Digital Commons Network^™

A Review Of Kentucky’S Extended-Weight Hauling Programs, P. Gayle Marks, Jon Wilcoxson, Bryan Gibson, Chris Van Dyke, Andrew Martin, Jennifer Walton, Doug Kreis

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Kentucky established its Extended Weight Coal or Coal By-products Haul Road System (EWCHRS) to increase the state’s competitiveness within the coal industry and reduce financial burdens on coal haulers. A new extended-weight haul system for unrefined petroleum products will come online in 2022. To facilitate enforcement of weight limits throughout Kentucky, this report surveys literature on how overweight vehicles affect roads and bridges, describes statutes and regulations governing weight limits in the state, discusses policies and strategies used throughout the US to handle overweight vehicles, and makes recommendations for improving extended-weight policies in Kentucky. It is apparent that pavements and …

A Qualitative Study On The Impact Of Long-Distance Travel For Gynecologic Cancer Care, V. Mujumdar, Timberly R Butler, David I Shalowitz

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

Background: Women with gynecologic malignancies experience improved clinical outcomes when they are treated by gynecologic oncologists and in high-volume cancer centers. However, geography is a major barrier to high-volume care for patients. This qualitative study was undertaken to identify facilitators and barriers to patients traveling long distances for gynecologic cancer care.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 women with gynecologic malignancies traveling >50 miles for treatment at Wake Forest Comprehensive Cancer Center. Eight interviews included caregivers. Four interview domains focused on personal challenges and coping strategies related to accessing cancer care.

Results: Mean distance traveled for care was 87 …

Building Services Engineering November/December 2021

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Nutrient Cycling In Tropical And Temperate Coastal Waters: Is Latitude Making A Difference?, Christian Lønborg, Moritz Müller, Edward C. V. Butler, Shan Jiang, Seng Keat Ooi, Dieu Huong Trinh, Pui Yee Wong, Suryati M. Ali, Chun Cui, Wee Boon Siong, Erik S. Yando, Daniel A. Friess, Judith A. Rosentreter, Bradley D. Eyre, Patrick Martin

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Tropical coastal waters are highly dynamic and amongst the most biogeochemically active zones in the ocean. This review compares nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles in temperate and tropical coastal waters. We review the literature to identify major similarities and differences between these two regions, specifically with regards to the impact of environmental factors (temperature, sunlight), riverine inputs, groundwater, lateral fluxes, atmospheric deposition, nitrogen fixation, organic nutrient cycling, primary production, respiration, sedimentary burial, denitrification and anammox. Overall, there are some similarities but also key differences in nutrient cycling, with differences relating mainly to temperature, sunlight, and precipitation amounts and patterns. …

Overfishing Drives Over One-Third Of All Sharks And Rays Toward A Global Extinction Crisis, Nicholas K. Dulvy, Nathan Pacoureau, Cassandra L. Rigby, Riley A. Pollom, Rima W. Jabado, David A. Ebert, Brittany Finucci, Caroline M. Pollock, Jessica Cheok, Danielle H. Derrick, Katelyn B. Herman, C. Samantha Sherman, Wade J. Vanderwright, Julia M. Lawson, Rachel H.L. Walls, John K. Carlson, Patricia Charvet, Kinattumkara K. Bineesh, Daniel Fernando, Gina M. Ralph, Jay H. Matsushiba, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Sonja V. Fordham, Colin A. Simpfendorfer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes-sharks, rays, and chimeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species were threatened. Now, 391 (32.6%) species are threatened with extinction. When this percentage of threat is applied to Data Deficient species, more than one-third (37.5%) of chondrichthyans are estimated to be threatened, with much of this change resulting from new information. Three species are Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), representing …

Soil Hydrologic Grouping Guide Which Soil And Weather Properties Best Estimate Corn Nitrogen Need, Gregory Mac Bean, Curtis J. Ransom, Newell R. Kitchen, Peter C. Scharf, Kristen S. Veum, James J. Camberato, Richard B. Ferguson, Fabián G. Fernández, David W. Franzen, Carrie A.M. Laboski, Emerson D. Nafziger, John E. Sawyer, Robert L. Nielsen

