Digital Commons Network^™

Feasibility Of Using Low-Cost Motion Capture For Automated Screening Of Shoulder Motion Limitation After Breast Cancer Surgery, Valeriya Gritsenko, Eric Dailey, Nicholas Kyle, Matt Taylor, Sean Whittacre, Anne K. Swisher

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objective

To determine if a low-cost, automated motion analysis system using Microsoft Kinect could accurately measure shoulder motion and detect motion impairments in women following breast cancer surgery.

Design

Descriptive study of motion measured via 2 methods.

Setting

Academic cancer center oncology clinic.

Participants

20 women (mean age = 60 yrs) were assessed for active and passive shoulder motions during a routine post-operative clinic visit (mean = 18 days after surgery) following mastectomy (n = 4) or lumpectomy (n = 16) for breast cancer.

Interventions

Participants performed 3 repetitions of active and passive shoulder motions on the side of the …

A Novel Arx-Based Approach For The Steady-State Identification Analysis Of Industrial Depropanizer Column Datasets, Franklin D. Rincon, Galo A C Le Roux, Fernando V. Lima

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper introduces a novel steady-state identification (SSI) method based on the auto-regressive model with exogenous inputs (ARX). This method allows the SSI with reduced tuning by analyzing the identifiability properties of the system. In particular, the singularity of the model matrices is used as an index for steady-state determination. In this contribution, the novel SSI method is compared to other available techniques, namely the F-like test, wavelet transform and a polynomial-based approach. These methods are implemented for SSI of three different case studies. In the first case, a simulated dataset is used for calibrating the output-based SSI methods. The …

Rescue Of Dna-Pk Signaling And T-Cell Differentiation By Targeted Genome Editing In A Prkdc Deficient Ipsc Disease Model, Sharnim H. Rahman, Johannes Kuehle, Christian Reimann, Tafadzwa Miambo, Jamal Alzubi, Morgan L. Maeder, Heimo Riedel, Paul Fisch, Tobias Cantz, Cornelia Rudolph, Claudio Mussolino, J Keith Joung, Axel Schambach, Toni Cathomen

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

In vitro disease modeling based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provides a powerful system to study cellular pathophysiology, especially in combination with targeted genome editing and protocols to differentiate iPSCs into affected cell types. In this study, we established zinc-finger nuclease-mediated genome editing in primary fibroblasts and iPSCs generated from a mouse model for radiosensitive severe combined immunodeficiency (RS-SCID), a rare disorder characterized by cellular sensitivity to radiation and the absence of lymphocytes due to impaired DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity. Our results demonstrate that gene editing in RS-SCID fibroblasts rescued DNA-PK dependent signaling to overcome radiosensitivity. Furthermore, in …

Needs Assessment Of School And Community Physical Activity Opportunities In Rural West Virginia: The Mcdowell Choices Planning Effort, Alfgeir L. Kristjansson, Eloise Elliott, Sean Bulger, Emily Jones, Andrea R. Taliaferro, William Neal

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

McDowell CHOICES (Coordinated Health Opportunities Involving Communities, Environments, and Schools) Project is a county wide endeavor aimed at increasing opportunities for physical activity (PA) in McDowell County, West Virginia (WV). A comprehensive needs-assessment laid the foundation of the project.

Methods

During the 6 month needs assessment, multiple sources of data were collected in two Town Hall Meetings (n = 80); a student online PA interest survey (n = 465); a PA and nutrition survey among 5th (10–11 years) and 8th graders (13–14 years) with questions adapted from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey (n = 442, response rate …

By The Sound Of It. An Erp Investigation Of Human Action Sound Processing In 7-Month-Old Infants, Elena Geangu, Ermanno Quadrelli, James W. Lewis, Viola M. Cassia, Chiara Turati

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Recent evidence suggests that human adults perceive human action sounds as a distinct category from human vocalizations, environmental, and mechanical sounds, activating different neural networks (Engel et al., 2009, Lewis et al., 2011). Yet, little is known about the development of such specialization. Using event-related potentials (ERP), this study investigated neural correlates of 7-month-olds’ processing of human action (HA) sounds in comparison to human vocalizations (HV), environmental (ENV), and mechanical (MEC) sounds. Relative to the other categories, HA sounds led to increased positive amplitudes between 470 and 570 ms post-stimulus onset at left anterior temporal locations, while HV led …

Adaptive Economic And Ecological Forest Management Under Risk, Joseph Buongiorno, Mo Zhou

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Forest managers must deal with inherently stochastic ecological and economic processes. The future growth of trees is uncertain, and so is their value. The randomness of low-impact, high frequency or rare catastrophic shocks in forest growth has significant implications in shaping the mix of tree species and the forest landscape. In addition, the fluctuations of wood prices influence greatly forest revenues.

