Digital Commons Network^™

Stress Habit, Marianna D. Dean

Stimulus: A Medical Humanities Journal

No abstract provided.

Different Tactics, Same Goal: Protecting Trans Rights In Challenging Times, Public Interest Law Students Association (Pilsa)

2025–2026 Flyers

Join us for a discussion examining how advocates are fighting to protect transgender rights through diverse strategic approaches..

Liturgies Of The Self: Contemporary American Cult Fiction, Identity, And Narrative Evangelism, Kerry Hillis Goff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

“Liturgies of the Self: Contemporary American Cult Fiction, Identity, and Narrative Evangelism,” examines how American novels from 1980 to the present stage cultic logic as a cultural grammar of belonging. Across two cohorts—1980–2000 and 2001–present—the project demonstrates how narratives of consumerism, violence, embodiment, race, and simulation reveal identity as liturgical performance rather than autonomous selfhood. The first cohort—Don DeLillo’s White Noise (1985), Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club (1996), Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991), Douglas Coupland’s Generation X (1991), and Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love (1989)—dramatizes cultic rituals through spectacle, grotesque display, and overt performance. DeLillo stages consumer spectacle as collective liturgy; …

The George-Anne Daily, Georgia Southern University

George-Anne Media Group: Newsletters & Magazines

No abstract provided.

Systemic Drug Delivery In Pigs Using Biodegradable Microneedle Patches, Katherine A. Miranda-Munoz, Tsungcheng Tsai, Jacy Riddle, Ke He, Lee Blaney, Jeremy Powell, Jorge Almodovar

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Transdermal microneedle systems offer a minimally invasive strategy for systemic drug delivery in veterinary medicine. In this study, biodegradable microneedle patches composed of polyvinyl alcohol, collagen, and chitosan were evaluated in pigs for the delivery of two model compounds, fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-dextran, 4 kDa) and flunixin meglumine (FLU). Patches were applied to the ear and neck to assess the influence of anatomical site on systemic absorption. FITC-dextran delivered via a single 50 mg patch on the neck achieved approximately 1.2-1.4-fold higher plasma concentrations than oral administration and ear-applied patches, demonstrating enhanced uptake from vascularized regions. FLU patches applied to the …

Umn Morris Theatre Students Excel At Regional Theatre Festival, Communications And Marketing

Campus News Archive

No abstract provided.

Targeting Interleukin-6 Trans-Signaling To Improve Post-Stroke Inflammation: A Precision Immunotherapy Perspective, Kate Mendoza, Dustin T Nguyen, Anjali Chauhan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Anorectal Complications In Acute Leukaemia: A Retrospective Analysis Of Clinical Characteristics, Management And Outcomes In A Tertiary Care Setting In Oman, Najwa Al Himali, Murtadha Al Khabori, Mohamed Al Huneini

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: Anorectal complications are common and serious issues among patients with haematological malignancies, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Limited data are available on their incidence, microbiology screening and management. This study aimed to improve the understanding of these complications in patients diagnosed with acute leukaemia in Oman. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman and included patients diagnosed with acute leukaemia who developed anorectal complications over the past decade (2015–2024). Results: A total of 100 patients were included in this study; 50% had acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), 35% had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) …

The Global Extent Of The Grassland Biome And Implications For The Terrestrial Carbon Sink, A S. Macdougall, B Vanzant, J Sulik, S Bagchi, D Naidu, T O. Muraina, E. Hersch-Green

Michigan Tech Publications

Land cover data are commonly used to model the terrestrial carbon (C) sink, yet these data have wide margins of error that significantly alter estimates of global C storage. Here we demonstrate this data vulnerability in grasslands, which are critical to C cycling but whose estimated distribution has varied by >50 million km (3.5-42% of the Earth's terrestrial surface). Comparing multiple high-resolution land cover products with expertly annotated grassland data from six continents, we show sources of mapping error and discuss C implications based on 2023 United Nations (UN) FAO estimates. Past misidentification arose from inconsistent definitions on grassland identity …

Race And Patient-Physician Communication On Blood Pressure Management: Helping Improve Care, Samar A. Nasser, Ashley Pender, Ayan Ali, Kardie Tobb, Keith C. Ferdinand

Division of Cardiology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide an overview of the relationship of race and ethnicity and patient-physician/clinician communication on blood pressure management.

