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The effects of an acute session of blood flow restriction exercise on autonomic modulation
Full text linkPURPOSE: How an acute training session of blood flow restriction (BFR) exercise affects autonomic modulation during a unilateral knee extension exercise. METHODS: Fourteen physically active males completed three different sessions while performing a unilateral knee extension exercise. The dependent variables measured: Heart rate variability (HRV), muscle oxygen saturation (SmO2), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE). Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to analyze HRV and SmO2 data. A paired t-test was used to analyze RPE data. RESULTS: Significant time-effect differences were found in lnRMSSD, lnHF, and lnLF at baseline to 15 minutes post-exercise and 15 to 30 minutes post-exercise (P < 0.05). Time and group-effect differences were significant in SmO2%, oxygenated, and deoxygenated hemoglobin in the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle in BFR compared to control (P < 0.05). RPE increased when BFR was applied (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Exercise protocol may need to be altered to show autonomic modulation changes
Circulus Aquatilis: Designing Air Circulation for a Better Swimming Experience
Full text linkAir circulation in natatoriums is a very crucial part of pool design. Improper design of the HVAC system can lead to respiratory problems for swimmers, lifeguards, or even spectators. Having experienced multiple pools with this issue before has led me to push to investigate this problem further.
The focus of my research is to get a better understanding of how air circulation works within a natatorium. This will primarily look at the design elements of natatoriums such as air changes per hour, flow rate, and proper placement of vents for supply and return and see how each function and influences one another during the design process. Secondly testing the air flow of this space will check to see how successful this design can function as a natatorium when in use
Dreaming of Home: Connected, Emotional, and Inspiring Dwelling in New York's Superblocks
Full text linkIn the past, homes provided a way to connect to the world, the community and oneself. Moving through time, the house changed shape and these connections became weaker, yet the longing for a home where one belongs stayed. A reimagining is needed, as homes today lack meaningful bridges to this desire to dwell. Nowhere is this needed more than affordable housing superblocks that provide essential homes. As these houses age, the future of housing will depend on the reaction to worsening conditions. Can an architectural intervention prevent a reset of New York City?s housing stock and learn from the surrounding area to create a stronger sense of home in an urban area? With the existing framework of these superblocks, the aim of this project is a reimagining of the poetic potential of the Riis Houses. A dream to have a home that is more connected, more inspiring, and more emotional
The Landing Park of the Mid-American Steel: Bridging the Past and Future Through Soundscape Analysis
Full text linkGood soundscape quality in parks can only be provided with a thorough understanding of the complex relationships among sound, environment, and individuals. This study explores visitors' perceptions of the urban park soundscape to relieve stress. The study employed a mixed-methods approach consisting of an objective sound walk survey, a questionnaire survey, and a landscape design approach to improve sound quality in urban parks. Approximately 234 park visitor responses were obtained from online questionnaire surveys administered in the Fargo, North Dakota, region. Objective sound measurements were conducted at 53 survey spots on four different days, two days in the morning and the other two in the afternoon, corresponding to the questionnaire. The findings unveil that acoustic comfort evaluation, besides visual comfort evaluation of landscape, also plays a vital role in users? acceptability of the urban park environment. The soundwalk survey collected visitors' perceptions and evaluation of the urban park soundscape. At the same time, the qualitative questionnaire survey explored visitors' experiences and preferences regarding the soundscape for stress relief and preferred locations to visit inside the park. The literature review and study results showed that visitors perceived the urban park soundscape as essential for promoting stress relief and relaxation. Visitors preferred natural sounds, such as bird songs and water sounds, over human-made sounds, such as traffic and construction noise, as they were more calming and pleasant. The study also found that visitors had varying preferences for the intensity and complexity of the soundscape, with some preferring a quiet and straightforward soundscape.
In contrast, others enjoyed a more diverse and complex soundscape, where an above-average decibel range of anthropogenic sounds did not deter the park users' willingness to stay. The results suggest that urban park designers should consider the soundscape as a crucial element in promoting stress relief and well-being for park visitors. Furthermore, these results are applied to the Mid-American Steel site in Fargo, North Dakota, a post-industrial site with a strong historical background. This site has potential features for urban park development and civic facilities to make a good connection between downtown Fargo and the bank of Red River. The major challenge of this location is the rail track, which has passed through the site and, in this design, reduces decibel levels of rail track using a gradient of priorities based on park programming
Task-Relevant API Development for Higher Education Using GraphQL
Full text linkTo develop applications that support a variety of campus needs, North Dakota State University's Enterprise Application Development team requires a method of accessing North Dakota State University System data related to university students, faculty, and staff. As state requirements limit direct access to this data, and conventional API access methods are not well-suited to application use cases, this paper will explore how the data is acquired, stored, and then made accessible to individual applications using GraphQL. A single application, Graduate Waiver Wire, is presented as a use case depicting how GraphQL aids in the automatic data update process, freeing the time previously spent by Graduate School personnel in manually updating graduate student information
Adaptive Re-Use of the American School Bus
Full text linkThis project explores the alternative needs of modern nomadic living. Rather than living life with the focus of the collection of things, 21st century nomadism places a focus on experiences and stories. This project will focus on adapting the cultural phenomenon of the American school bus by designing an affordable, sustainable, and flexible conversion into a home fit living work and play
In Touch with Prairie Living, October 2024
Full text linkOctober 2024 column for North Dakota and South Dakota newspapers
Healthcare Professionals' Education Regarding Human Trafficking Identification and Resources
Full text linkHuman trafficking is one of the largest illegal industries with over 40 million adults and children enslaved worldwide. The psychological and physical consequences of human trafficking are high and may impact a victim for their entire life. Approximately 88% of human trafficking victims report receiving medical care during their time captured, and a majority of these victims seek care in the emergency department (ED). Only 11% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) report receiving education on human trafficking.
