Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Endocrine Therapy In African-American Breast Cancer Survivors: Mixed Methods Study, Sara Donevant, Sue P. Heiney, Cassandra Wineglass, Benjamin Schooley, Akanksha Singh, Jingxi Sheng

Faculty Publications

Background: Although the incidence of breast cancer is lower in African-American women than in White women, African-American women have a decreased survival rate. The difference in survival rate may stem from poor endocrine therapy adherence, which increases breast cancer recurrence. Therefore, accessible and culturally sensitive interventions to increase endocrine therapy adherence are necessary. Objective: The purpose of this concurrent convergent mixed methods study was to provide further data to guide the development of the proposed culturally sensitive mHealth app, STORY+ for African-American women with breast cancer. Methods: We recruited 20 African-American women diagnosed with estrogen-positive breast cancer and currently prescribed …

Factor Structure And Equivalence Of Maternal Resources For Care In Bangladesh, Vietnam, And Ethiopia, Sulochana Basnet, Edward A. Frongillo Jr. Ph.D., Phuong Hong Nguyen, Spencer Moore, Mandana Arabi

Faculty Publications

Objectives: Resources for care among women are crucial for children's growth and development. The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to determine if: (1) the factor structure of measures of maternal resources for care was comparable across countries and consistent with the theoretical constructs and (2) the measures showed equivalence across contexts.

Methods: The study included 4400, 4029 and 2746 women from Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Ethiopia, respectively. The measures of resources for care were maternal education, knowledge, height, body mass index, mental well-being, financial autonomy, decision-making, employment, support in chores, and perceived support.

Results: The factor analysis demonstrated that a …

Using A Global Food Environment Framework To Understand Relationships With Food Choice In Diverse Low- And Middle-Income Countries, Shilpa V. Constantinides, Christopher Turner, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Shiva Bhandari, Ligia I. Reyes, Christine E. Blake

Faculty Publications

This study aimed to determine if the Turner et al. (2018) framework allows researchers to identify and study relationships between food environments and individual food choice in diverse contexts and if updates to the framework are warranted. We mapped evidence from 15 drivers of food choice projects to the framework, using thematic analysis to identify common drivers within the food environment across countries and emergent characteristics not listed in the framework. The framework contained breadth and depth of content necessary to identify common drivers – prices and affordability, availability, and vendor and product properties. Insights regarding common drivers and emergent …

Propensity Score Matching Evaluation Of Psychological Stress And Hair Cortisol Among People Living With Hiv In China, Xu Chen, Shuaifeng Liu, Chengbo Zeng, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Shan Qiao Ph.D., Riying Lv, Zhiyong Shen

Faculty Publications

To compare the psychological stress level and hair cortisol level of people living with HIV (PLWH) with those without HIV in China, a total of 220 participants were initially enrolled in the study, including 200 PLWH and 20 people living without HIV. Psychological stress level, including quality of life, anxiety, perceived stress and psychological resilience, was self-reported in both groups with related scales. The cortisol in hair was extracted and assessed by LC-APCI-MS/MS method. Propensity score matching analysis was performed to balance the baseline covariates of the two groups, whereas the difference in psychological stress level and hair cortisol level …

Advancing Knowledge About Stakeholder Engagement In Multisectoral Nutrition Research, Andrea M. Warren, Shilpa V. Constantinides, Christine E. Blake, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Strategies to engage stakeholders increase the relevance of multisectoral nutrition research but are challenging to embed within research programs. Drawing from fifteen food choice studies, the aim of this study was to understand the diversity of strategies that researchers used in engaging with stakeholders to synthesize lessons learned from their experiences. Researchers developed and implemented a wide range of strategies that varied in terms of extent of collaboration sought. Informational strategies were used to increase stakeholder buy-in and generate demand for results. Collaborative strategies were more integral to the production of knowledge and were used in framing research significance, interpreting …

Reliable Mode Tracking In Gradient-Based Optimization Frameworks With Flutter Constraints, Taylor Mcdonnell, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

