Digital Commons Network^™

Semantic Segmentation To Extract Coronary Arteries In Invasive Coronary Angiograms, Chen Zhao, Robert Bober, Haipeng Tang, Jinshan Tang, Minghao Dong, Chaoyang Zhang, Zhuo He, Michele L. Esposito, Zhihiu Xu, Weihua Zhou

Faculty Publications

Accurate semantic segmentation of each coronary artery using invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is important for stenosis assessment and coronary artery disease (CAD) diagnosis. In this paper, we propose a multi-step semantic segmentation algorithm based on analyzing arterial sements extraced from ICAs. The proposed algorithm firstly extracts the entire arterial binary mask (binary vascular tree) using a deep learning-based method. Then we extract the centerline of the binary vascular tree and separate it into different arterial segments. Finally, by extracting the underlyingarterial topology, position, and pixel features, we construct a powerful coronary artery segment classifier based on a support vector machine. …

We Will Rise No Matter What': Community Perspectives Of Disaster Resilience Following Hurricanes Irma And Maria In Puerto Rico, Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, Kathryn E. Anthony, Ashlyn Tom, Alice Y. Kim, Courtney Armstrong

Faculty Publications

Category 4 Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and ploughed across the territory with sustained winds of 155 mph. Just two weeks earlier, category 5 Hurricane Irma had struck the island already damaging critical infrastructure making Hurricane Maria even more devasting. The hurricanes caused catastrophic damage, resulting in the largest and longest response to a domestic disaster in the history of the United States. This paper explores the recovery process in Puerto Rico using a community resilience lens. The study examines narratives, the media environment, trusted sources, and information preferences following the crisis. Community workshops, …

Improved Limit On Tensor Currents In The Weak Interaction From Li 8 Β Decay, M. T. Burkey, G. Savard, A. T. Gallant, N. D. Scielzo, J. A. Clark, T. Y. Hirsh, L. Varriano, G. H. Sargsyan, K. D. Launey, M. Brodeur, D. P. Burdette, E. Heckmaier, K. Joerres, J. W. Klimes, K. Kolos, A. Laminack, K. G. Leach, A. F. Levand, B. Longfellow, B. Maaß, S. T. Marley, G. E. Morgan, P. Mueller, R. Orford, S. W. Padgett, A. Pérez Galván, J. R. Pierce, D. Ray, R. Segel, K. Siegl, K. S. Sharma, B. S. Wang

Faculty Publications

The electroweak interaction in the standard model is described by a pure vector-axial-vector structure, though any Lorentz-invariant component could contribute. In this Letter, we present the most precise measurement of tensor currents in the low-energy regime by examining the β-ν¯ correlation of trapped Li8 ions with the Beta-decay Paul Trap. We find aβν=-0.3325±0.0013stat±0.0019syst at 1σ for the case of coupling to right-handed neutrinos (CT=-CT′), which is consistent with the standard model prediction.

A Modest Proposal: Trusted Pick-Up Points For Interlibrary Loan For Distant Users, Janet Brennan Croft

Faculty Publications

I want to start out by talking a little about the genesis of this idea. I was working at Rutgers in March 2020 and in fact I taught what might have been the very last in-person bibliographic instruction session before we shut down for spring break – which immediately turned into the long COVID lockdown, at least for us.

But within a matter of weeks, we were joined by other academic libraries all over the world, and all of our users became participants in a great distance education experiment—undergraduates, graduates, researchers, instructors, faculty, and all. The online library became the …

Creating Campus Connections: Highlighting Scholarship And Facilitating Connections, Ellen Neuhaus, Maggie Heretakis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cross-Modal Perception Of Identity By Sound And Taste In Bottlenose Dolphins, Jason N. Bruck, Sam F. Walmsley, Vincent M. Janik

Faculty Publications

While studies have demonstrated concept formation in animals, only humans are known to label concepts to use them in mental simulations or predictions. To investigate whether other animals use labels comparably, we studied cross-modal, individual recognition in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that use signature whistles as labels for conspecifics in their own communication. First, we tested whether dolphins could use gustatory stimuli and found that they could distinguish between water and urine samples, as well as between urine from familiar and unfamiliar individuals. Then, we paired playbacks of signature whistles of known animals with urine samples from either the same …

