Digital Commons Network^™

Social Ties Across Audit Offices And Audit Quality, Wenyin Li

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

This dissertation explores the audit consequences of social ties across audit offices. Although recent studies have demonstrated the importance of auditors’ social ties in auditor performance, little is known about the role of social ties across audit offices in facilitating knowledge sharing within audit firms and their impact on audit quality. To fill this gap, this study employs the Facebook Social Connectedness Index to capture social ties across audit offices within the same audit firm. Drawing upon the organizational learning literature and social network literature, I predict and find that audit office-level social ties improve audit quality. In addition, the …

Graduated Driver Licensing Program, Jeeyen Koo, Andrew Martin, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

To address challenges related to teen driver safety, Kentucky adopted a simple graduated driver licensing (GDL) program in 1996 and further expanded it in 2006 by adding an intermediate licensing phase, requirements for supervised practice driving, and instituting restrictions on passenger age. Despite GDL programs having been adopted throughout the US, young drivers (ages 16 – 20) continue to be overrepresented in fatal crashes. In 2019, despite this segment making up roughly 5.3 percent of licensed drivers it accounted for 11.5 percent of fatal vehicle crashes (Kentucky recorded 732 crash fatalities, of which 73 involved young drivers). Although teen driver …

2+1 Roadway Design Guidance Update, Jeff Jasper, Jeff Wolfe, Robin Baskette, Paul Ross, Chris Van Dyke

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The frequency and severity of crashes on rural two-lane roadways have increased in the US relative to other road types. This trend can be explained by the growing number of vehicles, higher speeds, narrow shoulders, and vehicle mixes. One solution for improving traffic flow and safety outcomes on rural two-lane roadways is to adopt a 2+1 design, which confers the benefits of four-lane highways but at a lower cost. Transportation agencies throughout Europe — and increasingly the US — have seen good results from 2+1 layouts. Crash data from Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Denmark reveal better safety outcomes following the …

Prediction Of Blast-Induced Ground Vibrations: A Comparison Between Empirical And Artificial-Neural-Network Approaches, Luis F. Velasquez

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Ground vibrations are a critical factor in the rock blasting process. The instantaneous load application exerted by the gas pressure during the detonation process acts on the blasthole walls creating dynamic stresses in the adjacent rock. This triggers different sorts of stress waves, mainly divided into two categories: body and surface waves. The first comprises the P and the S waves, while the second comprises Rayleigh waves. These waves spread concentrically starting at the blast location and move along the ground surface and its interior, being attenuated as they reach further distances.

In most cases, and accepting the hypothesis that …

An Acid Baking Approach To Enhance Rare Earth Element Recovery From Bituminous Coal Sources, Ahmad Nawab

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Rare earth elements (REE) are a group of 17 elements typically classified as light and heavy rare earth elements, which play a crucial role in developing the latest technologies for energy, defense, and medical sectors. Even though REEs have been found in more than 200 minerals, only bastnaesite, monazite and xenotime are commercially exploited for REE extraction. However, the recent exponential increase in REE demand has spurred countries such as the United States into research for the extraction of REEs from secondary sources such as coal, acid mine drainage, and coal ash. Several coal sources (e.g., Fire Clay seam coal) …

Selenium Form-Induced Changes In The Early Luteal Phase Corpus Luteum, The Blood, And The Endometrium During Early Gestation In Beef Cows, Sarah Nancy Carr

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Selenium (Se) deficient soils and thus forages are widespread throughout the United States, necessitating supplementation of this trace mineral in the diet of grass-fed cattle to negate detrimental effects of a deficiency on immune function, growth, and fertility. Conventionally, Se is supplemented to cattle in a vitamin-mineral mix as an inorganic form (ISe) although the organic forms (OSe) are available when cattle consumer forage, and OSe has been shown to increase the bioavailability of Se in cattle. Previous research has demonstrated supplementation with 1:1 mixture (MIX) of ISe and OSe compared to ISe alone increases systemic concentrations of progesterone (P4) …

Plant Cell Wall Composition And In Vitro Fermentation Characteristics Of Cool-Season Forage Grasses From Two Growing Seasons In Central Kentucky, Sophia Danielle Newhuis

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Grass cell walls are rich in cellulose, hemicellulosic arabinoxylan (AX) polysaccharides, and lignin. AX structural differences such as degree and pattern of branching and the ester-linked phenolic acid content could affect plants’ digestibility when used as forage for livestock. However, there is little information about how these structural elements change over the growing season in the vegetative tissue of cool-season perennial grasses. Enhanced information about the cell wall composition and carbohydrate structure of forage material will provide a foundation for expanding our knowledge of how forage cell wall carbohydrate structures are utilized by ruminants. The objectives of this study were …

