Digital Commons Network^™

Biclustermd: An R Package For Biclustering With Missing Values, John Reisner, Hieu Pham, Sigurdur Olafsson, Stephen Vardeman, Jing Li

The R Journal

Biclustering is a statistical learning technique that attempts to find homogeneous partitions of rows and columns of a data matrix. For example, movie ratings might be biclustered to group both raters and movies. biclust is a current R package allowing users to implement a variety of biclustering algorithms. However, its algorithms do not allow the data matrix to have missing values. We provide a new R package, biclustermd, which allows users to perform biclustering on numeric data even in the presence of missing values.

Modeling Regimes With Extremes: The Bayesdfa Package For Identifying And Forecasting Common Trends And Anomalies In Multivariate Time-Series Data, Eric J. Ward, Sean C. Anderson, Luis A. Damiano, Mary E. Hunsicker, Michael A. Litzow

The R Journal

The bayesdfa package provides a flexible Bayesian modeling framework for applying dynamic factor analysis (DFA) to multivariate time-series data as a dimension reduction tool. The core estimation is done with the Stan probabilistic programming language. In addition to being one of the few Bayesian implementations of DFA, novel features of this model include (1) optionally modeling latent process deviations as drawn from a Student-t distribution to better model extremes, and (2) optionally including autoregressive and moving-average components in the latent trends. Besides estimation, we provide a series of plotting functions to visualize trends, loadings, and model predicted values. A secondary …

Review Of Sky Dance Of The Woodcock: The Habits And Habitats Of A Strange Little Bird, By Greg Hoch, David E. Andersen

The Prairie Naturalist

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) have enthralled conservationists (including Aldo Leopold), bird watchers, wildlife enthusiasts, hunters, and others interested in the natural world for centuries. No doubt, woodcock also have enthralled humans in North America for millennia prior to written descriptions of the woodcock’s courtship displays, habitat preferences, and curious behavior and anatomy. As perhaps the most extensively studied species of shorebird in the world, there is a rich and extensive literature, both scientific and popular, focused on woodcock ecology, behavior, and hunting. To that extensive body of literature, Sky Dance of the Woodcock provides an updated summary of …

Serological Survey And Pathogen Exposure Of Adult Female White-Tailed Deer In The Western Dakotas, Katherine L. Moratz, Bailey S. Gullikson, Eric S. Michel, Daniel M. Grove, Jonathan A. Jenks, William Jensen

The Prairie Naturalist

Establishing baseline values for pathogen exposure and nutritional indices is necessary to monitor population health. However, little is known about white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) pathogen exposure and nutritional condition in the Northern Great Plains. Our objective was to assess pathogen exposure and establish nutritional indices for female white-tailed deer in Dunn and Grant counties, North Dakota and Perkins County, South Dakota. During 2014, we collected blood serum from 150 adult female white-tailed deer. Pathogens with the highest antibody prevalence included West Nile Virus (WNV; 85%), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (48%), and malignant catarrhal fever (32%). Serum values for creatine …

The Idspatialstats R Package: Quantifying Spatial Dependence Of Infectious Disease Spread, John R. Giles, Henrik Salje, Justin Lessler

The R Journal

Spatial statistics for infectious diseases are important because the spatial and temporal scale over which transmission operates determine the dynamics of disease spread. Many methods for quantifying the distribution and clustering of spatial point patterns have been developed (e.g. K-function and pair correlation function) and are routinely applied to infectious disease case occurrence data. However, these methods do not explicitly account for overlapping chains of transmission and require knowledge of the underlying population distribution, which can be limiting when analyzing epidemic case occurrence data. Therefore, we developed two novel spatial statistics that account for these effects to estimate: 1) …

Imperial Fall Field Days, Janis Paseka

Nebraska Bird Review

The 2019 NOU Fall Field Days were held in Imperial, Chase County, on September 13 - 15, with 59 registered. Field trips were led by Mark Brogie, Bill Flack, and T. J. Walker to the Wauneta cemetery, Frenchman WMA, Hayes Center WMA, Enders Reservoir WMA and SRA, Champion Mill Lake, Swinging Bridge Arboretum, Church Grove Recreation Area, Rock Creek Lake SRA and Fish Hatchery, and Swanson Reservoir SRA and WMA. Among the highlights were Osprey, which were seen at several locations, Sabine’s Gull, Ferruginous Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Red-naped Sapsucker, Merlin, and Prairie Falcon. Anita Breckbill, Doctor of Musical Arts, head …