Development And Evaluation Of A Measure For Social Support Provided By Friends During Lifestyle Management Programs, Laurie Abbott, Jennifer Lemacks, Tammy Greer

Faculty Publications

Obesity is a public health crisis that contributes to chronic disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality. Nutrition and physical activity are risk factors for many chronic diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease, the leading causes of death in the United States. Lifestyle management programs to address obesity and potential sequelae such as chronic conditions have shown efficacy, with social support an important factor in interventions. Instruments that assess social support specifically provided by friends are lacking but could be important predictors of program success. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the 10-item Social Support …

University Archives And Etds: Exploring Best Practices, Cory L. Nimer, Rebecca A. Wiederhold

Faculty Publications

This poster reports on a preliminary study of current best practices for the management of theses and dissertations (TD) by university archivists in the United States. This will include procedural concerns, such as the maintenance of print copies, digital preservation, microfilming, and participation in external databases of TDs. It also begins to explore the relationships between university archives programs and institutional repositories in electronic TD submission/management, and the status of theses and dissertations as student records.

Contextual Factors Associated With Organizational Learning In Hospitals: An Instrument Development Study, Bret Lyman, Kylie C. Thorum

Faculty Publications

Aim: Develop a valid, reliable research instrument to measure contextual factors associated with organizational learning in hospitals.

Background: A valid, reliable instrument for measuring contextual factors associated with organizational learning is needed so nurse leaders and researchers can improve healthcare by facilitating and studying organizational learning.

Methods: The Organizational Learning in Hospitals model guided development of the Organizational Learning Instrument-Context. Content validity was refined and evaluated through cognitive interviews and expert reviews. The instrument was distributed to direct care nurses in Magnet® hospitals in the United States. Intraclass correlation coefficients validated the use of multilevel analyses. Construct validity was assessed …

Factored Beliefs For Machine Agents In Decentralized Partially Observable Markov Decision Processes, Joshua A. Lapso, Gilbert L. Peterson

Faculty Publications

A shared mental model (SMM) is a foundational structure in high performing, task-oriented teams and aid humans in determining their teammate's goals and intentions. Higher levels of mental alignment between teammates can reduce the direct dialogue required for team success. For decision-making teams, a transactive memory system (TMS) offers team members a map of specialized knowledge, indicating source of knowledge and the source's credibility. SMM and TMS formulations aid human-agent team performance in their intended team types. However, neither improve team performance with a project team--one that requires both behavioral and knowledge integration. We present a hybrid cognitive model (HCM) …

Review Of Code Of Judicial Conduct: Ethical Campaigning (With A Special Emphasis On Inappropriate Political Activity And Canon 5), Thomas Simmons

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Particle-In-Cell Simulations Of Ion Dynamics In A Pinched-Beam Diode, Jesse C. Foster, John W. Mcclory, S. B. B. Swanekamp, D. D. Hinshelwood, A. S. Richardson, Paul E. Adamson, J. W. Schumer, R. W. James, P. F. Ottinger, D. Mosher

Faculty Publications

article-in-cell simulations of a 1.6 MV, 800 kA, and 50 ns pinched-beam diode have been completed with emphasis placed on the quality of the ion beams produced. Simulations show the formation of multiple regions in the electron beam flow characterized by locally high charge and current density (“hot spots”). As ions flow through the electron-space-charge cloud, these hot spots electrostatically attract ions to produce a non-uniform ion current distribution. The length of the cavity extending beyond the anode-to-cathode gap (i.e., behind the cathode tip) influences both the number and amplitude of hot spots. A longer cavity length increases the number …

Don't Forget The "G" In Esg: The Sec And Corporate Governance Disclosure, Jennifer O'Hare

Faculty Publications

For years, many shareholders—both institutional and individual investors—have pressured the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to require public companies to disclose more information about the environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) risks facing the company. However, the SEC has generally refused calls to require public corporations to disclose, for example, how they are addressing climate change or workforce diversity challenges. With a new president in the White House and a new administration at the SEC, the SEC will soon propose new ESG disclosure rules, requiring more information about the “E” and the “S” in ESG. But the SEC has forgotten the …