In order to construct mode-specific flutter constraints for use in gradient-based multidisciplinary design optimization frameworks, mode tracking must be used to associate the current iteration’s modes with the modes corresponding to each constraint function. Existing mode tracking methods, however, do not provide a method by which to ensure the accuracy of mode associations, making them unsuitable for use in situations where obtaining correct mode associations is critical. To remedy this issue, a new mode tracking method is presented which incorporates backtracking logic in order to maintain an arbitrarily high degree of confidence in mode correlations during gradient-based optimization and/or during …

Illustrating Important Effects Of Second-Order Sensitivities On Response Uncertainties In Reactor Physics, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

This paper illustrates the relative importance of the largest first- and second-order sensitivities of the leakage response of an OECD/NEA reactor physics benchmark (a polyethylene-reflected plutonium sphere) to the benchmark’s underlying total cross sections. It will be shown that numerous 2nd-order sensitivities of the leakage response with respect to the total cross sections are significantly larger than the largest corresponding 1st-order sensitivities. In particular, the contributions of the 2nd-order sensitivities cause the mean (expected) value of the response to differ appreciably from its computed value and also cause the response distribution to be skewed towards positive values relative to the …

Manipulations Of List Type In The Drm Paradigm: A Review Of How Structural And Conceptual Similarity Affect False Memory, Jennifer H. Coane, Dawn M. Mcbride, Mark J. Huff, Kai Chang, Elizabeth M. Marsh, Kendal A. Smith

Faculty Publications

The use of list-learning paradigms to explore false memory has revealed several critical findings about the contributions of similarity and relatedness in memory phenomena more broadly. Characterizing the nature of “similarity and relatedness” can inform researchers about factors contributing to memory distortions and about the underlying associative and semantic networks that support veridical memory. Similarity can be defined in terms of semantic properties (e.g., shared conceptual and taxonomic features), lexical/associative properties (e.g., shared connections in associative networks), or structural properties (e.g., shared orthographic or phonological features). By manipulating the type of list and its relationship to a non-studied critical item, …

Current Approaches To The Treatment Of Post-Stroke Aphasia, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Argye Elizabeth Hillis

Faculty Publications

Aphasia, impairment of language after stroke or other neurological insult, is a common and often devastating condition that affects nearly every social activity and interaction. Behavioral speech and language therapy is the mainstay of treatment, although other interventions have been introduced to augment the effects of the behavioral therapy. In this narrative review, we discuss advances in aphasia therapy in the last 5 years and focus primarily on properly powered, randomized, controlled trials of both behavioral therapies and interventions to augment therapy for post-stroke aphasia. These trials include evaluation of behavioral therapies and computer-delivered language therapies. We also discuss outcome …

Genomic Gc Content Drifts Downward In Most Bacterial Genomes, Ely Bert

Faculty Publications

In every kingdom of life, GC->AT transitions occur more frequently than any other type of mutation due to the spontaneous deamination of cytidine. In eukaryotic genomes, this slow loss of GC base pairs is counteracted by biased gene conversion which increases genomic GC content as part of the recombination process. However, this type of biased gene conversion has not been observed in bacterial genomes, so we hypothesized that GC->AT transitions cause a reduction of genomic GC content in prokaryotic genomes on an evolutionary time scale. To test this hypothesis, we used a phylogenetic approach to analyze triplets of …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Couples, Families, And Finance, Melissa A. Curran, Ashley B. Lebaron, Xiaomin Li, Casey J. Totenhagen

Faculty Publications

For the nine papers that appear in this special issue, we identified three main organizing themes: (1) Understudied aspects of family financial socialization, (2) Individuals or couples in different-sex romantic relationships, and (3) Finances and perceived parent–child relationships. In this introduction, we describe the main points of each of these papers within each theme. We also discuss what we have learned from these papers (e.g., finances assessed using eight different datasets; range of samples including adults repaying loans, newlywed couples, and a nationally representative sample of U.S. college students) as well as what future research questions remain (e.g., financial studies …

