Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of An Activity-Based Windowing Approach To Evaluate Real-World Nox Emissions From Modern Medium And Heavy-Duty Diesel Trucks, Rasik Pondicherry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The introduction of in-use emissions regulations by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) requires medium-duty (MD) and heavy-duty (HD) engine manufacturers to demonstrate emissions compliance during in-fleet operation. In the United States (U.S.), the Not-to-Exceed (NTE) method is used to evaluate real-world emissions compliance from on-highway MD and HD trucks. Regulatory agencies, engine manufacturers and research entities have identified that the NTE method incorporates numerous exclusions and evaluates emissions compliance only under selective operating conditions that are favorable for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions efficiently. Such operation is typically encountered only …

The Influence Of Spatial Variance On Rock Strength And Mechanism Of Failure, Danqing Gao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The heterogeneity in the rock formation affects both rock behavior and the strength. The effect of heterogeneity is observed both at the laboratory scale and at the rockmass level. The mechanical properties of intact rock vary considerably at laboratory scale and often an average value is used for design purposes. Similarly, the values are arbitrarily scaled when used at rockmass level. In underground coal mines, the effect of variability of properties is often observed with the erratic roof failure events that occur throughout the mine. The approach often was to use the deterministic values from limited site data to estimate …

The “Other” Teacher: Understanding The Experience Of Graduate Teaching Assistants In Neoliberal Teacher Education Settings, Jing Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study, I critically examine how graduate teaching assistants’ (GTAs’) experiences are discursively shaped by the exercise of power in neoliberal higher education contexts and hence, to reveal the hidden aspects of educational institutions, which are central to our understandings about the meaning of truth, fairness, and equity embedded in neoliberal academic settings. To understand the experiences of graduate teaching assistants in this neoliberal teacher education setting, the major research questions of this study explore how the different identities that GTAs possess influence their interactions with the neoliberal higher education context and how they navigate as well as resist …

Barriers And Facilitators Of Seeking Psychological Help For Muslims In The United States, Sarah R. B. Milam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to increased social, cultural, and political struggles for Muslims in the United States (MUS), affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate mental health care is important for these individuals (Aloud & Rathur, 2009). MUS are an underrepresented group that use mental health services at low rates (Ciftci, Jones, & Corrigan, 2013; Khan, 2006). MUS, especially those with mental health concerns, hold a number of stigmatized identities, often including their race and ethnicity, religion, and mental health status that can result in discrimination (Ciftci et al., 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to self-stigma for seeking psychological …

Advancing Quantitative Understanding Of Escherichia Coli Concentrations In A Contemporary Mixed Land-Use Watershed, In West Virginia, Usa, Fritz Petersen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A scarcity of field-based research investigating the relationships between E. coli (fecal matter) concentration, suspended particulate matter (SPM; including size distribution), physicochemical parameters (water temperature, pH, SPC, DO, chloride) and land use practices and the importance of these relationships, particularly for human health, policy makers, and water resource managers, provided the impetus for this research. A 22-site, nested-scale, experimental watershed study design was implemented to investigate E. coli concentrations and the aforementioned relationships in a contemporary mixed land use watershed in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Results from a reduced (n=4 sites) study showed SPM in the …

The Role Of High-Fat Diets In Exacerbating Cognitive Deficits After Traumatic Brain Injury, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause chronic psychiatric-like impairments that may be driven by inflammation in the brain. In the current study, inflammation was upregulated using a high-fat diet (HFD) to assess the role of inflammation in TBI-induced deficits. Rats were randomly assigned to receive an HFD or calorie-matched low-fat diet (LFD) for the duration of the experiment. After two weeks of free access to their respective diets, rats began behavioral training on the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), during which they were allowed to freely choose to nosepoke in one of four holes in a standard operant chamber. Responses in …

Evidence Of Y Chromosome Long Non-Coding Rnas Involved In The Radiation Response Of Male Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells, Tayvia Brownmiller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the number one cause of cancer related mortality in the United States and worldwide. Advanced and therapeutically resistant lung tumors contribute to the high rate of mortality from NSCLC, therefore there is a need for new methods of diagnosing and treating this disease. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be a crucial component of human molecular biology, regulating nearly every cellular pathway from chromatin condensation to transcription and translation. Furthermore, many lncRNAs have been classified as oncogenes or tumor suppressors, highlighting the various molecular mechanisms they are involved in regarding the formation …

The Impact Of The Global Financial Crisis On Visitation To The Monongahela National Forest: An Activity-Based Segmentation Approach, Connor Braxton Akers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research on recreational use market segments and trends are essential for determining how tourism businesses can better meet the needs of their customers and find new target markets especially during challenging times. The purpose of this study is to determine how recreation participation has changed over five years on the Monongahela National Forest following the world financial crisis in 2008. Data used for this research were collected with the National Visitor Use Monitoring (NVUM) surveys in fiscal years 2009 and 2014. NVUM surveys are onsite interviews conducted at the end of a visit. The surveys produce descriptive information about visitors. …

