Digital Commons Network^™

Election Fraud In The American Mind, Mitchell Brown, Spencer Goidel, Soren Jordan, Bridgett A. King, Isaac Westfall, Ryan Williamson

Political Science Faculty Publications

Objective: Disputes over election fraud have become a defining feature of contemporary American politics, yet it remains unclear whether partisans are disagreeing about the same underlying phenomenon. This article examines how Americans understand and interpret the phrase “election fraud” and whether partisan divisions reflect differences in concern about fraud or differences in what the term itself is taken to mean. Methods: We use novel survey questions included in our team's module of the 2024 Cooperative Election Study (N = 1000). An open-ended question captures respondents’ own top-of-mind associations with the phrase “election fraud,” while a closed-ended item asks respondents to …

A Two-Stage Screening Approach Integrated With Gwas For Rare Phenotypes Such As Spontaneous Haploid Genome Doubling In Maize, Mercy Fakude, Tyler L. Foster, Yu Ru Chen, Ann Murithi, Siddique Imran Aboobucker, Ursula Karoline Frei, Philip M. Dixon, Thomas Lübberstedt

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Spontaneous haploid genome doubling (SHGD) is a valuable trait in maize breeding, enabling the development of doubled haploid (DH) lines without chemical chromosome doubling. However, SHGD is a rare phenotype, expressed in only a small fraction of maize germplasm, making its identification resource-intensive. This study evaluated the efficiency of a two-stage field screening approach designed to identify maize genotypes with high haploid male fertility (HMF), a key indicator of SHGD potential. Simulation analyses showed that evaluating 50 haploid plants per genotype, combined with a 25% HMF threshold, provides an optimal balance between detection accuracy and resource efficiency. Across three growing …

Triacontanol Boosts Soybean Nodulation Via Gmhsp26-Mediated Antioxidant Enhancement, Bingjie Niu, Minglei Cheng, Xudong Lu, Lili Sun, Shuang Lu, Jinke Guo, Hongyan Zhu, Lixiang Wang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is a globally crucial food crop and a model plant for studying symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes. Triacontanol (TRIA) is a natural plant growth regulator that enhances photosynthetic efficiency, stress tolerance, antioxidant enzyme activities and yield in crops. However, its regulatory role in nodulation and nitrogen fixation in legumes remains unclear. In this study, soybean seedlings inoculated with Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain USDA110 were treated with different concentrations of TRIA (0, 0.33, 0.5, 1 and 2 μg/mL). Then, oxidative stress indicators and comparative transcriptomic analysis were performed to check the oxidative status and screen the candidate …

Student Perspectives On Grading In Higher Education Stem Courses, Christopher Sean Burns, Daniela D.S. Digiacomo, Jennifer Pusateri, Katherine Ritchie, Christine Wusylko

Information Science Faculty Publications

Purpose

Despite a growing awareness of instructional practices that support student learning and well-being, higher education classrooms tend to still be dominated by the use of rigid approaches to assessment and course design. This study aims to understand the experiences of students in courses that implement a universal design for learning (UDL) pedagogical approach and an ungrading assessment approach. Design/methodology/approach

Leveraging a qualitative methodological approach, authors interviewed 13 graduate students in two library and information science technology courses and 11 undergraduate students in a computer science course in discrete mathematics about their experiences with ungrading within the context of UDL-designed …

Consistent Gas-Phase Temperatures And Metallicities From Uv And Optical Nebular Emission, Erin Huntzinger, Yuguang Chen, Tucker Jones, Ryan Sanders, Peter Senchyna, Daniel Stark, Fabio Bresolin, Stephane Charlot, Jacopo Chevallard

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) spectra of star-forming galaxies are increasingly important as they become one of the primary windows to probe the physical properties of cosmic dawn (z > 8) galaxies with the James Webb Space Telescope. However, the systematic discrepancies between UV and optical gas-phase metallicity measurements remain poorly understood in the local universe, partly due to challenges in achieving precise comparisons between UV and optical spectra for the same objects. In this work, we introduce a novel method that leverages the He II λ1640 and He II λ4686 nebular emission lines to achieve accurate aperture and reddening corrections between …

