Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Pten Subcellular Localization In Neuronal Development And Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nicole Desmet

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are genetically heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions that nevertheless converge on altered neuronal connectivity and circuit function. A central unresolved problem in the field is how diverse genetic perturbations, acting at different biological levels and developmental stages, give rise to shared neurodevelopmental outcomes. This dissertation addresses this problem by examining how gene function, subcellular signaling, and developmental context interact to shape neuronal morphology and circuit-relevant phenotypes.

Cell-autonomous mechanisms regulating neuronal morphology are examined through the ASD risk gene Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog (PTEN) in developing dentate gyrus granule neurons. Selective biasing of PTEN to defined intracellular compartments in …

A Digital Diabetes Prevention Program For Hispanic Adolescents (Fit24+): Protocol For A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial, Lizette Villanueva, Callie Lopez, Salma M Musaad, Teresia M O'Connor, Maria J Redondo, Matthew Buman, Debbe Thompson

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Hispanic youth are disproportionately impacted by obesity and subsequent type 2 diabetes (T2D) yet remain underrepresented in diabetes prevention research. Digital health interventions hold promise for increasing the accessibility to and engagement in disease prevention programming, particularly among high-risk populations. However, there is a significant gap in the literature regarding digital T2D prevention programs for adolescents or Hispanic youth.

Objective: The objective of this article is to describe the protocol for examining the feasibility of a 12-week digital diabetes prevention program among Hispanic adolescents with obesity.

Methods: Participants (N=40; aged 12-16 years) will be randomized (1:1) to a 12-week …

Inflammation- And Resolution-Programmed Myeloid Circuits Govern Therapeutic Resistance In Epithelial And Mesenchymal Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Yichao Shen, Ling Wu, Zhan Xu, Yunfeng Ding, Xiaoxin Hao, Weijie Zhang, Hilda L Chan, Jun Liu, Bo Wei, Yang Gao, Luis Becerra-Dominguez, Yi-Hsuan Wu, Siyue Wang, Tobie D Lee, Xuan Li, Xiang Chen, David G Edwards, Xiang H-F Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Single-cell analysis of human triple-negative breast cancer revealed heterogeneous macrophage populations with opposing phenotypes - proinflammatory and proresolution of inflammation. Paradoxically, both subsets accumulated in therapy-refractory residual tumors but showed inverse correlations across patients, suggesting mutually exclusive resistance mechanisms. Inflammatory macrophages localized preferentially to epithelial-like tumors, whereas proresolution macrophages were enriched in mesenchymal-like tumors. Mouse models faithfully recapitulated these patterns. After chemoimmunotherapy, mesenchymal-like tumors expanded proresolution macrophages through phagocytosis/efferocytosis, ω-3 fatty acid uptake, and resolvin production. Macrophage-secreted C1q emerged as a principal antagonist of T cell function by targeting mitochondria and inducing metabolic dysfunction. By contrast, epithelial-like tumors accumulated inflammatory …

Education To Improving Prediabetes Management And Preventing Progression To Diabetes In The Primary Care Setting, Irene Mah Mebune

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prediabetes is a significant public health concern in the United States, as many individuals remain undiagnosed or inadequately managed, which increases the risk of progression to type 2 diabetes and associated complications. Primary care settings are essential for early identification and prevention. However, gaps in staff knowledge and inconsistent application of evidence-based guidelines frequently hinder effective management. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) staff education project aimed to enhance healthcare staff knowledge and confidence in screening for and managing prediabetes within a primary care clinic. The central question guiding this project was whether evidence-based staff education could improve healthcare staff …

Mapping Serial Killer Life Pathways With Behavior Sequence Analysis, Morgann Lynn Brafford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to influence criminal behavior in adulthood, their potential influence on serial killer actions has not been scrutinized. This study was an investigation of how ACEs might affect serial killer actions later in life. The trauma-control model provided a conceptual framework for the investigation. Marono et al.’s research featuring behavior sequence analysis (BSA) was broadened to examine the impact of psychological abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, violence against animals, head injury, and bullying serial killer behaviors like stalking or sexual assault. The participants were 364 anonymized male serial killers from the Radford/Florida Gulf Coast …

Beyond Social Media: Effective Innovative Strategies For Small Cleaning Services To Engage Decision-Makers And Secure Contracts, Danielle Edwesa Gaskins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Small cleaning service businesses often encounter challenges when attempting to reach decision-makers and obtain commercial contracts. Small cleaning service business leaders are concerned with securing contracts because the continual acquisition of agreements underpins both business stability and growth. Grounded in the service-dominant logic, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies small cleaning business leaders use to engage decision-makers and win contracts without relying on the use of social media marketing. The participants were five leaders from small cleaning businesses in the United States who had successfully secured contracts through alternative engagement strategies. Data were gathered using …