Morally Injurious Experiences Of Combat Exposed Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan: Moderating Effects Of Self-Forgiveness On Feelings Of Shame And Guilt, Timothy Swiger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Moral injury is a construct developed to explain a unique symptom profile of individuals who may have perpetrated, witnessed, or learned about events that transgress their held moral beliefs. Among combat exposed Veterans, particular attention has been focused on the ambiguous nature of recent military conflicts and the increased moral conflicts associated with more recent, unconventional combat tactics and strategies. This study examined the relationship between moral injury and feelings of shame and guilt among a large sample (n=198) of Veterans who deployed in support of conflicts in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Additionally, this study sought to examine self-forgiveness …

Multimorbidity, Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Use, And Healthcare Expenditures Among Older Patients With Late-Stage Melanoma, Pragya Rai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With decades of unchanged cancer care with no added survival benefit, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) changed the treatment landscape of late-stage melanoma in 2011. A key factor in determining the use of ICIs is the presence of pre-existing chronic conditions, which can influence the outcome. However, the prevalence of multimorbidity (defined as presence of two or more chronic conditions) among older patients with late-stage melanoma remains unknown. It also remains unknown if the presence of multimorbidity factors into the use of ICIs. Hospital-related factors associated with ICI use have been studied. Yet, patient-level factors, such as age, sex, marital status, …

Examining Provider-Patient Communication And Family Knowledge Of Treatment In Pediatric Asthma Care, Thomas W. Ewell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Asthma knowledge is an essential factor in being able to consistently and effectively manage asthma symptoms over time, which in turn reduces asthma morbidity and improves quality of life. The way in which certain provider factors, such as communication strategies or techniques, may differentially impact pediatric patients and their caregivers has little in the way of prior investigation. The current study involves a secondary analysis from a larger project. This larger study included 45 pediatric asthma patients (ages 8-17 years; M = 11.79) and their primary caregiver recruited from pediatric asthma and allergy clinics within the WVU Medicine system to …

Performance Study Of Five Different Cabin Air Filters In The Laboratory And On-Road Drive, Fahad Alqahtani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the aims of installing ventilation filters in a car is to prevent vehicle occupants from inhaling potentially harmful aerosols emanating from the environment. Vehicle cabin filters are essential in ensuring that a vehicle's air conditioning system provides clean air to its occupants. The purpose of the cabin filter is to improve air quality inside the car to provide better comfort and better protect occupants from experiencing unwanted respiratory problems. Using cabin filters in air conditioning systems is a common practice in modern vehicle manufacturing. Scientists and engineers are continually seeking new ways of improving the efficiency and effectiveness …

Fracture Resistance Of Simulated External Cervical Resorption In Anterior Teeth Restored With And Without A Fiber Post., Michelle M. Romeo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction: External cervical resorption (ECR) is a destructive type of external resorption that can be difficult to treat. ECR usually begins subgingival at the cementoenamel junction of teeth and continues apically and circumferentially. This substantial loss of tooth structure may make these teeth more prone to fracture and should be addressed when treatment planning teeth with ECR. The aim of this in vitro study was to evaluate the fracture resistance of treated and non-treated teeth with simulated ECR using two different treatment modalities.

Materials and Methods: Forty-eight extracted human permanent mandibular central incisors were selected. Teeth were randomly divided into …

Effect Of Western Diet And Caloric Substitution With Apple Pomace On Fatty Acid Composition And Gene Expression In The Hypothalamus Of Growing Female Sprague-Dawley Rats, Ayad Abdulhamid Alawadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The hypothalamus plays a major role in regulating food-intake and energy-expenditure. Hypothalamic dysfunction implicated in neurodegenerative diseases is characterized by diet-induced neuroinflammation and energy dysregulation. Apple pomace, a waste byproduct of processing, is rich in polyphenols and soluble fibers, has the potential to ameliorate diet-inducing inflammation. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Western diet and caloric substitution of Western diet with 10% apple pomace on brain fatty acid composition and gene expression related to hypothalamic function and health in growing female rats. Growing female Sprague-Dawley rats (age 22-29 days) were randomly assigned (n=8 rats/group) to …

Using Ai And Machine Learning To Indicate Shale Anisotropy And Assist In Completions Design, Cole E. Palmer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Operating companies in the unconventional Marcellus shale play have all faced a similar and problematic issue, while attempting to produce natural gas over the last decade. Companies have quickly realized that not every perforation along their horizontal wells are producing gas. In fact, producing perforations are only ranging from 15%-70% of the total perforations along the horizontal wellbore [1]. This unexplained issue results in millions of dollars in lost revenue per well, in addition to the sunk cost of paying for completions that are not actually yielding any produced gas.

