Digital Commons Network^™

Should School Boards Discontinue Support For High School Football?, Lewis H. Margolis, Greg Canty, Mark Halstead, John Lantos

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

A pediatrician is asked by her local school board to help them decide whether to discontinue their high school football program. She reviews the available evidence on the risks of football and finds it hopelessly contradictory. Some scholars claim that football is clearly more dangerous than other sports. Others suggest that the risks of football are comparable to other sports, such as lacrosse, ice hockey, or soccer. She finds very little data on the long-term sequelae of concussions. She sees claims that good coaching and a school culture that prioritizes the health of athletes over winning can reduce morbidity from …

Novel Mechanisms Controlling The Expression Of The Antidiabetic Hepatokine Fibroblast Growth Factor 21, Kimberly M. Alonge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The incidence of obesity has increased at an alarming rate during the past thirty years. Current therapies for the treatment and prevention of obesity and metabolic syndrome are ineffective and/or produce undesirable side effects. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a liver derived hormone that mediates adaptive changes in hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism by elevating energy expenditure and reducing lipid storage. Pharmacological administration of FGF21 analogs in both animal and human models induces striking reversals of obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the activity of FGF21 analogs exhibit short half-lives in blood circulation and are unsuitable for current treatment. …

Electrical Percolation Threshold Of Magnetostrictive Inclusions In Piezo-Electric Matrix Composite As A Function Of Relative Particle Size, Antoine Joseph Bedard Jr.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Magnetoelectric (ME) composites can be produced by placing magnetostrictive particles in a piezoelectric-matrix. Ferrite magnetostrictive (H) particles, if allowed to percolate, can short the potential difference generated in the piezoelectric (E) phase. This work focuses on modeling an ME composite as bi-disperse hard shells with the magnetostrictive H particles scaled to 100nm where particle dynamics is used to explore relationships among relative particle size, particle affinity, and electrical percolation with the goal of maximizing the percolation threshold. It was found that the two factors that increase the H to H intra-phase percolation threshold are: (1) the size of H particles …

Interactions Between Euwallacea Ambrosia Beetles, Their Fungal Symbionts And The Native Trees They Attack In The Eastern United States, Matthew C. Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In a globalized world, wood products are constantly being shipped from one location to another, along with tiny hitchhikers in the form of insects and microorganisms. Euwallacea validus is a fungus-farming ambrosia beetle native to East Asia that likely made its way to the United States in wood packaging materials in the latter half of the twentieth century. E. validus cultivates two fungal symbionts in the U.S., an unnamed Fusarium sp. (AF-4) and Raffaelea subfusca. Fusarium symbionts of Euwallacea ambrosia beetles as well as Raffaelea symbionts of closely related ambrosia beetles have incited widespread disease on more than one-hundred hosts …

Exploring Concentration And Duration Dependence In Hormesis, Maren S. Prediger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The phenomenon of hormesis, characterized by beneficial low-exposure stress-protective effects, has experienced increasing interest by the scientific community. Elucidating the underlying cellular signaling pathways that lead to a new homeostatic state can provide crucial information about new therapeutic targets to prevent and treat diseases. Commonly investigated for hormetic behavior are plant-based substances (phytochemicals), such as quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, curcumin, and resveratrol. The polyphenol resveratrol, found in peanuts, grapes, and subsequently in wine, is known for a variety of effects---beneficial and detrimental---depending on the investigated cell type and concentration. In HepG2 cells, an increase in proliferation has been observed previously at …

Fear Of Pain And Dental Care-Related Fear: Associations With The Mc1r Gene, Cameron L. Randall

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fear of pain is experienced in acute and chronic pain populations, as well as generally, and impacts numerous aspects of the pain experience, including pain intensity, pain-related disability, and pain behavior (e.g., avoidance). A related but separate construct, dental care-related fear, also is experienced in the general population, and impacts dental treatment-seeking behavior and oral and systemic health. Very minimal work has addressed the role of genetics in the etiologies of fear of pain and dental care-related fear. Limited available data suggest that variants of the melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene may predict greater levels of dental care-related fear. The MC1R …

Iconologia, Heather Ruth Rios

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The ideas and images presented in this paper, and the accompanying exhibition represent a portion of my research in the subjects of the Female Nude in Art History, as well as my exploration of related subjects including female self portraits, the male gaze in art, and the psychological impact of self-made, self-representations by women both in art history, and in contemporary American social media (i.e."selfies").

