Digital Commons Network^™

User-Centered Design Of Companion Robot Pets Involving Care Home Resident-Robot Interactions And Focus Groups With Residents, Staff, And Family: Qualitative Study, Hannah Louise Bradwell, Katie Edwards, Deborah Shenton, Rhona Winnington, Serge Thill, Ray B. Jones

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Abstract Background: Globally, pressure is increasing on health and social care resources due to the aging population and growing prevalence of dementia. Companion robots, such as Paro, demonstrate strong potential for helping reduce this pressure through reported benefits including reduced agitation, depression, loneliness, care provider burden, and medication use. However, we previously identified that user-centered design of robot pets is both essential and understudied. We observed that commonly used robot pets are poorly matched to end-user requirements, and that end users and developers of robot pets differ significantly in their perception of appropriate design. This may explain some of the …

The Bioaccumulation Testing Strategy For Manufactured Nanomaterials: Physico-Chemical Triggers And Read Across From Earthworms In A Meta-Analysis, R. D. Handy, N. J. Clark, J. Vassallo, C. Green, F. Nasser, K. Tatsi, T. H. Hutchinson, D. Boyle, M. Baccaro, Den Brink N Van, C. Svendsen

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

How to use chemical triggers and invertebrate tests in the lower tiers of a bioaccumulation testing strategy.

Ecosystem Approach To Fisheries Management Works—How Switching From Mobile To Static Fishing Gear Improves Populations Of Fished And Non‐Fished Species Inside A Marine‐Protected Area, Bede F.R. Davies, Luke Holmes, Adam Rees, Martin J. Attrill, Amy Y. Cartwright, Emma V. Sheehan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Designated using a Statutory Instrument in 2008, Lyme Bay marine-protected area (MPA) is the UK's first and largest example of an ambitious, whole-site approach to management, to recover and protect reef biodiversity. The whole-site approach applies consistent management, in this case excluding bottom towed fishing, across the full 206 km2 extent of the MPA, thus protecting a mosaic of reef-associated habitats from regular damage, while still allowing less destructive fishing methods, such as static gear, rod and line, and diving.To assess the effectiveness of this management strategy for mobile taxa and the sustainability for those taxa that continue to be …

Terrestrial Borne Litter In The Marine Environment – Evidence Review And Quantifying The Issue, W Courtene-Jones, R Thompson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Herbal Adaptogen Feed-Additive On Growth Performance, Carcass Parameters, And Muscle Amino Acid Profile In Heat-Stressed Modern Broilers, Elizabeth S. Greene, Clay Maynard, Casey M. Owens, Jean-Francois Meullenet, Sami Dridi

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Heat stress has strong adverse effects on poultry production and, thereby, threats its sustainability, which energized scientists to search for innovative and effective solutions. Here, we undertook this study to evaluate the effects of in-feed herbal adaptogen (stress response modifier) supplementation on growth performances, meat quality, and breast amino acid profile in chronic cyclic heat-stressed broilers. Day-old male Cobb 500 chicks (n = 720) were randomly assigned, in environmental chambers (n = 12, 24 pens), to three diet-treatments: a three-phase corn-soybean based diet fed as such (Control, C), or supplemented with the herbal adaptogen at 500 g/1000 kg …

Low-Cost Peer-Taught Virtual Research Workshops For Medical Students In Pakistan: A Creative, Scalable, And Sustainable Solution For Student Research, Ronika Devi Ukrani, Ayesha Niaz Shaikh, Russell S. Martins, Syeda Sadia Fatima, Hamna Amir Naseem, Mishall Ahmed Baig

Medical College Documents

Background: Pakistan has not been a major contributor to medical research, mainly because of the lack of learning opportunities to medical students. With the increase in online learning systems during COVID-19, research related skills can be taught to medical students via low-cost peer taught virtual research workshops.
Aim of the study: To assess the effectiveness of a comprehensive low-cost peer-taught virtual research workshops amongst medical students in Pakistan.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study assessed the effectiveness of five virtual research workshops (RWs) in improving core research skills. RWs for medical students from across Pakistan were conducted over Zoom by medical students …

Clinical Outcomes Of Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia In A County Hospital System, Effrosyni Apostolidou, Curtis Lachowiez, Harinder S Juneja, Wei Qiao, Onyebuchi Ononogbu, Courtney Nicole Miller-Chism, Mark Udden, Hilary Ma, Martha Pritchett Mims

