Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Portal Of Exit On The Prevalence Of Apical Periodontitis In Root Canal Treated Maxillary Molars With Missed Second Mesiobuccal Canals: A Cbct Study, Jing Ye

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To evaluate the association of portal of exit (POE) of the second mesiobuccal (MB2) canal with the prevalence of apical periodontitis (AP) in previously treated maxillary molars

Methods: Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans of 106 previously treated maxillary molars seen for either recall or retreatment in the past 3 years were included in the study. Scans were reviewed by one endodontic resident and one board-certified endodontist to determine the POE (separate versus common) of the missed MB2 canal and the presence or absence of a periapical hypo-dense area. Association between AP and portal of exit was assessed using …

Resident Assistants And Title Ix: Perceptions, Beliefs, And Experiences Impacting Ra Help-Seeking Behavior, Beth Paris

Theses and Dissertations

Resident Assistants (RAs) are student employees on campus with significant responsibility for the safety and success of their peers. While studies are beginning to evaluate the effects of this complex peer leader role on the wellbeing of student staff, there is little discussion about their role in Title IX compliance or how they feel about the resources they are trained to provide to their peers following an incident of prohibited sexual harassment or assault. Tangential references to the impact of sexual violence response on student staff wellness, and evaluations of student perceptions of Title IX policy are frequent in the …

A Lifelong Network: Perceptions And Experiences Of First-Generation Alums After Graduation, Allison Toney

Theses and Dissertations

As first-generation students transition to college graduates, the question lies in whether institutions of higher education are continuing to provide opportunities for them as alums. As a result of first-generation college students being the first in their family to attend college, students may enter college not knowing what to expect. But institutions have evolved to provide services, resources and opportunities that support their success while enrolled. Upon graduation, the process of transitioning out of college can be a challenging time for students as they seek post-graduation success. Some institutions offer support and resources tailored specifically to first-generation graduates or graduates …

How Stromal Interactions Play A Role In The Quest For Human Papillomavirus Specific Cancer Therapeutics, Alexis-Leigh A. Fakunmoju

Theses and Dissertations

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV), like HPV16 and HPV18, are associated with malignant cancer growth within the oropharynx and cervix. Globally, HPV-induced cancers, including oropharyngeal and cervical cancers, contribute 5% to the overwhelming burden of all cancers. HPV is highly transmissible by sexual contact via micro abrasions to the mucosa. Once exposure occurs, the virus begins replication and creates an intimate relationship with the host’s cellular proteins. While most HPV is cleared quickly by our immune system, persistent infections, or infections in immune compromised individuals, are susceptible to transformation and tumor progression. Early detection measures like PAP smears and preventable measures …

Model Based Systems Engineering Approaches To Chemicals And Materials Manufacturing, Quang Le

Theses and Dissertations

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is part of a long-term trend toward model-centric approaches adopted by many engineering disciplines. This work establishes the need for an MBSE approach by reviewing the importance, complexity, and vulnerability of the U.S. chemical supply chains. The origins, work processes, modeling approaches, and supporting tools of the systems engineering discipline (SE) are discussed, along with the limitations of the current Process Systems Engineering (PSE) framework. The case is made for MBSE as a more generalizable and robust approach. Systems modeling strategies for MBSE are introduced, as well as a novel MBSE method that supports the automation …

Community Engagement In Precision Medicine Research: Organizational Practices And Their Impacts For Equity, Janet K Shim, Nicole Foti, Emily Vasquez, Stephanie M Fullerton, Michael Bentz, Melanie Jeske, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background: In the wake of mandates for biomedical research to increase participation by members of historically underrepresented populations, community engagement (CE) has emerged as a key intervention to help achieve this goal.

Methods: Using interviews, observations, and document analysis, we examine how stakeholders in precision medicine research understand and seek to put into practice ideas about who to engage, how engagement should be conducted, and what engagement is for.

Results: We find that ad hoc, opportunistic, and instrumental approaches to CE exacted significant consequences for the time and resources devoted to engagement and the ultimate impacts it has on research. …

Enhancing Reciprocity, Equity And Quality Of Ethics Review For Multisite Research During Public Health Crises: The Experience Of The Covid-19 Clinical Research Coalition Ethics Working Group, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Jennyfer Ambe, Jantina De Vries

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

In this paper we report findings from a commissioned report to the COVID-19 Clinical Research Coalition on approaches to streamline multinational REC review/approval during public health emergencies. As currently envisioned in the literature, a system of REC mutual recognition is theoretically possible based on shared procedural REC standards, but raises numerous concerns about perceived inequities and mistrust.

