Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Loyalty Programs On Profits And Customer Retention, Kennylyn Miranda

Senior Capstone Projects

The purpose of study is to do an empirical analysis of the effects of customer loyalty and how it relates to customer retention and increases overall profits, particularly in the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is continually changing and is encompassed in a highly competitive environment. Loyalty Programs are a form of marketing strategies that are set to attract, maintain, and enhance customer relationships (Yoo, 2011). The discussion of the study indicates that there is a significant increase in company profits due to customer retention and loyal customers.

In any business customer loyalty is a factor that drives the overall …

Functional Outcomes In Early (T1/T2) Supraglottic Cancer: A Systematic Review, Benjamin Van Der Woerd, Krupal B. Patel, Anthony C. Nichols, Kevin Fung, John Yoo, Danielle S. Macneil

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

ObjectivesOrgan preserving surgery (OPS) and radiotherapy (RT) are both accepted treatment options for early stage supraglottic cancer (SGC). Radiation has supplanted surgery in most cases, because of the perception that surgery results in poorer functional outcomes. However, evidence suggests that OPS with a neck dissection may be associated with improved survival. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to compare functional outcomes of OPS and RT for early SGC.MethodsWe searched Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials to identify studies. Studies were included if they reported functional outcomes on 10 or more patients with …

Business Computing And Quantitative Analysis Bus 113, Andree Rathemacher

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

2018 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section B), Alexander Cooper, Katie Diekema, Grace Fasipe, Daniella Sugijanto, Alec Dejonge, Timothy Dykhuis, Breanna Kooiman, Samuel Olson, Brennan Boice, Tyler Gustman, Daniel Norton, Christopher Vanwhye, Robert Capozzoli, Jared Minderhoud, Clark Richeson, Nathan Schuyten

ENGR 333

What is the largest possible reduction in Calvin College’s annual energy costs from a $5M initial investment in renewable energy? Renewable energy systems are essential for Calvin College to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality to meet the Carbon Commitment that President Le Roy signed in December 2017. Also, a significant cost reduction could be a positive result of transitioning to renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind, solar, and biomass. Four renewable energy sources were studied throughout the semester to determine a feasible renewable energy plan for Calvin with a $5M investment.

Stroke Outcomes With Vorapaxar Versus Placebo In Patients With Acute Coronary Syndromes: Insights From The Tracer Trial, Leo Ungar, Robert M. Clare, Fatima Rodriguez, Bradley J Kolls, Paul W. Armstrong, Philip Aylward, Claes Held, David J. Moliterno, John Strony, Frans Van De Werf, Lars Wallentin, Harvey D. White, Pierluigi Tricoci, Robert A. Harrington, Kenneth W. Mahaffey, Chiara Melloni

Gill Heart & Vascular Institute Faculty Publications

Background—Vorapaxar, a protease‐activated receptor‐1 antagonist, is approved for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events but is associated with increased intracranial hemorrhage.

Methods and Results—TRACER (Thrombin Receptor Antagonist for Clinical Event Reduction in Acute Coronary Syndrome) was a trial of vorapaxar versus placebo among patients with acute coronary syndrome. Strokes were adjudicated by a central events committee. Of 12 944 patients, 199 (1.5%) had ≥1 stroke during the study period (median follow‐up, 477 days). Four patients had a single stroke of unknown type; 195 patients had ≥1 stroke classified as hemorrhagic or nonhemorrhagic (165 nonhemorrhagic, 28 hemorrhagic, and 2 both). …

Tumor Cell-Released Autophagosomes (Traps) Promote Immunosuppression Through Induction Of M2-Like Macrophages With Increased Expression Of Pd-L1., Zhi-Fa Wen, Hongxiang Liu, Rong Gao, Meng Zhou, Jie Ma, Yue Zhang, Jinjin Zhao, Yongqiang Chen, Tianyu Zhang, Fang Huang, Ning Pan, Jinping Zhang, Bernard A Fox, Hong-Ming Hu, Li-Xin Wang

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) facilitate tumor progression via establishment of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). However, it is poorly understood how tumor cells could functionally modulate TAMs. Our previous work indicated that tumor cell-released autophagosomes (TRAPs), a type of LC3-II

METHODS: TRAPs isolated from multiple murine tumor cell lines and pleural effusions or ascites of cancer patients were incubated with bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and monocytes, respectively. Cellular phenotypes were examined by flow cytometry, ELISA and quantitative PCR. TRAPs treated BMDMs were tested for the ability to suppress T-cell proliferation in vitro, and for promotion of tumor growth in vivo. …