RECENT FINDINGS: The suboptimal interactions experienced by patients from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations may be improved by enriching relationships among clinicians, population health scientists, policymakers, and community members/leaders. Current care communication and policies for managing hypertension appear to be insufficient. Implementing and disseminating effective strategies to efficiently improve the quality of hypertension care and recognize social determinants of health among minoritized populations is intertwined with enhanced communication.

SUMMARY: Approaches such as self-affirmation—encouraging patients to reflect on their strengths …

Apolipoprotein E4 And Its Later-Life Health Effects On The Multiple Sclerosis Population, Dean Zeldich, Chia Hsin Cheng, Yi Guan, Sriman Narain, Bang-Bon Koo

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease causing neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. The apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) allele, a major genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's Disease, accelerates cognitive decline and neuroinflammatory processes, including blood-brain-barrier disruption. This study explores the impact of APOE4 on later-life health in MS patients using biomarkers from the UK Biobank.

METHODS: MS patients were grouped by APOE4 carrier status: MS-E4 and MS-nonE4. Age- and sex-matched non-MS controls (control-E4, control-nonE4) were included for comparison. Analyses assessed retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) from optical coherence tomography (OCT), blood biomarkers, cognitive performance, and brain magnetic …

In-Situ Eval: A Modular Framework For Custom And Real-Time Rag Benchmarking, Ritvik Garimella, Kaushik Roy, Chathurangi Shyalika, Amit Sheth

Publications

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) has become the standard approach for integrating domain knowledge into Large Language Models (LLMs). However, fair comparison of RAG pipelines remains difficult: data preparation is often ad hoc, subsampling methods are opaque, parameters vary across implementations, and evaluation is fragmented. We present In-Situ Eval, a unified and reproducible framework that operationalizes the full RAG pipeline with configurable subsampling strategies and both RAG-specific and generic evaluation metrics. The platform supports two execution modes: an offline Dataset mode for evaluating precomputed outputs, and a live Retrieval mode for benchmarking RAG variants with state-of-the-art LLMs. Users can flexibly select datasets, …

Clustering Of Temporal And Visual Data: Recent Advancements, Priyanka Mudgal

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Clustering plays a central role in uncovering latent structure within both temporal and visual data. It enables critical insights in various domains including healthcare, finance, surveillance, autonomous systems, and many more. With the growing volume and complexity of time-series and image-based datasets, there is an increasing demand for robust, flexible, and scalable clustering algorithms. Although these modalities differ—time-series being inherently sequential and vision data being spatial—they exhibit common challenges such as high dimensionality, noise, variability in alignment and scale, and the need for interpretable groupings. This survey presents a comprehensive review of recent advancements in clustering methods that are adaptable …

Register Now For Artplay Summer Camps In Visual Arts, Theater, Writing, Shannon Thomason

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Spherex: Aromatics, Aliphatics, And Pah Size Across The Iris Nebula, C. Boersma, A. Maragkoudakis, L. J. Allamandola, J. D. Bregman, P. Temi, Vincent J. Esposito, R. C. Fortenberry

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Observations by the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) are combined with counterpart Spitzer spectral map data to study the aromatic, aliphatic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) size evolution across the northwest photodissociation region (PDR) of the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023). The 3.3–3.4 μm complex (I_3.3) and 11.2 μm (I_11.2) PAH band strength are determined through direct integration. In addition, the former is decomposed into a 3.3 (I_3.3) and 3.4 μm (I_3.4) subfeature by fitting SPHEREx bandpass-integrated photometry using a modeled, highly sampled, multicomponent …

