Digital Commons Network^™

The Evaluation Of A Clinical Decision Support Tool Using Natural Language Processing To Screen Hospitalized Adults For Unhealthy Substance Use: Protocol For A Quasi-Experimental Design, Cara Joyce, Talar W. Markossian, Jenna Nikolaides, Elisabeth Ramsey, Hale M. Thompson, Juan C. Rojas, Brihat Sharma, Dmitriy Dligach, Madeline Oguss, Richard S. Cooper, Majid Afshar

Biostatistics Collaborative Core: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background: Automated and data-driven methods for screening using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning may replace resource-intensive manual approaches in the usual care of patients hospitalized with conditions related to unhealthy substance use. The rigorous evaluation of tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) is necessary to demonstrate effectiveness before system-wide implementation. An NLP tool to use routinely collected data in the electronic health record was previously validated for diagnostic accuracy in a retrospective study for screening unhealthy substance use. Our next step is a noninferiority design incorporated into a research protocol for clinical implementation with prospective evaluation of clinical …

Cenozoic Extension Of The Lake Tanganyika Rift, East Africa: Structures, Tectonostratigraphy And Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction, Shaidu Shaban

Dissertations - ALL

Active continental rifts are ideal sites for understanding the break-up of continents, and long-lived rift lake environments are known as important reservoirs for endemic communities and biodiversity. The sedimentary fill of extensional continental rifts within the East Africa Rift System (EARS) records a long history of continental extension and variable tropical climate that is unparalleled in its duration and fidelity. Continental extensional basins are sensitive to variations caused by the interplay between tectonics, sedimentary processes, and climate change. However, to discern the sedimentary fill history and its related tectonostratigraphy, as well as for reconstructing past climate changes, high-fidelity data such …

A Coherence-Colored Look Inside Reverse Micelles: Advancing Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry To Characterize Internal Water Pool Dynamics, Alec Beaton

Dissertations - ALL

Traditional data acquisition methods in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) collect a subset of the total amount of generated data and discard the rest. In this work, a modified approach toward NMR data acquisition and analysis is formalized and applied in a series of different contexts, ultimately illustrating the utility of collecting and considering this traditionally discarded data. In particular, it is shown that this approach both facilitates and improves NMR data acquisition capabilities at low field (15 MHz), enabling one to overcome challenges arising from, for example, fluctuations in the static magnetic field.With these developments in hand, the dual resonance …

Arginine Methylation Of The Pgc-1Α C‑Terminus Is Temperature- Dependent, Meryl Mendoz, Mariel Mendoza, Tiffany Lubrino, Sidney Briski, Immaculeta Osuji, Janielle Cuala, Brendan Ly, Ivan Ocegueda, Harvey Peralta, Benjamin A. Garcia, Cecilia Zurita-Lopez

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We set out to determine whether the C-terminus (amino acids 481–798) of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator-1 alpha (PGC-1α, UniProt Q9UBK2), a regulatory metabolic protein involved in mitochondrial biogenesis, and respiration, is an arginine methyltransferase substrate. Arginine methylation by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) alters protein function and thus contributes to various cellular processes. In addition to confirming methylation of the C-terminus by PRMT1 as described in the literature, we have identified methylation by another member of the PRMT family, PRMT7. We performed in vitro methylation reactions using recombinant mammalian PRMT7 and PRMT1 at 37, 30, 21, 18, and 4 °C. …

Gender Justice And Human Rights Symposium: Holistic Approaches To Gender Violence, Denisse Córdova Montes, Tamar Ezer, Reem Ali, Kayla Bokzam, Renu Sara Nargund, Megan Norris, Maxwell Zoberman

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Non-Invasive Artificial Intelligence Approach For The Prediction Of Human Blastocyst Ploidy: A Retrospective Model Development And Validation Study, Josue Barnes, Matthew Brendel, Vianne R. Gao, Suraj Rajendran, Junbum Kim, Qianzi Li, Jonas E. Malmsten, Jose T. Sierra, Pantelis Zisimopoulos, Alexandros Sigaras, Pegah Khosravi, Marcos Meseguer, Qiansheng Zhan, Zev Rosenwaks, Olivier Elemento, Nikica Zaninovic, Iman Hajirasouliha