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen fertilizer recommendations in corn (Zea mays L.) that match the economically optimal nitrogen fertilizer rate (EONR) are imperative for profitability and minimizing environmental degradation. However, the amount of soil N available for the crop depends on soil and weather factors, making it difficult to know the EONR from year-to-year and from field-to-field. Our objective was to explore, within the framework of hydrologic soil groups and drainage classifications (HGDC), which site-specific soil and weather properties best estimated corn N needs (i.e., EONR) for two application timings (at-planting and side-dress). Included in this investigation was a validation step using an independent …

Focus On Sustainable Cities: Urban Solutions Toward Desired Outcomes, M. Georgescu, M. Arabi, Winston T. L. Chow, E. Mack, K. C. Seto

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Urbanization represents the single most impactful and long-lasting transformation of the Earth system since the dawn of civilization. Cities are simultaneously locations of innovation, social connectivity, and wealth, but they also create local-to-global environmental degradation and socioeconomic disparities. For example, food provision for cities has required significant land-use change and fertilizer input, has altered regional climate, biogeochemical cycles, and degraded marine and landscapes through biodiversity loss, algal blooms and fish kills. To maintain urban livelihoods and the provision of goods and services, cities require vast amounts of energy (e.g. to provide access to transport, cooling systems), which are massive producers …

Livestock Ticks In The Uae: Prevalence, Distribution, Population Dynamics, And Associated Microorganisms, Nighat Perveen

Dissertations

Ticks are important vectors of an array of viral, bacterial, and protozoan pathogens resulting in a wide range of animal and human diseases in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this study, ticks were collected from camels, cows, sheep, and goats in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The objectives of the study were to (1) identify tick species of livestock through taxonomic keys and using molecular markers, and determine their prevalence and distribution in the UAE, (2) assess Hyalomma dromedarii seasonal population fluctuation over a year under common camel breeding and management …

Massachusetts High School Teachers’ Perceptions Of Transitions In Teaching And Assessment Related To The Next Generation Science Standards, Alyssa Mocharnuk

All Theses And Dissertations

The experiences and perceptions of high school science teachers with the transitions in teaching and assessment related to the adoption of the 2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Framework based on the Next Generation Science Standards were studied in this interpretative phenomenological analysis. The Next Generation Science Standards incorporated both traditional disciplinary content ideas and the new science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States, 2013). Teachers were required to develop new materials, and difficulty in developing new ways of teaching and assessing science (Friedrichsen and Barnett, 2018; Kawasaki and Sandoval, 2020; Wilde, 2018) was exacerbated by the delay in high-stakes testing …

Can We Make It Better? Assessing And Improving Quality Of Github Repositories, Gede Artha Azriadi Prana

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The code hosting platform GitHub has gained immense popularity worldwide in recent years, with over 200 million repositories hosted as of June 2021. Due to its popularity, it has great potential to facilitate widespread improvements across many software projects. Naturally, GitHub has attracted much research attention, and the source code in the various repositories it hosts also provide opportunity to apply techniques and tools developed by software engineering researchers over the years. However, much of existing body of research applicable to GitHub focuses on code quality of the software projects and ways to improve them. Fewer work focus on potential …

New Methods For Assessing The Sustainability Of Wood-Burning Energy Facilities, Sarah Mittlefehldt, Erin Bunting, Emily Huff, Joseph Welsh, Robert Goodwin

Journal Articles

Methods to assess wood-based bioenergy projects have tended to focus on technological and physical constraints. Less is known about how longer-term environmental, economic, and social systems—the three pillars of sustainable development—have influenced technological development in the context of woody biomass energy. This research offers new methods for assessing the sustainability of wood-based energy projects by combining spatial analysis, semi-structured interviews, and archival data analysis. By integrating quantitative and qualitative methods, this project offers ways to understand how social and environmental dynamics from the past shape technological development in the future. A propensity analysis of biomass energy plants in Michigan, USA …

Acoustic/Gravity Wave Phenomena In Wide-Field Imaging: From Data Analysis To A Modeling Framework For Observability In The Mlt Region And Beyond, Jaime Aguilar Guerrero