Biological Embedding Of Early Trauma: The Role Of Higher Prefrontal Synaptic Strength, Amanda J F Tamman, Lihong Jiang, Christopher L Averill, Graeme F Mason, Lynnette A Averill, Chadi G Abdallah

Staff and Researcher Publications

Background: Early trauma predicts poor psychological and physical health. Glutamatergic synaptic processes offer one avenue for understanding this relationship, given glutamate's abundance and involvement in reward and stress sensitivity, emotion, and learning. Trauma-induced glutamatergic excitotoxicity may alter neuroplasticity and approach/avoidance tendencies, increasing risk for psychiatric disorders. Studies examine upstream or downstream effects instead of glutamatergic synaptic processes in vivo, limiting understanding of how trauma affects the brain.Objective: In a pilot study using a previously published data set, we examine associations between early trauma and a proposed measure of synaptic strength in vivo in one of the largest human …

Smart Offloading Boot System For Remote Patient Monitoring: Toward Adherence Reinforcement And Proper Physical Activity Prescription For Diabetic Foot Ulcer Patients, Catherine Park, Ramkinker Mishra, Davide Vigano, Maurizio Macagno, Stefano Rossotti, Karen D'Huyvetter, Jason Garcia, David G Armstrong, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Background: A critical factor in healing diabetic foot ulcers is patient adherence to offloading devices. We tested a smart offloading boot (SmartBoot) combined with a smartwatch app and cloud dashboard to remotely monitor patient adherence and activity. In addition, the impact of SmartBoot on balance, gait, and user experience was investigated.

Methods: Fourteen volunteers (31.6±8.7 years; 64% female) performed natural activities (eg, sitting, standing, walking) with and without the SmartBoot for approximately 30 minutes. All participants completed balance tests, 10-meter walking tests at slow, normal, and fast pace while wearing the SmartBoot, and a user experience questionnaire. The accuracy of …

Care4ad: A Technology-Driven Platform For Care Coordination And Management: Acceptability Study In Dementia, Ram Kinker Mishra, Catherine Park, Anmol Salim Momin, Nesreen El Rafaei, Mark Kunik, Michele K York, Bijan Najafi

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Introduction: The technology-driven solution can reduce the caregiving burden; however, the needs of dementia caregiving are unique, and attitudes towards adopting technology from the perspectives of all the stakeholders involved in dementia caregiving are unclear. This study aims to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a technology-driven platform to facilitate care coordination platform, Care4AD, from the end-user perspective.

Methods: Care4AD includes three components: (1) Care4AD app: the app is used by caregivers to coordinate care, monitor physical activity, and schedule reminders; (2) Care4AD tablet: a smart tablet is used by the care recipient to display scheduled reminders; and (3) Care4AD …

The Gastrointestinal-Brain-Microbiota Axis: A Promising Therapeutic Target For Ischemic Stroke, Yan-Hao Wei, Ren-Tang Bi, Yan-Mei Qiu, Chun-Lin Zhang, Jian-Zhuang Li, Ya-Nan Li, Bo Hu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Ischemic stroke is a highly complex systemic disease characterized by intricate interactions between the brain and gastrointestinal tract. While our current understanding of these interactions primarily stems from experimental models, their relevance to human stroke outcomes is of considerable interest. After stroke, bidirectional communication between the brain and gastrointestinal tract initiates changes in the gastrointestinal microenvironment. These changes involve the activation of gastrointestinal immunity, disruption of the gastrointestinal barrier, and alterations in gastrointestinal microbiota. Importantly, experimental evidence suggests that these alterations facilitate the migration of gastrointestinal immune cells and cytokines across the damaged blood-brain barrier, ultimately infiltrating the ischemic brain. …

Early Detection Of Mandible Osteoradionecrosis Risk In A High Comorbidity Veteran Population, David Chamberlayne Wilde, Sagar Kansara, Logan Banner, Rickey Morlen, David Hernandez, Andrew Tsao Huang, Weiyuan Mai, Clifton David Fuller, Stephen Lai, Vlad Constantin Sandulache

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the mandible is a devastating complication of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). We sought to ascertain ORN risk in a Veteran HNSCC population treatment with definitive or adjuvant EBRT and followed prospectively.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of prospective cohort.

