Digital Commons Network^™

Analysis On Combined Heat And Power, And Combined Heat And Power Hybrid Systems For Unconventional Drilling Operations, Diego G. Dranuta Ferrer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United States (U.S.) has experienced a natural gas “boom” due to the development of unconventional shale plays, but well development is energy intensive. Operations use electric drilling rigs typically powered by either three high-horsepower diesel engines (HHPDE) or three dedicated natural gas engines (DNGE) and associated generators. From a first law analysis, HHPDEs peak at 42% efficiency at full load, while DNGE peak at about 30%. Most of the fuel energy is lost as heat rejected by the exhaust and radiators. Concurrently, during cold seasons rigs utilize boilers to provide steam throughout the rig to prevent freezing and provide …

Women, Water, And Well-Being: Gendered Experiences Of Household Water Contamination In Parkersburg, West Virginia, Emily Brooke Tingler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

DuPont Washington Works chemical plant knowingly pumped hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic C8 waste into local waterways, water tables, and landfills for over 40 years, contaminating the drinking water for more than 100,000 residents in and around Parkersburg, West Virginia. Drawing on feminist political ecology and the political ecology of water with literature on perceptions of risk in contaminated communities, environmental reproductive justice, modern water, and hydrosocial waterscapes, I examine, through a qualitative case study, the lived experiences of women who have an intimate understanding of C8 water contamination from the DuPont Washington Works chemical plant. Specifically, I …

The Effects Of Genetic Differences In An Innate Immune Receptor On Immune Responses To Haemonchus Contortus In Sheep, Denzel Deshawn Middleton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Little is known about differences observed in early immunological signaling events that result in cellular infiltration and Th2 cytokine production that mediate parasite expulsion. Parasite resistant St. Croix (STC) sheep have been used as model for full host protective immunity as they present the ability to respond to larval stages of H. contortus. RNA sequencing analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with H. contortus larval antigen (HcLA) revealed significant upregulation in NLRP3 and its pathway component TLR4. Predicted protein structural software identified distinct differences in NLRP3 protein structure in STC and parasite susceptible Suffolk (SUF) sheep. NLRP3 …

Energy Policy Dynamics In The European Parliament And In The Lithuanian Seimas, Vaida Lilionyte Manthos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study is to apply punctuated equilibrium theory to better understand the development of energy policies in the European Parliament and in the Lithuanian Parliament – Seimas. In the first empirical chapter I analyze written questions that members of the European Parliament submitted to the EU Commission to study whether members of the European Parliament respond to punctuating events such as the Fukushima nuclear accident. I also study party groupings in the European Parliament to evaluate how punctuating events alter the policy behavior and priorities of these party groupings. In the second empirical chapter I analyze whether …

Examining West Virginia's Economic Development: Natural Resources, Development Agencies, And Labor Force Development, Gaillynn Marie Bowman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Examining West Virginia's Economic Development: Natural Resources, Development Agencies, and Labor Force Development Gaillynn Bowman Economic development is well-recognized as being fundamental to facilitating an overall improved quality of life for communities and their residents. Throughout West Virginia’s history, the state has experienced economic hardships caused by boom and bust cycles associated with resource extraction. This dissertation consists of three essays that explore the impacts of economic development activities, including conservation programs, economic development agency initiatives, and workforce development agencies. The first essay explores the relationship nonresident landowners have with the conservation programs within West Virginia, specifically the Natural Resources …

Effects Of 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol On Stress Response Pathway Regulators, In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Suk Lan Ser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hydrotropes are small molecules capable of inducing liquid-liquid phase separation by altering the solubility and conformation states of organic compounds that are increasingly becoming important in organizing chemical reactions and regulating complexes. They prevent protein aggregation causing these proteins to form condensates. Mediator, a highly conserved multi-subunit complex, plays an important role in transcription. Med15, a subunit found within the tail domain of the Mediator complex, works with stress-induced transcription factors and is regulated by many kinases, including CDKs and the AMP kinase, Snf1. Living cells respond by changing molecular and cellular pathways when they are exposed to stressful conditions. …

