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Reframing Jewish Feminism in America: An Analysis of American Jewish Women and the Negotiation of Their Jewish and Feminist Identities Pre-World War 2 to Post-World War 2
No full textFor centuries, American Jewish women have ignited an impact on American society. However, it was not until the early 19th century that the Jewish community became more notable. After immigrating to America, they began to assimilate to some degree, blending elements of their background with American culture. However, making a place for themselves was only a starting point. Many American Jewish women, in particular, utilized making their space to start their personalized initiatives. Some of these women were ardent activists voicing their opinions freely and without fearing judgment. Others were quite the opposite, exploring their identities much more privately. Even as the Jewish population of the United States significantly grew during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jewish women struggled to define their identity - American, Jewish, and female. Often, it left American Jewish women to become ostracized - not receiving the same opportunities as Jewish men or even other women who were not Jewish. Despite this, some American Jewish women found ways to negotiate their womanhood with their feminist ideologies. Contrary to scholarly consensus, moreover, this negotiation had been occurring well before the beginning of the second feminist movement. Regardless of the method, American Jewish women managed to negotiate two identities that were often placed at odds with one another. This project highlights how, not only did the "Jewish Feminist" movement begin during the mid-19th century, but American Jewish women utilized this to their advantage. They negotiated their Jewishness and Feminism through three primary platforms: writing, leadership, and public service.Honors Colleg
The Impact of Physical Activity and Exercise on Cancer-Related Fatigue Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Brain Tumors: A Systematic Review
No full textBackground: One of the most distressing effects of cancer is cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Brain tumor survivors report a higher prevalence and greater severity of CRF compared to survivors of other cancer types. Adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors are disproportionally impacted, as CRF negatively affects physical, emotional, and social functioning at a key developmental stage. Research has shown physical activity and exercise to be effective in ameliorating CRF. Nonetheless, the impacts of this intervention on CRF among AYA brain tumor survivors are not yet clear. Purpose: This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the scientific literature to characterize the effects of physical activity and exercise on CRF in AYAs with brain tumors. Methods: An ongoing systematic literature review in alignment with PRISMA guidelines is being conducted. Databases utilized include EMBASE, PUBMED, and SCOPUS. Included studies will be those that measured CRF, had a physical activity or exercise intervention, and whose participants were AYA brain tumor patients and/or survivors. Results: Seven articles were included in the review that met all four criteria. Conclusion: We expect our literature review will collate the existing evidence of the effect of physical activity and exercise on CRF within AYA brain tumor survivors. Future steps include extracting specific pieces of information from the studies and synthesizing the findings. [This project was completed with contributions from Maria Chang Swartz from UT MD Anderson.]Health and Human Performance, Department ofHonors Colleg
A Review on Material Dynamics in Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing: Bonding, Stress, and Structural Evolution in Metals
No full textCSAM is a solid-state process for depositing metal or metal-based composite materials in which the fine particles of metal or composite material are accelerated to supersonic velocity, making successful bonding feasible due to the high-impact velocity and heavy plastic deformation, all without the melting of the feedstock material. This review examines the basic CSAM mechanism, including deposition dynamics, bonding mechanism, dynamic recrystallization, residual stress evolution, and post-spray heat treatments which affect microstructural and mechanical properties. Although controlled by a few key factors like particle velocity, strain rate, and temperature rise, the bonding efficiency itself refines the grains through dynamic recrystallization, hence improving coating strength and performance. The predominating compressive residual stresses that enhance fatigue resistance and mitigation strategies to improve coating durability by post-spray annealing and laser peening are discussed. This review, by providing an overview of material behavior, optimization techniques, and advanced modeling approaches, underlines the CSAM potential for high-performance applications in aerospace, biomedical industries, and machinery. It further underlines its importance for the advancement of manufacturing innovation and materials science