Recent Observations Of Water Shrews In Northeastern South Dakota, Dennis Skadsen, Robert M. Timm

The Prairie Naturalist

North American water shrews in the genus Sorex are a complex of at least five species, three of which were recognized historically, Sorex alasksans, S. bendirii, and S. palustris (Hall 1981). Within what was previously considered the single, widespread northern species, S. palustris, two additional species are now recognized, S. albibarbis in the eastern US and Canada and S. navigator in the western United States and Canada (Hope et al. 2014; Nagorsen et al. 2017; Woodman 2018). The American water shrew (Sorex palustris) originally was documented in South Dakota by three females, two were collected 1876 and …

Final Thoughts As Editor-In-Chief, Christopher N. Jacques

The Prairie Naturalist

Greetings GPNSS members! I write this editorial during a time of reflection as Editor-in-Chief of The Prairie Naturalist (TPN), and during unprecedented times as the global COVID-19 pandemic continues. In full disclosure, I do not have a particular topic for this editorial, other than to offer a few final thoughts as my time serving the Great Plains Natural Science Society and TPN.

Bats Of The Loess Hills Ecoregion Of Southeast Nebraska, Virgil Brack Jr, Dale W. Sparks, Darwin C. Brack

The Prairie Naturalist

We surveyed bats at 49 sites in the Loess Hills Ecoregion of southeastern Nebraska, along the western edge of the eastern forest biome in eastern Richardson, Nemaha, and Otoe counties. We completed this study shortly before the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) was listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The expectation of listing, along with potential presence of the endangered Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis), motivated the study. We captured 183 bats of five species: eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) (n = 103; 56 %), big brown …

Structured Sensemaking Of Videographic Information Within Dataphoric Space, Michael J. Pritchard

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Attempts to create a structured sensemaking model have proven difficult. Much of the research today has evolved into a cacophony of conceptual models. Many of these sensemaking models have been proposed but not tested. Using structural equations, a unified model of sensemaking was developed and tested. This structured sensemaking model contains five sensemaking constructs: chaos, anchoring, articulation, retrospection, and identity. This model was tested using data collected from 224 educationally focused YouTube videos. The confirmatory factor model developed for this research has a measured Comparative Fit Index of 0.979, a measured Standardized Root Mean Square Residual of 0.078, and a …

Synthetic Cannabinoids: Characterizing Their Use And Cessation, Richard Vernon Turner

Dissertations

Since their introduction to the United States in 2008, synthetic cannabinoids became the most widely used recreational drug behind marijuana, then regressed to an estimated prevalence of less than 1%. Contrary to expectations for a drug declining in use, emergency department presentations and acute poisonings related to the use of synthetic cannabinoids are increasing. Alongside this phenomenon, a growing body of literature is beginning to uncover a relationship between psychosis and synthetic cannabinoid use. A current gap in the literature exists surrounding harm prevention methods and targeted intervention strategies for users of synthetic cannabinoids. To date, no known studies have …

Processing Speed For Action And Semantic Memory, Tyler A. Surber

Master's Theses

Previous research suggests that the processing of affordances may require more perceptually relevant information than words can provide (Surber et al., 2018; Chainay & Humphreys, 2002). The present study investigates this hypothesis with the shoebox task used in Bowers and Turner (2003). A list of 81 object nouns (targets) and associated features (primes: affordance, semantic, and non-associates) was compiled from the McRae, Cree, Seidenberg, and McNorgan (2005) norms. Affordances denote possibilities for action in relation to the object (e.g. chair – sit), whereas semantic features indicate definitional characteristics (e.g. chair – has legs). Affordances and semantic features served as primes …

A Pilot Genome-Wide Analysis Study Identifies Loci Associated With Response To Obeticholic Acid In Patients With Nash., Samer Gawrieh, Xiuqing Guo, Jingyi Tan, Marie Lauzon, Kent D Taylor, Rohit Loomba, Oscar W Cummings, Sreekumar Pillai, Pallav Bhatnagar, Kris V Kowdley, Katherine Yates, Laura A Wilson, Yii-Der Ida Chen, Jerome I Rotter, Naga Chalasani