Recycling Just Got More Expensive. Can It Be Done Better?, Zachery Homolka

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

There was a time in history that America led the world in recycling. In World War Two, Americans were asked to recycle tin, steel, paper, and rubber for the war effort. The University of Southern Carolina states that children were so eager to participate, they went door to door collecting recyclable scraps to turn in to be made into tanks, planes, and ammunition. Yet, in 2017 the National Geographic estimated about 91% of plastic produced globally has not been recycled and instead is landfilled or littered into the environment. America is no longer leading the recycling charge, the World Economic …

Enabling Retrospective Application Of The Denial Of Benefits Clause: An Analysis Of Decisions Of Tribunals Under The Energy Charter Treaty, Ramya Ramachanderan

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Raising The Bar: The Aba’S Pulling Of Accreditation And Its Oversight In Legal Education, Alex Gass

SLU Law Journal Online

The American Bar Association's role in accrediting and disciplining law schools has entered a new and contentious era: litigation. In this article, Alex Gass discusses the history of law school accreditation and the recent lawsuits against the ABA by law schools disciplined for their failure to adhere to ABA standards.

Determination Of Chemical Speciation Of Arsenic And Selenium In High-As Coal Combustion Ash By X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy: Examples From A Kentucky Stoker Ash, Biao Fu, James C. Hower, Shifeng Dai, Sarah M. Mardon, Guijian Liu

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

Knowledge of the chemical speciation of arsenic and selenium in coal fly ash is essential in the evaluation of the environmental behavior of fly ash disposed in a landfill in a natural environment. In this study, a series of high-As coal fly ash from stoker boilers were collected to determine the chemical forms of arsenic and selenium. The ash surface chemical characteristics and the speciation of arsenic and selenium were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray-induced Auger electron spectroscopy. The results indicate that the surface enrichment ratio for selenium (63.3–309.5) is higher than that of arsenic (1.2–21.2). The Wagner …

Predator Cues Increase Silkmoth Mortality, Alex K. Baranowski, Evan L. Preisser

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

While prey responses to predators reduce the threat of consumption, the physiological costs of these responses can be considerable. This is especially true for organisms that lack effective anti-predator defenses and must rely on camouflage or mimicry for protection. The luna moth, Actias luna, is a large saturniid native to Eastern North America that is preyed on and parasitized by a wide variety of predators and parasitoids. We report the results of two separate experiments assessing the responses of Actias larvae to predatory wasps (Vespula maculifrons) that were rendered non-lethal but remained able to move freely, as …

Quantifying Mg 2+ Binding To Ssdna Oligomers: A Self-Consistent Field Theory Study At Varying Ionic Strengths And Grafting Densities, Merina Jahan, Mark J. Uline

Faculty Publications

The performance of aptamer-based biosensors is crucially impacted by their interactions with physiological metal ions, which can alter their structures and chemical properties. Therefore, elucidating the nature of these interactions carries the utmost importance in the robust design of highly efficient biosensors. We investigated Mg ²⁺ binding to varying sequences of polymers to capture the effects of ionic strength and grafting density on ion binding and molecular reorganization of the polymer layer. The polymers are modeled as ssDNA aptamers using a self-consistent field theory, which accounts for non-covalent ion binding by integrating experimentally-derived binding constants. Our model captures the typical …

Evidence For Minimal Cardiogenic Potential Of Stem Cell Antigen 1-Positive Cells In The Adult Mouse Heart., Lauren E Neidig, Florian Weinberger, Nathan J Palpant, John Mignone, Amy M Martinson, Daniel W Sorensen, Ingrid Bender, Natsumi Nemoto, Hans Reinecke, Lil Pabon, Jeffery D Molkentin, Charles E Murry, Jop H Van Berlo

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Analyzed Sequence Length On Parameters In Laryngeal High-Speed Videoendoscopy, Patrick Schlegel, Marion Semmler, Melda Kunduk, Michael Döllinger, Christopher Bohr, Anne Schützenberger

Faculty Publications

Laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) allows objective quantification of vocal fold vibratory characteristics. However, it is unknown how the analyzed sequence length affects some of the computed parameters. To examine if varying sequence lengths influence parameter calculation, 20 HSV recordings of healthy females during sustained phonation were investigated. The clinical prevalent Photron Fastcam MC2 camera with a frame rate of 4000 fps and a spatial resolution of 512 × 256 pixels was used to collect HSV data. The glottal area waveform (GAW), describing the increase and decrease of the area between the vocal folds during phonation, was extracted. Based on the …

Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration And Polychromatic Image Quality Metrics Of Intraocular Lenses, G Łabuz, E Papadatou, R Khoramnia, Gu Auffarth

