Digital Commons Network^™

Election Observation Post-2020, Rebecca Green

Faculty Publications

The United States is in the midst of a crisis in confidence in elections, despite the many process protections baked into every stage of election administration. Part of the problem is that few Americans know just how rigorous the protections in place are, and most Americans have no concept of how modern elections are run. Election observation statutes are intended to provide a window for members of the public to learn about and oversee the process and to satisfy themselves that elections are fair and that outcomes are reliable. Yet in 2020, in part due to unforeseen pandemic conditions, election …

A Work/Life Teeter Totter: Using Demand Based Principles For Spiritual Operations Management, Dan Bumblauskas, Paul Bumblauskas

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to detail how spirituality is a critical component to work/life balance and how individual and organizational spirituality impact operations management. Balancing key areas of work and professional life become an important part of creating happy and mutually satisfying relationships. We have identified six critical elements of life balance that lead towards optimized productivity (in no order of significance): Career, Family, Community, Spiritual, Health (includes sleep), Pleasure. Spirituality is one of the six components that must be defined, with a corresponding work and personal development plan, at an individual and organizational and operations management level.

Vaccine Clinical Trials And Data Infrastructure, Ana Santos Rutschman

Faculty Publications

We find ourselves at a momentous turn in the history of vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a quasi-global vaccine race that not only compressed vaccine research and development (R&D) timelines, but also paved the way for the administration of a new type of vaccine technology – mRNA vaccines, which work in substantially different ways from the vaccines in use before the pandemic.

While the process of bringing emerging COVID-19 vaccines to market has taken place in an unusually short timeframe, it was largely predicated on the same scientific and regulatory processes that govern the development, approval and deployment of new …

A Scoping Review Investigating Relationships Between Depression, Anxiety, And The Prep Care Continuum In The United States, Sarah J. Miller, Sayward Harrison, Kamla Devi Sanasi-Bhola

Faculty Publications

Men who have sex with men and transgender women in the United States are at increased risk for HIV and may benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a once-a-day pill to prevent HIV. Due to stigma and discrimination, sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations are also at risk for depression and anxiety. This scoping review sought to identify literature addressing relationships between the PrEP care continuum, depression, and anxiety among SGM individuals and others at high risk for HIV. We conducted a systematic review of four databases (i.e., PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Google Scholar) and identified 692 unique articles that …

Evaluation Of Seasonal Heat Stress On Transcriptomic Profiles And Global Dna Methylation Of Bovine Oocytes, Fabian A. Diaz, Emilio J. Gutierrez-Castillo, Brittany A. Foster, Paige T. Hardin, Kenneth R. Bondioli, Zongliang Jiang

Faculty Publications

Heat stress affects oocyte developmental competence and is a major cause of reduced fertility in heat stressed cattle. Negative effects of heat stress on the oocyte have been observed at morphological, biochemical and developmental levels. However, the mechanisms by which heat stress affects the oocyte at the transcriptional and epigenetic levels remain to be further elucidated. Here we aimed to investigate the effect of heat stress on oocyte quality, transcriptomic profiles and DNA methylation of oocytes collected through the transition from spring to summer under Louisiana conditions. Summer season resulted in a lower number of high quality oocytes obtained compared …

Very Young Child Survivors’ Perceptions Of Their Father’S Suicide: Exploring Bibliotherapy As Postvention Support, Cortland L. Watson, Elizabeth Cutrer, Melissa A. Heath, Erica E. Miller, Terrell A. Young, Suzanne Wilson

Faculty Publications

Each year in the United States, 7000 to 30,000 children experience their parent’s suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about suicide. Over time, children struggle with confusion and intense emotions associated with their parent’s suicide. In this study, seven adults, who reported being younger than six years old at the time of their father’s suicide, participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Participants’ responses highlight the challenges that young children face due to limited memories of their deceased parent. Interviews concluded with an opportunity for participants to review and …

Implications Of Community-Based Management Of Marine Reserves In The Philippines For Reef Fish Communities And Biodiversity, Sara E. Marriott, Courtney Cox, Rizaller C. Amolo, Dean Apistar, Roquelito H. Mancao, Kim De Mutsert

Faculty Publications

Overfishing and destructive fishing practices are major threats to marine biodiversity in the Philippines, where over 1.9 million small-scale fishers are supported by these biodiverse marine communities. Nearly 50% of all marine fish capture in the Philippines is from artisanal fisheries, with much of it not reported or under-reported. Marine reserves, where fishing is prohibited have been created in many local government units to help restore and preserve this biodiversity. The success of these marine reserves is still under serious debate with effective management still representing a significant challenge. The lack of a governance system to centrally managed marine reserves …

