Digital Commons Network^™

A Baker’S Dozen Of Top Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention Publications In 2022, Reagan K. Barfield, Matthew L. Brown, Benjamin Albrecht, Katie E. Barber, Jeannette Bouchard, Amy L. Carr, Elias B. Chahine, David Cluck, Elizabeth W. Covington, Connor R. Deri, Spencer H. Durham, Carmen Faulkner-Fennell, Lauren K. Freeman, Timothy P. Gauthier, Geneen M. Gibson, Sarah B. Green, Athena L.V. Hobbs, Bruce M. Jones, P. Brandon Bookstaver Pharm.D., Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

Keeping abreast of the antimicrobial stewardship–related articles published each year is challenging. The Southeastern Research Group Endeavor identified antimicrobial stewardship–related, peer-reviewed literature that detailed an actionable intervention during 2022. The top 13 publications were selected using a modified Delphi technique. These manuscripts were reviewed to highlight actionable interventions used by antimicrobial stewardship programs to capture potentially effective strategies for local implementation.

Urban School Neighbourhoods Dominated By Unhealthy Food Retailers And Advertisements In Greater Tunis: A Geospatial Study In The Midst Of The Nutrition Transition, Christelle Akl, Nehmat El-Helou, Gloria Safadi, Aline Semaan, Aya El Sammak, Tarek Trabelsi, Sonia Sassi, Chaza Akik, Jalila El Ati, Pierre Traissac, Hala Ghattas Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Objective:

Food environments are a major determinant of children’s nutritional status. Scarce evidence on food environments exists in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study aims to fill this gap by documenting the obesogenicity of food environments around schools in Greater Tunis, Tunisia – an LMIC of the Middle East and North Africa region with an ongoing nutrition transition and increasing rates of childhood obesity.

Design:

In this cross-sectional study, we assessed built food environments around fifty primary schools. Ground-truthing was performed to collect geographic coordinates and pictures of food retailers and food advertisement sets within an 800-m road network …

Estimating The Cholesterol Affinity Of Integral Membrane Proteins From Experimental Data, Theodore L. Steck, S. M. Ali Tabei, Yvonne Lange

Faculty Publications

The cholesterol affinities of many integral plasma membrane proteins have been estimated by molecular computation. However, these values lack experimental confirmation. We therefore developed a simple mathematical model to extract sterol affinity constants and stoichiometries from published isotherms for the dependence of the activity of such proteins on the membrane cholesterol concentration. The binding curves for these proteins are sigmoidal, with strongly lagged thresholds attributable to competition for the cholesterol by bilayer phospholipids. The model provided isotherms that matched the experimental data using published values for the sterol association constants and stoichiometries of the phospholipids. Three oligomeric transporters were found …

Immersive Engineering Learning And Workforce Development: Pushing The Boundaries Of Knowledge Acquisition In A Cave, Opeyemi Peter Ojajuni, Brian Warren, Fareed Dawan, Yasser Ismail, Albertha Lawson

Faculty Publications

This study provides insight into the use of virtual reality (VR) to enhance engineering curriculums and develop engineering students’ computational thinking (CT) levels at Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). The sample population for this research includes students enrolled in a first-year engineering course at an HBCU. To support the students’ education in cybersecurity additive manufacturing, virtual reality was used to simulate classroom teaching and assignments. Participants in this study were first taught using the traditional method that allowed them passive viewing of images and videos of objects and spaces. The participants were later taught the same lessons in a …

Cancel Culture And Censorship Effects Before And After The Introduction Of Social Media, Joseph A. Custer

Faculty Publications

Some people today view free speech as a threat to emotional safety and well-being. Cancel culture attempts to silence authors who express “unapproved” opinions by removing access to their works, publicly shaming them, and making attempts to destroy their livelihood. Cancel culture has been increasing, particularly on social media.

