Digital Commons Network^™

Probabilistic Well-Posedness For The Nonlinear Wave Equation On B2 × T, Aynur Bulut

Faculty Publications

We establish probabilistic well-posedness results for the subcubic nonlinear wave equation, posed on the domain B2 × T, with randomly chosen initial data having radial symmetry in the B2 variable, and with vanishing Dirichlet boundary conditions on ∂B2 × T.

Historic Breeding Practices Contribute To Germplasm Divergence In Leaf Specialized Metabolism And Ecophysiology In Cultivated Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus), Jordan A. Dowell, Alan W. Bowsher, Amna Jamshad, Rahul Shah, John M. Burke, Lisa A. Donovan, Chase M. Mason

Faculty Publications

Premise: The use of hybrid breeding systems to increase crop yields has been the cornerstone of modern agriculture and is exemplified in the breeding and improvement of cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus). However, it is poorly understood what effect supporting separate breeding pools in such systems, combined with continued selection for yield, may have on leaf ecophysiology and specialized metabolite variation. Methods: We analyzed 288 lines of cultivated H. annuus to examine the genomic basis of several specialized metabolites and agronomically important traits across major heterotic groups. Results: Heterotic group identity supports phenotypic divergences between fertility restoring and cytoplasmic male-sterility maintainer …

Combined Toxicity Of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes And Cu2+ On The Growth Of Ryegrass: Effect Of Surface Modification, Dose, And Exposure Time Pattern, Wenwen Xie, Cheng Peng, Weiping Wang, Xiaoyi Chen, Jiaqi Tan, Wei Zhang

Faculty Publications

The escalating release of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into the environment has raised concerns due to their potential ecotoxicological impacts. However, their combined phytotoxicity with heavy metals such as copper (Cu) is still unclear. This study investigated the individual and combined toxic effects of MWCNTs (MWCNT, MWCNT-OH, and MWCNT-COOH) and Cu²⁺ on ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), uniquely considering different addition orders. The results show that Cu severely inhibited the growth of ryegrass while MWCNTs exhibited a hormesis effect on ryegrass. When MWCNT and Cu were combined, the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in ryegrass showed a 32.39% increase at 20 mg/L MWCNT …

The Roles Of Vicarious Trauma Exposure And Perceived Social Support In Codeine Syrup Misuse Among Black Men Living In Prisons, Jardin Dogan-Dixon, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Shemeka Thorpe, Paris Wheeler, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Faculty Publications

Using General Strain Theory, this study investigates the effects of vicarious trauma exposure and perceived social support on nonmedical codeine syrup misuse among Black incarcerated men nearing community re-entry. Data were drawn from the Helping Incarcerated Men project, a study examining mental health, substance misuse, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors among Black men living in prisons who were within 180 days of release. A total of 200 Black men self-reported demographics (i.e., age and length of incarceration after age 18), vicarious trauma exposure (e.g., ever witnessing an assault with a weapon and a sudden accidental death), perceived social …

Cultural Predictors Of Self-Esteem Among Black Women With Criminal Justice Involvement And Herpes Simplex Virus, Natalie Malone, Jardin N. Dogan-Dixon, Shemeka Thorpe, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Paris Wheeler, Danelle Stevens-Watkins, Carrie B. Oser

Faculty Publications

Black women have disproportionately alarming HSV-2 infection rates yet receive little attention in sexual health literature. Using a strengths-based resilience framework, this study sought to determine culturally relevant protective predictors of self-esteem for Black women who are justice-involved and have HSV-2. The authors conducted secondary data analysis on data from the “Black Women in the Study of Epidemics (B-WISE) Project,” a longitudinal prospective study investigating health disparities and health services utilization among Black women with justice involvement. At baseline, N = 151 Black women with HSV-2 who were incarcerated or on probation completed survey measures assessing self-esteem, ethnic identity affirmation …

Comprehensive Structural Study Of Lanthanide(Iii) Chloride Hydrates: [Recl3·Xh2o (Re = La–Nd, Sm–Lu; X = 6, 7)], Thimira Kandabadage, Beau Legnon, Sviatoslav Baranets