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

A significantly higher proportion of patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who received obeticholic acid (OCA) had histological improvement relative to placebo in the FLINT (farnesoid X nuclear receptor ligand obeticholic acid for noncirrhotic, NASH treatment) trial. However, genetic predictors of response to OCA are unknown. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in FLINT participants to identify variants associated with NASH resolution and fibrosis improvement. Genotyping was performed using the Omni2.5 content GWAS chip. To avoid false positives introduced by population stratification, we focused our GWAS on white participants. Six regions on chromosomes 1, 4, 6, 7, 15, and 17 …

Phase Iib, Randomized, Double-Blind Trial Of Gc4419 Versus Placebo To Reduce Severe Oral Mucositis Due To Concurrent Radiotherapy And Cisplatin For Head And Neck Cancer., Carryn M Anderson, Christopher M Lee, Deborah P Saunders, Amarinthia Curtis, Neal Dunlap, Chaitali Nangia, Arielle S Lee, Sharon M Gordon, Philip Kovoor, Roberto Arevalo-Araujo, Voichita Bar-Ad, Abhinand Peddada, Kyle Colvett, Douglas Miller, Anshu K Jain, James Wheeler, Dukagjin Blakaj, Marcelo Bonomi, Sanjiv S Agarwala, Madhur Garg, Francis Worden, Jon Holmlund, Jeffrey M Brill, Matt Downs, Stephen T Sonis, Sanford Katz, John M Buatti

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

PURPOSE: Oral mucositis (OM) remains a common, debilitating toxicity of radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer. The goal of this phase IIb, multi-institutional, randomized, double-blind trial was to compare the efficacy and safety of GC4419, a superoxide dismutase mimetic, with placebo to reduce the duration, incidence, and severity of severe OM (SOM).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 223 patients (from 44 institutions) with locally advanced oral cavity or oropharynx cancer planned to be treated with definitive or postoperative intensity-modulated RT (IMRT; 60 to 72 Gy [≥ 50 Gy to two or more oral sites]) plus cisplatin (weekly …

Incorporating In-Source Fragments Improves Metabolite Identification Accuracy In Untargeted Lcms And Lcms/Ms Datasets., Brian C Searle, Jacob C Lippincott, Phillip M Seitzer

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

In untargeted metabolomics experiments library search engines detect metabolites using several features, including precursor mass, isotopic distribution, retention time, and MS2 fragmentation. Matching acquired MS2 to library spectra is vital as numerous compounds share molecular formulas, resulting in identical precursor measurements and similar retention times. However, many metabolomics experiments are still collected using LC-MS only, and even in LC-MS/MS experiments many precursors lack MS2 spectra due to the stochastic nature of data dependent acquisition. We observe that when metabolites ionize they can produce unanticipated MS1 features resulting from neutral losses, in-source fragmentation, multimerization, and adducts. Here we present a new …

Gut Feelings: Race And The Embodied Self: An Interview With Shannon Sullivan, Shannon Sullivan, Shannon Branfield, Ruwen Chang, J. D. Saperstein

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

Shannon Sullivan is Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Philosophy and Health Psychology at UNC Charlotte. She specializes in feminist philosophy, critical philosophy of race, American philosophy (especially pragmatism), . and continental philosophy. She is the author of four books, most recently, Good White People: The Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism (2014) and The Physiology of Sexist and Racist Oppression (2015). She also is co-editor of four books, including Race and Epistemologies of Ignorance (2007) and Feminist Interpretations of William James (2015).

