bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relationship between core stability and shoulder injuries in athletes
Authors:   , Pontillo Marisa , Ebaugh Duane David
Published: July 2021

Core stability (neuromuscular control and muscle capacity of the trunk and pelvis) is theoretically linked to optimal shoulder function during sports-specific tasks despite limited evidence to support its use for the prevention or rehabilitation of extremity injuries in athletes. Impairments in core stability could theoretically result in less than optimal performance and abnormal force dissipation to the shoulder complex that could potentially lead to upper extremity injuries in athletes. Lower extremity postural control is also associated with athletic function and may be associated with upper extremity injuries. Clinical measures of core stability have not been validated against lab-based measures of core neuromuscular control. This has resulted in several knowledge gaps that hinder clinical identification of core stability deficits in athletes, as well as the determination of the role that core stability has in athletic injuries. The specific aims of this study are to 1) determine the strength of the association between clinical and lab-based measures of core stability in the athletic population and 2) identify the clinical and lab-based measures of core stability that are significant predictors of shoulder injuries in athletes. Eighty athletes (55 males, age: 21.2 + 3.3 years, 40 with shoulder pain) completed clinical and lab-based tests of core stability that assess aspects of both muscle capacity and neuromuscular control of the trunk and pelvis, as well as lower extremity postural stability. Athletes competed at a club, varsity, or competitive level, and were matched by age, gender, BMI, and sport type. Spearman's rho ([rho]) correlations were used to assess relationships between clinical and biomechanical measures of core stability. MANOVAs were used to assess differences between measures of core stability and lower extremity postural stability between groups. There were significant small-medium correlations between clinical and biomechanical measures of core stability. There were no statistically significant differences between athletes with and without shoulder injuries for the clinical or biomechanical core stability measures or clinical or biomechanical lower extremity postural stability measures. Our findings suggest that the clinical tests assessed require some static core neuromuscular mechanisms, although these tests primarily assess of core muscle capacity. Although core stability is widely incorporated in rehabilitation of athletes with shoulder injuries, these athletes may not present with impairments in core stability or lower extremity postural stability.
Is Retransmission Consent Still Needed in 2016
Authors:   , O'Rourke Chelsea A. , Cavallaro Mary , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

Let's say you are ready to relax and to watch your favorite network television show on your cable box. You sit down, pick up the remote and tune to the appropriate number channel to find CBS. No thought needed. Well that channel is being provided to you as a result of the cable company's negotiation with CBS known as "Retransmission Consent". Such negotiations became a requirement of federal regulation implemented in 1992 and have been controversial in the cable and satellite industries ever since. Now, these negotiations sometimes fail resulting in a broadcasting impasse with the consumers sitting down at their televisions and seeing a blackout of certain channels. Is this impasse a profit grab or truly an unnecessary battle caused by regulation and the changing impact of ever-changing technology? With technology changing how the television industry traditionally did business, many changes have taken place over the last twenty-five years. Consumers, technology and profit, are at the heart of the process and the ongoing debate. This research paper evaluates whether the current form of regulation is still needed today; whether modifications should be made or even whether the regulation should be repealed.
The Truth Behind Reality Television
Authors:   , Ruangrak Pen-u-sa , Tedesco Albert S. , Culver David
Published: July 2021

The primary purpose of this study is to determine the level of authenticity behind the process of creating reality television shows. This study focused on production and postproduction processes, and content manipulation before airing the show on television. The study conducted observations and interviews with a small sample group of experts in producing reality television in a small production company located in Philadelphia. Observation notes were written on papers and interviews were recorded on mobile phone. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that there is still authenticity in reality television shows, but it is not completely pure truth. Events in reality television are often manipulated to benefit celebrities and participants on the shows. Small production companies have limited time, ability, and budget to create reality television shows compared to larger production companies. Because of a money factor, it was concluded that small production companies often apply more intensive and invasive manipulation techniques than large production companies since the smaller production companies may have less budget to create effective reality television shows than larger production companies.
Heart Failure Quality Improvement Initiative
Authors:   , Dormio Rosalee M. , DiMaria-Ghalili Rose Ann
Published: July 2021