The Fmr1 Premutation Phenotype And Mother-Youth Synchrony In Fragile X Syndrome, Carly Moser, Laura Mattie, Leonard Abbeduto, Jessica Klusek

Faculty Publications

A subset of mothers who carry the FMR1 premutation may express a unique phenotype. The relationship between the FMR1 phenotype and mother-child interaction in families with fragile X-associated disorders has not been well characterized, despite the importance of high-quality mother-child interaction for child development. This study examined the association between the FMR1 phenotype and the quality of interactions between mothers and their adolescent/young adult sons with fragile X syndrome. Mother-youth synchrony was coded from a dyadic interaction. Maternal anxiety and depression symptoms, executive function deficits, and pragmatic language difficulties were evaluated. Results indicated that pragmatic language was associated with mother-youth …

A Comparison Of Bayesian Spatial Models For Hiv Mapping In South Africa, Kassahun Abere Ayalew, Samuel Manda, Bo Cai Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Despite making significant progress in tackling its HIV epidemic, South Africa, with 7.7 million people living with HIV, still has the biggest HIV epidemic in the world. The Government, in collaboration with developmental partners and agencies, has been strengthening its responses to the HIV epidemic to better target the delivery of HIV care, treatment strategies and prevention services. Population-based household HIV surveys have, over time, contributed to the country’s efforts in monitoring and understanding the magnitude and heterogeneity of the HIV epidemic. Local-level monitoring of progress made against HIV and AIDS is increasingly needed for decision making. Previous studies have …

Energy Compensation And Adiposity In Humans, Vincent Careau, Lewis G. Halsey, Herman Pontzer, Philip N. Ainslie, Lene F. Andersen, Liam J. Anderson, Lenore Arab, Issad Baddou, Kweku Bedu-Addo, Ellen E. Blaak, Stephane Blanc, Alberto G. Bonomi, Carlijn V.C. Bouten, Maciej S. Buchowski, Nancy F. Butte, Stefan G.J.A. Camps, Graeme L. Close, Jamie A. Cooper, Sai Krupa Das, Richard Cooper, Lara R. Dugas, Simon D. Eaton, Ulf Ekelund, Sonja Entringer, Terrence Forrester, Barry W. Fudge, Annelies H. Goris, Michael Gurven, Catherine Hambly, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Marije B. Hoos, Sumei Hu, Noorjehan Joonas

Faculty Publications

Understanding the impacts of activity on energy balance is crucial. Increasing levels of activity may bring diminishing returns in energy expenditure because of compensatory responses in non-activity energy expenditures.1–3 This suggestion has profound implications for both the evolution of metabolism and human health. It implies that a long-term increase in activity does not directly translate into an increase in total energy expenditure (TEE) because other components of TEE may decrease in response—energy compensation. We used the largest dataset compiled on adult TEE and basal energy expenditure (BEE) (n = 1,754) of people living normal lives to find that energy compensation …

Deciding For Others, Thomas Simmons

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals That Municipal Wastewater Effluent Enhances Vibrio Vulnificus Growth And Virulence Potential, Karlen Enid Correa Velez, Robert Sean Norman

Faculty Publications

Vibrio vulnificusis an opportunistic pathogen indigenous to estuarine and marine environments and associated with aquatic organisms. Vibrio vulnificusis of utmost importance because it causes 95% of the seafood-related deaths in the United States due to rapid progression of septicemia. Changes in environmental parameters associated with climate change and coastal population expansion are altering geographical constraints, resulting in increased Vibrio spread, exposure, and rates of infection. In addition, coastal population expansion is resulting in increased input of treated municipal sewage into areas that are also experiencing increased Vibrio proliferation. This study aimed to better understand the influence of treated …

Soft Elastomeric Capacitor For Angular Rotation Sensing In Steel Components, Han Liu, Simon Laflamme, Jian Li, Caroline Bennett, William N. Collins, Austin Downey, Paul Ziehl, Hongki Jo

