Digital Commons Network^™

Intrauterine Exposure To Chronic Hypoxia In The Rat Leads To Progressive Diastolic Function And Increased Aortic Stiffness From Early Postnatal Developmental Stages, Praveen Kumar, Jude S. Morton, Amin Shah, Victor Do, Consolato Sergi, Jesus Serrano-Lomelin, Sandra T. Davidge, Donna Beker, Jody Levasseur, Lisa K. Hornberger

School of Medicine Publications

Aim

We sought to explore whether fetal hypoxia exposure, an insult of placental insufficiency, is associated with left ventricular dysfunction and increased aortic stiffness at early postnatal ages.

Methods

Pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were exposed to hypoxic conditions (11.5% FiO2) from embryonic day E15‐21 or normoxic conditions (controls). After delivery, left ventricular function and aortic pulse wave velocity (measure of aortic stiffness) were assessed longitudinally by echocardiography from day 1 through week 8. A mixed ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to compare findings between groups across time. Myocardial hematoxylin and eosin and picro‐sirius staining were performed to evaluate myocyte …

The International Joint Commission And Air Pollution: A Tale Of Two Cases, Owen Temby, Don Munton

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Longitudinal Examination Of Biomechanical Balance And Quantitative Multidomain Assessments During Recovery Following Sport-Related Concussion, Moira Kate Pyrhoda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sport-related concussion is an inherent risk to athlete health in contact and collision sports. Both short- and long-term risks are associated with the injury. Short-term, athletes may develop post-concussion syndrome (PCS), the persistence of cognitive, physical, and emotional symptoms for weeks or months after injury. Athletes who return to play (RTP) prematurely are at increased risk for lower extremity injury and repeated concussion injuries. Long-term, history of multiple concussions have been linked to neurodegenerative diseases. Due to these risks, concussion assessments must be sensitive to the injury and useful in the diagnosis, recovery, and RTP phases of the injury.

Sideline …

Where Is The Policy? A Bibliometric Analysis Of The State Of Policy Research On Medical Tourism., Altaf Virani, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Background: It is imperative that researchers studying medical tourism connect their work with policy, so that its real-world challenges can be better understood, and more effectively addressed. This article gauges the scope and evolution of

Methods: A Boolean search of the Web of Science (WoS) Core Collection was performed to identify policy-related publications on medical tourism. We analyzed the results using bibliometrics and a data visualization software called

Results: Our findings suggest that only a small proportion of medical tourism research explicitly addresses policy issues or applies policy paradigms in their study approach. Field-specialized journals serving practitioners publish less research …

From Open Access To Open Science: The Path From Scientific Reality To Open Scientific Communication, Christian Heise, Joshua M. Pearce

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Although opening up of research is considered an appropriate and trend-setting model for future scientific communication, it can still be difficult to put open science into practice. How open and transparent can a scientific work be? This article investigates the potential to make all information and the whole work process of a qualification project such as a doctoral thesis comprehensively and freely accessible on the internet with an open free license both in the final form and completely traceable in development. The answer to the initial question, the self-experiment and the associated demand for openness, posed several challenges for a …

Ants Increase Cloverworm Herbivory Via Nonconsumptive Pathways, Hannah J. Penn, Kacie J. Athey

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Generalist arthropod predators often exhibit a range of intraguild interactions reducing their potential efficacy as biological control agents. These interactions may include consumptive or nonconsumptive effects that mediate the impacts of herbivores. We examined interactions among 2 generalist predators, the striped lynx spider (Oxyopes salticus Hentz; Araneae: Oxyopidae) and an ant (Lasius neoniger Emery; Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and a herbivore, the green cloverworm (Hypena scabra F.; Lepidoptera: Erebidae), all prevalent in central Kentucky soybean agroecosystems. We hypothesized that individual predator treatments would reduce green cloverworm survival and resultant leaf damage, but that predators would interfere with each other when both were …

The Influence Of Santería In Leo Brouwer's Solo Guitar Works (1955–1993), Eoin Flood

Doctoral

This study will assess the solo guitar works of Cuban composer Leo Brouwer (1939–present) in terms of influence from Santería, a ritual music derived from WestAfrican slaves and still practised in Cuba. This will be achieved by using both analytical and evaluative processes. For the former, a range of influential parameters have been identified, each falling under three strands: rhythmic and metric, structural, and melodic. These will be revealed in all of Brouwer’s solo guitar works written from 1955 to 1993. A parameter’s influence can be revealed in two ways: the multitude of its usage per piece, or the percentage …

“The Very Essence Of French Cinema”(?): Jacques Feyder’S Return To France, 1944–1948, Barry Nevin

Articles

No abstract provided.