Strategic Digital Adaptation Among Small And Medium-Size Enterprise Leaders In Grenada For Implementing Digital Technologies To Achieve Long-Term Sustainability, Competitive Advantage, And Scalability, Devon Junior Charles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders in Grenada struggle to implement digital technologies effectively, which limits business sustainability, competitive advantage, and scalability. This issue is particularly concerning for SME leaders, as ineffective digital implementation threatens business survival, workforce stability, and economic resilience in small island developing states (SIDS). Grounded in a composite conceptual framework integrating the technology–organization–environment framework and dynamic capabilities theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to explore strategies SME leaders in Grenada used to implement digital technologies to achieve sustainability, competitive advantage, and scalability. The participants were six SME leaders in Grenada with at …

A Multilevel Analysis Of Prescriber-Reported Buprenorphine Induction Challenges In Fentanyl-Endemic Settings, Alyssa Vawn Long

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The emergence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl has increased clinical uncertainty during buprenorphine induction in medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder. The purpose of this quantitative, retrospective cohort study, guided by the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), was to examine whether prescriber-level buprenorphine induction practices and experiences with precipitated withdrawal were associated with reported buprenorphine induction challenges, and whether county-level fentanyl prevalence contributed to these challenges after accounting for geographic clustering. Secondary, de-identified archival data were obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network study CTN-0134 and included 64 prescribers practicing in fentanyl-endemic settings. Buprenorphine induction challenges were operationalized as …

Automated Asset Allocation: Evaluating Generative Artificial Intelligence In Retirement Portfolio Construction Vs. Target-Date Funds, Kiah Steven Derrick

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Lateral Minimally Invasive Si Joint Fusion Following Adult Spinal Deformity: A Case-Report And Literature Review, Basel Musmar, Hassan Saad, Joshua Pelta-Heller

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

This case report describes lateral minimally invasive sacroiliac (SI) joint fusion for SI joint–mediated pain in a patient with a history of adult spinal deformity surgery. A 48-year-old woman with multiple medical comorbidities previously underwent long thoracolumbar fusion. She subsequently had L4-S1 anterior lumbar interbody fusion and posterior L4-pelvis instrumentation in 2010. Following a ground-level fall in 05/2021, she developed new left-sided hip and sacroiliac pain with intermittent left lower-extremity numbness. Radiographs demonstrated mild hip osteoarthritis and sacroiliac joint sclerosis; spine imaging revealed discontinuity of the right iliac fixation rod without acute fracture. MRI of the hip showed bilateral sacroiliitis …

Rioi: A Microwave-Photonic Rf-Interferometric Interrogation Technique For Enhanced Fiber Optic Sensing, Chen Zhu, Ruimin Jie, Chenxi Huang, Jie Huang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Fiber optic interferometric (FOI) sensors are widely recognized for their high sensitivity, design flexibility, and multiplexing capabilities, making them ideal for applications ranging from structural health monitoring to biomedical diagnostics. However, conventional optical-domain interrogation techniques are often limited by the performance constraints of spectrometers. In this work, we present a radiofrequency (RF)-interferometric optical interrogation (RIOI) method for FOI sensors. This approach leverages microwave photonic (MWP) processing to encode the optical interference phase into an RF signal, which is then combined with a reference RF signal to produce a microwave-domain interferogram. By tracking spectral shifts in the RF domain, RIOI achieves …

Patriots And Protestant Dissenters: Early Religious Disestablishment In Revolutionary South Carolina, Nathan James Shull

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

In 1778, the newly independent government of South Carolina broke with more than a century of precedent and disestablished the Church of England by enacting Article XXXVIII of its State Constitution. This thesis weaves together the interconnected stories of Patriots such as William Tennent, Christopher Gadsden, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Oliver Hart, Richard Furman, and William Henry Drayton, demonstrating how they converged on disestablishment. While the historiography has focused on one or another religious or political group, this thesis asserts that an array of South Carolinians from across the political spectrum coalesced around disestablishment as a pragmatic solution to a variety …

Impact Of Living Shorelines On Coastal Morphology And Sedimentology, Sydney Garber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Living shorelines, or nature-based solutions, have emerged as a preferred approach to coastal restoration, but have not been well studied or monitored postimplementation. This project evaluated the efficacy of living shorelines in protecting and stabilizing coastal morphology in Palm Beach County’s Lake Worth Lagoon. The study assessed surface and subsurface sedimentology, short-term water-level variability, and morphological change at two living shoreline areas of Jewell Steinhardt Cove and Snook Islands Natural Area. Each shoreline area has different breakwater designs aimed at stabilizing the shoreline with recruitment of oysters and mangroves in the Lake Worth Lagoon. Overall, seasonal morphology and sediment data …

