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Valentine\u27s Day 2026 - De-stress Activities
No full texthttps://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/librarydisplayposters/1089/thumbnail.jp
Evaluating the impact of aggregate size and reinforcement on alkali-silica reaction in concrete through nondestructive testing techniques
No full textThis research investigates different nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to assess concrete under alkali-silica reaction (ASR) development. Four methods including acoustic emission (AE), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), crack width measurement, and strain measurement were applied to reactive and control specimens under accelerated ASR conditioning. The innovation lies in using NDE methods to monitor concrete with varying aggregate sizes, quantifying method sensitivity through measured indices, and highlighting the effectiveness of each method to capture ASR development. The results indicate that the unconfined reactive fine-aggregate sample exhibited isotropic expansion, while coarse-aggregate specimens showed around 50 % greater longitudinal expansion and AE cumulative signal strength up to 3.2 times higher. Furthermore, the reinforcing effect was more significant in the reactive coarse aggregate samples compared to the reactive fine aggregate ones. The ASR detection effectiveness for the four methods is 67 % for AE, 51 % for strain measurement, 12 % for crack width measurement, and 1 % for UPV
Redox Stoichiometry at the Single-Residue Level Using Mass Spectrometry Reveals Dynamic Methionine Sulfoxide Speciation in Actin and Calmodulin during Brain Aging
No full textMethionine oxidation to methionine sulfoxide (MSox) is often viewed as a nonspecific modification from reactive oxygen species. However, oxidation at specific methionine sites, such as Met44/47 in actin and Met77 in calmodulin, can be reversed by methionine sulfoxide reductase (Msr) and other enzyme families. This study uses liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry to comprehensively investigate actin and calmodulin-based MSox speciation within the mouse hippocampus in an Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) model (5XFAD), reflecting neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Concurrent detection of both oxidized and unmodified peptides enabled direct calculation of absolute oxidation stoichiometry and protein-normalized % occupancy ─an analytical dimension seldom attainable for most post-translational modification studies. Our results indicate age-dependent but not AD-dependent redox dynamics. In actin, D-loop Met44/47 declined from ∼9 to ∼5% between 3 and 6 months and then rose to ∼14% by 9 months, while H-loop Met269 remained stable at ∼5% MSox. In calmodulin, linker Met77 climbed steadily with age (but not AD), whereas C-lobe Met145/146 fell sharply from 20 to ∼8% MSox from 3 to 9 months. These findings highlight dynamic, age-related methionine oxidation patterns in actin and calmodulin within the mouse hippocampus, likely relevant to brain development and aging
Brain Age Disparities in Psychosis Across DSM Diagnoses and B-SNIP Biotypes
No full textBackground and Hypothesis
The brain age gap (BAG) quantifies the difference between predicted brain age and chronological age. Prior research implicates higher BAG in psychotic disorders, suggesting accelerated brain aging. We hypothesized distinct brain aging profiles among biological subtypes of psychosis and intermediate BAG in their relatives.
Study Design
Brain age gap values were quantified in 348 healthy controls (HCs), 950 psychosis probands classified by both DSM diagnoses of psychotic bipolar disorder, type I (BP, n = 247), schizoaffective disorder (SAD, n = 313), and schizophrenia (SZ, n = 390), and Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network for Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) Biotypes (301 Biotype 1, 304 Biotype 2, and 345 Biotype 3), and 491 of their non-psychotic first-degree relatives. We calculated brain age values from structural T1-weighted images using the pre-trained, open-source brain age package, brainageR. In probands, we assessed associations between BAG and clinical characteristics, comorbid disorders, medications, and polygenic risk scores for SZ (PRS-SZ).
Study Results
All DSM diagnosis and Biotype groups had higher BAG than HC. While no significant differences were observed between BP, SAD, or SZ, Biotypes 1 and 2 had significantly higher BAG compared to Biotype 3. Relatives exhibited intermediate BAG values between HC and probands, with the highest BAG in relatives of those with SAD. Brain age gap was not linked to comorbid disorders or PRS-SZ, but was associated with symptom severity, cognition, functioning, and psychotropic medication use.
