Digital Commons Network^™

Using Rapid Reviews In Nursing And Midwifery Research: An Example From A Study Commissioned To Inform Policy-Making, Denise O'Leary, Mary Casey, Laserina O’Connor, Diarmuid Stokes, Gerard Fealy, Denise O’Brien, Rita Smith, Martin Mcnamara, Claire Egan

Articles

Aim: To illustrate the potential use of rapid review approaches in nursing and midwifery research by presenting a worked example from a study conducted to inform policy decision making.

Background: Rapid reviews, which can be defined as outputs of a knowledge synthesis approach that involves modifying or omitting elements of a systematic review process due to limited time or resources, are becoming increasingly popular in health research. This paper provides guidance on how a rapid review can be undertaken and discusses the strengths and challenges of the approach.

Data source and research design: Data from a rapid …

Arts And Humanities Research, Redefining Public Benefit, And Research Prioritization In Ireland, Andrew Gibson, Ellen Hazelkorn

Articles

This article looks at the effects of a national policy of research prioritization in the years following Ireland’s economic crisis. A national research prioritization exercise initiated by policymakers redefined the purpose of higher education research, and designed policies in line with this approach. Placing research for enterprise to the fore, it emphasized the economic value that subjects could return on state investments. This article examines the post-crisis policy of prioritization, its relationship with and effects on arts and humanities research, and how the notion of the benefit of research can be broadened while still addressing economic needs. It draws on …

Cancer Care Annual Report 2016-2017, Children's Mercy Hospital

Cancer Center Annual Reports

Annual report of cancer care and oncology services at the Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City MO, a pediatric medical center. This report has a focus on sarcomas.

Lawrence University Course Catalog, 2017-2018, Lawrence University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Chapter 2 - Life Cycles And Morphology, Janice M. Glime

Bryophyte Ecology Volume 1: Physiological Ecology

Explore the contents of Bryophyte Ecology, Volume 1, Chapter 2 - Life Cycles and Morphology by clicking the links above. For the Contents section of this ebook, as well as Volumes 1 through 5, please visit the Bryophyte Ecology Main Page.

Use CTRL+F to easily search within PDF files.

Ebook sponsored by Michigan Technological University and the International Association of Bryologists.

This video of Marchantia sperm dispersal accompanies this chapter: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/bryophyte-ecology-video/1/

Perennial Warm-Season Grasses For Producing Biofuel And Enhancing Soil Properties: An Alternative To Corn Residue Removal, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Robert B. Mitchell, Virginia L. Jin, Marty R. Schmer, Kent M. Eskridge

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Removal of corn (Zea mays L.) residues at high rates for biofuel and other off-farm uses may negatively impact soil and the environment in the long term. Biomass removal from perennial warm-season grasses (WSGs) grown in marginally-productive lands could be an alternative to corn residue removal as biofuel feedstocks while controlling water and wind erosion, sequestering carbon (C), cycling water and nutrients, and enhancing other soil ecosystem services. We compared wind and water erosion potential, soil compaction, soil hydraulic properties, soil organic C (SOC), and soil fertility between biomass removal from WSGs and corn residue removal from rainfed no-till …

Impact Of Menthol Smoking On Nicotine Dependence For Diverse Racial/Ethnic Groups Of Daily Smokers, Julia N. Soulakova, Ryan R. Danczak

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Introduction: The aims of this study were to evaluate whether menthol smoking and race/ethnicity are associated with nicotine dependence in daily smokers. Methods: The study used two subsamples of U.S. daily smokers who responded to the 2010–2011 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey. The larger subsample consisted of 18,849 non-Hispanic White (NHW), non-Hispanic Black (NHB), and Hispanic (HISP) smokers. The smaller subsample consisted of 1112 non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN), non-Hispanic Asian (ASIAN), non-Hispanic Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (HPI), and non-Hispanic Multiracial (MULT) smokers. Results: For larger (smaller) groups the rates were 45% (33%) for heavy smoking (16+ cig/day), 59% …