Background: According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart failure remained the leading cause of death in 2010. Fifty percent of those diagnosed with HF will die within five years of diagnosis. Over 39 billion is spent on HF annually, creating a huge personal and healthcare expenditure burden. Purpose: To determine if an inpatient multidisciplinary HF program decreases the Medicare 30-day hospital readmission rate for a hospital in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Methods: This quality improvement project utilized a retrospective design. The impact of a multidisciplinary heart failure program on 30-day readmissions was evaluated by comparing HF readmissions during a 6-month period before and after implementation of the program. Inclusion criteria included using data Results: A total of 696 medical records were reviewed for this quality improvement project. Three hundred twenty-one during the pre-intervention period and 375 during the post intervention period. Twenty-seven were eliminated during the pre-intervention period and 28 during the post intervention period due to exclusion criteria. The readmission rate was 12.6% pre-intervention and 16.7% post-intervention. The difference in readmission rates was not significant. Conclusion and recommendations: The multidisciplinary heart failure program did not decrease the Medicare 30-day hospital readmission rate, but there are many factors that may have impacted the readmissions. Since the hospital system plans to continue the program, it may be beneficial to reevaluate the program next year. The addition of a HF outpatient clinic for access to early follow-up care post hospitalization and access to triage care may also be advantageous.
Polymer Ultrasound Contrast Agents for Targeted Drug and Gene Delivery
Authors:   , Cochran Michael , Wheatley Margaret A.
Published: July 2021

Ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) are encapsulated gas microbubbles that can respond to ultrasound by rapidly expanding and contracting (exhibiting cavitation) while also reflecting the acoustic signal. This ultrasound induced cavitation can be utilized to increase the permeability of blood vessels or to create transient pores in cell membranes. It may be possible to take advantage of these biological effects for ultrasound targeted drug and gene delivery. Microbubbles made with a poly(lactic acid) shell and loaded with Doxorubicin (Dox) were previously developed in this lab and shown to rupture into 200-400nm drug loaded polymer fragments when exposed to ultrasound. The ability of this platform to provide ultrasound-targeted drug delivery in vivo was examined with a rat hepatocellular carcinoma model and compared with free Dox. Microbubbles were able to deliver significantly more drug to the tumor compared to free Dox (2.491 ± 0.501%/g tissue, vs. 0.373 ± 0.087%/g tissue, p= 0.047). However, significantly higher drug levels were also found in the spleen and liver of animals treated with microbubbles compared to free Dox. Microbubbles were also loaded with more hydrophobic drugs including paclitaxel and docetaxel. Total payloads of 129.5 ± 1.8 and 80.8 ± 3.0[mu]g drug/mg UCA were achieved for paclitaxel and docetaxel loaded microbubbles while maintaining the agents' acoustic activities. Both agents were able to provide a sustained in vitro release of drug from the shell over three weeks and the drug released from these agents was able to prevent the growth of MCF7 cancer cells in vitro. Polyethyleneimine coated polymer microbubbles were also developed for ultrasound targeted gene therapy and were capable of carrying a DNA payload of 22.8 ± 0.13[mu]g DNA/mg UCA. Additionally, polymer microbubbles triggered with ultrasound enhanced the delivery of free plasmid DNA into the cytoplasm of MCF7 cells in vitro. Successful transfection required an acoustic pressure amplitude of 250kPa or greater and showed a strong dependence on frequency and pulse length, however these settings also resulted in significantly lower cell viability. Transfection efficiency was also affected by the calcium ion concentrations in the culture medium and stage of the cell cycle that cells were treated in.
Passive Assessment of Longitudinal Behaviors Associated with Mindfulness
Authors:   , Doiron Matthew J. , DeMatteo David S.
Published: July 2021

The assessment of mindfulness (i.e., a general receptivity and full engagement in the present moment) has historically been conducted via self-report questionnaires and interviews (Brown, Ryan, & Creswell, 2007), and there has been limited research into objective and behavioral-based assessment tools. Phone-sensing is a novel data collection method that has been shown to detect long-term behavioral patterns associated with personality traits (De Montjoye, Quoidbach, Robic, & Pentland, 2013), mental health status (Ben-Zeev et al., 2016), and physical health (Eagle & Sandy Pentland, 2006) by passively collecting data from smartphone sensors and software. The purpose of the current study was to determine if there is an association between patterns of phone sensing data and reported level of mindfulness. Findings suggest that there is significant positive relationship between mindfulness and predictability of the participant's location each day, predictability of face-to-face interactions each day, number of face-to-face interactions on nights and weekends. Among the phone sensing predictors, predictability of face-to-face interactions measured via detecting Bluetooth signals explained the most unique variance, and the combination of all three associated predictors explained a medium-to-large amount of the variance in mindfulness scores. The current study's findings support the possible utility phone sensing methods may have in measuring longitudinal behaviors and quantifying long-term fluctuations in behaviors that are traditionally difficult to quantify.
The Transition of China's Video Website
Authors:   , Ai Qianwen , Curry Karen , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