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Acoustic waves, gravity waves, and larger-scale tidal and planetary waves are significant drivers of the atmosphere’s dynamics and of the local and global circulation that have direct and indirect impacts on our weather and climate. Their measurements and characterization are fundamental challenges in Aeronomy that require a wide range of instrumentation with distinct operational principles. Most measurements share the common features of integrating optical emissions or effects on radio waves through deep layers of the atmosphere. The geometry of these integrations create line-of-sight effects that must be understood, described, and accounted for to properly present the measured data in traditional …

Pollinator Supplementation Mitigates Pollination Deficits In Smallholder Avocado (Persea Americana Mill.) Production Systems In Kenya, Rose Nyakemiso Sagwe, Marcell K. Peters, Thomas Dubois, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter, H. Michael G. Lattorff

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Avocado (Persea americana Mill.) is a major horticultural crop that relies on insect mediated pollination. In avocado production, a knowledge gap exists as to the importance of insect pollination, especially in East African smallholder farms. In this study, conducted in a leading smallholder avocado production region in Kenya, we assessed the dependence of avocado fruit set on insect pollination and whether current smallholder production systems suffer from a deficit in pollination services. Furthermore, we assessed if supplementation with colonies of the Western honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) to farms mitigated potential pollination deficits. Our results revealed a very high reliance …

The Behavioral Si* Model, With Applications To The Swine Flu And Covid-19 Pandemics, Jussi Keppo, Marianna Kudlyak, Elena Quercioli, Lones Smith, Andrea Wilson

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The 1927 SIR contagion model is the dynamical system for an infection that passes at a constant rate in random pairwise meetings. Our Behavioral SI* Model assumes that everyone has access to a constant elasticity of avoidance technology. We then derive the passing rate in fully solvable Nash equilibrium of the game where everyone optimizes. The resulting dynamics are log-linear, and incidence is log-linear in prevalence, with slope less than one.

The SI* models yields extreme predictions for major contagions, not realized. At breakout, the SI* models capture exponential growth. In our BSI* model, increasing avoidance behavior bends the curve, …

Neural Impact Of Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage In Traumatically Injured Adults, E. Kate Webb, Carissa N. Weis, Ashley A. Huggins, Jacklynn M. Fitzgerald, Kenneth P. Bennett, Claire Maria Bird, Elizabeth A. Parisi, Maddy Kallenbach, Tara A. Miskovich, Terri A Deroon-Cassini, Christine L. Larson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Nearly 14 percent of Americans live in a socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhood. Lower individual socioeconomic position (iSEP) has been linked to increased exposure to trauma and stress, as well as to alterations in brain structure and function; however, the neural effects of neighborhood SEP (nSEP) factors, such as neighborhood disadvantage, are unclear. Using a multi-modal approach with participants who recently experienced a traumatic injury (N = 185), we investigated the impact of neighborhood disadvantage, acute post-traumatic stress symptoms, and iSEP on brain structure and functional connectivity at rest. After controlling for iSEP, demographic variables, and acute PTSD symptoms, nSEP was …

Cultural Diplomacy And Co-Operation In Asean: The Role Of Arts And Culture Festivals, David Ocon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Beyond their traditional role as entertainment, form of expression and meeting spaces within local communities, arts and culture festivals can perform various functions. They can serve as showcases of artistic pride, signal openness towards cultural diversity, support the local economy, contribute to reducing political tension and provide grounds to consolidate international relationships. On occasion, such festivals function as tools to support the vision of a multilateral co-operation institution, as is the case of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Through a comprehensive review of the arts and culture festivals curated in ASEAN, this article investigates the festivals’ ulterior motivations. …

Urbanization Policy And Economic Development: A Quantitative Analysis Of China's Differential Hukou Reforms, Wen-Tai Hsu, Lin Ma

Research Collection School Of Economics

The household registration system (hukou system) in China has hampered rural-urban migration by posing large migration friction. The system has been gradually relaxed in the past few decades, but the reforms have been differential in city size. We find a striking contrast in migration patterns between years 2005 and 2015; rural people tended to move more to large cities in 2005, but more to small- and medium-sized cities in 2015. We calibrate a spatial quantitative model to the world economy in both years with China divided into rural, mega-city, and other-city regions. We find that alternative urbanization policies that are …

An Analysis Of University Grants Commission - Consortium Of Academic And Research Ethics (Ugc-Care) Quality Journals In Library And Information Science By Indian Higher Education System, Muthuraj Anbalagan, Jeyapragash Balasubramani

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: This paper examines the Library and Information Science (LIS) Journals in University Grants Commission – Consortium for Academic and Research Ethics (UGC-CARE) of Indian Quality journals for Academic and Research.