Generalized Confidence Intervals Compatible With The Min Test For Simultaneous Comparisons Of One Subpopulation To Several Other Subpopulations, Julia N. Soulakova

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

A problem where one subpopulation is compared to several other subpopulations in terms of means with the goal of estimating the smallest difference between the means commonly arises in biology, medicine, and many other scientific fields. A generalization of Strassburger, Bretz and Hochberg (2004) approach for two comparisons is presented for cases with three and more comparisons. The method allows constructing an interval-estimator for the smallest mean difference, which is compatible with the Min test. An application to a fluency-disorder study is illustrated. Simulations confirmed adequate probability coverage for normally distributed outcomes for a number of designs.

Application Of Response Surface Methods To Determine Conditions For Optimal Genomic Prediction, Reka Howard, Alicia L. Carriquiry, William D. Beavis

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

An epistatic genetic architecture can have a significant impact on prediction accuracies of genomic prediction (GP) methods. Machine learning methods predict traits comprised of epistatic genetic architectures more accurately than statistical methods based on additive mixed linear models. The differences between these types of GP methods suggest a diagnostic for revealing genetic architectures underlying traits of interest. In addition to genetic architecture, the performance of GP methods may be influenced by the sample size of the training population, the number of QTL, and the proportion of phenotypic variability due to genotypic variability (heritability). Possible values for these factors and the …

Trans-Ancestry Fine Mapping And Molecular Assays Identify Regulatory Variants At The Angptl8 Hdl-C Gwas Locus, Maren E. Cannon, Qing Duan, Ying Wu, Monica Zeynalzadeh, Zheng Xu, Antti J. Kangas, Pasi Soininen, Mika Ala-Korpela, Mete Civelek, Aldons J. Lusis, Johanna Kuusisto, Francis S. Collins, Michael Boehnke, Hua Tang, Markku Laakso, Yun Li, Karen L. Mohlke

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified variants associated with highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) located in or near the ANGPTL8 gene. Given the extensive sharing of GWAS loci across populations, we hypothesized that at least one shared variant at this locus affects HDL-C. The HDL-C–associated variants are coincident with expression quantitative trait loci for ANGPTL8 and DOCK6 in subcutaneous adipose tissue; however, only ANGPTL8 expression levels are associated with HDL-C levels. We identified a 400-bp promoter region of ANGPTL8 and enhancer regions within 5 kb that contribute to regulating expression in liver and adipose. To identify variants functionally responsible for …

Don Roeder, Don Roeder

Simon's Rock Institutional Oral History Project

Selected excerpts from the Oral History Project interview. The full transcript may be restricted. To request access please contact the Simon’s Rock College Archives.

• At that point [1979] the only place we had on campus to meet was the ARC. I remember this big meeting in the ARC. And Betty Hall was the best I’d ever seen her. She got up and said, “Well, we’re going to have this merger between Bard College and Simon’s Rock.” The analogy she used was brilliant. She talked about the chicken called the Barred Rock. There’s the Barred Rock, which is a chicken. …

Shenoute’S Feast: Monastic Ideology, Lay Piety, And The Discourse Of Food In Late Antiquity, Dana Robinson

Faculty Publications - Department of History and Politics

In the fourth and fifth centuries c.e., food provides a dense and value-laden web of meaning which lay and monastic Christians use to negotiate their identity with the culture at large, but also vis-à-vis each other. The works of Shenoute of Atripe are a valuable source of insight into the workings of this discourse in a Christian community, since they embrace both internal monastic instruction (the Canons) and public sermons (the Discourses). The first half of this paper constructs Shenoute’s ideology of the Christian meal in terms of the larger discourse of food in which it participates. He …

The Use Of Raman Spectroscopy For The Identification Of Forensically Relevant Body Fluid Stains, Tyler Schlagetter, Claire L. Glynn, Brooke Weinger Kammrath

