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Development and Biomechanical Assessment of Ankle-Foot Prostheses for Activities of Daily Living
No full textThis dissertation explores the impact of prosthetic ankle-foot dynamics on individuals with lower limb loss across several activities of daily living. Most lower limb prosthesis users use a passive device that has a fixed, stiff ankle joint and rigid foot segment. The limited ankle range of motion and lack of foot compliance in these devices may contribute to the mobility challenges and biomechanical compensations of prosthesis users during daily tasks. These difficulties can impact overall quality-of-life and may increase the risk of secondary musculoskeletal conditions, such as joint pain and osteoarthritis. There exist key knowledge gaps in understanding how prosthesis users perform certain activities of daily living and there are opportunities to investigate if prosthetic interventions that alter ankle and foot dynamics can improve task performance.
In this work, I first investigate the impact of incorporating an articulating toe joint into a passive prosthetic foot, focusing specifically on walking on level-ground, inclines, and declines. Second, I characterize the biomechanics of transtibial prosthesis users during other essential daily activities, including sit-to-stand, squatting, lifting, and lunging, while wearing their prescribed prostheses. By characterizing user movement strategies and limb loading patterns, this research identifies limb loading asymmetries and highlights the need for targeted interventions to improve functional ability and reduce the risk of secondary musculoskeletal conditions. Lastly, I evaluate the impact of altering prosthetic ankle stiffness on user preference and biomechanics during sit-to-stand. Insights gained from this body of work provide valuable guidance for improving prosthetic designs to better serve the diverse needs and preferences of lower limb prosthesis users
Identity, Community, Belonging: A Postcolonial Asian/American Kachin Baptist Ecclesiology
No full textThis dissertation examines theological and ecclesiological approaches to Christian community, identity, and belonging from an Asian/American and postcolonial feminist perspective. Specifically, I examine how the Kachin Baptist community in the U.S. constructs their ethno-nationalist religious identity in changing geopolitical contexts. The Kachin are an indigenous, minoritized ethnic group who began to migrate from Burma/Myanmar to the U.S. in the 1950s. Divisions within the U.S. based community emerged during a period marked by intensified militarized conflict in Burma, leading Kachin immigrants and resettled refugees in the U.S. to debate intensely about the contours of their community. I examine these divisions by analyzing the influential role of American Baptist missionaries and the Burmese sociopolitical context beginning in the 19th century to the present.
My interdisciplinary project expands ecclesiological studies by putting Asian American and postcolonial feminist discourse into conversation with Pauline texts, Christian theology, and womanist theological anthropology. Given the Kachin Baptist divisions, I illustrate a mimicry of the hegemonic colonial ethos while critiquing the alliance between Kachin patrilineage and colonial heteropatriarchal Christianity. My study proposes a radical incarnation praxis that holds differences in a religiously pluralistic world as an alternative.
This project considers experiences of Kachin border crossing, trauma, wounds, displacement, and relocation/resettlement in the North American context. I show how to destabilize past colonial narratives dominated in the Kachin Baptist church community, recognize internal diversity in communal identity-making, and generate new theological meanings of community. I offer a constructive theo-ethical praxis of rau (embodied solidarity of togetherness) to imagine a radical reformulation of ethical responsibility and re/construction of community in the context of Kachin immigration to the U.S., and to situate the Kachin Baptist diaspora within the study of Asian American religions
Cultivating Hope and Moral Resilience in Critical Care Nursing: A Practical Theological Tool for Moral Distress and Evidence-Based Practices for Spiritual Health Clinicians
No full textDivinity School Doctor of Ministry in Integrative Chaplaincy Final ProjectsThis work begins with a review of suffering, death, and dying through a poetic and reflective lens. I then deliberate what it means to be moral agent in light of each, specifically as an ICU nurse tasked with the caring for those who suffer or are dying. However, sometimes nurses are constrained from acting as a moral agent on behalf of their patients, which leads to moral distress (MD). If left unattended to, nurses’ experience of moral distress may develop into moral injury (MI). With a foundation laid, I then pose my primary research question: What evidence-based intervention can spiritual health clinicians (i.e. chaplains) use to effectively care for nurses experiencing MD? The following sections review the history of MD/MI literature in healthcare and nursing, interprets MD/MI with a theology of hope, and evaluates the use of various evidence-based practices, like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, in spiritual care with ICU nurses