Conclusions
Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network for Intermediate Phenotypes Biotypes better captured age-related brain structural differences in psychosis than DSM diagnoses. Associations between BAG and medication underscore the potential influence of pharmacotherapy on brain aging in psychosis
Gendered punishment? How the corruption of female politicians affects public opinion of female political leadership
Full text linkDoes the corruption of a woman politician decrease public support for other women political leaders? To answer this question, this article examines how the impeachment of Park Geun-hye, the first female president of South Korea, affects people’s perceptions of women’s political leadership in South Korea. We argue that in South Korea, the high-level political corruption scandal of the first woman president led to lower evaluations of women’s political leadership because of the intense and gendered media coverage of Park’s failure. Using the two waves of the World Values Survey conducted in South Korea before and after Park Geun-hye’s impeachment in 2017, we show that Park’s impeachment negatively affects people’s views of female political leaders. This negative effect is conditioned by party identification. Our work suggests that the effects of gendered evaluations of leaders’ corruption can extend beyond the evaluation of the leaders themselves, thus affecting women’s representation more generally
Autonomous vehicle adoption behavior and safety concern: A study of public perception
No full textRealizing the economic and societal benefits of autonomous vehicles (AVs) hinges on widespread public acceptance. However, existing research offers limited insights into two key behavioral factors shaping AV acceptance, namely, perceived AV safety concern and travel behavior, the latter reflecting how heterogenous mobility patterns influence the AV acceptance. These factors are often treated as exogenous, limiting insight into their true behavioral interdependencies with AV acceptance and their distinct behavioral roots. This study addresses these gaps by introducing a recursive trivariate econometric model that jointly estimates AV acceptance, perceived safety concern, and current travel behavior (proxied by annual vehicle-miles traveled or VMT). The recursive structure accounts for structural endogeneity, enabling the unbiased estimation of how safety concern and travel behavior influence AV acceptance, while treating both as endogenous constructs shaped by their own determinants. To further enhance behavioral realism, the model incorporates latent psychological constructs using structural equation modeling. Empirical results from a California stated preference dataset highlight that safety concern and latent vehicle cost consciousness are the two dominant deterrents to AV acceptance, suggesting that policies such as trust-building campaigns and financial incentives can stimulate AV acceptance. Despite showing less safety concern, high-VMT individuals exhibit lower AV acceptance, suggesting potential habitual inertia in ceding driving control and challenging conjectures that users embrace in-vehicle saving and that AVs promote urban sprawl. Shared mobility enthusiasm and latent vehicle performance preference alleviate AV safety concern. Gender and racial gaps persist, with women expressing greater safety concerns and Asians exhibiting higher AV acceptance
Dissection of the quintuple product, with applications
No full textThis work considers the m-dissection (for m≢0(mod3) \u3em≢0(mod3)) of the general quintuple productQ(z,q)=(z,q/z,q;q)∞(qz2,q/z2;q2)∞. \u3eQ(z,q)=(z,q/z,q;q)∞(qz2,q/z2;q2)∞.Multiple novel applications arise from this m-dissection. For example, we derive the general partition identityDS(mn+(m2−1)/24)=(−1)(m+1)/6bm(n), for all n≥0, \u3eDS(mn+(m2−1)/24)=(−1)(m+1)/6bm(n), for all n≥0,where m≡5(mod6) \u3em≡5(mod6) is a square-free positive integer relatively prime to 6; DS(n) \u3eDS(n) is defined, for S the set of positive integers containing no multiples of m, to be the number of partitions of n into an even number of distinct parts from S minus the number of partitions of n into an odd number of distinct parts from S; and bm(n) \u3ebm(n) denotes the number of m-regular partitions of n. The dissections allow us to prove a conjecture of Hirschhorn concerning the 2n \u3e2n-dissection of (q;q)∞ \u3e(q;q)∞, as well as determine the pattern of the sign changes of the coefficients an \u3ean of the infinite product(q2k−1;q2k−1)∞(qp;qp)∞2=∑n=0∞anqn,k≥1,p≥5a prime. \u3e(q2k−1;q2k−1)∞(qp;qp)2∞=∞∑n=0anqn,k≥1,p≥5a prime.This covers a recent result of Bringmann et al. that corresponds to the case k=1 \u3ek=1 and p=5 \u3ep=5.