Methods

Markov decision process models (MDPs) offer a rigorous and practical way of developing optimum management strategies, given these multiple sources of risk.

Results

Examples illustrate how such management guidelines are obtained with MDPs for combined ecological and …

Effects Of Exercise On Depression In Adults With Arthritis: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis Of Randomized Controlled Trials, George A. Kelley, Kristi S. Kelley, Jennifer M. Hootman

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Introduction

Previous randomized controlled trials have led to conflicting findings regarding the effects of exercise on depressive symptoms in adults with arthritis and other rheumatic conditions (AORC). The purpose of this study was to use the meta-analytic approach to resolve these discrepancies.

Methods

The inclusion criteria were: (1) randomized controlled trials, (2) exercise (aerobic, strength training, or both) ≥4 weeks, (3) comparative control group, (4) adults with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia or systemic lupus erythematosus, (5) published studies in any language since January 1, 1981 and (6) depressive symptoms assessed. Studies were located by searching 10 electronic databases, cross-referencing, hand …

In Vitro Selection Of Single-Stranded Dna Molecular Recognition Elements Against S. Aureus Alpha Toxin And Sensitive Detection In Human Serum, Ka L. Hong, Luisa Battistella, Alysia D. Salva, Ryan M. Williams, Letha J. Sooter

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Alpha toxin is one of the major virulence factors secreted by Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that is responsible for a wide variety of infections in both community and hospital settings. Due to the prevalence of S. aureus related infections and the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus, rapid and accurate diagnosis of S. aureus infections is crucial in benefiting patient health outcomes. In this study, a rigorous Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) variant previously developed by our laboratory was utilized to select a single-stranded DNA molecular recognition element (MRE) targeting alpha toxin with high affinity and specificity. At …

High-Resolution Genetic Mapping Of Allelic Variants Associated With Cell Wall Chemistry In Populus, Wellington Muchero, Jianjun Guo, Stephen P. Difazio, Jin-Gui Chen, Priya Ranjan, Gancho T. Slavov, Lee E. Gunter, Sara Jawdy, Anthony C. Bryan, Robert Sykes, Angela Ziebell, Jaroslav Klapste, Ilga Porth, Oleksandr Skyba, Faride Unda, Yousry A. El-Kassaby, Carl J. Douglas, Shawn D. Mansfield, Joel Martin, Wendy Schackwitz, Luke M. Evans, Olaf Czarnecki, Gerald A. Tuskan

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

QTL cloning for the discovery of genes underlying polygenic traits has historically been cumbersome in long-lived perennial plants like Populus. Linkage disequilibrium-based association mapping has been proposed as a cloning tool, and recent advances in high-throughput genotyping and whole-genome resequencing enable marker saturation to levels sufficient for association mapping with no a priori candidate gene selection. Here, multiyear and multienvironment evaluation of cell wall phenotypes was conducted in an interspecific P. trichocarpa x P. deltoides pseudo-backcross mapping pedigree and two partially overlapping populations of unrelated P. trichocarpa genotypes using pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometry, saccharification, and/ or traditional …

Evidential Value That Exercise Improves Bmi -Score In Overweight And Obese Children And Adolescents, George A. Kelley, Kristi S. Kelley

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background. Given the cardiovascular disease (CVD) related importance of understanding the true effects of exercise on adiposity in overweight and obese children and adolescents, this study examined whether there is evidential value to rule out excessive and inappropriate reporting of statistically significant results, a major problem in the published literature, with respect to exercise-induced improvements in BMI -score among overweight and obese children and adolescents. Methods. Using data from a previous meta-analysis of 10 published studies that included 835 overweight and obese children and adolescents, a novel, recently developed approach (-curve) was used to test for evidential value and rule …

Sealing Clay Text Segmentation Based On Radon-Like Features And Adaptive Enhancement Filters, Xia Zheng, Wei Wei, Houbing Song, Wei Li

