Toxicity, Jason B Hack, Sue Wingate, Ron Zolty, Michael W Rich, Paul J Hauptman

2020-Current year OA Pubs

While there has been a decline in the use of digoxin in patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation, acute and chronic digoxin toxicity remains a significant clinical problem. Digoxin's narrow therapeutic window and nonspecific signs and symptoms of toxicity create clinical challenges and uncertainty around the diagnostic criteria of toxicity and responsive treatment choices for the bedside clinician. A systematic review of published literature on digoxin toxicity (34,587 publications over 6 decades, with 114 meeting inclusion criteria) was performed to develop 33 consensus statements on diagnostic and therapeutic approaches which were then evaluated through a modified Delphi process involving …

Nutcracker Syndrome (A Delphi Consensus), Floor Heilijgers, Suresh Vedantham, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Nutcracker syndrome (NCS) describes the symptomatic compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and superior mesenteric artery. Whereas asymptomatic compression is a common radiological finding, patients with NCS can report a range of symptoms. There are no specific diagnostic criteria and interventions include a range of open surgical and endovascular procedures. Therefore, we wished to develop an international consensus document covering aspects of diagnosis, management, and follow-up for patients with NCS.

METHODS: A three-stage modified Delphi consensus was performed. A steering committee developed 37 statements covering 3 categories for patients with NCS: diagnosis, management, and follow-up. These …

Barriers And Facilitators To Implementing A Single-Visit, Screen-And-Treat Approach With Thermal Ablation For Cervical Cancer Prevention In Kenya, Harriet Fridah Adhiambo, Thomas Odeny, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Cervical cancer continues to be a major global threat to women's health, with approximately 660,000 women diagnosed annually, 94% of whom are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The high disease burden in LMICs is partly due to suboptimal adoption and widespread implementation of effective preventive interventions. This study explored drivers of implementation success and failure for a future single-visit, screen, and treat approach with thermal ablation (SV-SAT + TA), referred to as TIBA in Kenya. Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR framework), we conducted in-depth interviews with 34 participants (frontline health workers, health facility managers, and …