Faculty Publications

A comprehensive crystallographic study is presented of the complete series of rare-earth(III) chloride hydrates. Early lanthanides form dimeric [(H2O)7RE(μCl)2RE(H2O)7]⁴⁺ binuclear complexes in which each RE atom (RE = La³⁺, Ce³⁺) is coordinated by seven H2O molecules and two bridging inner-sphere chloride ions. Di-μ-chlorido-bis[heptaaqualanthanide(III)] tetrachloride, [(H2O)7RE(μ-Cl)2RE(H2O)7]Cl4, crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1. Heavier lanthanides exhibit monomeric [RECl2(H2O)6]⁺ units where each RE atom (RE = Pr³⁺, Nd³⁺, Sm³⁺–Lu³⁺) is coordinated by six H2O molecules and two inner-sphere chloride ions. Hexaaquadichloridolanthanide(III) chlorides, [RECl2(H2O)6]Cl, adopt the monoclinic space group …

Precision Synthesis Of Conjugated Polymer Films By Surface-Confined Stepwise Sonogashira Cross-Coupling, Sang Gil Youm, Mitchell T. Howell, Chien Hung Chiang, Lu Lu, Neepa M.K. Kuruppu Arachchige, John F. Ankner, Joseph Strzalka, Yaroslav Losovyj, Jayne C. Garno, Evgueni E. Nesterov

Faculty Publications

Thin films of poly(arylene ethynylene)-conjugated polymers, including low-energy-gap donor–acceptor polymers, can be prepared via stepwise polymerization utilizing surface-confined Sonogashira cross-coupling. This robust and efficient polymerization protocol yields conjugated polymers with a precise molecular structure and with nanometer-level control of the organization and the uniform alignment of the macromolecular chains in the densely packed film. In addition to high stability and predictable and well-defined molecular organization and morphology, the surface-confined conjugated polymer chains experience significant interchain electronic interactions, resulting in dominating intermolecular π-electron delocalization which is primarily responsible for the electronic and spectroscopic properties of polymer films. The fluorescent films demonstrate …

Identifying Ordinal Categories For The Water Insecurity Experiences Scales, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Hilary J. Bethancourt, Joshua D. Miller, Sera L. Young, The Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scales (Hwise)-Research Coordination Network (Rcn)

Faculty Publications

The Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) and Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) Scales are globally suitable tools for comparably measuring water insecurity experiences among households and adults, respectively. The potential range for HWISE and IWISE scores is 0–36. When the WISE Scales were first published, scores of 12 and higher were considered indicative of water insecurity, but additional cut-points are needed to provide more nuanced insights. We therefore sought to develop a practical set of cut-points for the WISE Scales using HWISE data from 13 sites across 12 countries (n = 3,293) and nationally representative samples of IWISE data …

Venomcap: An Exon-Capture Probe Set For The Targeted Sequencing Of Snake Venom Genes, Scott L. Travers, Carl R. Hutter, Christopher C. Austin, Stephen C. Donnellan, Matthew D. Buehler, Christopher E. Ellison, Sara Ruane

Faculty Publications

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of toxic proteins that hold significant medical, pharmacological and evolutionary interest. To better understand the genetic diversity underlying snake venoms, we developed VenomCap, a novel exon-capture probe set targeting toxin-coding genes from a wide range of elapid snakes, with a particular focus on the ecologically diverse and medically important subfamily Hydrophiinae. We tested the capture success of VenomCap across 24 species, representing all major elapid lineages. We included snake phylogenomic probes in the VenomCap capture set, allowing us to compare capture performance between venom and phylogenomic loci and to infer elapid phylogenetic relationships. We demonstrated …

Characterization Of Health And Safety Resources For Athletes With Sickle Cell Trait At Ncaa Institutions, Susan W. Yeargin, Courtney M. Meyer, Rebecca M. Hirschhorn, Abbi D. Lane, Shawn M. Arent, Clint R. Haggard

Faculty Publications

Yeargin, SW, Meyer, CM, Hirschhorn, RM, Lane, AD, Arent, SM, and Haggard, CR. Characterization of health and safety resources for athletes with sickle cell trait at NCAA institutions. J Strength Cond Res 38(11): 1967-1973, 2024 - The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence of student-athletes with sickle cell trait (SCT), determine which screening practices are most commonly used, describe the health and human performance services provided to athletes, and ascertain if differences between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) designations or divisions exist. A cross-sectional survey design was used to query healthcare administrators regarding SCT resources at their …

The Sec Spanish Consortium: Foundations For Linguistic Gratuity And Language Documentation Among Latinx Populations In New Destination Communities Of The U.S. South, Stephen Fafulas, Chad Howe, Rafael Orozco, Alicia Cipria, Erin O’Rourke, Nina Moreno, Matthew J. Van Hoose