Genomic Gc Content Drifts Downward In Most Bacterial Genomes, Bert Ely

Faculty Publications

In every kingdom of life, GC->AT transitions occur more frequently than any other type of mutation due to the spontaneous deamination of cytidine. In eukaryotic genomes, this slow loss of GC base pairs is counteracted by biased gene conversion which increases genomic GC content as part of the recombination process. However, this type of biased gene conversion has not been observed in bacterial genomes, so we hypothesized that GC->AT transitions cause a reduction of genomic GC content in prokaryotic genomes on an evolutionary time scale. To test this hypothesis, we used a phylogenetic approach to analyze triplets of …

Suas For 3d Tree Surveying: Comparative Experiments On A Closed-Canopy Earthen Dam, Cuizhen Wang, Grayson R. Morgan, Michael E. Hodgson

Faculty Publications

Defined as “personal remote sensing”, small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) have been increasingly utilized for landscape mapping. This study tests a sUAS procedure of 3D tree surveying of a closed-canopy woodland on an earthen dam. Three DJI drones—Mavic Pro, Phantom 4 Pro, and M100/RedEdge-M assembly—were used to collect imagery in six missions in 2019–2020. A canopy height model was built from the sUAS-extracted point cloud and LiDAR bare earth surface. Treetops were delineated in a variable-sized local maxima filter, and tree crowns were outlined via inverted watershed segmentation. The outputs include a tree inventory that contains 238 to 284 trees …

Repurposing Of Antibiotics For Clinical Management Of Covid-19: A Narrative Review, Abdourahamane Yacouba, Ahmed Olowo-Okere, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background: Drug repurposing otherwise known as drug repositioning or drug re-profling is a time-tested approach in drug discovery through which new medical uses are being established for already known drugs. Antibi‑ otics are among the pharmacological agents being investigated for potential anti-SARS-COV-2 activities. The antibiot‑ ics are used either to resolve bacterial infections co-existing with COVID-19 infections or exploitation of their potential antiviral activities. Herein, we aimed to review the various antibiotics that have been repositioned for the manage‑ ment of COVID-19.

Methods: This literature review was conducted from a methodical search on PubMed and Web of Science regarding antibiotics …

Australian Smokers' Sensory Experiences And Beliefs Associated With Menthol And Non-Menthol Cigarettes, Serafino Mancuso, Emily Brennan, Kimberley Dunstone, Amanda Vittiglia, Sarah Durkin, Jim F. Thrasher Ph.D., Ma, Ms, Janet Hoek, Melanie Wakefield

Faculty Publications

Many current smokers incorrectly believe that menthol cigarettes are less harmful, likely due to the biological and sensory effects of menthol, which can lead smokers to have favourable sensory experiences. In this study, we measured the extent to which Australian smokers associate certain sensory experiences with smoking menthol and non-menthol cigarettes, and their beliefs about how damaging and enjoyable they find cigarettes with each of these sensory experiences. A sample of 999 Australian 18–69-year-old weekly smokers was recruited from a non-probability online panel; this study focuses on the 245 respondents who currently smoked menthol cigarettes at least once per week. …

Host–Guest Interactions In A Metal–Organic Framework Isoreticular Series For Molecular Photocatalytic Co2 Reduction, Philip M. Stanley, Johanna Haimerl, Christopher Thomas, Alexander Urstoeger, Michael Schuster Prof. Dr., Natalia B. Shustova Prof. Dr., Angela Casini Prof. Dr., Bernhard Rieger Prof. Dr., Julien Warnan Dr., Roland A. Fischer Prof. Dr.

