62021 research outputs found
Sort by
The Development of Global Governance from the Catholic Church to the United Nations: The Pazzi Conspiracy and the Sanctioning of Iraq
Get PDFDenman Undergraduate Research Forum 3rd PlaceThis paper seeks to understand how global governance institutions have changed over time by exploring the similarities between the United Nations at the turn of the millennia and the Catholic Church of the 15th and 16th centuries. By suggesting that the institutional structure and the political nature of the Catholic Church serves as a proto-United Nations, it challenges existing theories about the emergence of global governance by suggesting that versions of global governance had begun to appear as early as the medieval ages. This also challenges the distinction between secular and theological institutions that marked the post Westphalia world by examining linguistic overlap between the documents produced by both secular and religious institutions.
To gain leverage on the relationship between these two institutions, I use two methods: a qualitative case analysis comparing logic and actions of the Catholic church and the UN during their respective cases: Interdict of Florence following the Pazzi Conspiracy and the UN sanctions placed on Iraq following the invasion of Kuwait; and a quantitative analysis comparing the linguistic overlap of documents produced by both institutions. By running each document through Word2Vec, I am able to get vector representations of the words within each document and average to place the two documents within a 300-dimensional space. Then by taking the cosine of the angle between the two documents the linguistic overlap can be represent on a scale from -1 to 1 with the higher number representing higher overlap.
Both the qualitative case study and quantitative textual analysis of this paper confirm the hypothesized relationship between the two institutions. The fact that these two institutions exercise similar authority through similar mechanisms has significant implications for the theory and practice of global governance today.No embargoAcademic Major: Political Scienc
Synthesis of a Two-dimensional van der Waals Frustrated Antiferromagnet: Mn2Al2S5
Get PDFThere has been significant interest in the discovery of new two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials which exhibit magnetic phenomena at thin layers, as these materials can prove to be useful as magnetic building blocks. Here, we report a new 2D vdW phase, Mn2Al2S5, and explore its magnetic, physical, and structural properties. We establish a route towards growing powders of this new material by combining stoichiometric equivalents of MnS and Al2S3 in sealed quartz tube synthesis. The Mn2Al2S5 phase consists of AlS4 tetrahedra which tops double-octahedral thick MnS6 layers. Diffuse reflectance absorbance measurements show this material’s band gap is 1.43 eV. Due to the double layering of metals, there is a competing magnetic interaction between them and the Mn2Al2S5 phase is magnetically frustrated. It shows antiferromagnetic characteristic, and a magnetic transition temperature at 10 K, compared with a Weiss constant of -328 K, producing a frustration index of 32.8. Overall, the Mn2Al2S5 phase as a 2D vdW material proves to show interesting and useful characteristics due to its frustrated magnetic structure.OSU Research FoundationNational Science Foundation - Materials Science & Engineering CentersNo embargoAcademic Major: Chemistr
Blurring Public-Private Boundaries: Integrative Publicness of Homeschooling in Central Ohio
No full text30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Honorable Mention in Business, Society, and International Relations30th Annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum - Civil Discourse for Citizenship AwardGiven the expansion of state-based education privatization policy and post-pandemic homeschooling growth in the United States, education policy scholars need rigorous tools for studying how mixed public and private authority impacts the capacity for K-12 educational institutions to achieve public interest educational outcomes. This paper aims to (1) extend integrative publicness theory to issues in K-12 education and (2) illustrate the analytical utility of integrative publicness through a case study of contemporary homeschooling practice in Central Ohio developed from interviews with 15 families. The case study finds that Central Ohio homeschooling families leverage external educational resources, including public education and state-funded programs, to achieve their personal education goals. Families reported little personal interest in developing their child’s democratic citizenship skills and few available resources to achieve this goal. Additionally, families had few academic development resources geared toward building the long-term economic capacity of children aged 10-16. Families responded to these resource limitations by joining co-op groups that provided scarce instructional and social development for children aged 10-16, though they often negotiated between personal values and co-op group values in the process. Families used state-funded programs like Ohio’s College Credit Plus program to meet the academic needs of children aged 16 and older, and further used public resources such as public schools and city services to achieve socialization goals. In all, more public resources contributed most to homeschoolers’ social skill development and more private resources contributed most toward their goals of personal autonomy and personal fulfillment. Though integrative publicness theory requires further development, it is a useful tool for studying contemporary education policy in America’s increasingly mixed public-private education landscape without ignoring considerations for public interest and public values.Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship ProgramA three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Public Management, Leadership and PolicyAcademic Major: Sociolog
Understanding the Contribution of Bone Marrow-Derived Stromal Cells to Drive Proliferation in Mantle Cell Lymphoma
No full textThe long-term goal of our lab is to understand various possible mechanisms through which cancer cells attain therapeutic resistance, specifically in Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), a B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The tumor microenvironment (TME), especially the bone marrow (BM) stromal cells, significantly impacts MCL progression and treatment resistance. Previous work from our lab utilized the innovative ex-vivo culture system that replicates the BM microenvironment. We discovered that the BM stroma plays a critical role in promoting the survival and resistance of MCL cells against the current standard of care therapy. Our lab previously identified Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-1 to be regulated by BM stroma in MCL and established as a novel therapeutic target in MCL in-vitro and in-vivo. In addition, our findings suggest that BM-dependent signaling pathways are critical to MCL survival and proliferation. Therefore, we hypothesize that identifying BM-induced proliferation circuitries can serve as novel therapeutic targets in MCL. To confirm this, we asked whether the BM-derived signaling dependent on FGFR1 can contribute to tumor development in-vivo. We utilized the genetic Knockout of FGFR1 in tumor cell lines to establish the role of BM-derived proliferation of MCL in-vivo. Our data suggests that loss of FGFR1 in the MCL cell line limits the bone marrow stromal-induced tumor in NSG mice.A three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Pharmaceutical Science
Relationship of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression with Hair Cortisol and Cardiovascular Health in African American women dementia family Caregivers
Get PDFIntroduction: Being a caregiver for someone with Alzheimer’s disease/dementia can significantly increase physical and emotional stress, raising the risk of cardiovascular disease. This project investigated the relationship between hair cortisol, caregiver stress, cardiovascular health (systolic and diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure [MAP]), depression, and anxiety in African American women dementia caregivers.