Methodology: The data were extracted from UGC-CARE List (https://ugccare.unipune.ac.in/Apps1/Home/Index). The study also analyzed source wise LIS journals, Scopus indexed LIS journals with Cite Score, Web of Science indexed LIS journals with Impact factor and UGC-CARE recommended LIS Journals.

Results: The study analyzed 292 Library and Information Science Journals of UGC-CARE Quality Journals by Indian Higher Education System and these journals are indexed in various online databases such …

Propagation Of A De Novo Gene Under Natural Selection: Antifreeze Glycoprotein Genes And Their Evolutionary History In Codfishes, Xuan Zhuang, C.-H. Christina Cheng

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The de novo birth of functional genes from non-coding DNA as an important contributor to new gene formation is increasingly supported by evidence from diverse eukaryotic lineages. However, many uncertainties remain, including how the incipient de novo genes would continue to evolve and the molecular mechanisms underlying their evolutionary trajectory. Here we address these questions by investigating evolutionary history of the de novo antifreeze glycoprotein (AFGP) gene and gene family in gadid (codfish) lineages. We examined AFGP phenotype on a phylogenetic framework encompassing a broad sampling of gadids from freezing and non-freezing habitats. In three select species representing different AFGP-bearing …

The Status Of State And Nonstate Actors In Postwar Hostilities: Restoring The Rule Of Law To Us Targeted Killing Operations, Claire Finkelstein

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

With the killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani, the United States crossed a new frontier in the use of extrajudicial lethal operations outside of armed conflict. As a state actor, Soleimani once would have been entirely off-limits as a target outside the context of a formal armed conflict between the United States and Iran. The Trump administration's choice to conduct a one-off strike on a state military leader indicates that conflicts among state adversaries are increasingly fought using the hybridized tools of the war on terror. This Article will argue that the increasing use of such techniques and the perceived …

A Phenomenological Study Of Leader-Observed And Student Experienced Behavioral Transformations Associated With Christian Released Time Programs, Steven Louis Rathers Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to investigate the lived experiences of instructional leaders and high school graduates associated with a released time education (RTE) learning center in northern Georgia. The study sought to understand the perceived contribution of released time on behavioral transformation and the construct of a biblical worldview. The phenomenological method was chosen as the qualitative design for this research since it involves how the participants made sense of their experience. Data collection in this phenomenological study consisted of interviews with nine instructional leaders, and a focus group of eight alumni, all of whom were purposively …

Making A Water Data System Responsive To Information Needs Of Decision Makers, Alida Cantor, Michael Kiparsky, Susan S. Hubbard, Ronan Kennedy, Lidia Cano Pecharroman, Kamyar Guivetchi, Gary Darling, Christina Mccready, Roger Bales

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Evidence-based environmental management requires data that are sufficient, accessible, useful and used. A mismatch between data, data systems, and data needs for decision making can result in inefficient and inequitable capital investments, resource allocations, environmental protection, hazard mitigation, and quality of life. In this paper, we examine the relationship between data and decision making in environmental management, with a focus on water management. We focus on the concept of decision-driven data systems—data systems that incorporate an assessment of decision-makers' data needs into their design. The aim of the research was to examine the process of translating data into effective …

The Pacific Sentinel: November/December 2021, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

The Pacific Sentinel

Editor: Vivian Veidt

Articles in this issue include:

• Letter From the Editor
• Police Resistance to Federal Vaccine Mandates
• COVID on Campus
• Death of the Damsel in Distress
• Game Night at the Dysfunctional Family
• Same Old Story, Different Title
• Socially Alive
• The 2021 Portland Book Festival
• PSU Student Feature: Nikki James
• Notes From Behind the Bar
• A Far Reach for Greater Idaho
• The Truth Pandemic