Mapping Post-Rainfall Recovery In Arid Regions Using A Hierarchical U-Net, Xin Hong

All Works

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) experienced an extreme rainfall event between April 15 and 17, 2024, and that resulted in severe flooding in its coastal regions. Dubai was among the most affected regions. This study applies a hierarchical deep learning model on PlanetScope imagery to detect flood inundation, quantify flood extent by land cover, and examine short-term recovery dynamics. While earlier work detailed the methodological development of a hierarchical U-Net model (Hong et al., in press), here we emphasize its application for monitoring resilience trajectories in an arid urban environment. Results show that approximately 22 km² of land was …

Assessing Mangrove Ecosystem Health And Identifying Optimal Planting Regions Using Remote Sensing And Gis In The Uae, Imen Ben Salem, A. Karthi, Yousef Nazzal

All Works

Mangrove forests play a critical role in carbon sequestration, biodiversity preservation, and coastal resilience, making their conservation and restoration essential in climate change mitigation. This study uses traditional field evaluations and remote sensing and geoinformatics (GIS) methods to examine how mangrove ecosystems in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have changed over time and space. We used Landsat satellite data from 2001 to 2024 and a set of vegetation indices, including SMRI, NDVI, GNDVI, EVI, and NDCI, to examine spatial patterns in biomass distribution, vegetation density, and overall ecosystem health. CO2 sequestration is a bit more climate-impact resilient. Even though the …

Mapping Urban Vegetation Changes Using Planetscope Imagery And Gis: A Case Study Of The 2024 Dubai Flood, Sumayya Almansoori, Xin Hong

All Works

In April 2024, unexpected heavy rainfall triggered one of the most severe flooding events in Dubai’s recent history, causing widespread concern for urban infrastructure and green spaces. This study evaluates the flood’s impact on urban vegetation in South Dubai using high-resolution PlanetScope satellite imagery and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Vegetation conditions before and after the flood (April 14 and April 18–19, 2024) were quantified and compared using NDVI analysis within QGIS to assess changes in vegetation health and coverage. Results indicate significant declines in vegetation health in areas dominated by intensive turf management, such as Damac Hills and …

Bridging The Gap Transition From Pediatric Care To Adult Care, Jordan Garcia, Haley Henry, Amina Jamma, Guiliana Jimenez Carrion, Alexis Lowary, Jenna Potts, Josie Ramirez, Iman Siraj

2025

No abstract provided.

Generative Ai Use And Self-Learning In Higher Education: The Role Of Learning Difficulties, Dana Saleh, Areej Elsayary

All Works

The rapid development of GenAI tools and their adoption in education have shown promising potential to personalize learning experiences. However, their effectiveness is influenced by factors such as familiarity, frequency of use, and the impact on self-learning. This study investigates the undergraduate students' familiarity with Generative AI (GenAI) tools, their frequency of use, and the perceived impact of GenAI on self-learning, with particular consideration of differences between students with and without learning difficulties. Prompt engineering is also included as a secondary aspect of students' GenAI experience. The research employed a quantitative survey design, utilizing validated scales to measure familiarity, usage …

Assessing Urban Flooding And Vegetation Impact In Dubai Creek Following The April 2024 Extreme Rainfall, Dana Alhammadi, Xin Hong

All Works

During April 2024, the United Arab Emirates experienced an unusual phenomenon of an intense rainfall episode between April 14 and 18 that resulted in massive flooding in urban environments, particularly low-lying areas such as Dubai Creek. As a tidal waterway with dense urban development and environmentally sensitive zones surrounding it, Dubai Creek is an ideal site for assessing environmental changes caused by to floods. The study employed pre-flood (14 April) and post-flood (18 April) high-resolution PlanetScope satellite images, in combination with QGIS analysis, to evaluate vegetation health and surface water changes. Quantification of affected areas from flooding was achieved through …

