“BRIDGE-ICU: A Novel Approach to Aligning Goals-of-Care with Prognosis,
Functional Goals, and Quality-of-Life in Critical Care”

Streamlining the Medical Respite Referral Process

Physical influences on ocean biogeochemistry at different scales – Nitrogen biogeochemistry in mesoscale eddies in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and seasonal hypoxia in the Southern Benguela Upwelling System

Oceanography

PhD thesis title: Protein systems characterization by deep learning algorithms to address classical problems in biology’s sequence-structure-function paradigm Doctoral Dissertation defense for School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering

Adenocarcinoma stage dynamics: from stroma transition and tumor-hypoxia to genetic mutations

doctoral field of study: Biomedical Engineering(BME)

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are prominent and abundant cells in the stroma of adenocarcinoma. They exert both antitumorigenic and protumorigenic effects on tumor cells during stage progression, depending on the organ or context, making them potential targets for cancer treatment. Hypoxia affects both stroma and tumor cells, with a stronger impact on the latter. It leads to dysfunctional vascularization and can cause metastasis through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), as well as contribute to therapy resistance. Genetic alterations drive the invasion-metastasis cascade, working in tandem with non-genetic changes in tumor cells. Both genetic and non-genetic factors contribute to tumor formation and subsequent invasion-metastasis, further strengthened by the stroma. However, there is limited knowledge about how stroma, hypoxia, and mutation-derived cell types change with tumor stage progression.
This thesis research project focuses on understanding how CAFs in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), tumor hypoxia in adenocarcinoma, and mutation-derived cancer cells in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) undergo dynamic changes across different stages as cancer progresses. My results demonstrate that: (i) CAFs transition from an early-stage tumor-resistant type to a late-stage tumor-supportive function in PDAC; (ii) LUAD exhibits a different HIF1A activation pattern compared to PDAC and colorectal cancer (CRC), with HIF-1 activation associated with higher rates of metastatic spread in LUAD; (iii) L858R and del19 mutations have distinctly different phenotypes in late stages—L858R tumors are less metastatic but have stronger tumor cell viability compared to del19 tumors, and both are controlled by specific cell groups that determine their phenotype. These studies provide a time-spanning approach to clarify previously understudied stage dynamics in cancer research. This work will enable targeted approaches to CAFs, hypoxia-related therapies, and mutation-specific treatments for specific tumor types.

Title: Evaluation of Teacher-led Coaching on Paraprofessional Delivery of Behavior-Specific Praise in an Alternative High School Setting

Description: The present study, which utilized a multiple baseline across participants single-case experimental research design, aimed to evaluate the effects of special education teacher-led coaching (e.g., direct training and performance feedback) on paraprofessional delivery of behavior-specific praise, an effective low-intensity practice, to promote positive behavior in an alternative high school. Additionally, the study aimed to evaluate whether special education teachers and paraprofessionals find the coaching package socially valid (e.g., feasible, acceptable, understandable).

Doctoral Field of Study: Educational Psychology (Subspeciality: School Psychology)

Kate Killion, MPH, RDN will be orally defending her dissertation in partial fulfillment of the PhD in Health Promotion Sciences. The presentation is entitled, “Incorporating multi-level determinants of diet quality and oral health into a digital intervention for caregivers of young children.”

PhD Physics defense.

“Multi-Messenger Constraints on Supermassive Black Hole Binaries.”

The nanohertz gravitational wave background (GWB) is thought to be dominated by gravitational waves (GWs) from supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs), which result from galaxy mergers.
Quasars have long been associated with galaxy mergers, suggesting a link with SMBHBs.
In this work we constrain the SMBHB population using observations of the GWB, quasars, and galaxies.

Investigating Mechanotransduction and Tissue Biomechanical Behavior in the Distal Colon and Rectum Via Multiscale and Multimodal Computational Modeling - The Ph.D. thesis in Mechanical Engineering.

