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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary’S Office Of Safety ‘Safety Academy’, Gabriel Dadi, Farshid Taherpour, Amanda Casolare

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Safety Academy was developed to provide a structured and practical safety training program that strengthens safety leadership, planning, communication, employee engagement, hazard recognition, and continuous improvement across KYTC operations. The program was refined over the course of multiple discussions with Cabinet representatives to ensure that the content reflected the needs and responsibilities of KYTC personnel. The final Safety Academy consists of six modules: Safety Academy Welcome, Safety Leadership, Safety Planning, Safety Engagement, Hazard Recognition, and Safety Academy Closeout and Evaluation. The modules combine instructional content with discussions, practical examples, group exercises, and KYTC-related scenarios to …

Improving Diabetes Self-Management Through A Partnership Between Clinical Providers And Community Educators In Appalachian Communities, Soghra Jarvandi, Lydia Hoskins, Karen Carver, Andrew May

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: The burden of diabetes is an increasing public health challenge, especially in the Appalachian Region.

Purpose: This study assessed the impact of a community-based diabetes education program on glycemic control.

Methods: Health Extension for Diabetes (HED) is a 4-month diabetes education program offered by Extension educators in collaboration with clinical providers. Participants’ data were collected via phone interviews at baseline and after completing the program. Assessments included self-reported HbA1c, socio-demographics, diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-management behaviors. Data were analyzed by SAS software using paired analyses.

Results: Of the 105 participants in the program, 87 (83%) completed the post-assessment. Among …

School-Centered Tobacco Retailer Exposure And Neighborhood Opportunity Across Urban And Rural Tennessee, Sima Namin Dr, Jacob Black, Jennifer Ferris, Robert E. Heidel Dr

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Tobacco retailer availability contributes to youth tobacco use, and retailers are concentrated in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. However, few studies have examined how school-centered retailer exposure intersects with neighborhood opportunity in a predominantly rural Appalachian state.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to assess the association between neighborhood opportunity and school-centered tobacco retailer exposure across Tennessee (TN), including differences by rurality and Appalachian status.

Methods: We constructed a tract-level, school-centered youth tobacco exposure index for TN using tobacco retailer locations and public and private K-12 school data. The index incorporated retailer proximity, density, and distance-decay accessibility measures. Child Opportunity …

Deaths Of Despair Among Cancer Survivors In Rural/Urban Appalachia (2000-2022), Jason Semprini, Anders Erickson, Nosa Osazuwa-Peters

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Rising deaths of despair (premature deaths from suicide, overdose, alcohol, and violence) in adults under age 65 persist across the United States, especially in Appalachia. People diagnosed with cancer may face elevated risks of such deaths due to pain, psychosocial distress, and financial hardship.

Purpose: Deaths of despair trends were compared among adults with cancer across Appalachian and non-Appalachian regions, stratified by sex and rurality.

Methods: Analyzing SEER-21 Incidence-Based Mortality data (2000–2022), deaths caused by suicide, cirrhosis of the liver, or accidents (includes overdose) were identified among adults aged 20–64 years. Annual mortality rates per 100,000 total population were …

The Right To Have Rights In United States Territories, Anthony M. Ciolli

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Immigration Detainers, Local Law Enforcement, And Constraints On Bureaucratic Discretion: Recent Trends Under The Second Trump Administration, Richard T. Middleton, Sheridan Wigginton

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Duty To Develop Imperative In Immigration Proceedings, Sabrineh Ardalan, Tiffany J. Lieu

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deportation After Death By Incarceration: A Right To Redemption, Jennifer Lee Koh, Tin Nguyen

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Sherbert Colored Lens: Apache Stronghold And The Uphill Battle For The Recognition Of A Substantial Burden For Indigenous Plaintiffs, Emma P. Collins

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hope In The Holler: How Eminent Domain Can Bring Economic Justice To Central Appalachia, Matthew B. Chaney

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

History And Tradition Of Inequality, Advocacy, And Progress, Teri Dobbins Baxter

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Much Ado About Nothing: The Effect Of The "Nullity Rule" On Purported Pro Se Litigants In Federal Court, John T. Lambert

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Consumer Bankruptcy: A "Gem" Of The Legal Profession But A Diamond In The Rough, Tori Harris

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The New Parens Patriae, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Against First Amendment Traditionalism, Jacob M. Schriner-Briggs

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Development Of Reduced Conflict U-Turn (Rcut) Guidance In Kentucky, Travis Thompson, Duane Thomas, Jill Asher, Jeff Jasper

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

A reduced conflict U-turn (RCUT) intersection eliminates left-turn and through movements from the minor road. Instead, drivers must turn right onto the main road and complete a U-turn at a downstream median opening. Recognized by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as a proven safety countermeasure, RCUT intersections have reduced fatal and injury crashes 22 – 63%. Despite more than 35 RCUT intersections in operation across Kentucky, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) lacked specific guidance for their planning, design, construction, and operation.