(Re)Visions Of The Outre-Mer: Looking At The Male Gaze In Jacques Feyder’S Le Grand Jeu (1934), Barry Nevin

Articles

Cinéma colonial is regarded by certain scholars as a highly conventionalised and commercialised film practice that grants spectators a sense of control over the potentially threatening colonial Other, and Belgian director Jacques Feyder has been subject to particularly harsh criticism in this regard. This article argues that Feyder’s Le Grand Jeu (1934), which depicts a young legionnaire’s relationship with a cabaret singer who bears an uncanny resemblance to a previous lover who jilted him in Paris, challenges dominant tendencies in portrayals of gender and colonialism in French cinema of the 1930s. Drawing on the relationship between Laura Mulvey’s theorisation of …

How Does The Progressive Accountability Classroom Intervention Effect Discipline Outcomes In Urban Middle School Students?, Shaneika Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

School discipline has garnered national, state and local attention in regard to the excessive use of exclusionary practices and its lifelong impact on youth. The increase in exclusionary practices has been attempted to be addressed through discipline policy reform, the push for multi-tiered systems of support, and the adoption of restorative practices. The longevity of these initiatives, however, can be thwarted by the origins of most suspensions- the classroom. This study evaluated the Progressive Accountability Classroom Intervention for Middle School (PACI-MS) to explore its impact on discipline outcomes. The PACI-MS was created through the collaboration of network school counselors, the …

Examining A High-Impact, First-Semester Seminar Class On Online Undergraduate Student Self-Regulation, Self-Direction, Online Learning Self-Efficacy, And Persistence, Jacqueline Stephen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Student enrollment continues to increase in online programs, but there is concern surrounding the reported high rates of attrition in online classes compared to face-to-face classes. Undergraduate students are poorly prepared and lack the human agency necessary for success in the online learning environment. To address the lack of persistence of undergraduate online students, universities must create and implement interventions that prepare students for the online learning environment and help them develop as autonomous learners. This study examined whether differences in self-regulation, self-direction, and online learning self-efficacy exist between students participating in an experimental high-impact First-Semester Seminar (FSS) class and …

Chinese And U.S. Young Children's Executive Function And Its Sociocultural Antecedents, Beijia Tan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The goals of present study was to examine the differences of Chinese and U.S. young childrens executive function, and to explored the sociocultural variations in Chinese and U.S. young childrens executive function through their interactions with parents at home, and through their interactions with teachers and peers at school. Young childrens executive function was examined through its components, includes working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility. The present study recruited 151 preschool and kindergarten aged children from China and 82 children from U.S., one of their parents, and their teachers. I used One-way ANOVAs and a Chi-squared test to investigate …

The Relationship Between The Impact Of Ulcerative Colitis And Crohns Disease On Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Moderated By Remission Status, Remission Expectations And Post Traumatic Growth, Alexandra Fuss Vanderwerff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Every year millions of people worldwide are affected by Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohns Disease (CD), two chronic diseases that are marked by acute phases. The Enduring Somatic Threat (EST) model was proposed to address the trauma that results from ongoing somatic concerns rather than discrete external events. Prior research has shown that people living with acute conditions experience symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); however, very little research has been conducted concerning the relationship between UC and CD and symptoms of PTSD and whether the EST model could be extended to the UC/CD population. Additionally, literature suggests that remission …

Gamification Applied To Faculty Professional Development: A Case Study, Scott Wesley Vann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine online faculty perceptions of engagement within a gamified professional development course at a large urban research university. Over the last decade, gamification has been a trending topic in education because it allows learners an opportunity for contextualized and engaged learning by applying game-thinking to solve problems. Research has shown a direct link between increased levels of engagement when gamification elements such as badging, leaderboards, leveling, etc. are introduced into online learning environments. Currently, literature on the use of gamification is focused on learners in secondary and post-secondary learning institutions and …

Random Effects Volatility Models For Joint Returns Within A Financial Market, Robert Vaughn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Volatility of stocks is one of the most important factors in decision making by stock traders. It is usually manifested by large sudden fluctuations in stock prices and interspersed with short periods of price stability. It constitutes a critical factor in the decision to sell or buy, with the shrewd investor reaping great returns when the risk posed by volatility, high or low, is correctly harnessed in the decision making. As can be expected due to a common shock to the market such as COVID-19, volatilities of stocks within industry are statistically correlated. A shock in terms of price increase …

