Digital Commons Network^™

Community Opinions On Environmental Action On Isla Porvenir And Whichub Walla In The Guna Yala Comarca, Sofia Houts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Guna Yala Comarca is the autonomous, self-governed territory of the Guna people, one of seven Indigenous groups in Panama. The Comarca is located on Panama’s eastern Caribbean coast and includes 365 coral islands. Forty nine Guna communities and roughly 32,000 individuals live in the territory. The Guna General Congress is the highest authority, and each community has a local congress. As a low-lying coastal region, Guna Yala is especially vulnerable to climate change and is already impacted by sea level rise, biodiversity loss, and changing precipitation patterns. Sub-national, national, and international forms of governance and environmental action are crucial …

Community Knowledge Of Shark Ecology, Abundance, And Species Composition In Wichubwala, Nalunega, And Porvenir Communities In The Guna Yala Comarca, Panamá, Kayley Jane Porter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sharks play a critical role in marine ecosystems as apex predators that exert top-down control of lower trophic levels. In recent decades, global shark populations have declined to unprecedented levels, triggering a cascade effect that threatens ecosystem functioning and, therefore, coastal community livelihoods that rely on marine resources for food and income. It is known that shark populations are vulnerable and on the decline due to anthropogenic stressors such as fishing and coastal development, but shark species composition and abundance are difficult to monitor due to the evasive nature of sharks, the often remote and inaccessible location of certain shark …

A Deeper Dive Into Literature Published About Pinnipeds And Cetaceans Using The Five Domain Model, Aqsa Khan, Pedro Beltran

Posters - 2024

Research was conducted on cetaceans (whales and dolphins) (Figure 1) and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) (Figure 2), focusing on five domains: nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state. The goal was to identify the most discussed domain in existing literature. Specifically examining researchers' opinions on assessing the well-being of these marine mammals. After analyzing articles, hypotheses were formed suggesting that environmental factors are prominent for cetaceans, while behavior is the prominent domain for pinnipeds. To test these hypotheses, peer-reviewed articles were coded, providing both qualitative insights and quantitative representations of each domain's prevalence. The research uncovered the focal domains …

Exploring The Use Of Trauma-Informed Care Practices In Extension, Caitlin O'Brien, Martie Gillen

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

A content analysis of 63 land-grant Extension university websites was conducted to examine the promotion of trauma-informed care (TIC) through the sharing of resources, providing instructive webinars and/or in-person events, and offering comprehensive programs. While many Extension universities are sharing resources, only nine universities (14%) featured robust TIC Extension programs, and 40% shared no TIC information. Additionally, we found no indication of internal education programs across the universities on adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and TIC practices for Extension faculty and staff. These findings highlight opportunities to increase efforts with the public as well as internally within Extension.

Short-Term Transformative Impacts Of A Service-Learning Study Abroad Program, Caroline Cully Garbers, Dale W. Pracht, T. Grady Roberts

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Universities are increasingly working to better prepare students for success in the workforce and increasingly advocating high-impact learning experiences. This case study explores the short-term impacts on students who participated in a short-term service-learning study abroad program in Ireland through a lens of Transformative Learning Theory. Data collection consisted of (a) a pre-participation interview, (b) a follow-up interview, and (c) participant observation. We found evidence of all four tenets of Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory: (a) refining meaning schema, (b) learning new schema, (c) transforming schemes, and (d) transforming perspectives. Emergent subthemes related to service-learning or personal growth were discovered within …

Ecological Niche Modeling Of Endemic Texas Crayfish Species Under Current Conditions, Sarah A. Burgett

Biology Theses

Crayfish play many important roles in freshwater ecosystems such as ecosystem engineering, bioindicator, and food resource. Even though they are important to ecosystems, they are highly understudied. There has been previous work done on ecological niche modeling on Texas crayfish species, but this study takes it a step further by combining soil, climate, and hydrology variables to model the ecological niches of three endemic species: Procambarus texanus, Procambarus nueces, and Procambarus fayettei. Ecological niche models were created for the three species of interest using the program Maxent. I found that P. texanus and P. fayettei have indistinguishable …

Winners And Losers: Emotional Shifts Across Elections Are Conveyed By A Politician’S Smile, Carl Senior, Patrick A. Stewart, Erik Bucy, Nick Lee