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Major advances in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) over the past decade have resulted in 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of 80% in mature B cell ALL, 50% in precursor B cell ALL, 50% to 60% in T cell ALL, and 60% to 70% in Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph+) ALL, as reported in studies from large, specialized centers. However, many patients treated in the community have limited access to novel therapies and stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The purpose of this retrospective cohort analysis was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients ≥ 16 years with …

Left Ventricular Ballooning Patterns In Recurrent Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Reported Cases, Ravi Korabathina, Jamie Porcadas, Kevin E Kip, Puja R Korabathina, Andrew D Rosenthal, Peter Wassmer

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Recurrent takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) and the clinical profiles and outcomes of patients have not been fully evaluated, nor has the effect of left ventricular ballooning pattern. After searching the medical literature for reports of patients with recurrent TTC, we identified 84 articles with 101 case descriptions. We divided the cases into those with only apical left ventricular ballooning patterns at recurrence (typical, n=60), and those with at least one midventricular or basal ballooning pattern (atypical, n=41). We then compared their clinical profiles and outcomes.

The groups were similar in terms of baseline demographic characteristics, presence and types of triggers, use …

Mortality, Kidney Failure, And Hospitalization Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Ckd And Pulmonary Hypertension, Sankar D Navaneethan, Carl P Walther, L Parker Gregg, Shweta Bansal, Wolfgang C Winkelmayer, Vijay Nambi, Jingbo Niu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is highly prevalent among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) not requiring kidney replacement therapy. We studied the associations of PH with mortality, kidney failure, as well as cardiovascular (CV) and non-CV hospitalization among Medicare beneficiaries with a CKD diagnosis.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, observational study using a matched cohort design.

SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Patients with PH (based on 2 claims within 2 years) and patients without PH matched on CKD stage from the Medicare 5% CKD sample (1996-2016).

PREDICTOR: Presence of pulmonary hypertension.

OUTCOME: Mortality, kidney failure, and all-cause, CV, and non-CV hospitalization.

ANALYTICAL …

Patient Characteristics And Outcomes Of Type 2 Myocardial Infarction During Heart Failure Hospitalizations In The United States, Salik Nazir, Abdul Mannan Khan Minhas, Ishan S Kamat, Robert W Ariss, George V Moukarbel, Juan Carlos Plana Gomez, Savitri Fedson, Ajith Nair, Biykem Bozkurt, Hani Jneid

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Type 2 myocardial infarction (MI) is increasingly diagnosed in patients with heart failure (HF). A paucity of data exists pertinent to the contemporary prevalence and impact of type 2 MI in patients with HF. We studied the patient profiles and the prognostic impact of type 2 MI on outcomes of HF hospitalizations.

METHODS: The Nationwide Readmission Database 2018 was queried for patients with HF hospitalizations with and without type 2 MI. Baseline characteristics, inpatient outcomes, and 30-day all-cause readmissions between both cohorts were compared.

RESULTS: Of 1,072,674 primary HF hospitalizations included in the study, 28,813 (2.7%) had type 2 …

Effects Of Drying Process On The Volatile And Non-Volatile Flavor Compounds Of Lentinula Edodes, Lijia Zhang, Xiaobo Dong, Xi Feng, Salam A. Ibrahim, Wen Huang, Ying Liu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this study, fresh Lentinula edodes was dehydrated using freeze-drying (FD), hot-air drying (HAD), and natural drying (ND), and the volatile and non-volatile flavor compounds were analyzed. The drying process changed the contents of eight-carbon compounds and resulted in a weaker “mushroom flavor” for dried L. edodes. HAD mushrooms had higher levels of cyclic sulfur compounds (56.55 µg/g) and showed a stronger typical shiitake mushroom aroma than those of fresh (7.24 µg/g), ND (0.04 µg/g), and FD mushrooms (3.90 µg/g). The levels of 5′-nucleotide increased, whereas the levels of organic acids and free amino acids decreased after the drying process. …