Faculty Publications

The authors have previously proposed corrugated soft elastomeric capacitors (cSEC) to create ultra compliant scalable strain gauges. The cSEC technology has been successfully demonstrated in engineering and biomechanical applications for in-plane strain measurements. This study extends work on the cSEC to evaluate its performance at measuring angular rotation when installed folded at the junction of two plates. The objective is to characterize the sensor’s electromechanical behavior anticipating applications to the monitoring of welded connections in steel components. To do so, an electromechanical model that maps the cSEC signal to bending strain induced by angular rotation is derived and adjusted using …

A Contextualization Of Editorial Misconduct In The Library And Information Science Academic Information Ecosystem, Lucy Santos Green, Melissa P. Johnston

Faculty Publications

In the last decade, one of the most effective tools applied in combating the erosion of public trust in academic research has been an increased level of transparency in the peer review and editorial process. Publicly available publication ethics guidelines and policies are vital in creating a transparent process that prevents unethical research, publication misconduct, manipulation of the communication of research to practitioners, and the erosion of public trust. This study investigated how these unethical practices, specifically those coded as editorial misconduct, bring the authenticity and integrity of the library and information science academic research digital record into question. Employing …

Smoking Behaviors, Mental Health, And Risk Perceptions During The Beginning Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Among Mexican Adult Smokers, Emily E. Loud, Katia Gallegos-Carrillo, Inti Barrientos-Gutiérrez, Edna Arillo-Santillán, Victoria C. Lambert, Luis Zavala-Arciniega, Jim F. Thrasher Ph.D., Ma, Ms

Faculty Publications

Mexico is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19. Studies have found that smoking behaviors have been impacted by the pandemic as well; however, results have varied across studies, and it remains unclear what is causing the changes. This study of an open cohort of smokers recruited from a consumer panel (n = 2753) examined changes in cigarettes per day (CPD), daily vs. non-daily smoking, recent quit attempts, perceived stress, depression, and perceived severity of COVID-19 at two points during the pandemic: March and July 2020. Differences in CPD between waves were estimated with Poisson regression using generalized estimating …

Criterion Validation And Interpretability Of The Single Assessment Numerical Evaluation (Sane) Of Self-Reported Recovery In Patients With Neck Pain, Elizabeth Oakley, Chad E. Cook, Bryan O'Halloran

Faculty Publications

Background

The SANE is a PROM of recovery, which may assist clinicians in clinical decision-making and discharge planning. The psychometric measurement properties of the SANE have yet to be determined for neck pain.

Objectives

Threefold objectives included: 1)determine the numerical threshold for the SANE at which patients with neck pain determine their symptoms are acceptable; 2)determine the association between scores for the NDI and VAS, with the SANE; 3)determine the average number of visits, costs and value associated with the management of neck pain.

Design

Longitudinal repeated measures cohort design.

Methods

Threshold measures for self-reported recovery with the …

Occurrence And Removal Of Engineered Nanoparticles In Drinking Water Treatment And Wastewater Treatment A Review, Cheng Yu, Sewoon Kim, Min Jang, Chang Min Park, Yeomin Yoon

Faculty Publications

Engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are widely used in various industrial products and consumer goods, resulting in their widespread existence, particularly in natural water systems and water and wastewater treatment plants. Their presence in surface water for human consumption may severely harm human health. Therefore, this review examines new findings and developments in the removal technology of ENPs in drinking water and wastewater treatment processes since the publication of the literature by Park et al. [1]. By evaluating recent articles, this review investigates the occurrence of ENPs, discusses the transport of nanoparticles (NPs) in various drinking water and wastewater treatment …

Cytotoxicity Analysis Of Pre- And Post-Hurricane Harvey Soil Samples Collected From Greater Houston Bayous, Djene Keita, Shishir Shishodia, Balaji Bhaskar Maruthi Sridhar

Faculty Publications

Rapid urbanization, anthropogenic pollution and frequent flooding events are affecting the soil and water quality along the streams and bayous of Houston. Soil acts as sink and reservoir of heavy metals and nutrients affecting human and animal health. The objectives of the study are 1) to analyze the effects of the metal and nutrient concentration of bayou flood plain surface soil samples on the gut cell cytotoxicity and 2) to evaluate the spatial and temporal difference in soil contamination on cell viability of colon cancer (HT-29) and normal colon epithelial (CCD 841 CoN) cell lines. To evaluate soil contamination between …

Binary And Ternary Toxicological Interactions Of Clothianidin And Eight Commonly Used Pesticides On Honey Bees (Apis Mellifera), Yanhua Wang, Yu Cheng Zhu, Wenhong Li, Jianxiu Yao, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Lu Lv

