Digital Commons Network^™

Messaging About Very Low Nicotine Cigarettes (Vlncs) To Influence Policy Attitudes, Harm Perceptions And Smoking Motivations: A Discrete Choice Experiment, Reed M. Reynolds, Lucy Popova, David L. Ashley, Katherine C. Henderson, Charity A. Ntansah, Bo Yang, Emily E. Hackworth, James Hardin, Jim F. Thrasher Ph.D., Ma, Ms

Faculty Publications

Background To reduce smoking and the harms it causes, countries, including the USA, are considering policies to reduce nicotine in combustible tobacco to minimally addictive levels. Effective messages about very low nicotine cigarettes (VLNCs) and this policy are crucial in combating misperceptions threatening the policy’s effectiveness.

Data and methods A discrete choice experiment assessed messages about VLNCs. Participants were 590 adults who smoked exclusively, 379 adults who both smoked and used e-cigarettes, 443 adults who formerly smoked and 351 young adults who never smoked (total n=1763). Seven message attributes were varied systematically (source, harm, chemicals, nicotine, satisfaction, addictiveness and quitting …

Acoustothermal Transfection For Cell Therapy, Xiufang Liu, Ning Rong, Zhenhua Tian, Joseph Rich, Lili Niu, Pengqi Li, Laixin Huang, Yandai Dong, Wei Zhou, Pengfei Zhang, Yizhao Chen, Congzhi Wang, Long Meng, Tony Jun Huang, Hairong Zheng

Faculty Publications

Transfected stem cells and T cells are promising in personalized cell therapy and immunotherapy against various diseases. However, existing transfection techniques face a fundamental trade-off between transfection efficiency and cell viability; achieving both simultaneously remains a substantial challenge. This study presents an acoustothermal transfection method that leverages acoustic and thermal effects on cells to enhance the permeability of both the cell membrane and nuclear envelope to achieve safe, efficient, and high-throughput transfection of primary T cells and stem cells. With this method, two types of plasmids were simultaneously delivered into the nuclei of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with efficiencies of …

Identifying Multilevel Predictors Of Behavioral Outcomes Like Park Use: A Comparison Of Conditional And Marginal Modeling Approaches, Marilyn E. Wende, S. Morgan Hughey, Alexander C. Mclain, Shirelle Hallum, J. Aaron Hipp, Jasper Schipperijn, Ellen W. Stowe, Andrew T. Kaczynski Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study compared marginal and conditional modeling approaches for identifying individual, park and neighborhood park use predictors. Data were derived from the ParkIndex study, which occurred in 128 block groups in Brooklyn (New York), Seattle (Washington), Raleigh (North Carolina), and Greenville (South Carolina). Survey respondents (n = 320) indicated parks within one half-mile of their block group used within the past month. Parks (n = 263) were audited using the Community Park Audit Tool. Measures were collected at the individual (park visitation, physical activity, sociodemographic characteristics), park (distance, quality, size), and block group (park count, population density, age structure, racial …

Professional Development Strategies For Treating People With Idd And Mental Health Needs, Jennifer L. Mclaren, Elizabeth Grosso, Karen L. Weigle

Faculty Publications

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience significant health and mental health inequities and difficulties accessing care. There are few initiatives that train mental health professionals to care and advocate for the health and mental health care needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Community-Level Post-Hazard Functionality Methodology For Buildings Exposed To Floods, Omar Nofal, Nathanael Rosenheim, Sabarethinam Kameshwar, Jayant Patil, Xiangnan Zhou, John W. Van De Lindt, Leonardo Duenas-Osorio, Eun Jeong Cha, Amin Endrami, Elaina Sutley, Harvey Cutler, Tao Lu, Chen Wang, Hwayoung Jeon

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a building-level post-hazard functionality model for communities exposed to flood hazards including the interdependencies between the population, buildings, and infrastructure. An existing portfolio of building archetypes is used to model the post-hazard physical flood functionality of different building typologies within the community with the goal of supporting resilience-informed decision-making. Specific fragility-based flood functionality curves were developed for this portfolio to quantify the exceedance probability of a prescribed set of functionality states. While the physical functionality of buildings is significant to the total functionality of a building and community resilience assessment, the functionality of utilities such as power …

Professional Development Strategies For Treating People With Idd And Mental Health Needs, Jennifer L. Mclaren, Elizabeth Grosso, Karen L. Weigle