Methods: Baseline data were taken from a feasibility pilot randomized controlled trial of a mind-body intervention to reduce stress and cardiovascular risk factors for African American women dementia caregivers. Scalp hair samples were taken to measure the stress hormone cortisol. Stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale, anxiety with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, and depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Blood pressure was measured using Omron HEM-907XL monitors by trained research team members, and results were used to calculate the MAP, an indicator of cardiovascular health. Study visits were conducted in participants' homes or at Ohio State's College of Nursing.
Results: Out of 28 participants, 15 provided hair samples. The average age of participants was 62.4 (standard deviation, 8.67) years, with 71.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher. There were no significant correlations between hair cortisol and stress, anxiety, depression, blood pressure, or MAP. A significant correlation was found between stress and depression (r= 0.55, p= 0.05), stress and anxiety (r= 0.77, p < 0.01), and anxiety and depression (r= 0.70, p= 0.01). Conclusion: The results indicate significant correlations between stress, depression, and anxiety, but no correlations with hair cortisol or blood pressure and MAP. Future studies should include a larger sample size to examine further factors associated with dementia, caregiver stress, and cardiovascular health.No embargoAcademic Major: Nursin
Does the Gut Talk to the Heart and Drive Atrial Fibrillation?
No full textAtrial fibrillation (AF) is one of the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmias worldwide, associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to stroke and heart failure (Chugh et al., 2014). With AF becoming a growing public health concern while aging has long been recognized as a primary risk factor for AF, recent research has unveiled a novel connection between abnormal gastrointestinal (GI) functioning and AF risk. Both human studies and animal models with AF risk factors have exhibited impaired GI epithelial barrier function, resulting in enhanced GI permeability, commonly referred to as "leaky gut" (Zhang et al., 2022). This "leaky gut" phenomenon has been found to be particularly prevalent in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and has been linked to an increased incidence of AF. Understanding the intricate interplay between the gut and the heart in the context of aging-associated AF pathogenesis has become the focus of intense investigation.American Heart Association Undergraduate Summer Research FellowshipA five-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Nursin
Folding and Polymerizing DNA Origami in the Classroom
Get PDFDNA origami describes the process of folding a long, single strand of DNA, called the scaffold, using the addition of shorter strands of DNA, called staples. The staples bind discontinuously to the portions of the scaffold that have complimentary sequences to create a more complex shape for a variety of applications. These structures can be used in medicine, manufacturing, and robotics on the nanoscale. DNA origami is an interdisciplinary field and combines knowledge from different subject areas such as biology, chemistry, and engineering. With the versatility of DNA origami, it is expected that hands-on learning modules exploring the folding and polymerization of DNA origami structures have high educational value. DNA origami is typically folded in thermocyclers with temperature precision and can take up to 2.5 days. For simple structures, this has been reduced to 30 minutes for classroom applications. Water baths can be used in place of a thermocycler, and structures are analyzed on a MiniOne Gel rig to make these experiments affordable. This report focuses on optimizing the polymerization of DNA origami for classroom conditions by varying salt concentration, excess staple strand concentration, and temperature. Polymerization is a technique applied DNA origami to create higher-order assemblies and can be necessary to create dynamic DNA origami structures. Implementing this technique into classroom folding provides examples of complex topics like electron interactions and properties of molecular materials. These education modules will be introduced to undergraduate students through OhioMOD, an Ohio State student biomolecular design team, to assess their feasibility. Because most schools begin teaching the structure of DNA in the seventh year of primary school, these modules are designed for middle, high-school, and undergraduate classrooms.No embargoAcademic Major: Chemical Engineerin
Analyzing how the agricultural microbiome impacts soil carbon stability under different management practices
Get PDFIncreasing carbon storage in agricultural lands is becoming critical as reducing carbon in the atmosphere is essential for mitigating climate change. Soil carbon sequestration occurs when more carbon is stored in the soil than what escapes the soil. Historically, agricultural activities have depleted soil carbon, but microbial communities offer a promising solution as they can effectively store carbon. Microbes are vital as they contribute to crucial soil functions and strongly influence soil dynamics, making it essential to understand how specific microbial taxa contribute to carbon storage. Microbial mechanisms such as biocrust formation, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) synthesis, and more could be the solution to enhancing soil carbon sequestration.
