Digital Commons Network^™

Civic Engagement Among Iranians In The United States, Christine Marie Bishop, Sara Makki Alamdari

Faculty Publications

Civic engagement is beneficial for individuals and the overall communities they live in. There is currently a gap in our literature regarding studies about civic engagement among immigrants and refugees. The purpose of this study was to examine civic attitudes, civic engagement, and their potential predictors among Iranian immigrants and refugees in the U.S. In total, these researchers recruited 52 participants and administered an internet-based, four-section questionnaire. They found very positive civic attitudes, as well as a high level of engagement in different civic activities among this group. Applying multiple linear regression analysis, the results indicated that female participants and …

Responding To Health Needs Of Women, Children And Adolescents Within Syria During Conflict: Intervention Coverage, Challenges And Adaptations, Chaza Akik, Aline Semaan, Linda Shaker-Berbari, Zeina Jamaluddine, Ghada E. Saad, Katherine Lopes, Joanne Constantin, Abdulkarim Ekzayez, Neha S. Singh, Karl Blanchet, Jocelyn Dejong, Hala Ghattas Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background:

Women and children suffer disproportionately in armed-conflicts. Since 2011, the protracted Syrian crisis has fragmented the pre-existing healthcare system. Despite the massive health needs of women and children, the delivery of key reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition (RMNCAH&N) interventions, and its underlying factors are not well-understood in Syria. Our objective was to document intervention coverage indicators and their implementation challenges inside Syria during conflict.

Methods:

We conducted 1) a desk review to extract RMNCAH&N intervention coverage indicators inside Syria during the conflict; and 2) qualitative interviews with decision makers and health program implementers to …

Introducing The Journal Of Nuclear Engineering: An Interdisciplinary Open Access Journal Dedicated To Publishing Research In Nuclear And Radiation Sciences And Applications, Dan Gabriel Cacuci

Faculty Publications

Note: In lieu of an abstract, this is an excerpt from the first page.

In 1938, Strassmann, Hahn and Meitner discovered neutron-induced nuclear fission in uranium, forever changing our world and opening multiple paths to developing nuclear energy, nuclear medicine, instrumentation, space propulsion, environmental monitoring, remediation and nuclear security [...]

Targeted Awareness: Promoting Niche Resources Using Confirmation Emails, Brian Rennick, Leticia Camacho, Andy Spackman

Faculty Publications

Purpose – This paper examines the effectiveness of a targeted email advertising method that informs university students about library resources relevant to their major.

Design/methodology/approach – Over the course of one semester, students with business and communications majors who reserved group study rooms received customized confirmation emails that included targeted advertisements for library databases. These advertisements invited students to click a link that led to a database related to a student's major. Near the end of the semester, students were invited to complete a short survey about the advertisements. Survey questions were designed to discover whether the advertisements were seen …

Rethinking Covid-19 Vulnerability: A Call For Lgbtq+ Im/Migrant Health Equity In The U.S. During And After A Pandemic, Nolan Kline

Faculty Publications

Public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasized older adults’ vulnerability, but this obfuscates the social and political root causes of health inequity. To advance health equity during a novel communicable disease outbreak, public health practitioners must continue to be attentive to social and political circumstances that inform poor health. Such efforts are especially needed for populations who are exposed to numerous social and political factors that structure health inequity, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise-queer identifying (LGBTQ+) populations and im/migrant populations. The COVID-19 outbreak is therefore a critical time to emphasize root causes of health inequity.

Effects Of Menu Labeling Policies On Transnational Restaurant Chains To Promote A Healthy Diet: A Scoping Review To Inform Policy And Research, Sofía Rincón-Gallardo Patiño, Mi Zhou, Fabio Da Silva Gomes, Robin Lemaire, Valisa Hedrick, Elena Serrano, Vivica I. Kraak

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Objective Church Environment Audits And Attendee Perceptions Of Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Supports Within The Church Setting, Marilyn E. Wende, Andrew T. Kaczynski, John A. Bernhart, Caroline G. Dunn, Sarah Wilcox

Faculty Publications

Interventions in faith-based settings are increasingly popular, due to their effectiveness for improving attendee health outcomes and behaviors. Little past research has examined the important role of the church environment in individual-level outcomes using objective environmental audits. This study examined associations between the objectively measured physical church environment and attendees’ perceptions of physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) supports within the church environment, self-efficacy for PA and HE, and self-reported PA and HE behaviors. Data were collected via church audits and church attendee surveys in 54 churches in a rural, medically underserved county in South Carolina. Multi-level regression was …