Patients' Attitudes Towards Deprescribing And Associations With Patient-Related Factors Across Two Hospital Settings, Louise Westberg Strejby Christensen, Iman El Gamah, Amina Osman Ismail Barre, Daniela Claudia Moga, Anissa Aharaz, Olivia Bornæs, Rikke Lundsgaard Nielsen, Aino Leegaard Andersen, Esben Iversen, Kim Peder Dalhoff, Ove Andersen, Helle Gybel Juul-Larsen, Morten Baltzer Houlind

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Medication deprescribing is a targeted strategy to reduce inappropriate polypharmacy. Patients in primary care settings have reported high willingness to discontinue medications, but this phenomenon is less well studied in hospital settings. In this explorative post hoc analysis of two previously described clinical trials, we assessed patients' attitudes towards deprescribing in two hospital-based cohorts: acutely admitted older medical patients (≥ 65 years) in the emergency department at Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre (October 2018–April 2021) and multimorbid patients (≥ 18 years) referred to an outpatient clinic at Copenhagen University Hospital Amager (March 2019–December 2019). Among 104 and 72 patients in each …

Avoiding Misleading Estimates Of Among-Individual Variance Caused By Non-Random Sampling Of Individuals In A Changeable Environment, Denis Réale, Hassen Allegue, Yimen G. Araya-Ajoy, Ned A. Dochtermann, Shinichi Nakagawa, Joel L. Pick, Holger Schielzeth, David F. Westneat, Niels J. Dingemanse

Biology Faculty Publications

Animal ecologists frequently quantify variance in hierarchically structured traits in wild populations. Importantly, phenotypic plasticity within the period of measurement can modify the trait of interest in response to various unmeasured, temporally or spatially changeable, environmental conditions. Non-random sampling among units of the random effect (e.g. individuals) regarding the environment at issue may lead to estimates of the variance among ((Formula presented.)) or within ((Formula presented.)) such units that conflate several types of processes. This mixing of underlying biology can affect interpretations of the random effect variance. Here, we explore the conditions leading to this situation and assess potential solutions …

Information-Content-Informed Kendall-Tau Correlation Methodology, Robert M. Flight, Praneeth S. Bhatt, Hunter N.B. Moseley

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Background: Almost all correlation measures currently available are unable to directly handle missing values. Typically, missing values are either ignored completely by removing them or are imputed and used in the calculation of the correlation coefficient. In either case, the correlation value will be impacted based on the perspective that the missing data represents no useful information. However, missing values occur in real datasets for a variety of reasons. In metabolomics datasets a major reason for missing values is that a specific measurable phenomenon falls below the detection limits of the analytical instrumentation (left-censored values). These missing data are not …

Role Of Succinate Dehydrogenase In Age-Related Th17 Inflammation, Evelyn Ocegueda, Gabrielle Chase, Michaella Niceforo, Aida Javidan, Lydia Gugliuzza, Jingting Yu, Rachel Y. Kang, Ava Lankowski, Olivia Stefanik, Kailey Leclerc, Yolander Valentine, Micah J. Drummond, Jude T. Deeney, Josephine S. Modica-Napolitano, Elizabeth A. Proctor, Hatice Hasturk, Barbara S. Nikolajczyk, Leena P. Bharath

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Age-related cellular changes negatively impact CD4⁺ T cell function. Our prior work showed that mitochondrial complex II (succinate dehydrogenase [SDH]) expression was upregulated in T cells from older (O) adults (60–80 years old). T cells from older adults also produced higher amounts of cytokines generally considered proinflammatory, such as Th17 cytokines IL-17A/F and IL-21, and the Th-17-supportive cytokine IL-6, compared to T cells from younger (Y) adults (25–40 years old). The objective of our study is to evaluate whether hyperactivation of SDH is required for the induction of proinflammatory cytokines and the mechanistic link between SDH and Th17 cytokine …