Review Of Hopeful Visions, Practical Actions: Cultural Humility In Library Work, Carol A. Leibiger

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Permitting The Future, Jonathan Adler

Faculty Publications

Today’s environmental laws impose a range of permitting and review requirements on federal projects and private developments that require federal approval. While well-intentioned, these requirements have imposed substantial costs and delays on economic development, including the development of “green infrastructure.” Alternative energy projects and the infrastructure upon which they depend are constrained by lengthy permit reviews and assessments. While designed to protect the environment, these regimes may constrain the development and deployment of the environmental technologies of tomorrow, including (but not limited to) those necessary to address climate change. This essay is the introduction to a symposium on “Permitting the …

Taxing Remote Workers: The Pandemic And Its Implications, Jonathan L. Entin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Is The Business Of The Court (Still) Business?, Jonathan Adler

Faculty Publications

The Roberts Court has long been characterized as a pro-business court, perhaps the most pro-business court in a century. Insofar as this alleged pro-business orientation is due to the Court’s Republican-appointed majority, President Trump’s appointments to the Supreme Court should have magnified the Court’s pro-business orientation. Yet there are reasons to question the general characterization of the Court as “pro-business” as well as the assumption that an increase in the Court’s Republican-appointed majority has increased any pro-business orientation. Quantitative analyses often fail to account for the relative importance of individual decisions, the broader, legal context in which the Court’s decisions …

Medical Authority And The Right To Life, B. Jessie Hill

Faculty Publications

This essay briefly explores this relationship between the understandings—existing and potential—of the right to “life” and the role of medical authority in constitutional abortion rights litigation. It proceeds as follows. Part I describes the dichotomy between two different understandings of “life” in U.S. legal discourse, with a particular focus on cases dealing with the so-called “right to die.” Part II then explains why this dichotomy is relevant in the post-Dobbs abortion rights context, as it holds the promise of an alternate path to protection for abortion rights at the federal and state levels. Part II also discusses how and why …

Creative Reading: Using Poetic Inquiry In Research And Teaching, Clancy Ratliff, Abdullah Al Musayeb, Barja Islam, Mithila Mumtaz, Rosol Otear, Simon Richard, Noah Smith, Nuzhat Tarannum, Allyssa Veney

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Survey Of Retail Trade Patterns In South Dakota: 2014-2023, Rand E. Wergin

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an analysis of retail sales and retail trade in the state of South Dakota for the ten years 2014 to 2023. This analysis will provide information to community leaders in the cities and towns of South Dakota. Retail pull is an economic indicator that provides a measure of community’s economic health and its ability to attract shoppers, both shoppers from its own community and from other communities. A community that has a healthy retail economy is generally able to attract shoppers from its own community as well as surrounding communities.

Image Processing Of Big Data For Plant Diseases Of Four Different Plant Categories: Represented By Rice, Banana, Sunflower, And Potato, Richard S. Segall, Prasanna Rajbhandari

Faculty Publications

In this research, plant pathogens are considered as big data because of the numerical counts for high intensity pixels in the images. The research presents an automated approach for early detection of plant diseases using image processing techniques. By analyzing the color features of leaf areas, the k-means algorithm for color segmentation and the Gray-Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM) are used for disease classification. A novelty of this research is that it illustrates four categories of plants to analyze and compare: (1.) Grain, represented by Rice Plant Leaf Data; (2.) Fruit, represented by banana plant leaf data, (3.) Flower, represented by …

Extract Clinical Lab Tests From Electronic Hospital Records Through Featured Transformer Model, Lucy M. Lu, Richard S. Segall

Faculty Publications

Natural language, as a rich source of information, has been used as the foundation of the product review, the demographic trend, and the domain specific knowledge bases. To extract entities from texts, the challenge is, free text is so sparse that missing features always exist which makes the training processing incomplete. Based on attention mechanism in deep learning architecture, the authors propose a featured transformer model (FTM) which adds category information into inputs to overcome missing feature issue. When attention mechanism performs Markov-like updates in deep learning architecture, the importance of the category represents the frequency connecting to other entities …

Restricting Academic Freedom At Universities: How Corporations Contribute To The Problem, Hani Morgan