TV watching is no longer exclusively a single-screen experience. It now includes multiple devices that enable people to watch preferred content on whatever, wherever, and whenever it is most convenient. In the first 15 years of the 21st century, China's video website industry has been rapidly growing and evolving. Meanwhile, video website has changed lifestyles and habits worldwide. Online video industry has become larger and more complex. Among all the other countries around world, China makes a good example. Till 2015, China has the largest amount of online video subscribers. The number is near 450 million and still increasing. Nearly 80% of the internet-connected population are frequent video website surfers. The major video websites including LeTV ( now LeEco )1, Youku, Sohu, IQiYi etc are changing and competing in providing collection of options for online users - from smartphones to gaming consoles, the family room couch to the airport, live to original contents, and everything in between. The LeEco can greatly be used as a reference to show public how the competition works. LeEco is a Chinese technology company specializing in internet-related fields, and one of the largest internet streaming media providers in China, which is engaged in business including Internet TV, video content creation and distribution, large-screen application and smart features development, while constructed an ecological system with complete value chain loop, promoting its innovative and remarkable enterprise' development in some dimensions. LeEco is the unique and first video website in China which stepped to innovate with the eco system concept and later on the previous competitors are taking the ways of LeEco for references. Therefore, researchers take LeEco as a case for studying and analyzing the transition of China's video websites. Researchers points out three research questions to identify the trend of development of the video streaming websites and the factors behind the leading companies' success. We argue that among various strategies, ecosystem is the most crucial one for LeEco to make significant turnaround. Meanwhile, the study also analyzes the future challenges and opportunities for the LeEco using the SWOT framework.
Identification of System Independent and Dependent Parameters for Reliable in vitro-in vivo Extrapolation of P-glycoprotein using a Mass Action Kinetic Model
Authors:   , Meng Zhou , Bentz Joseph Edward , Ellens Harma
Published: July 2021

The purpose of this work is to investigate the best kinetic parameters for incorporation into mechanistic PBPK model for P-gp using a mass action kinetic model. We first showed that by extending the P-gp kinetics analysis from confluent MDCKII-hDMR1 cells monolayers to Caoc-2 cells monolayers, the elementary rate constants governing P-gp's binding and efflux (on-, off- and efflux rate constants: k1, kr and k2) remain constant between two cell lines, therefore independent of the in vitro system in which they are generated. In addition, we kinetically identified the involvement of a basolateral uptake transporters for digoxin and loperamide in Caco-2 cells, which were also seen in MDCKII-hMDR1 cells. This again demonstrates the value of our P-gp structural model as a diagnostic tool in detecting the presence of other transporters, which cannot be done unambiguously by Michaelis-Menten approach. Our results suggest the hypothesis that the elementary rate constants of P-gp obtained from in vitro would be reliable for incorporation into mechanistic PBPK models for transporters. We also investigated the P-gp expression-activity relationship and showed that in Caco-2 cells total P-gp is much greater than efflux active P-gp, while in MDCKII-hMDR1 cells the values are fairly similar. In addition, we found that the microvilli in Caco-2 cells are taller and more densely packed than those in MDCK-hMDR1 cells, which would lead to a substantial fraction of P-gp in Caco-2 cells not contributing to final release of drug into the apical chamber, but instead being involved in a futile cycle of drug efflux followed by reabsorption. The effect of microvilli morphology differences between in vitro and in vivo systems should be considered when scaling transporter activity for P-gp and possibly other efflux transporters. In summary, all our findings as shown in this thesis will allow for a future robust PBPK model building.
Technologically Mediated Discourse and Information Exchange through Medium Specific Syntactical Features
Authors:   , Mascaro Christopher M. , Goggins Sean P. , Agosto Denise E.
Published: July 2021

Political discourse has been historically constrained by geographic proximity of participants. The introduction of the Internet and specifically social media has altered these geographic constraints and political discourse is now one of the most prevalent activities in social media. The increasing use of technology to acquire political information and participate in the political process in the United States creates a gap between what is understood about political activity in a democratic society and the specific technological features people use. As more individuals begin to use technology for political activity, understanding how the technology is used becomes increasingly important. Previous research exploring political discourse on social media has focused on one discrete event or a narrow time period. This narrow focus limits the understanding of the complex environment that comprises an election. This study takes a longitudinal approach and uses network analysis, co-occurrence analysis and temporal frequency analysis to examine a 53 million Twitter message (tweet) corpus collected during the 2012 Presidential Election (August 20, 2012 - November 13, 2012) to understand how individuals use Twitter to engage in political discourse. The queries used to compose the dataset were theoretically informed based on democratic theory and previous socio-technical research. This study makes three contributions to the existing literature. First, this study identifies that individuals use syntactical features differently in the context of an acute event such as a debate. Second, this study indicates that, although candidates and media are the most talked about and talked to, these interactions elicit no response. Third, this study reveals that information shared through URLs was predominantly user-generated content from Twitter and mass media information suggesting a reflexive information-sharing environment. This study illustrates that even with the availability of the numerous technological and syntactical features to facilitate interactions and share information, there is still a limited realization of the promise that technologies such as Twitter afford. Instead of fundamentally changing the political discourse process by having individuals use it for two-way communication, Twitter amplifies the existing political environment where there is limited cohesive discourse and communication is one-way.
Using and in vitro model of HIV-1 male-to-female transmission to identify key aspects of the bottleneck hypothesis
Authors:   , Siegert Karl G. , Bentz Joseph Edward
Published: July 2021