A Dual-Band Filtering Structure For Highly Selective Reconfigurable Bandpass Filter And Filtering Balun, Jinqun Ge, Guoan Wang

Faculty Publications

This article proposes a filtering structure consisting of two half-wavelength resonators and two open-stub loaded resonators, which generates two third-order passbands. Multiple transmission zeros are introduced by the newly developed coupling scheme, resulting in extremely sharp roll-off desirable for highly selective filters. The proposed structure is applied to design a PIN-diodes switch-controlled reconfigurable dual-band bandpass filter (BPF) with four-state filtering responses: both passbands ON, both passbands OFF, high-frequency passband ON, and low-frequency passband ON. Stepped-impedance open stubs and one-end-grounded coupled lines are studied and employed in the design to suppress unwanted responses. In addition, two filtering structures are placed symmetrically …

Industrial Construction Safety Policies And Practices With Cost Impacts In A Covid-19 Pandemic Environment: A Louisiana Dow Case Study, Brian Briggs, Carol J. Friedland, Isabelina Nahmens, Charles Berryman, Yimin Zhu

Faculty Publications

There are always significant challenges in improving the safety culture by changing and adding additional safety protocols. The unknown impacts of COVID-19 and how it quickly spreads led the industry to institute essential safety protocols. This paper addresses two problem statements. The first problem statement is: what are the additional safety protocols for process safety, construction & maintenance, and personal protective equipment requirements? The second problem statement is: what are the cost and schedule impacts of industrial construction projects resulting from implementing safety protocols and process safety during construction with the added PPE? While complying with added safety protocols, the …

Institutional Betrayals As Sex Discrimination, Emily Suski

Faculty Publications

Title IX jurisprudence has a theoretical and doctrinal inadequacy. Title IX’s purpose is to protect public school students from sex discrimination in all its forms. Yet, courts have only recognized three relatively narrow forms of sex discrimination under it. Title IX jurisprudence, therefore, cannot effectively recognize as sex discrimination the independent injuries, called institutional betrayals, that schools impose on students because they have suffered sexual harassment. Institutional betrayals occur when schools betray students’ trust in or dependency on them by failing to help students in the face of their sexual harassment. These injuries cause harms that can be more severe …

A Reappraisal Of Polyploidy Events In Grasses (Poaceae) In A Rapidly Changing World, Acga Cheng, Noraikim Mohd Hanafiah, Jennifer Ann Harikrishna, Niranjan Baisakh, Muhamad Shakirin Mispan, Lim Phaik Eem

Faculty Publications

Around 80% of megaflora species became extinct at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary. Subsequent polyploidy events drove the survival of thousands of plant species and played a significant historical role in the development of the most successful modern cereal crops. However, current and rapid global temperature change poses an urgent threat to food crops worldwide, including the world’s big three cereals: rice, wheat, and maize, which are members of the grass family, Poaceae. Some minor cereals from the same family (such as teff) have grown in popularity in recent years, but there are important knowledge gaps regarding the similarities and differences …

Bridging The Research Gap Between Live Collections In Zoos And Preserved Collections In Natural History Museums, Sinlan Poo, Steven M. Whitfield, Alexander Shepack, Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell, Gil Nelson, Jillian Goodwin, Allison Bogisich, Patricia L.R. Brennan, Jennifer D'Agostino, Michelle S. Koo, Joseph R. Mendelson, Rebecca Snyder, Sandra Wilson, Gary P. Aronsen, Andrew C. Bentley, David C. Blackburn, Matthew R. Borths, Mariel L. Campbell, Dalia A. Conde, Joseph A. Cook, Juan D. Daza, Daniel P. Dembiec, Jonathan L. Dunnum, Catherine M. Early, Adam W. Ferguson, Amanda Greene, Robert Guralnick, Courtney Janney, Debbie Johnson, Felicia Knightly, Stephane Poulin, Luiz Rocha, Pamela S. Soltis