SETTING: Tertiary care Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical center.

METHODS: Patients with HNSCC who initiated treatment at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center (MEDVAMC) are prospectively tracked for quality of care purposes through the end of the cancer surveillance period (5 years post treatment completion). We retrospectively …

Cerebellar Dysfunction In Rodent Models With Dystonia, Tremor, And Ataxia, Meike E Van Der Heijden, Roy V Sillitoe

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Dystonia is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary co- or over-contractions of the muscles, which results in abnormal postures and movements. These symptoms arise from the pathophysiology of a brain-wide dystonia network. There is mounting evidence suggesting that the cerebellum is a central node in this network. For example, manipulations that target the cerebellum cause dystonic symptoms in mice, and cerebellar neuromodulation reduces these symptoms. Although numerous findings provide insight into dystonia pathophysiology, they also raise further questions. Namely, how does cerebellar pathophysiology cause the diverse motor abnormalities in dystonia, tremor, and ataxia? Here, we describe recent work in rodents …

Social Behavioral Impairments In Syngap1-Related Intellectual Disability, Hajer Naveed, Maria Mccormack, J Lloyd Holder

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Introduction: Developmental synaptopathies are neurodevelopmental disorders caused by genetic mutations disrupting the development and function of neuronal synapses.

Methods: We administered the validated Social Responsiveness Scale, Second Edition (SRS-2) to investigate the phenotypic presentation of social-behavioral impairments for the developmental synaptopathy-SYNGAP1-related Intellectual Disability (SYNGAP1-ID) (n = 32) compared with a phenotypically similar disorder Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMD) (n = 27) and healthy controls (n = 43). A short form SRS-2 analysis (n = 85) was also conducted.

Results: Both SYNGAP1-ID and PMD had significantly elevated total and subcategory T-scores, with no significant score differences between SYNGAP1 …

Validation Of A Process For Shared Decision-Making In Pediatrics, Douglas J Opel, Holly Hoa Vo, Nicolas Dundas, Heather Spielvogle, Amanda Mercer, Benjamin S Wilfond, Jonna Clark, Carrie L Heike, Elliott M Weiss, Mersine A Bryan, Seema K Shah, Carolyn A Mccarty, Jeffrey D Robinson, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Jon Tilburt

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

OBJECTIVE: We sought to confirm, refute, or modify a 4-step process for implementing shared decision-making (SDM) in pediatrics that involves determining 1) if the decision includes >1 medically reasonable option; 2) if one option has a favorable medical benefit-burden ratio compared to other options; and 3) parents' preferences regarding the options; then 4) calibrating the SDM approach based on other relevant decision characteristics.

METHODS: We videotaped a purposive sample of pediatric inpatient and outpatient encounters at a single US children's hospital. Clinicians from 7 clinical services (craniofacial, neonatology, oncology, pulmonary, pediatric intensive care, hospital medicine, and sports medicine) were eligible. …

Policy Options To Facilitate Cancer Genomic Variant Data Sharing: Outcomes Of A Modified Policy Delphi, Jill O Robinson, Amira Daoud, Janis Geary, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Juli Bollinger, Christi J Guerrini, Robert Cook-Deegan, Amy L Mcguire, Mary A Majumder

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Sharing cancer gene variant and relevant clinical data could accelerate progress in cancer genomics. However, data sharing is currently impeded by issues related to financial sustainability, equity, incentives, privacy and security, and data quality. Evidence-based policy options to facilitate data sharing in these domains, and ultimately improve interpretation of cancer-associated genomic variants, are therefore needed. We conducted a modified policy Delphi with expert stakeholders that involved generating, evaluating, and ranking potential policy options to address these issues, with a focus on the US context. We found policy options in the financial sustainability domain were highly ranked, particularly stable funding for …

Researcher Views On Changes In Personality, Mood, And Behavior In Next-Generation Deep Brain Stimulation, Peter Zuk, Clarissa E Sanchez, Kristin Kostick-Quenet, Katrina A Muñoz, Lavina Kalwani, Richa Lavingia, Laura Torgerson, Demetrio Sierra-Mercado, Jill O Robinson, Stacey Pereira, Simon Outram, Barbara A Koenig, Amy L Mcguire, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