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The human smile can convey both rewarding and affiliative social intent and thus has significant utility in politics, where the ability to bond with and reassure voters is vital to electoral success. We examine experimental evidence from the 2019 UK general election to investigate the influence of a politician’s reward or affiliative smile on voter emotions. It was hypothesised that the winner’s affiliative smile would engender positive affect across all partisan groups compared to the winner’s reward smile display. Participants from a nationally representative sample were shown campaign footage containing both types of smiles from the leaders of the main …

Reflections About The Academy And Its Centennial, Marco Aldi, Woodward S. Bousquet

Virginia Journal of Science

Brief reflective essays from members of the Virginia Academy of Science were solicited as part of the Academy's centennial commemoration in 2023. The essays received demonstrate the many and varied ways in which the Academy has fostered collegiality, encouraged research, supported science education, and shaped the course of science in Virginia during the organization's 100-year history.

The Virginia Academy Of Science: A Scholarly Forum Over Decades For Students Of A Plant Ecologist, Stewart Ware

Virginia Journal of Science

As a newcomer to Virginia in 1968, I learned that annual meetings of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) were regarded as an excellent place for students to have their first experience giving a talk about their research to fellow scientists, and a place for faculty to get to know other Virginia scientists in their fields. Over the next four decades William and Mary students (undergraduate and graduate) and I were presenters or co-authors of 42 talks or posters at VAS annual meetings, 29 of them based on studies of plant ecology across Virginia. Two were talks by colleagues with …

Intelligent Food Packaging Design Based On Visual Communication And Multimedia Technology, Yumian Liu, Zekun Wang

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Intelligent food packaging has labels that cover a vast amount of information, but some labels may pop up a lot of information after scanning, which can easily cause interface confusion, and there may be a lack of single display channels, resulting in long search times for consumers. The aim of smart food packaging design research based on visual communication and multimedia technologies is to explore and develop innovative methods to improve the attractiveness, functionality and interaction with consumers of food packaging. These all can directly affect consumers’ purchasing intention. This article was based on visual communication and multimedia technology for …

Does The Number Of Individuals Present In The Water Affect Dolphin Activity Levels, Erika Aguirre, Xavier Castillo, Quinn Gallagher

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphin behavior and complex social structures have interested humans over the years. Dolphin deviation in these behaviors has been measured many ways such as activity levels, space used, and time of day. A study was focused on dolphin interactions with humans, patterns of lagoon space utilization, and temporal factors. Data have been collected at the Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), which houses a diverse sample of 16-18 dolphins. No correlation was observed between increased human presence and levels of dolphin activity. Dolphins did display higher preferences for specific lagoon areas. This variability in lagoon space utilization suggests an …

Assessing Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Behavioral Responses To Discriminative Stimulus During Dolphin Interaction Programs (Dips), Megan Davis, Hannelore Tampipi

Posters - 2024

Dolphin-human interaction programs (DIP) References have become a popular experience offering humans an opportunity to interact or swim with cetaceans, most often bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

● Previous studies on dolphin-human interactions have been centered on therapeutic results for humans (Brensing et al., 2005), guests’ future conservation efforts, and educational efficacy (Miller et al., 2013) rather than welfare or outcomes for dolphins (Smith, 1981).

● Under human care, trainers request behaviors from dolphins typically via a hand signal as a discriminative stimulus (SD).

● Resulting behavioral responses to these SDs during interaction programs may suggest willingness to participate (WTP), and …

Comparing Activity Levels Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) During Snorkels To A Swimming Researcher, Sabrina Drouin, Erika Aguirre, Charles Lares

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphins under professional care are provided with a range of enrichments that have a variety of features and levels of complexity at various frequencies (Lauderdale et al., 2022). In a previous study conducted by Brensing et al. (2015), they found that dolphins seemed to be attracted to adult swimmers, but only if they had ample space to swim. The purpose of this study is to examine dolphin activity level under two different conditions with humans in the water. We hypothesize that dolphin activity level will be higher during snorkel sessions than a single swimming researcher because there are more …

Occupational Engagement In Recreational Sports For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing: An Employee Guidebook, Colleen Mcerlean, Mary Ann Smith, Christopher Ebner

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

An employee guidebook to help increase occupational engagement within recreational sports for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing population in the Austin, TX area.