Metaverse-Enabled Digital Twins For Business And Smart Cities: Toward A Human-Centered Framework For Digital Transformation, Rasem Qudaih, Nicholas Caldwell, Imen Ben Salem, A. Karthi

All Works

Digital Twin (DT) technologies are increasingly changing how businesses and cities model, assess, and enhance complex systems. Traditional DTs have served as static representations of tangible assets, providing monitoring and predictive functionalities. However, minimal stakeholder engagement and a focus on specific sectors have often limited their full potential. The rise of the metaverse, reinforced by Extended Reality (XR) technologies, presents a unique chance to evolve DTs into immersive, interactive, and human-centered platforms for collaborative decision-making. This integration allows stakeholders to visualize and engage with multidimensional data in real time, facilitating predictive analysis, scenario planning, and participatory governance. In business environments, …

Cxcr4-Targeted Theranostics In Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: Present Evidence And Future Directions, Marcus Yoakam, Uma A. Obalapuram, Kameron Hahn, Samir Dalia

Student Publications

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is a biologically heterogeneous group of lymphoid malignancies with variable clinical outcomes despite advances in chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and cellular therapies. The C–X–C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4)/ C–X–C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) axis plays a central role in lymphocyte trafficking, survival, and tumor microenvironment interactions. It is frequently dysregulated in NHL, making it an attractive target for precision oncology. CXCR4- directed theranostics combines molecular imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy, enabling real-time assessment of receptor expression, patient stratification, and personalized treatment delivery. Diagnostic positron emission tomography imaging using ⁶⁸Ga-pentixafor reliably visualizes CXCR4-expressing disease, while therapeutic agents, such …

Redefining The Role Of Chaperones For Dot/Icm T4bss-Mediated Substrate Translocation By Legionella Pneumophila, Sukhithasri Vijayrajratnam, Ahmet Hasanovic, Joseph P Vogel

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Legionella pneumophila, the etiological agent of legionnaires' disease, establishes its intracellular niche through the Dot/Icm type IVB secretion system, which translocates ∼300 effector proteins into host cells. Efficient secretion of many effectors requires the IcmS and IcmW chaperones, which interact with both substrates and the type IV coupling protein DotL. A prior model proposed that IcmSW are released from substrates during translocation by transfer to the C terminus of DotL and then recycled to the cytoplasm. This model predicts an excess cytoplasmic pool of IcmSW and their dissociation from DotL. We tested these predictions using quantitative stoichiometric analysis of Dot/Icm …

Myd88 Signaling In Myeloid Cells Induces Gastrointestinal Tract Injury And Systemic Inflammation After West Nile Virus Infection, Shih-Ching Lin, Fang R Zhao, Matthias Mack, Gabriel Mbalaviele, Michael S Diamond

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Humans with autoantibodies to type I interferons (IFNs) are at higher risk for neurological disease after West Nile virus (WNV) infection. IFN signaling deficient WNV-infected mice develop greater inflammation in the brain, which correlates with loss of gut barrier integrity. Here, we investigate the immune pathways that mediate this virus-gut-brain axis of inflammation. Myd88

Dual Roles Of Trpv2 In The Innate Immune Response To Cytosolic Dna: Arresting Dormant And Boosting Activated Sting, Chen Cheng, Hsiang-Ting Lu, Shan Li, Zhongsheng You

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The cGAS/STING-dependent innate immune pathway is central in the cellular response to cytosolic DNA derived from viral infections, genotoxic stress, or mitochondrial defects. While efficient activation of the pathway is crucial for defending against pathogens and cancer, maintaining its dormancy without stimuli is equally important to avoid autoimmunity. However, the precise control of the cGAS/STING pathway remains poorly understood. Here, we report that the ion channel TRPV2 regulates both the dormancy and activation of STING. TRPV2 associates with STING and suppresses spontaneous STING activation in the absence of cytoDNA but dissociates from STING and promotes its activation by releasing Ca