I May Be Slightly Broken: Experiences Of Children Of Parents With Personality Disorders, Miriam Tepper

Social Work Theses - Archive

Child abuse is defined as any emotional, psychological or physical abuse or neglect inflicted on a child, that causes distress and impaired functioning for that child. A child’s caregiver was reported to be the main source of child abuse, with increasing chances if the parent struggles with a mental health disorder and or co-morbid substance use disorder or physical issues. The mental health issues that have been noted as a significant source of abuse include a parent who struggles with a personality disorder including borderline personality disorder (BPD) and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). These personality disorders stem from years of …

Learn Model Of Career Trajectories: Application To The Stem Postdoctoral Scholar, Audrey J. Jaeger, Karen J. Haley, Tara D. Hudson

Journal of Global Education and Research

Postdoctoral scholars constitute a sizeable population within the academic workforce. Given the intended role of a postdoc position as a time of advanced training and professional development for a future academic career, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, it is important to understand whether and how well the career-related needs of postdocs are being met. The purpose of this research was to understand STEM postdoctoral scholars’ career trajectories, with particular attention to the influences on their career-related decision making, by applying the Life Experiences and Role Negotiations (LEARN) model to qualitative data from interviews with 19 STEM …

Ethics In Academic Research And Scholarship: An Elucidation Of The Principles And Applications, Olajide O. Agunloye

Journal of Global Education and Research

Responsible, respectable, and successful engagement in research and scholarship in academia requires adherence to certain basic professional ethical principles to sustain the fidelity of academic work and the integrity of the researcher-scholar. This is more so for works which are intended for dissemination, information, attention, and consumption of audiences beyond the researcher-scholar’s proximal academic habitat. Ethical principles in research and scholarship apply whether the intended work, to be made public, is a conceptual scholarly narrative of ideas and thoughts or a narration of actual scientific-process-based research. This paper explores some of the key ethical principles in research and scholarship, their …

Genealib Archive 2019-12, Genealib

GENEALIB Archive

No abstract provided.

Reviewing Basic Leadership Competencies--Emotional Intelligence, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

In this "New and Noteworthy" column, we highlight recent and basic publications pertaining to emotional intelligence, one of the 14 Foundational Competencies identified by LLAMA as being necessary for leaders and managers.

Exposure To Violence Leads Youths Convicted Of Serious Offenses To Subsequent Criminal Offending As Adults, Nicolette Perez

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

A growing health issue in the United States is violence, specifically violence against children and youths. Research finds that children and youth are steadily exposed to violence during their daily routines. Thus, exposure to community violence and domestic violence has been of primary interest to researchers. In addition, risk factors that incite these types of violence have been largely studied. As a result, to increased scholar attention, the effects of violence on children and youths is of vital importance. Although constant attention is brought to this public health concern, there is less known about the effects of exposure to violence …

Pathophysiology Of Exercise Intolerance In Breast Cancer Survivors Treated With Anthracycline Chemotherapy, Rhys I. Beaudry

Kinesiology Dissertations - Archive

Anthracyclines emerged as frontline breast cancer adjuvant therapy in the late 1960’s. Within half a decade of their clinical adoption, dose-limiting cardiotoxicity was recognized and cumulative dose limits were established to acceptably balance anti-tumor and cardiotoxic properties. Despite these longstanding dose limits, anthracycline treated breast cancer (BC) survivors have advanced biological aging, as evidenced by a marked impairment in peak oxygen uptake (VO2 peak). Given that the pathophysiology of reduced VO2 peak in BC is poorly understood, the aim of this dissertation was to: 1) develop a non-invasive imaging technique to investigate cardiac function under exercise stress; 2) investigate the …

Student Attendance System Using Face Recognition, Arlind Sylaj

Theses and Dissertations

Since traditional students’ attendance system has been known to be time consuming, not accurate and a hard process to follow, this thesis will try to provide a method for solving this problem.

Facial recognition system has started to become widespread over this past decade and the main interest in many industries. Law enforcement agencies are using face recognition to keep communities safer. Retailers are preventing crime and violence. Airports are improving travelers’ convenience and security. And mobile phone companies are using face recognition to provide consumers with new layers of biometric security.

In this thesis another usage of face recognition …

Kujdesi Infermieror Tek Pacientët Me Infarkt Akut Të Miokardit, Rexhep Kelmendi

Theses and Dissertations

Hyrja: Infarkti akut i miokardit është shkaku kryesor i sëmundshmërisë, vdekjes së parakohshme dhe paaftësisë. Infarkti akut i miokardit ka pasoja negative për shëndetin dhe ndikon në uljen e cilësisë së jetës te personat të cilët e kanë përjetuar.

Qëllimi i punimit ishte të vlerësohet ofrimi i kujdesit infermieror te pacientët pas Infarktit akut të miokardit.