Systemic Consequences Of Chronic Ethanol Intake, Muni Swamy Ganjayi, Thomas A. Krauss, Gage E. Demster, Sehyung Park, Garrett B. Anspach, Sarah R. Anthony, Shaohua Wang, Michael Tranter, Robert N. Helsley, Cory W. Baumann

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Chronic ethanol (EtOH) consumption is a major contributor to multi-organ dysfunction, yet its systemic effects remain incompletely understood. To address this, we utilized a physiologically relevant long-term mouse model, administering 20% EtOH in drinking water for 60 weeks, to investigate the integrated consequences of chronic exposure. EtOH-consuming mice (0.4–0.5 mL/day) exhibited > 30% reductions in chow and fluid intake, resulting in a 12% decrease in total caloric intake compared to controls (p < 0.001). Body mass remained similar until Week 52, after which EtOH-treated mice had lower body mass due to reductions in both lean and fat mass (p ≤ 0.004). Functional assessments revealed impaired treadmill endurance (−17%) and grip strength (−11%) (p ≤ 0.037), while motor coordination remained unaffected (p = 0.203). Chronic EtOH exposure significantly altered gut microbiota composition, reducing Lactobacillus and enriching Faecalibaculum, Clostridium, and Bifidobacterium at the genus level. These changes were accompanied by marked depletion of short-chain fatty acids (p ≤ 0.05). Indirect markers of gut permeability (serum LPS & zonulin) and liver injury (serum ALT & AST, hepatic amyloid content) were elevated, alongside increased total cholesterol and > 62% upregulation of hepatic TNFα, IL-6 & serum amyloid A (p ≤ 0.046). EtOH also induced dyslipidemia and glucose intolerance (p ≤ 0.041), although transcriptomic changes in white adipose …

Plasmons Enable Ultralow Threshold Solid-State Triplet Fusion Upconversion With A 2d Sensitizer, Seamus S. Lowe, Satya P. Butler, John E. Anthony, Saien Xie, Barry P. Rand

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Solid-state triplet–triplet annihilation (TTA) upconversion has significant potential for application in light harvesting, optoelectronic devices, and bioimaging. However, the high optical powers required to achieve efficient upconversion have inhibited its adoption. In this work, we demonstrate plasmon-enhanced near-infrared (NIR)-to-blue TTA upconversion in a monolayer WSe2/organic heterojunction. Under far-field excitation, the device reaches a threshold of 19 mW/cm2 and an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 0.17% with an anti-Stokes shift of 1.1 eV. Plasmon excitation lowers the threshold to 0.9 mW/cm2 and improves the EQE to 3.6%. We attribute the plasmon enhancement to surface plasmon polariton (SPP) near-field enhancement and dark-exciton …

Generative Models And Synthetic Data In Clinical Prediction Models, Anthony A. Mangino, Taha Ahmed, Vincent L. Sorrell

Radiology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Reproducibility, consistency, and transparency are essential to responsible and ethical scientific inquiry, though practices supporting these qualities are often neglected. However, in many cases data are confidential or otherwise unable to be shared publicly. This tutorial describes a method utilizing generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create synthetic data that are sufficiently similar to the original dataset in such cases where the source data cannot be shared or where the source data are too sparse as to internally validate results. Methods: Utilizing an exemplar study that aimed to create a clinical prediction model employing a novel echocardiographic measurement to differentiate …

The Supreme Court's Goldilocks: Why The Major Questions Doctrine Is The Ideal Compromise Between Two Unattractive Extremes, Bradley P. Simpson

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Exposing Car Dealerships' Final Hidden Sales Con: A Call For The Disclosure Of Interest Rate Markups When "Helping" Buyers With Indirect Financing, John C. Simms

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Removal Responsibility, Kevin Frazier