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Text extraction is a key issue in sealing clay research. The traditional method based on rubbings increases the risk of sealing clay damage and is unfavorable to sealing clay protection. Therefore, using digital image of sealing clay, a new method for text segmentation based on Radon-like features and adaptive enhancement filters is proposed in this paper. First, adaptive enhancement LM filter bank is used to get the maximum energy image; second, the edge image of the maximum energy image is calculated; finally, Radon-like feature images are generated by combining maximum energy image and its edge image. The average image of …

Cerium Oxide Nanoparticle Treatment Ameliorates Peritonitis-Induced Diaphragm Dysfunction, Shinichi Asano, Ravikumar Arvapalli, Nandini Dpk Manne, Mani Maheshwari, Bing Ma, Kevin M. Rice, Vellaisamy Selvaraj, Eric R. Blough

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The severe inflammation observed during sepsis is thought to cause diaphragm dysfunction, which is associated with poor patient prognosis. Cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles have been posited to exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities suggesting that these particles may be of potential use for the treatment of inflammatory disorders. To investigate this possibility, Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned to the following groups: sham control, CeO₂ nanoparticle treatment only (0.5 mg/kg iv), sepsis, and sepsis+CeO₂ nanoparticles. Sepsis was induced by the introduction of cecal material (600 mg/kg) directly into the peritoneal cavity. Nanoparticle treatment decreased sepsis-associated impairments in …

Seedling Performance Associated With Live Or Herbicide Treated Tall Fescue, Jonathan J. Halvorson, David P. Belesky, Harry W. Godwin

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Tall fescue is an important forage grass which can host systemic fungal endophytes. The association of host grass and endophyte is known to influence herbivore behavior and host plant competition for resources. Establishing legumes into existing tall fescue sods is a desirable means to acquire nitrogen and enhance the nutritive value of forage for livestock production. Competition from existing tall fescue typically must be controlled to ensure interseeding success. We used a soil-on-agar method to determine if soil from intact, living (L), or an herbicide killed (K) tall fescue sward influenced germination and seedling growth of three cultivars of tall …

In Vitro Selection Of A Single-Stranded Dna Molecular Recognition Element Against Clostridium Difficile Toxin B And Sensitive Detection In Human Fecal Matter, Ka L. Hong, Eamonn Maher, Ryan M. Williams, Letha J. Sooter

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Toxin B is one of the major virulence factors of Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that is responsible for a significant number of diarrhea cases in acute care settings. Due to the prevalence of C. difficile induced diarrhea, rapid and correct diagnosis is crucial in the disease management. In this study, we have employed a stringent in vitro selection method to identify single-stranded DNA molecular recognition elements (MRE) specific for toxin B. At the end of the 12-round selection, one MRE with high affinity  nM) for toxin B was identified. The selected MRE demonstrated low cross binding activities on negative targets: …

Oral Health In A Sample Of Pregnant Women From Northern Appalachia (2011–2015), Katherine Neiswanger, Daniel W. Mcneil, Betsy Foxman, Manika Govil, Margaret E. Cooper, Robert J. Weyant, John R. Shaffer, Richard J. Crout, Hyagriv N. Simhan, Scott R. Beach, Stella Chapman, Jayme G. Zovko, Linda J. Brown, Stephen J. Strotmeyer, Jennifer L. Maurer, Mary L. Marazita

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background. Chronic poor oral health has a high prevalence in Appalachia, a large region in the eastern USA. The Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (COHRA) has been enrolling pregnant women and their babies since 2011 in the COHRA2 study of genetic, microbial, and environmental factors involved in oral health in Northern Appalachia. Methods. The COHRA2 protocol is presented in detail, including inclusion criteria (healthy, adult, pregnant, US Caucasian, English speaking, and nonimmunocompromised women), recruiting (two sites: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, USA), assessments (demographic, medical, dental, psychosocial/behavioral, and oral microbial samples and DNA), timelines (longitudinal from pregnancy to …

Narrow-Band Search Of Continuous Gravitational-Wave Signals From Crab And Vela Pulsars In Virgo Vsr4 Data, J. Aasi, B. P. Abbott, E. Huerta, S. Mcwilliams

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Gbt 67–93.6 Ghz Spectral Line Survey Of Orion-Kl, D. T. Frayer, Ronald J. Maddalena, M. Meijer, L. Hough

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

We present a 67--93.6 GHz spectral line survey of Orion-KL with the new 4 mm Receiver on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). The survey reaches unprecedented depths and covers the low-frequency end of the 3 mm atmospheric window which has been relatively unexplored previously. The entire spectral-line survey is published electronically for general use by the astronomical community. The calibration and performance of 4 mm Receiver on the GBT is also summarized.