Faculty Publications

Latinx populations in the USA have grown steadily in recent decades, with significant increases taking place in “new destination communities” of the U.S. South. The focus of our paper is to highlight opportunities for working with these populations, including traditional sociolinguistic ethnographies and community-engaged research. We highlight an initiative named “The SEC Spanish Consortium” which is an interinstitutional collaboration centered on scholarship and service involving Latinx populations in new destination communities of the U.S. South. We show that ongoing and future scholarly work in the U.S. South can act as a mechanism for documenting these emerging Latinx communities while simultaneously …

Storm-Driven Tree Exposure And Geomorphic Change: Predicting The Distribution Of Preserved Late Pleistocene Tree Stumps On The Outer Alabama Continental Shelf, Kelli L. Moran, Kehui Xu, Jeffrey Obelcz, Kristine L. Delong, Kendall Fontenot, Carl A. Reese, Grant L. Harley, Douglas Jones, Alicia Caporaso

Faculty Publications

The Alabama Underwater or Drowned Forest is a well-preserved Late Pleistocene (dated to 72–56 ± 8 ka, 2σ) terrestrial landform on the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf that provides geomorphic and ecosystem information rarely preserved during the glacial intervals. Stumps of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) trees were exposed in ∼18 m of water following Hurricane Ivan in 2004. This research investigates geomorphic changes to the Mississippi-Alabama-Florida (MAFLA) sand sheet, which presents as shore-oblique Holocene sand ridges, and the exposure and burial of tree stumps following the passage of Hurricane Sally in 2020 using repeat sidescan and bathymetric …

Editorial Introduction: Policy Actors, Dynamics, And Developments—New Insights From Process Theories And Methodological Applications, Geoboo Song, Gwen Arnold, Melissa K. Merry, Davor Mondom, Ben Galloway, Briana Huett, Camille Gilmore, Saba Siddiki, Holly L. Peterson, Creed Tumlison, Heasun Choi, Meerim Seiitova

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Deephive: A Reinforcement Learning Approach For Automated Discovery Of Swarm-Based Optimization Policies, Eloghosa Ikponmwoba, Opeoluwa Owoyele

Faculty Publications

We present an approach for designing swarm-based optimizers for the global optimization of expensive black-box functions. In the proposed approach, the problem of finding efficient optimizers is framed as a reinforcement learning problem, where the goal is to find optimization policies that require a few function evaluations to converge to the global optimum. The state of each particle within the swarm is defined as its current position and function value within a design space, and the particles learn to take favorable actions that maximize the reward, which is based on the final value of the objective function. The proposed approach …

Research Gaps And Priorities For Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (Qmra), Kerry A. Hamilton, Joanna Ciol Harrison, Jade Mitchell, Mark Weir, Marc Verhougstraete, Charles N. Haas, A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi, Julie Libarkin, Tiong Gim Aw, Kyle Bibby, Aaron Bivins, Joe Brown, Kara Dean, Gwyneth Dunbar, Joseph N.S. Eisenberg, Monica Emelko, Daniel Gerrity, Patrick L. Gurian, Emma Hartnett, Michael Jahne, Rachael M. Jones, Timothy R. Julian, Hongwan Li, Yanbin Li, Jacqueline Mac Donald Gibson, Gertjan Medema, J. Scott Meschke, Alexis Mraz, Heather Murphy, David Oryang, Emmanuel De Graft Johnson Owusu-Ansah, Emily Pasek, Abani K. Pradhan

Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic highlighted the need for more rapid and routine application of modeling approaches such as quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) for protecting public health. QMRA is a transdisciplinary science dedicated to understanding, predicting, and mitigating infectious disease risks. To better equip QMRA researchers to inform policy and public health management, an Advances in Research for QMRA workshop was held to synthesize a path forward for QMRA research. We summarize insights from 41 QMRA researchers and experts to clarify the role of QMRA in risk analysis by (1) identifying key research needs, (2) highlighting emerging applications of …

Computational Modeling Of Tool-Rock Frictional Contact With Anisotropic Damage, Yaneng Zhou, George Z. Voyiadjis

Faculty Publications

The mechanism of frictional contact is investigated between a blunt tool and quasi-brittle rocks with anisotropic damage. A recently developed anisotropic elasto-plastic-damage model is further validated using experimental results under monotonic and cyclic loadings for rocks and concrete. A finite element model of tool-rock frictional contact is validated by analytical results in the two asymptotic regimes of an elastoplastic rock. The mesh sensitivity is reduced using a fracture energy-based method for anisotropic damage. The tool-rock frictional contact is predominantly controlled by three dimensionless parameters: η, ξ, and ζ, which characterize elastoplasticity, brittleness, and anisotropic damage, respectively. The newly introduced damage …