Ckb Inhibits Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition And Prostate Cancer Progression By Sequestering And Inhibiting Akt Activation, Zheng Wang, Mohit Hulsurkar, Lijuan Zhuo, Jinbang Xu, Han Yang, Samira Naderinezhad, Lin Wang, Guoliang Zhang, Nanping Ai, Linna Li, Jeffrey T Chang, Songlin Zhang, Ladan Fazli, Chad J Creighton, Fang Bai, Michael M Ittmann, Martin E Gleave, Wenliang Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) contributes to tumor invasion, metastasis and drug resistance. AKT activation is key in a number of cellular processes. While many positive regulators for either EMT or AKT activation have been reported, few negative regulators are established. Through kinase cDNA screen, we identified brain-type creatine kinase (CKB or BCK) as a potent suppressor for both. As a ubiquitously expressed kinase in normal tissues, CKB is significantly downregulated in several solid cancer types. Lower CKB expression is significantly associated with worse prognosis. Phenotypically, CKB overexpression suppresses, while its silencing promotes, EMT and cell migration, xenograft tumor growth and metastasis …

Drivers Of Transcriptional Variance In Human Intestinal Epithelial Organoids, Zachary K Criss, Nobel Bhasin, Sara C Di Rienzi, Anubama Rajan, Kali Deans-Fielder, Ganesh Swaminathan, Nabiollah Kamyabi, Xi-Lei Zeng, Harsha Doddapaneni, Vipin K Menon, Deepavali Chakravarti, Clarissa Estrella, Xiaomin Yu, Ketki Patil, Joseph F Petrosino, James C Fleet, Michael P Verzi, Sylvia Christakos, Michael A Helmrath, Sumimasa Arimura, Ronald A Depinho, Robert A Britton, Anthony W Maresso, K Jane Grande-Allen, Sarah E Blutt, Sue E Crawford, Mary K Estes, Sasirekha Ramani, Noah F Shroyer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Human intestinal epithelial organoids (enteroids and colonoids) are tissue cultures used for understanding the physiology of the human intestinal epithelium. Here, we explored the effect on the transcriptome of common variations in culture methods, including extracellular matrix substrate, format, tissue segment, differentiation status, and patient heterogeneity. RNA-sequencing datasets from 276 experiments performed on 37 human enteroid and colonoid lines from 29 patients were aggregated from several groups in the Texas Medical Center. DESeq2 and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were used to identify differentially expressed genes and enriched pathways. PERMANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and dendrogram analysis of the data originally indicated …

Surgical Treatment Of Valvular Heart Disease In Nigeria: A 6-Year Experience, Ikechukwu A Nwafor, John C Eze, Maureen N Nwafor

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Surgical treatment of valvular heart disease in Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, is adversely affected by socioeconomic factors such as poverty and ignorance. To evaluate our experience in this context, we identified all patients who underwent surgery for acquired or congenital valvular heart disease at our Nigerian center from February 2013 through January 2019. We collected data from their medical records, including patient age and sex, pathophysiologic causes and types of valvular disease, surgical treatment, and outcomes. Ninety-three patients (43 males [46.2%]; mean age, 38.9 ± 10.0 yr [range, 11–80 yr]) underwent surgical treatment of a total …

Genome-Wide Association Study Of Problematic Opioid Prescription Use In 132,113 23andme Research Participants Of European Ancestry, Sandra Sanchez-Roige, Pierre Fontanillas, Mariela V Jennings, Sevim B Bianchi, Yuye Huang, Alexander S Hatoum, Julia Sealock, Lea K Davis, Sarah L Elson, 23andme Research Team, Abraham A Palmer

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The growing prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) constitutes an urgent health crisis. Ample evidence indicates that risk for OUD is heritable. As a surrogate (or proxy) for OUD, we explored the genetic basis of using prescription opioids 'not as prescribed'. We hypothesized that misuse of opiates might be a heritable risk factor for OUD. To test this hypothesis, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of problematic opioid use (POU) in 23andMe research participants of European ancestry (N = 132,113; 21% cases). We identified two genome-wide significant loci (rs3791033, an intronic variant of KDM4A; rs640561, an intergenic variant near …

Safeguarding Equity In Off-Site Vehicle Miles Traveled (Vmt) Mitigation In California, Serena E. Alexander, Mariela Alfonzo, Kevin Lee

