Digital Commons Network^™

A Case Of Syringocystadenocarcinoma Papilliferum: Not Your Usual Suspect., Alena Bashinskaya, Lucas Shapiro, Conner Thompson, Artis P. Truett, Patricia Moody

HPD Articles

Syringocystadenocarcinoma papilliferum (SCACP) is an exceptionally rare cutaneous adnexal tumor that is infrequently encountered by clinicians worldwide. The tumor typically appears in the older population, affecting patients in their fifth and sixth decades of life without male or female predominance. Patients frequently present with a variable-sized hyperpigmented ulcerative lesion containing an exudate that has a long-standing course of progression from its benign counterpart, Syringocystadenoma papilliferum (SCAP). Additionally, the clinical presentation and morphology of the neoplasm can be easily confused with a variety of other skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), cutaneous lymphoma, and cutaneous …

The Implications Of Pharmacogenomics In Oncology, Jean J. Latimer

HPD Articles

No abstract provided.

Stronger Together Newsletter, May 2023, Office For Inclusive Excellence

News, Magazines and Reports

News and Updates: Information Technology majors design interactive accessibility map of campus -- The Multicultural Center hosts the Inaugural End of the Ceremony. Students and graduating seniors who help contribute to our department’s goal for inclusive excellence were honored -- Lavender Graduation Celebration coordinated by the SHU Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) in partnership with the Multiculutural Center -- Silent Walk of Reflection and Remembrance of George Floyd -- Ram Devineni, creator of Priya’s Shakti, speaks at SHU -- “The State of Antisemitism Today”-”Heart Challenges Hate” Panel -- Disability Pride Campaign -- Center for Teaching and Learning: 2022-2023 recap -- Rachel …

William Webb Freeman Papers, 1912-1954, William Webb Freeman

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

Finding aid for the William Webb Freeman Papers, 1912-1954.

Hslic Academic Health Department (Ahd) Grant Annual Report, Gale G. Hannigan

Administrative Materials

No abstract provided.

Comparing Development Of Drug Resistance By Cryptococcus Neoformans To Chemically Distinct Azole Anti-Fungal Compounds, Lindsey Burke

Honors College Theses

Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungus that primarily infects humans who have weakened immune systems. An azole drug, Fluconazole, is commonly administered against C. neoformans in regions were cryptococcosis is most prevalent, most notably Sub-Saharan Africa. However, C. neoformans can gain resistance to Fluconazole through becoming an aneuploid. To better understand the basis of resistance, we employed a disk diffusion assay and investigated several chemically-distinct azole compounds with anticryptococcal properties for their effectiveness against C. neoformans and to identify potential differences in the capacity of the fungus to become resistant to each of the tested compounds. Different C. neoformans strains were …

Camelina Sativa Promoters Of Seed Development Genes Resemble Arabidopsis Thaliana Orthologs, Benjamin Clark, Jiayin Liu, Haiying Liang

Honors College Theses

Camelina sativa, a relative of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, has gained commercial interest in recent years for its seed oil. Camelina oil is a desirable ingredient in animal feed and for cooking due to its rich concentration of omega-3 fatty acids. It is also emerging as an eco-friendly jet biofuel. However, since C. sativa has only recently entered the public eye, regulation of its seed oil synthesis remains largely unexplored. A. thaliana, on the other hand, has been extensively studied. Promoters directly upstream of genes harbor hundreds of cis-acting regulatory DNA elements. These motifs are often …

African American English And Speech Referrals In Elementary School, Cameron Boyce

Honors College Theses

This study investigates the question of “What are in-service-general education teachers’ opinions about African American English (AAE), particularly regarding speech and speech therapy referrals?” Questions asked to teachers and speech-language pathologists were focused on educator opinions on topics related to African American English and discussion of students the professionals might have served in their years of experience that fit research criteria. The eleven professionals discussed various aspects of African American English in a school setting, including the effect it has on student academic achievement, the use of home versus school language, any relationship between AAE and speech therapy referrals, and …

Exploration Of Collaborative Design Spaces: Engineering Interactions And Workflows In Product Development, Frederick Rowell

Honors College Theses

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) initiatives can improve an enterprise’s efficiency by increasing collaborative design opportunities within its business structure. PLM solutions provide digital mediums to collaborate on all aspects of a company’s workflow, including engineering, testing, manufacturing, marketing, business, and field support services. This paper examines the major PLM tools and software used to establish a collaborative engineering design space; computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and product data management (PDM). The interactions between these PLM tools and a design team’s organizational structure are analyzed to determine some of the most effective PLM integration strategies to improve …