Faculty Publications

Although many toxicological evaluations have been conducted for honey bees (Apis mellifera), most of these studies have only focused on the effects of individual chemicals. However, honey bees are usually exposed to pesticide mixtures under field conditions. In this study, we examined the effects of individual pesticides and mixtures of clothianidin (CLO) with eight other pesticides [carbaryl (CAR), thiodicarb (THI), chlorpyrifos (CHL), beta-cyfluthrin (BCY), gamma-cyhalothrin (GCY), tetraconazole (TET), spinosad (SPI) and indoxacarb (IND)] on honey bees using a feeding method. Toxicity tests of a 4-day exposure to individual pesticides revealed that CLO had the highest toxicity to A. mellifera, with …

Towards Collaborative And Intelligent Learning Environments Based On Eye Tracking Data And Learning Analytics: A Survey, Yuehua Wang, Shulan Lu, Derek Harter

Faculty Publications

The current pandemic has significantly impacted educational practices, modifying many aspects of how and when we learn. In particular, remote learning and the use of digital platforms have greatly increased in importance. Online teaching and e-learning provide many benefits for information retention and schedule flexibility in our on-demand world while breaking down barriers caused by geographic location, physical facilities, transportation issues, or physical impediments. However, educators and researchers have noticed that students face a learning and performance decline as a result of this sudden shift to online teaching and e-learning from classrooms around the world. In this paper, we focus …

Simplifying The Development Of Portable, Scalable, And Reproducible Workflows, Stephen Piccolo, Zachary E. Ence, Elizabeth C. Anderson, Jeffrey T. Chang, Andrea H. Bild

Faculty Publications

Command-line software plays a critical role in biology research. However, processes for installing and executing software differ widely. The Common Workflow Language (CWL) is a community standard that addresses this problem. Using CWL, tool developers can formally describe a tool’s inputs, outputs, and other execution details. CWL documents can include instructions for executing tools inside software containers. Accordingly, CWL tools are portable—they can be executed on diverse computers—including personal workstations, high-performance clusters, or the cloud. CWL also supports workflows, which describe dependencies among tools and using outputs from one tool as inputs to others. To date, CWL has been used …

Determining Diagnosis Date Of Diabetes Using Structured Electronic Health Record (Ehr) Data: The Search For Diabetes In Youth Study, Kristin M. Lenoir, Lynne E. Wagenknecht, Jasmin Divers, Ramon Casanova, Dana Dabelea, Sharon Saydah, Catherine Pihoker, Angela D. Liese Ph.D., Debra Standiford, Richard Hamman, Brian J. Wells, The Search For Diabetes In Youth Study Group

Faculty Publications

Background Disease surveillance of diabetes among youth has relied mainly upon manual chart review. However, increasingly available structured electronic health record (EHR) data have been shown to yield accurate determinations of diabetes status and type. Validated algorithms to determine date of diabetes diagnosis are lacking. The objective of this work is to validate two EHR-based algorithms to determine date of diagnosis of diabetes. Methods A rule-based ICD-10 algorithm identified youth with diabetes from structured EHR data over the period of 2009 through 2017 within three children’s hospitals that participate in the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, …

Voice-Activated Virtual Home Assistant Use And Social Isolation And Loneliness Among Older Adults: Mini Review, Cynthia F. Corbett, Pamela J. Wright Phd, Ms, Med, Rn, Cen, Kate Jones, Michael Parmer

Faculty Publications

A lack of social connectedness is common among older adults due to living alone, loss of loved ones, reduced mobility, and, more recently, social distancing created by the global Covid-19 pandemic. Older adults are vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness, which pose significant health risks comparable to those of smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, and high blood pressure. A lack of social connectedness is also correlated with higher mortality rates even when controlling for other factors such as age and comorbid conditions. The purpose of this mini review was to explore the emerging concepts of older adults' use of commercially available …

Revealing Public Opinion Towards Covid-19 Vaccines With Twitter Data In The United States: Spatiotemporal Perspective, Tao Hu, Siqin Wang, Wei Luo, Mengxi Zhang, Xiao Huang, Yingwei Yan, Regina Liu, Kelly Ly, Viraj Kacker, Bing She, Zhenlong Li

Faculty Publications

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a large, initially uncontrollable, public health crisis both in the United States and across the world, with experts looking to vaccines as the ultimate mechanism of defense. The development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines have been rapidly advancing via global efforts. Hence, it is crucial for governments, public health officials, and policy makers to understand public attitudes and opinions towards vaccines, such that effective interventions and educational campaigns can be designed to promote vaccine acceptance.