Faculty Publications

A strategy to improve homogeneous molecular catalyst stability, efficiency, and selectivity is the immobilization on supporting surfaces or within host matrices. Herein, we examine the co-immobilization of a CO2 reduction catalyst [ReBr(CO)3(4,4′-dcbpy)] and a photosensitizer [Ru(bpy)2(5,5′-dcbpy)]Cl2 using the isoreticular series of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) UiO-66, -67, and -68. Specific host pore size choice enables distinct catalyst and photosensitizer spatial location—either at the outer MOF particle surface or inside the MOF cavities—affecting catalyst stability, electronic communication between reaction center and photosensitizer, and consequently the apparent catalytic rates. These results allow for a rational understanding of an optimized supramolecular layout of catalyst, …

Publishing Metrics In Arl Libraries, Cory L. Nimer

Faculty Publications

This presentation examines the applicability of bibliometrics for assessing the scholarship of faculty librarians at American research universities. This review includes a comparison of publication rates in academic disciplines and librarianship, as well as between areas within librarianship. It concludes by suggesting the importance of understanding disciplinary norms when considering using publishing statistics in retention, tenure, and promotion decisions.

Presentation was originally made at the Utah Library Association annual meeting in 2021.

Examination Of Weight-Loss Motivators And Family Factors In Relation To Weight Management Strategies And Dietary Behaviors Among Adolescents With Obesity, Bridget K. Biggs, Dawn K. Wilson, Mary Quattlebaum, Seema Kumar, Alicia Meek, Teresa B. Jensen

Faculty Publications

The study aim was to test hypotheses informed by self-determination theory (SDT) regarding associations of adolescent motivators for weight loss and family feeding practices on understanding adolescent weight management and dietary behaviors. Adolescents (n = 71) with obesity were recruited from a large medical center in the Midwest USA and completed questionnaire assessments via an online survey. Results supported hypotheses that endorsement of health motivators for weight loss, conceptualized as autonomous (intrinsic) motivation, and positive family support would be associated with healthier weight management practices and dietary behaviors. Nuanced findings related to social- and self-esteem-related motivators for weight loss indicated …

The Utah Covid-19 Digital Collection: Best Practices For Born-Digital, Crowdsourced Collections, Jeremy Myntti, Anna Neatrour, Rachel Wittmann

Faculty Publications

“Traditionally archivists collected material years following an event. This is no longer the case. Digital content and documenting current events both require information specialists to act quickly and be involved in the initial development of potential collections to ensure they are identified, described, and preserved for future retrieval.”

Effects Of Psychosocial Support Interventions On Survival In Inpatient And Outpatient Healthcare Settings: A Meta-Analysis Of 106 Randomized Controlled Trials, Connor Workman, Caleb Andrews, Bonnie Barton, Matthew Cook, Ryan Layton, Alexandra Morrey, Devin Petersen, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

Background

Hospitals, clinics, and health organizations have provided psychosocial support interventions for medical patients to supplement curative care. Prior reviews of interventions augmenting psychosocial support in medical settings have reported mixed outcomes. This meta-analysis addresses the questions of how effective are psychosocial support interventions in improving patient survival and which potential moderating features are associated with greater effectiveness.

Methods and findings

We evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial support interventions in inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings reporting survival data, including studies reporting disease-related or all-cause mortality. Literature searches included studies reported January 1980 through October 2020 accessed from Embase, …

Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Human Mobility And Its Association With Land Use Types During Covid-19 In New York City, Yuqin Jiang, Xiao Huang, Zhenlong Li

Faculty Publications

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted every facet of society. One of the non-pharmacological measures to contain the COVID-19 infection is social distancing. Federal, state, and local governments have placed multiple executive orders for human mobility reduction to slow down the spread of COVID-19. This paper uses geotagged tweets data to reveal the spatiotemporal human mobility patterns during this COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. With New York City open data, human mobility pattern changes were detected by different categories of land use, including residential, parks, transportation facilities, and workplaces. This study further compares human mobility patterns by …

Effects Of Psychosocial Support Interventions On Survival In Inpatient And Outpatient Healthcare Settings: A Meta-Analysis Of 106 Randomized Controlled Trials, Timothy B. Smith, Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Faculty Publications