Recovery Of Phosphorus From Florida Phosphatic Waste Clay, Amir Eskanlou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This MS thesis examines the recovery of phosphorus (P) from Florida waste clay (WC). A comprehensive literature review revealed that: (i)-The most important values being lost to WC are P and rare earth elements (REEs). For the recovery of these values from WC, two crucial attempts are the removal of extremely fine-sized clays, followed by the recovery of phosphate content, which can pave the path for the recovery of REEs; (ii)-Any scientific/ technological solution should, at the same time, be economically and environmentally attractive to the industry. As such, moving from mostly chemical separation processes to the primarily physical/ physicochemical …

Novel Mechanisms Of Neuronal And Hormonal Regulation Of Large Intestinal Electrolyte Transport, Andrew John Nickerson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The mammalian colon plays a vital role in maintaining overall electrolyte and fluid homeostasis in the body, and it possesses the ability to either secrete or absorb water depending upon the needs of the organism. Secretion or absorption of electrolyte ions, such as Na⁺, Cl^- and K⁺, drives the movement of water across the colonic epithelium – the inner gut lining where all transport takes place. Aberrant absorptive and/or secretory activity within the colonic epithelium is central to the pathogenesis of many gastrointestinal diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), constipation …

Grouping Algorithms For Informative Array Testing In Disease Surveillance, David Sokolov

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In order to maintain normal operations and prevent unnecessary morbidity and mortality during times of disease outbreak, institutions find a need to conduct frequent and widespread testing of their constituents, often under significantly limited testing resource constraints. Faced with the challenge of how best to allo- cate these limited resources to maximum effect, institutions are increasingly turning to group (or “pooled”) testing, which involves testing strategically-chosen groups of patient samples rather than individual samples, producing significant testing resource savings under certain regimes of disease prevalence. While group test- ing can be conducted without any a priori knowledge of individual disease …

Targeting Calcium Homeostasis For The Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma, Osama M. Elzamzamy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematological malignancy characterized by the neoplastic proliferation of the plasma cells. MM is a relatively rare cancer that accounts for about 1.8% of all cancers and is the second most common hematologic malignancies, and despite the advancement from untreatable to treatable malignancy, it is yet incurable. Calcium ions (Ca²⁺) play an important role as second messengers in regulating a plethora of physiological and pathological processes, hence cytoplasmic Ca²⁺ is tightly regulated with strict spatial and temporal control to initiate, maintain, and terminate appropriate signaling pathways and phenotypes including cellular proliferation, cell cycle …

Can Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Improve Core Features Of Autism? Findings From A Comparison Of Pcit For Children With And Without Autism Spectrum Disorder, Robin C. Han

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although there is a small yet growing body of evidence supporting Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) as an effective treatment for disruptive behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Scudder et al., 2019), further study is warranted, particularly with more robust methodology (e.g., larger sample sizes, comparison groups). Furthermore, preliminary studies have demonstrated improvements in symptoms of autism following the completion of PCIT, including improvements in frequency of child verbalizations (Hansen & Shillingsburg, 2016), caregiver report of social skills and social responsiveness (Zlomke et al., 2017), time spent in pretend toy play (Lieneman et al., 2019), and shared positive affect …

Improving Real-Time Methane Monitoring In Longwall Coal Mines Through System Response Characterization Of A Multi-Nodal Methane Detection Network, Brian Philip Cappellini

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Machine automation and atmospheric monitoring are used by many industries to improve safety and productivity in the workplace. The underground Methane Watchdog System (MWS) is a multi-nodal network of sensors currently under development. The MWS aims to improve safety and productivity by introducing 10 compact sampling units designed to be easily integrated within the current roof support equipment of the mine. Each unit contains an array of sensors used to continuously monitor the environmental conditions which include methane concentration, temperature, pressure, and relative humidity. All MWS units report information back to a remote central processing hub (CPH) which collects nodal …