Data Quality-Aware Graph Machine Learning
No full textGraph-structured data is ubiquitous in real-world applications (e.g., social networks, infrastructure, biomedical) and Graph Machine Learning (GML) has become a prominent method for handling such data. However, despite GML’s remarkable achievements, its reliance on node features makes it susceptible to conventional data quality issues, and the additional consideration of graph topology adds novel complexity. Inspired by these challenges, my research in this dissertation focuses on data-quality-aware graph machine learning, systematically examining issues related to topology, imbalance, bias, and limited data issues in graph data. This includes proposing data/model-centric solutions to handle them and applying my proposed data issue solutions for real-world applications, such as de-noising unrelated interactions in personalization learning for recommender systems, overcoming the inherent class-imbalance issue in computer-aided drug discovery, mitigating hallucination bias in multi-document question answering, and boosting limited training data for graph generations. Lastly, to further advance the field of data quality-aware GML, I have outlined multiple future directions to make data quality-aware GML more inclusive, intelligent, and trustworthy
DARK MATTER MAY NOT BE SO DARK: Testing Massive Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter with Galactic X-Ray Emission
No full textWe constrain the abundance of dark matter which is theoretically possible to be modeled as primordial black holes by simulating the X-ray emission from such primordial black holes and comparing this against observations of X-ray binaries. Completed under the advisement of Dr. Holley-Bockelmann.Were primordial black holes (PBHs) to exist, they could constitute a significant portion of dark matter in our universe which could be explored through gravitational wave emission, gravitational lensing, and electromagnetic observations. Assuming PBHs as a dark matter candidate, we determine the X-ray emission they would radiate from accreting gas in their host galaxy by modeling the dark matter particles in the Romulus25 cosmological simulation as clusters of PBHs. Upon simulating such emission, we compare our X-Ray luminosity functions to those derived from observations with the Chandra X-Ray Telescope to constrain the abundance of PBHs compared to dark matter as a function of PBH mass spanning 10^-2 − 10^5 M . Our results highly constrain the most massive PBHs but leave a vast sea of stellar and sub-stellar mass PBHs unscathed by falling under the flux limitations of Chandra. Therefore, further studies are needed in such a mass regime to explore the possibility of PBHs as a considerable source of dark matter and black holes in our universe. The implications of such could have drastic impacts on our understanding of the composition, machinations, and evolution of our universe.College of Arts and ScienceDepartment of Physics and Astronom
An Examination of Interstate Differences in Eligibility Criteria for Vocational Rehabilitation Services for Individuals with Visual Impairments
No full textState VR agencies provide services to individuals with disabilities so that they may prepare
for and participate in competitive integrated employment with consideration of their unique
strengths and abilities (U.S. DOE, 2020). While general differences between VR agencies
have been documented between states (e.g., Cavenaugh, 2010; NTRC, 2022), there has never
been an analysis of interstate differences in the interpretation of the outlined eligibility
requirements for individuals with visual impairments (VI). In this study, we asked
participants to upload their state eligibility document to the survey or email directly to a
research team member. To be eligible for the survey, participants had to be current vocational
rehabilitation (VR) administrators, directors, or supervisors. Out of the 57 U.S. states and
territories contacted, 20 participated in the study, (35%). Eleven states submitted eligibility
documentation and completed the survey (19%). Differences in the use of assessment,
specifically eye reports and educational records, was found. All survey respondents reported
the consideration assessments when determining eligibility for services. However, only eight
eligibility criteria documents included the use of assessment. This study is the first of its kind,
and more research is needed to understand interstate differences in VR eligibility criteria for
individuals with VI
Evaluation of ERG Recruitment Strategy of ConEdison
