Digital Commons Network^™

Lower-Limb Resistive Versus Aerobic Training Impact On Quality Of Life In Post-Covid-19 Patients, Asmaa M. Mohamed, Elsaeed E. Shaaban, Esraa A. Mohamed, Zahra M. H. Serry

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Objective To determine the effect of lower-limb resistive versus aerobic training impact on quality of life (QOL) in post-COVID-19 patients. Participants and methods Sixty young volunteer patients participated in this study and randomly divided into two equal groups: group A that received an aerobic exercise program three times per week, group B, which received lower-body-resistance exercises. Both groups were evaluated before and after therapy (6 weeks) through measuring resting heart rate (RHR), peak heart rate (PHR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, one-repetition maximum (1-RM) of selected muscle groups, and QOL assessment using the Short-Form (SF-12) Health Survey Questionnaire. Results The results revealed a …

Prediction Of Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury Using Cleveland And Mehta Scores, Maged M. A. Kisho

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Objective To detect the clinical accuracy of two models for the prediction of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) and severe AKI that need renal replacement therapy according to Cleveland and Mehta scores and using Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definitions for AKI. Patients and methods In total, 742 patients who underwent cardiac surgery in the Department of Cardiac Surgery NHI of Egypt, between January 2016 and December 2018, were enrolled in this research. We evaluate the prediction for cardiac surgery-associated AKI using Cleveland and Mehta scores. We also evaluate the effect of hemofiltration during cardiopulmonary bypass as a …

Practical Applications Of The Independent Neutrosophic Components And Of The Neutrosophic Offset Components, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Predictors Of Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention For Patients With Left Anterior Descending Artery Occlusion, Ahmed Galal A Fattah Fahmy, Mohamed E. L Bordy

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Background Depressed left ventricular (LV) systolic function after acute coronary syndrome is the most important predictor affecting morbidity and mortality. The primary objective of reperfusion therapy is to restore epicardial flow and to reperfuse the myocardial tissue. However, not all the patients show improvement, and a group of patients may experience depression in heart function. Aim To determine the factors affecting impairment of LV function assessed by echocardiography following successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome involving the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. Patients and methods A total of 50 patients were included in this …

Patient–Valve Mismatch: A Comparison Of Mechanical Versus Biological Prostheses In Ischemic Mitral Patients Undergoing Chordal-Sparing Mitral Valve Replacement, Ahmed S. Ali, Rania D.E A. Shokka, Rasha H. Mohammed

Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research

Background Chordal-sparing mitral valve replacement (MVR) is now preferred over downsized annuloplasty repair in treating chronic severe ischemic mitral regurgitation. However, total leaflet preservation carries the risk of patient–valve mismatch (PVM). The authors aimed to investigate the incidence of PVM among those groups of patients who were treated with either mechanical or biological MVR. Objective This study aimed to compare the incidence of PVM in ischemic mitral regurgitation patients undergoing total revascularization together with chordal-sparing MVR with either biological or mechanical prosthesis. Patients and methods A controlled prospective study was carried out at the National Heart Institute Cairo, Egypt. 50 …

Gis-Based Volunteer Cotton Habitat Prediction And Plant-Level Detection With Uav Remote Sensing, Tianyi Wang, Xiaohan Mei, J. Alex Thomasson, Chenghai Yang, Xiongzhe Han, Pappu Kumar Yadav, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Volunteer cotton plants germinate and grow at unwanted locations like transport routes and can serve as hosts for a harmful cotton pests called cotton boll weevils. The main objective of this study was to develop a geographic information system (GIS) framework to efficiently locate volunteer cotton plants in the cotton production regions in southern Texas, thus reducing time and economic cost for their removal. A GIS network analysis tool was applied to estimate the most likely routes for cotton transportation, and a GIS model was created to identify and visualize potential areas of volunteer cotton growth. The GIS model indicated …

An Efficient Enumeration Technique For A Transportation Problem In Neutrosophic Environment, Ashok Kumar, Ritika Chopra, Ratnesh Rajan Saxena

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

A Nonlinear Programming Model To Solve Matrix Games With Pay-Offs Of Single-Valued Neutrosophic Numbers, Mijanur Rahaman Seikh, Shibaji Dutta

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Secure And Privacy-Preserving Crowdsensing Using Smart Contracts: Issues And Solutions, Alfredo J. Perez, Sherali Zeadally