Characterization Of Health And Safety Resources For Athletes With Sickle Cell Trait At Ncaa Institutions, Susan W. Yeargin Ph.D., Atc, Lat, Courtney M. Meyer Ph.D., Rebecca M. Hirschhorn, Abbi D. Lane, Shawn M. Arent Ph.D., Cscs*D, Fissn, Facsm, Fnak, Clint R. Haggard

Faculty Publications

Yeargin, SW, Meyer, CM, Hirschhorn, RM, Lane, AD, Arent, SM, and Haggard, CR. Characterization of health and safety resources for athletes with sickle cell trait at NCAA institutions. J Strength Cond Res 38(11): 1967-1973, 2024 - The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence of student-athletes with sickle cell trait (SCT), determine which screening practices are most commonly used, describe the health and human performance services provided to athletes, and ascertain if differences between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) designations or divisions exist. A cross-sectional survey design was used to query healthcare administrators regarding SCT resources at their …

Ministerio Juvenil Para Esta Generazión, Rogelio Paquini

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Hiv-Related Stigma: A Quantitative Survey Of Tanzanian Men, June 2019, Amandeep Kaur, Monique J. Brown Ph.D., Mph, Geoffrey K. Kangogo, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Ivan E. Teri, Gaspar Mbita, Aima A. Ahonkhai, Donaldson F. Conserve

Faculty Publications

Experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) may impact personal opinions, attitudes, and judgments, which can further result in HIV-related stigma. HIV-related stigma consequentially may impact HIV preventive measures such as HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake, and condom use. The extent to which ACEs influence HIV-related stigma perception has not been well studied. Therefore, the study aimed to examine the association between ACEs and perceived and interpersonal HIV-related stigma among Tanzanian HIV-negative men. Quantitative survey data were obtained from the Tanzania STEP (Self-Testing Education and Promotion) project established in four wards: Mabibo, Manzese, Tandale, and Mwanyanamala. A total of 507 men responded …

Threshold Changes In Winter Temperature And Precipitation Drive Threshold Responses Across Nine Global Climate Zones And Associated Biomes, Alexandra R. Contosta, Kyle A. Arndt, Helen M. Baulch, Nora J. Casson, Adrian Harpold, Toni Lyn Morelli, Alexej P.K. Sirén

Faculty Publications

Globally, winter temperatures are rising, and snowpack is shrinking or disappearing entirely. Despite previous research and published literature reviews, it remains unknown whether biomes across the globe will cross important thresholds in winter temperature and precipitation that will lead to significant ecological changes. Here, we combine the widely used Köppen–Geiger climate classification system with worst-case-scenario projected changes in global monthly temperature and precipitation to illustrate how multiple climatic zones across Earth may experience shifting winter conditions by the end of this century. We then examine how these shifts may affect ecosystems within corresponding biomes. Our analysis demonstrates potential widespread losses …

Personhood, Politics, Assisted Reproduction, And The Law Post-Dobbs, Myrisha S. Lewis

Faculty Publications

With the end of the federal constitutional right to abortion, state legislatures and state courts have become far more important in the sphere of reproductive rights. Before Dobbs, anti-abortion advocates had significant (albeit increasingly porous) ceilings on what they could prohibit in relation to reproductive health care. A significant check on those actions is now gone.

In the wake of Dobbs, societal debates about personhood have increased and expanded in terms of their practical implications. Before Dobbs, anti-abortion advocates admitted that Roe and subsequent cases limited the scope of their arguments, especially in relation to the legality …

Andrews Community Counseling Center, Ron Coffen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Efficacy Of Complexity-Based Target Selection For Treating Morphosyntactic Deficits In Children With Developmental Language Disorder And Children With Down Syndrome: A Single-Case Experimental Design, Kirsten M. Hannig Russell, Julie L. Wambaugh, John L. Davis, Sean M. Redmond

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Selecting targets for morphosyntactic intervention is a critical compo-nent of treatment planning. The complexity approach suggests that, by treating a complex morphosyntactic target, improvements will occur for the treated structure and for related, simpler structures. This study evaluated the efficacy of the complexity approach for treating morphosyntactic deficits by targeting a complex BE verb question structure for children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and children with Down syndrome (DS) and observing its impact on treated and untreated BE verb structures. We also explored whether etiology impacted our participants’ treatment responses.