When semen comes in contact with the female reproductive tract (FRT), it elicits a polarized- and time-dependent release of cytokines and other soluble factors from the epithelial barrier. These factors are involved in tissue remodeling, as well as immune cell activation and recruitment. This influx of immune cells potentially susceptible to human immunodeficiency virus type (HIV-1) infection leads us to hypothesize that (i) semen alters the subepithelial environment of the FRT to be more pro-inflammatory, (ii) the pro-inflammatory environment induced by semen will modulate surface expression of antigens on immune cells, specifically the HIV-1 co-receptors on T cells, and (iii) that the combined effect of semen-induced inflammation and immune cell alterations will increase the risk of male-to-female R5-tropic HIV-1 transmission. To test these hypotheses in vitro, three different cell lines derived from the vagina, ectocervix, and endocervix were used to establish a polarized, transwell-based polarized epithelial model. After introduction of activated PBMCs into the basolateral chamber and apical exposure of the epithelial cells to semen (from healthy donors), the basolateral medium was collected and assessed for cytokine production using an ELISArray of twelve pro-inflammatory cytokines, while the PBMCs were harvested and assayed by flow cytometry for cell surface markers indicative of cell status and susceptibility to HIV-1 infection. To model HIV-1 transmission, a pseudovirus containing a GFP reporter was constructed in conjunction with either an X4-tropic envelope (HXB2) or an R5-tropic envelope (a known transmitted/founder virus). Immediately after apical semen exposure to the epithelium, PBMCs were collected and infected with a pseudovirus, and then assayed for infection (as indicated by GFP expression). In co-cultures of epithelial cells and PBMCs in the absence of infection, conditioned media in the subepithelial chamber was pro-inflammatory in nature, a condition which was exacerbated in the presence of semen. In three separate co-cultures incorporating each of the three epithelial cell lines, the innate immune response in the absence or presence of semen was dominated by IL-8. Flow cytometric analyses of the PBMCs showed that CCR5+ T lymphocytes decreased in numbers in the absence of semen only in the ectocervical model. However, CXCR4+ T lymphocyte numbers did not change appreciably in any epithelial model system. When PBMCs were pre-conditioned and then infected with an R5 or X4 pseudovirus, only those conditioned by the ectocervical cells displayed increased levels of infection by the R5 virus, but with no change in X4 virus infection. Ongoing studies are investigating the mechanism by which semen preferentially selects for R5 viruses over X4 viruses.
Cavity enhanced magneto optic rotation for measurement of HO₂
Authors:   , Stichter Michael , Cernansky Nicholas Peter , Miller David Leslie
Published: July 2021

The goal of reduced emissions and increased efficiency in transportation has required investigation into advanced engine designs. Some of these advanced engines use charge reactivity to closely control the engine ignition and combustion process and thus the overall engine operation. Reactivity controlled operation requires models of the chemical kinetics at the low end of operating temperatures. The current models are lacking detail in the low and intermediate temperature region where hydroxyl (OH), hydroperoxy (HO₂), and alkylperoxy (RO₂) radicals play an important role in the oxidation chemistry. Measurement of these radicals is made difficult in combustion systems because of the strongly absorbing stable products of combustion, such as CO₂ and H₂O, which obscure the absorption features of HO₂ and RO₂. Therefore, there is a need for sensitive and selective diagnostics which can quantitatively measure these weakly absorbing small peroxy radicals in combustion systems. This work advances the development and application of a sensitive and selective laser diagnostic technique called Cavity Enhanced Magneto-Optic Rotation (CEMOR) for quantitative measurement of paramagnetic species, specifically HO₂ radicals. CEMOR combines the sensitivity of cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) and the selectivity of magneto-optic rotation (MOR) spectroscopy. This work presents a novel design of CEMOR with a continuous wave laser source for measurement of HO₂. The narrower bandwidth of continuous wave lasers offers increased spectroscopic resolution over the pulsed Nd:YAG/OPO laser used for previous CEMOR development. Continuous wave cavity ringdown spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) is integrated with MOR in order to make high resolution scans of HO₂ in a flash photolysis cell. Modeling results of the magnetic field strength in studies of MOR and CEMOR with a slot burner using permanent magnets, and of CEMOR in a flash photolysis cell using a solenoid are presented. Magnetic field strength effect is shown to have a linear relationship with MOR signal and a mechanism for measurement of its effect on CEMOR signal is described. The objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate that CEMOR can be used to make measurements of HO₂ by increasing its resolution through the incorporation of a continuous wave distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser. The intellectual merit of this work is found in the design of a novel laser spectroscopy technique which is capable of sensitive and selective detection of paramagnetic species. This initial work did not demonstrate successful application of continuous wave CEMOR to measurement of HO₂, yet it provides a path forward for this goal in a flash photolysis cell and cool flame burner. The present work also provides a method which can easily be adapted to measurement of alkyl peroxy (RO₂) radicals.
Political Super PAC Spending on Broadcast Television Following Citizens United
Authors:   , Morrison-Moncure Alice C. , Salas Philip W.
Published: July 2021

