Digital Commons Network^™

Maternal Care Utilization And Provision During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Voices From Minoritized Pregnant And Postpartum Women And Maternal Care Providers In Deep South, Ran Zhang, Tiffany Byrd, Shan Qiao Ph.D., Myriam E. Torres Phd, Msph, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Jihong Liu Sc.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected maternal care services especially for minoritized individuals, creating challenges for both service users (i.e., African American and Hispanic pregnant/postpartum women) and maternal care providers (MCPs). Guided by a socioecological framework, this study aims to investigate the experiences of African American and Hispanic pregnant and postpartum women, as well as MCPs, in accessing and providing maternal care services during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Deep South.

Methods

We conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 African American women, 20 Hispanic women, and 9 MCPs between January and August 2022. Participants were recruited from Obstetrics and Gynecology …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Analysis Of Tourmaline: Protocols, Procedures, And Predicaments, Nancy J. Mcmillan, Barbara L. Dutrow

Faculty Publications

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an appropriate choice of analytical tool for analysis of complex minerals because it is rapid, requires little sample preparation, and acquires major and trace element compositional information on all naturally occurring elements at concentrations above their intrinsic levels of detection for the specific analyte material. Tourmaline, a complex borosilicate mineral supergroup, was chosen as a test mineral due to the complexity of its major and minor element composition. Four analytical issues were investigated during project development: (1) the spacing between analytical laser shots to avoid analysis of the recast from previous laser ablations, (2) the …

Exploring The Impact Of The Aging Effect On Inferred Properties Of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections, F Regnault, Nada Al-Haddad, Noé Lugaz, Charles J. Farrugia, Bin Zhuang, Wenyuan Yu, A Strugarek

Faculty Publications

In situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) when they pass over an interplanetary probe are one of the main ways we directly measure their properties. However, such in situ profiles are subject to several observational constraints that are still poorly understood. This work aims at quantifying one of them, namely, the aging effect, using a CME simulated with a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical code. The synthetic in situ profile and the instantaneous profile of the magnetic field strength differ more from each other when taken close to the Sun than far from it. Moreover, out of three properties we compute in …

Exploring The Impact Of The Aging Effect On Inferred Properties Of Solar Coronal Mass Ejections, F Regnault, Nada Al-Haddad, Noé Lugaz, Charles J. Farrugia, Bin Zhuang, Wenyuan Yu, A Strugarek

Faculty Publications

In situ measurements of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) when they pass over an interplanetary probe are one of the main ways we directly measure their properties. However, such in situ profiles are subject to several observational constraints that are still poorly understood. This work aims at quantifying one of them, namely, the aging effect, using a CME simulated with a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical code. The synthetic in situ profile and the instantaneous profile of the magnetic field strength differ more from each other when taken close to the Sun than far from it. Moreover, out of three properties we compute in …

Study Of Indium-Silicon Co-Doped Gallium Oxide For Effective N-Type Doping, Muhammad Hassan Tahir, Nifat Jahan, Md Ghulam Zakir

Faculty Publications

We present the research efforts to achieve effective n-type doping in gallium oxide (Ga2O3), an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor, grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The application of semiconductors for power electronics requires wide and ultrawide bandgap materials that can be doped to create higher electron (n-type) or hole (p-type) densities. Ga2O3, with a bandgap of 4.9 eV, is an emerging and promising material. The bandgap of Ga2O3 is much higher than other wide bandgap material that have been adopted by or in the process of adoption by the industry for power electronics. However, the doping of Ga2O3 has some …

Changing The University, The Church And The World Through Risk Prevention And Health Promotion, Duane C. Mcbride

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Publications, James L. Hayward, Shandelle M. Henson, Vanessa I. Corredera, L. Monique Pittman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Coronal Magnetic Field With Galactic Cosmic Rays: The Sun Shadow Observed By Hawc, R Alfaro, C Alvarez, J C. Arteaga-Velázquez, K P. Arunbabu, D Avila Rojas, R Babu, E Belmont-Moreno, K S. Caballero-Mora, T Capistrán, A Carramiñana, S Casanova, P Colín-Farias, U Cotti, J Cotzomi, S Coutiño De León, E De La Fuente, C De León, D Depaoli, R Diaz Hernandez, J C. Díaz-Vélez, M Durocher, M A. Duvernois, K Engel, C Espinoza, K L. Fan