Optogenetic Guide Rna Production For Spatiotemporal Regulation Of Crispr/Cas Systems, Diego Augusto Velasquez Pulgarin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Spatiotemporal organization and regulation of genomic and epigenomic processes is a phenomenon central to life. The pursuit of knowledge about these processes often requires specialized tools to be able to dissect biological mechanisms. CRISPR/Cas has emerged as a powerful tool for genome engineering, and has seen widespread use. Coupling CRISPR/Cas systems with tools that allow for spatiotemporal control is predicted to be transformational to the ability to perturb systems and gain the insights necessary to understand a diverse set of biological questions, and ultimately treat some of the most pervasive and elusive diseases. This dissertation describes the development of an …

Through The Wires Of Connection: The Role Of Empowered To Connect Parent Education In Trauma-Informed Parenting And Parent-Child Relationships, Nicole West

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This repeated measure design evaluates the effectiveness of the trauma-informed parent education course known as Empowered to Connect. This research used a quantitative method to investigate whether caregivers who are exposed to trauma-informed material improve their trauma-informed parenting skills and their parent-child relationship with their biological, foster, adoptive, and/or kinship children. Trauma-informed parenting is defined as a caregivers understanding of the impact of trauma on development and his or her ability to parent a child who has experienced a disruption in attachment and connection. A One-Way Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), descriptive statistics, and a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test were …

The Impact Of Parenthood On Substance Use Disorder Treatment Participation And Motivation Of Incarcerated Offenders, Shelly L. Wilkerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The United States has more people in prison than any other country in the world. While many of these prisons offer treatment groups designed to rehabilitate inmates, it is unknown at what rate individuals participate in these groups and what their motivation is for involvement. This study investigated the impact of parenthood on substance use disorder treatment participation and motivation of incarcerated males and females. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests of independence were used to examine differences in participation rates and motivation of incarcerated parents and non-parents and incarcerated male and female parents. The study showed statistically significant results …

Childhood As A Philosophical Means To A Political End: Liberalism, Stability, And The Deficiency Model Of Childhood, Jonathan Wurtz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In A Theory of Justice, John Rawls tells us that an important element of any political theory of justice is its capacity to generate its own support. That is to say that the principles of justice theorized by political philosophers, when adopted by a society, ought to inspire individuals to act in accordance with them. A theory of justice whose principles does not generate its own support would be, in this sense, unstable and as a result, rejected by rational liberal standards. In this dissertation, I criticize the stability of Rawlsian liberal theory by first showing its reliance on the …

A Seismologic Study Of The Northern Mississippi Embayment, Yang Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Part 1: Crustal structure in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) is investigated through a detailed study of explosion data obtained from the Embayment Seismic Excitation Experiment. The data show a distinct anisotropy in distance attenuation for both P and S waves in the range from 0 to 200km distance. Waves that propagate northward from the 1,134kg Marked Tree, Arkansas, explosion attenuate quickly with distance until a range of about 100km from the source where high-amplitude, high-phase velocity critical reflections from the boundary between the middle crust and rift pillow structure produce high amplitude waves. Propagation southward from the 2,268kg …

Ways Of Being, Seen And Unseen: Concepts, Practices, And The Emergence Of Trans Ways Of Life, James Edward Zubko, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The dissertation presents a philosophical analysis of social possibilities in connection with gender. Specifically, the dissertation concerns how people take up social possibilities for different ways of living gender and how these possibilities emerge. The goal of the dissertation is to construct a philosophical framework that can be used to analyze social possibility in connection with trans (transsexual, transgender and gender non-conforming) existence. The dissertation argues that it is salutary to analyze the how concepts, practices and embodiment affect access to gendered social possibilities. The dissertation draws first on Heidegger in order to develop an ontological account of possibility as …

Security Assessment Framework For The Internet Of Medical Things Solutions, Faisal Sultan Alsubaei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The emergence of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has introduced a monumental change in facilitating the management of diseases, improving disease diagnosis and treatment methods, and reducing healthcare cost and errors. In fact, having several connected devices at each bed is currently the norm in most hospitals in the United States of America. IoMT solutions are not limited to hospital devices alone: IoMT solutions for outpatients, such as over-the-counter and in-home medical devices, are becoming increasingly prevalent. This change has greatly impacted the quality of healthcare for both patients and all frontline healthcare workers.However, the IoMT is far from …

Uniaxial And Multiaxial Fatigue Behaviors Of Hdpe And Several Neat And Short Glass Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics Including The Effects Of Temperature, Mean Stress, Frequency, And Stress Concentration, Mohammad Reza Amjadi Kashani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

High-Density Polyethyelen (HDPE) is a very high volume polymer used in many applications such as piping systems in geo-exchange systems or replacing heavier materials in automotive fuel tanks. The most common processing techniques to manufacture HDPE parts are injection molding, blow molding, and compression molding. Combination of cyclic and static loads are inevitable in many applications, therefore, this study investigated tensile, creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue interaction of HDPE under a variety of conditions including environmental (temperature), stress concentration, cycling frequency, and stress state. Multiaxial stress state effect on fatigue life at room temperature was investigated for HDPE, Polypropylene, neat Nylon …