This thesis investigates a television industry claim that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision of 2010 would lead to an influx of political revenue for broadcast television stations, specifically from Super PACs that were granted the right to receive unlimited donations from people and corporations alike. The researcher tested two hypotheses: that increased Super PAC spending would cause a decrease in spending by campaigns, and that increased Super PAC spending would increase TV stations' political ad revenue from presidential and gubernatorial races. These were tested using quantitative analysis, gathering and drawing inferences from raw revenue data from broadcast television stations in three DMAs. Analysis of this raw data spanning four years and four general election cycles revealed that candidate spending was positively related to Super PAC spending between the presidential elections of 2012 and 2016, disproving the first hypothesis. Findings pertaining to the second hypothesis were inconclusive.
Coaxing New Reactivity from Metalated Nitriles
Authors:   , Yang Xun , Fleming Fraser F.
Published: July 2021

This dissertation describes a unique series of reactions with metalated nitriles for selective carbon-carbon bond formation. A summary of reactions with metalated nitriles describes the general structural features of N and C-metalated nitriles and their reactivity preferences in a diverse variety of reactions. The third chapter describes the reactions of a novel amido cuprate, generated from CuCN and LDA (Lithium Diisopropylamide). The amido cuprate allows for the deconjugative [alpha]-alkylation of cyclic alkenenitriles, a process that was previously difficult owing to a polymerization side reaction. Deprotonating cyclic alkenenitriles with the novel amido cuprate effectively avoids polymerization of alkenenitriles, and generates metalated nitriles for alkylation with a variety of electrophiles. The strategy provides an effective synthesis of quaternary 5-, 6-, and 7-membered cycloalk-1-enecarbonitriles substituted on the nitrile-bearing quaternary carbon. Chapter 4 describes a general method for sulfone-metal exchange. Treating tetra-substituted 2-pyridylsulfonylacetonitriles with either BuLi or Bu3MgLi generates metalated nitriles, which efficiently alkylate with various electrophiles to generate quaternary nitriles. The 2-pyridylsulfone is essential, as the pyridine nitrogen anchors the organometallic and facilitates the exchange. Commercial 2-pyridinesulfonylacetonitrile is readly deprotonated with mild bases, either K2CO3 or DBU (1, 8-Diazabicyclo (5.4.0)undec-7-ene) allowing two sequential alkylations to rapidly assemble a tetrasubstituted nitrile. Thus, subsequent sulfone-metal exchange and alkylation efficiently assembles quaternary nitriles. The fifth chapter describes a preliminary approach to chiral nitrile alkylations. Sulfinyl-metal exchange where step is a chelation site allows the metal cation to anchor and prevents epimerization. A chiral sulfinate precursor has been prepared by separating a diastereomeric mixture of sulfinyl nitriles. Preliminary exchange-alkylations lay the foundation for exploring this potential chiral metalated nitrile alkylation strategy.
Development of a Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT) Challenge Task Method to Facilitate Motivation in Children with Cerebral Palsy Participating in Group DMT
Authors:   , Lin Jin-Lan , Schelly Hill Ellen
Published: July 2021

Children with CP have a lower motivation level of participation than typical developing children. This capstone study project focused on developing a method for introducing appropriate challenge tasks within dance/movement therapy (DMT) groups for children with cerebral palsy (CP). The challenge tasks were designed to motivate the participants' behavioral, emotional, social, and cognitive engagement in DMT. Challenge task in this project was defined as an activity in which children are required to use more effort to solve a problem, or were supported in choosing to engage outside their normal comfort zones, to take risks that might expand their range of experience, as well as their psychosocial and physical resources. In this project, challenge tasks were offered in DMT groups at HMS School for Children with Cerebral Palsy in Philadelphia. Three DMT groups were involved. The four challenge tasks developed in this project were a ball targeting tasks, a ball balancing task, a traveling and targeting task, and a prop passing task. The challenge tasks appeared to have effects on motivating children with CP to engage in activities designed to promote body awareness, motor ability, group cooperation, and cognition. In addition, the challenge tasks may have helped the participants to cope with grief by increasing their sense of control. This capstone project resulted in guidelines to support dance/movement therapists in developing and implementing challenge tasks in their clinical practices.
Characterization of the Mitochondrial DNA Polymerase in Plasmodium falciparum
Authors:   , Reesey Emily , Vaidya Akhil B.
Published: July 2021