Faculty Publications

Zoos and natural history museums are both collections-based institutions with important missions in biodiversity research and education. Animals in zoos are a repository and living record of the world's biodiversity, whereas natural history museums are a permanent historical record of snapshots of biodiversity in time. Surprisingly, despite significant overlap in institutional missions, formal partnerships between these institution types are infrequent. Life history information, pedigrees, and medical records maintained at zoos should be seen as complementary to historical records of morphology, genetics, and distribution kept at museums. Through examining both institution types, we synthesize the benefits and challenges of cross-institutional exchanges …

Adoption Trend Of Climate-Resilient Rice Varieties In Bangladesh, Swati Nayak, Muhammad Ashraful Habib, Kuntal Das, Saidul Islam, Sk Mosharaf Hossain, Biswajit Karmakar, Roberto Fritsche Neto, Sankalp Bhosale, Hans Bhardwaj, Sudhanshu Singh, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Vikas Kumar Singh, Ajay Kohli, Uma S. Singh, Lutful Hassan

Faculty Publications

Rice is a major crop in Bangladesh that supports both food security and livelihoods. However, a need remains for improved productivity and adaptation to the risks associated with climate change. To accomplish this, the increased adoption of climate-resilient and high-yielding rice varieties can be beneficial. Therefore, we conducted a study in Bangladesh over three consecutive years: 2016, 2017, and 2018. The scope of the study included the major cropping season (wet), Aman. The yield advantages of climate-resilient rice varieties were evaluated and compared with those of the varieties popular with farmers. We included new stress-tolerant varieties, such as submergencetolerant rice …

Delineation Of Cancer Service Areas Anchored By Major Cancer Centers In The United States, Changzhen Wang, Fahui Wang, Tracy Onega

Faculty Publications

Defining a reliable geographic unit pertaining to cancer care is essential in its assessment, planning, and management. This study aims to delineate and characterize the cancer service areas (CSA) accounting for the presence of major cancer centers in the United States. We used the Medicare enrollment and claims from January 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 to build a spatial network from patients with cancer to cancer care facilities that provided inpatient and outpatient care of cancer-directed surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. After excluding those without clinical care or outside of the United States, we identified 94 NCI-designated and other academic …

The Majorana Demonstrator Readout Electronics System, N. Abgrall, M. Amman, I. J. Arnquist, Frank Avignone Iii, A. S. Barabash, C. J. Barton, P. J. Barton, F. E. Bertrand, K. H. Bhimani, B. Bos, A. W. Bradley, T. H. Burritt, M. Busch, M. Buuck, T. S. Caldwell, Y-D. Chan, C. D. Christofferson, P.-H. Chu, M. L. Clark, R. J. Cooper, C. Cuesta, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

The Majorana Demonstrator comprises two arrays of high-purity germanium detectors constructed to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge and other physics beyond the Standard Model. Its readout electronics were designed to have low electronic noise, and radioactive backgrounds were minimized by using low-mass components and low-radioactivity materials near the detectors. This paper provides a description of all components of the Majorana Demonstrator readout electronics, spanning the front-end electronics and internal cabling, back-end electronics, digitizer, and power supplies, along with the grounding scheme. The spectroscopic performance achieved with these readout electronics is also demonstrated.

Unidentified Police Officials, Teressa Ravenell

Faculty Publications

.United States police officers arrest more than ten million people each year. All of these arrests involve some level of force, and many of them involve multiple officers. Victims of excessive force may bring a § 1983 civil rights claim against all of the officers who were present, but too often plaintiffs with meritorious cases lose because they cannot prove causation. It is not enough to show that “the police” violated the constitution; rather, to prevail against a defendant a § 1983 plaintiff must show how that specific defendant “subjected or caused the plaintiff to be subjected” to the deprivation …

Large Eddy Simulation Of The Wakes Of Three Urban Air Mobility Vehicles, Denis-Gabriel Caprace, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Recent advances in urban air mobility have driven the development of many new VTOL concepts. These vehicles often feature original designs and futuristic shapes. Due to their novelty, the wake characteristics of such aircraft are unknown. However, large wake-induced velocities, should they exist, may be dangerous for any other vehicle evolving in their close proximity. Therefore, improved knowledge about the wakes of VTOL vehicles is needed to guarantee the safety of urban air mobility operations. In this work, we study the wake of three VTOL aircraft in cruise by means of large eddy simulation. We present a two-stage numerical procedure …