Mild/Asymptomatic Covid-19 In Unvaccinated Pregnant Mothers Impairs Neonatal Immune Responses, Brianna M. Doratt, Suhas Sureshchandra, Heather E. True, Monica Rincon, Nicole E. Marshall, Ilhem Messaoudi

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers placental inflammation and alters cord blood immune cell composition. However, most studies focus on outcomes of severe maternal infection. Therefore, we analyzed cord blood and chorionic villi from newborns of unvaccinated mothers who experienced mild/asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy. We investigated immune cell rewiring using flow cytometry, single-cell RNA sequencing, and functional readouts using ex vivo stimulation with TLR agonists and pathogens. Maternal infection was associated with increased frequency of memory T and B cells and nonclassical monocytes in cord blood. Ex vivo T and B cell responses to stimulation were attenuated, suggesting a tolerogenic state. …

Three Essays On Rural Education: Descriptive Studies Focused On Federal Rural Definitions And Policy Changes, Kyung Ha Oh

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Rural education issues in K-12 public schools are understudied despite a large rural student population in the U.S. This dissertation studies how different federal definitions of rural change how rural school districts and their diverse communities are portrayed, in comparison to their non-rural counterparts. This study also explores the recent federal rural policy changes on rural district revenue and student academic outcomes.

This dissertation consists of three descriptive essays. The first chapter shows how we choose to define ‘rural’ changes what differences are accentuated between rural and non-rural districts. Definitions of ‘rural’ is closely related to who gains access to …

College Athletes As Defendants In Rape Trials: The Impact On Legal Decision-Making, Sophia Salyers

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

The issue of rape continues to be of concern in the United States. Rape is defined as any unwanted or forcible penetration without consent (United States Department of Justice, 2017). More specifically, rape can include sexual violence tactics such as force, threats, manipulation, or coercion (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2022). The magnitude of the issue of rape has been demonstrated, with adult rape data showing that on average, 319,950 people over the age of 12 were raped or sexually assaulted in the United States annually in 2020 (Morgan, 2021). Furthermore, every sixty-eight seconds an American is raped (Morgan). Finally, …

Politics And The Criminal Enforcement Of Superfund, Joshua Ozymy, Melissa Jarrell Ozymy

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

Retention Strategies Among Those On Community Supervision In The South: Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic., Breana J. Uhrig Castonguay, Katherine Lemasters, Chris Corsi, Evan J. Batty, Taylor J. Krajewski, Madelene Travis, Craig Waleed, Carrie B. Oser, Kathryn M. Nowotny, Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein

Sociology Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: Cohort studies must implement effective retention strategies to produce internally valid and generalizable results. Ensuring all study participants are retained, particularly those involved in the criminal legal system, ensures study findings and future interventions will be relevant to this group, who are often lost to follow-up: critical to achieving health equity. Our objective was to characterize retention strategies and describe overall retention among an 18-month longitudinal cohort study of persons on community supervision prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS: We implemented various retention strategy best-practices (e.g., multiple forms of locator information, training study staff on rapport building, …

Understanding The Role Of Peroxiredoxin Iv In Colorectal Cancer Development, Pratik Thapa

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are oxygen-containing free radicals and/or molecules that are more reactive than O₂. ROS such as hydroxyl radical (•OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) are produced naturally in the body as a result of reactions such as aerobic respiration and oxidative protein folding. ROS undergo reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions and mediate cell signaling. Accumulation of excessive ROS can damage DNA, RNA, protein and lipids. Antioxidants are enzymes and small molecules that react with ROS to modulate redox signaling and to prevent and repair oxidative damage. Examples of antioxidants include glutathione, thioredoxin, superoxide dismutase, …

Targeting Ezh2 To Improve Outcomes Of Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Tanner Ducote

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Only 20% of patients diagnosed with lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) respond to immunotherapy. Anti-PD1 immunotherapy is most commonly prescribed to these patients; however, most will become refractory. It is important to understand the mechanisms underlying this problem to increase durability and survival. Building upon the work of other groups, our lab has demonstrated that the inhibition of the histone methyltransferase, EZH2, is crucial to maintaining an immunologically responsive microenvironment. Based on our data, we hypothesize that combining EZH2 inhibitors with anti-PD1 therapy will increase response and durability. To study non-small cell lung cancers (NSLC) our lab uses a variety …