Forensic Science Publications

Raman spectroscopy is fast becoming a popular technique in the forensic science discipline, and more recently its focus has turned to biological samples. This study reveals the ability of Raman spectroscopy to identify some forensically relevant body fluids, both individually and within mixed samples, that can be crucial in some forensic investigations. This study also further demonstrates the capabilities of Raman as a means for human blood identification in simulated crime scene samples to include bloodstains on a variety of fabrics, at varying dilutions, following laundering, and with the use of various blood-enhancement reagents. The impact of washing and blood-enhancement …

Grief, Loss, And Separation: Experiences Of Birth Children Of Foster Carers, David Williams

Articles

Previous research identifies the increased exposure of birth children of foster carers to experiences of separation, grief, and loss due to the transient nature of foster care, but little is known about how birth children manage this loss. This paper reports findings from a qualitative study that examined the retrospective experiences of 15 adult birth children of foster carers (aged between 18 and 28 years) in Ireland. Findings suggest that birth children experience grief and loss when foster children leave their families. They report experiencing a range of emotional responses such as guilt, blame, and sadness. A reluctance to discuss …

Lectures Beyond Classrooms: Open Source Education Avenues For Students, Kishor Chandra Satpathy, K M Baharul Islam

Book Chapters

The advent of the affordable and accessible Internet in our society, especially in the urban areas, has changed the way our students can diversify their knowledge input today. Gone are the days when the students have to depend solely on ‘lectures’ delivered by their teachers in college. With wireless broadband, hotspots, cyber cafes, cloud computing, and the ‘free laptops’ around, it is essential for the students (and teachers) to posit the available online video lectures along with the classroom lecturers, prescribed syllabus and curricula in a holistic higher education approach. A cursory look at the various resources available on the …

Two Ironies Of Upl Laws, David Mcgowan

Chapman Law Review

No abstract provided.

Novel Wavelet-Based Segmentation Of Prostate Cbct Images With Implanted Calypso Transponders., Y. Liu, Z. Saleh, Y. Song, M. Chan, X. Li, C. Shi, X. Qian, X. Tang

Journal Articles

Segmentation of prostate Cone Beam CT (CBCT) images is an essential step towards real-time adaptive radiotherapy (ART). It is challenging for Calypso patients, as more artifacts generated by the beacon transponders are present on the images. We herein propose a novel wavelet-based segmentation algorithm for rectum, bladder, and prostate of CBCT images with implanted Calypso transponders. For a given CBCT, a Moving Window-Based Double Haar (MWDH) transformation is applied first to obtain the wavelet coefficients. Based on a user defined point in the object of interest, a cluster algorithm based adaptive thresholding is applied to the low frequency components of …

Exploration Of Bioactive Compounds Of Ginger As A Folk Remedy For Migraines, Nathan Vorbes Aleger

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale) has been used in Asia for centuries to treat various ailments. Ginger has been reported to alleviate migraine pain via four bioactive compounds that can reduce nitric oxide synthase (NOS) resulting in the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO). The inhibition of nitric oxide results in the vasoconstriction of the intracranial blood vessels alleviating migraine pain. It is hypothesized that ginger has structural similarities to vasoconstrictor drugs causing similar receptor interactions. A review of the bioactive compounds in ginger and popular vasoconstrictor drugs was done to determine structural similarities. The results of this study show that …

The Effect Of K562-Il21-2 Plasma Membrane Particles On The Proliferation Of Natural Killer Cells To Fight Cancer, Michelle Prophete

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Immunotherapy has emerged as a current and future paradigm of cancer treatment, which utilizes the body’s immune system to eradicate cancer. Natural Killer (NK) cells as part of the innate immune system have immense potential in their anti-tumor cytotoxic activities and host cell surveillance properties. NK cells comprise approximately five to fifteen percent of peripheral blood lymphocytes and can be proliferated in vitro using recently developed methods with co-cultures with feeder cells (derived from engineered tumor cells) or plasma membrane (PM) particles, produced from the fore mentioned feeder cells, in combination with soluble cytokines. For efficient growth and maintenance of …

Royal River Fish Passage Studies Summary Report, Royal River Watershed, Yarmouth, North Yarmouth, New Gloucester, Pownal, Durham, Gray, And Auburn, Maine, Gza Geoenvironmental, Inc.