Saltfish And Seedcake: Examining Fantasy Through Food Studies, Isabella Martins-Simonsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Although mundane and often overlooked in reality, in fantasy, food, like all other things, is entirely symbolic. Therefore, considering food closely when analyzing a fantasy text offers unique insights into the world being developed, the characters within that world, and the author’s own understanding of both the real and “secondary” world. In this paper, I consider the foods of Earthsea, Narnia, and Middle Earth to offer various perspectives on the worldbuilding and examine the implications of different foods in these well-known settings. For example, the tea served in Narnia creates a fantasy world that is more normal than the strange …

Documents From The April 15, 2026 Meeting Of The Associated Students Of The University Of Montana (Asum), University Of Montana--Missoula. Associated Students

Senate Meeting Agendas and Minutes, 2007-Present

Agenda and meeting minutes from the April 15, 2026 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM).

Geology Education For Grades 3–12, Natalie J. Carroll, Theodore Leuenberger

Purdue University Press Books

Geology Education for Grades 3–12 guides and encourages youth to learn about the geological processes occurring all around them. Level 1 introduces basic terms and concepts, and is intended for youth in grades 3–5. Activities focus on understanding important topics such as the rock cycle, rock textures, and crystal formation. Designed for students in grades 6–8, Level 2 offers readers more concrete examples of advanced geological concepts, including fossilization, mineral formation, and rock classification. The exercises in Level 3, which is geared toward grades 9–12, includes additional information on the Earth’s varied landscapes, a variety of geological events, and the …

Accelerated Coupled Mode Model For Fiber Laser Amplifiers As An Averaged Dynamical System, Rebecca Bryant, Jacob Grosek, Jay Gopalakrishnan

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We apply a known theorem for simplifying dynamical systems with bounded error to a specific optical fiber waveguide problem, thereby supplementing the physical intuition and heuristics used in the optics community with proper mathematical justification. Using techniques from the averaging theory of dynamical systems, a reliable accelerated model based on the coupled mode theory (CMT) approach for a common fiber laser amplifier application is derived. Computational testing reveals that this accelerated model achieves a ∼4000x increase in computational speed compared to the CMT model while preserving high accuracy in key figures of merit such as output power and amplification efficiency. …

Library Student Employee Alumni Survey Project, Heidi Pagan

Library Research Scholars Program Spring 2026

Academic libraries are among the largest student employers on university campuses.  This project examines the paths of former Library Student Employees (LSEs) to better understand how student employment in academic libraries contributes to professional development, transferable skills, and alumni engagement. The primary research question guiding this study is: Where are former library student employees now, and how has their library work influenced their career paths?  This project provides evidence of the lasting impact of library student employment and supports strategies for alumni recognition, engagement, and program development.

Dietary Manipulations Of The Undernourished Infant Microbiome, Cyrus Zhou

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Today, undernutrition affects approximately 150 million children worldwide. During the first two years of life, the healthy gut microbial community undergoes a series of predictable developmental transitions. These transitions are delayed in undernourished children resulting in microbiota “immaturity.” In a foundational study, immature gut microbial communities from undernourished children and normally developing communities from chronologically age-matched healthy children living in the same area were transplanted into groups of germ-free mice consuming the same diet – one representative of what consumed by the study population. Compared mice with a mature gut microbiome, mice with an immature gut microbiome had impaired weight …

Spontaneous Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Signals In Glioblastoma-Bearing And Aging Brains, Ki Yun Park

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Brain activity fluctuates across timescales from microseconds to decades, reflecting processes ranging from rapid synaptic transmission to slow neuromodulatory and homeostatic changes. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) captures the slow end of this spectrum (spontaneous blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) fluctuations over tens to hundreds of seconds), which reflect the integrated output of these underlying processes and are increasingly recognized as sensitive to both pathological and physiological brain states. The core of this thesis examines rs-fMRI as a biomarker for two clinical entities: glioblastoma and aging. Reliable biomarker development requires both methodological rigor and analytic breadth, knowing what the method …

The Work Of The United Nations Office Of Legal Affairs, Center For International Law

Center for International Law

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2026

April 15, 2026 Faculty Senate Minutes, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Defining Dementia: How Do We Quantify Functional Decline?, Taylor Fenderbosch, Robert Martin

Advocate GME

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Potential For Artificial Intelligence To Replace An Entry Level Accountant, Lily Rowe

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

This project aims to evaluate the potential for Artificial Intelligence to replace entry-level accountants. This evaluation process involved testing different Artificial Intelligence models with entry-level accounting tasks and evaluating the results. Through the testing of these AI models, I was able to gather an indication of whether the models contain certain skills expected of an entry-level accountant. The selected accounting tasks were prompted into two AI models, Claude and Gemini, to be solved and analyzed. By combining the results from testing with findings from the literature, I was able to assess how well AI can solve various entry-level accounting problems …