The literature on deep brain stimulation (DBS) and adaptive DBS (aDBS) raises concerns that these technologies may affect personality, mood, and behavior. We conducted semi-structured interviews with researchers (

The Moralizing Effect: Self-Directed Emotions And Their Impact On Culpability Attributions, Elisabetta Sirgiovanni, Joanna Smolenski, Ben Abelson, Taylor Webb

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Introduction: A general trend in the psychological literature suggests that guilt contributes to morality more than shame does. Unlike shame-prone individuals, guilt-prone individuals internalize the causality of negative events, attribute responsibility in the first person, and engage in responsible behavior. However, it is not known how guilt- and shame-proneness interact with the attribution of responsibility to others.

Methods: In two Web-based experiments, participants reported their attributions of moral culpability (i.e., responsibility, causality, punishment and decision-making) about morally ambiguous acts of killing in different conditions. In Study 1 the vignettes were presented in the 1st person, while in Study 2 in …

Acoustic-To-Articulatory Speech Inversion Features For Mispronunciation Detection Of/ɹ/In Child Speech Sound Disorders, Nina R. Benway, Yashish M. Siriwardena, Jonathan L. Preston, Elaine Hitchcock, Tara Mcallister, Carol Espy-Wilson

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Acoustic-to-articulatory speech inversion could enhance automated clinical mispronunciation detection to provide detailed articulatory feedback unattainable by formant-based mispronunciation detection algorithms; however, it is unclear the extent to which a speech inversion system trained on adult speech performs in the context of (1) child and (2) clinical speech. In the absence of an articulatory dataset in children with rhotic speech sound disorders, we show that classifiers trained on tract variables from acoustic-to-articulatory speech inversion meet or exceed the performance of state-of-the-art features when predicting clinician judgment of rhoticity.

Calvin Theological Seminary Academic Catalog 2023-2024, Calvin Theological Seminary

Seminary Academic Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Intra-Eu Investment Disputes And The Monopoly Over The Interpretation Of Eu Law, Petros C. Mavroidis, Frederico Ortino

Faculty Scholarship

Following a recent European Charter Treaty (“ECT”) decision, it appears that the fate of intra-EU investment disputes, when adjudicated in fora other than the Luxembourg courts, is finally all but sealed. In Green Power, an arbitration tribunal confirmed prior decisions taken in different jurisdictions that there is no room for adjudicating intra-EU investment disputes away from Luxembourg. This decision sided with the approach already developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in three decisions, namely, Achmea, Komstroy, and PL Holdings, which in turn led to legislative action by the Energy Charter Treaty aiming to put an …

Mwirgan: Unsupervised Visible-To Mwir Image Translation With Generative Adversarial Network, Mohammad Shahab Uddin, Chiman Kwan, Jiang Li

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Unsupervised image-to-image translation techniques have been used in many applications, including visible-to-Long-Wave Infrared (visible-to-LWIR) image translation, but very few papers have explored visible-to-Mid-Wave Infrared (visible-to-MWIR) image translation. In this paper, we investigated unsupervised visible-to-MWIR image translation using generative adversarial networks (GANs). We proposed a new model named MWIRGAN for visible-to-MWIR image translation in a fully unsupervised manner. We utilized a perceptual loss to leverage shape identification and location changes of the objects in the translation. The experimental results showed that MWIRGAN was capable of visible-to-MWIR image translation while preserving the object’s shape with proper enhancement in the translated images and …

The Effect Of The Width Of The Incident Pulse To The Dielectric Transition Layer In The Scattering Of An Electromagnetic Pulse — A Qubit Lattice Algorithm Simulation, George Vahala, Linda Vahala, Abhay K. Ram, Min Soe

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The effect of the thickness of the dielectric boundary layer that connects a material of refractive index n₁ to another of index n₂is considered for the propagation of an electromagnetic pulse. A qubit lattice algorithm (QLA), which consists of a specially chosen non-commuting sequence of collision and streaming operators acting on a basis set of qubits, is theoretically determined that recovers the Maxwell equations to second-order in a small parameter ϵ. For very thin boundary layer the scattering properties of the pulse mimics that found from the Fresnel jump conditions for a plane wave - except that …