Mostrën e hulumtimit e përbëjnë 61 pacient të cilët ishin në fazën e rehabilitimit pas Infarktit akut të miokardit në Spitalin e përgjithshëm në Pejë. Të dhënat janë mbledhur me instrumentin Satisfaksioni i pacientit me shkallën e kujdesit infermieror dhe janë analizuar me SPSS-23. …

Roli I Adn –Së Në Hetimin E Krimit, Blinera Hyseni

Theses and Dissertations

Kriminaliteti është një dukuri mjaftë negative jo vetëm në vendin tonë por në tërë botën. Krimineli si person i cili kryen veprën penale është ai i cili shumë rrethana dhe shumë faktorë e sjellin deri tek ky vendim apo deri tek kjo vepër. Luftimi për ndalimin e kriminalitetit është një dukuri e cila duhet të jetë e pranishme në masë mjaftë të lartë. Krime kemi shumë në ditët e sotme por jo gjithnjë krimineli kapet në vendin e ngjarjës.

Hulumtimi shkencor “Roli i ADN-së në hetimin e krimit” trajton një llojllojshmëri problematikave dhe tregon se si bëhet zbardhja e një …

Inhibition Of Serine, Glycine, One-Carbon Metabolism Reduces Proinflammatory Response, Ashlynn Mccall

Honor’s College Freeman Research Journal

Acute lung injury affects around 200,000 critically ill patients annually, with a mortality rate near 33%. With a lack of targeted therapies, it is vital to discover and understand the fundamental cellular processes that drive macrophage inflammation. In the field of macrophage immunometabolism, it is accepted that macrophages upregulating glycolysis indicates a role in proinflammatory processes, however, there is a lack of knowledge surrounding the intermediate pathways in glycolysis. This study examined the effects of serine, glycine, one-carbon metabolism inhibition on LPS-induced inflammation in bone marrow-derived macrophages. We show that the enzymatic expression of PHGDH and PSATl is unaffected when …

Small Group Learning Is Associated With Reduced Salivary Cortisol And Testosterone In Undergraduate Students, Kristin Snopkowski, Kathryn Demps, Ross Griffiths, Karen S. Fulk, Scott May, Kimberly Neagle, Kayla Downs, Michaela Eugster, Tessa Amend

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Small group learning activities have been shown to improve student academic performance and educational outcomes. Yet, we have an imperfect understanding of the mechanisms by which this occurs. Group learning may mediate student stress by placing learning in a context where students have both social support and greater control over their learning. We hypothesize that one of the methods by which small group activities improve learning is by mitigating student stress. To test this, we collected physiological measures of stress and self-reported perceived stress from 26 students in two undergraduate classes. Salivary cortisol and testosterone were measured within students across …

Global Geographic Patterns Of Heterospecific Pollen Receipt Help Uncover Potential Ecological And Evolutionary Impacts Across Plant Communities Worldwide, Gerardo Arceo-Gómez, Amelia Schroeder, Cristopher Albor, Tia Lynn Ashman, Tiffany M. Knight, Joanne M. Bennett, Brian Suarez, Victor Parra-Tabla

ETSU Faculty Works

Species interactions are known to be key in driving patterns of biodiversity across the globe. Plant-plant interactions through heterospecific pollen (HP) transfer by their shared pollinators is common and has consequences for plant reproductive success and floral evolution, and thus has the potential to influence global patterns of biodiversity and plant community assembly. The literature on HP transfer is growing and it is therefore timely to review patterns and causes of among-species variation in HP receipt at a global scale, thus uncovering its potential contribution to global patterns of biodiversity. Here we analyzed published data on 245 species distributed across …

.Pause., Richelle M. Dorris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

.Pause. is a series of fifteen abstract oil paintings that represent a visual inspection of changing mental/emotional states of being as we navigate life. My subject matter consists of natural and organic forms that twist, contort, overlap, and flow. These aspects—combined with dramatic and gradual shifts in color, movement, layering and lighting—create a bizarre environment of conflict and growth as well as a space for contemplation.

This series is a mixture of stylistic directions, including abstract representation, gestural, and nonobjective work. Perception is called into question as the visual information becomes more obscure. Outside elements, such as lighting and the …