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Happy Belated Iep: How A Notice Of Procedural Safeguards Fails Children With Specific Learning Disabilities, Chrystal Clodomir

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Building Jerusalem: Commercial Law And Ethics Of The Benefit Corporation, Jeff Lingwall, Susan Park

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reaching For Starz: The Negative Impact Of Creating Limitations On Damages In Timely Copyright Claims, Lindley Williams

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Taylor Dispersion In Variable-Density, Variable-Viscosity Pulsatile Flows, Prabakaran Rajamanickam, Adam D. Weiss

Progress in Scale Modeling, an International Journal

The phenomenon of Taylor or shear-induced dispersion of a non-passive scalar field in a pulsatile pipe flow is investigated, accounting for the scalar field's influence on fluid density and transport coefficients. By employing multiple scale analysis, an effective one-dimensional, unsteady mixing problem for the scalar field is obtained, which includes the diffusion coefficient for shear-induced dispersion. The resulting governing equations are applicable to a range of scalar transport problems in pulsatile pipe flows.

Methane Emissions From Underground Coal Mines, Marcelo Guzman, Thomas Parris, Stephen Greb, Cortland F. Eble, Sean Bailey

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Methane emissions from Kentucky underground coal mines were measured using near-infrared spectrometers deployed on a vehicle, an airplane, and a small uncrewed aerial system (sUAS), offering insights into the effectiveness of these methods under real-world conditions. From 2021–2022, surveys covered 14 active, 4 inactive, and 4 abandoned mines across Kentucky’s coal-producing basins. Vehicle-based surveys at 13 active mines detected methane anomalies at 9 sites with anomaly lengths spanning tens to hundreds of meters and peak emissions of 665 ± 229 kg h–1 from two Cardinal mine fans. Airborne GHGSat surveys identified anomalies at 3 sites, including a peak of 1062 …

Dvr Service Evaluation And Fee Sufficiency Study, Mallory Brown, Andrew Martin, Jeeyen Koo, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) Department of Vehicle Regulation (DVR) administers numerous fees and taxes. Many administered by the two divisions in DVR — Motor Vehicle Licensing (DMVL) and Motor Carriers (DMC) — have remained unchanged for many years despite salary increases, the adoption of more complex and expensive technologies, and inflation raising administrative costs. This report provides in-depth assessments of 10 fees and taxes (selected by division administrators). Six are administered by DMVL — certificate of title, duplicate title, vehicle title history report, additional registration fee, reflectorized license plate fund, and trailer registrations — and four are managed by …

Molecular Gas And Star Formation In Central Rings Across Nearby Galaxies, Damian R. Gleis, Sophia K. Stuber, Eva Schinnerer, Justus Neumann, Sharon E. Meidt, Miguel Querejeta, Eric Emsellem, Adam K. Leroy, Ashley T. Barnes, Frank Bigiel, Charlie Burton, Mélanie Chevance, Daniel A. Dale, Kathryn Grasha, Ralf S. Klessen, Rebecca C. Levy, Lukas Neumann, Hsi An Pan, Marina Ruiz-García, Mattia C. Sormani, Jiayi Sun, Yu Hsuan Teng, Thomas G. Williams

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Context. Nearby galaxies exhibit a variety of structures, including so-called central or (circum-)nuclear rings that are similar to the Milky Way (MW) Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). These rings are common in barred galaxies and can be gas-rich and highly star-forming. Aims. We aim to study the molecular gas content and star formation rate of central rings within nearby galaxies and link them to global galaxy properties, especially the bar morphology. Methods. We utilized 1″(≲100 pc) resolution CO(2–1) observations from the PHANGS-ALMA survey, visually identifying 20 central rings and determine their properties. For 14 of these rings, MUSE observations tracing star …

Sacbe 1 And Classic Maya Urban Culture, Traci Ardren, Scott R. Hutson, Travis W. Stanton, Patrick Rohrer, Justin P. Lowry