Faculty Publications

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience significant health and mental health inequities and difficulties accessing care. There are few initiatives that train mental health professionals to care and advocate for the health and mental health care needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Generating Rate Features For Mobile Applications, Shristi Shrestha, Anas Mahmoud

Faculty Publications

Mobile application (app) stores employ standardized mechanisms for rating hosted apps, typically in the form of free text reviews and numerical rating scales. App users use these mechanisms to express their opinions about their apps and discover apps that fit their specific needs. However, existing app rating systems do not take into account the operational characteristics of application domains. Thus, generated user reviews are often short, subjective, and one-dimensional. To overcome these limitations, in this paper, we propose a multi-dimensional rating system for mobile apps. Our assumption is that an adaptive goal-based app rating system can prompt users to generate …

Preventing Sexual Harassment In Higher Education: A Framework For Prevention Science Program Development, Cindy A. Crusto, Lisa M. Hooper, Ishita S. Arora

Faculty Publications

Sexual harassment is an intractable problem that harms the students, community, culture, and success of institutes of higher education (IHEs). The alarming prevalence of sexual harassment at IHEs highlights the urgent need for effective prevention programs. However, there are few empirically supported preventive interventions that effectively target the factors that most impact the determinants, trajectory, and short- and intermediate-term effects of sexual harassment. In this paper, we overview the problem of sexual harassment and propose an organizing framework to help IHEs develop effective interventions to prevent sexual harassment. Guided by prevention science, we propose a framework—modified from SAMHSA’s (2019) guidelines …

Identifying A Group Of Factors Predicting Cognitive Impairment Among Older Adults, Longgang Zhao, Yuan Wang, Eric Mishio Bawa, Zichun Meng, Jingkai Wei, Sarah Newman-Norlund, Tushar Trivedi, Hatice Hasturk, Roger Newman-Norlund, Julius Fridriksson Ph.D., Anwar T. Nerchant

Faculty Publications

Background

Cognitive impairment has multiple risk factors spanning several domains, but few studies have evaluated risk factor clusters. We aimed to identify naturally occurring clusters of risk factors of poor cognition among middle-aged and older adults and evaluate associations between measures of cognition and these risk factor clusters.

Methods

We used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (training dataset, n = 4074) and the NHANES 2011–2014 (validation dataset, n = 2510). Risk factors were selected based on the literature. We used both traditional logistic models and support vector machine methods to construct a composite score …

An Analysis Of Orientation And Preceptorship Influence On Nurse Job Satisfaction Across Two States., Kathryn Robinson, Robert Cavanaugh, Rebecca Dias, Alexandra Peary, Ryan Johnson, Vikram Rao, Breac Baker, Kelley Strout, Rhonda Board, Brianne Olivieri-Mui

Faculty Publications

A large public nursing data set was used to determine whether orientation and/or preceptor programs impact job satisfaction among registered nurses in Maine and Massachusetts. There was no association between orientation and preceptor programs and satisfaction, nor evidence that new nurse status modified the relationship. There is a need for evaluation of orientation and preceptor programs' structure and effectiveness, and innovation is needed in promoting job satisfaction, thereby increasing nurse retention.

An Analysis Of Orientation And Preceptorship Influence On Nurse Job Satisfaction Across Two States., Kathryn Robinson, Robert Cavanaugh, Rebecca Dias, Alexandra Peary, Ryan Johnson, Vikram Rao, Breac Baker, Kelley Strout, Rhonda Board, Brianne Olivieri-Mui

Faculty Publications

A large public nursing data set was used to determine whether orientation and/or preceptor programs impact job satisfaction among registered nurses in Maine and Massachusetts. There was no association between orientation and preceptor programs and satisfaction, nor evidence that new nurse status modified the relationship. There is a need for evaluation of orientation and preceptor programs' structure and effectiveness, and innovation is needed in promoting job satisfaction, thereby increasing nurse retention.

