Mustafa Center: A Trip to the Mosque

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

Adat Reyim: The Synagogue

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

Drikung Dharma Surya: A Trip to the Temple

Student perspectives on worship services from Instructor Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez\u27s Religious Studies 108 Human Spirituality course at Virginia Commonwealth University

Analysis of DNA copy number variants in yeast \u3ci\u3eSaccharomyces cerevisae\u3c/i\u3e

Many diseases such as autism, epilepsy, mental retardation, Parkinson \u27s disease, and cancers, can result from a type of genetic variation known as copy number variations (CNV). CNVs are segments of DNA that exist in multiple copies o f the genome, with variation between individuals in the number of copies. They may be formed when mistakes in DNA replication occur while the cell is grown under stressful conditions. We hypothesize that when the yeast cells are under replication stress, such as low levels of DNA polymerase, the cell will develop CNVs in the location of a known chromosomal fragile site. Using yeast, we manipulated its genome to create a marker which enabled us to observe the frequency of DNA deletions and duplications near the fragile site. In cells with low level s of DNA polymerase, we observed deletion of the marker i n 0.557% of cells, duplication of the marker in 18.2% of cells, and three copies of t he marker in 0.041% of cells. Cells with normal polymerase did not have deletion or triplication of the marker, but had a similar level of duplication. While the data is only preliminary at this stage, the experimental system created serves as a stepping stone in further studies of CNV formation at chromosomal fragile sites

A branch-and-price algorith, for a compressor scheduling problem

This work presents the study and application of a branch-and-price algorithm for solving a compressor scheduling problem. The problem is related to oil production and consists of defining a set of compressors to be activated, supplying the gas-lift demand of a set of wells and minimizing the associated costs. The problem has a non-convex objective function, to which a piecewise-linear formulation has been proposed. This dissertation proposes a column generation approach based on the Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition, which achieves tighter lower bounds than the straightforward linear relaxation of the piecewise-linear formulation. The column generation was embedded in a branch-and-price algorithm and further compared with CPLEX, obtaining optimal solutions in lesser time for a set of instances. Further, the branch-and-price algorithm can find better feasible solutions for large instances under a limited processing time.O presente trabalho realiza o estudo e aplicação de um algoritmo de branch-and-price para a resolução de um problema de escalonamento de compressores. O problema é ligado à produção petrolífera, o qual consiste em definir um conjunto de compressores a serem ativados para fornecer gas de elevação a um conjunto de poços, atendendo toda demanda e minimizando os custos envolvidos. O problema é caracterizado por uma função objetivo não-convexa que é linearizada por partes de forma a ser formulada como um problema de programação inteira mista. A abordagem de geração de colunas é baseada na decomposição de Dantzig-Wolfe e apresenta melhores limitantes inferiores em relação à relaxação linear da formulação compacta. O branch-and-price é comparado ao solver CPLEX, sendo capaz de encontrar a solução ótima em menor tempo para um conjunto de instâncias, bem como melhores soluções factíveis para instâncias maiores em um período de tempo limitado

Influence Of Using Context Supportive Of The Area Model On Sixth Grade Students\u27 Performance When Writing Word Problems For Fraction Subtraction And Multiplication

The purpose of this action research study was to evaluate my own practice of teaching writing word problems with fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication using appropriate context. I wanted to see how focusing my instruction on the use of the area model and manipulatives could develop students’ understanding of fractions when writing word problems. I chose this topic because Florida has adopted the Common Core State Standards and will be implementing them in the coming years. These standards encourage the development of deeper understanding of mathematics, including fractions. I hoped this research would give my students the opportunity to make sense of fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication word problems on a deeper level, while giving me insight into my own practice in teaching context within word problems. Through this study, I learned that my students continued to switch the context of subtraction with multiplication within word problems. Students did make clear gains in their writing of fraction subtraction and fraction multiplication word problems. Although there is a limited amount of research on students mixing their context within fraction word problems, this study offers additional insight into a teacher’s practice with writing fraction word problem