What is causing these perforations to have no produced gas? …

A Study Of Impact Protection Of Metacarpal Gloves, Faisal Mohammed Alessa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Work-related wrist, hand, and finger injuries are highly prevalent in manufacturing and extractive industries. An analysis of mining-related hand injury data from over the past two decades (Alessa et al., 2020) showed that hand injuries caused by insufficient protection against impact loads (e.g. struck by accidents) were categorized with high severity. Existing literature lacks clear classification and quantification methods for the protection provided by impact-resistant gloves (i.e. metacarpal gloves). A new method to establish a quantitative measure of performance for commonly used metacarpal gloves was developed and evaluated.

In the first specific aim, an experimental study using cadaveric hand specimens …

Applications Of Machine Learning Methods In Health Outcomes Research: Heart Failure In Women, Khalid Abdullah Alhussain

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is robust evidence that heart failure (HF) is associated with substantial mortality, morbidity, poor health-related quality of life, healthcare utilization, and economic burden. Previous research has revealed that there are sex differences in the epidemiology, etiology, and disease burden of HF. However, research on HF among women, especially postmenopausal women, is limited. To fill the knowledge gap, the three related aims of this dissertation were to: (1) identify knowledge gaps in HF research among women, especially postmenopausal women, using unsupervised machine learning methods and big data (i.e., articles published in PubMed); (2) identify emerging predictors (i.e., polypharmacy and some …

The Automated Administrative State: A Crisis Of Legitimacy, Danielle K. Citron, Ryan Calo

Faculty Scholarship

The legitimacy of the administrative state is premised on our faith in agency expertise. Despite their extra-constitutional structure, administrative agencies have been on firm footing for a long time in reverence to their critical role in governing a complex, evolving society. They are delegated enormous power because they respond expertly and nimbly to evolving conditions.

In recent decades, state and federal agencies have embraced a novel mode of operation: automation. Agencies rely more and more on software and algorithms in carrying out their delegated responsibilities. The automated administrative state, however, is demonstrably riddled with concerns. Legal challenges regarding the denial …

A Public Health Law Path For Second Amendment Jurisprudence, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

The two landmark gun rights cases, District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. City of Chicago, came down in 2008 and 2010, respectively. In the decade that has followed, two things have become abundantly clear. First, these cases provide little clarity about the nature and scope of Second Amendment rights, resulting in chaos and circuit splits in the lower courts. Second, growing empirical evidence has revealed that, in the background of the debate on individual constitutional rights, a serious gun violence epidemic is intensifying around the country. In one corner, gun rights advocates worry that increased firearm regulation will …

State Handgun Purchase Age Minimums In The Us And Adolescent Suicide Rates: Regression Discontinuity And Difference-In-Differences Analyses, Julia Raifman, Elysia Larson, Colleen L. Barry, Michael Siegel, Michael Ulrich, Anita Knopov, Sandro Galea

Faculty Scholarship

Objective To evaluate the association between US state policies that establish age 18 or 21 years as the minimum purchaser age for the sale of handguns and adolescent suicide rate.

Design Regression discontinuity and difference-in-differences analyses.

Setting 46 US states without policy changes between 2001 and 2017; Missouri and South Carolina, which lowered the age for handgun sales in 2007 and 2008, respectively; and West Virginia and Wyoming, which increased the age for handgun sales in 2010.

Participants Adolescents aged 13 to 20 years(554 461 961 from 2001 to 2017) in the regression discontinuity analysis, and adolescents aged 18 …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Scholars Of The Constitutional Rights And Interests Of Children In Support Of Respondents, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Catherine E. Smith, Tanya Washington Hicks, Lauren Fontana, Jessica Dixon Weaver, Cary Martin Shelby

Faculty Scholarship

This Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars of the Constitutional Rights and Interests of Children in Support of Respondents filed in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia makes two points. First, a categorical exemption, based on religious beliefs rather than foster children’s needs, does not serve the best interests of children and violates the government’s duty to foster youth. Such an exemption needlessly restricts the pool of prospective foster parents, increasing the risk of a greater number of children being confined to long-term, institutional care. The reduction of same-sex foster parents would also have a disproportionate impact on “special needs” and LGBT …

The Boundaries Of Normative Law And Economics, Eric A. Posner

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

Normative law and economics remains controversial decades after its emergence despite its successes in legal scholarship and its similarity to influential approaches in economics. The reason is that many of its proponents have exaggerated its value for policy while discounting other methods, tainting the enterprise. Normative law and economics as a method of policy analysis properly operates within narrow boundaries defined by its four main premises: (1) welfarism based on unrestricted preferences; (2) unimportance of distributional effects; (3) unimportance of impacts on non-welfare values; and (4) rational instrumental behavior of affected persons. Scholars have made progress in normative law and …