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The advent of Blockchain and smart contracts is empowering many technologies and systems to automate commerce and facilitate the exchange, tracking and the provision of goods, data and services in a reliable and auditable way. Crowdsensing systems is one type of systems that have been receiving a lot of attention in the past few years. In crowdsensing systems consumer devices such as mobile phones and Internet of Things devices are used to deploy wide-scale sensor networks. We identify some of the major security and privacy issues associated with the development of crowdsensing systems based on smart contracts and Blockchain. We …

Utilization Of Online Resources By Patients In An Ophthalmic Emergency Department, Jodi C. Hwang, Nicolas A. Yannuzzi, Kara M. Cavuoto, Zubair Ansari, Nimesh A. Patel, Courtney F. Goodman, Steven Lang, Jayanth Sridhar

Journal of Academic Ophthalmology

Abstract

Objective To describe the utilization of online resources by patients prior to presentation to an ophthalmic emergency department (ED) and to assess the accuracy of online resources for ophthalmic diagnoses.

Methods This is a prospective survey of patients presenting to an ophthalmic ED for initial evaluation of ocular symptoms. Prior to evaluation, patients completed surveys assessing ocular symptoms, Internet usage, and presumed self-diagnoses. Demographics and characteristics of Internet usage were determined. Accuracy of self-diagnoses was compared between Internet users and nonusers. Diagnoses were classified as high or low acuity based on agreement between senior authors.

Results A total of …

Seasonal Flammability Comparisons Of Native And Exotic Plants In The Post Oak Savannah, Blackland Prairie, And Pineywoods Ecoregions Of Texas, Michael Tiller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

East Texas’ diverse landscape can present year-round wildfire seasons that can be influenced by seasonal and regional differences in climate and physiography. Greater insight into the fundamental thermal behavior of wildland fuels can aid in fire behavior prediction and development of fire-resistant plant lists. This study focused on estimating seasonal and regional flammability characteristics of five evergreen species: yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), greenbrier (Smilax spp.), eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and escarpment live oak (Quercus fusiformis); and two deciduous species: Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) and southern …

Microstructures In A Shear Margin: Jarvis Glacier, Alaska, Christopher Gerbi, Stephanie Mills, Renée Clavette, Seth Campbell, Steven Bernsen, David Clemens-Sewall, Ian Lee, Robert Hawley, Karl Kreutz, Kate Hruby

Dartmouth Scholarship

Microstructures, including crystallographic fabric, within the margin of streaming ice can exert strong control on flow dynamics. To characterize a natural setting, we retrieved three cores, two of which reached bed, from the flank of Jarvis Glacier, eastern Alaska Range, Alaska. The core sites lie ~1 km downstream of the source, with abundant water present in the extracted cores and at the base of the glacier. All cores exhibit dipping layers, a combination of debris bands and bubble-free domains. Grain sizes coarsen on average approaching the lateral margin. Crystallographic orientations are more clustered and with c-axes closer to horizontal nearer …

A Game-Theoretic Analysis Of Childhood Vaccination Behavior: Nash Versus Kant, Philippe De Donder, Humberto Llavador, Stefan Penczynski, John E. Roemer, Roberto Vélez

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Whether or not to vaccinate one’s child is a decision that a parent may approach in several ways. The vaccination game, in which parents must choose whether to vaccinate a child against a disease, is one with positive externalities (herd immunity). In some societies, not vaccinating is an increasingly prevalent behavior, due to deleterious side effects that parents believe may accompany vaccination. The standard game-theoretic approach assumes that parents make decisions according to the Nash behavioral protocol, which is individualistic and non-cooperative. Because of the positive externality that each child’s vaccination generates for others, the Nash equilibrium suffers from a …

Islamic Banking Risk Assessment Process: A Case Study From Indonesia, Ita Sitasari

Journal Of Middle East and Islamic Studies

Indonesian Islamic banks are required have minimum capital in relation to bank’s risk profile rating that comes from the comprehensive risk assessment process. This is a qualitative study to observe how Islamic banks in Indonesia respond to the regulation, with the focus observation on the material risk identification process, risk indicators and determination of risk level. Based on discussion with some risk officers of Islamic banks indicates that the banks do not have specific process to identify material risks. They make assessment on risk types that have been defined by regulator. They also do not develop additional Islamic risk indicators …

Axicabtagene Ciloleucel As Second-Line Therapy For Large B-Cell Lymphoma, Frederick L Locke, Armin Ghobadi, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of patients with early relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma after the receipt of first-line chemoimmunotherapy is poor.