Anthropology Faculty Publications

One of the most significant engineering accomplishments of Maya civilization is Sacbe 1, a raised road connecting the ancient urban centers of Yaxuna and Coba. Using new lidar data in concert with excavation, epigraphic inscriptions, and landscape reconnaissance, we show that settlement and an urban experience emanated westward from Coba along the sacbe. The leaders of Coba - in particular, an ambitious seventh-century queen - used the sacbe to expand the political and cultural influence of their dynasty into the center of the peninsula while securing territory and resources. Gaps in the sacbe, precise delineation of its many curves, and …

Synthesis And Structures Of Ru(Ii)-P-Cymene Sandwich Complexes With Electron-Withdrawing Cyclopentadienyl Ligands, Uttam R. Pokharel, Sean Parkin, John P. Selegue

Chemistry Faculty Publications

A modular synthetic route has been developed to prepare a new series of cationic ruthenium(II) complexes with electron-withdrawing 1,2-diacylcyclopentadienyl ligands. The 2-acyl-6-hydroxyfulvenes were synthesized from cyclopentadienide and acyl chlorides and converted to Tl(I) cyclopentadienyl salts using Tl₂SO₄/KOH. Transmetalation with [Ru(η⁶-p-cymene)(μ-Cl)Cl]₂ followed by PF₆⁻ metathesis gives the complexes [Ru{η⁵-1,2-C₅H₃(CO–R)₂}(η⁶-p-cymene)][PF₆] (R = t-Bu, p-Tol, p-ClC₆H₄, p-IC₆H₄) in moderate to high yields. The new compounds were characterized by NMR and IR spectroscopy; mass spectrometry …

Intermittent Hypoxemia And Brain Injury Biomarker S100b In Preterm Infants, Elie G. Abu Jawdeh, Linda J. Van Eldik, Jennifer Stevenson, Abhijit Patwardhan, Philip M. Westgate, Lina Chalak, Richard J. Martin, Henrietta S. Bada

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Abstract – Introduction: Intermittent hypoxemia (IH) is common in preterm infants and linked to brain injury. S100B is a glial-derived protein that rises early after neural injury and can be measured noninvasively in urine. We evaluated the relationship between IH burden and urinary S100B in preterm infants of ≤32 weeks’ gestation. Methods: Preterm infants of ≤32 weeks’ gestation were prospectively enrolled. Oxygen saturation was continuously monitored, and IH profiles were quantified using validated algorithms. Urine S100B was measured by ultrasensitive immunoassay and normalized for urinary creatinine. Infants with severe intraventricular hemorrhage were excluded. Weighted Spearman correlations examined associations between IH …

Nitrogenated Graphene Quantum Dot-Derived Copper Single-Atom Catalyst For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Dawatage Shashika Madushani Perera, Prakhar Sharma, Ayanthi Thisera, Nadeesha Kothalawala, Matthew G. Boebinger, Beth S. Guiton, Doo Young Kim

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Despite the promise of fuel cells as sustainable energy conversion technologies, their widespread adoption is hindered by the high cost of platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts, particularly for catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode. Here, we report copper-based single-atom catalysts (Cu-SACs) as cost-effective non-PGM alternatives for ORR. The catalysts were synthesized via simple pyrolysis of pyrene-derived amine-terminated graphene quantum dots (GQDs) in the presence of nitrogen and metal precursors. The abundant nitrogen functionality in GQDs effectively stabilized isolated Cu atoms during their conversion to porous carbon. A subsequent acid-washing step yielded a high density of atomically dispersed …

Mauve, Luca Cortese, Adam Brian Watts, Jiayi Sun, Sriram Sankar, Barbara Catinella, Toby Brown, Alessandro Boselli, Pavel Jáchym, Tutku Kolcu, Sabine Thater, Jesse Van De Sande, Vicente Villanueva