Gut Microbial Dysbiosis Differs In Two Distinct Cachectic Tumor-Bearing Models Consuming The Same Diet, Lauri O. Byerley, Brittany Lorenzen, Hsiao Man Chang, William G. Hartman, Michael J. Keenan, Ryan Page, Meng Luo, Scot E. Dowd, Christopher M. Taylor

Faculty Publications

The impact of cancer cachexia on the colonic microbiota is poorly characterized. This study assessed the effect of two cachectic-producing tumor types on the gut microbiota to determine if a similar dysbiosis could be found. In addition, it was determined if a diet containing an immunonutrient-rich food (walnuts) known to promote the growth of probiotic bacteria in the colon could alter the dysbiosis and slow cachexia. Male Fisher 344 rats were randomly assigned to a semi-purified diet with or without walnuts. Then, within each diet group, rats were further assigned randomly to a treatment group: tumor-bearing ad libitum fed (TB), …

Exploring Attitudes Toward Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis For Hiv Prevention Prior To Implementation Among Female Sex Workers In Malaysia: Results From A Qualitative Study, Shaylen Foley, Danya E. Keene, Roman Shrestha, Shan-Estelle Brown, Kamal Gautam, Ryan A. Sutherland, Francesca Maviglia, Rumana Saifi, Jeffrey A. Wickersham

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Covering The Care: Health Insurance Coverage In New Hampshire | 2023 Update, Kelly Dixon, Deborah Fournier, Rebecca Simon

Faculty Publications

The rate of individuals without health insurance in New Hampshire has continued to decrease in recent years, with a rate of 5.1% in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022. This pattern aligns with the national rate of uninsured individuals; in 2021, 8.6% of the US population did not have health insurance, and 8.0% in 2022. Compared to other states in New England, New Hampshire remains in the middle with respect to its rate of uninsured residents. Maine’s uninsured rate was 5.7% in 2021 and 6.6% in 2022, while Massachusetts’ rate was 2.5% in 2021 and 2.4% in 2022.

Associations Between Sleep Duration, Sleep Disturbance And Cardiovascular Disease Biomarkers Among Adults In The United States, Prince Nii Ossah Addo, Paddington T. Mundagowa, Longgang Zhao, Mufaro Kanyangarara, Monique J. Brown Ph.D., Mph, Jihong Liu Sc.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

Sleep problems are associated with abnormal cardiovascular biomarkers and an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). However, studies investigating associations between sleep problems and CVD biomarkers have reported conflicting findings. This study examined the associations between sleep problems and CVD biomarkers in the United States.

Methods

Data were from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (2007–2018) and analyses were restricted to adults ≥ 20 years (n = 23,749). CVD biomarkers [C-reactive Protein (CRP), low-density lipoproteins, high-density lipoproteins (HDL), triglycerides, insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and fasting blood glucose] were categorized as abnormal or normal using standardized cut-off …

Colectivo Moriviví: Reconfiguring The Puerto Rican Nation Through Feminist Art Activism, Tania Carrasquillo Hernandez

Faculty Publications

This article analyzes national identity construction in Puerto Rico in terms of gender dynamics and how contemporary artistic production has questioned patriarchal constructions within the nation. I argue that by voicing the narratives of Puerto Rican communities in the public sphere, Colectivo Moriviví validates the active participation and contribution of women, Afro-descendant minorities, and LGTBQ+ groups within the national body, forcing the national discourse to re-envision its purpose, values, and mission

User Fee Programs, Erika Lietzan

Faculty Publications

A user fee is a fee assessed by the government when it provides a good or service to a private party. Classic examples include the fee to enter Yellowstone National Park and payment to the U.S. Postal Service for a first-class postage stamp. In these transactions, the government provides a specific benefit to an identifiable recipient, who pays the fee. Although the federal government has assessed user fees since this country's founding, broad authorizing legislation in the middle of the 20th century made it possible for agencies to craft user fee programs on their own initiative. Interest in relying on …

Modernizing The Medical Malpractice Standard Of Care, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

The standard of care for health care providers proposed by section 5 of the Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Medical Malpractice marks a fundamental shift in the American Law Institute's position on professional tort liability. According to both conventional wisdom and prior Restatement provisions, the standard of care for physicians is determined by their customary practices. Professionals alone are given the unique privilege to set their own legal standard of care. However, the proposed section 5 departs from this position. Instead, reasonable care for health care providers is defined as conduct "regarded as competent" by medical peers. Customary practices …

State Constitutional Limitations To Cities Taxing The Digital Economy, Lauren Shores Pelikan

Faculty Publications

The digital economy’s rapid evolution, most recently with the rise of artificial intelligence, demands a reevaluation of state constitutional limitations on local taxation of digital transactions. Citizens have long feared excessive or unfair tax burdens, hence the adoption of constitutional amendments that prohibit legislators from increasing taxes or imposing new taxes without a public vote. However, these constitutional limitations are now preventing cities from taxing digital transactions that are taking over the economy. This is a serious financial problem for cities whose traditional sources of tax revenue, such as sales taxes and property taxes, are dwindling due to the digitalizing …