Faculty Publications

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are charged particles that reach the heliosphere almost isotropically in a wide energy range. In the inner heliosphere, the GCR flux is modulated by solar activity so that only energetic GCRs reach the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. In this work, we propose that high-energy GCRs can be used to explore the solar magnetic fields at low coronal altitudes. We used GCR data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory to construct maps of GCR flux coming from the Sun’s sky direction and studied the observed GCR deficit, known as Sun shadow (SS), over a …

Exploring The Coronal Magnetic Field With Galactic Cosmic Rays: The Sun Shadow Observed By Hawc, R Alfaro, C Alvarez, J C. Arteaga-Velázquez, K P. Arunbabu, D Avila Rojas, R Babu, E Belmont-Moreno, K S. Caballero-Mora, T Capistrán, A Carramiñana, S Casanova, P Colín-Farias, U Cotti, J Cotzomi, S Coutiño De León, E De La Fuente, C De León, D Depaoli, R Diaz Hernandez, J C. Díaz-Vélez, M Durocher, M A. Duvernois, K Engel, C Espinoza, K L. Fan, N. Fraija, N. Fraija, J. A. García-González, F. Garfias, A. Gonzalez Muñoz, M. M. González, J. A. Goodman, J. P. Harding, D. Huang, F. Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, A. Iriarte, S. Kaufmann, A. Lara, J. Lee, H. León Vargas, A. L. Longinotti, G. Luis-Raya, K. Malone, O. Martinez, J. Martínez-Castro, J. A. Matthews, P. Miranda-Romagnoli, E. Moreno, M. Mostafá, A. Nayerhoda, L. Nellen, T. Niembro, R. Noriega-Papaqui, N. Omodei, E. G. Pérez-Pérez, C. D. Rho, D. Rosa-González, E. Ruiz-Velasco, James M. Ryan, H. Salazar, D. Salazar-Gallegos, A. Sandoval, J. Serna-Franco, A. J. Smith, Y. Son, R. W. Springer, O. Tibolla, K. Tollefson, I. Torres, R. Turner, F. Ureña-Mena, E. Varela, L. Villaseñor, X. Wang, I. J. Watson, E. Willox, S. Yun-Cárcamo, H. Zhou

Faculty Publications

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are charged particles that reach the heliosphere almost isotropically in a wide energy range. In the inner heliosphere, the GCR flux is modulated by solar activity so that only energetic GCRs reach the lower layers of the solar atmosphere. In this work, we propose that high-energy GCRs can be used to explore the solar magnetic fields at low coronal altitudes. We used GCR data collected by the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov observatory to construct maps of GCR flux coming from the Sun’s sky direction and studied the observed GCR deficit, known as Sun shadow (SS), over a …

Ion Heating By A Fast Magnetosonic Turbulence In The Solar Corona, Sergei A. Markovskii, Bernard J. Vasquez

Faculty Publications

Observational data at heliocentric distances of tens of solar radii suggest that fast magnetosonic modes make up a considerable fraction of the solar wind fluctuations. Furthermore, this fraction appears to increase closer to the Sun. We carry out three-dimensional kinetic simulations with particle ions and fluid electrons to evaluate the proton and alpha-particle heating produced by the damping of the fast waves in the solar corona. Realistic parameters at 5 solar radii, including the fluctuation amplitude, are used. We show that, due to the cyclotron resonance, the alphas are heated preferentially perpendicularly to the magnetic field and much more strongly …

Deep Selenium Donors In Zngep2 Crystals: An Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study Of A Nonlinear Optical Material, Timothy D. Gustafson, Larry E. Halliburton, Nancy C. Giles, Peter G. Schunemann, Kevin T. Zawilski, J. Jesenovec, Kent L. Averett, Jonathan E. Slagle [*]

Faculty Publications

Zinc germanium diphosphide (ZnGeP₂) is a ternary semiconductor best known for its nonlinear optical properties. A primary application is optical parametric oscillators operating in the mid-infrared region. Controlled donor doping provides a method to minimize the acceptor-related absorption bands that limit the output power of these devices. In the present study, a ZnGeP₂ crystal is doped with selenium during growth. Selenium substitutes for phosphorus and serves as a deep donor. Significant concentrations of native defects (zinc vacancies, germanium-on-zinc antisites, and phosphorous vacancies) are also present in the crystal. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is used to establish the …