Where The Earth Breathes Inside: The Attitudes Of Lakota People Toward Wind Cave National Park, Adam Rossi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Wind Cave National Park, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, has a long and complex history concerning local indigenous peoples, including the Lakotas. Wind Cave is the location of the Lakotas' traditional origin story, and is now protected by a park that represents a federal government that many indigenous peoples of this country view negatively. Despite this, no study has attempted to characterize attitudes of local indigenous people towards the park. Recommendations from an earlier study encourage the park to collaborate closely with local indigenous tribes, and it would be beneficial for the park to have an understanding …

The Potential Impact Of Art Therapy Approaches In An Alternative Learning School Setting In Urban West Virginia, Brianna Saddler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Now more than ever American adolescents are suffering from severe anxiety (Lewis, 2017). In the past, over-achieving students were those parents least worried about when it came to experiencing anxiety but now studies show these students are just as likely to experience anxiety as those learners considered to be underachievers. The purpose of this paper is to inform the reader how art therapy approaches embedded into daily lesson plans could be used in alternative learning school settings to help students deal with anxiety. Through my own experiences as a practicing art teacher in both general education art classrooms and alternative …

Effect Of The Cpap-Saver Intervention On Adherence Among Adults With Newly Diagnosed Obstructive Sleep Apnea, April L. Shapiro

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects 25 million adults in the United States. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the treatment of choice, but adherence is poor. Many previous CPAP adherence interventions were not theory based, tended to impose time and cost burden, and did not focus on OSA airway-brain mechanism education or OSA-CPAP performance feedback. A new, multidimensional intervention, known as CPAP-SAVER, was developed, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), knowledge of CPAP facilitators and barriers, characteristics of CPAP adherers and nonadherers, and behavior change techniques. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of …

Substrate Nanotopography And Stiffness Modulation Of Cell Behaviors For Disease Detection And Modeling, Lin Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In most living tissue, cells resident in a complex microenvironment where these cells interact with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the neighboring cells. The interactions between cells and ECM could regulate the cell behavior. Similar to in vivo, in vitro models have been reported that cells have the ability to sense the nanotopography and stiffness of synthetic substrate and, the variation of substrate nanotopography configuration and stiffness could affect cell phenotype and function.;The first project focused on applying nanotopography to capture circulating tumor cells (CTCs) for early cancer detection. CTCs shed from primary tumors, transport through the bloodstream to distant …

Investigating Social Perceptions Associated With Water Quality In Morgantown, West Virginia, Jonas G. Leveque

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation investigates public perceptions of water quality in Morgantown, West Virginia. In recent years, water has become an increasingly critical issue in terms of quantity worldwide, and also in terms of quality. In developed countries such as the United States, water quality is often taken for granted by the general public. Nonetheless, recent water crises in Flint, Michigan and Charleston, West Virginia, are examples showing there are environmental risks associated with human activities. This dissertation explores the context of West Virginia, with coal mining that is decreasing and non-conventional oil and gas drilling that is increasing in the Appalachia …

Fish, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) And Natural Resource Injury, Daniel W. Sparks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) program is authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) to pursue compensation for injury to, or destruction and loss of, natural resources. Fish are an important "natural resource" present in almost all aquatic ecosystems. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a hazardous substance and have been shown to cause harm to fish (and fish-eating animals). A series of investigations were conducted to determine if "injury" had occurred to creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) and in one study, the fish community that creek chubs were a part of, …

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Is Transmissible Among Cells Of The Central Nervous System, Neil T. Sprenkle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Improper protein folding and trafficking are common pathological events observed in various cell types in neurodegenerative diseases. If the protein quality control mechanisms of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) fail to re-establish proteostasis, misfolded proteins accumulate within the lumen of the ER and perturb normal cellular processes. While low-level stimulation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is considered a beneficial physiological response to transient protein misfolding stress, or ER stress, sustained UPR activation resulting from prolonged ER stress can promote neurotoxicity. The cell-autonomous mechanisms of the UPR have been extensively characterized in the context of neuropathology. Nevertheless, there still remain unanswered …