This project, conducted by the Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) in cooperation with KYTC, addressed this gap through a comprehensive …

Cellular Senescence Links Muscle Atrophy And Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis After Acl Injury, Alexander R. Keeble, Allison Owen, Sara Gonzalez-Velez, Nicholas T. Thomas, Camille R. Brightwell, Peyton J. Balawender, Madeline G. O'Daniel, Helena C. Weiss, Haley Noehren, Heather Thompson, Karen Sofia Zuluaga-Osorio, Zane T. Bates, Lauren Gottlieb, Douglas E. Long, Douglas Harrison, Philip Kern, Caitlin E. Conley, Michael A. Samaan, Stephen Duncan, Austin Stone, Darren Johnson, Yuan Wen, Brian Noehren, Cory Dungan, Christopher Fry

Biology Faculty Publications

Traumatic knee injury leads to posttraumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) and significant skeletal muscle weakness, resulting in chronic disability. The current standard of care frequently fails to prevent musculoskeletal dysfunction, underscoring the need to identify therapeutic mechanisms of PTOA. Using an established preclinical anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) transection model of PTOA and leveraging an innovative SPiDER-senescence-associated β-galactosidase stain to discern senescent cells, we investigated cellular senescence at single-cell resolution and identified anti-inflammatory macrophages as a predominant contributor to the senescent cell burden in both muscle and knee joint after injury. Clearance of senescent cells using the senolytic dasatinib and quercetin (D + …

Chameleon Carriers In Trucking: Detection, Enforcement, And Financial And Safety Impacts, Brian Howell, Drew Law, Andrew Martin

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Chameleon carriers are motor carriers that evade regulatory enforcement by dissolving and reregistering under new corporate identities. This study, commissioned by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), examined how states characterize, detect, and respond to chameleon carrier activity and assessed its financial and safety impacts in Kentucky from 2020 through 2025. The research team conducted a literature review of existing agency practices and relevant stakeholder perspectives, reviewed administrative codes and statutes across 13 pilot states, and administered two structured surveys to state motor carrier credentialing officials examining carrier characterization and enforcement practices. An analysis of KYTC's carrier data flagged by CVIEW …

Evaluation Of Kentucky’S Work Zone Speed Camera Pilot Program: Speed And Crash Analyses, Xu Zhang, William Staats, Eric Green

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky introduced automated speed enforcement in work zones to mitigate hazards and improve the safety of motorists and workers. This study describes the impacts of automated speed enforcement at five pilot sites. Researchers analyzed speed data and crash data from pilot sites and paired control sites. The control sites and pilot sites had similar traffic volumes, lane configurations, and functional classifications. Analysis drew on over 15 million individual speed records captured using automated enforcement cameras as well as segment-level speed data from HERE.  Active enforcement at pilot sites was associated with lower mean, 85th-percentile, and 99th-percentile vehicle speeds. Average vehicle …

The Productivity Of A Sown Grassland On Drained Low-Bog Soil As Influenced By Soil Moisture Regime And Fertilization, J Lukoshyavichyus, R Vaichyulite, A Vlasov, A Panamarevene

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In the Yoke Branch of the Lithuanian Research Institute of Agriculture, within the frame of the programme for working out the fundamen­tals of a sound and reliable basis of raw ma­terials for producing feed pellets and wafers along industrial lines, experiments have been performed since 1972 for determining an effi­cient combination. of fertilization and soil moisture regime of sown grassland on drained low-bog soil. Field and laboratory experiments have shown that in the course of the growing season the optimum moisture regime in the root layer of the drained low-bog soil under investigation sho1,1ld range between the upper limit (which …

Cover Crops For Perennial Forage Plants Under Conditions Of High-Intensity Arable Farming, Yu K. Novoselov

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

High and stable yields of perennial forage plants grown under conditions of high-intensity arable farming depend decisively on proper timing of sowing as well as on correct choice of the most suitable sowing method. Early-spring sowing of perennial forage plants under summer crops was found to be an opti­mum approach in the nonchernozem zone of the European part of the • USSR. The safe development of the seedlings of a given forage crop depends on proper choice not only of the species but also of the variety of the cover crop. If more nitrogen is applied, particularly in years with …