Systematic Review On The Impacts Of Agricultural Interventions On Food Security And Nutrition In Complex Humanitarian Emergency Settings, Melodie Al Daccache, Berthe Abi Zeid, Leila Hojeij, Ghassan Baliki, Tilman Brück, Hala Ghattas Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Complex humanitarian emergencies are a main driver of food and nutritional insecurity. Agricultural interventions are key to improving nutrition and food security, and their positive impacts are well-documented in stable developing countries. However, it is unclear if their positive effects on food security hold in complex emergency settings, too. In this paper, we systematically review empirical articles that apply rigorous designs to assess the causal impacts of agricultural interventions on food security, nutrition, or health outcomes in complex humanitarian emergencies. We only find six articles matching these criteria, which have mixed results on dietary diversity and food security, and little …

Thermodynamics Of Variable Thermophysical Properties Of Non-Newtonian Fluids With The Exploration Of Antiviral And Antibacterial Mechanisms Using Silver Nanoparticles, Ogiboina Ramakrishna, Bidemi Olumide Falodun, Oluwadamilare Joseph Akinremi, Ezekiel Olaoluwa Omole, Ahmed Senior Ismail, Femi Emmanuel Amoyedo

Faculty Publications

This research is aimed at examining the thermodynamics of variable thermophysical properties of non-Newtonian fluids with the exploration of antiviral and antibacterial mechanisms. The mechanism of antiviral together with antibacterial was separately considered by utilizing the silver nanoparticles. The physical phenomenon comprising thermal radiation, magnetic field, chemical reaction, heat generation parameters, etc are presented as partial differential equations (PDEs). The formulated PDEs are changed into ordinary differential equations using suitable similarity variables. The spectral relaxation method (SRM) was employed to numerically solve the set of equations. The SRM is an iterative method that employs the basic techniques of the Gauss–Seidel …

Thermodynamics Of Variable Thermophysical Properties Of Non-Newtonian Fluids With The Exploration Of Antiviral And Antibacterial Mechanisms Using Silver Nanoparticles, Ogiboina Ramakrishna, Bidemi Olumide Falodun, Oluwadamilare Joseph Akinremi, Ezekiel Olaoluwa Omole, Ahmed Senior Ismail, Femi Emmanuel Amoyedo

Faculty Publications

This research is aimed at examining the thermodynamics of variable thermophysical properties of non-Newtonian fluids with the exploration of antiviral and antibacterial mechanisms. The mechanism of antiviral together with antibacterial was separately considered by utilizing the silver nanoparticles. The physical phenomenon comprising thermal radiation, magnetic field, chemical reaction, heat generation parameters, etc are presented as partial differential equations (PDEs). The formulated PDEs are changed into ordinary differential equations using suitable similarity variables. The spectral relaxation method (SRM) was employed to numerically solve the set of equations. The SRM is an iterative method that employs the basic techniques of the Gauss–Seidel …

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 …

From Pumps And Pipes To Data And Discovery: Unifying A New Division, Jeremy Myntti, Megan Mcmillan

Faculty Publications

A reorganization of the Brigham Young University Library in 2020 brought many changes to the library, including the formation of the Metadata and Information Technology (MIT) Division. This new division needed to define a vision for itself, encourage a sense of unity among its employees, and foster collaboration among those employees. This article details how the MIT Division created a Data and Discovery initiative based on the Pumps and Pipes collaboration model, a model which brings seemingly unrelated industries together to discover solutions to their respective challenges by exploring “their neighbor’s toolbox” (Pumps and Pipes, n.d., “What We Do”). Here …

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 …

Blocks? Graphs? Why Not Both? Designing And Evaluating A Hybrid Programming Environment For End-Users, Nico Ritschel, Felipe Fronchetti, Reid Holmes, Ronald Garcia, David C. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Many modern end-user development environments support one of two visual modalities: block-based programming or data-flow programming. In this work, we investigate the trade-offs between the two modalities in the context of robotics tasks. These often contain both aspects that are better solved with blocks and others that best fit data-flow programming. To address this style of task, we present and discuss two novel programming environment prototypes, one purely block-based and one a hybrid of blocks and data-flow programming. We compare the designs through a controlled experiment with 113 end-user participants, in which we asked them to solve programming and program …

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 …

If Accountability Is Everything, Maybe It’S Nothing, Melvin J. Dubnick

Faculty Publications

This document discusses the evolving conceptualization and scholarly debates surrounding accountability and planning in governance studies.