Method: Three participants with DLD and three with DS …

Predictors Of Audit Quality: A Confirmatory Study, Joseph Philip Kambey, Williams Kwasi Peprah [email protected], Lenny Leorina Evinta, Cecilia Lelly Kewo

Faculty Publications

This study investigated the predictors of audit quality according to registered external auditors in Indonesia. Even though there are improvements in audit reports and practices, there is still some fraud and audit risk that affects the credibility of financial reports. This research is based on a random sample technique where 304 registered external auditors in Indonesia answered self-constructed research instruments and their validity was ascertained with exploratory factor analysis, where they resulted as good. The first-party distributed data were analyzed with multiple regression to determine the predictors of audit quality. The study revealed that internal controls, governance, and audit culture …

Golden Jubilee: Roy Anderson And The Start Of The Andrews University Speech And Hearing Clinic, Scott Moncrieff

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Global Empirical Model Of Sporadic-E Occurrence Rates, Eli V. Parsch, Anthony L. Franz, Eugene V. Dao, Dong L. Wu, Nimalan Swarnalingam, Cornelius C. J. H. Salinas, Daniel J. Emmons

Faculty Publications

Intense ionization enhancements in the Earth’s ionosphere, known as sporadic-E (E_s), can degrade and severely disrupt the propagation of radio signals. Although many previous studies have analyzed the characteristics and morphologies of sporadic-E, few efforts have attempted to model global E_s occurrence rates (ORs) at high time resolutions. This study develops a global empirical model of blanketing sporadic-E occurrence rates using a Karhunen–Loéve Expansion (KLE) of a global OR climatology built with Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (GNSS-RO) and ionosonde observations. Using an fbE ≥ threshold of 3 MHz, the model outputs a blanketing sporadic-E …

The Power Of All: Tort In The Age Of Constitution, Cristina Carmody Tilley

Faculty Publications

Life in a multicultural nation can be fraught. The United States is a case in point, with hostile tension between members of competing identity groups playing out today on streets, in offices, and across the media. Modern Americans assume that bridging race, gender, and class inequity is the stuff of public—constitutional—law. This assumption follows the lead of modern American lawyers, who migrated to this body of law just as historians, sociologists, and economists began to insist that the private law of tort was exclusively concerned with the accidental physical harms inevitable in a modern economy. According to this econostory, tort …

Privacy Law's Incumbency Problem, Peter Ormerod

Faculty Publications

Policymakers and scholars concerned with the power of informational platforms are questioning how traditional doctrinal silos like privacy law and antitrust law interact in digital markets. Their interaction has taken on new urgency in recent years as states have enacted a flurry of consent-based privacy laws and as digital markets have become increasingly dominated by the same few firms

Contemporary debates about the interaction of competition and privacy tend to ask what role, if any, privacy should play in the antitrust analysis. Little has been written about how new privacy laws shape the competitive landscape. This Article argues that consent-based …

How Do Scholars Conceptualize And Conduct Health And Digital Health Literacy Research? Survey Of Federally Funded Scholars, Mayank Sakhuja, Brooks Yelton Ma, Lmsw, Simone Kabarana, Lauren Schaurer, Jancham Rachel Rumthao, Samuel Noblet, Michelle Angelique Arent, Mark M. Macauda Phd, Mph, Lorie Donelle Phd, Rn, Fcan, Daniela B. Friedman Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background: The concept of health literacy (HL) is constantly evolving, and social determinants of health (SDoH) have been receiving considerable attention in public health scholarship. Since a 1-size-fits-all approach for HL fails to account for multiple contextual factors and as a result poses challenges in improving literacy levels, there is a need to develop a deeper understanding of the current state of HL and digital health literacy (DHL) research. Objective: This study examined scholars’ conceptualization and scope of work focused on HL and DHL. Methods: Using a search string, investigators (N=2042) focusing on HL, DHL, or both were identified from …

The Structure, Oxidation States, And Energetics Of Co Nanoparticles On Ceo2(111): An Stm And Dft Study, Md Saeedur Rahman, Nishan Paudyal, Linze Du Hill, Jing Zhou, Ye Xu

Faculty Publications

Co nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on ceria have been widely studied as active catalytic materials for many industrially relevant reactions. The detailed nature of such particles and the factors affecting their interaction with ceria remain to be better understood. In this study, a very low coverage (∼0.02 ML) of Co is deposited on a model CeO2(111) thin-film surface and is examined using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The Co NPs that nucleate on terrace sites grow with coverage in this range to a maximum size of ca. 40 Co atoms, with an average diameter and height of …