Rpi-Pred: Predicting Ncrna-Protein Interaction Using Sequence And Structural Information, V Suresh, Liang Liu, Donald Adjeroh, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

RNA-protein complexes are essential in mediating important fundamental cellular processes, such as transport and localization. In particular, ncRNA-protein interactions play an important role in post-transcriptional gene regulation like mRNA localization, mRNA stabilization, poly-adenylation, splicing and translation. The experimental methods to solve RNA-protein interaction prediction problem remain expensive and time-consuming. Here, we present the RPI-Pred (RNA-protein interaction predictor), a new support-vector machine-based method, to predict protein-RNA interaction pairs, based on both the sequences and structures. The results show that RPI-Pred can correctly predict RNA-protein interaction pairs with ∼94% prediction accuracy when using sequence and experimentally determined protein and RNA structures, and …

Athletic Trainers' Skills In Identifying And Managing Athletes Experiencing Psychological Distress, Marc L. Cormier, Sam Zizzi

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Context

Athletic trainers (ATs) commonly use psychological skills during sport rehabilitation. However, little is known about their ability to accurately implement these skills. Objective

To assess ATs' skills in identifying psychological symptoms, selecting appropriate strategies, and making referral decisions for athletes experiencing various degrees of psychological distress. Design

Cross-sectional study. Setting

Participants were recruited using the National Athletic Trainers' Association professional member database. Patients or Other Participants

Of the 2998 ATs who were selected randomly, 494 (16.5%) partially completed the questionnaire and 326 (10.9%) completed the entire survey (mean age = 34.7 ± 10.8 years, mean years of experience = …

Comparison Of Two Maxillary Protraction Protocols: Tooth-Borne Versus Bone-Anchored Protraction Facemask Treatment, Peter Ngan, Benedict Wilmes, Dieter Drescher, Chris Martin, Bryan Weaver, Erdogan Gunel

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Protraction facemask has been advocated for treatment of class III malocclusion with maxillary deficiency. Studies using tooth-borne rapid palatal expansion (RPE) appliance as anchorage have experienced side effects such as forward movement of the maxillary molars, excessive proclination of the maxillary incisors, and an increase in lower face height. A new Hybrid Hyrax bone-anchored RPE appliance claimed to minimize the side effects of maxillary expansion and protraction. A retrospective study was conducted to compare the skeletal and dentoalveolar changes in patients treated with these two protocols.

Methods

Twenty class III patients (8 males, 12 females, mean age 9.8 ± …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Navigation Using Wide-Field Optical Flow And Inertial Sensors, Matthew B. Rhudy, Yu Gu, Haiyang Chao, Jason N. Gross

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This paper offers a set of novel navigation techniques that rely on the use of inertial sensors and wide-field optical flow information. The aircraft ground velocity and attitude states are estimated with an Unscented Information Filter (UIF) and are evaluated with respect to two sets of experimental flight data collected from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Two different formulations are proposed, a full state formulation including velocity and attitude and a simplified formulation which assumes that the lateral and vertical velocity of the aircraft are negligible. An additional state is also considered within each formulation to recover the image distance …

Needs Assessment For Emerging Oral Microbiome Knowledge In Dental Hygiene Education, R Constance Wiener

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The curricula of dental hygiene education reflect the knowledge gained through research and clinical advances. Emerging knowledge is often complex and tentative. The purpose of this study is to assess dental hygiene students' confidence in their knowledge about the oral microbiome and to conduct a knowledge needs assessment for expanding their exposure to emerging knowledge about the oral microbiome. Sixty dental hygiene students were surveyed, using a Likert-type scale about their confidence and about current and emerging bacteriological research. The majority of students (60%) reported being confident in their knowledge. The mean score for the ten items was 35.2% (standard …