Understanding Calcium Phosphate Crystallization: Brushite
No full textKidney stone disease is increasingly prevalent, and brushite - a mineral formed from dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO4. 2H2O) - plays a significant role in kidney stone formation. Brushite stones are particularly difficult to remove and negatively impact patient quality of life. This research aims to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms behind brushite formation and define conditions for screening inhibitors to assess their impact on brushite crystallization. The summer program will involve two main tasks. First, calcium and phosphate solutions will be formulated at varying concentrations and pH levels to observe their effects on crystal nucleation. Additionally, the effects of crystal growth modifiers on the kinetics of brushite formation will be elucidated. By focusing on these objectives, the research seeks to provide deeper insights into brushite's role in kidney stone formation and its broader implications for kidney health.Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, William A. Brookshire Department ofHonors Colleg
Should I Stay or Should I Go? The Role of Cognitive Ability and Meteorological Communication in Enhancing Weather-Protective Behaviors among Older Adults
No full textThe United States has experienced an increase in the intensity of severe tropical weather, with far-reaching adverse impacts including property damage, personal injury, and restricted access to critical resources. Protective actions (e.g., evacuation, creating emergency kit) can help mitigate these effects, but their benefits may vary according to sociodemographic and cognitive factors that can contribute to individual differences in engaging in weather-protective behaviors. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to adverse weather-related outcomes. The purposes of this dissertation project were to examine 1) the effectiveness of a structured cue paired with meteorological forecast in encouraging weather-protective behaviors and facilitating forecast recall among older adults, and 2) the role of cognitive functioning in intentions to implement weather-protective behaviors. Results suggested that there was an overall significant benefit of a structured cue providing meteorological information and suggested preventative actions in increasing intention to engage in weather-protective behaviors, with the strongest effect seen for more severe weather forecasts. However, older adults did not benefit more than younger adults. Additionally, the inclusion of the structured cue did not facilitate recall of forecast details. Rather, an effect was seen in the opposite direction such that individuals receiving the control cue recalled a greater number of details. Finally, no cognitive factors were found to be significantly related to intention to engage in weather protective behaviors. Further investigation is warranted, and additional topics to explore include the relationship between weather knowledge and psychological constructs and correlates of weather preparedness. This study both contributes to emerging literature at the intersection of cognition and meteorology and provides community impact through its identification of effective methods for communicating severe weather information to vulnerable populations
An Optimal Multi-Zone Fast-Charging System Architecture for MW-Scale EV Charging Sites
No full textIn this paper, a detailed review of electric vehicle (EV) charging station architectures is first presented, and then an optimal architecture suitable for a large MW-scale EV fast-charging station (EVFS) with multiple fast chargers is proposed and evaluated. The study examines various EVFS architectures, including those currently deployed in commercial sites. Most EVFS implementations use either a common AC-bus or a common DC-bus configuration, with DC-bus architectures being slightly more predominant. The paper analyzes the EV charging and battery energy storage system (BESS) requirements for future large-scale EVFSs and identifies key implementation challenges associated with the full adoption of the common DC-bus approach. To overcome these limitations, a novel multi-zone EVFS architecture is proposed that employs an optimal combination of isolated and non-isolated DC-DC converter topologies while maintaining galvanic isolation for EVs. The system efficiency and total power converter capacity requirements of the proposed architecture are evaluated and compared with those of other EVFS models. A major feature of the proposed design is its multi-zone division and zonal isolation capabilities, which are not present in conventional EVFS architectures. These advantages are demonstrated through a scaled-up model consisting of 156 EV fast chargers. The analysis highlights the superior performance of the proposed multi-zone EVFS architecture in terms of efficiency, total power converter requirements, fault tolerance, and reduced grid impacts, making it the best solution for reliable and scalable MW-scale commercial EVFS systems of the future