Attracting A New Generation Of Participants To The Elderly Nutrition Program, Christa Ann Stangl

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

The purpose of this study was to explore the types of services, programs, and activities needed and/or desired by older adults. The secondary purpose of this study is to explore what prompts and/or influences older adults, to participate in programs related to their health and wellbeing. This study is needed, because the population of older adults has increased, due to the baby boomer generation. Even though there is a large population increase there is a decrease in the use of senior centers. The study used qualitative methods by the means of eight focus group locations in the state of North …

Postembryonic Development Of Nonmarine Ostracod Chlamydotheca Arcuata (Sars, 1901)(Crustacea: Ostracoda), Reared In The Laboratory, Analia Roxana Diaz, Estela Celia Lopretto

Turkish Journal of Zoology

We describe here 8 instars (from A-8 through A-1) of the postembryonic development of the Cyprididae Chlamydotheca arcuata (Sars, 1901) from hatching to sexually mature individuals. To study the development of this species, cultures of adult parthenogenetic female specimens were established and maintained in the laboratory. The ostracod specimens were collected from temporary ponds and streams in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. This report provides a description of the chaetotaxy of each limb along with detailed illustrations. Photographs of eggs and carapaces were taken using scanning electron microscopy. The complete development of Chlamydotheca arcuata lasted between 80 and 90 days. In …

Phylogenetic Status And Genetic Diversity Of Corsac Fox(Vulpes Corsac) In Golestan Province, Iran, Jalil Imani Harsini, Hamid Reza Rezaei, Saeid Naderi, Hosein Varasteh Moradi

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The lack of detailed and precise reports about the presence of corsac fox has caused ambiguities about the presence or absence or even extinction status of this species in its distribution range in Iran. Therefore, this is one of the complicated issues in Iran?s wildlife fauna and there has been no clear scientific answer to this question to date. In this study, 7 mitochondrial DNA control region haplotypes were identified in 10 corsac fox samples (4 tissue and 6 scat) taken from Golestan Province in Iran, and haplotype diversity was equal to 0.93. The genetic distance between individuals showed large …

Notice And Standing In The Fourth Amendment: Searches Of Personal Data, Jennifer Daskal

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In at least two recent cases, courts have rejected service providers' capacity to raise Fourth Amendment claims on behalf of their customers. These holdings rely on longstanding Supreme Court doctrine establishing a general rule against third parties asserting the Fourth Amendment rights of others. However, there is a key difference between these two recent cases and those cases on which the doctrine rests. The relevant Supreme Court doctrine stems from situations in which someone could take action to raise the Fourth Amendment claim, even if the particular thirdparty litigant could not. In the situations presented by the recent cases, by …

Access To Data Across Borders: The Critical Role For Congress To Play Now, Jennifer Daskal

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Study Of Histoarchitectural Changes In Anopheles Stephensi Larvae Following Exposure To Eucalyptus Globulus And Aloe Vera Oils, Amaninder Kaur Riat, Devinder Kocher

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Chemical-based insecticides/larvicides pose a great threat to humans. The present study describes the histopathological changes in Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae) larvae after exposure to two essential oils, i.e. Eucalyptus globulus and Aloe vera. The exposure of 4th instar larvae of An. stephensi to 90 ppm of E. globulus and 550 ppm of A. vera oils resulted in various histological alterations in organs of the head regions like disintegration of the brain and other structures, disorganization in the imaginal buds of the antennae, complete disappearance of the optic lobes, and total disruption of the inner and outer retractor muscles of …

Experiential Learning And Assessment In The Era Of Donald Trump, Jamie Abrams

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Law teaching is turning a critical corner with the implementation of new ABA accreditation standards requiring greater skills development, experiential learning, and student assessment. Years of debate and discourse preceded the adoption of these ABA Standards, followed by a surge in programming, conferencing, and list-serv activity to prepare to implement these standards effectively. Missing from the dialogue about effective implementation of standards has been thoughtful consideration of how implementing these requirements will intersect with the challenges, realities, opportunities, and complexities of political divisiveness and polarization so prevalent in society and university campuses today.