Mineta Transportation Institute

Historically, the State of California assessed the environmental impacts of proposed developments based on how it was projected to affect an area’s level of service (LOS). However, as LOS focused on traffic delays, many agencies simply widened roads, which was an ineffective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). With the passage of Senate Bill (SB)743 in 2013, LOS was replaced by Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as a more appropriate metric by which to gauge the environmental impacts of proposed development. Additionally, SB 743 presented an opportunity for off-site VMT mitigation strategies through banking and exchanges– allowing multiple development projects …

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Npl Site Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Chimes: November 1, 2021, Calvin University

Chimes

Sociology department launches criminology major by Jocelyn Nunez-Colon

As RCA congregations consider splitting, they do so with grace by Isaiah Tenhuisen

How Calvin's parking stacks up to the competition by Abigail Ham

Class registration and academic planning are about to get a major facelift by Lauren Vanden Bosch

Art history professor curates newsletter with global audience by Grace Toma

Sports analogies in political science: Slam dunk or strikeout? by Isaiah Tenhuisen

Health Services to offer COVID-19 booster shots on campus by Sarah Gibes

Halloween at Calvin: From 1958 riots to 2021 rollerblade parties by Timothy Lin

This land has a …

Approaches To Treat Sensorineural Hearing Loss By Hair-Cell Regeneration: The Current State Of Therapeutic Developments And Their Potential Impact On Audiological Clinical Practice, Ashley S. Hinton, Aizhen Yang-Hood, Angela D. Schrader, Christopher Loose, Kevin K. Ohlemiller, Will J. Mclean

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is typically a permanent and often progressive condition that is commonly attributed to sensory cell loss. All vertebrates except mammals can regenerate lost sensory cells. Thus, SNHL is currently only treated with hearing aids or cochlear implants. There has been extensive research to understand how regeneration occurs in nonmammals, how hair cells form during development, and what limits regeneration in maturing mammals. These studies motivated efforts to identify therapeutic interventions to regenerate hair cells as a treatment for hearing loss, with a focus on targeting supporting cells to form new sensory hair cells. The approaches include …

Essays On The Impacts Of Extreme Natural Events On Health, Moumita Ghorai

Dissertations

This dissertation comprises three chapters that examine how extreme events impact health outcomes such as short-term illness, body mass index, probability of pre-term birth, and mortality. The study reveals the severe consequences of these events and shows that certain groups within a particular country are affected disproportionately.

The first chapter examines whether National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), India’s flagship workfare program, mitigates adverse health outcomes of a drought. This paper contributes to a growing area of research on adaptations to climate change. Using Indian Human Development Survey (2004-2005 and 2010-2011), a nationally representative panel data set, and high resolution …

Mating Frequency Of Female False Codling Moth, Thaumatotibia Leucotreta (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae): Trade-Off Between Fecundity And Longevity, Abdelmutalab G.A. Azrag, Shepard Ndlela, Abdullah M. Mkiga, Samira Abuelgasim Mohamed

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a polyphagous insect pest native to sub-Saharan Africa. The larvae burrow into the fruit and feed on the pulp, thus inflicting huge direct (yield) and indirect losses (markets). Nevertheless, little is known about the mating frequency, behavior, and trade-off between fecundity and longevity of this pest. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of mating status and frequency on fecundity, fertility, and female longevity of T. leucotreta; evaluate the trade-off between the female fecundity and longevity, and evaluate the spermatophore degradation in the bursa copulatrix. The first mating occurred 13 h on average …

Socioeconomic And Health Impacts Of Fall Armyworm In Ethiopia, Zewdu Abro, Emily Kimathi, Hugo De Groote, Tadele Tefera, Subramanian Sevgan, Saliou Niassy, Menale Kassie

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Since 2016, fall armyworm (FAW) has threatened sub-Saharan ‘Africa’s fragile food systems and economic performance. Yet, there is limited evidence on this transboundary pest’s economic and food security impacts in the region. Additionally, the health and environmental consequences of the insecticides being used to control FAW have not been studied. This paper presents evidence on the impacts of FAW on maize production, food security, and human and environmental health. We use a combination of an agroecology-based community survey and nationally representative data from an agricultural household survey to achieve our objectives. The results indicate that the pest causes an average …

Peri-Implant Microbiome: A Literature Review Part Ii, Rudy Khayat, Gabriel Menassa, Carole Chakar