We evaluated randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of psychosocial support interventions in inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings reporting survival data, including studies reporting disease-related or all-cause mortality. LOdds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR) data were analyzed separately using random effects weighted models. Of 42,054 studies searched, 106 RCTs including 40,280 patients met inclusion criteria. Across 87 RCTs reporting data for discrete time periods, the average was OR = 1.20 (95% CI = 1.09 to 1.31, p < 0.001), indicating a 20% increased likelihood of survival among patients receiving psychosocial support compared to control groups receiving standard medical care. Among those studies, psychosocial interventions explicitly promoting health behaviors yielded improved likelihood of survival, whereas interventions without that primary focus did not. Across 22 RCTs reporting survival time, the average was HR = 1.29 (95% CI = 1.12 to 1.49, p < 0.001), indicating a 29% increased probability of survival over time among intervention recipients compared to controls. Among those studies, meta-regressions identified 3 moderating variables: control group type, patient disease severity, and risk of research bias. Studies with patients having relatively greater disease severity tended to yield smaller gains in survival time relative to control groups. In this meta-analysis, OR data indicated that psychosocial behavioral support interventions promoting patient motivation/coping to engage in health behaviors improved patient survival, but interventions focusing primarily on patients’ social or emotional outcomes did not prolong life. HR data indicated that psychosocial interventions, predominantly focused on social or emotional outcomes, improved survival but yielded similar effects to health information/classes and were less effective among patients with apparently greater disease severity.

Development And Assessment Of Feasibility Of A Community-Based Peer Support Intervention To Mitigate Social Isolation And Stigma Of Adolescent Motherhood In Harare, Zimbabwe, Chiwoneso B. Tinago, Edward A. Frongillo Jr. Ph.D., Andrea M. Warren, Vivian Chitiyo, Ashley K. Cifarelli, Shannon Fyalkowski, Victoria Pauline

Faculty Publications

Background: Adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe often experience stigma, isolation, and lack coping skills and resources to successfully navigate motherhood. Social isolation and stigma are linked to poor mental health outcomes. No interventions currently address mental health of adolescent mothers in Zimbabwe. Peer support groups in other contexts have been effective at increasing social connectedness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, providing coping mechanisms to manage stigma experiences, in addition to empowering and improving mental health of adolescents and adolescent mothers. To develop a community-based peer support intervention, we aimed to understand the unique needs of adolescent mothers, how peer support groups could …

Brief Overview Of Approaches And Challenges In New Antibiotic Development: A Focus On Drug Repurposing, Natalie K. Boyd, Chengwen Teng Pharm.D., Ph.D., Christopher R. Frei

Faculty Publications

Drug repurposing, or identifying new uses for existing drugs, has emerged as an alternative to traditional drug discovery processes involving de novo synthesis. Drugs that are currently approved or under development for non-antibiotic indications may possess antibiotic properties, and therefore may have repurposing potential, either alone or in combination with an antibiotic. They might also serve as “antibiotic adjuvants” to enhance the activity of certain antibiotics.

Community Support Model On Breastfeeding And Complementary Feeding Practices In Remote Areas In Vietnam: Implementation, Cost, And Effectiveness, Tuan T. Nguyen, Nemat Hajeebhoy, Jia Li, Chung T. Do, Roger Mathisen, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Background

Poor access to healthcare facilities and consequently nutrition counseling services hinders the uptake of recommended infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices. To address these barriers and improve IYCF practices, Alive & Thrive (A&T) initiated community support groups in remote villages across nine provinces in Vietnam.

Objective

This study examines the effectiveness of the support group model and related project costs for reaching underserved areas to improve IYCF practices.