Prevalence And Sociodemographic Factors Associated With Vision Difficulties In Ghana, Gambia, And Togo: A Multi-Country Analysis Of Recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Abdul-Aziz Seidu, Pascal Agbadi, Precious Adade Duodu, Nutifaga Eugene Yaw Dey, Henry Ofori Duah, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background

The sense of sight is one of the important human sensory abilities that is required for independent functioning and survival. The highest burden of sight-related problems is recorded in low-and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the burden, nationally representative analyses to understand the prevalence and determinants of vision difficulties are hard to find. Therefore, this study addressed this knowledge gap by estimating the prevalence of vision difficulties and its correlates in gender-stratified models in three West African countries: Ghana, Gambia, and Togo.

Methods

The study used the most recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys of Ghana (2017–2018), Gambia …

Post-Great-Recession Human Migration Patterns In The U.S.: The Overlooked Impacts Of Entrepreneurial Activity And Personal Freedom, Richard J. Cebula

American Business Review

Effectively no scholarly research has been published in peer-reviewed journals on the potential migration impacts of environments that are more conducive to entrepreneurship. Similarly, the potential migration impact of personal freedom also is essentially ignored in the literature. This study seeks to add to the literature by investigating the impacts of both entrepreneurial activity and personal freedom on state in-migration patterns. Using a panel dataset for the post-Great Recession period 2010-2017, the empirical analysis reveals that all three of the Kauffman indices of entrepreneurial activity are found to exercise a positive and statistically significant impact on both net in-migration and …

Genome-Wide Snp Identification In Fraxinus Linking Genetic Characteristics To Tolerance Of Agrilus Planipennis, Cecelia E. Hale, Mark A. Jordan, Gloria Iriarte, Kirk Broders, Andrew J. Storer, Vamsi J. Nalam, Jordan M. Marshall

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Ash (Fraxinus spp.) is one of the most widely distributed tree genera in North America. Populations of ash in the United States and Canada have been decimated by the introduced pest Agrilus planipennis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae; emerald ash borer), having negative impacts on both forest ecosystems and economic interests. The majority of trees succumb to attack by A. planipennis, but some trees have been found to be tolerant to infestation despite years of exposure. Restriction site-associated DNA (RAD) sequencing was used to sequence ash individuals, both tolerant and susceptible to A. planipennis attack, in order to identify single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) …

Characterizing Hydration Of The Ocean Crust Using Shortwave Infrared Microimaging Spectroscopy Of Icdp Oman Drilling Project Cores, Molly A. Crotteau, Rebecca N. Greenberger, Bethany L. Ehlmann, George R. Rossman, Michelle Harris, Peter B. Kelemen, Damon A.H. Teagle

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cosm Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter, Georgia Southern University

College of Science & Mathematics: News & Publications (2012-2022)

• Welcome The Diversity & Inclusion newsletter is delivered monthly via email during the fall and spring semesters and is always available on the new COSM D&I webpage. Send contributions and suggestions to any of the COSM D&I Ambassadors listed at the bottom of this newsletter and/or on the webpage.

The Adequacy And Efficiency Of Mosque Services In Salt City During The Year 2019 Using Gis, Nuha Arabeyyat

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

This study aims at determining and evaluating the spatial distribution patterns of the mosques in Salt city for the year 2019, it also proposes planning standards for mosques' establishment in the city, in addition to assesses the future needs of the city, moreover, it proposes the best distribution for it. Study used the descriptive method to achieve its goals, where the data was collected from key informant, primary and secondary sources, in addition to the field survey, when after, the data was being analyzed by using "Near Neighbor Analysis, and Cartographic Analysis" through "Geographic Information System (GIS)", and "Global Positioning …

Spatial Analysis Of Road Network In Salt City Using Geographic Information System (Gis), Abdel-Aziz Hdoush

An-Najah University Journal for Research - B (Humanities)

The study aims to identify the state pattern of the road network in the city of Salt, and its general characteristics. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the descriptive and analytical approaches were used, and the data of this study was collected from different sources, such as; the governmental reports and field surveys. Different methods of analysis and assessment were used in this study, such as; average nearest neighbor and Quantitative Analysis for the general characteristics of the road network, like; accessibility, detour index and density of the network roads. the study showed, through road network analysis, …