The Right To A Public Trial In The Time Of Covid-19, Stephen E. Smith

Faculty Publications

Maintaining social distance in the time of COVID-19 is a public health priority. A crowded courtroom is an environment at odds with public health needs. Accordingly, until science determines otherwise, it will be necessary for judges to manage courtroom attendance and exclude the public from trials, wholly or in part. Courtrooms may be closed to the public, despite the Sixth Amendment’s right to a public trial, when the closure is justified by a strong government interest and is narrowly tailored to further that interest. Typically, this heightened scrutiny is applied on a case-by-case basis and turns on a case’s specific …

Compound Heterozygous Variants In Pediatric Cancers: A Systematic Review, Dustin B. Miller, Stephen R. Piccolo

Faculty Publications

A compound heterozygous (CH) variant is a type of germline variant that occurs when each parent donates one alternate allele and these alleles are located at different loci within the same gene. Pathogenic germline variants have been identified for some pediatric cancer types but in most studies, CH variants are overlooked. Thus, the prevalence of pathogenic CH variants in most pediatric cancer types is unknown. We identified 26 studies (published between 1999 and 2019) that identified a CH variant in at least one pediatric cancer patient. These studies encompass 21 cancer types and have collectively identified 25 different …

Some Issues In The Ethics Of Food Waste, Brian E. Roe, Danyi Qi, Kathryn E. Bender

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. It is estimated that nearly one-third of food produced on the planet never meets its intended purpose of human nourishment. This represents a substantial stock of resources available for reallocation. Any potential reallocation of resources raises ethical issues – who should sacrifice (change current behaviors), who should benefit, and what methods are appropriate to induce the behavioral change required to invoke the reallocation? In this brief article, we will discuss several topics in the food waste literature that, in our opinion, raise ethical issues that warrant further thought and consideration. These include the emphasis on food …

Safe Management Of Bodies Of Deceased Persons With Suspected Or Confirmed Covid-19: A Rapid Systematic Review, Sally Yaacoub, Holger J. Schünemann, Joanne Khabsa, Amena El-Harakeh, Assem M. Khamis, Fatimah Chamseddine, Rayane El-Khoury, Zahra Saad, Layal Hneiny, Carlos Cuello Garcia, Giovanna E U Muti-Schünemann, Antonio Bognanni, Chen Chen, Guang Chen, Yuan Zhang, Hong Zhao, Pierre Abi Hanna, Mark Loeb, Thomas Piggott, Marge Reinap, Nesrine Rizk, Rosa Stalteri, Stephanie Duda, Karla Solo, Derek Chu

Faculty Publications

Introduction Proper strategies to minimise the risk of infection in individuals handling the bodies of deceased persons infected with 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) are urgently needed. The objective of this study was to systematically review the literature to scope and assess the effects of specific strategies for the management of the bodies.

Methods We searched five general, three Chinese and four coronavirus disease (COVID-19)–specific electronic databases. We searched registries of clinical trials, websites of governmental and other relevant organisations, reference lists of the included papers and relevant systematic reviews, and Epistemonikos for relevant systematic reviews. We included guidance documents providing …

Addressing The Social Vulnerability Of Mississippi Gulf Coast Vietnamese Community Through The Development Of Community Health Advisors, Susan Mayfield-Johnson, Danielle Fastring, Daniel Le, Jane Nguyen

Faculty Publications

Background:Resiliency is the ability to prepare for, recover from, and adapt to stressors from adverse events. Social vulnerabilities (limited access to resources, political power, and representation; lack of social capital; aspects of the built environment; health inequities; and being in certain demographic categories) can impact resiliency. The Vietnamese population living along the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a community that has unique social vulnerabilities that impact their ability to be resilient to adverse events. Objectives: The purpose of this project was to address social vulnerability by implementing and evaluating a volunteer Community Health Advisor (CHA) project to enhance community resiliency in …

Association Of Multisetting Community Programs And Policies With Child Body Mass Index: The Healthy Communities Study, Vicki L. Collie-Akers, Stephen B. Fawcett, Jerry A. Schultz, Kandace K. Fleming, Rebecca E. Swinburne Romine, Lorrene D. Ritchie, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., S Sonia Arteaga

Faculty Publications

INTRODUCTION:

Expert opinion suggests that efforts to address childhood obesity should seek to transform the environments in which children operate. The objective of this study was to describe the extent to which multisetting programs and policies interact with community and child predictors and are associated with child body mass index (BMI) in the 130 US communities participating in the Healthy Communities Study.