To combat climate change, regenerative farming practices have been reintroduced into agricultural land management. More farmers have transitioned to no-till practices as an alternative to conventional tillage. Tillage is a farming practice that helps prepare the soil for plant growth through weed suppression and soil aeration. However, tillage disrupts soil structure, accelerates surface runoff, increases soil erosion, and reduces crop residue, negatively impacting soil microorganisms. In comparison, no-till protects soil through decreased soil erosion, increased soil carbon, and increased soil organic matter.
This study aims to quantify the effect of tillage practices on soil microbial communities, using 16S ribosomal RNA (16S), Internally Transcribed Spacer (ITS), and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi amplicon sequencing. Soil samples were taken from Coshocton, Ohio, from active till and no-till sites. Results revealed that tillage significantly alters the soil microbial community composition compared to no-tillage. This research highlights the potential of targeted microbial strategies and regenerative agricultural practices to optimize carbon sequestration and improve soil health.No embargoAcademic Major: Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineerin
A Lightweight, Energy-Efficient Solution for Enhancing the Electric Vehicle Camping Experience
No full textCamping is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S., and electric vehicles (EVs) bring exciting possibilities for enhancing the camping experience with their storage space and built-in power. However, most car tents on the market are designed for trunks and only serve as sleeping areas. Meanwhile, camping trailers, though offering full setups for cooking, sleeping, and relaxing, are heavy and cause range anxiety for EV users by significantly increasing energy consumption due to added weight and drag.
This project is being developed in professional partnership with Honda, focusing on innovative uses for the EV front trunk (frunk). By collaborating with Honda's design and engineering teams, FoldNest aims to deliver a solution that maximizes frunk functionality while aligning with the needs of modern EV users.
FoldNest is a lightweight, energy-efficient solution that transforms the EV frunk into a cozy "living room" space, complementing existing trunk "bedroom" setups. The design is simple and user-friendly. With app-controlled, auto-extending frames and terrain-responsive sensors, setting up FoldNest is simple. Illuminated frames double as adjustable lighting, an optional sliding TV screen adds an extra layer of comfort. By creating a sense of "home away from home," FoldNest makes camping with EVs more enjoyable, practical, and fun.American Honda Motor CompanyNo embargoAcademic Major: Industrial Desig
Targeting Histone Crotonylation to epigenetically reprogram exhausted T cells and enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy
No full textTravel Awardee: College of Medicine Trainee Research Day (April 2025)The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Abstract Acceptance for Poster Presentation (2025)Exhaustion of CD8 T cells during cancer or chronic infections remains a significant barrier to T cell immunotherapies. Recent studies showed that distinct epigenetic changes drive exhaustion by silencing effector and memory-related genes, thereby establishing the dysfunctional state of exhausted T cells (TEX). Thus, targeting epigenetic regulation of exhaustion is crucial for restoring TEX cell function. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are emerging as key mediators linking cellular metabolism to gene regulation, with growing evidence suggesting their importance in immune system modulation. Notably, certain SCFAs naturally produced by human microbiota have been demonstrated to modulate host immune responses through epigenetic mechanisms, making them promising candidates for therapeutic intervention. To investigate the effects of SCFAs on TEX cell epigenetic programming, we utilized innovative in vitro T cell exhaustion models that generate stable terminal dysfunction in both human and mouse CD8 T cells. By inducing a state of exhaustion that recapitulates key molecular and functional features observed in cancer and chronic infections, these models enabled us to assess how SCFA treatment affects T cell function and memory-associated stemness properties. We discovered that crotonate, a specific microbial SCFA, elicited a significant recovery of polyfunctionality and memory programs within both human and mouse dysfunctional T cells. Crotonate-treated TEX cells exhibited renewed effector capabilities, demonstrating enhanced cytokine production, degranulation, and tumor-killing activity characteristic of functional T cells. Additionally, we employed in vivo murine tumor models and chronic LCMV infection models to assess crotonate’s therapeutic potential. Melanoma-bearing mice treated with crotonate exhibited a marked reduction in tumor growth. Furthermore, during chronic LCMV infection, crotonate enhanced the progenitor-like state of TEX, promoting their persistence and function. These findings identify a novel microbial SCFA that functions as a metabolic-epigenetic regulator capable of reactivating effector programs in TEX cells while blocking terminal exhaustion. This provides insights for developing new therapeutic approaches to epigenetically reprogram TEX cells and enhance the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy.NIH Grant R01AI170926 (Awarded to Dr. Hazem E. Ghoneim)College of Medicine Honors Program, The Ohio State UniversityUndergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP- 2024)Biomedical Science Enrichment Grant, The Ohio State UniversityA one-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Biomedical Scienc