Several anti-malarials in clinical use and under development act on the mitochondrial electron transport chain (mtETC) of malaria parasites. The mtETC is an essential process requiring three proteins encoded by the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA): cytochrome c oxidase subunits 1 and 3, and cytochrome b. The mitochondrion of P. falciparum relies on nuclearly encoded machinery for the replication, transcription and translation of the mtDNA. A candidate nuclear gene encoding mitochondrial DNA polymerase (mtDNAP) has been identified in P. falciparum. However, to our knowledge this gene has not been characterized. Due to the essentiality of the P. falciparum mtETC as demonstrated by previous studies, mtDNAP is assumed to be essential for parasite survival. Using single crossover homologous recombination, we have derived transgenic blood stage parasites with their endogenous mtDNAP locus tagged with TetR-DOZI aptamers. These transgenic parasites were used for conditional knockdown studies, demonstrating a successful knockdown of mtDNAP. Surprisingly, this was not accompanied by any change in parasite growth. Further analysis of the mtDNA from knockdown parasites revealed a decreased amount of mtDNA, consistent with at least partial knockdown of the mtDNAP. This study demonstrates that P. falciparum parasites can survive with a significantly decreased mtDNA, allowing opportunity for future studies.
Occurrence of intersex in fishes from the Delaware and Susquehanna River basins
Authors:   , Marano Raffaela , Horwitz Richard J.
Published: July 2021

Endocrine disruption is an issue of emerging concern in aquatic systems. Endocrine disruption has been documented to result in decreased reproductive success, skewed sex ratios, increased vitellogenin levels, intersex, disease, and death in a variety of freshwater fish species. In this study, intersex or the presence of testicular oocytes in gonochoristic fish species was utilized as an indicator of endocrine disruption. The study design is based on both a temporal and interspecific comparison of intersex occurrence through the use of paired historical and modern fish samples. The historical samples were obtained from the ichthyology collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and replicate samples were collected in July and August of 2016. Historical samples from the Delaware sites include the oldest available specimens (from as early as 1898). The Susquehanna specimens spanned a longer time gradient with multiple samples (n=4) ranging from 1969 to 2016. Male Cyprinella analostana and C. spiloptera were collected from three sites in the Delaware and one site in the Susquehanna River basins. Twenty male specimens from each sample were analyzed histologically to document the prevalence and severity of intersex. Additionally, several smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu were collected and assessed as a known sensitive species. Four potentially sensitive species were identified and assessed in 2017. These four species were Lepomis auritus, Ambloplites rupestris, Etheostoma zonale, and Notropis hudsonius, and represented additional modern specimens. These species were added in an attempt to gain a better understanding of how endocrine disruption impacts the entire fish community. No specimens analyzed in this study displayed intersex other than eight M. dolomieu collected from the Susquehanna River. Land cover data was used to calculate land cover percentages for each basin. Land cover percentages indicated that the greatest altered land cover type in the Susquehanna River basin was agriculture whereas developed land was the greatest altered land cover type for the three Delaware River basin sites. This study was a first attempt at using historical specimens to understand endocrine disruption prior to the emergence of the field in the late 20th century. Additionally, there is interest in identifying a small-bodied indicator species of endocrine disruption. Although C. analostana, C. spiloptera, L. auritus, A. rupestris, E. zonale, and N. hudsonius did not portray intersex, future efforts should focus on assessing other common, small-bodied species within the Delaware and Susquehanna River basins to identify a small-bodied indicator species that can be used to assess the impact of EDCs across an entire watershed.
An Investigation of Popular Music Placement as a Viewer Engagement Tool in Television Programming
Authors:   , Howell Anessa L. , Salas Philip W.
Published: July 2021

This study examines the evolving role of popular music placement in television programming and explores the functional role of music supervisors in the television industry. Within the last decade, the unknown profession of music supervision has expanded rapidly as popular music placement becomes a permanent part of television programming. This study reviews the effects of music on the human brain, its evolving functional role in visual media, proven effects in advertising engagement, and explores the likelihood of popular music placement influencing viewers' digital behavior in the age of social television.
Adhesion of protective coating appliques on contaminated aluminum surfaces
Authors:   , Proust Gwénaëlle , Twardowski Thomas
Published: July 2021