Melatonin-Producing Bacillus aerius EH2-5 Enhances Glycine max Plants Salinity Tolerance Through Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Modulation
No full textClimate change has intensified extreme weather events and accelerated soil salinization, posing serious threats to crop yield and quality. Salinity stress, now affecting about 20% of irrigated lands, is expected to worsen due to rising temperatures and sea levels. At the same time, the global population is projected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, demanding a 70% increase in food production (UN, 2019; FAO). Agriculture, responsible for 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions, urgently needs sustainable solutions. Microbial inoculants, known as &ldquo;plant probiotics,&rdquo; offer a promising eco-friendly alternative by enhancing crop resilience and reducing environmental impact. In this study, we evaluated the plant growth-promoting (PGP) traits and melatonin-producing capacity of <i>Bacillus aerius</i> EH2-5. To assess its efficacy under salt stress, soybean seedlings at the VC stage were inoculated with EH2-5 and subsequently subjected to salinity stress using 150 mM and 100 mM NaCl treatments. Plant growth parameters, the expression levels of salinity-related genes, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were measured to determine the microbe&rsquo;s role in promoting plant growth and mitigating salt-induced oxidative stress. Here, our study shows that the melatonin-synthesizing <i>Bacillus aerius</i> EH2-5 (7.48&thinsp;ng/mL at 24 h after inoculation in Trp spiked LB media) significantly improved host plant (<i>Glycine max</i> L.) growth, biomass, and photosynthesis and reduced oxidative stress during salinity stress conditions than the non-inculcated control. Whole genome sequencing of <i>Bacillus aerius</i> EH2-5 identified key plant growth-promoting and salinity stress-related genes, including znuA, znuB, znuC, and zur (zinc uptake); ptsN, aspA, and nrgB (nitrogen metabolism); and phoH and pstS (phosphate transport). Genes involved in tryptophan biosynthesis and transport, such as trpA, trpB, trpP, and tspO, along with siderophore-related genes yusV, yfhA, and yfiY, were also detected. The presence of multiple stress-responsive genes, including dnaK, dps, treA, cspB, srkA, and copZ, suggests EH2-5&prime;s genomic potential to enhance plant tolerance to salinity and other abiotic stresses. Inoculation with <i>Bacillus aerius</i> EH2-5 significantly enhanced soybean growth and reduced salt-induced damage, as evidenced by increased shoot biomass (29%, 41%), leaf numbers (12% and 13%), and chlorophyll content (40%, 21%) under 100 mM and 150 mM NaCl compared to non-inoculated plants. These results indicate EH2-5&prime;s strong potential as a plant growth-promoting and salinity stress-alleviating rhizobacterium. The EH2-5 symbiosis significantly enhanced a key ABA biosynthesis enzyme-related gene NCED3, dehydration responsive transcription factors DREB2A and NAC29 salinity stresses (100 mM and 150 mM). Moreover, the reduced expression of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) by 16%, 29%, and 24%, respectively, and decreased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydroxy peroxidase (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) by 12% and 23% were observed under 100 mM NaCl compared to non-inoculated plants. This study demonstrated that <i>Bacillus aerius</i> EH2-5, a melatonin-producing strain, not only functions effectively as a biofertilizer but also alleviates plant stress in a manner comparable to the application of exogenous melatonin. These findings highlight the potential of utilizing melatonin-producing microbes as a viable alternative to chemical treatments. Therefore, further research should focus on enhancing the melatonin biosynthetic capacity of EH2-5, improving its colonization efficiency in plants, and developing synergistic microbial consortia (SynComs) with melatonin-producing capabilities. Such efforts will contribute to the development and field application of EH2-5 as a promising plant biostimulant for sustainable agriculture
Identifying and Analyzing Services Provided by Women's Shelters in Harris County