A Scoping Review Of The Objective Structured Assessment Of Technical Surgical Skills (Osats), David J. O'Regan, Christopher Caddy, Retnagowri Rajandram, Paul Barach

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) offers an objective tool for assessing bowel anastomosis on a benchtop. It was developed in 1997 to set appropriate standards and expectations for the surgical trainee. OSATS have become the gold standard of assessment across many disciplines. A global Likert rating scale, including respect for tissues, instrument handling, economy of movement, and flow of the operation predominates the literature. This has led to many questioning OSATS objectivity, claiming the process to be time-consuming, subjective, demanding human resources, and requiring extensive training of the trainer. We believe OSATS scoring has omitted the 22-point …

Subchronic Oral Exposure To Propylparaben Induces Endocrine Disruption And Genotoxicity In Male Rats, Sarah M. Moud, Najiah M. Alyamani

Saudi Toxicology Journal

ropylparaben (PP) is widely employed as a preservative in consumer products such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food items, prompting increasing safety apprehensions due to its possible endocrine-disrupting properties. A controlled experimental investigation was conducted to assess the toxicological effects of sub-chronic propylparaben exposure on the testes of adult male rats. Twenty adult male rats (n = 20) were randomly assigned to two groups (10 rats per group): a control group receiving distilled water and a treated group receiving PP orally at a dosage of 100 mg/kg body weight once daily for four consecutive weeks. This dosage was selected based on …

Editorial: Academic Freedom: Embracing Diverse Voices, Margaret Grogan, Peter Tolmie, Jane Freedman, Scott Schaffer, John Offer, Andrea M. Feldpausch-Parker

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"The articles assembled in this Research Topic (RT) offer a timely discussion of a fundamental principle upon which both scientific endeavor and higher education are founded: academic freedom. While there is no single accepted definition of academic freedom, most scholars accept that there are three basic dimensions: the freedom to research in a scientifically agreed-upon and rigorous fashion; the freedom to express academic points of view; and the freedom to educate and to learn (Maassen et al., 2023). In this RT, the first and second of these dimensions are effectively grouped together around an interest in the latitude for scholars …

Public Understanding Of Ai-Enabled Cyber Threats And Its Impact On Cybersecurity Governance In The United States, Charlotte M. Barbrick

LSU Master's Theses

Artificial intelligence is spreading quickly in workplaces and everyday life, and that fast growth is creating cybersecurity and privacy risks that current laws and organizational practices do not fully address. This thesis asks whether AI-specific knowledge shapes public support for cybersecurity governance of AI-enabled systems in the United States. Using nationally representative survey data from the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP) Wave 119, fielded December 12--18, 2022, I estimate weighted regression models to test how objective AI knowledge shapes support for cybersecurity governance. I also test whether concern about data misuse helps explain that relationship and whether AI …

Single-Nucleus Brain Transcriptomics Reveals Microglia Dysfunction In Multiple System Atrophy, Rasmus Rydbirk, Frederik Nørby Friis Sørensen, Jonas Folke, Henriette Haukedal, Andrea Asenjo Martinez, Irene Lisa Vargas, Simone Mcgarry, Oline Chantell Hollmann, Camila Gherardelli, Sofia Sepulveda, Adam T Szafran, Michael A Mancini, Sanne Simone Kaalund, Tomasz Brudek, Lisette Salvesen, Sara Bech, Justyna Okarmus, Peter Kharchenko, Morten Meyer, Claudio Soto, Kristine Freude, Abhisek Mukherjee, Susana Aznar, Konstantin Khodosevich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, age-related neurodegenerative disease that shares clinical and pathological features with Parkinson's disease (PD) but presents a more devastating disease course. To elucidate the distinct cellular pathophysiology, we performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing on postmortem striatal brain tissue from 7 MSA and 12 PD patients, and 10 non-neurological cases. Here, we show significant compositional differences in astroglia and microglia subtypes, while oligodendroglia and neurons are comparable. PD brains show abundant microglia expressing MHC class II HLA haplotypes, indicative of a proinflammatory state, alongside more homeostatic astrocytes. In contrast, MSA lack activated microglia but has more …

Death And The Uncanny: Freud, Grief, And The Horror Of Inevitability In Ari Aster’S Hereditary And Midsommar, Courtney Michelle Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This thesis explores how Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019) create ongoing discomfort among viewers through their shared focus on death and the tensions between fate and freewill.

Using Freud’s concept of the uncanny as a lens, this thesis argues that these films are disturbing because they introduce familiar horrors in a newly unsetting way, forcing audience members to confront deep rooted fears of grief, loss, and the lack of control.

By repeatedly forcing his audience and characters to confront death and the illusion of agency, Aster successfully creates the prolonged anxiety and dread felt by many viewers of …