6834 research outputs found
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Sports, sports medicine, and performance-enhancing drugs : a Christian perspective.
No full textThis thesis examines the ethically complex issue of performance-enhancing drug (PED) use in sport, focusing on the role played by both athletes and the evolving practices of sports medicine. It analyzes the political, economic, social and technological forces that contribute to the normalization of PEDs and critically assesses the moral landscape through a theological lens. Drawing on Michael Shafer’s Christian conception of sport—grounded in the recognition of human vulnerability, the recovery of the spirit of play, and the pursuit of excellence—this study argues that PED use is fundamentally incompatible with a Christian moral vision of sport. Engaging with theological and bioethical thinkers such as Neil Messer and Brian Brock, this thesis challenges the performance-driven ethic that dominates much of modern sports medicine. Ultimately, it contends that resisting PEDs is not only a matter of fair competition but a form of faithful witness. The Christian athlete is called to embody a countercultural ethic that redefines achievement, honors the giftedness of the body, and participates in a vocational call to glorify God through sport
Reimagining breast cancer care : an analysis of illness narratives to improve patient care and needs.
No full textBreast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the world making it a massive public health issue. As the medical field has grown tremendously over the past years, treatment options are more readily available. Nonetheless, there is more than medical care that needs to be addressed. Breast cancer is a psychologically, emotionally, and socially challenging disease. Illness narratives, pioneered by medical anthropologist Arthur Kleinman, help the public better understand a patient’s lived experience. These narratives highlight the relationship between medical treatment and emotional distress. This thesis analyzed many illness narratives and found key themes consistent across each including the strained patient-provider relationship, the emotional and psychological toll of the disease, and the importance of a community. Patient- centered care is crucial. By addressing the medical and emotional needs of patients, healthcare as a field can improve even more
The neurobiological impact of nicotine vapor exposure on parvalbumin interneurons and perineuronal nets in the orbitofrontal cortex.
No full textElectronic cigarette use (vaping) has surged in the past decade, especially among adolescents and young adults. Although marketed as safer alternatives to traditional cigarettes, the long-term effects of nicotine vapor exposure remain poorly understood. This study examines the physiological, behavioral, and neurobiological consequences of nicotine vapor inhalation in male Wistar rats, with a focus on parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons and perineuronal nets (PNNs) in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Two exposure paradigms—once daily and twice daily passive inhalation—were used with nicotine concentrations of 15, 30, and 60 mg/mL. Behavioral assessments were used to evaluate nociception and thermoregulation, including tail withdrawal latency and rectal temperature. Immunohistochemical analyses quantified PV+ interneurons and WFA- labeled PNNs in the lateral and ventral OFC. Results revealed dose- and time-dependent effects of nicotine on nociception and thermoregulation. Notably, a significant increase in PV+ cell density was found in the lateral OFC of rats exposed to high-dose nicotine (60 mg/mL) under the once-daily protocol. However, no significant changes were observed in PNN (WFA+) density or intensity across conditions. These findings suggest that nicotine vapor exposure alters inhibitory circuitry in the OFC. This work underscores the need for further research into the relationship between PNNs and PV+ interneurons and how changes in regulators of plasticity following vaping may underlie increased vulnerability to addiction
Evolution of the medicolegal definition of death in the United States with a focus on organ donation.
No full textThe current model used in medicine and law to determine whether or not a person is officially dead in the US is drawn from the Uniform Determination of Death Act, or UDDA. This model has a number of significant flaws and ways in which it conflicts with contemporary medical ethics and principles of religious and individual liberty. The current legal definition of death gives two conflicting criteria by which a person may be considered dead: total cessation of either neurological activity or cardiorespiratory activity. Many people object to the use of neurological criteria either because it conflicts with their personal beliefs or because they believe there are metaphysical flaws with the concept of brain death itself. At the same time, the legitimization of death by neurological criteria in law has had a significant positive impact on the worldwide transplant organ shortage, and reversing its instatement in law could be disastrous for those awaiting organ transplants. As medical ethics and technology evolve, the legal definition of death is likely to change as well, with a couple of possible solutions to the current model's flaws being the most likely course of action for legislators and healthcare providers
The impact of L2 proficiency on working memory performance in Mandarin speakers.
No full textThis study investigates the relationship between second language (L2) proficiency and working memory (WM) performance in Mandarin-speaking individuals. Previous research has suggested that bilingual individuals may experience cognitive advantages in tasks that require cognitive control, particularly those that demand working memory. However, the role of L2 proficiency on working memory skills specifically in Mandarin-English bilinguals remains underexplored. In this study, Mandarin-speaking participants were tested on their L2 proficiency in English, and their performance on the Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS) task, a measure of working memory, was assessed. The results revealed that L2 proficiency did not significantly predict performance on the LNS task. These findings suggest that task characteristics, such as modality and executive control demands, may moderate the relationship between bilingualism and cognitive performance. Future research should employ a wider range of working memory tasks and consider the influence of language context and task modality when assessing cognitive advantages in bilingual populations
Down to the bone : the use of macromorphoscopic traits to differentiate and determine Asian and Native American ancestry through computerized tomography scans.