METHODS: In this international, phase 3 trial, we randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, patients with large B-cell lymphoma that was refractory to or had relapsed no more than 12 months after first-line chemoimmunotherapy to receive axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cel, an autologous anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy) or standard care (two or three cycles of investigator-selected, protocol-defined chemoimmunotherapy, followed by high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem-cell transplantation in patients with a response to the chemoimmunotherapy). The primary end point was …

Processing Binding Data Using An Open-Source Workflow, Errol L G Samuel, Secondra L Holmes, Damian W Young

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The thermal shift assay (TSA)—also known as differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF), thermofluor, and Tm shift—is one of the most popular biophysical screening techniques used in fragment-based ligand discovery (FBLD) to detect protein–ligand interactions. By comparing the thermal stability of a target protein in the presence and absence of a ligand, potential binders can be identified. The technique is easy to set up, has low protein consumption, and can be run on most real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) instruments. While data analysis is straightforward in principle, it becomes cumbersome and time-consuming when the screens involve multiple 96- or 384-well plates. There …

Fermentation Quality Of Phasey Bean And Guineagrass Silages, Y. Imura, T. Namihira, Yasuhiro Kawamoto

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Silages were made from guineagrass (Panicum maximum Jacq. var. maximum) and phasey bean (Macroptilium lathyroides (L.) Urb.) at three-growth stages. The silages were investigated in relation fermentation quality. Phasey bean silage showed a better fermentation quality than guineagrass silage. The latic acid to total acid ratio of phasey bean silage was higher than 500g/kg DM, and the volatile basic nitrogen to total nitrogen ratio was lower than 100g/kg. It is concluded that phasey bean is an unique legume suitable for good silage fermentation.

Volume 28, Summer 2001 Communication And Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Complete digitized volume (volume 28, Summer 2001) of Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Volume 30, Summer 2003 Communication And Theater Association Of Minnesota Journal

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Complete digitized volume (volume 30, Summer 2003) of Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal.

Preserving Innocence: Ending Perceived Adultification And Toxic Masculinity Toward Black Boys, Erik M. Hines, Edward C. Fletcher Jr., Donna Y. Ford, James L. Moore Iii

Journal of Family Strengths

As early as the age of ten, Black boys are viewed as older, guilty until proven innocent by law enforcement (including school resource officers), and encounter a myriad of adverse racialized academic and social experiences (e.g., explicit and implicit biases) (Goff et al., 2014; Noguera, 2008). Dancy (2014) noted how Trayvon Martin, a Black male teen murdered for essentially being seen as threatening and intimidating, was viewed as adult-aged, deviant, troubled, and shiftless. Moreover, Black boys are expected to express minimum “signs” of weakness, vulnerability, and/or sensitivity. The aforementioned social persona may contribute to young Black men and boys not …

[2021 Winner] Incarceration As A New Age Form Of Slavery For People Of Color And Racism In The United States, Tessa Rosasco

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

Throughout the history of the United States, racial disparity has been rampant. This is especially true in relation to the population of people of color imprisoned in the U.S. My paper discusses the racial inequality in America, especially that of African Americans, and how people of color have been unjustly treated in a historically racist and unjust system. Special emphasis has been given to the portrayal of African Americans in the media and how presidential rhetoric and agendas have harmed communities of color.

Spotify: You Have A Hit!, Christopher E. Dawson Jr., Steve Mann, Edward Roske, Gauthier Vasseur

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. Over 87% of the streaming music is owned by four major record labels (Jones, 2018). Yet, the songs owned by those labels account for <1% of the total amount of music created each year. These labels are historically better at identifying talent (though this talent identification is becoming more difficult). Even though Spotify has 36% of the streaming marketing share (T4, 2021), Spotify has not been profitable because of the large licensing costs paid to the large music labels. If Spotify could identify hit songs & artists before the large labels, they would sign those artists and dramatically reduce their licensing costs. Using the Spotify API, this paper will use Spotify data on over 400K songs over the last three years for exploratory data analysis, provide descriptive statistics, perform feature selection, and develop models using LASSO and XGBOOST Classification. The research determined multiple key features and predicted with over 60% accuracy songs which were going to be a hit (defined as >90% popularity).