The Role Of Dmc1 In Meiotic Homologous Recombination In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Daniel Hiott

Honors College Theses

Dmc1 is a meiosis-specific recombinase that is integral to DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair using the homologous recombination pathway. This pathway uses a homologous sister chromatid as a template for DNA repair synthesis. After a DSB is formed, DNA end resection occurs, leaving a 3’single strand DNA (ssDNA) overhang. Dmc1 polymerizes on this ssDNA to form a right-handed helical protein filament that catalyzes the search for a homologous DNA region to facilitate strand invasion. Other protein factors such as Hop2-Mnd1 are recruited to promote Dmc1 mediated recombination. Recently, a mutation in Dmc1 was found to cause sterility in Arabidopsis thaliana …

Pandemic Politics: Tiebout Sorting And Work-From-Home, Jack Taylor

Honors College Theses

Where to live and when to move are two fundamental questions people have to answer in their lives. People weigh their preferences for what jurisdictions offer and choose the best mix of wages, amenities, and, importantly, public policies and politics. However, employment constraints and mobility costs mean that people have to make concessions about where to live. Importantly, people may live in a place orthogonal to their personal politics in order to have a good job and high-quality amenities. Using a novel data set from the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper answers the question of what people do when they no …

Characterizing Metabolic Activity Of Fish Liver Microsomes Towards Fluoxetine In Four Fish Species Using Michaelis-Menten Enzyme Kinetics, Morgan Steiner

Honors College Theses

Discharge of pharmaceuticals into the environment is of emergent concern due to the unknown long-term effects on aquatic organisms. Wastewater treatment plants are not effective in completely removing pharmaceuticals, allowing them to be discharged into aquatic systems. To investigate the potential effects of fluoxetine, a common antidepressant, on aquatic species, the potential of four freshwater fish species to metabolize this drug was investigated. Livers from redbreast sunfish, bluegill, striped jumprock and bluehead chub were collected, homogenized, and centrifuged to collect the microsomes. These microsomes were used in an assay to determine the in vitro hepatic metabolism of fluoxetine by cytochrome …

Fabrication And Characterization Of A Nanofiber Composite Biosensor For Chronic Wound Inflammation Diagnosis, Shreya Thammana

Honors College Theses

Chronic wounds (wounds that fail to proceed through the normal phases of wound healing and cannot restore to full function in three months) can pose physical and financial burdens on patients. The most common chronic wound is diabetic foot ulcers, which affect 6.3% of the global population [1]. Current diagnostic and tracking methods to monitor wound healing are subjective and involve visual inspection and observation of the wound as it heals. However, when dealing with chronic wounds, the wound healing process is more difficult to observe due to the delayed nature of healing. There is also a need to closely …

Development Of 3d Ovarian Cancer Spheroids In Vitro And Investigation Of Their Physiological Relevance As Models Of Inherent Chemoresistance, Amanda Murray

Honors College Theses

Ovarian cancer is the sixth leading cause of death among women worldwide, with an average 5-year survival rate of less than 48%. Current clinical treatment methods for this disease are often deemed ineffective because of the innate chemoresistance of tumors due to their microenvironment and architecture. Accurately mimicking chemoresistance with traditional 2D cultures is difficult; therefore, recent years have seen an increase in 3D culturing methods that create cellular spheroids. These spheroids can serve as models of in vivo tumor characteristics due to their hypoxic core, acidic microenvironment, and increased cell-to-cell interactions. This research aims to (1) refine a 3D …

Fairness Opinion, Chris Charlton, Gabby Costello, Hannah Erspamer, Adian Vollick, Elizabeth Whalen

Honors College Theses

The following addresses the financial fairness of the per share merger consideration to be received by iRobot Corporation. This opinion is based on information regarding financial, economic and market conditions as of April 30, 2023. In arriving at this opinion, we have reviewed the merger agreement, publicly available financial statements, and iRobot’s business information. The following is a summary of the material analyses performed in connection with our opinion dated April 30, 2023.

iRobot was founded in 1990 by 3 members of MIT’s artificial intelligence lab Rodne Brooks, Colin Angle, Helen Greiner. Colin Angle is currently the chairman and CEO …

Polyphenolic Prevention Of Deoxyribose Damage Using Spectroscopic Methods, Krishna Patel, Madison Vicente, Ruben Sousa, Julia L. Brumaghim

Honors College Theses

Hydroxyl radical formation via Fe²⁺/Cu⁺ metal leads to oxidative DNA damage that is implicated in a number of neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases such as Parkinson’s diseases and atherosclerosis. Specifically, oxidative stress can lead to strand breaks and other DNA damage. Antioxidants can prevent this damage through metal binding and radical scavenging mechanisms. Polyphenols are one class of abundant antioxidants shown to provide protection against radical species and are found in foods such as fruits, nuts, and berries. Therefore, polyphenol compounds were tested for their ability to prevent deoxyribose degradation by iron and hydrogen peroxide using the deoxyribose …