Publications and Research

Summary

Background

One challenge in the field of in-vitro fertilisation is the selection of the most viable embryos for transfer. Morphological quality assessment and morphokinetic analysis both have the disadvantage of intra-observer and inter-observer variability. A third method, preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A), has limitations too, including its invasiveness and cost. We hypothesised that differences in aneuploid and euploid embryos that allow for model-based classification are reflected in morphology, morphokinetics, and associated clinical information.

Methods

In this retrospective study, we used machine-learning and deep-learning approaches to develop STORK-A, a non-invasive and automated method of embryo evaluation that uses artificial …

Accumulation Of Sublethal Radiation Damage And Its Effect On Cell Survival, Oleg N Vassiliev

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective. Determine the extent of sublethal radiation damage (SRD) in a cell population that received a given dose of radiation and the impact of this damage on cell survival. Approach. We developed a novel formalism to account for accumulation of SRD with increasing dose. It is based on a very general formula for cell survival that correctly predicts the basic properties of cell survival curves, such as the transition from the linear-quadratic to a linear dependence at high doses. Using this formalism we analyzed extensive experimental data for photons, protons and heavy ions to evaluate model parameters, quantify the extent …

Spatiotemporal Distribution Change Of Online Reference During The Time Of Covid-19, Thom Gerrish, Ningning Nicole Kong

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The goal of this project was to identify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spatiotemporal distribution of the library’s online patrons, so that we could assess if the scheduled library reference hours are meeting the needs of the academic community. We collected each online reference patron’s location information via their IP address, as well as the timestamp of each online reference instance. The spatiotemporal distribution patterns were analyzed and compared before and after in-person instruction was suspended due to COVID-19 distance protocols and a closing of the campus in the 2020 spring semester. The results show that the …

The Musical Water Fountain, Amy Nielsen

Honors Theses

An affordable musical water fountain was designed over the course of one year. The target consumers for this fountain are middle to upper class homeowners. Based on the design parameters and research found on the topic, the fountain presents an aesthetically pleasing light and water show for residential neighborhoods. The design was sought to be competitive on the market with preexisting fountains. Since it must play music and perform a water and light show all in synchronous, there was confidence in the unique features to sell with today’s consumers. SolidWorks was used extensively to design and model the fountain and …

Quantification Of Phosphatidylethanol In Whole Blood And Dried Blood Spots By Lc-Ms/Ms, Elizabeth Yulianto

Student Theses

Phosphatidylethanol (PEth) is an alcohol biomarker that provides a longer window of detection than direct alcohol measurement or other common alcohol metabolites, like ethyl glucuronide. PEth has become useful in assessing drinking history, such as for alcohol-withdrawal treatment, organ transplant settings or prenatal alcohol exposure determination. A method was developed and validated to quantify PEth 16:0/18:1 and 16:0/18:2 in whole blood and dried blood spots (DBS) by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The whole blood method was applied to 149 samples from pregnant women, elucidating possible prenatal alcohol exposure. Fifty μL whole blood and 12.7 mm whole punches from …

Golay Codes And Quantum Contextuality, Mordecai Waegell, P. K. Aravind

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

It is shown that the codewords of the binary and ternary Golay codes can be converted into rays in RP²³ and RP¹¹ that provide proofs of the Kochen-Specker theorem in real state spaces of dimensions 24 and 12, respectively. Some implications of these results are discussed.