Decision-Making Involvement, Social Support For Healthy Behaviors, And Nutritional Adherence In Adolescents With Cystic Fibrosis, Jennifer Kelleher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Adolescents with cystic fibrosis (awCF) exhibit suboptimal adherence to dietary and enzyme recommendations despite the fact that eating a high calorie diet with enzymes significantly improves lung functioning. Furthermore, during adolescence teens and their caregivers begin to negotiate treatment responsibility, shifting treatment tasks to the youth. As such, it is important to understand which aspects of the complex decision-making process (e.g., expressing an opinion, asking for information from parents/adults, making joint decisions with parents) relate to better dietary adherence in adolescents with CF and how parents can best support these healthy behaviors. Thus, this study aimed to identify how …

Characterization Of Modern Ammunition And Background Profiles: A Novel Approach And Probabilistic Interpretation Of Inorganic Gunshot Residue, Korina Layli Menking-Hoggatt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gunshot residue (GSR) can provide essential clues in gun-related investigations. The standard practice for GSR analysis uses SEM-EDS, with the capability for single particle elemental and morphological analysis. However, the method is time-consuming and based on categorical classification models without considering case circumstances. Therefore, complementary and more encompassing methods are needed to improve evidence interpretation of modern ammunition. This research aims to fill these demands by developing standard materials and alternative methods to characterize and interpret IGSR.

This study developed primer GSR (pGSR) standards from sixty discharged primers that were fully characterized by three techniques. The number of GSR particles, …

Wild And Wonderful: How Both A Local And National Newspaper Framed West Virginia Leading Up To The 2016 Election, Emily Grace Martin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

During the 2016 Presidential election, journalists from all over the country flocked to West Virginia to try to understand the draw to then-candidate Donald Trump. There is a well-documented history of outsiders flooding the state and its surrounding Appalachian states to attempt to make sense of the current political situation, all while operating off of stereotypes and preconceived notions about the people of the Mountain State. This study aims to determine how stereotyping and the concept of framing or othering — when in-groups create out-groups — were used by a local West Virginia paper, as well as a national newspaper …

Does A Brief Mindfulness Induction Change Delay Discounting In Individuals With High Levels Of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms?, Cierra B. Edwards

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness characterized by obsessions and compulsions that cause significant distress and/or functional impairment. Delay discounting, the decline in value of a reward with the delay of its receipt, is linked to a range of maladaptive behaviors and mental disorders. Increased delay discounting is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), reflecting that compulsive behaviors that aim to counteract obsessive thoughts are viewed as uncontrollable by the sufferer. We aimed to experimentally reduce delay discounting in individuals with high levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms through a brief mindfulness induction. Eligible participants were randomly assigned to receive either a …

Targeting The Cerebrovasculature In Sepsis: A Focus On The Brain Microvascular Endothelium, Divine C. Nwafor

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a critical interface between the systemic circulation and the brain. It is a specialized multicellular unit composed of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), pericytes, a basement membrane, and astrocytic end foot processes. BMECs are a principal component of the BBB that provide the structural framework needed for the stringent transport of molecules into the brain. BMEC dysfunction permits the trafficking of neurotoxins from systemic circulation into the brain, which ultimately exacerbates BBB dysfunction and neuroinflammation. Studies have shown that BBB dysfunction is a key determinant of cognitive decline in sepsis. However, there are critical knowledge …

A Case Study Investigating Therapy Methods Used By Speech Language Pathologists Working With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Julia Byers Van Volkenburg

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study was an in-depth examination of the experiences of five speech language pathologists (SLPs) working with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) during language therapy sessions. This case study aimed to better understand the various therapy techniques being used by the SLPs through interviews and a reflective journal kept by the researcher. It also sought to examine the ways those therapy techniques may have included creative dramatics. Through thematic analysis, major and minor themes emerged from the interviews. The main theme of the study was the importance of individualizing therapy for students with ASD. Individualizing therapy was supported by …