"I Am Become Death, The Destroyer Of Worlds": Applying Strict Liability To Artificial Intelligence As An Abnormally Dangerous Activity, Renee Henson

Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled tools have produced a myriad of injuries, up to and including death. This burgeoning technology has caused scholars to ask questions, such as, How do we create a legal framework for AI? Because AI creators have acknowledged that even they do not know the capacities of their technology for good or bad outcomes, this Article argues that an existing framework, strict liability, is an appropriate fit for harms arising from this new technology because a party need not prove negligence to prevail. Strict liability was uniquely developed to handle those activities that are “abnormally dangerous.” An abnormally …

Insecticide Susceptibilities And Enzyme Activities Of Four Stink Bug Populations In Mississippi, Usa, Yuzhe Du, Shane Scheibener, Yu Cheng Zhu, K. Clint Allen, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

In Mississippi, the Pentatomidae complex infesting soybean is primarily composed of Euschistus servus, Nezara viridula, Chinavia hilaris, and Piezodorus guildinii. This study employed spray bioassays to evaluate the susceptibilities of these stink bugs to seven commonly used formulated insecticides: oxamyl, acephate, bifenthrin, λ-cyhalothrin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, and sulfoxaflor. Stinks bugs were collected from soybeans in Leland, MS, USA during 2022 and 2023, as well as from wild host plants in Clarksdale, MS. There was no significant difference in the susceptibility of C. hilaris to seven insecticides between two years, whereas P. guildinii showed slightly increased susceptibility to neonicotinoids in 2023. Among …

Illumina 16s Rrna Gene Sequencing Dataset Of Bacterial Communities Of Soil Associated With Ironwood Trees (Casuarina Equisetifolia) In Guam, Tao Jin, Robert L. Schlub, Claudia Husseneder

Faculty Publications

Ironwood trees, which are of great importance for the economy and environment of tropical areas, were first discovered to suffer from a slow progressive dieback in Guam in 2002, later referred to as ironwood tree decline (IWTD). A variety of biotic factors have been shown to be associated with IWTD, including putative bacterial pathogens Ralstonia solanacearum and Klebsiella species (K. variicola and K. oxytoca), the fungus Ganoderma australe, and termites. Due to the soilborne nature of these pathogens, soil microbiomes have been suggested to be a significant factor influencing tree health. In this project, we sequenced the microbiome in the …

Relational Turbulence And Couples’ Convergence And Divergence In Weekly Highs And Lows During Three Months Of The Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown, Shaochun Li, Denise Haunani Solomon, Kellie St Cyr Brisini

Faculty Publications

Previous research has found relational benefits of interpersonal emotional convergence. Drawing on relational turbulence theory, we expected that partners’ convergence in emotional high and low points is associated with relational uncertainty, qualities of interdependence, and relational turbulence. These hypotheses were tested using data retrieved from a longitudinal project in which spouses in 64 American married couples independently reported high and low experiences and completed relationship measures every week for ten weeks from June to August of 2020. Results from multilevel models confirmed some of the hypothesized benefits of convergence in highs, but predictions about convergence in lows were largely unsupported. …

Callous–Unemotional Traits And Emotion Perception Accuracy And Bias In Youths, Enrica Ciucci, Andrea Baroncelli, Carolina Facci, Stefania Righi, Paul J. Frick

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the associations among conduct problems, callous–unemotional (CU) traits, and indices of emotion recognition accuracy and emotion recognition bias obtained from human faces. Impairments in emotion recognition were considered within broader, impaired emotional and social functioning. The sample consisted of 293 middle-school students (51.19% girls; M age = 12.97 years, SD = 0.88 years). In general, CU traits were associated with less accuracy in recognizing emotions, especially fearful and angry faces, and such deficits in emotional recognition were not associated with conduct problems independent of CU traits. These results support the importance of studying potential deficits in the …

Embryonic Exposure To Benzotriazole Ultraviolet Stabilizer 327 Alters Behavior Of Rainbow Trout Alevin, Andreas N.M. Eriksson, Justin Dubiel, Lauren Zink, Zhe Lu, Jon A. Doering, Steve Wiseman