Publications

No abstract provided.

Differentiation Of Self: Enhancing Therapist Resilience When Working With Relational Trauma, Linda Mackay

Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Clinicians are charged with being diligent in gaining competency in the latest trauma‐informed interventions when working with relational trauma. This may invest therapists with an overresponsibility that is not only overwhelming and unrealistic, but serves to reduce autonomous functioning in family members. Therefore, clinicians need to become clear about what they are responsible for and what they are not, particularly when family members present as irresponsible or too anxious to think and act more effectively. Using a case vignette, this paper discusses how a clinician's focus on increasing their differentiation of self, a concept embeded in Bowen family systems theory, …

Genome Sequencing Of The Sweetpotato Whitefly Bemisia Tabaci Med/Q, Wen Xie, Evan L. Preisser, Et Al

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The sweetpotato whitefly Bemisia tabaci is a highly destructive agricultural and ornamental crop pest. It damages host plants through both phloem feeding and vectoring plant pathogens. Introductions of B. tabaci are difficult to quarantine and eradicate because of its high reproductive rates, broad host plant range, and insecticide resistance. A total of 791 Gb of raw DNA sequence from whole genome shotgun sequencing, and 13 BAC pooling libraries were generated by Illumina sequencing using different combinations of mate-pair and pair-end libraries. Assembly gave a final genome with a scaffold N50 of 437 kb, and a total length of 658 Mb. …

First Record Of The Megamouth Shark, Megachasma Pelagios, (Family Megachasmidae) In The Tropical Western North Atlantic Ocean, Grisel Rodriguez-Ferrer, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Michelle Schärer, Craig Lilyestrom, Jan P. Zegarra, Mahmood Shivji

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: A new record of Megachasma pelagios is here reported for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean from Puerto Rico.

Results: On December 10, 2016, a tourist reported an unusual stranded shark on Mojacasabe Beach, Cabo Rojo, on the southwestern coast of Puerto Rico. Visual examination of the carcass and mitochondrial DNA analysis from a dorsal fin sample revealed it to be a 457 cm female megamouth shark.

Conclusion: This record represents the first record of M. pelagios for the tropical western North Atlantic Ocean within the Caribbean Sea of southwest Puerto Rico and only the second record of M. …

Expression Map Of A Complete Set Of Gustatory Receptor Genes In Chemosensory Organs Of Bombyx Mori, Huizhen Guo, Tingcai Cheng, Zhiwei Chen, Liang Jiang, Youbing Guo, Jianqiu Liu, Shenglong Li, Kiyoko Taniai, Kiyoshi Asaoka, Keiko Kadono-Okuda, Kallare P. Arunkumar, Jiaqi Wu, Hirohisa Kishino, Huijie Zhang, Rakesh K. Seth, Karumathil P. Gopinathan, Nicolas Montagné, Emmanuelle Jacquin-Joly, Marian R. Goldsmith, Qingyou Xia, Kazuei Mita

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Most lepidopteran species are herbivores, and interaction with host plants affects their gene expression and behavior as well as their genome evolution. Gustatory receptors (Grs) are expected to mediate host plant selection, feeding, oviposition and courtship behavior. However, due to their high diversity, sequence divergence and extremely low level of expression it has been difficult to identify precisely a complete set of Grs in Lepidoptera. By manual annotation and BAC sequencing, we improved annotation of 43 gene sequences compared with previously reported Grs in the most studied lepidopteran model, the silkworm, Bombyx mori, and identified 7 new tandem copies …