Hey Girl, Feel My Thesis. Know What It's Made Of? Research Material., Mya Lynn Pritts

Masters Theses

As Generation Z becomes the newest generation to enter adulthood, it is valuable to understand their thought processes and communication patterns. Individuals of Generation Z are known to be digital natives, as they were born into a world of technology with the internet at their fingertips. Understanding Generation Z's use of memes is an area where little research has been done so far. The purpose of this study was to determine how Generation Z interprets and communicates with memes on the internet and social media platforms. Unlike previous research, this study analyzed the participants' perceptions, which further contributes to an …

Short-Range Magnetic Correlations, Spontaneous Magnetovolume Effect, And Local Distortion In Magnetic Semiconductor Mnte, Raju Baral

Theses and Dissertations

The antiferromagnetic semiconductor MnTe has recently attracted significant interest as a potential high-performance thermoelectric material. Its promising thermoelectric properties are due in large part to short-range magnetic correlations in the paramagnetic state, which enhance the thermopower through the paramagnon drag effect. Using magnetic pair distribution function (mPDF) analysis of neutron total scattering data, we present a detailed, real-space picture of the short-range magnetic correlation in MnTe, offering a deeper view into the paramagnon drag effect and the nature of the correlated paramagnetic state. We confirm the presence of nanometer-scale antiferromagnetic correlations far into the paramagnetic state, show the evolution of …

Antibody Epitope Profiling Of The Kshv Lana Protein Using Virscan, Sydney J. Bennett, Dicle Yalcin, Sara R. Privatt, Owen Ngalamika, Salum J. Lidenge, John T. West, Charles Wood

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The humoral antibody response against Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in infected individuals has been characterized demonstrating the latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) as the most antigenic KSHV protein. Despite the antigenicity of the protein, specific LANA epitopes have not been systematically characterized. Here, we utilized a bacteriophage T7 library, which displays 56-amino acid KSHV LANA peptides with 28-amino acid overlap (VirScan), to define those epitopes in LANA targeted by antibodies from a cohort of 62 sub-Saharan African Kaposi sarcoma (KS) patients and 22 KSHV-infected asymptomatic controls. Intra- and inter-patient breadth and magnitude of the anti-LANA responses were quantified at the peptide …

Association Of Chlorhexidine Use And Scaling And Root Planing With Birth Outcomes In Pregnant Individuals With Periodontitis: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Maxwell Akonde, Rajat Das Gupta, Maxwell Akonde, Mark Reynolds, Stephanie Smith-Warner, Jihong Liu Sc.D., Fouzia Tarannum, James Beck, Donald Mattison

Faculty Publications

Importance Chlorhexidine mouthwash enhances treatment effects of conventional periodontal treatment, but data on chlorhexidine as a source of heterogeneity in meta-analyses assessing the treatment of maternal periodontitis in association with birth outcomes are lacking.

Objective To assess possible heterogeneity by chlorhexidine use in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of periodontal treatment (ie, scaling and root planing [SRP]) vs no treatment on birth outcomes.

Data Sources Cochrane Oral Health’s Trials Register, Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth’s Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE Ovid, Embase Ovid, LILACS BIREME Virtual Health Library (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science …

Association Of Chlorhexidine Use And Scaling And Root Planing With Birth Outcomes In Pregnant Individuals With Periodontitis: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Anwar T. Nerchant, Rajat Das Gupta, Maxwell Akonde, Mark Reynolds, Stephanie Smith-Warner, Jihong Liu, Fouzia Tarannum, James Beck, Donald Mattison

Faculty Publications

Importance Chlorhexidine mouthwash enhances treatment effects of conventional periodontal treatment, but data on chlorhexidine as a source of heterogeneity in meta-analyses assessing the treatment of maternal periodontitis in association with birth outcomes are lacking.

Objective To assess possible heterogeneity by chlorhexidine use in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the effect of periodontal treatment (ie, scaling and root planing [SRP]) vs no treatment on birth outcomes.