Chromosome Xq23 Is Associated With Lower Atherogenic Lipid Concentrations And Favorable Cardiometabolic Indices, Pradeep Natarajan, Akhil Pampana, Sarah E. Graham, Sanni Ruotsalainen, Paul S. De Vries, Jai G. Broome, Juan M. Peralta, John Blangero, Joanne E. Curran, James P. Pirruccello

School of Medicine Publications

Autosomal genetic analyses of blood lipids have yielded key insights for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, X chromosome genetic variation is understudied for blood lipids in large sample sizes. We now analyze genetic and blood lipid data in a high-coverage whole X chromosome sequencing study of 65,322 multi-ancestry participants and perform replication among 456,893 European participants. Common alleles on chromosome Xq23 are strongly associated with reduced total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides (min P = 8.5 × 10-72), with similar effects for males and females. Chromosome Xq23 lipid-lowering alleles are associated with reduced odds for CHD among 42,545 cases and …

Neurodegeneration Difference Between The Non-Lesioned And Lesioned Hemisphere In Stroke Patient, N. Cortez, Elle Wynn, Kelsey Baker

School of Medicine Publications

Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death in Hispanics. It has generally been suggested that neurodegeneration is isolated to the lesioned hemisphere. However, recent evidence has suggested that the non-lesioned side of the brain may also undergo neurodegeneration. Here, we sought to evaluate the amount of neurodegeneration in the lesioned and non-lesioned hemisphere in chronic stroke patients and identify the impact of stroke size and location

The Key To Simplified Management Of An Undescended Parathyroid Adenoma [La Clave Para El Manejo Simplificado De Un Adenoma Paratiroideo No Descendido], Humberto Ruiz-Hernández, Joyce Meza-Venegas, Samuel K. Snyder

School of Medicine Publications

Undescended parathyroid adenoma is a rare cause of primary hyperparathyroidism that happens < 1% of cases. If not suspected, it can lead to a negative bilateral parathyroid exploration and extensive iatrogenic trauma. We propose that with proper imaging the correct diagnosis can be established to simplify surgical management. We describe two cases of patients who underwent a targeted neck exploration due to an undescended parathyroid adenoma diagnosed with an appropriate preoperative imaging protocol. With an appropriate imaging protocol for primary hyperparathyroidism and parathyroid hormone aspirates, an undescended parathyroid adenoma can be primarily diagnosed to guide a focused parathyroidectomy

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El adenoma paratiroideo no descendido ocasiona hiperparatiroidismo primario en <1% de los casos. Si no se sospecha, puede llevar a exploraciones negativas y trauma iatrogénico extenso. Proponemos que, con un protocolo imagenológico adecuado, se puede realizar un diagnóstico correcto, simplificando el abordaje quirúrgico. Describimos dos casos en que se realizó una exploración de cuello dirigida debido a un adenoma paratiroideo no descendido diagnosticado con un protocolo de imagen preoperatorio apropiado. Un protocolo de imagen apropiado para hiperparatiroidismo primario y aspirados de PTH pueden diagnosticar de manera inicial un adenoma paratiroideo no descendido para guiar una paratiroidectomía dirigida.

Association Of Fatal And Nonfatal Cardiovascular Outcomes With 24-Hour Mean Arterial Pressure, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Wen-Yi Yang, Lutgarde Thijs, Kei Asayama, Tine W. Hansen, Fang-Fei Wei, Masahiro Kikuya, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Eamon Dolan, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications

Major adverse cardiovascular events are closely associated with 24-hour blood pressure (BP). We determined outcome-driven thresholds for 24-hour mean arterial pressure (MAP), a BP index estimated by oscillometric devices. We assessed the association of major adverse cardiovascular events with 24-hour MAP, systolic BP (SBP), and diastolic BP (DBP) in a population-based cohort (n=11 596). Statistics included multivariable Cox regression and the generalized R2 statistic to test model fit. Baseline office and 24-hour MAP averaged 97.4 and 90.4 mm Hg. Over 13.6 years (median), 2034 major adverse cardiovascular events occurred. Twenty-four-hour MAP levels of <90 >(normotension, n=6183), 90 to <92 >(elevated MAP, n=909), …