Faculty Publications

Industry-funded research can prevent academic freedom from thriving at universities. It can also lead to misleading research that harms consumers. This book chapter focuses on how corporations sometimes use methods that contribute to the corruption of science and includes descriptions of several cases that occurred at universities. Some of the methods that can lead to deception involve agreements university researchers sometimes sign that prevent them from publishing their results without a corporation’s approval. Other methods include requiring researchers to use research designs that will make a corporation’s products seem beneficial to consumers. Corporations can also require researchers to sign agreements …

Charting The Scorched Trails: A Comparative Analysis Of Roadway Damage From Historical Megafires To The Unprecedented 2020 Labor Day Wildfires On The Usa West Coast, Kevin Christiansen, Ayat Al Assi, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Robert V. Rohli

Faculty Publications

Roadways in the US states of Washington (WA), Oregon (OR), and California (CA) incurred extraordinary damage during the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. However, the cost and risk of these fires have not been placed in a historical perspective. This study examines the damage to roadways affected by the 2020 Labor Day wildfires in relation to the history of megafires in WA (1902–2023), OR (1845– 2023), and CA (1889–2023) using carefully selected data sets gathered from the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). A method for classifying road damage from …

Habitat Use And Movements Of Parrotfishes In A Hawaiian Coral Reef Seascape, Senifa F. Annandale, Jason P. Turner, Daniel L. Lippi, Michael Dance, R. J.David Wells, Jay R. Rooker

Faculty Publications

Parrotfishes (family Scaridae) are important to coral reef ecosystems and highly prized by both commercial and recreational fishers in the Hawaiian Islands. Although parrotfishes are known to be strictly diurnal, our knowledge of their habitat use and movement patterns across daily timescales in tropical systems is still somewhat limited. Here, acoustic telemetry was used to determine parrotfish habitat use and movements within a coral reef seascape at Puakō, Hawai‘i. An array of acoustic receivers was deployed in a nearshore reef to track fine-scale movements of two common species: ember parrotfish (Scarus rubroviolaceus) and palenose parrotfish (Scarus psittacus). Transmitters were mounted …

Seaweed As A Resilient Food Solution After A Nuclear War, Florian Ulrich Jehn, Farrah Jasmine Dingal, Aron Mill, Cheryl Harrison, Ekaterina Ilin, Michael Y. Roleda, Scott C. James, David Denkenberger

Faculty Publications

Abrupt sunlight reduction scenarios such as a nuclear winter caused by the burning of cities in a nuclear war, an asteroid/comet impact or an eruption of a large volcano inject large amounts of particles in the atmosphere, which limit sunlight. This could decimate agriculture as it is practiced today. We therefore need resilient food sources for such an event. One promising candidate is seaweed, as it can grow quickly in a wide range of environmental conditions. To explore the feasibility of seaweed after nuclear war, we simulate the growth of seaweed on a global scale using an empirical model based …

Research Criteria Towards An Interdisciplinary Stratospheric Aerosol Intervention Assessment, Simone Tilmes, Karen H. Rosenlof, Daniele Visioni, Ewa M. Bednarz, Tyler Felgenhauer, Wake Smith, Chris Lennard, Michael S. Diamond, Matthew Henry, Cheryl S. Harrison, Chelsea Thompson

Faculty Publications

With surface temperatures already reaching unprecedented highs, resulting in significant adverse consequences for societies and ecosystems, there are increasing calls to expand research into climate interventions, including Stratospheric Aerosol Intervention (SAI). However, research and dissemination are currently fragmented and would benefit from a comprehensive international assessment of the current state of knowledge regarding impacts, risks, and recommendations for future SAI research directions. The goals of a scientific assessment would be to describe the current state of SAI research and evaluate proposed scenario-strategy combinations through well-designed evaluation guidelines. The suggested iterative approach would integrate natural and social science considerations to guide …

Relationship Between Genotype And Disease Phenotype For Gluten-Related Disorders, Michael Roberts, Nadine Grzeskowiak, Stephen Bricher