Please join us virtually for Cláudio Luís Quaresma Daflon’s Doctoral Defense titled “Peripheral Vision: The New Conurbano Universities and the Struggles for a More Popular and Democratic Higher Education System in Argentina, 1980s-2010s”

You may register for this event at: https://tinyurl.com/mtvyww2w

The Creative Process in a Short Story Writing Task: Examining the Respective Influences of Personal Characteristics, Process Sequences, and Engagement in Creative Subprocesses
Neag School of Education
Department of Educational Psychology
Creativity, Giftedness, and Talent Development

Title: Nurturing Creativity Using an Integrated Engineering and Visual Arts Virtual Reality-based Instructional Model.
Doctoral field of study: Integrative PhD Studies

Increasing Goals of Care Review at End-of-life with an Embedded Palliative Care Specialist in the Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Project at a Community Based Hospital

John Campanelli
PhD Candidate
Major Advisor: Julia Kuzovkina

Abstract
In 2016, New England state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) adopted more sustainable practices for revegetating roadsides using native plant communities (NPC) rather than turfgrass. However, these DOTs have faced significant impediments to implementing these new protocols, including the inability to develop seed mixes that result in ecologically sound NPCs, struggles to conduct conservation mowing regimens that foster healthy NPCs, and a lack of genetically appropriate ecotypic plant material. Applying a mixed-method integrative approach that considers ecological, economic, political, social, and cultural factors, this study examines how to conduct extension outreach to non-scientist clients, communicating complex environmental issues and developing data-informed, user-friendly solutions. Focus groups and surveys were used to collect qualitative data regarding DOT real needs and obstacles to implementing complicated, more labor-intensive revegetation practices. Traditional research methods, such as common gardens, literature review, and expert consultation, were used to develop seed mixes appropriate for roadside soil profiles that would maximize ecosystem services. Case studies in multiple states were used to conduct immersive, participatory research to explore potential barriers to roadside revegetation. As part of efforts to increase and accelerate New England ecotypic seed production by coordinating supply-chain activities, roundtable discussions were utilized as boundary objects with stakeholders in fields that use and produce native plant material, resulting in the establishment of the Northeast Seed Network. All these components were developed in the framework of an iterative dialogic relationship with DOT managers, culminating in user-oriented tools and recommendations for New England DOTs to implement revegetation practices more easily and effectively.

Mechatronics integration for piezoelectric-based energy manipulation leveraging negative capacitance.
Doctoral field of study: mechanical engineering

Studies of Non Equilibrium Laser Induced Effects in Metals

PhD thesis title: Novel Computational Tools for Design Space Exploration in Topology and Configuration Optimization
Doctoral Dissertation defense for the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering

“Shaping the Battlefield: Assessing the Symbolic Role of Military Technologies” a dissertation defense for a PhD in Political Science. Matthew Parent’s dissertation discusses the ways people symbolically understand military technology, and how that influences perceptions and policy.

“Shaping the Battlefield: Assessing the Symbolic Role of Military Technologies” a dissertation defense for a PhD in Political Science. Matthew Parent’s dissertation discusses the ways people symbolically understand military technology, and how that influences perceptions and policy.

“Residents of the Rhizosphere: Isolation and Characterization of Soil Protists to Elucidate their Interactions in the Soil Food Web.”

An Oral Defense of DMA candidate Shaun Rimkunas.

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering PhD dissertation “Novel Sorbent Materials for Adsorptive Desulfurization of Petroleum Fuels and Biodiesel.” This dissertation presents investigation into the characteristics and mechanisms of adsorptive desulfurization by bimetallic ion-exchanged Y zeolite as well as renewable carbon sorbents.

Robust Deep Reinforcement Learning for Distribution System Operation and Control with DERs

Electrical Engineering. Using deep reinforcement learning to improve the quality of distribution system operation.

Including Caregiver Beliefs in a VIP Intervention in Southern Brazil

Boosting New Graduate Retention in Hospital Settings with Mentoring: A QI Project

Nutritional Sciences Program Ph.D. Final Exam (Dissertation Defense)

Perceptions of School Connectedness Among Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Doctoral Dissertation for Neag School of Education’s Educational Psychology Doctoral Program.

Doctoral field of study: Electrical Engineering

Dissertation title: Utilization of Memristor Analytical Model for Device Emulation in Neural Networks: Exploring Degradation Dynamics and Performance Mitigation Strategies

Title: Reinforcement Learning Guided Multi-Objective Optimization for Inverse Analysis
Field of study: Mechanical Engineering

Tittle: Expanding Digital Engineering Frameworks: Enhancing System Development through the Integration of Model-Based Engineering Strategies
School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Manufacturing Engineering

ANSC MS Defense: Sulthana Humayoon Muttathukonam
Date: 11/25/2024
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: George White Building, Room 115

If you require an accommodation to participate in this event, please contact Mary Anne Amalaradjou at 860-486-6620 or mary_anne.amalaradjou@uconn.edu at least 5 days in advance of the seminar