The purpose of this project was to determine if education regarding human trafficking influences HCPs including, nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), registration, education, case management, and technicians comfort level in identifying victims of human trafficking and then providing resources to the victim. This practice improvement project (PIP) consisted of two, one and a half hour educational in-services in-person or by Zoom to a level III healthcare system in the Midwest. Pre- and post-surveys were used to evaluate the effectiveness in improving knowledge and confidence in identifying and providing resources to potential victims.
Nine HCPs completed the pre- and post-surveys of the two educational in-services. An overall positive increase in HCP?s perceived knowledge of identification of potential victims and providing resources in this PIP. Two knowledge questions did not show improvement between the pre- and post-survey. Overall, there was a positive increase in HCP?s level of confidence in identifying potential victims and providing local, statewide, and national resources to victims. All participants agreed to finding additional education on human trafficking to be helpful in their job.
The co-investigator of this PIP recommends that NPs and other HCPs be educated on human trafficking indicators and risk factors, as well as resources available for victims. The results of this PIP support the increase in perceived level of knowledge and confidence level in identifying and providing resources to victims of human trafficking. NPs and other HCPs can combat human trafficking by identifying potential victims and offering resources
Investigating the role of BECN2 CCD interactions in canonical and non-canonical autophagy
Full text linkAutophagy is a conserved cell-survival pathway wherein old, damaged or harmful cellular components are surrounded by a double membrane vesicle called the autophagosome for lysosomal degradation and recycling. All eukaryotes have a conserved BECN homolog, a key coiled-coil domain (CCD)-containing autophagy protein. Mammals are unique as they have two BECN homologs, BECN1 and BECN2, both of which have the same domain architecture and function in autophagy. BECN2 has been shown to also function in non-canonical autophagy. My research focused primarily on investigating selected interactions of the BECN2 CCD.
We investigated interactions of the BECN2 CCD with two CCD-containing proteins known to bind to BECN1: UVRAG, an important autophagy protein, and TAB2, a protein important for inflammatory responses. We show that the BECN2 and UVRAG CCDs interact, but were unable to purify stable complexes for structural studies. In comparison, the CCDs of BECN2 and TAB2 bind with an affinity tighter than that of BECN2 homodimerization, forming a well-folded elongated heterodimer. These preliminary results provide information regarding interactions that enable BECN2 to regulate autophagy, in a manner analogous to BECN1.
We also show that, unlike BECN1, BECN2 facilitates non-canonical autophagy involving ATG9A-bearing vesicles, via interactions with the STX6 SNARE domain. We show that the STX6 SNARE domain binds to BECN2 residues 181-250 (BECN2(181-250)) within the BECN2 CCD. The STX6 SNARE is disordered in the absence of interacting partners but becomes helical when in complex with BECN2. The BECN2(181-250):STX6 SNARE complex is also more stable than either the BECN2(181-250) or the BECN2 CCD homodimer. We determined the 2.65 ? X-ray crystal structure of the STX6 SNARE bound to BECN2, showing that the complex is a heterotrimeric helical bundle, consisting of one helix comprising BECN2(181-250) and two STX6 SNAREs that are anti-parallel to each other. The heterotrimer interface is stabilized by 15 layers of three residues, each contributed by a different helix, of which, six layers are entirely hydrophobic, including two consisting of three leucines each. We verified the importance of these hydrophobic layers using point mutations and affinity pulldowns, showing that mutations of the hydrophobic layers either significantly or completely disrupt the interaction between BECN2(181-250) and STX6 SNARE domain. This 3-helix bundle likely represents an intermediate during the formation of the full SNARE complex, thereby providing mechanistic insights into the process by which ATG9A-bearing vesicles transport lipids to the growing phagophore.
Together these studies help explain the role of the BECN2 CCD in canonical and non-canonical autophagy, providing clues as to why mammals have two BECN paralogs
Leveraging Genomics and Transcriptomics for Gene Discovery in Dry Pea
Full text linkOver the past two decades, there has been a significant increase in the utilization of DNA marker-based mapping studies to genetically map and further improve complex quantitative traits. A major caveat of this approach is that genetic mapping of the underlying genes conferring target phenotypes is challenging often due to the extent of long-range linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the genome, particularly in self-pollinated crops. Recent technologies allow us to examine expression-phenotype associations using transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) which is independently affected by LD, unlike in the case of genetic markers. This is of greatest utility in species where linkage disequilibrium is extensive such as dry pea, where genes can be prioritized for association with a trait because their expression patterns are independent. The goal of this study is to use gene expression collected from the developing pods of pea and the TWAS approach for mapping and prioritizing likely causal genes underlying seed protein content and yield. As the effective population size (Ne) of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) diversity panel provided substantial genetic variation, we utilized 300 USDA pea lines from within the collection and performed a comprehensive single-tissue, multi-environment TWAS across six diverse environments (2 years * 2 locations) in the major pea growing regions in the USA. As we compared the results of TWAS with genome-wide association studies (GWAS), we detected more common and unique set of strongly associated genes. In all TWAS models, the significant genes exhibited clear differentiation, unlike in the case of GWAS. A joint analysis of GWAS and TWAS results using the fisher?s combined test (FCT) increased the power of detecting more trait-associated genes including RGB. Using GWAS, TWAS and FCT models, we detected 45 genes for protein, 60 genes for yield, and 20 genes that were common to both traits. These results highlight the complex interaction between genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping the genetic architecture of seed yield and protein. Our study proved that multi-omics strategy increases the gene mapping resolution by surpassing the GWAS and/or TWAS approach, and highlights the potential phenotypic consequences of regulatory variation in dry pea