Faculty Publications

We investigated gluten-related disorders (GRD) in intestinal biopsy-proven subjects to determine the relation between genotype (i.e., Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) DQ alleles) and phenotype (i.e., antibody levels and clearly defined symptoms). Subjects had known DQ genotypes, information on IgA anti-Endomysial antibodies (EMA) and/or anti-tissue Trans Glutaminase (tTG) antibodies (tTGA). Subjects also answered a survey characterizing gastrointestinal, skin, and neural symptoms. Though all were biopsy-proven, HLA genotypes included all combinations of DQ2.5, DQ2.2, DQ8, DQ7.5, DQ5, and DQ6. Subject antibody levels were proportional to the number of DQ2.5 haplotypes, and subjects with non-CD-associated haplotypes did not have positive antibody scores (despite …

Can The Excessive Fines Clause Mitigate The Lfo Crisis? An Assessment Of The Caselaw, Michael M. O'Hear

Faculty Publications

The nation’s increasing use of fees, fines, forfeiture, and restitution has resulted in chronic debt burdens for millions of poor and working-class Americans. These legal financial obligations (LFOs) likely entrench racial and socioeconomic divides and contribute to the breakdown of trust in the police and courts in disadvantaged communities. One possible source of restraint on LFOs may be the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment. Largely ignored by courts and commentators for two centuries, the Clause has in recent years been the subject of a burgeoning volume of litigation and scholarship. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided a handful …

The New Marshmallow: The Effects Of Screen Use On Children's Ability To Delay Gratification, Benjamin Richardson, P. Thomas Fife, Joseph Steed, Caroline Crane, James Gaskin

Faculty Publications

In a digital age where screens are as ubiquitous as crayons once were, the relationship between screen use and a child’s development necessitates examination. This study investigates the effect of screen use—both by children and their parents—on children’s ability to delay gratification, a key predictor of future success. Utilizing an experimental design modeled after the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment, we found that children’s screen use did not significantly affect their ability to delay gratification. However, parental screen use for entertainment purposes was negatively associated with children’s capacity to delay gratification. Additionally, screens proved to be a more potent temptation than traditional …

Physical Activity, Anxiety, Depression, And Coping In Turkish Men And Women During The First Wave Of Covid-19, Bijen Filiz, Funda Coşkun Özyol, Bengü Güven, Ezel Nur Korur, Yılmaz Yüksel, Cavit Işık Yavuz, Kele Ding, Jingzhen Yang, J. Larry Durstine Phd, Facsm, Faacvpr, Fnak, Ming-Kai Chin, Gıyasettin Demirhan

Faculty Publications

A need exists to better understand the relationships between COVID-19, coping behaviors, physical activity and stress, and COVID-19’s impact on way of life. A cross-sectional study design was used to examine adult physical activity, hope, depression, anxiety, and coping status by gender during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine the impact of these variables on the coping process. The study also examined the effect of gender on the relation between physical activity and dependent variables. A global survey instrument was used in this study, including 1,400 Turkish adults. This study identified significant gender-based differences regarding physical activity, hope, depression, anxiety, …

Dropping The Veil: How An Investigation Into One Asylum Office Reveals Systemic Failures Within The U.S. Affirmative Asylum System, Anna R. Welch, Sara P. Cressey

Faculty Publications

The eleven asylum offices scattered throughout the United States make life-or-death decisions every year in tens of thousands of asylum cases. Yet, little is known about the internal workings of U.S. asylum offices where the informal, non-adjudicative framework for deciding asylum claims takes place behind closed doors. Our three-year study into the Boston Asylum Office is the first ever comprehensive empirical study into the inner workings of an asylum office in the United States. This Article takes a deeper dive into our study’s various findings to highlight systemic failures that are likely pervasive throughout the U.S. affirmative asylum system. We …

The Morass Of Higher Education Financing, Robert W. Miller

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of A Brand-Specific, Hemp-Derived Cannabidiol Product On Physiological, Biochemical, And Psychometric Outcomes In Healthy Adults: A Double-Blind, Randomized Clinical Trial, Gianna F. Mastrofini, Bridget A. Mcfadden, Alexa J. Chandler Ph.D., Blaine S. Lints, Harry P. Cintineo, Nathaniel D. Rhoades, Caroline S. Vincenty, Sten O. Stray-Gundersen Ph.D., Abbi D. Lane, Shawn M. Arent Ph.D., Cscs*D, Fissn, Facsm, Fnak