Data Sources Cochrane Oral Health’s Trials Register, Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth’s Trials Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE Ovid, Embase Ovid, LILACS BIREME Virtual Health Library (Latin American and Caribbean Health Science …

Digital Financial Services And Strategic Financial Management: Financial Services Firms And Microenterprises In African Markets, Esi A. Elliot, Carmina Cavazos, Benjamin Ngugi

International Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty Publications

This study highlights the impact of digital financial services as enhancing the capacity of development goals as well as social sustainability. The selected emerging markets are Ghanaian financial service providers (FSP)s and microenterprise customers (CME)s, where we examine how “Ubuntu”, an African philosophy of humanism, legitimizes spaces for a more democratic, egalitarian, and ethical engagement of human beings. This study adopts a grounded theory methodology for investigation of the phenomena with a sample size of 70 relationship managers. The findings further existing sustainability literature pertaining to social sustainability and consumer wellbeing. We contribute to theory by presenting a psychological perspective …

The Digital Markets Act Between The Eu Economic Constitutionalism And The Eu Competition Policy, Claudia Massa

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

Given that a lot has already been written by legal scholars on the practical implications that the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act will have, the present article intends to bring the discussion back to the theoretical level, trying to find out where the roots of this proposed regulation lie, with an analysis of the context in which it falls, the EU principles and values upon which it is based, the objectives it intends to pursue, and the legal-economic theories behind it.

Gateways To The Internet Ecosystem – Enabling And Discovery Tools In The Age Of Global Online Platforms, Judit Firniksz, Borbála Tünde Dömötörfy, Péter Mezei

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

The Google Shopping case has provided significant lessons that reach beyond antitrust enforcement. ‘Enabling and discovery tools’ create a layer that serves as a gateway to the Internet ecosystem. Therefore, on the one hand, they play a key role in ensuring the openness of the Internet ecosystem, and on the other hand, they exercise a primary influence on consumer experiences and their cognitive processes, which in turn determine online consumer transactions. Enabling and discovery tools, such as adopting design methods based on applied behavioural sciences (for example: user experience design (UX) and user interface design (UI)), create global challenges at …

Maciej Bernatt, Populism And Antitrust: The Illiberal Influence Of Populist Government On The Competition Law System, Cambridge University Press, 2022, 253 P., Baskaran Balasingham

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

The Final Amen: Designing And Implementing A Christlike System For The Closure Of Waypointe Christian Fellowship, Christopher E. Sherwood

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Like a myriad of other churches across the country, WayPointe Christian Fellowship (WCF) experienced a long decline leading to a critical question: Should the church permanently close? In the case of WCF, the answer was yes, which led to other questions about how to accomplish the task while maximizing God's glory, minimizing the pain felt by those involved, and preparing the congregation to migrate to another body of believers. This thesis project was designed to enable the leaders of WCF and other church leaders to answer these questions. In this pursuit, a comprehensive closure plan was created and implemented at …

James Monroe’S White House: The Genius Of Politics And Place, Susan Glen Amos

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research endeavor has discerned the origins of an enduring American nationalistic distinctiveness perpetuated by President James Monroe’s White House. A careful scholarly examination of Monroe’s White House as a cultural landscape enquires into the genesis of interdependence between place and politics. It also studies the depth of the American people’s ability to embrace, as their own, the symbolism and national vision fashioned in these spaces. The juxtaposition of James Monroe’s election as the first United States president after the War of 1812 with the resurrection of the White House manifested for him an exclusive opportunity, still fraught with perils, …

Competing With Small Town Football: The Challenges Of Teaching High School Band In Rural America, Christopher John Libby

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This project explored the many challenges band directors face while teaching in the rural United States. Despite the abundance of articles about recruiting for high school band programs, few have addressed high schools in the rural United States. The untold perspectives of novice and experienced band directors matter because it is a topic not addressed in undergraduate studies. This study highlights the perspectives of band directors and scholars who have firsthand experience building band programs in rural counties. Guided by scholarly journal articles, personal interviews, and other research, this qualitative research study identified perspectives that have not yet been explored …

The Relationship Between Young Adult Attachment And Loneliness Factors With Their Childhood Social Media Usage Patterns, Kenneth Walter Mark