Music Mentor, Jacob Webb

Honors College Theses

Extra-curricular learning is on the rise, and many are interested in expanding their current knowledge by utilizing the recent increase in educational technology. While many forms of educational technology exist, there are few interactive and engaging platforms that teach music theory. Apps such as Perfect Ear and MyMusicTheory are great for becoming familiar with reading music and recognizing pitches, however, they often become dry with repetition and repeated tasks. By combining existing technologies that can complete real time conversions from raw audio to MIDI, our goal was to gather information such as harmonies, key and compatible chords from the user’s …

Green Hpc: Optimizing Software Stack Energy Efficiency Of Large Data Systems, Grant Wilkins

Honors College Theses

High-performance computing (HPC) is indispensable in modern scientific research and industry applications, but its energy consumption is a growing concern. This thesis presents two novel approaches to optimize energy consumption in large data systems. The first chapter of the thesis will discuss the use of Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) to optimize the energy efficiency of two popular lossy compression algorithms: SZ and ZFP. By adjusting the voltage and frequency levels of computing resources, DVFS can reduce energy consumption while maintaining the desired level of performance and accuracy. The second chapter of the thesis will focus on a detailed …

African Spirituality For Ecological Conversion: The Case Of Mining In The Western Region Of Ghana, Nana Kofi Agyapong

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Gold mining in the Western Region of Ghana poses a major dilemma. On the one hand, it serves as a great source of revenue for the region and the country at large. It also provides employment for millions of people. On the other hand, indiscriminate gold mining methods destroy ecological resources like land, water, and air, as well as the quality of life of people in the region. Consequently, the negative impacts of these environmentally hostile practices challenge us to re-evaluate our relationship with the environment. It is a call not to see the environment and its resources as something …

Life And The Renewal Of The Christian Community: Infant Baptism And Inculturation In The Context Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Héritier Ofabwe Kinzamba

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

This thesis is part of the liturgical inculturation process that has been taking place in the local Church of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the 1960s, one of whose treasured expressions is the Roman Missal for the Dioceses of Zaïre, an inculturated ritual of Mass. In this work, I aim to contribute to extending the special rite for the Dioceses of Zaïre to include the celebration of infant Baptism. I use a hermeneutical method and an anthropological model of contextual theology to interpret and analyze the foundations of the Roman Rite for the Dioceses of Zaire, the Church’s …

Expanding Catholic Social Teaching On Wealth, Money, And Entrepreneurship, Jean Claude Havyarimana

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Catholic Social Teaching on integral human development and the Preferential Option for the Poor has not yet given due attention to money, wealth creation, entrepreneurship or poverty eradication. Yet all of the four are presupposed by integral human development and the Preferential Option for the Poor in a market-based world. In addressing these gaps, within the New Humanistic Synthesis framework promoted by Pope Benedict XVI, this thesis has recommended looking at entrepreneurship—the engine of money and wealth creation—as a Christian vocation. A close analysis of the Scriptures reveals that God has acted in history entrepreneurially. Therefore, since humans are created …

Towards A Holistic Reconciliation In Africa, N’Guessan Kouacou Augustin Koffi

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Reconciliation is a relevant topic in the world and especially in Africa, which has a thirst for peace and justice, yet is plagued by ongoing crises. Many African countries have tried to build social trust for a living together. On the Church's side, Catholic Social Teaching, through Africae Munus, clearly articulates Africa's thirst for reconciliation, justice, and peace. Various African church leaders and laypeople have been engaged in the reconciliation and conflict transformation in Africa. Even though some progress has been made, people are still disappointed at the ongoing violence and social injustice in many parts of the continent. This …

Biblical And African Proverbs As A Framework For Studying Spirituality: Exploring The Role Of Proverbs Among The Gῖkữyữ People Of Kenya, Patrick M. Ng'ang'a

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

When we hear of proverbs, we tend to think of pithy sayings that are witty and memorable. Proverbs are found in many cultures, and naturally, proverbs form part of the Bible. Biblical and African proverbs can contribute to nourishing the Christian life and its reflection. Acquisition of wisdom and knowledge through proverbs can bring a person to awareness of how God reveals God’s self—helping a person to be more attuned to self, others, and the environment around them. The Book of Proverbs offers a source of reflection for the church traditions, while African proverbs offer great resources for reflecting the …

Cultivating Social Media Technomoral Virtues: Toward A Moral-Character Education For African Youth, Tégawindé Basile Ouedraogo

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

Young Africans generally go on social media to socialize and make friends. Unfortunately, the misuse of social media leads to ethical issues among young people. Deterrent measures by governments, parents and educators remain ineffective. Therefore, the education of youth to cultivate the necessary virtues can help them to use social media for a flourishing life. I argue that virtues of self-control, respect, responsibility, empathy and integrity should be cultivated for the heathy use of social media. In fact, the ‘technomoral virtues’ developed by Shannon Vallor, can address the vices related to the use of social media.