Serum Cotinine And Chronic Pain: Nhanes 2003-2004, R Constance Wiener

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Purpose—Tobacco smoke exposure continues to be the leading preventable risk factor for many diseases and has the potential to be a risk factor for chronic pain. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of chronic pain with smoking, secondhand smoke exposure and nonsmoking using serum cotinine (and self-report of living with someone who smokes in the home) to identify the tobacco exposure groups. Methods—The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2004 was used for this study. Participants were queried about pain duration and had serum cotinine levels determined during the course of the NHANES examination/survey. Participants, …

Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection With A Flow Shear And Applications To The Magnetopause, C. E. Doss, C. M. Komar, P. A. Cassak, F. D. Wilder, S. Eriksson, J. F. Drake

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Untangling The Recombination Line Emission From H Ii Regions With Multiple Velocity Components, L. D. Anderson, L. A. Hough, Trey V. Wenger, T. M. Bania, Dana S. Balser

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

H ii regions are the ionized spheres surrounding high-mass stars. They are ideal targets for tracing Galactic structure because they are predominantly found in spiral arms and have high luminosities at infrared and radio wavelengths. In the Green Bank Telescope H ii Region Discovery Survey (GBT HRDS), we found that of first Galactic quadrant H ii regions have multiple hydrogen radio recombination line (RRL) velocities, which makes determining their Galactic locations and physical properties impossible. Here we make additional GBT RRL observations to determine the discrete H ii region velocity for all 117 multiple-velocity sources within . The multiple-velocity sources …

What Are Faculty Perceptions Of Using Emotional Intelligence In Pedagogy And Andragogy?, Eveldora R. Wheeler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation study compared the key findings from the first piece of research (pilot study) by allowing further exploration and re-examination of faculties' Perceptions of Using Emotional Intelligence (PUEI) in STEM, Social Sciences, online, and face to face in Pedagogy and Andragogy. This study draws particular attention to the notable rise of emotional issues emerging in differing educational contexts (online and face to face) and the significance of faculty response to their PUEI. Emotional intelligence, a complexity often viewed skeptically is a recurring theme for this study and can greatly benefit higher educational institutions, professional learning environments, and businesses particularly. …

Essays On Low-Income Communities And Crime, Kaitlyn R. Harger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is a collection of essays examining issues related to low-income communities and criminal behavior. The first chapter of this dissertation provides an introduction to policies used to aid disadvantaged communities and marginalized populations. It also provides an outline of the research agenda of the dissertation as a whole. Chapter 2 examines the role of the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) in attracting new businesses and employment to low-income communities. This federal tax credit program was designed to increase investment in eligible communities by offering private investors a federal-income tax credit in exchange for investment. The results suggest that …

The Social, Anti-Social Network: A Qualitative Study On Pro Social Benefits Of Online Multiplayer Gaming, Kent L. Hastings

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Using the social capital and uses and gratifications perspectives, this study employs a qualitative, interview-based approach to studying the pro-social benefits of online multiplayer gaming.Through in-depth interviews, this study contributes to the literature of pro-social benefits of online multiplayer gaming by corroborating past research with evidence that online multiplayer gaming fosters the generation of social capital, both bridging and bonding, and cultural capital. Further, online gaming offers players a sense of community, provides them the tools to form and work together in coordinated teams, and allows them to feel a sense of mastery, excitement, and accomplishment with each in-game victory.

A Phenomenological Study Of Living With Excess Facial Hair For African-American Women, Courtney M. Pate

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Excess facial hair is a characteristic of hirsutism. Excess facial hair can alter a woman's presentation of self in living day-to-day. Research is sparse in the realm of studying women who do not suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome, who have excess facial hair. Women of varying racial backgrounds are also underrepresented in the current literature. The purpose of this study was to explore the structure of meaning of living with excess facial hair for African-American women. The stories of eight women were gathered and analyzed using van Manen's phenomenological approach and middle range story theory. As a result of this …

Evolution Of A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase Gene Family In Vertebrates, Shashwati Bhattacharya

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs) are a family of transmembrane proteins which have diverse functions in various tissues. They play important roles in cellular and developmental processes and are present in various species. ADAMs are classified according to their expression in tissues into the somatic ADAMs (sADAMs) and the testicular ADAMs (tADAMs). The sADAMs are expressed in somatic tissues, and the testicular ADAMs (tADAMs) are expressed predominantly in the testis. The tADAMs are further classified into Group I and Group II, based on the absence or presence of introns. The mechanism of evolution of the tADAMs was unknown. Using bioinformatics …