This work considers the m-dissection (for m≢0(mod3) \u3em≢0(mod3)) of the general quintuple productQ(z,q)=(z,q/z,q;q)∞(qz2,q/z2;q2)∞. \u3eQ(z,q)=(z,q/z,q;q)∞(qz2,q/z2;q2)∞.Multiple novel applications arise from this m-dissection. For example, we derive the general partition identityDS(mn+(m2−1)/24)=(−1)(m+1)/6bm(n), for all n≥0, \u3eDS(mn+(m2−1)/24)=(−1)(m+1)/6bm(n), for all n≥0,where m≡5(mod6) \u3em≡5(mod6) is a square-free positive integer relatively prime to 6; DS(n) \u3eDS(n) is defined, for S the set of positive integers containing no multiples of m, to be the number of partitions of n into an even number of distinct parts from S minus the number of partitions of n into an odd number of distinct parts from S; and bm(n) \u3ebm(n) denotes the number of m-regular partitions of n. The dissections allow us to prove a conjecture of Hirschhorn concerning the 2n \u3e2n-dissection of (q;q)∞ \u3e(q;q)∞, as well as determine the pattern of the sign changes of the coefficients an \u3ean of the infinite product(q2k−1;q2k−1)∞(qp;qp)∞2=∑n=0∞anqn,k≥1,p≥5a prime. \u3e(q2k−1;q2k−1)∞(qp;qp)2∞=∞∑n=0anqn,k≥1,p≥5a prime.This covers a recent result of Bringmann et al. that corresponds to the case k=1 \u3ek=1 and p=5 \u3ep=5
Photograph of a Birthday card for Kika de la Garza - 02
No full textBackside of color photograph. A birthday card for Kika de la Garza from Armando Olivarez, his teacher/coach Ms. Maria Ester Salinas, and the director of special education department Filomena Leo.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/kikadelagarzaphotographs/1126/thumbnail.jp
Photograph of a NASA Astronaut - 02
No full textBackside of color photograph.https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/kikadelagarzaphotographs/1147/thumbnail.jp
Coffin–Lowry syndrome: a systematic review of RPS6KA3 confirmed cases and implications for diagnosis and counseling
No full textBackground: Coffin–Lowry syndrome (CLS) is a rare X-linked disorder caused by pathogenic variants in RPS6KA3, presenting with intellectual disability, distinctive facial and skeletal features, and variable systemic involvement. Advances in genomic technologies have expanded the mutation spectrum, yet genotype phenotype correlations remain incompletely understood.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of published cases (n = 72) following PRISMA guidelines. Demographic, phenotypic, and genotypic data were extracted, standardized, and summarized using descriptive statistics. Associations between mutation type and key clinical features were assessed with Chi-square or Fisher’s exact tests. Diagnostic approaches and global distribution were also analyzed.
Results: The cohort comprised 50 males (69.4%) and 22 females (30.6%), median age 12 years (range: 1–45). Developmental delay (87.5%) and intellectual disability (66.7%) were the most frequent features, alongside musculoskeletal deformities (kyphoscoliosis 33.3%, pectus anomalies 19.4%) and neurologic involvement (SIDEs 12.5%, seizures 15.3%, spasticity 5.6%). Frameshift variants showed the strongest associations with SIDEs (35%, p = 0.009) and seizures (24%, p = 0.048), while splice-site mutations were linked to spasticity and cardiomyopathy. No consistent clustering of intellectual disability severity by mutation type was observed. Diagnostic methods varied, with most cases confirmed by sequencing approaches (e.g., Sanger, WES, next-generation sequencing panels), supplemented by array-based CNV detection. Geographically, cases were reported across Asia, Europe, and North America, with the largest clusters from China (14), USA (14), and Japan (9).
Conclusion: This systematic review highlights recurrent neurodevelopmental, neurologic, and skeletal phenotypes in CLS and delineates mutation-specific risks, particularly for SIDEs and seizures. The findings emphasize the value of comprehensive genomic testing, raise awareness of maternal germline mosaicism, and underscore the utility of reproductive technologies such as PGT-A/M for at-risk families. Beyond clinical and research implications, this work provides an accessible reference for affected families seeking clearer prognostic insights.
Systematic Review Registration: Identifier CRD420223404871