Faculty Publications

Background: Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive phyto-cannabinoid derived from the Cannabis sativa plant. CBD exhibits various interactions at receptor sites, prompting the research of its potential anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, psychological, and pain-relieving effects. This study aimed to investigate the physiological, biochemical, and psychometric effects of a brand-specific, hemp-derived CBD product in healthy adults over a 12-week observation period. Methods: 54 healthy males and females (age = 25 ± 7y; BMI = 24.82 ± 3.25 kg/m2) recruited from a large Southeastern University completed the study. Participants arrived at the laboratory after > 8 h of fasting, and > 48 h without alcohol consumption and …

Common Questions And Misconceptions About Caffeine Supplementation: What Does The Scientific Evidence Really Show?, Jose Antonio, Daniel E. Newmire, Jeffrey R. Stout, Brandi Antonio, Maureen Gibbons, Lonnie M. Lowery, Joseph Harper, Darryn Willoughby, Cassandra Evans, Dawn Anderson, Erica Goldstein, Jose Rojas, Matías Monsalves-Álvarez, Scott C. Forbes, Jose Gomez Lopez, Tim Ziegenfuss, Blake D. Moulding, Darren Candow, Michael Sagner, Shawn M. Arent Ph.D., Cscs*D, Fissn, Facsm, Fnak

Faculty Publications

Caffeine is a popular ergogenic aid that has a plethora of evidence highlighting its positive effects. A Google Scholar search using the keywords “caffeine” and “exercise” yields over 200,000 results, emphasizing the extensive research on this topic. However, despite the vast amount of available data, it is intriguing that uncertainties persist regarding the effectiveness and safety of caffeine. These include but are not limited to: 1. Does caffeine dehydrate you at rest? 2. Does caffeine dehydrate you during exercise? 3. Does caffeine promote the loss of body fat? 4. Does habitual caffeine consumption influence the performance response to acute caffeine …

Where Do I Belong? : Creating An Inclusive Metadata Policy, Nicole Lewis, Karen Glenn, Jeremy Myntti, Sharolyn Swenson, Katie Yeo

Faculty Publications

Inclusiveness and honoring different cultures that reflect our patrons has been discussed in many different venues in the last few years. The staff of the Brigham Young University Library recognized the need for our metadata to demonstrate the commitment we have to honor others and to create a community of belonging. The staff also recognized that a policy would provide a roadmap for how to embark on fixing legacy metadata and how to move forward in creating metadata that reflects our core values in the library and at the university. This case study details how we developed an inclusive metadata …

Incorporating Real-World Legal Practice Into Law School Curricula, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This annotated bibliography was prepared for the program, “Pracademically Speaking: Incorporating Real-World Legal Practice Into the Curriculum,” at the 2024 Annual Conference of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution. It includes relevant entries from the Real Practice Systems Project Annotated Bibliography.

This includes three sections, identifying: (1) problems with legal education and licensing, (2) resources for law schools and faculty, and (3) resources for law students. It particularly focuses on teaching skills for helping clients, which is critically important because practitioners often fail to recognize and respect clients’ perspectives and interests. Teaching students to work well with clients – and …

Rebalancing Judicial Immunity For Civil Rights Actions, Bailey D. Barnes

Faculty Publications

Sterilization for shorter jail sentences. Vasectomies and birth control implants for freedom. In 2017, a criminal court judge in rural Tennessee made this offer to people incarcerated through sentences issued by his court. When litigators sought monetary damages and to enjoin the practice, and the local media exposed the scheme, the judge begrudgingly rescinded the order while expressing surprise that it was controversial. The Board of Judicial Conduct issued a letter of reprimand to the judge. Meanwhile, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee summarily dismissed the constitutional tort claims against the judge based on absolute …