Migrant-Activist Evidentiary Practices In The Aegean Sea, Beatrice A. Abbott

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This project examines digital maps and images made by migrants and activists traversing or helping others to traverse the Greek-Turkish maritime border in 2015 and early 2016, when over a million people arrived to European shores, mostly by way of the Aegean Sea. These maps were made using applications such as Google Maps, Bing Maps, Maps.me, and WhatsApp and circulated on public Facebook groups and pages. Through a visual analysis of these digital artifacts, I look at how they can be read to witness and contest deadly border geographies produced through migratory policies and practices of deterrence. Further, I argue …

Hoarding Lifesaving Knowledge While Millions Die: The Political Economy Of Global Covid-19 Vaccine Apartheid, Kenneth Stancil

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Coronavirus vaccines saved millions of lives, but experts estimate that the suboptimal production and inequitable distribution of shots resulted in nearly 3 million preventable Covid-19 deaths in 2021 and 2022 as well as millions of indirect deaths during the pandemic. These avoidable fatalities are inseparable from the grotesquely unequal vaccination rates between rich and poor nations. Dose hoarding by high-income countries contributed to vaccine inequality, but the “vaccine apartheid” inflicted on low-income countries reflects an even more fundamental injustice: knowledge hoarding by profit-maximizing pharmaceutical corporations—aided and abetted by wealthy governments—which deprived generic manufacturers of the right to produce additional lifesaving …

"Disparities In Suicide Mortality Among Healthcare Support Workers In The United States, 2003-2019", Sol Ngam

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Objectives: To identify differences in demographic and contextual characteristics of suicide mortality among healthcare support workers (HCSWs) and to estimate annual suicide rates among HCSW in the United States from 2003-2019 using the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Methods: Demographic variables of healthcare support worker suicide decedents were collected using the NVDRS. Odds ratios for circumstantial risk factors by sex were calculated. Crude rates for healthcare support worker suicide decedents were calculated and compared to the U.S. general population suicide crude rates.

Results: Male HCSW were more likely to have …

Gender Differences In Barriers To Entering Substance Use Treatment, Casey A. Baker

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background

Nationally representative data have indicated that less than one in ten individuals with a substance use disorder (SUD) have received recent treatment, suggesting a need for research to examine potential barriers to SUD services. Although research has been conducted to identify some barriers to treatment, there is little research focused on gender differences. To address this gap in research, the present study aimed to examine gender differences in barriers to entering SUD treatment, as well as differences in factors that may impact decisions to enter treatment.

Methods

Participants (N = 62) were recruited from the community as part of …

A Mini Review Of What Matters In The Management Of Nas, Is Esc The Best Care?, Enrique Gomez Pomar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

As the use of opioids and polysubstance by pregnant women has increased over the years, there has also been a sharp increase in cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Classically, infants affected by NAS have been cared for in neonatal intensive care units resulting in an increase of healthcare expenditure and resource utilization as well as separation from the families. Consequently, the Eat, Sleep, and Console (ESC) tool was developed and promoted as a novel method that focuses on maternal/infant dyad during hospital stay while decreasing the use of pharmacological interventions and therefore decreasing the length of stay and healthcare …

Citizen Demand For Cultural Censorship: A Mixed Methods Study, Kelly Grenier

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation investigates the political causes and consequences of cultural censorship. One of the central arguments of this project is that cultural censorship is often a response to citizen demand. Using a mixed methods approach, this dissertation explores the demand for censorship and benefits a regime receives from censoring citizens in an effort to understand the calculus of cultural censorship. This project focuses on the Americas and looks at censorship in both democracies and autocracies across time. Leveraging high quality archival data, a survey experiment, and regional datasets, this project aims to understand the rationale behind cultural censorship and finds …

Welcome Visitor Or Nosy Neighbor: Executive Branch Presence In Federal And State Judicial Affairs, Audrey Baricovich

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Interaction and overlap between branches of government in a separation of powers system is important for maintaining the checks and balances central to democracy. In this dissertation, I examine the effects of executive and judicial branch interaction. This work meaningfully contributes to our understanding of the nature and impacts of executive branch presence in judicial affairs.