To cultivate these virtues …

Reading Matt 14:13-21 In The Roman Empire First-Century Context As A Counternarrative, Wossoyam Elie Yoda

Jesuit School of Theology Dissertations

How do people access food? Food access raises the question of access to fertile land since it is the primary resource for food production. In both developing and developed nations, past and present, food access depends on who holds political and economic power. In this thesis, I read Matt 14:13-21 in the Roman first-century context, where food shortage was common. and argue that the food shortage was not due only to droughts or bad harvests but also to political and economic decisions by the Roman Empire. Matthew's account of feeding five thousand (Matt 14:13-21) can be read as a counternarrative …

Using A Thin Slice Coding Approach To Measure Temperament Traits In Youth, Sara J. Conley

ETD Archive

Researchers have demonstrated that unacquainted observers can reliably rate children’s personality traits based on initial impressions, called the thin slice (TS) method (Tackett et al., 2016). Temperament describes characteristics a child is born with and consists of a child's ability to cope with emotion, activity level, ability to focus, and mood; temperament has been shown to map onto personality traits in reliable ways (Rothbart & Bates 1998). Although TS personality has been correlated with temperament traits in a clinical sample of youth (Brandes et al., 2020), it is unclear whether the TS approach can be applied to temperament traits in …

Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms And Their Role In Intimate Relationships: Do Ptsd Symptoms Moderate The Relationship Between Conflict And Aggression In Military Servicepeople?, Hannah M. Breen

ETD Archive

Military servicepeople often find themselves facing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following their service. The symptoms of PTSD can impact the functioning of servicepeople’s intimate relationships, particularly in the aspect of conflict and aggression. The present study aimed to assess the effect of a military-involved partner’s PTSD symptoms on the association between relationship conflict and aggression from the perspectives of both partners. Data were collected from 112 military-involved individuals (active-duty or veteran) and 16 couples (one military-involved partner and one civilian partner) who participated in an online survey which collected data on their romantic relationships. It was hypothesized that …

Detecting Callous Unemotional Traits In A Community Sample Of Adolescents: An Extension Of The Thin Slice Assessment Approach, Sophia V. Cook

ETD Archive

Despite a large body of research focusing on aggression, it remains a leading problem for youth, and leaves experts struggling to find a fast and reliable approach to identify related traits. Callous-unemotional traits (CU) are viewed as lack of guilt, limited display of emotion, absence of empathy, and the use of others for one’s own gain (Frick et al., 2002; Frick & White, 2008). Researchers have shown a significant correlation between CU traits and aggressive behaviors associated with conduct problems (Essau et al., 2006). Thin slicing (TS) has been defined as quick judgements based on brief excerpts of expressive behavior …

Associations Between Attachment Style, Emotion Regulation And Well-Being Among Informal Caregivers Of Person With Dementia: A Stress Process Perspective, Meghan V. Paulo

ETD Archive

The negative outcomes for a caregiver for a person with dementia (PWD), such as burden and depression, are well-studied and established. However, the individual differences that may buffer against negative outcomes are still to be explored. Attachment orientation and emotion regulatory abilities have been shown to influence health and well-being outcomes within this population. Secure attachment is considered a protective factor in the development of psychopathology and physical health outcomes. Emotion regulation is an important part of a caregiver’s daily functioning for managing challenging care tasks. With a theoretical model of caregiving as the foreground of this work, these variables …

The Impact Of Quarantine And Substance Use On Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study On Emerging Adults, Madeleine Reinhardt

ETD Archive

The COVID-19 pandemic is a collective trauma that caused profound disruptions in day-to-day life and negatively impacted the psychological well-being of many emerging adults. Existing research shows that experiencing quarantine due to disease exposure or illness exacerbates psychological distress, particularly among people with existing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (Solomon et al., 2021). Research points to problematic alcohol and other substance use as a mechanism in the development and maintenance of PTSD (Tripp et al., 2020). However, alcohol and other substance use has yet to be implicated in the exacerbation of PTSD symptoms among emerging adults in the context of …