Reading Level Identification Using Natural Language Processing Techniques, William Arnost, Ellen Lull, Joseph Schueder, Joseph Engler

SMU Data Science Review

This paper investigates using the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) algorithm and lexical-syntactic features to measure readability. Readability is important in many disciplines, for functions such as selecting passages for school children, assessing the complexity of publications, and writing documentation. Text at an appropriate reading level will help make communication clear and effective. Readability is primarily measured using well-established statistical methods. Recent advances in Natural Language Processing (NLP) have had mixed success incorporating higher-level text features in a way that consistently beats established metrics. This paper contributes a readability method using a modern transformer technique and compares the results …

Modeling Electric Energy Generation In Ercot During Extreme Weather Events And The Impact Renewable Energy Has On Grid Reliability, Adam R. Ruthford, Bivin Sadler

SMU Data Science Review

This paper shows the inadequacy of current grid backup supplies, their ongoing threat to grid reliability, and the increased risk of customer blackouts. This paper also examines reliability concerns caused by renewable energy sources under more normal operating conditions. This paper seeks to model the impacts of extreme weather on ERCOTs grid. Unusual weather patterns require that the electrical grid operates in conditions outside normal operating parameters. Electrical system demand can spike well above normal levels. At the same time, weather influences can change the operating envelope of electrical generation equipment. The ERCOT grid has changed from its’ traditional mix …

Predicting Power Using Time Series Analysis Of Power Generation And Consumption In Texas, Joshua Eysenbach, Bodie Franklin, Andrew J. Larsen, Joel Lindsey

SMU Data Science Review

Due to the recent power events in Texas, power forecasting has been brought national attention. Accurate demand forecasting is necessary to be sure that there is adequate power supply to meet consumer's needs. While Texas has a forecasting model created by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), constant efforts are required to ensure that the model stays at the state-of-the-art and is producing the most reliable forecasts possible. This research seeks to provide improved short- and medium-term forecasting models, bringing in state-of-the-art deep learning models to compare to ERCOT’s forecasts. A model that is more accurate than ERCOT’s own …

Emotion Integrated Music Recommendation System Using Generative Adversarial Networks, Mrinmoy Bhaumik, Patrica U. Attah, Faizan Javed

SMU Data Science Review

Music can stimulate emotions within us; hence is often called the “language of emotion.” This study explores emotion as an additional feature in generating a playlist with a deep learning model to improve the current music recommendation system. This study will sample emotions from certain subjects for each song in a sample of the data. Since the effect of music on emotion is subjective and is different person to person, this study would need a considerable number of subjects to reduce subjectivity. Due to the limited resources, a portion of the data will be labeled with emotion from subjects and …

Clinical Diagnosis Support With Convolutional Neural Network By Transfer Learning, Spencer Fogleman, Jeremy Otsap, Sangrae Cho

SMU Data Science Review

Breast cancer is prevalent among women in the United States. Breast cancer screening is standard but requires a radiologist to review screening images to make a diagnosis. Diagnosis through the traditional screening method of mammography currently has an accuracy of about 78% for women of all ages and demographics. A more recent and precise technique called Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) has shown to be more promising but is less well studied. A machine learning model trained on DBT images has the potential to increase the success of identifying breast cancer and reduce the time it takes to diagnose a patient, …

Amelia's Gift, Daniel J. Mydlack

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Professor Danny Mydlack recounts the mysterious arc of his student’s creative unfolding. Amelia, a middle-aged single mom, drops out of the personal videography production class before the end and yet her final assignment is delivered, posthumously, by her adult daughters. For the author, Amelia returned him to the core principles from his student days: the vast, wide terrain that is the true realm of art-making and an embrace of the fullness rather than merely the fineness of art practice. Mydlack proposes that with teaching there is more unseen than seen, more beyond our manipulation than within it, and that pedagogical …

Full Issue Artizein_December 2021, Peter London

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

A full PDF of the themed Artizein: Arts & Teaching Journal issue entitled 'Stories that Mattered' edited by Peter London.

Real-Time Voice Biometric Speaker Verification, Inderbir Dhillon, Jason Rupp, Aniketh Vankina, Robert Slater

SMU Data Science Review

Abstract. Automated speaker verification has been an area of increased research in the last few years, with a special interest in metric learning approaches that compute distances between speaker voiceprints. In this paper, three metric learning systems are built and compared in a one-shot speaker verification task using contrastive max-margin loss, triplet loss, and quadruplet loss. For all the models, spectrograms are created from speaker audio. Convolutional Neural Network embedding layers are trained to produce compact voiceprints that allow users to be distinguished using distance calculations. Performances of the three models were similar, but the model with the best EER …