METHODS:

For 2 years beginning in fall 2013, we collected data through key informant interviews on community programs and policies related to healthy weight among children that occurred in the 10 years before the interview. We characterized community …

Rejuvenation Of Neutrophil Functions In Association With Reduced Diabetes Risk Following Ten Weeks Of Low-Volume High Intensity Interval Walking In Older Adults With Prediabetes – A Pilot Study, David B. Bartlett, Cris A. Slentz, Leslie H. Willis, Andrew Hoselton, Janet L. Huebner, Virginia B. Kraus, Jennifer Moss, Michael J. Muehlbauer, Guillaume Spielmann, Deborah M. Muoio, Timothy R. Koves, Helena Wu, Kim M. Huffman, Janet M. Lord, William E. Kraus

Faculty Publications

Neutrophil dysfunction is a common feature of aging, and is associated with the pathogenesis of many age-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although exercise training improves metabolic health, decreases risk of T2DM, and is associated with improving neutrophil functions, involvement in regular physical activity declines with age. The aim of this study was to determine if neutrophil functions could be improved in association with changes in fitness and metabolic parameters in older adults at risk for T2DM using 10-weeks of low volume high-intensity interval exercise training (HIIT). Ten older (71 ± 5 years) sedentary adults with prediabetes (HbA1c: …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Appropriate Instructional Practices In Physical Education, David C. Barney

Faculty Publications

For many middle school (MS) students they have been exposed to many inappropriate instructional practices in physical education (PE). This involvement and exposure to these inappropriate instructional practices become common occurrences, thus in their mind this is what is supposed to happen in their PE class. The purpose of this study was to better understand MS student’s perceptions and attitudes to appropriate instructional practices (AIP) in their PE classes. It was generally found from student interviews that dodge ball is appropriate to play in PE class, wearing prescribed clothing (school shirt) will earn and easy ‘A’ in PE class, and …

Innovation In Sport For Development And Peace, Per G. Svensson, Adam Cohen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measuring "Access To Justice" In The Rush To Digitize, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Access to Justice (A2J) is the hot topic of the day, energizing Twitter and judges alike. Meanwhile, professors and policymakers join in song, singing the praises of online dispute resolution (ODR) as means for expanding A21. This is because ODR uses technology to allow for online claim diagnosis, negotiation, and mediation without the time, money, and stress of traditional court processes. Indeed, courts are now moving traffic ticket, condominium, landlord/tenant, personal injury, debt collection, and even divorce claims online. The hope is that online triage and dispute resolution systems will provide means for obtaining remedies for self-represented litigants (SRLs) and …

Too Soon Forgot: The Ethics Of Remembering In Richard Iii, Now, And House Of Cards, L Monique Pittman

Faculty Publications

Three interconnected performances of Shakespeare's Richard III display the extreme hermeneutical volatility of representation when remediated through a celebrity's personal history. The film NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage (dir. Jeremy Whelehan, 2014) documents the Bridge Project Company's Richard III directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey (2011-12), a production launched at London's Old Vic and transferred to twelve cities across the globe. Just prior to the distribution of NOW, Netflix released its first season of House of Cards (2013) with Spacey as the politician, Francis Underwood, at the center of its seamy landscape. Spacey insists …

Promoter-Proximal Chromatin Domain Insulator Protein Beaf Mediates Local And Long-Range Communication With A Transcription Factor And Directly Activates A Housekeeping Promoter In Drosophila, Yuankai Dong, S. V. Satya Prakash Avva, Mukesh Maharjan, Janice Jacobi, Craig M. Hart

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2020 by the Genetics Society of America BEAF (Boundary Element-Associated Factor) was originally identified as a Drosophila melanogaster chromatin domain insulator-binding protein, suggesting a role in gene regulation through chromatin organization and dynamics. Genome-wide mapping found that BEAF usually binds near transcription start sites, often of housekeeping genes, suggesting a role in promoter function. This would be a nontraditional role for an insulator-binding protein. To gain insight into molecular mechanisms of BEAF function, we identified interacting proteins using yeast two-hybrid assays. Here, we focus on the transcription factor Serendipity d (Sry-d). Interactions were confirmed in pull-down experiments using …

Direct Measurement Of Sweetpotato Surface Area And Volume Using A Low-Cost 3d Scanner For Identification Of Shape Features Related To Processing Product Recovery, Arthur Villordon, Jeffrey C. Gregorie, Don Labonte

Faculty Publications

The growing demand for sweetpotato French fry and other processed products has increased the need for producing storage roots of desired shape profile (i.e., blocky and less tapered). Length-width ratio (LW) is the current de facto standard for characterizing sweetpotato shape. AlthoughLWis sensitive and descriptive of some types of shape variability, this index may be inadequate to measure taper and other subtle shape variations. Prior work has shown that surface area (SA) and volume (VOL) are important shape descriptors but current direct measurement methods are tedious, inconsistent, and often destructive. A low-cost three-dimensional (3D) scanner was used to acquire digital …

Impact Of Part Thickness And Drying Conditions On Saturation Limits In Binder Jet Additive Manufacturing, Nathan B. Crane