Exercise Training Prior To And During Cancer In Mice Preserves Muscle Mass, Reduces Tumour Weight And Suppresses Molecular Mediators Of Cachexia, Stavroula Tsitkanou, Pieter J. Koopmans, Ana Regina Cabrera, Nathan Serrano, Calvin S. Peterson, Ruqaiza Muhyudin, Zain B. Malik, Micah Goeke, Eleanor R. Schrems, Francielly Morena, Yuan Wen, Tyrone A. Washington, Kevin A. Murach, Nicholas P. Greene

Physiology Faculty Publications

Abstract: We investigated the prophylactic effects of exercise before and during cancer cachexia (CC) using a model designed to mimic endurance and resistance (i.e., concurrent) adaptations. Male and female Balb/c mice were randomly assigned to exercise or control groups whereby exercise groups were subjected to an 8-week voluntary progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR) programme of habitual loading-mediated physical activity beginning at 8 weeks of age. At 16 weeks of age, mice were injected bilaterally with colon-26 adenocarcinoma (C26) cells or phosphate-buffered saline, and exercise training was maintained throughout disease progression. Twenty-five days post-tumour induction, we assessed whole-body and muscle phenotype, …

Pathologic Misclassification Of Renal Cell Carcinoma In Adolescents And Young Adults, Megan Stout, Derek B. Allison, Leslie Peard, Will Cranford, Yana B. Feygin, Kara Mcabee, Christopher J. Mclouth, Patrick J. Hensley, Jason R. Bylund, Amanda F. Buchanan

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background and Objective: Diagnosis of TFE3-rearranged RCC (tRCC) requires a pathologist’s expertise and a high index of suspicion. The objectives of this study were to determine the rate of misclassification of RCC in the adolescent and young adult (AYA) patient population, identify any clinically significant impact associated with misclassification, and compare oncologic outcomes between patients with tRCC vs. other RCC subtypes. Methods: All patients < 50 years who underwent renal surgery and were diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma at a single institution from 2004 to 2019 were identified retrospectively. Pathology specimens were reviewed by a genitourinary pathologist. Changes in a pathologic diagnosis were denoted as “misclassified.” Clinical and oncologic data were analyzed comparing misclassified and non-misclassified groups as well as tRCC and other RCC diagnoses. A survival analysis was used to compare oncologic outcomes. Results: In total, 169 patients were identified, and 20/169 (11.8%) patients were misclassified after pathologic review, with 50% (n = 84) of this cohort < 40 years of age at diagnosis. There were significant differences between misclassified and non-misclassified groups with respect to race (p = 0.002), Appalachian county status (p = 0.035), and initial RCC subtype (p = 0.004). There were no significant differences in clinical or oncologic outcomes between tRCC and other RCC groups. There were no significant differences in time to death or recurrence in misclassified vs. non-misclassified patients (p = 0.83 and 0.68, respectively) or between patients with tRCC and other RCC subtypes (p = 0.45 and 0.062, respectively). Conclusions: >10% of patients with RCC were misclassified on the original pathologic diagnosis; however, there was no significant impact on oncologic outcomes. This identifies diagnostic blind spots for tRCC diagnosis in a young cohort. Perhaps reflex IHC …

Inflammation Associated With Obesity, Aging, And Amyloid Burden In Adults With Down Syndrome, Victoria L. Fleming-Batayneh, Brian C. Helsel, Lauren T. Ptomey, Benjamin L. Handen, Mark Mapstone, Melissa Petersen, Sharon J. Krinsky-Mchale, Christy L. Hom, Davneet Minhas, Weiquan Luo, Charles Laymon, Joseph H. Lee, Annie Cohen, Beau M. Ances, Adam M. Brickman, Margaret Pulsifer, H. Diana Rosas, Florencia Lai, Shahid H. Zaman, Elizabeth Head, Dana Tudorascu, Julie Price, Fredrick Schmitt, Bradley T. Christian, Ozioma Okonkwo, Sigan L. Hartley, Beau M. Ances, Howard F. Andrews, Karen Bell, Rasmus M. Birn, Adam M. Brickman

Neurology Faculty Publications

Objective: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) often show elevated systemic inflammation, but the association with obesity, aging, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology is not well understood. Methods: Data were drawn from 188 nondemented adults with DS participating in the Alzheimer Biomarkers Consortium-DS (ABC-DS). Participants completed clinical assessments, blood draws, and neuroimaging. Plasma biomarkers included indicators of general, pro-, and anti-inflammation. Mixed linear models tested associations between BMI, age, PET-measured amyloid burden, and inflammatory biomarkers, adjusting for sex, trisomy type, and collection site. False discovery rate correction was applied. Results: The majority of the participants met criteria for obesity. Higher BMI …

[5,5]-Fused Anhydride, Thioanhydride, And Imide Derivatives Of Cyclopentadienyl Complexes, Uttam R. Pokharel, Sean Parkin, John P. Selegue