The goal of this research was to develop an appliqué system to protect an aluminum surface previously coated with a RTV silicone rubber. The appliqué consisted of a poly (urethane) - based film coated with a suitable adhesive. Two adhesion problems were studied in this project: 1) adhesion to the contaminated aluminum surface, and 2) adhesion to the protective film of the appliqué. Adhesion can occur according to several mechanisms: physical adsorption, chemical bonding, diffusion, electrostatic forces, and mechanical interlocking. According to the type of surfaces involved in a particular adhesion problem, one of several of these mechanisms are implicated in the adhesion process. Adhesion can also be described by thermodynamics. To obtain high adhesion, the adhesive should easily wet the adherent surface to maximize the contact surface between the two materials. Knowing the surface energies of the adhesive and adherent, it is possible to predict whether the adhesion will be thermodynamically favored. The surface properties of the aluminium are modified by the traces of RTV left after its removal. Surface characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to compare the chemistry and roughness of the aluminum surfaces before RTV application and after its removal. Profilometry was employed to determine the roughness of the metallic surfaces. The surface energies of the different materials involved in the project have been calculated using contact angle measurement data. Several commercial adhesives have been tested using a 180" peeling test. The adhesives studied include hot-melt, pressure-sensitive, and liquid adhesives, and possess a variety of chemistries, including: Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), cyanoacrylate, acrylic, rubber, and silicone. The results of these mechanical tests show that the acrylic-based pressure-sensitive adhesives are the most suitable for this particular project. Moreover, the application of pressure-sensitive adhesives to the substrate is easier than for the other types of adhesives. Two acrylic-based pressure-sensitive adhesives met the project requirements: 1) adhesive 8314 from Adhesive Research, Inc., and 2) adhesive 9495 MPF from 3M.
Assisted Conception and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Large Commercially Insured Population in the United States
Authors:   , Wallace Anna Elizabeth , Newschaffer Craig J.
Published: July 2021

Over the past 4 decades, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased from ~5 per 10,000 persons in the 1970s to current estimates of ~147 per 10,000 persons. Although much of this increase is likely due to changes in diagnostic criteria and ascertainment, it is unclear to what degree true temporal changes in ASD risk are also occurring. Nonetheless, because of their high prevalence and lifelong morbidity associated with the core features, ASDs are a major public health concern. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that peri-conceptional exposures, such as those related to assisted conception, may be of particular interest ASD etiology. Assisted conception (AC), which includes hormonal treatments (i.e. ovulation-inducing drugs, OID) as well as technical procedures (i.e. in vitro fertilization, IVF; intrauterine insemination, IUI), has been investigated as a potential obstetric risk factor for ASD in around 15 original research studies, as well as several systematic reviews/meta-analyses, with inconsistent results. Only a single study identified a statistically significant inverse relationship. And though several studies have found statistically significant positive associations between use of AC and risk of ASD, few have found that statistical significance persisted either for the main outcome or a subgroup after adjustment for potential confounders and covariates of interest. This project has examined the potential association between AC, according to type of AC treatment, and risk of ASD through prospectively generated data available on a large commercially insured population. The identification of modifiable risk factors is vital to the development of strategies to reduce ASD risk.
Crosslinked Poly(Ethylene Glycol)-Based Hybrid Electrolytes for Lithium-Metal Polymer Batteries
Authors:   , Huang Ziyin , Li Christopher Y.
Published: July 2021

Lithium metal batteries, which use lithium metal as the anode, have the advantage of much higher energy density over the commercially used lithium-ion batteries with graphite as the anode. However, during repeated charge-discharge cycles, lithium dendrites may form due to uneven deposition of lithium on the lithium metal anode, and lithium dendrite growth induced short-circuits are always a problem preventing lithium-metal batteries from being used in a lot of applications. Using solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) for lithium metal batteries has the benefit of using the electrolyte as the electrode separator while inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrites. The current most significant issue for SPEs is low ionic conductivity at room temperature. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has been extensively used for SPE systems due to its strong lithium ion solvating ability and high dielectric constant. In this study, crosslinked PEG polymer electrolyte membranes were synthesized with different amount of plasticizers to produce samples with different ionic conductivities and mechanical properties. It was shown that, with the increase amount of small PEG molecules added, the ionic conductivities of the SPEs showed significant increase and mechanical properties decreases. Performance of the electrolytes was correlated with both properties, and the results were analyzed to propose the ideal design for PEG polymer electrolytes for lithium metal polymer batteries.
Transparency or Over-Regulation
Authors:   , Jones LaTonya M. , Salas Philip W.
Published: July 2021

On April 23, 2012, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) established a mandate that changed how broadcast stations were required to file their Public Inspection and Political Files. Broadcast stations have been very careful regarding who is granted access to their advertising financial records, and other station documents, as it is their main source of revenue. While this information has always been available in paper form, it is now conveniently available via the FCC's website. This thesis analyzes the evolution of the FCC's regulation of broadcast stations, regarding its level of increased oversight. The researcher used in-depth interviews with sales personnel and legal counselors from a top performing broadcast station in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville television market.
A Quantitative Investigation of the Relationship between Technology Transfer Outreach Programs and Innovation Output at U.S. Research Universities
Authors:   , Chou Katherine , Phillips Joy C.
Published: July 2021