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We present a multiphase study of the star-formation-driven outflow in the Virgo galaxy NGC 4383, combining ALMA CO(2-1) data with deep MeerKAT Hi imaging and MUSE spectroscopy obtained as part of the Multiphase Astrophysics to Unveil the Virgo Environment (MAUVE) program. Our previous work revealed a spectacular ionised outflow, but the effect of the outflow on the cold phase remained unclear. Our analysis shows that potentially outflowing molecular gas is detected only within the inner 1 kpc above the disc, where CO clouds exhibit disturbed kinematics and spatial correspondence with the ionisation cone. At larger heights, the CO surface brightness …

Kytc Digital Project Delivery Phase 1 Summary, Rachel Catchings

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) launched its Digital Project Delivery (DPD) Initiative in September 2020 with the goal of expanding the use of digitally formatted plan and project information throughout the transportation asset life cycle, from project delivery through asset management. KYTC retained Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) staff with expertise in construction and design to facilitate DPD implementation. This document summarizes DPD-related efforts undertaken by the Cabinet over the past five years. Key activities completed during this period include a survey of Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors members to document their perspectives on design file usage and preferences, coordinating multiple …

Kentucky Cdl Adjudication Pilot And Compliance Needs Study, Jeeyen Koo, Andrew Martin, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report examines trends in how Kentucky District Courts have adjudicated charges related to commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial motor vehicles (CMVs). Using court data, researchers evaluated historical patterns in charge filing volumes as well as conviction, dismissal, amendment, and diversion rates. Between 2002 and 2024, conviction rates declined and dismissals increased. Convictions peaked in the mid-70% range in the early 2000s, but fell to the mid-50% range by 2024. Speeding and other serious traffic violations — many of which are advanceable offenses — were dismissed or amended at rates that could have substantively affected the integrity of CDL …

Duration And Properties Of The Embedded Phase Of Star Formation In 37 Nearby Galaxies From Phangs-Jwst, Lise Ramambason, Mélanie Chevance, Jaeyeon Kim, Francesco Belfiore, J. M. Diederik Kruijssen, Andrea Romanelli, Amirnezam Amiri, Médéric Boquien, Ryan Chown, Daniel A. Dale, Simthembile Dlamini, Oleg V. Egorov, Ivan Gerasimov, Simon C.O. Glover, Kathryn Grasha, Hamid Hassani, Hwihyun Kim, Kathryn Kreckel, Hannah Koziol, Adam K. Leroy, José Eduardo Méndez-Delgado, Justus Neumann, Lukas Neumann, Hsi An Pan, Debosmita Pathak, Karin Sandstrom, Sumit K. Sarbadhicary, Eva Schinnerer, Jiayi Sun, Jessica Sutter, David A. Thilker, Leonardo Ubeda

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Light reprocessed by dust grains emitting in the infrared enables the study of the physics at play in dusty embedded regions, where ultraviolet and optical wavelengths are attenuated. Infrared telescopes such as JWST have made it possible to study the earliest feedback phases, when stars are shielded by cocoons of gas and dust. Comprehending this phase is crucial for unravelling the effects of feedback from young stars that leads to their emergence and the dispersal of their host molecular clouds. Here we show that the transition from the embedded to the exposed phase of star formation is short (< 4 Myr) and sometimes almost absent (< 1 Myr) across a sample of 37 nearby star-forming galaxies covering a wide range of morphologies, from massive barred spirals to irregular dwarfs. The short duration of the dust-clearing timescales suggests a predominant role of pre-supernova feedback mechanisms in revealing newborn stars, confirming previous results on smaller samples and allowing, for the first time, a statistical analysis of their dependencies. We find that the timescales associated with mid-infrared emission at 21 μm, tracing a dust-embedded feedback phase, are controlled by a complex interplay between giant molecular cloud properties (masses and velocity dispersions) and galaxy morphology. We report relatively longer durations of the embedded phase of star formation in barred spiral galaxies, while this phase is significantly reduced in low-mass irregular dwarf galaxies. We discuss tentative trends with gas-phase metallicity, which may favor faster cloud dispersal at low metallicities.