Interpretable And Optimized Models For Osteoarthritis Assessment, Mohammed Adel Bany Muhammad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the foremost chronic and degenerative joint disorder. Early detection and risk assessment of OA is critical to prioritize proper patient care due to limited treatment options. Our main goal is to develop techniques to characterize and assess OA severity for any joints (i.e., Knee, Hip, lumbar spine, hands, and cervical spine) and building a decision support system (DSS) to assist clinical practitioners. This dissertation focuses only on the Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) as it is the most prevalent OA type.Generally, the assessment of KOA is performed using radiographs and patient clinical records. Expert assessments are based upon inadequate …

How Do Market And Organizational Factors Affect Quality Of Care: Mammography Follow-Up Rate, Jessica Marie Escareno

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

A mammogram follow-up rate investigates the rate of initial mammograms that require a follow-up visit to confirm breast cancer. The ideal mammogram follow-up rate for an organization is 10%. Rates below mean organizations are underperforming the scan and missing possible cancer cases; above means that hospitals are overdoing mammograms. Previous research examined the problem in a micro-level approach focusing on patient and provider level factors. Open systems theory views the problem from a macro-level approach showing the components and how they interact with each other and their environments. The objectives of this study include reviewing how open systems theory can …

A Randomized Pilot Trial Of A Mobile-Delivered Brief Behavioral Economic Intervention To Reduce Emerging Adult Alcohol Misuse, Kathryn Soltis Gex

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Objective. Heavy episodic drinking is a significant social and public health problem that peaks during emerging adulthood. In-person brief motivational interventions have been shown to be efficacious in reducing heavy drinking and problems in college students, but require student effort and personnel resources that may limit dissemination. The current study examined the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a counselor-administered, synchronous text-message delivered brief motivational intervention aimed to reduce college student alcohol misuse. Method. Participants were 66 college students (63.6% identified as cisgender women; 61.9% identified their race as White; Mage = 19.95, SD = 1.66) who at baseline reported …

The Spatial Ecology And Genetics Of Copperhead Snakes (Agkistrodon Contortrix) In An Urban Forest, Malle F. Carrasco-Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

As global population increases and metropolitan areas grow, natural habitats are progressively fragmented, isolated, and modified. Species residing in urban areas face novel challenges compared to conspecifics in undisturbed habitats. Animals in and around urban areas often modify behavior and space use to reduce anthropogenic disturbance. Further, populations may be isolated from other suitable habitats, potentially reducing opportunities to mate with non-related individuals. Although the consequences of urbanization have been extensively studied in birds and mammals, less is known about limited mobility animals, such as reptiles. Reptiles, specifically snakes are particularly vulnerable in urban areas because of their decreasing populations, …

Application Of Machine Learning And Statistical Tools For Ground Motion Selection, Jalal Kiani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The main objective of the performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) framework is to fully understand the scale of the problems due to earthquakes with respect to deaths, dollars, and downtime resulting from the quantification of the risk, which allows prioritization of investment and technical solutions. The key elements of PBEE are seismic hazard analysis, structural analysis, damage analysis, and loss analysis. This dissertation is aimed to implement machine learning, statistical, and probabilistic tools for ground motion (GM) selection that links the seismic hazard, the first element of PBEE, to the structural analysis, the second element of PBEE. The underlying goal is …

Saudi Efl Learners Knowledge And Use Of English Prepositional Verbs In Academic Writing, Hatim Abdulhadi Masoudi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Prepositional verbs are essential for English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) learners in academic writing. However, most learners, regardless of their proficiency, encounter difficulties using these verbs, and there is a lack of research on these difficulties. This study sought to describe, analyze, and understand Saudi EFL learners knowledge and use of English prepositional verbs in academic writing. The study also assesses the relevant teaching contexts and reasons behind common errors.The study utilized a mixed-methods approach with data collected from a cloze test, multiple-choice test, and semi-structured interview. The two tests were administered …

Investigating Interculturality Of Saudi Students In The Us Academic Environment, Ruqayyah Nasser Moafa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This study applied Mixed Methods research (MM) to understand the possibility of developing the intercultural competence of Saudi students through language classes in Saudi Arabia, since there is an indication of a gap between language classes in Saudi Arabia and the globalized world. This study was conducted to investigate the intercultural competence development of Saudi students enrolled in American universities and compare it to the way they developed their interculturality during their language classes in Saudi Arabia. Thus, this dissertation sought to determine the necessary strategies to enrich intercultural competence through English language classes in Saudi Arabia. Using MM, this …