School of Health Professions

PURPOSE:To measure longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA) of various intraocular lenses (IOLs) and to assess LCA effects on polychromatic image quality with a focus on multifocal IOL designs. METHODS:The LCA values of four multifocal IOL models (three diffractive models: AT LARA 829MP and AT LISA 809M [both from Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Jena, Germany] and Restor SN6AD1 [Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Fort Worth, TX] and one refractive model [Mini Well Ready; SIFI Medtech, Sant'Antonio, Italy]) were compared with that of their monofocal counterparts. Optical properties were assessed using an optical bench device with spectral filters. LCA was calculated as a difference of …

Rapid Detection Of Extra-Intestinal Pathogenic Escherichia Coli Multi-Locus Sequence Type 127 Using A Specific Pcr Assay., Rw O'Hara, Peter J. Jenks, Matthew Emery, Mathew Upton

School of Biomedical Sciences

PURPOSE: Members of the ST127 uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) clone have a high virulence potential and are also highly virulent in insect infection models. However, strains of this lineage are reported in relatively low numbers in many studies. ST127 strains are also usually widely susceptible to antibiotics and, consequently, their true prevalence may be under-recognized as they will be eradicated during empirical therapy. A genuine concern is the possibility that members of this highly virulent lineage will acquire resistance, leading to a more serious threat. The aim of this study was to design and validate a PCR assay specific to …

Spoil Type Influences Soil Genesis And Forest Development On An Appalachian Surface Coal Mine Ten Years After Placement, Kenton L. Sena, Carmen T. Agouridis, Jarrod Miller, Christopher D. Barton

Lewis Honors College Faculty Publications

Surface mining for coal (or other mineral resources) is a major driver of land-use change around the world and especially in the Appalachian region of the United States. Intentional and well-informed reclamation of surface-mined land is critical for the restoration of healthy ecosystems on these disturbed sites. In Appalachia, the pre-mining land cover is predominately mixed hardwood forest, with rich species diversity. In recent years, Appalachian mine reforestation has become an issue of concern, prompting the development of the Forestry Reclamation Approach, a series of mine reforestation recommendations. One of these recommendations is to use the best available soil substitute; …

Meditation On The Soles Of The Feet Practice Provides Some Control Of Aggression For Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease, Nirbhay N. Singh, Giulio E. Lancioni, Oleg N. Medvedev, Rachel E. Myers

Faculty Articles

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that affects cognition, mental and physical health, and functionality of older people. As the disease progresses from the mild to moderate stage, there is a concomitant increase in several behavioral variables, chiefly agitation, anger, and aggression. Currently, there are no evidence-based treatments for these behaviors in this population. Three individuals with moderate Alzheimer’s disease were taught an informal mindfulness practice, meditation on the Soles of the Feet (SoF), as a self-management strategy within a multiple-baseline design across participants. All three were able to learn and use the SoF practice to manage their verbal …

Sexual Violence Prevention Education Measurement Tools For Nebraska Rpe, December Lange Treacy, Claire Rynearson, Jeanette Harder

Reports

The purpose of this report is to provide sexual violence prevention advocates and practitioners in Nebraska with measurement tools for evaluating their sexual violence prevention education programs.

The beginning sections of this report will provide you with an overview of how to use the report. It includes the definitions we used to provide additional information about each of the measurement tools. There are also examples of the types of outcomes the tools may measure. These outcomes, and therefore the tools, were selected based on the logic models completed by 16 RPE fund recipients during STEPs trainings in the summer and …

Methods, Antibodies, And Vaccines Utilizing Epitopes Of Alpha Synuclein For Treatment Of Parkinsons Disease, Chuanhai Cao, Xiaoyang Lin

USF Patents

The present invention pertains to a dendritic cell-based vaccine against rh-α-Syn, α-synuclein specific peptide antibodies and related vaccines, and methods of treating, preventing, and/or vaccinating against Parkinson's Disease (PD), or symptoms thereof.