Structural Responses To Land Use In Pollination Networks: Effects Of Biodiversity And Alien Plants In The Ecuadorian Chocó, Eric Abrahams

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As a globally recognized hotspot of biodiversity, the Ecuadorian Chocó Andino region is extremely important for research and conservation. However, little research has been done regarding the mutualistic networks that sustain this ecosystem. The analysis of plant-pollinator networks helps us understand how ecosystems respond to change and is vital to conserving ecological productivity across multiple spatial scales. This study establishes a baseline for pollinator network structure across a land use gradient near the western montane cloud forest in Ecuador. Plants and pollinators were sampled along 11 transects in farms, communities, roads in the Río Manduriacu valley. Weedy herbs dominated overall, …

Brainlife.Io: A Decentralized And Open-Source Cloud Platform To Support Neuroscience Research, Soichi Hayashi, Bradley A. Caron, Anibal Solon Heinsfeld, Sophia Vinci-Booher, Brent Mcpherson, Daniel N. Bullock, Giulia Berto, Guiomar Niso, Sandra Hanekamp, Daniel Levitas, Kimberly Ray, Anne Mackenzie, Paolo Avesani, Lindsey Kitchell, Josiah K. Leong, Filipi Nascimento-Silva, Serge Koudoro, Hanna Willis, Jasleen K. Jolly, Derek Pisner, Taylor R. Zuidema, Jan W. Kurzawski, Kyriaki Mikellidou, Aurore Bussalb, Maximilien Chaumon, Nathalie George, Christopher Rorden, Conner Victory, Dheeraj Bhatia, Dogu Baran Aydogan, Fang-Chen F. Yeh, Franco Delogu, Javier Guaje, Jelle Veraart, Jeremy Fischer, Joshua Faskowitz, Ricardo Fabrega, David Hunt, Shawn Mckee, Shawn T. Brown, Stephanie Heyman, Vittorio Iacovella, Amanda F. Mejia, Daniele Marinazzo, R. Cameron Craddock, Emanuale Olivetti, Jamie L. Hanson, Eleftherios Garyfallidis, Dan Stanzione, James Carson, Robert Henschel, David Y. Hancock, Craig A. Stewart, David Schnyer, Damian O. Eke, Russell A. Poldrack, Steffen Bollmann, Ashley Stewart, Holly Bridge, Ilaria Sani, Winrich A. Freiwald, Aina Puce, Nicholas L. Port, Franco Pestilli

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Neuroscience is advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, data pipeline complexity has increased, hindering FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) access. brainlife.io was developed to democratize neuroimaging research. The platform provides data standardization, management, visualization and processing and automatically tracks the provenance history of thousands of data objects. Here, brainlife.io is described and evaluated for validity, reliability, reproducibility, replicability and scientific utility using four data modalities and 3,200 participants.

What Factors Within The Context Of A Romantic Relationship And The Couple’S Finances Are Related To The Level Of Religiosity Among Contemporary Emerging Adults?, Brandan E. Wheeler, Joe D. Wilmoth, Tommy M. Phillips, Cecilia Brooks

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Research has identified the beneficial nature of spirituality/religiosity towards people’s general, psychological, and relational well-being despite a decline in religiosity among Americans, particularly among the younger generations. Research also suggests religiosity influences important relational factors, such as entering cohabiting relationships, but that these relational factors may also influence participants’ level of religiosity in a reciprocal effect. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore how demographic, relational, and financial factors influence young adults’ level of religiosity within the context of a romantic relationship and the couples’ finances. Results from the current study suggest the length of the relationship …

Voices Of The Future: A Healing Ethno-Racial Trauma Approach To Financial Education Within African American Communities, Tonia Brinston, Chalandra M. Bryant, Sharon E. Powell, Joyce Serido

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

In this article, we describe the process we adopted in designing a financial education intervention situated within the cultural and systemic realities of structural racism in Black communities and offer new insights on conducting financial education that addresses healing from ethno-racial trauma. We adopted a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and assembled a Community Led Advisory (CLA) group to discuss how to address social and economic inequalities in teaching financial education. Specifically, we sought to address the psychological consequences of racism, income scarcity, and other forms of economic distress and what it means for people’s lives and their everyday ability …

Multigenerational Consequences Of Environment And Loss On Maternal Behavior, Anxiety, Boldness, And Memory In Rats, Alayna Palamar

Longwood Senior Theses

Maternal behavior has long been studied for the implications it presents for offspring outcomes. In the present study, we examined the interplay between the positive effects of environmental enrichment and the negative consequences of loss – defined as a 50% litter cull – on both mothers and their offspring. In this multigenerational study, maternal Sprague Dawley rats were separated into one of four of the following conditions: enriched/control, enriched/loss, standard/control, and standard/loss. Maternal rats (P generation) were assessed using the following behavioral assays: Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) for anxiety-like behavior and boldness, Object Location Maze (OLM) for spatial memory, and …

3rd Place Contest Entry: Cultural Attitudes Towards Ethnic Cuisine In Italy, Rachel Berns

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Rachel Berns' submission for the 2024 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a sample of their research project on cultural attitudes toward ethnic cuisine in Italy.