Complex Dayside Particle Precipitation Observed During The Passage Of A Solar Wind Rotational Discontinuity, Simon Wing, Jean Berchem, C Philippe Escoubet, Charles J. Farrugia

Faculty Publications

The dayside particle precipitation during the passage of a solar wind rotational discontinuity (RD) event on 10 April 2015 is examined and reviewed. The RD leads to complex structures at the magnetopause, boundary layer, mantle, and cusp even though the geomagnetic activity level remains low. Particle precipitation data from DMSP F17 reveal the formation of an unusual boundary layer where the low energy (cold) ions exhibit energy-latitude dispersion that is usually associated with mantle while the high energy (hot) ions look like typical magnetospheric ions. DMSP F17 and F19 observe a double cusp that is a signature of magnetic reconnection …

Complex Dayside Particle Precipitation Observed During The Passage Of A Solar Wind Rotational Discontinuity, Simon Wing, Jean Berchem, C Philippe Escoubet, Charles J. Farrugia

Faculty Publications

The dayside particle precipitation during the passage of a solar wind rotational discontinuity (RD) event on 10 April 2015 is examined and reviewed. The RD leads to complex structures at the magnetopause, boundary layer, mantle, and cusp even though the geomagnetic activity level remains low. Particle precipitation data from DMSP F17 reveal the formation of an unusual boundary layer where the low energy (cold) ions exhibit energy-latitude dispersion that is usually associated with mantle while the high energy (hot) ions look like typical magnetospheric ions. DMSP F17 and F19 observe a double cusp that is a signature of magnetic reconnection …

Probing The Electrode-Electrolyte Interface Of Sodium/Glyme-Based Battery Electrolytes, Dodangodage Ishara Senadheera, Orlando Carrillo-Bohorquez, Ernest O. Nachaki, Ryan Jorn, Daniel G. Kuroda, Revati Kumar

Faculty Publications

Sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) are promising systems for large-scale energy storage solutions; yet, further enhancements are required for their commercial viability. Improving the electrochemical performance of NIBs goes beyond the chemical description of the electrolyte and electrode materials as it requires a comprehensive understanding of the underlying mechanisms that govern the interface between electrodes and electrolytes. In particular, the decomposition reactions occurring at these interfaces lead to the formation of surface films. Previous work has revealed that the solvation structure of cations in the electrolyte has a significant influence on the formation and properties of these surface films. Here, an experimentally …

Lithium Ion Speciation In Cyclic Solvents: Impact Of Anion Charge Delocalization And Solvent Polarizability, Ernest O. Nachaki, Daniel G. Kuroda

Faculty Publications

The increasing demand for lithium batteries has triggered the search for safer and more efficient electrolytes. Insights into the atomistic description of electrolytes are critical for relating microscopic and macroscopic (physicochemical) properties. Previous studies have shown that the type of lithium salt and solvent used in the electrolyte influences its performance by dictating the speciation of the ionic components in the system. Here, we investigate the molecular origins of ion association in lithium-based electrolytes as a function of anion charge delocalization and solvent chemical identity. To this end, a family of cyano-based lithium salts in organic solvents, having a cyclic …

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.

Surfactant-Specific Ai-Driven Molecular Design: Integrating Generative Models, Predictive Modeling, And Reinforcement Learning For Tailored Surfactant Synthesis, Miriam Nnadili, Andrew N. Okafor, Teslim Olayiwola, David Akinpelu, Revati Kumar, Jose A. Romagnoli

Faculty Publications

Molecular design is a critical aspect of various scientific and industrial fields, where the properties of molecules hold significant importance. In this study, a 3-fold methodology design is presented that leverages the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI), predictive modeling, and reinforcement learning to create tailored molecules with desired properties. This model synergistically combines deep learning techniques with Self-Referencing Embedded Strings (SELFIES) molecular representation to build a generative model that generates valid molecules and a graphical neural network model that accurately forecasts molecular properties. The Variational Autoencoder (VAE) coupled with reinforcement learning helps refine molecule generation based on targeted attributes. …