Byu Scholarsarchive Open Access Journals, Ellen Amatangelo

Faculty Publications

Brigham Young University's institutional repository, ScholarsArchive, is currently home to over 40 Open Access scholarly journals run by faculty, students, and societies. This presentation will highlight some of the journals' features, explore how the library's Scholarly Communications team works with editors, discuss the requirements for having a journal housed in the repository, and examine readership statistics and discoverability.

Learning objectives:
Learn more about the process of managing online journals
Tips for working with journal editors

Hands-On Stem: Chemistry, Physics, And Other Science Resources For K-12 Education, Lisa Ahlberg, G. Brendan Cross

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Can Research Be Sacred Ministry?, Desmond Murray

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Network Representation Of Multiple Cancer-Specific Data For Graph-Based Machine Learning, L M. Pu, M Singha, H C. Wu, C Busch, L M. Pu, M Brylinski

Faculty Publications

Genomic profiles of cancer cells provide valuable information on genetic alterations in cancer. Several recent studies employed these data to predict the response of cancer cell lines to drug treatment. Nonetheless, due to the multifactorial phenotypes and intricate mechanisms of cancer, the accurate prediction of the effect of pharmacotherapy on a specific cell line based on the genetic information alone is problematic. Emphasizing on the system-level complexity of cancer, we devised a procedure to integrate multiple heterogeneous data, including biological networks, genomics, inhibitor profiling, and gene-disease associations, into a unified graph structure. In order to construct compact, yet information-rich cancer-specific …

Bibliometric Analysis Of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Medical Research Production From Saudi Arabia, Amr A. Jamal, Samar Binkheder, Raniah N. Aldekhyyel, Jwaher Almulhem, Shabana Tharkar, Afaf Ali Batis, Layal Hneiny

Faculty Publications

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and as an attempt to fill the knowledge gap related to this topic, extensive research in this area has been published. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as one of the countries affected by the pandemic, has contributed to the growing body of scientific literature related to COVID-19. To measure research contribution produced by Saudi Arabian affiliated researchers, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 research across two databases: the Web of Science and Scopus. Analysis was conducted on February 2, 2021 and included all relevant COVID-19-related publications (n = 1510). …

Acoustofluidics For Simultaneous Nanoparticle-Based Drug Loading And Exosome Encapsulation, Zeyu Wang, Joseph Rich, Nanjing Hao, Yuyang Gu, Chuyi Chen, Shujie Yang, Peiran Zhang, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Nanocarrier and exosome encapsulation has been found to significantly increase the efficacy of targeted drug delivery while also minimizing unwanted side effects. However, the development of exosome-encapsulated drug nanocarriers is limited by low drug loading efficiencies and/or complex, time-consuming drug loading processes. Herein, we have developed an acoustofluidic device that simultaneously performs both drug loading and exosome encapsulation. By synergistically leveraging the acoustic radiation force, acoustic microstreaming, and shear stresses in a rotating droplet, the concentration, and fusion of exosomes, drugs, and porous silica nanoparticles is achieved. The final product consists of drug-loaded silica nanocarriers that are encased within an …

To Stick Or Not To Stick: The Multiple Roles Of Cell Adhesion Molecules In Neural Circuit Assembly, Trevor Moreland, Fabienne E. Poulain

Faculty Publications

Precise wiring of neural circuits is essential for brain connectivity and function. During development, axons respond to diverse cues present in the extracellular matrix or at the surface of other cells to navigate to specific targets, where they establish precise connections with post-synaptic partners. Cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) represent a large group of structurally diverse proteins well known to mediate adhesion for neural circuit assembly. Through their adhesive properties, CAMs act as major regulators of axon navigation, fasciculation, and synapse formation. While the adhesive functions of CAMs have been known for decades, more recent studies have unraveled essential, non-adhesive functions …