Faculty Publications

Binder jetting (BJ) is a high build-rate additive manufacturing process with growing commercial interest. Growth in BJ applications is driven by the use of finer powders and improved post-processing methods that can produce dense, homogenous final parts. However, understanding of the basic droplet/powder interaction is relatively limited. This paper considers the impact of in-process drying, part geometry, and droplet size on a key printing parameter: binder saturation. Parts of varying thicknesses are printed with a range of saturation levels under various heating conditions. The ratio of the printed part mass to the theoretical part mass is used to detect bleeding. …

Get Out And The Remediation Of Othello's Sunken Place: Beholding White Supremacy's Coagula, Vanessa I. Corredera

Faculty Publications

As a result of director and writer Jordan Peele's remediation of the horror genre to create a racially polemic film, breakout horror-thriller Get Out (2017) has achieved critical and commercial success while substantially affecting how Americans think about and approach race. As stories about a black man amidst an all-white community who ultimately strangles his white female lover, Get Out and Shakespeare's Othello share obvious narrative overlaps. Othello, however, maintains a more tenuous status regarding race and its function within the storyline than does Get Out. Othello remains a play mired in questions about how or even whether …

Litigation As Parenting, Lisa Martin

Faculty Publications

Children have legal rights. Yet, children typically lack the legal capacity to represent their interests in courts. When federal courts are presented with children’s claims, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require courts to ensure that children’s legal interests are adequately protected. To do so, courts decide who can speak and make decisions for the child within the litigation. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 17(c) maps out a loose process for addressing these concerns but fails to fully account for a critical factor in protecting child litigants: the decision making rights of parents.

Because parents have constitutionally protected authority to …

Message From The 2020 General Co-Chairs, Anu G. Bourgeois, Ramachandran Vaidyanathan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Message From The 2020 General Co-Chairs, Anu G. Bourgeois, Ramachandran Vaidyanathan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Machine Learning Modeling Of Horizontal Photovoltaics Using Weather And Location Data, Christil Pasion, Torrey J. Wagner, Clay Koschnick, Steven J. Schuldt, Jada B. Williams, Kevin Hallinan

Faculty Publications

Solar energy is a key renewable energy source; however, its intermittent nature and potential for use in distributed systems make power prediction an important aspect of grid integration. This research analyzed a variety of machine learning techniques to predict power output for horizontal solar panels using 14 months of data collected from 12 northern-hemisphere locations. We performed our data collection and analysis in the absence of irradiation data—an approach not commonly found in prior literature. Using latitude, month, hour, ambient temperature, pressure, humidity, wind speed, and cloud ceiling as independent variables, a distributed random forest regression algorithm modeled the combined …

Hegel’S Pragmatism, Willem A. Devries

Faculty Publications

This chapter examines Hegel’s complex relation to pragmatism. After a short review of the extant literature on their relation, deVries focuses on their shared rejection of the Cartesian tradition, which assumes that minds are immaterial, self-contained substances that are (1) transparent to themselves, (2) known directly or immediately to themselves, (3) prior to and independently of any knowledge of any other created substance, e.g., the external world. Hegel and the pragmatists rejected this view for at least three reasons. (1) The Cartesians employ an impoverished conception of experience that does not do justice to the complex interplay of the sensory …

Energetics Of Interfacial Interactions Of Hydrocarbon Fluids With Kerogen And Calcite Using Molecular Modeling, Zelong Zhang, Haoran Liu, Jianwei Wang

Faculty Publications

© 2020 American Chemical Society. Understanding of the fluid-rock interactions is essential to characterize the behavior of petroleum fluids in reservoir formations. Such knowledge is difficult to obtain due to the heterogeneous nature of hydrocarbon systems. This study investigated the interactions of light oil molecules with kerogen and calcite using molecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, octane and octanthiol were used as model molecules for non-polar and polar oil compounds; a kerogen fragment molecule was employed as the building block for kerogen, the major constituent of reservoir rock organics; calcite was used as a model system for hydrophilic materials in reservoir rocks. …

Unity In Diversity: How Music Helped Shape The Spiritual Identities Of Black And White Seventh-Day Adventists, 1840–1944, David A. Williams

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Indolic Glucosinolate Pathway Provides Resistance To Mycorrhizal Fungal Colonization In A Non-Host Brassicaceae, Mark A. Anthony, J. L. Celenza, A. Armstrong, Serita D. Frey

Faculty Publications

Most terrestrial plants form mycorrhizas, but a number of agricultural plants, including the Brassicaceae, are non-mycorrhizal. Brassicaceae can still be colonized by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), but species like Arabidopsis thaliana experience growth reductions following AMF colonization at similar magnitude to that of fungal pathogen infections and lack key genes necessary for nutrient exchange. Arabidopsis also produces specific secondary compounds via the modification of tryptophan, including indolic glucosinolates (IGs), which have anti-fungal properties and may therefore be involved in reducing AMF colonization. This study therefore addressed whether the ability to produce IGs facilitates resistance to AMF colonization and growth suppression. …