Stroke Etiologies In Patients With Covid-19: The Svin Covid-19 Multinational Registry, María E. Ramos-Araque, James E. Siegler, Marc Ribo, Manuel Requena, Cristina López, Mercedes De Lera, Juan F. Arenillas, Isabel Hernández Pérez, Beatriz Gómez-Vicente, Ameer E. Hassan

School of Medicine Publications

Background and purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with a small but clinically significant risk of stroke, the cause of which is frequently cryptogenic. In a large multinational cohort of consecutive COVID-19 patients with stroke, we evaluated clinical predictors of cryptogenic stroke, short-term functional outcomes and inhospital mortality among patients according to stroke etiology.

Methods: We explored clinical characteristics and short-term outcomes of consecutively evaluated patients 18 years of age or older with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 from 31 hospitals in 4 countries (3/1/20–6/16/20).

Results:Of the 14.483 laboratory-confirmed patients with COVID-19, 156 (1.1%) were diagnosed …

Statistical Abstract, Fiscal Year 2021, Tennessee. Department Of Correction

Annual Statistical Abstract

This document is the annual statistical report for the Tennessee Department of Correction during the fiscal year.

Malware Classification Using Long Short-Term Memory Models, Dennis Dang, Fabio Di Troia, Mark Stamp

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Signature and anomaly based techniques are the quintessential approaches to malware detection. However, these techniques have become increasingly ineffective as malware has become more sophisticated and complex. Researchers have therefore turned to deep learning to construct better performing model. In this paper, we create four different long-short term memory (LSTM) based models and train each to classify malware samples from 20 families. Our features consist of opcodes extracted from malware executables. We employ techniques used in natural language processing (NLP), including word embedding and bidirection LSTMs (biLSTM), and we also use convolutional neural networks (CNN). We find that a model …

Malware Classification With Gmm-Hmm Models, Jing Zhao, Samanvitha Basole, Mark Stamp

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Discrete hidden Markov models (HMM) are often applied to malware detection and classification problems. However, the continuous analog of discrete HMMs, that is, Gaussian mixture model-HMMs (GMM-HMM), are rarely considered in the field of cybersecurity. In this paper, we use GMM-HMMs for malware classification and we compare our results to those obtained using discrete HMMs. As features, we consider opcode sequences and entropy-based sequences. For our opcode features, GMM-HMMs produce results that are comparable to those obtained using discrete HMMs, whereas for our entropy-based features, GMM-HMMs generally improve significantly on the classification results that we have achieved with discrete HMMs.

"Do Users Need Human-Like Conversational Agents?" - Exploring Conversational System Design Using Framework Of Human Needs, Souvick Ghosh, Satanu Ghosh

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The fascinating story of human evolution can be attributed to our ability to speak, write, and communicate complex thoughts. When researchers envision a perfect, artificially intelligent conversational system, they want the system to be human-like. In other words, the system should converse with the same intellect and cognition as humans. Now, the question which we need to ask is if we need a human-like conversational system? Before we engage in the complex endeavor of implementing human-like characteristics, we should debate if the pursuit of such a system is logical and ethical. We analyze some of the system-level characteristics and discuss …

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2021, Tennessee. Department Of Correction

Annual Reports

This document is the annual report for the Tennessee Department of Correction during the fiscal year.

Establishing An Interprofessional Care Pathway Across The Continuum For Patients Following Implantation Of Left Ventricular Assist Device, Katy Blessing Dpt, Katelin Gorski, Nicholas Hoster, Joseph Paluck, Julie Patterson, Hannah Simko, Stephen Walker, Elizabeth A. Wetzler

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

A Case Of Pulmonary Amyloidosis With Progressive Systemic Involvement, Saloni Goyal Do, Chun Siu, Yasmeen Khaskia, Joseph Schellenberg Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.