Rethinking Nudge: An Information-Costs Theory Of Default Rules, Oren Bar-Gill, Omri Ben-Shahar

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

Policymakers and scholars – both lawyers and economists – have long been pondering the optimal design of default rules. From the classic works on “mimicking” defaults for contracts and corporations to the modern rush to set “sticky” default rules to promote policies as diverse as organ donations, retirement savings, consumer protection, and data privacy, the optimal design of default rules has featured as a central regulatory challenge. The key element driving the design is opt-out costs—how to minimize them, or alternatively how to raise them to make the default sticky. Much of the literature has focused on “mechanical” opt-out costs—the …

State Politics And Mortgage Markets, Brian D. Feinstein, Chen Meng, Manisha Padi

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

This article examines whether elections for state offices that regulate mortgage lenders affect mortgage markets. Some scholars assert that election-related political uncertainty depresses economic activity; others contend that incumbents pursue policies to boost short-term growth prior to elections; and a third group claims that market activity fluctuates around partisan transitions. We test these theories using national data on mortgage characteristics and election data for two important state regulators. We first conduct event studies comparing mortgage market outcomes before and after elections. We then utilize difference-in-difference models to compare states in which partisan control of key offices switched following an election. …

Guns In The Private Square, Cody Jacobs

Faculty Scholarship

The regulation of guns has been one of the most hotly debated public policy issues in the United States throughout the country’s history. But, up until recently, it has always been just that — a debate about public policy. Two recent developments have changed the landscape and moved the debate about publicly carrying firearms from the realm of public policy, to the realm of private decision-making and private law. First, laws related to publicly carrying firearms have been dramatically loosened throughout the United States to the point that, in the vast majority of states, anyone who is legally allowed to …

Antibiotic Development — Economic, Regulatory And Societal Challenges, Christine Årdal, Manica Balasegaram, Ramanan Laxminarayan, David Mcadams, Kevin Outterson, John H. Rex, Nithima Sumpradit

Faculty Scholarship

Antibiotic resistance is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges to global health, and the emergence of resistance has outpaced the development of new antibiotics. However, investments by the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology companies for research into and development of new antibiotics are diminishing. The public health implications of a drying antibiotic pipeline are recognized by policymakers, regulators and many companies. In this Viewpoint article, seven experts discuss the challenges that are contributing to the decline in antibiotic drug discovery and development, and the national and international initiatives aimed at incentivizing research and the development of new antibiotics to improve the …

Racial Purges, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

In a two-year period, 1885-86, over 168 communities in America forcibly expelled Chinese residents from their midst. This essay, inspired by historian Beth Lew-Williams's book, THE CHINESE MUST GO, investigates the nineteenth-century purges of Chinese residents that occurred throughout the American west. I make three arguments. First, these acts of racial and political terror complicate our understanding of racial violence in America. Many of the actions were denounced, but they were also surprisingly effective in forcing business and political leaders to support the indefinite suspension of Chinese migration. Perpetrators faced almost no legal repercussions, and unlike for freed persons, racial …

“Unusual Care”: Groupthink And Willful Blindness In The Support Study, George J. Annas, Catherine L. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

The SUPPORT study of extremely premature newborns seems likely to go down as one of the most controversial studies of the 21st century (SUPPORT Study Group 2010). We previously suggested that the researchers in SUPPORT were "legally blind" in failing to understand that the "standard" that defines the content of informed consent is set by law, including the federal regulations, not by what physicians "usually" do or don't do (Annas and Annas 2013). Macklin and Natanson, also early critics of the SUPPORT study's failure to disclose the increased risk of death posed by the study, (Macklin et al. 2013) attack …

Is Tort Law The Tool For Fixing Reproductive Wrongs?, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

In his 2019 book, Birth Rights and Wrongs: How Medicine and Technology are Remaking Reproduction and the Law, Dov Fox offers a compelling argument for new torts allowing recovery for wrongful reproduction. These torts would include three sorts of cases, those where wrongdoing (whether negligent, reckless, or intentional) caused undesired reproduction; stymied desired reproduction; or confounded reproduction, causing birth of a child different than that intended by the parents. The likely defendants in these torts are gynecologists, urologists, sperm banks, and IVF clinics.

Capitalizing On Healthy Lawyers: The Business Case For Law Firms To Promote And Prioritize Lawyer Well-Being, Jarrod F. Reich

Faculty Scholarship

This Article is the first to make the business case for firms to promote and prioritize lawyer well-being. For more than three decades, quantitative research has demonstrated that lawyers suffer from depression, anxiety, and addiction far in excess of the general population. Since that time, there have been many calls within and outside the profession for changes to be made to promote, prioritize, and improve lawyer well-being, particularly because many aspects of the current law school and law firm models exacerbate mental health and addiction issues, as well as overall law student and lawyer distress. These calls for change, made …