Law schools are notably implementing these pedagogical …

Teenage Pregnancy, Parenting, And Abortion: Legal Limits On Adolescents' Reproductive Rights, Maya Manian

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

As numerous scholars have noted, the law takes a strikingly incoherent approach to adolescent reproduction. States overwhelmingly allow a teenage girl to independently consent to pregnancy care and medical treatment for her child, and even to give up her child for adoption, all without notice to her parents, but require parental notice or consent for abortion. This chapter argues that this oft-noted contradiction in the law on teenage reproductive decision-making is in fact not as contradictory as it first appears. A closer look at the law's apparently conflicting approaches to teenage abortion and teenage childbirth exposes common ground that scholars …

The Commercial Appropriation Of Frame: A Cultural Analysis Of Right Of Publicity And Passing Off, Peter Jaszi

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Over several centuries, the rhetoric of 'gap filling' has often been invoked to naturalise expansions of intellectual property ("IP") rights-copyright term extension, the patenting of life forms, trademark disparagement, and so forth. The ready pragmatism of the phrase has definite audience appeal, making big changes sound like straightforward responses to external conditions-rather than choices about how to draw the line between private ownership and public discourse. We know, however, that once filled, 'gaps' tend to stay filled. Retrospective debates about the wisdom of such decisions tend to be (both literally and figuratively) of merely academic interest. So what is most …

Is The Future Of Law A Driverless Car? Assessing How The Data Analytics Revolution Will Transform Legal Practice, Eric L. Talley

Faculty Scholarship

Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies (“data analytics”) are quickly transforming research and practice in law, raising questions of whether the law can survive as a vibrant profession for natural persons to enter. In this article, I argue that data analytics approaches are overwhelmingly likely to continue to penetrate law, even in domains that have heretofore been dominated by human decision makers. As a vehicle for demonstrating this claim, I describe an extended example of using machine learning to identify and categorize fiduciary duty waiver provisions in publicly disclosed corporate documents. Notwithstanding the power of machine learning techniques, however, I …

Introduction: Judges As Diplomats In Advancing The Rule Of Law: A Conversation With President Koen Lenaerts And Justice Stephen Breyer, Fernanda Nicola

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Introduction. On both sides of the Atlantic, Western countries have taken a well publicized and perhaps poorly understood turn toward leaders espousing extremist, xenophobic, and introspective politics that threaten the core tenets of liberal democracy. Electorates appear divided and confused as political leadership in Europe and the U.S. take measures that undermine the basic principles of the rule of law and human rights. Above all else, the designated defenders of the constitutional order, the supreme courts, have come under direct political attack in countries such as Hungary and Poland. Even in traditional bastions of Western democracy, like the United States …

Copyright, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter o􀁼ers an overview of copyright in general in common law and civil law countries, with an emphasis on the United States (US) and the European Union (EU). It addresses the history and philosophies of copyright (authors’ right), subject matter of copyright (including the requirement of 􀁿xation and the exclusion of “ideas”), formalities, initial ownership and transfers of title, duration, exclusive moral and economic rights (including reproduction, adaptation, public performance and communication and making available to the public, distribution and exhaustion of the distribution right), exceptions and limitations (including fair use), and remedies. It also covers the liability of …

Building Prevention To Protect: The Inter-American Human Rights System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Teaching And Practicing Community Development Poverty Law: Lawyers And Clients As Trusted Neighborhood Problem Solvers, Susan Bennett, Alicia Alvarez, Louise Howells, Hannah Lieberman

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The Washington Redskins Case And The Search For Dignity, Victoria Phillips

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: For more than sixty years, Native American activists have been involved in discussions and protests over the appropriation and use of tribal references in sports names, logos, and mascots. During this same period, many of these uses have since been changed, driven by civil rights struggles and a growing awareness of the proven social harms and racism inherent in these references. Despite a gradual movement towards abolition and evolving signs of cultural understanding, many mascots invoking Native names and imagery persist today across professional, collegiate, and local school district sports. These mascots and team names, and the trademarks associated …

We Have Lost A Sense Of Purpose About Eliminating Torture, Juan E. Mendez

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.