No full textDomestic violence shelters play a crucial role in providing safety and support services to women in need. These services include transitional housing, legal assistance, childcare. However, accessibility for disabled survivors is often overlooked. This research examines the availability and visibility of disability services in domestic violence shelters, alongside the services mentioned previously. We found that while many shelters provide essential resources, information about disability services is rarely highlighted on their websites-or sometimes missing entirely. This lack of visibility can make it harder for disabled survivors to get the support they need and may create additional barriers for disabled survivors seeking assistance, limiting their access to critical resources. Shelters must do more to ensure their services are truly accessible to all survivors. Clearer communication about disability accommodations, improved physical accessibility, and more inclusive support systems are necessary steps forward. Future research should center the experiences of disabled survivors and explore policy changes to make shelters more inclusive. By addressing these gaps, we can help ensure that every survivor-regardless of ability-has access to the resources they need to rebuild their lives.Honors Colleg
CLAIRE-MG: Efficient Diffeomorphic Image Registration Using Multigrid-Preconditioned Newton–Krylov Methods
No full textIn this thesis, I describe significant enhancements to CLAIRE (Constrained Large Deformation Diffeomorphic Image Registration), a framework formulating diffeomorphic image registration as a PDE-constrained optimization problem. Image registration aims to find a spatial transformation mapping points between images. Diffeomorphic image registration specifically restricts these transformations to diffeomorphisms, i.e., transformations that are smooth maps that possess a smooth inverse. In principle, image registration is an infinite-dimensional, nonlinear, ill-posed inverse problem, leading to ill-conditioned, large-scale inversion operators. This makes its effective solution a significant mathematical and computational challenge. CLAIRE parameterizes the sought-after diffeomorphic map via a stationary velocity field. Within CLAIRE, governing equations consist of transport equations for image intensities. The regularization operator for the inversion variable is a biharmonic differential operator. As a result, the reduced space optimality condition for the inversion variable is described by a biharmonic equation. Optimization in CLAIRE employs a Newton–Krylov method. The central contribution of my thesis is the design and analysis of a sophisticated multigrid preconditioning strategy for the reduced space Hessian. Explicitly forming and storing the Hessian matrix is computationally intractable for problems of this scale, necessitating matrix-free numerical schemes. This imperative drove my extensive exploration and meticulous implementation of various multigrid techniques, including the basic two-grid method, and the more advanced V-cycle and W-cycle multigrid algorithms. A prototype implementation was realized in a two-dimensional setting (ambient space). I conducted a comprehensive analysis of the proposed numerical scheme's convergence behavior, evaluating algorithms on both synthetic (smooth) and real-world (non-smooth) imaging data. I compared their convergence rates, time to solution, and computational complexity across varying mesh sizes and regularization parameter choices. The results indicate the proposed scheme achieves mesh-independent convergence rates, a significant accomplishment as method efficiency is maintained even as image resolution increases. While this independence did not extend to the regularization parameter, its practical benefits are substantial. Furthermore, I meticulously assessed my designed multigrid scheme's efficacy against various pre-existing CLAIRE preconditioning schemes. My results conclusively demonstrate the proposed multigrid preconditioner is highly effective and strongly competitive, often superior to, established methods, thereby substantially elevating CLAIRE's performance for challenging diffeomorphic image registration
Characterizing Classical Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells in Ascitic Fluid Through Cloning
No full textPancreatic cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease, categorized into immunoclassical, classical, and basal subtypes. Our study focuses on characterizing classical pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) derived from ascitic fluid using single-cell cloning technology. By establishing a CSC library from patient-derived samples, we identified two distinct classical CSC pedigrees-Type A (immunoclassical) and Type B (classical)-each exhibiting unique morphological and molecular characteristics. Xenograft experiments in immunodeficient mice demonstrated their tumorigenic potential, with Type A inducing a fibroblast-rich microenvironment and Type B displaying an epithelial-dominant phenotype with an intestinal fate. Immunofluorescence and RNA sequencing further confirmed subtype-specific marker expression, including differential CEACAM6 levels, enabling precise CSC sorting. Our findings highlight the tumor microenvironment's role in CSC behavior and pave the way for further classification of basal-type CSCs. This work advances the understanding of pancreatic cancer heterogeneity, aiding the development of targeted therapeutic strategies. [This project was completed with the contributions from Jaffer Ajani from UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.]Biology and Biochemistry, Department ofHonors Colleg