Faculty Publications

Benzotriazole ultraviolet (UV) stabilizers (BUVSs) are used in great quantities during industrial production of a variety of consumer and industrial goods. As a result of leaching and spill, BUVSs are detectable ubiquitously in the environment. As of May 2023, citing concerns related to bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and environmental persistence, (B)UV(S)-328 was recommended to be listed under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. However, a phaseout of UV-328 could result in a regrettable substitution because the replacement chemical(s) could cause similar or unpredicted toxicity in vivo, relative to UV-328. Therefore, the influence of UV-327, a potential replacement of …

Evaluation Of Organic And Synthetic Herbicide Applications On Weed Suppression In A Conventional Cropping System In Louisiana, Caitlin Denux, Aixin Hou, Lisa Fultz

Faculty Publications

Synthetic herbicides, with their varying modes of action, are well known for their efficiency in the suppression and control of weed species in U.S. agriculture. However, the consequences of using synthetic herbicides without attention to the surrounding environment produce chemical run-off, changes in soil health and soil health conditions, and create herbicide-resistant weeds. These outcomes have encouraged growers to seek alternative methods for their weed management programs or farming operations. Organic production systems and organic pesticides have helped address these challenges related to sustainability and environmental health. However, the use of organic herbicides in a conventional cropping system is not …

Biochar-Based Materials As Remediation Strategy In Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil And Water: Performances, Mechanisms, And Environmental Impact, Zhuo Wei, Yi Wei, Yang Liu, Shuai Niu, Yaxi Xu, Jong Hwan Park, Jim J. Wang

Faculty Publications

Petroleum contamination is considered as a major risk to the health of humans and environment. Biochars as low-cost and eco-friendly carbon materials, have been widely used for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbon in the environment. The purpose of this paper is to review the performance, mechanisms, and potential environmental toxicity of biochar, modified biochar and its integration use with other materials in petroleum contaminated soil and water. Specifically, the use of biochar in oil-contaminated water and soil as well as the factors that could influence the removal ability of biochar were systematically evaluated. In addition, the modification and integrated use …

New Genera And Species Of Caulobacter And Brevundimonas Bacteriophages Provide Insights Into Phage Genome Evolution, Bert Ely, Michael Hils, Aaron Clarke, Maegan Albert, Nadia Holness, Jacob Lenski, Tannaz Mohammadi

Faculty Publications

Previous studies have identified diverse bacteriophages that infect Caulobacter vibrioides strain CB15 ranging from small RNA phages to four genera of jumbo phages. In this study, we focus on 20 bacteriophages whose genomes range from 40 to 60 kb in length. Genome comparisons indicated that these diverse phages represent six Caulobacter phage genera and one additional genus that includes both Caulobacter and Brevundimonas phages. Within species, comparisons revealed that both single base changes and inserted or deleted genetic material cause the genomes of closely related phages to diverge. Among genera, the basic gene order and the orientation of key genes …

Teenage Blues: Predictors Of Depression Among Adolescents In Nigeria, Adefunke Dadematthews, Chukwuemeka Nzeakah, Lucky Onofa, Oluwagbemiga Dadematthews, Temitope Ogundare

Faculty Publications

Background Depressive disorders, with a prevalence of 15-21%, are among the most common disorders in children and adolescents, and increases the risk of suicide, the second leading cause of death in children aged 10 to 19. Aim To determine the prevalence and correlates of depressive disorders among senior students attending secondary schools in Abeokuta. Method The study was conducted in five schools randomly selected from a representative sample and was carried out in 2 phases. In the first phase, students were selected via systematic random sampling and given consent forms and GHQ-12 to administer to the parents. In the second …

Impacts Of Extreme Weather Events On Mortgage Risks And Their Evolution Under Climate Change: A Case Study On Florida, Raffaella Calabrese, Timothy Dombrowski, Antoine Mandel, R. Kelley Pace, Luca Zanin

Faculty Publications

We develop an additive Cox proportional hazard model with time-varying covariates, including spatio-temporal characteristics of weather events, to study the impact of weather extremes (heavy rains and tropical cyclones) on the probability of mortgage default and prepayment. We compare the survival model with a flexible logistic model and an extreme gradient boosting algorithm. We estimate the models on a portfolio of mortgages in Florida, consisting of 69,046 loans and 3,707,831 loan-month observations with localization data at the five-digit ZIP code level. We find a statistically significant and non-linear impact of tropical cyclone intensity on default as well as a significant …