Distinct Contributions Of Etv2+ And Flk1+ Progenitors To Endothelial, Hematopoietic, And Cardiac Lineages, Dereck Alleyne, Minseo Kim, Jun Wu, Yoojung Kwon, Ye-Ram Kim, Ashraf Ul Kabir, Matthew Ishahak, Jeffrey R Millman, Changxu Fan, Hyung Joo Lee, Karen Krchma, Xiaoyun Xing, Kory Lavine, Ting Wang, Kyunghee Choi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The ETS family transcription factor ETV2, VEGFA, and its receptor FLK1 are essential for hematopoietic, vascular, and cardiac development. Here, we combine dual Etv2 and Flk1 lineage tracing with molecular profiling to define how mesoderm progenitors are allocated to hematopoietic, endothelial, cardiomyocyte, and smooth muscle lineages. We demonstrate that hematopoietic, endothelial, and cardiac valves arise from dual Etv2

Ablation Of Cd38 In Multiple Myeloma Cells Leads To An Aggressive Phenotype In A Mouse Xenograft Model, Michael R Dyer, Alex Zheleznyak, Erin N Teubner, Julie L Prior, Brad Manion, Zhenghan Jing, Amit K Sharma, Junwei Du, Rui Tang, Mark A Fiala, John F Dipersio, Deborah Veis, Julie O'Neal, Mikhail Y Berezin, Monica Shokeen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy characterized by bone pain and end-organ failure. A major challenge in treating MM is therapeutic resistance. CD38-targeted immunotherapies, such as daratumumab, have significantly improved outcomes; however, variable responses, resistance, and relapse remain vital challenges. We hypothesized that loss of CD38 drives a more aggressive phenotype and resistance to therapy. To test this, we developed a CD38 knockout (KO) clone of a human MM cell line and evaluated it in immunodeficient mice. Mice with CD38 KO tumors exhibited an increased tumor burden and reduced survival compared with those with CD38 wild-type (WT) tumors. …

Expression Spectrum Of Te-Driven Transcripts In Human Adult Tissues, Benpeng Miao, Xinlong Luo, Amina Ademovic, Yushan Yang, Tao P Wu, Bo A Zhang

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Transposable elements (TEs) are vital components of eukaryotic genomes and have played a critical role in genome evolution. Although most TEs are silenced in the mammalian genome, increasing evidence suggests that certain TEs are actively involved in gene regulation during early developmental stages. However, the extent to which human TEs drive gene transcription in adult tissues remains largely unexplored. RESULTS: In this study, we systematically analyze 17,329 human transcriptomes to investigate how TEs influence gene transcription across 47 adult tissues. Our findings reveal that TE-driven transcripts are broadly expressed in human tissues, contributing to both housekeeping functions and tissue-specific …

Inducible Deletion Of Dgat1 And 2 From Microglia Exacerbates Neurodegeneration And Endolysosomal Lipid Accumulation In Male Ps19 Mice, G Travis Tabor, Alexandra Litvinchuk, Yun Chen, Austin Allison, Carisa Zeng, Hao Hu, Peter B Lin, Prabal Sharma, Samira Parhizkar, Sihui Song, Xin Bao, Abhirami K Iyer, Shih Feng You, Javier Remolina Serrano, Melissa Manis, Emily Franke, Anil G Cashikar, Carla M Yuede, Celeste M Karch, Eric J Huang, Maxim Artyomov, Jason D Ulrich, David M Holtzman, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Brain myeloid cells accumulate neutral lipids in multiple human neurodegenerative disorders and relevant mouse models. These lipids are often assumed to be contained in lipid droplets (LDs). While studies have been performed in cell culture and Drosophila models to characterize glial LDs, the roles of microglial LD biogenesis in mammalian tauopathy are unclear. To address this issue, we induced the deletion of diacylglycerol acyltransferases (DGATs) 1 and 2, enzymes critical for LD formation, from microglia in the PS19 mouse model of tauopathy. Microglial DGAT double knockout (KO) exacerbated neurodegeneration and increased the abundance of brain cholesteryl esters in male PS19 …