Transcriptomic Signatures in Alcohol Use Disorder - A Translational Approach

To date, there are only limited pharmacological treatments to cure AUD and the success rate is very low. Therefore, new therapeutic routes are warranted. This thesis aims to contribute to this need by identifying molecular mechanisms that are altered in AUD, considering the patient aspect through the use of human post-mortem brain samples, and compare the findings to a frequently used animal model of alcohol dependence. By combining multiple cutting-edge techniques, this study provides high evidence for further follow-up studies, where it will be possible to validate the findings in pre-clinical approaches and predict the relevance for the patient more precisely than previous studies. In addition, biomarkers for AUD, that are defined by this study, contribute substantially to the diagnosis of AUD on a molecular basis. The meta-analysis of three brain regions (study 2) –prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc) and amygdala (AMY)– identified common signatures comparing rodent, monkey, and human post-mortem brain tissue. In the PFC, we found commonly enriched pathways for cancerogenesis, pro-inflammatory processes, and oxidative stress. The analysis of the NAc resulted in no differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the rodent model and less than 10 DEGs in humans, suggesting that this brain region is not significantly vulnerable to long-term alcohol abuse with prolonged abstinence. Further evidence was also found in the bulk sequencing approach (Study 1), where both methylome- and transcriptome-wide data of prefrontal and striatal regions were conducted, and the ventral striatum (VS) showed a limited number of DEGs and no overlapping genes in the data integration of methylation and transcription data. However, on the level of differentially methylated positions and regions, the VS was one of most affected regions observed. When comparing the results of all three brain regions in humans, SERPINA3 appears to be up-regulated independently of the region, suggesting this gene as a new biomarker for AUD. First preliminary snRNA-Seq data from the dorsomedial striatum of PD rats (Study 3) – the brain region that was also found in the human post-mortem brain to be most significantly altered on the multiomics level (Study 1) – suggests a pronounced relevance for oligodendrocytes and microglia in regard to altered transcripts that persist after long-term abstinence. These cell types have been previously found to be relevant in AUD patients and the post-dependent rats on several brain regions. III As indicated by studies 1-3, the immune system is strongly dysregulated in AUD. Therefore, in study 4, chronic alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence as potential risk factors for COVID-19 infection and severity was observed across multiple rat models of alcohol intake. Especially, the consistent up-regulation of ACE2 in lung tissue detected in all models as well as the reduction of Mas expression in the olfactory bulb led to the conclusion that alcohol intake – especially in a sub-chronic to chronic manner – might increase the propensity to develop a SARS-CoV2 infection and potentially, suffer from severe long-term consequences, such as anosmia

Master of Science

thesisNot all sports medicine programs have the recommended equipment and supplies that the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) has suggested in published position statements for appropriately managing emergency situations. Not all sports medicine programs have the recommended documentation of Emergency Action Plans (EAPs) that has also been published in position statements. The conditions covered in this study include the three most common causes of fatalities in football found in 2012, sudden cardiac arrest, catastrophic brain injuries, and exertional heat stroke, as well as seven additional causes of catastrophic injury and fatalities in sport: exertional sickling, asthma, cervical spine injuries, head-down contact in football, diabetes, exertional hyponatremia, and lightning. The Pac-12 institutions were surveyed about their recommended equipment and EAP elements suggested by the NATA. Eight institutions provided information and survey responses to be included in the study. We had two hypotheses: 1) There would be lower instances of sudden death and catastrophic injury in sport at institutions that have the NATA recommended amount and types of emergency equipment and supplies, as well as properly written emergency action plans for athletic trainers to use. 2) Institutions with the NATA recommended amount and types of emergency equipment and supplies, as well as properly written EAPs for athletic trainers to use would have higher confidence in emergency preparedness during treatment of potential catastrophic injury and sudden death incidences. We created a survey tool to measure emergency preparedness of EAPs (EAP EP), emergency preparedness of equipment and supplies (Total Equipment EP), and confidence in emergency preparedness (EP Confidence). EAP EP Score and Total Equipment EP Score had a -0.955 statistically significant correlation (p=0.003). EAP EP Score and EP Confidence had a 0.241 correlation with no statistical significance (p=0.646). Total Equipment EP and EP Confidence had a -0.407 correlation with no statistical significance (p=0.423). Neither hypothesis were supported or disproven with the survey results and data analysis. Further emergency preparedness research needs to be conducted to start rewriting national position statements

More than just a wrinkle: a wave-like pattern in Ug versus Lz from Gaia data

We present a newly found wave-like pattern in mean Galactocentric radial velocity U¯¯¯¯g versus guiding centre radius Rg or angular momentum Lz of stars in the RV subsample of Gaia DR2. The short-wave pattern has a wavelength of order 1.2kpc in Rg or 285kpckms−1 in Lz. The pattern shows only weak changes with Galactocentric radius R and little change in strength in particular with the vertical energy Ez of the stars or the distance to the Galactic plane |z|. The pattern is to first order symmetric around the plane, i.e. has no significant odd terms in z. There is a weak phase shift with the pattern moving towards slightly lower Lz (i.e. trailing) with |z| and Ez. However, we observe a highly significant phase shift in Galactic azimuth ϕ, which is different for different peaks. The peak around Lz∼2100kpckms−1 only shows a weak change with ϕ, while the rest of the pattern shows a clearly detectable shift of dLz/dϕ=(200±22)kpckms−1rad−1⁠. If we consider all peaks to belong to the same pattern, this would suggest a wavenumber m = 4. We further find that the wave-like pattern in Ug appears to be related to the W¯¯¯¯¯ versus Lz pattern detected in Gaia DR1. A comparison of the U¯¯¯¯g−Lz wave pattern with changes of U¯¯¯¯g versus R, which have been previously discussed, suggests that the latter can be understood as just the U¯¯¯¯g−Lz pattern washed out by blurring (i.e. orbital excursions around their guiding centre) of disc stars