Rachel is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Health Sciences. Their faculty mentors are Dr. Anuradha Prakash and Dr. Sara Mattavelli.

An Analysis On The Capacity Of Visual Art To Promote Conservation Efforts, Devi Bell

Honors Projects

In recent decades, we have become more aware of the ways in which anthropogenic actions are harming Earth’s climate, ecosystems, and overall stability. Scientists generally agree on the urgency of our situation, yet the public may find difficulty in comprehending the multitude of information on it. This study aims to educate the public on biodiversity loss and related ecological issues in Ohio by discussing these topics through the medium of visual art. Five pieces involving different scientific subject matter and art mediums were created and displayed for participants to view. Participants completed two surveys, one before viewing the art and …

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 30. Wallace A Theist? Part I., Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823−1913) has been portrayed as a ‘theist’ on a large number of occasions from his own time on to the present. In this, the first of a two part work, this assessment is questioned. In part one, the matter of Wallace’s personal philosophy and spiritual orientation is explored, the conclusion being that Wallace was a lifelong agnostic who can hardly be aligned with theism.

Unveiling Gene Interactions In Alzheimer's Disease By Integrating Genetic And Epigenetic Data With A Network-Based Approach, Xiangning Chen, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a complex disease and the leading cause of dementia in older people. We aimed to uncover aspects of AD’s pathogenesis that may contribute to drug repurposing efforts by integrating DNA methylation and genetic data. Implementing the network-based tool, a dense module search of genome-wide association studies (dmGWAS), we integrated a large-scale GWAS dataset with DNA methylation data to identify gene network modules associated with AD. Our analysis yielded 286 significant gene network modules. Notably, the foremost module included the BIN1 gene, showing the largest GWAS signal, and the GNAS gene, the most significantly hypermethylated. We conducted …

Deep Learning To Predict Rapid Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease From Pooled Clinical Trials: A Retrospective Study, Xiaotian Ma, Madison Shyer, Kristofer Harris, Dulin Wang, Yu-Chun Hsu, Nathan Goodwin, Avram S Bukhbinder, Sarah Dean, Tanveer Khan, David Hunter, Paul E Schulz, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The rate of progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) differs dramatically between patients. Identifying the most is critical because when their numbers differ between treated and control groups, it distorts the outcome, making it impossible to tell whether the treatment was beneficial. Much recent effort, then, has gone into identifying RPs. We pooled de-identified placebo-arm data of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), EXPEDITION, EXPEDITION 2, and EXPEDITION 3, provided by Eli Lilly and Company. After processing, the data included 1603 mild-to-moderate AD patients with 80 weeks of longitudinal observations on neurocognitive health, brain volumes, and amyloid-beta (Aβ) levels. RPs were defined …

Premastectomy Radiotherapy And Immediate Breast Reconstruction: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Mark V Schaverien, Puneet Singh, Benjamin D Smith, Wei Qiao, Catherine L Akay, Mariana Chavez-Macgregor, Mark W Clemens, Jessica S Colen, Richard A Ehlers, Rosa F Hwang, Melissa M Joyner, Rene D Largo, Alexander F Mericli, Melissa P Mitchell, John W Shuck, Nina Tamirisa, Debasish Tripathy, Mark T Villa, Wendy A Woodward, Rensi Zacharia, Henry M Kuerer, Karen E Hoffman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Premastectomy radiotherapy (PreMRT) is a new treatment sequence to avoid the adverse effects of radiotherapy on the final breast reconstruction while achieving the benefits of immediate breast reconstruction (IMBR).

Objective: To evaluate outcomes among patients who received PreMRT and regional nodal irradiation (RNI) followed by mastectomy and IMBR.

Design, setting, and participants: This was a phase 2 single-center randomized clinical trial conducted between August 3, 2018, and August 2, 2022, evaluating the feasibility and safety of PreMRT and RNI (including internal mammary lymph nodes). Patients with cT0-T3, N0-N3b breast cancer and a recommendation for radiotherapy were eligible.