In the first chapter, I look at perceptions of presidential influence in Supreme Court justices’ decision-making process. I analyze a national representative survey to examine the conditions under which respondents are willing to credit the president with influence over the decision-making process at the …

Beyond Gatekeeping: Building A Community For Suicide Survivors, Rebecca Thomas

DSW Capstone Projects

Suicide is a complex phenomenon, yet past attempts to change it have relied on an oversimplification that to prevent suicide, suicidal people need professional mental health treatment. Fortunately, that notion has faded. Suicide is now recognized as a public health issue; One that spans various continuums of culture, socioeconomic status, and demographics. With a better understanding and increased recognition of suicide as a public health issue, more stakeholders have engaged in suicide prevention efforts, new research has emerged, and more attention and resources are being dedicated than ever before. This capstone project explores the impact a suicide death has on …

Implementing A Mobile Saliva Rinse Screening For P16 Markers For Hpv (Human Papillomavirus) Positive Head And Neck Cancers In Central Kentucky, Madeline Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Rates of HPV-related head and neck cancers are increasing across the nation and more specifically, there has been a significant increase in the state of Kentucky. This study focuses on the implementation of a mobile clinic saliva-rinse screening program. This program will be set up at UK Athletics Men's basketball and football games in hopes of recruiting middle aged men ages 45-60, who are the target audience of the study. This is the population with highest prevalence for HPV positive head and neck cancers and also the population least likely to visit their health providers regularly. A quick saliva rinse …

A Case Study In Program Evaluation: Evaluation Of A Hypertension Self Management Program, Bailey N. Schenk

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The CDC's program evaluation process framework is a six-step approach that guides public health practitioners in the evaluation of public health programs. The framework includes engaging stakeholders, describing the program, focusing the evaluation design, gathering credible evidence, justifying conclusions, and ensuring use and sharing of lessons learned. Each step is important in developing a comprehensive and effective program evaluation. This evaluation discusses the application of the six steps of the CDC's program evaluation process framework and how it was utilized in evaluating a hypertension self-management program at a local health department.

Health Management And Policy Capstone: A Case Study In Program Evaluation, Kelsey R. Gatton

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Program evaluation of a hypothetical comprehensive hypertension self-management program as directed by the CDC Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health.

Evaluation Of Facebook Social Media Messages Following The 2022 Eastern Kentucky Floods, Delaney Bonds

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Purpose: The goal of this study is to examine the availability of disaster-related information online from local health departments in flood-impacted counties in the month following 2022 Eastern Kentucky Floods. This study aims to evaluate Facebook messages by (1) when messages were posted (2) types of posts (3) message content.

Methods: This mix-methods environmental scan of Facebook messages posted by 8 flood-impacted Eastern Kentucky local health departments from July 26^th, 2022, to August 26^th, 2022. Messages were coded for absence or presence of a message feature. These message features were examined to identify features relevant to …

The Prepare Mobile Program For Hiv Prevention In Washington D.C., Gabrielle Cochran

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Incidence rates of HIV have decreased in the United States in the past decade, but the southern United States has higher rates of HIV than other regions, and cities in the south, like Washington D.C., have some of the highest rates of HIV incidence in the nation. Risky sexual behavior, needle sharing, and substance use increase the risk of transmitting or acquiring HIV, and these behaviors are more common among unhoused people (CDC, 2021; CPPH, 2022).

Expansion of community resources in cities with high levels of HIV have allowed for many people at high risk for HIV to comply with …

Health Management And Policy Capstone: A Case Study In Program Evaluation, Bradford Brewer

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Hypertension has risen steadily among adults in United States over the past 30 years. This increase has also been marked by a significant increase in reported prevalence rates of cardiovascular diseases. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department to deliver a hypertension self-management program for adults aged 35 and older. This manuscript follows the six steps of CDC program evaluation to aid Lexington citizens with uncontrolled high blood pressure (≥140/90 mmHg) in successful hypertension self-management. This evidence-based community intervention helps patients take responsibility for managing their hypertension with assistance from health …

Fork It, Kylee Pipgrass

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Obesity prevalence is at an alarmingly high rate within the United States, but especially in rural areas of Kentucky. Obesity can lead to a variety of negative physical health outcomes including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some cancers. There are also mental disorders associated with obesity through mechanisms such as weight stigma and self-perception. Similar to obesity rates, prevalence and mortality associated of these health outcomes are also seen at disproportionately higher rates in rural, Appalachian Kentucky. Causes for increased obesity and obesity related consequences include some genetic factors as well as behavioral factors like physical inactivity, poor diet, stress, …

The Meals On Wheels-Breathitt: A Health Campaign For Reducing Food Insecurity Among The Older Adults In Breathitt County, Kentucky., Sarah Haroon

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The population of the United States of America is aging at a faster rate than ever before. More than 1 in 6 Americans are now 65 or older (The Washington Post, 2023). Since 2010, compared to people under 65, there has been close to a two-hundred percent increase in people 65 and above (The Washington Post, 2023). The rise in the aging U.S. population is due to increased life span and people living longer (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). Furthermore, life expectancy for the total U.S. population is projected to increase by six years, from 79.7 in 2017 to 85.6 by …