University administrators regard technology transfer as their "Third Mission," because they benefit from more than a billion dollars in annual revenue stream through technology transfer operations. Technology transfer (TT) is the process by which research intensive universities transfer scientific innovations from an academic institution to companies and receive financial compensations. Although innovator engagement is a critical step towards encouraging innovation output, universities have not paid much attention to outreach programs. While a large body of literature has focused on downstream value-creation of commercialization, it has neglected to investigate the upstream innovation-creation process resulting in limited insights. The purpose of this research study was to build upon work engagement theory and multi-perspective models to investigate the relationship between TT outreach programs and innovation output at U.S. research universities. The research design included a quantitative internet survey method involving 163 U.S. research universities and 223 innovators. Data from the survey were analyzed using inferential statistics and IBM SPSS quantitative software to investigate the relationship and explore innovator engagement phenomenon. By identifying preferred training programs and communication channels, recognition and reward systems, and innovation output, this study aims to inform and guide university officials on effective outreach programs preferred from the perspectives of innovators and TT professionals. The findings indicated innovation output is associated with TT outreach programs. Experienced innovators preferred one-on-one interactions with TT offices to address their specific concerns and utilized up-to-date websites with searchable database at their conveniences. Innovators also expressed time constraint to innovate. Although TTOs recognized face-to-face interaction is an effective channel, budget constraint to have enough work force to manage such interactions is a challenge. Both innovators and TTOs indicated university administrators needed to include TT activities in the promotion and tenure consideration. In conclusion, outreach programs have the potential to increase innovation output for novice innovators that include students. University administrators should consider faculty's technology transfer accomplishments as academic achievements and allow time for faculty to innovate.
Synthesis, characterization, and application of biodegradable polymeric prodrug micelles for long-term drug delivery
Authors:   , Hans Meredith L. , Lowman Anthony M.
Published: July 2021

Long-term drug delivery has several advantages such increasing bioavialability of drugs, reduction of pharmaceutical side effects, and increased patient compliance. Nanoparticles, such as block copolymer micelles, worm-like micelles, liposomes and polymersomes, have been proposed recently in the literature as promising drug delivery vehicles. Specifically, block copolymer micelles have advantages for drug delivery such as small size (< 100 nm) and hydrophilic outer shell that provides for increased in vivo halflife imparting a "stealth" nature to the particles. Drugs covalently attached to a polymer chain, known as prodrugs, can significantly enhance drug incorporation efficiency. Additionally, the drug release could be further controlled through the conjugate chemistry. In this work a biodegradable block copolymer prodrug was synthesized with the antipsychotic drug haloperidol. These polymeric prodrugs were formulated into nanoscale micelle-like structures, which were then characterized for size, morphology, stability, and drug loading capability. Micelles were found to be stable for use as a drug delivery vehicle, remaining intact upon dilution below the critical micelle concentration. In vitro release was evaluated from various formulations of micelles, and ranged from 3 to 5 days. Release from polymeric prodrug micelles most closely approached a linear release profile. Furthermore, in vivo behavioral studies were performed to assess haloperidol bioactivity from drug loaded micelles on ketamine induced hyperlocomotion. Results were consistent with in vitro release data, showing that conjugate and combination micelles continued to release drug 4 days post injection, attenuating the effects of the ketamine induced hyperlocomotion. Additionally, results indicate that the sedative side effects of haloperidol were reduced with the micelle delivery systems as compared to the acute haloperidol injection.
Study of oscillating jets extruded from rectangular slots
Authors:   , Jain Amitkumar Champalal , Cairncross Richard Allan
Published: July 2021

Some important industrial extrusion processes involve extrusion of polymer melts from non-axisymmetric dies. The extrudate cross-section distorts, i.e. the shape of the cross-section of the extrudate differs from shape of the die due to die swell and surface tension. Surface tension force seeks to minimize the free surface are of the extrudate and thus distorts the cross-section of the extrudate towards a circle. The distortion in cross-section shape presents difficulties in the design of the dies. To investigate these distortions, vertical jets of liquids extruded from rectangular cross-section nozzles are studied. When a liquid jet exits from a rectangular nozzle, the jet cross-section just as it exits the nozzle is approximately elliptical. The jet exhibits oscillatory behavior i.e. the cross-section of the jet changes from elliptical shape to a circular and then again to elliptical shape. The various forces acting on the jet are surface tension, inertial, viscous and gravitational forces. The oscillations are primarily due to the surface tension force and inertial force. The viscous forces damp the amplitude of the oscillations and the gravitational force accelerates the axial velocity of the jet. It is seen from experiments that amplitude of oscillation of jet increases with increase in flowrate and /or decrease in viscosity. This thesis presents an experimental set-up to capture the shape of the oscillating jets and comparison between experimental results, analytical models and three dimensional finite element predictions of the free surface shape.