Intervention: This …

Population Coding Of Strategic Variables During Foraging In Freely Moving Macaques, Neda Shahidi, Melissa Franch, Arun Parajuli, Paul Schrater, Anthony Wright, Valentin Dragoi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Until now, it has been difficult to examine the neural bases of foraging in naturalistic environments because previous approaches have relied on restrained animals performing trial-based foraging tasks. Here we allowed unrestrained monkeys to freely interact with concurrent reward options while we wirelessly recorded population activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The animals decided when and where to forage based on whether their prediction of reward was fulfilled or violated. This prediction was not solely based on a history of reward delivery, but also on the understanding that waiting longer improves the chance of reward. The task variables were continuously …

Thematic Analysis Of Alzheimer's Medication Management Discussion In A Non-Moderated Online Forum, Jia Liu, Kylie Meyer, Ashlie Glassner, Mitzi Gonzales, Rebecca J Bartlett Ellis, Lixin Song, Jing Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Managing medications for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is challenging for caregivers. Information about caregivers' strategies to manage these challenges is needed to inform intervention development.

Objective: This study aimed to understand caregivers' medication management experiences by analyzing online community discussions.

Methods: Posts were extracted from the ALZConnected® Forum using keywords "medication" and "drug" via web scraping. The researchers applied thematic analysis.

Results: Four major themes emerged: (1) role transition of medication management responsibilities, (2) caregivers' uncertainty about medication purpose and values, (3) conflicts between the care recipients and caregivers, and (4) difficulty accessing and affording medications.

Conclusions: The …

Temporal Changes In Treatment And Late Mortality And Morbidity In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Glioma: A Report From The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, Peter M K De Blank, Katharine R Lange, Mengqi Xing, Sedigheh Mirzaei Salehabadi, Deokumar Srivastava, Kirsten K Ness, Joseph Neglia, Kevin R Krull, Paul C Nathan, Rebecca Howell, Lucie M Turcotte, Wendy Leisenring, Gregory T Armstrong, M Fatih Okcu, Daniel C Bowers

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric glioma therapy has evolved to delay or eliminate radiation for low-grade tumors. This study examined these temporal changes in therapy with long-term outcomes in adult survivors of childhood glioma. Among 2,501 5-year survivors of glioma in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study diagnosed 1970-1999, exposure to radiation decreased over time. Survivors from more recent eras were at lower risk of late mortality (≥5 years from diagnosis), severe/disabling/life-threatening chronic health conditions (CHCs) and subsequent neoplasms (SNs). Adjusting for treatment exposure (surgery only, chemotherapy, or any cranial radiation) attenuated this risk (for example, CHCs (1990s versus 1970s), relative risk (95% confidence interval), …

Effects Of Balance Training On Spinal Reflexive Excitability Modulation, Corticospinal Excitability, And Balance Performance In Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability, Sunghoon Chung

Rehabilitation Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is a neurophysiologic deficit resulting in diverse sensorimotor impairments. Following acute ankle sprains, pain, mechanical instability, and joint deafferentation reduce sensory input to the central nervous system (CNS). In response, the CNS sends altered motor signals to lower extremity muscles. These CNS changes contribute to various neuromuscular impairments in CAI patients, the most common of which is reduced balance performance. Specifically, CAI patients struggle to modulate spinal reflex excitability of the soleus muscle when progressing from simpler to more complex balance tasks. This overreliance on spinal reflexes results in inconsistent activation of the ankle stabilizing muscle. …

Can Argument-Driven Inquiry-Assisted Virtual Laboratory Improve Pre-Service Physics Teachers’ Mastery Concept Of Simple Harmonic Oscillation?, Yolanda Dwi Vivian Karawahenni, Sutopo Sutopo, Arif Hidayat, Maya Mustika

Jurnal Pendidikan Sains

This study endeavors to ascertain the efficacy of the Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI)- assisted virtual laboratory learning model in enhancing the comprehension of simple harmonic oscillation concepts among pre-service physics teachers. Employing a mixed- method approach with an embedded experimental design, the investigation employs a reasoned multiple-choice instrument comprising 15 questions. Analysis of the results reveals a noteworthy 48.38% increase in the average mastery of concepts between the pre-test and post-test, yielding an N-gain value of 0.63. Statistical scrutiny through paired sample t-tests corroborates significant disparities between pre-test and post-test scores, evidenced by a tcount (16.28) exceeding the critical ttable value …