Chemistry Faculty Publications

A new approach to 5,5-fused heterocyclic derivatives of cyclopentadienylmanganese tricarbonyl and pentamethylruthenocene is presented. 1,2-Dicarbophenoxycyclopentadienyl complexes of manganese and ruthenium were hydrolyzed to 1,2-dicarboxylic acids. Oxalyl chloride converted the acids to chlorocarbonyls, which reacted with bis(trimethylsilyl)sulfide to give the cyclopentadienyl-fused thioanhydrides. Alternatively, dehydration of the diacids with trifluoroacetic anhydride closed the diacids to cyclopentadienyl-fused anhydrides. Treatment of the anhydrides with p-toluidine followed by oxalyl chloride led to cyclopentadienyl-fused carboxylic imides. This approach enables direct comparison of electron-deficient Mn(CO)₃ and electron-rich Ru(Cp*) coordination environments on the 5,5-fused heterocycles. Spectroscopic data reveal systematic downfield NMR shifts and higher infrared carbonyl stretching …

Soft Korsi: An Embodied Spatial Interior System For Communal Warmth, Faezeh Panahandeh

Graduate Final Projects

ABSTRACT

Soft Korsi: An Embodied Spatial Interior System for Communal Warmth reconceptualizes the historic Iranian Korsi as an innovative textile-based interior system. Traditionally, the Korsi functioned not only as a heating device but also as a spatial, material, cultural, and embodied system, which brought people together around a shared warm focal point. The integration of a heat source, textile coverings, floor seating arrangements, closeness of bodies, and domestic traditions related to warmth made possible a collective experience, rather than an individual or environmental one.

This design project seeks to address the disappearance of the Korsi from contemporary domestic environments as …

Efficiency Of Dairying Under Contrasting Feeding And Management Systems In North America, Israel, Europe, And New Zealand, J.D. J. Scott

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Four different systems of feeding and managing dairy cattle are seen in major milk-producing countries. These are (1) feeding purchased roughages and concentrates to zero-grazed, intensively penned cows; (2) home growing of roughages and most con­centrates for zero-grazed animals; (3) feeding concentrates with conserved pasture and other roughages in winter and reduced concentrates to grazed cattle in spring-summer; and (4) feeding cattle on grazed pasture and conserved pasture throughout the year. The following data on the four systems were obtained from examples in southern California, Wisconsin, England/Wales, and New Zealand. Average fat-corrected milk (FCM)/cow is approximately 7,140, 5,300, 4,670, and …

Level Of Nitrogen Fertilizer In Annual Winter Pasture (Oats-Ryegrass) And Summer Pasture (Millet): Effects On Milk Production, C J. Olivo, I L. Barreto, D A. Stiles

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Two experiments were conducted with lactating Holstein cows to study the effects of different levels of nitrogen fertilizer (urea) on annual pasture: experiment 1, oats (Avena byzantina K. Koch) and ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.); experiment 2, millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.] Leche). Base fertilizer (8-28-18) was applied, and at the five-leaf stage three levels of nitrogen (N) (75, 150, and 225 kg/ha) were applied. The millet pasture followed the oat + ryegrass pasture, with the N treatments being maintained in the same areas. Two ha were planted for each treatment (total, 6 ha). In experiment 1, twelve lactating cows were randomly …

Intake Of Grass Silage By Dairy Cows And Its Potential To Meet Requirements Of Maintenance And Milk Production, J P. Dulphy, C Demarquilly, J P. Andrieu

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The main objective of our research was to measure the :intake and digestibility of grass silages in order to estimate their poten­tial for meeting requirements for maintenance and milk production. Twelve silages were prepared by the following three techniques, which considerably improve the intake compared with those used 10-20 years ago: (1) fine chopping (1-3 cm), (2) add­ing formic acid as an efficient preservative (3.5 I/ton), and (3) covering the roughages with plastic to prevent oxygen from enter­ing the silo. Three other silages were made simultaneously with 3 of the same forages, but without formic acid. All forages were directly …

Effect Of Herbage Mass And Allowance Upon Herbage Intake By Grazing Dairy Cows, J.A C. Meijs

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

An adequate supply of nutrients for grazing animals depends on the intake and nutritive value of herbage. Little information is available on factors affecting herbage intake of grazing cows, particularly for grazing systems that do not involve daily change of animals to a new pasture. Our objectives were to determine the effects of variation in herbage mass ( due to variation in stage of maturity) and of herbage allowance on herbage intake by grazing dairy cows and on efficiency of consumption (herbage con­sumed as a proportion of herbage accumulated). From 1976 to 1979 the herbage intake oflactating cows was determined …