Micromechanical Devices Based On Piezoelectric Resonators, I-Tsang Wu, Julio Mario Dewdney, Jing Wang

USF Patents

A piezoelectrically transduced resonator device includes a wafer having a substrate, a buried oxide layer formed on the substrate, and a device layer formed on the buried oxide layer, and a resonator suspended within an air gap of the wafer above the substrate, the resonator including a portion of the device layer, a piezoelectric layer, and top and bottom electrodes contacting top and bottom sides of the piezoelectric layer, wherein the portion of the device layer is not directly connected to the wafer and wherein the resonator is configured to move relative to the substrate under electrostatic force to tune …

Detecting Radio Agn Signatures In Red Geysers, Namrata Roy, Kevin Bundy, Wiphu Rujopakarn, Michele Cappellari, Francesco Belfiore, Renbin Yan, Tim Heckman, Matthew Bershady, Jenny Greene, Kyle Westfall, Niv Drory, Kate Rubin, David Law, Kai Zhang, Joseph Gelfand, Dmitry Bizyaev, David Wake, Karen Masters, Daniel Thomas, Cheng Li, Rogemar A. Riffel

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

A new class of quiescent galaxies harboring possible AGN-driven winds has been discovered using spatially resolved optical spectroscopy from the ongoing SDSS-IV MaNGA survey. These galaxies, termed "red geysers," constitute 5%–10% of the local quiescent population and are characterized by narrow bisymmetric patterns in ionized gas emission features. Cheung et al. argued that these galaxies host large-scale AGN-driven winds that may play a role in suppressing star formation at late times. In this work, we test the hypothesis that AGN activity is ultimately responsible for the red geyser phenomenon. We compare the nuclear radio activity of the red geysers to …

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Integers As Directed Quantities (Chapter 13 In Constructing Number), Nicole Enzinger

Faculty Publications - College of Education

Mathematics education researchers have long pursued—and many still pursue—an ideal instructional model for operations on integers. In this chapter, I argue that such a pursuit may be futile. Additionally, I highlight that ideas of relativity have been overlooked; and, I contend that current uses of translation within current integer instructional models do not align with learners’ inventions. Yet, conceptions of relativity and translation are essential for making sense of integers as directed quantities. I advocate for drawing on learners’ unique conceptions and actions about directed number in developing instructional models. Providing evidence of student work from my research, I illustrate …

Reducing Polypharmacy, Gladys A. Ndege

Nursing Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Multicultural Approach To Digital Information Literacy Skills Evaluation In An Israeli College, Efrat Pieterse, Riki Greenberg, Zahava Santo

Communications in Information Literacy

Information literacy is an essential proficiency for success in academic studies, yet many first-year students find it hard to use information sources efficiently and to develop academic information literacy. This study reports findings from first-year students' self-estimation of their information skills according to two information literacy models (Shapiro & Hughes, 1996; Ng, 2012) and presents interesting insights on the differences between the multicultural and multilingual student groups in the study’s population. The researchers found that Hebrew-native speaking students preferred digital sources while Hebrew as second language (Arabic-speaking) students preferred printed sources, and both groups ranked their technological and information literacy …

Electroless Nickel Plating And Spark Plasma Sintering Of Nano Zro2 For Mechanical Property Enhancement, Kunlong Jia

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

A new approach of combined electroless nickel plating (ENP) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) was used to determine the feasibility of fracture toughness improvement of ZrO2. Nano-grained yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) particles of 100nm average diameter were coated with about 1-5 nm of nickel coating by ENP. To reduce nano particle agglomeration throughout the ENP process; vigorous agitation with an ultrasonic horn was used. The coated powder was characterized using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to study the microstructure and coating characteristics. The coating was identified to be predominantly nickel and of …

Effects Of Urbanization On The Foraging Ecology And Microbiota Of The Generalist Seabird Larus Argentatus, Matthew Fuirst, Richard R. Veit, Megan Hahn, Nolwenn Dheilly, Lesley H. Thorne

Publications and Research

Larus gull species have proven adaptable to urbanization and due to their generalist feeding behaviors, they provide useful opportunities to study how urban environments impact foraging behavior and host-associated microbiota. We evaluated how urbanization influenced the foraging behavior and microbiome characteristics of breeding herring gulls (Larus argentatus) at three different colonies on the east coast of the United States. Study colonies represented high, medium and low degrees of urbanization, respectively. At all colonies, gulls frequently foraged at landfills and in other urban environments, but both the use of urban environments and gull foraging metrics differed with the degree of urbanization. …

Nurse Practitioner Knowledge, Attitudes, And Beliefs When Caring For Transgender People, Catherine Paradiso, Robin M. Lally

Publications and Research

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore Nurse Practitioner (NP) knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs when working with transgender people and to inform about Practitioner education needs.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore (NP) experiences. Focused semistructured interviews were conducted in 2016 with 11 (N = 11) NPs in the northeastern United States who represent various years of experience and encounters with transgender patients. The interviews explored NP knowledge attitudes and beliefs when caring for transgender patients and described their overall experiences in rendering care in the clinical setting. The interviews were professionally transcribed and analyzed …

The Effects Of Psychotropic Medications On Developing Brains, Abass Jafuneh

Nursing Capstones

No abstract provided.