No full textAsian and Native American populations share a close genetic history affecting osteological features, which can complicate the assessment of human remains. The difficulty increases the likelihood of misclassification in a biological profile, a staple in Forensic cases. This is critical given the rising cases of violence against Native American and Asian women (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2025). To alleviate the problem, 14 of 16 macromorphoscopic (MMS) traits (Hefner, 2009) were used to explore craniofacial differences between Asians (n= 25) and Native Americans (n= 29) by using computerized tomography (CT) scans. Using crosstabulations and chi-square analyses, it was found that the nasal overgrowth, interorbital breadth, nasal aperture width, and post-bregmatic depression are features that considerably differentiate the two populations
Mamma's girl : a memoir.
No full textThis creative thesis, a coming-of-age memoir, narrates the experience of a college student who confronts the unexpected death of a parent in her first year. This memoir reflects my particular experience as a cultural minority, first-generation, female college student from an Eastern European, multifaith family. Eager to learn and achieve an excellent education from a highly regarded Baptist university, I experienced a shift from idealized thinking to reflective understanding as I processed grief and began my journey of recovery; this memoir demonstrates that emotional, intellectual, and spiritual development. The narrative covers the period directly before my mother’s death (second semester of my freshman year) to a year later (second semester of my sophomore year). The purpose of this coming-of-age memoir focused on grief is to encourage students to see the transformative power of experience despite the trials and to offer perspective on that experience. This memoir contains a substantial amount of research, which can be separated into three sections: works on writing a memoir, research on grieving, and actual memoirs about grief. Research on grief and its emotional, intellectual, and spiritual effects includes works by Megan Devine, Mary-Frances O’Connor, Colin Campbell, and Candi Cann. Memoirs on the female grief experience include works by Michelle Zauner and Joan Didion. All of these works impacted my grief experiences and are reflected in my memoir
Characterizing gene-regulatory enhancer landscapes across ten human tissues.
No full textOne of the reasons that the human genome has proven so difficult to fully understand, is the presence of non-coding gene-regulatory elements. Enhancers are some of the most significant of these elements in gene expression. There is an ongoing effort to map out all enhancer sequences in the human genome and build them into annotated enhancer landscapes. These enhancer landscapes help to inform how a target gene is expressed under different sets of circumstances. In this thesis, three-dimensional chromatin data taken from ten different human tissues was layered with data from other studies in order to build and further define the characteristics of these landscapes. The chosen data contained accepted markers for enhancer activity such as conservation, transcription factor binding, and massively parallel reporter assay activity. Through this combined dataset, comparisons can be made between the landscapes of different tissues based on size, epigenetic markers, and even the types of genes they target. In this thesis, these landscapes are also overlapped with known disease variants in order to identify locations where enhancer function may result in disease. Specifically, variants for Parkinson’s disease overlapped with enhancer landscapes in the hippocampus region of the brain. My results showed a significant difference in the size and characteristics of landscapes across tissues as well as enrichment of overlap between disease-associated variants and the landscapes in the relevant tissue
Digital deception : how artificial intelligence poses a threat to the United States’ domestic elections.
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the way we share and receive information. While it has numerous benefits, its ability to disrupt democratic processes - especially elections - raises urgent concerns. This thesis explores how AI can not only interfere with U.S. elections but also undermine the public’s trust in our own government. This thesis starts with the historical overview regarding the actual development of AI (as an idea and in practice). Then, it outlines and defines different AI tools that could (and do) have the ability to interfere with our elections. Once these tools are defined, it outlines the actual examples and instances of these tools affecting our society in real life as well as the different threats that these tools pose to our society. The fifth chapter is the culmination of this thesis. In this chapter, there is a policy proposal for what we can actually do to mitigate this important issue before it becomes too overpowering and overbearing on us
The "perfect" tuning system.
No full textMathematicians and musicians alike have done vast research into the musical tuning systems of Western music, but a “perfect” tuning system has yet to be developed. We will delve into the development and shortcomings of four major tuning systems in Western music. In Chapter 1 we will delve into Pythagorean Tuning, Chapter 2 will be about Just Intonation, Chapter 3 will be about Meantone Temperament and Equal Temperament, and Chapter 4 will discuss what a “perfect” tuning system requires. Through this analysis of the benefits and imperfections of these tuning systems, we will compose a list of qualitative principles as well as quantitative criteria that a tuning system must uphold to be “perfect,” in the sense that it has all of the advantages of each of these four systems. We will then propose three mathematical propositions and proofs to ultimately prove mathematically that a “perfect” tuning system cannot exist due to an inconsistency that arises between two of our criteria. Broadening the scope, we will also use the qualitative principles to argue that we will never be able to develop a perfect tuning system outside of Heaven due to human imperfection and the finitude of human reasoning, as God’s ways are higher than our own