Methods

To evaluate the model’s implementation and project costs, we reviewed implementation guidelines, expenditure and coverage reports, monitoring data, and budgets for the nine provinces. To evaluate the model’s effectiveness, …

Uniform Strain-Dependent Thermal Conductivity Of Pentagonal And Hexagonal Silicene, Huake Liu, Guangzhao Qin, Ming Hu

Faculty Publications

Two-dimensional (2D) pentagonal monolayer structures have shown promising characteristics and fascinating physical and chemical properties. The disparate strain-dependent thermal conductivity of two-dimensional penta-structures was reported, but the difference between the silicon-based pentagonal and hexagonal structures is barely researched. In this work, based on first-principles calculations, we studied the strain-modulated phonon transport behavior of two 2D pentagonal (penta-SiH and bilayer penta-Si) and one hexagonal silicene structures (H-silicene), of which the penta-SiH and H-silicene mean the structures are hydrogenated for the purpose of thermodynamical stability. We found that the silicon-based pentagonal structure also presented a different strain-dependent thermal conductivity from other pentagonal …

Supernova Neutrino Burst Detection With The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, B. Abi, R. Acciarri, M. A. Acero, G. Adamov, D. Adams, M. Adinolfi, Z. Ahmad, J. Ahmed, T. Alion, S. Alonso Monslave, C. Alt, J. Anderson, C. Andreopoulos, M. P. Andrews, F. Andrianala, S. Andringa, A. Ankowski, M. Antonova, S. Antusch, A. Aranda-Fernadez, Roberto Petti

Faculty Publications

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a 40-kton underground liquid argon time projection chamber experiment, will be sensitive to the electronneutrino flavor component of the burst of neutrinos expected from the next Galactic core-collapse supernova. Such an observation will bring unique insight into the astrophysics of core collapse as well as into the properties of neutrinos. The general capabilities of DUNE for neutrino detection in the relevant few- to few-tens-of-MeV neutrino energy range will be described. As an example, DUNE’s ability to constrain the ν_e spectral parameters of the neutrino burst will be considered.

Differences In ​The Proportion Of Children Meeting Behavior Guidelines ​Between Summer ​And School By Socioeconomic Status And Race, Ethan T. Hunt, Lauren Von Klinggraeff, Alexis Jones, Sarah Burkart, Roddrick Dugger, Bridget Armstrong Ph.D., Michael Beets Ph.D., Gabrielle Turner-Mcgrievy Ph.D., Rd, Marco Geraci, Robert Glenn Weaver Med, Phd

Faculty Publications

Objective

Children who fail to meet activity, sleep, and screen-time guidelines are at increased risk for obesity. Further, children who are Black are more likely to have obesity when compared to children who are White, and children from low-income households are at increased risk for obesity when compared to children from higher-income households. The objective of this study was to evaluate the proportion of days meeting obesogenic behavior guidelines during the school year compared to summer vacation by race and free/reduced priced lunch (FRPL) eligibility.

Methods

Mixed-effects linear and logistic regressions estimated the proportion of days participants met activity, sleep, …

Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions During Hurricanes Marco And Laura (2020), Emily N. Eley, Bulusu Subrahmanyam, Corinne B. Trott

Faculty Publications

During August of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) was affected by two subsequent storms, Hurricanes Marco and Laura. Hurricane Marco entered the GoM first (22 August) and was briefly promoted to a Category 1 storm. Hurricane Laura followed Marco closely (25 August) and attained Category 4 status after a period of rapid intensification. Typically, hurricanes do not form this close together; this study aims to explain the existence of both hurricanes through the analysis of air-sea fluxes, local thermodynamics, and upper-level circulation. The GoM and its quality of warm, high ocean heat content waters proved …

Cognitive Empathy And Longitudinal Changes In Temporo-Parietal Junction Thickness In Schizophrenia, Derin J. Cobia, Tatiana Karpouzian-Rogers, Julie Petersen, Lei Wang, Vijay A. Mittal, John G. Csernansky, Matthew J. Smith

Faculty Publications

Objective: Deficits in cognitive empathy are well-documented in individuals with schizophrenia and are related to reduced community functioning. The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is closely linked to cognitive empathy. We compared the relationship between baseline cognitive empathy and changes in TPJ thickness over 24 months between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Methods: Individuals with schizophrenia (n = 29) and healthy controls (n = 26) completed a cognitive empathy task and underwent structural neuroimaging at baseline and approximately 24 months later. Symmetrized percent change scores were calculated for right and left TPJ, as well as whole-brain volume, and compared between groups. …