International Arab Journal of Dentistry

Dental implants are now considered the treatment option for missing teeth. They hold a high survival rate with great patient satisfaction. In the last 3 decades, new infectious diseases emerged around dental implants, termed peri-implant mucositits and peri-implantitis. These infectious diseases comprise similar characteristics to periodontitis, including soft and hard tissue loss. The etiology of peri-implant disease is many, one of them is the alteration of the peri-implant microbiome. In health, implants comprise mainly of facultative anaerobic gram-positive cocci, in which the microbiome resides in a symbiotic state where all microorganisms co-exist with each other. On the other hand, diseased …

Follicular Cyst Associated With A De Novo Eda Mutation: A Case Report., Rami Abou Khalil, Tony Yammine, Nadim Mokbel, Chantal Farra, Carole Chakar

International Arab Journal of Dentistry

A dentigerous /follicular cyst is an odontogenic cyst associated with the crown of a non-erupted or partially erupted tooth. The exact histogenesis of this cyst remains unknown. Multiple signaling pathways and cellular modification are involved in its formation.The aim of this article is to report a case of a 9-year-old boy with a de novo EDA mutation, having an extreme oligodontia accompanied by the formation of a follicular cyst. This study hypothesizes the existence of causative relation between the EDA mutation and the cyst development around the impacted tooth.

Evaluation Of Natural Lighting In Architectural Studios., Olfat El Kotp, Ahmed El-Madawy, Mohanad Fouda

Mansoura Engineering Journal

The almost total dependence on artificial lighting as an alternative to natural lighting during daytime working hours inside most educational buildings has led to the extremely high rates of electrical energy consumption and to the great negative impact on the psychology of the user by not feeling visual comfort in the spaces of these buildings and not enjoying natural light. And the natural biological difference between daylight hours and night hours. Where the research aims to improve the quality of natural lighting within the architecture studios through an applied study on one of the existing architecture studios at the Higher …

Utilization Of The Scheduling Software Platform, Youcanbookme, Steven Tolman, Stephanie Derfus

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Media/Software Review

Re-Studying Rosetta City As A Cultural Landscape, A Step For Registration On The World Heritage List., Basma Shaheen, Mai Madkour, Shahira Said Hassan Sharaf El-Deen, Ahmed Rezk

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Cities are dynamic organisms. There is no 'historic' city in the world that has retained its 'original' character destined to change with society itself. Therefore, it is necessary to make various efforts to preserve historical cities' identity in sustainable ways. The city of Rosetta is considered one of the most important historical cities, which is classified as the second-largest Egyptian city containing Islamic monuments after historic Cairo. Rosetta is best known for the Rosetta stone, which was discovered in the Qayitbay castle in 1799 and suffered from many problems related to heritage conservation and management. The research problem has focused …

Microgrid Design And Component Replacement Analysis, Jose Trinidad Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study focuses on developing specific methods that can be friendly applied to obtain efficient usage and maintenance of electricity production in a micro-grid used in a residence or stand-alone building to determine long-term component replacement strategies for aging components. After designing the best option to produce electricity by installing green energies such as photovoltaic panels and their proper devices such as inverters and batteries, this work has developed electric power reliability models to approximate the most efficient component replacement accurately. Due to the nature of the components of this study, repair time is not a substantial part of the …

Recent Advances In Understanding Neural Correlates Of Anxiety Disorders In Children And Adolescents, André Zugman, Anderson M. Winkler, Daniel Samuel Pine

School of Medicine Publications

Purpose of review:

Anxiety disorders are some of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in children and adolescents, but attempts to improve outcome prediction and treatment have stalled. This review highlights recent findings on neural indices related to fear and anxiety that provide novel directions for attempts to create such improvements.

Recent findings:

Stimuli capable of provoking fear engage many brain regions, including the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. Studies in rodents suggest that sustained, low-level threats are particularly likely to engage the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, which appears to malfunction in …

Using Exercise As A Stress Management Technique During The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Differences Between Men And Women In College, Lucas D. Elliott, Oliver W. A. Wilson, Kelsey Holland, Melissa Bopp

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(5): 1234-1246, 2021. Psychological stress is a major concern in college students and can lead to negative mental and physical health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased psychological stress. Using exercise as a stress management technique has been shown to have a large effect in preventing and treating psychological stress. This study attempts to understand the gender differences between how using exercise as a stress management technique predicts perceived stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students completed an online survey to self-report their stress management techniques, perceived stress (PSS-10), grade point average (GPA) and demographics …