Objective:The aim of this study was to investigate public opinion and perception on COVID-19 vaccines in the United …

Tracking Development Assistance For Health And For Covid-19: A Review Of Development Assistance, Government, Out-Of-Pocket, And Other Private Spending On Health For 204 Countries And Territories, 1990–2050, Angela E. Micah, Ian E. Cogswell, Brandon Cunningham, Satoshi Ezoe, Anton C. Harle, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph. D.

Faculty Publications

Background

Methods

Framing Of And Attention To Covid-19 On Twitter: Thematic Analysis Of Hashtags, Iman Tahamtan, Devendra Potnis, Ehsan Mohammadi, Laura E. Miller, Vandana Singh

Faculty Publications

Background: Although past research has focused on COVID-19–related frames in the news media, such research may not accurately capture and represent the perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, research on the public attention to COVID-19 as reflected through frames on social media is scarce.

Objective: This study identified the frames about the COVID-19 pandemic in the public discourse on Twitter, which voices diverse opinions. This study also investigated the amount of public attention to those frames on Twitter.

Methods: We collected 22 trending hashtags related to COVID-19 in the United States and 694,582 tweets written in English containing these …

Toward A Methodology For Evaluating Dna Variants In Nuclear Families, Dustin B. Miller, Reid Robison, Stephen Piccolo

Faculty Publications

The genetic underpinnings of most pediatric-cancer cases are unknown. Population-based studies use large sample sizes but have accounted for only a small proportion of the estimated heritability of pediatric cancers. Pedigree-based studies are infeasible for most human populations. One alternative is to collect genetic data from a single nuclear family and use inheritance patterns within the family to filter candidate variants. This approach can be applied to common and rare variants, including those that are private to a given family or to an affected individual. We evaluated this approach using genetic data from three nuclear families with 5, 4, and …

Trajectories Of Heart Activity Across Infancy To Early Childhood Differentially Predict Autism And Anxiety Symptoms In Fragile X Syndrome, Abigail Hogan Ph.D., Erin Hunt, Kayla Smith, Conner Black, Katherine Bangert, Jessica Klusek Ph.D., Ccc-Slp, Jane Roberts

Faculty Publications

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a monogenic disorder characterized by high rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety. A longstanding "hyperarousal hypothesis" in FXS has argued that ANS dysfunction underpins many symptoms of FXS. However, the developmental onset and trajectory of ANS dysfunction, as well as the consequences of ANS dysfunction on later psychiatric symptoms, remain poorly understood in FXS. Insight into the emergence, trajectory, and consequences of ANS dysfunction across early development in FXS has critical implications for prevention, intervention, and optimal outcomes in both typical and atypical development. This longitudinal study investigated whether and when males with …

The Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (Iwise) Scale: Reliability, Equivalence And Validity Of An Individual-Level Measure Of Water Security, Sera L. Young, Hilary J. Bethancourt, Zacchary R. Ritter, Edward A. Frongillo Jr.

Faculty Publications

Objective: The lack of a validated and cross-culturally equivalent scale for measuring individual-level water insecurity has prevented identification of those most vulnerable to it. Therefore, we developed the 12-item Individual Water InSecurity Experiences (IWISE) Scale to comparably measure individual experiences with access, use, and stability (reliability) of water. Here, we examine the reliability, cross-country equivalence, and cross-country and within-country validity of the scale in a cross-sectional sample.

Methods: IWISE items were implemented by the Gallup World Poll among nationally representative samples of 43 970 adults (15 y) in 31 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Internal consistency was assessed …

Fatal Police Violence By Race And State In The Usa, 1980–2019: A Network Meta-Regression, Fablina Sharara, Eve E. Wool, Gregory J. Bertolacci, Nicole Davis Weaver, Shelley Balassyano, Ismaeel Yunusa Ph. D., Et Al.

Faculty Publications

Background

The burden of fatal police violence is an urgent public health crisis in the USA. Mounting evidence shows that deaths at the hands of the police disproportionately impact people of certain races and ethnicities, pointing to systemic racism in policing. Recent high-profile killings by police in the USA have prompted calls for more extensive and public data reporting on police violence. This study examines the presence and extent of under-reporting of police violence in US Government-run vital registration data, offers a method for correcting under-reporting in these datasets, and presents revised estimates of deaths due to police violence in …