No full textLeadership and Learning in Organizations capstone projectConEdison, a leading energy delivery company serving New York Metropolitan residents with electricity, gas, and steam, leverages its diverse workforce of 14,000 employees to enhance operational processes. In the early 2010s, ConEdison implemented Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to reinforce its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative; however, staff participation in these ten ERGs is currently below 30 percent, potentially limiting the company's support for a wide spectrum of employees. The research conducted in this study employed a mixed-method approach, incorporating surveys and empathetic interviews with employees, to delve into the variables affecting effective employee recruitment, assess membership experiences, and establish any link between job satisfaction and ERG engagement. Our findings suggest that employees are chiefly driven by internal factors when joining ERGs, as these groups provide avenues for personal development, affiliation, and accomplishment, subsequently impacting motivation, engagement, and job fulfillment. Consistent with previous research, this study confirms that effective ERGs foster a sense of inclusivity among employees
Elucidating the Role of RNase Z in Mitochondrial Quality Control in Caenorhabditis Elegans
No full textProper mitochondrial function is essential for cell health and homeostasis. To maintain healthy mitochondria, protective mechanisms have evolved that sense mitochondrial stress and ameliorate it. Collectively these pathways are referred to as mitochondrial quality control mechanisms. Elucidating the molecular basis by which these pathways work is one way to better understand mitochondrial homeostasis and, in the process, learn ways to protect against mitochondrial stress associated diseases including many metabolic and neurological disorders. RNase Z is an essential endonuclease required for the processing of nascent tRNAs across eukaryotes. Mutations in RNase Z in humans (encoded by the gene ELAC2) are associated with prostate cancer and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. How RNase Z mutations cause or exacerbate these diseases is poorly understood. I have identified that RNase Z in the model system Caenorhabditis elegans, plays a crucial role in regulating a conserved mitochondrial quality control pathway called the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt). Nuclear localized RNase Z in C. elegans is both necessary and sufficient for UPRmt in the intestine of animals—a major metabolic tissue. Moreover, RNase Z likely regulates UPRmt via altered processing of its RNA substrates. Additionally, by conducting a forward genetic screen, I discovered that a small chain fatty acid metabolism pathway that is responsive to germline status and micronutrient availability can regulate the nuclear localization of RNase Z. Together these findings show for the first time that, in addition to its ‘housekeeping’ role in translation, RNase Z has a specific role in mitochondrial quality control. This work provides novel insight into the molecular basis of mitochondrial quality control and provides an alternative mechanism by which mutations in human ELAC2 may lead to disease outcomes
Limbic-Motor Networks and Action Control
No full textTraditionally, the circuits responsible for processing cortical information of different modalities and communicating with the striatum for the purpose of guiding behavior were believed to act in separate, parallel courses. However, recent research has proposed that cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical loops can process limbic and sensorimotor streams in a single, open network. These novel interpretations advance the historical understanding of the ventral striatum as a limbic-motor interface by theorizing its function in influencing motor cortex activity. Yet, even as a connection between limbic function and movement is tenable, the limbic-motor junction has remained insufficiently characterized. An understanding of this intersection hinges on resolving the key players, including extrastriatal regions, messenger systems, and information domains. We sought to further examine the role of the mesial temporal lobe in motor output by concentrating on an executive function necessary for regulating movement, namely action control. We investigated dopaminergic and oscillatory features of mesolimbic regions as correlated with inhibitory tasks. To accomplish this, we first explored associations between response inhibition and mesial temporal dopamine receptor availability in a cohort of Parkinson’s disease patients. An analysis of our data revealed correlations between dopamine in the amygdala and hippocampus and response inhibition proficiency. Next, we followed up this study by considering the components of an interference inhibition task in relation to binding potential in mesolimbic structures. Here, we observed a connection between dopamine availability in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex and sensory motor processing. Finally, we investigated the development of neural oscillations in mesolimbic nodes during movement and non-movement. An examination of oscillatory changes in the amygdala and hippocampus disclosed evidence of beta, gamma, and delta power modulation with movement. Together, these findings demonstrate the unique interactions that exist between mesolimbic areas and movement, illustrating a compelling influence of mesial temporal regions over motor control
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