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Social media use has become an integral and often ignored part of children’s lives because it is rationalized not to be detrimental to their future development. However, childhood social media use was associated with insecure attachment styles and possible loneliness issues emerging in young adulthood. Past research examined social media use and secular attachment in the present only, without examining spiritual attachment or loneliness levels. This is the first research study to explore longitudinally the relationship between past childhood social media use and current young adult (aged 18-24) secular attachment, spiritual attachment, and loneliness levels. The population (N = 149) …

Drug Evaluation And Classification Program: An Evaluation And Validation Study In The State Of Florida, Micah Moore

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the past several decades, the fatality rates in traffic crashes related to drug-impaired driving have increased significantly. Specialized law enforcement officers are currently being deployed to help reduce the number of drug-related traffic crash fatalities and identify drugged impaired drivers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) developed the drug evaluation and classification program (DECP) to certify law enforcement officers as drug recognition experts (DREs). An evaluation and validation study was conducted on the DECP in Florida. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the DECP in Florida to …

The Worship Leadership Model At Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lead Pastor And Worship Leader Relationship, 1961–2013, David L. Ream

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

By 2050, it has been estimated that 1 billion people will be Pentecostals in the broadest sense of the term. Today, one person in twelve globally is a part of this fastest-growing segment of Christianity. The ministry model of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa as served by Pastor Chuck Smith is a paradigmatic model that houses and stabilizes the ministry of the Holy Spirit as it reproduces. This phenomenological qualitative study explores the experiences of Worship Leaders who led worship during Sunday Morning services from 1985–2013 and sought to discover the essential characteristics of the Lead Pastor and Worship Leader interactions …

Non-Christian, Japanese College Students’ Perspectives Of Engaging With God Through The Participatory Components Of Christian Worship, Jacqueline Leigh Bencke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study seeks to examine the extent to which non-Christian college students in Japan perceive their engagement with the biblical God while participating in daily chapel services at Kyūshū Lutheran College. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, analyzing survey and focus group data to explore whether a relationship exists between students’ participation in chapel committee activities and their perceived spiritual engagement. Responses to Lynn Underwood’s Daily Spiritual Experience Survey, the Centrality of Religiosity Scale, and the Centrality of Buddhist Religiosity Scale are combined to create a general spiritual profile of respondents. Worship leaders and missionaries who are in positions of …

Teacher Retention Crisis After Natural Disaster Trauma And A Global Pandemic, Kimberly Marie Jarrard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Natural disasters affect the communities of over one million students and educators in the United States every year; however, school-based preparedness and prevention programs are nearly non-existent across disaster-prone areas. School-based trauma intervention programs are somewhat present in schools; however, it is more expensive and at a cost, and most public school systems do not have funds readily available to spend. However, the price is more significant on the adolescents' and educators' mental health and communities affected when they are only treated reactively rather than proactively. There are many studies on the results and after-effects of trauma on the mental …

Understanding The 21st Century Practical Implication Of Chaplaincy Ministry In The City Of Milwaukee, Wi, Jeffrey D. Hayman

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project acknowledges that God’s command for Christian hospital chaplains is to serve humanity. Jesus calls a chaplain. He then forms, transforms, and conforms them to His image of oneness. Hospital chaplains like pastors are part of care ministries that extend to various work settings, Christian and secular. The hospital-certified chaplain, by definition, can support the whole workforce in the hospital, including their patients and the patient’s families. The hospital-certified chaplain is the main focus of this research. These hospital chaplains must be qualified, endorsed, licensed, certified, or ordained to be on the frontline in the community. A hospital-certified …

The Nature Of Confession For Forgiveness In 1 John 1:5–2:6, Carleton Edward Hafer

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study on 1 John 1:5–2:6 is to examine whether repeated confession of post-salvific sins is required either for additional forgiveness or to maintain fellowship with God. This dissertation argues that John teaches that confession is required for salvation and results in complete forgiveness at the moment of salvation; however, despite what is commonly taught, John never teaches ongoing post-salvific confession for forgiveness or to maintain fellowship with God. While post-salvific confession may benefit a believer on a psychological level, that is not what John taught in 1 John. From God’s standpoint, the relationship is not impaired …