Individual And Non‐Additive Effects Of Exotic Sap‐Feeders On Root Functional And Mycorrhizal Traits Of A Shared Conifer Host, Robert N. Schaeffer, Claire M. Wilson, Laura Radville, Mauri Barrett, Elizabeth Whitney, Sofia Roitman, Esther R. Miller, Benjamin E. Wolfe, Carol S. Thornber, Colin M. Orians, Evan L. Preisser

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Forest pests drive tree mortality through disruption of functional traits linked to nutrient acquisition, growth and reproduction. The impacts of attack by individual or multiple above‐ground herbivores on root functional traits critical to tree health have received little attention. This is especially true for exotic herbivores, organisms often found in disturbed forests.
2. We excavated whole‐root systems from eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) individuals experimentally infested with hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA: Adelges tsugae) and elongate hemlock scale (EHS: Fiorina externa) individually, or in combination, for periods of 2 and 4 years. Below‐ground root biomass, functional traits and storage …

College Of Pharmacy Spring 2017 Newsletter, Uri College Of Pharmacy

College of Pharmacy Publications

The Spring 2017 Newsletter for the College of Pharmacy is a periodical focused on department news and research.

Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate Bulletin [2017], Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Bulletins

Graduate bulletin for Virginia Commonwealth University for the academic year 2017-2018. It includes information on academic regulations, degree requirements, course offerings, faculty, academic calendar, and tuition and expenses for graduate programs.

Delivering Safer Immunotherapies For Cancer, Lauren Milling, Yuan Zhang, Darrell J. Irvine

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Cancer immunotherapy is now a powerful clinical reality, with a steady progression of new drug approvals and a massive pipeline of additional treatments in clinical and preclinical development. However, modulation of the immune system can be a double-edged sword: Drugs that activate immune effectors are prone to serious non-specific systemic inflammation and autoimmune side effects. Drug delivery technologies have an important role to play in harnessing the power of immune therapeutics while avoiding on-target/off-tumor toxicities. Here we review mechanisms of toxicity for clinically-relevant immunotherapeutics, and discuss approaches based in drug delivery technology to enhance the safety and potency of these …

Hepatic Lipid Accumulation And Nrf2 Expression Following Perinatal And Peripubertal Exposure To Bisphenol A In A Mouse Model Of Nonalcoholic Liver Disease, Prajakta C. Shimpi, Vijay R. More, Maneesha Paranjpe, Ajay C. Donepudi, Jaclyn M. Goodrich, Dana C. Dolinoy, Beverly Rubin, Angela L. Slitt

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Exposure to chemicals during critical windows of development may re-program liver for increased risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Bisphenol A (BPA), a plastics component, has been described to impart adverse effects during gestational and lactational exposure. Our work has pointed to nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) being a modulator of hepatic lipid accumulation in models of NAFLD.

Objectives: To determine if chemical exposure can prime liver for steatosis via modulation of NRF2 and epigenetic mechanisms.

Methods: Utilizing BPA as a model exposure, pregnant CD-1 mice were administered 25μg/kg/day" role="presentation">25μg/kg/day BPA via osmotic …

Sharing Extended Summary Data From Contemporary Genetics Studies Is Unlikely To Threaten Subject Privacy, Silviu-Alin Bacanu

Psychiatry Publications

Background

Starting from a forensic problem, Homer et al. showed that it was possible to detect if an individual contributes only 0.5% of the DNA in a pool. The finding was extended to prove the possibility of detecting whether a subject participated in a small homogeneous GWAS. We denote this as the detection of a subject belonging to a certain cohort (SBCC). Subsequently, Visscher and Hill showed that the power to detect SBCC signal for an ethnically homogeneous cohort depends roughly on the ratio of the number of independent markers and total sample size. However, it …