View Synthesis With Scene Recognition For Cross-View Image Localization, Uddom Lee, Peng Jiang, Hongyi Wu, Chunsheng Xin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Image-based localization has been widely used for autonomous vehicles, robotics, augmented reality, etc., and this is carried out by matching a query image taken from a cell phone or vehicle dashcam to a large scale of geo-tagged reference images, such as satellite/aerial images or Google Street Views. However, the problem remains challenging due to the inconsistency between the query images and the large-scale reference datasets regarding various light and weather conditions. To tackle this issue, this work proposes a novel view synthesis framework equipped with deep generative models, which can merge the unique features from the outdated reference dataset with …

Security Of Internet Of Things (Iot) Using Federated Learning And Deep Learning — Recent Advancements, Issues And Prospects, Vinay Gugueoth, Sunitha Safavat, Sachin Shetty

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

There is a great demand for an efficient security framework which can secure IoT systems from potential adversarial attacks. However, it is challenging to design a suitable security model for IoT considering the dynamic and distributed nature of IoT. This motivates the researchers to focus more on investigating the role of machine learning (ML) in the designing of security models. A brief analysis of different ML algorithms for IoT security is discussed along with the advantages and limitations of ML algorithms. Existing studies state that ML algorithms suffer from the problem of high computational overhead and risk of privacy leakage. …

Toward Real-Time, Robust Wearable Sensor Fall Detection Using Deep Learning Methods: A Feasibility Study, Haben Yhdego, Christopher Paolini, Michel Audette

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Real-time fall detection using a wearable sensor remains a challenging problem due to high gait variability. Furthermore, finding the type of sensor to use and the optimal location of the sensors are also essential factors for real-time fall-detection systems. This work presents real-time fall-detection methods using deep learning models. Early detection of falls, followed by pneumatic protection, is one of the most effective means of ensuring the safety of the elderly. First, we developed and compared different data-segmentation techniques for sliding windows. Next, we implemented various techniques to balance the datasets because collecting fall datasets in the real-time setting has …

Deep-Learning-Based Classification Of Digitally Modulated Signals Using Capsule Networks And Cyclic Cumulants, John A. Snoap, Dimitrie C. Popescu, James A. Latshaw, Chad M. Spooner

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a novel deep-learning (DL)-based approach for classifying digitally modulated signals, which involves the use of capsule networks (CAPs) together with the cyclic cumulant (CC) features of the signals. These were blindly estimated using cyclostationary signal processing (CSP) and were then input into the CAP for training and classification. The classification performance and the generalization abilities of the proposed approach were tested using two distinct datasets that contained the same types of digitally modulated signals, but had distinct generation parameters. The results showed that the classification of digitally modulated signals using CAPs and CCs proposed in the paper …

Continuity Of Formal Power Series Products In Nonlinear Control Theory, W. Steven Gray, Mathias Palmstrøm, Alexander Schmeding

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Formal power series products appear in nonlinear control theory when systems modeled by Chen–Fliess series are interconnected to form new systems. In fields like adaptive control and learning systems, the coefficients of these formal power series are estimated sequentially with real-time data. The main goal is to prove the continuity and analyticity of such products with respect to several natural (locally convex) topologies on spaces of locally convergent formal power series in order to establish foundational properties behind these technologies. In addition, it is shown that a transformation group central to describing the output feedback connection is in fact an …

A Survey Of Using Machine Learning In Iot Security And The Challenges Faced By Researchers, Khawlah M. Harahsheh, Chung-Hao Chen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become more popular in the last 15 years as it has significantly improved and gained control in multiple fields. We are nowadays surrounded by billions of IoT devices that directly integrate with our lives, some of them are at the center of our homes, and others control sensitive data such as military fields, healthcare, and datacenters, among others. This popularity makes factories and companies compete to produce and develop many types of those devices without caring about how secure they are. On the other hand, IoT is considered a good insecure environment for cyber …

A Review Of Iot Security And Privacy Using Decentralized Blockchain Techniques, Vinay Gugueoth, Sunitha Safavat, Sachin Shetty, Danda Rawat

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

IoT security is one of the prominent issues that has gained significant attention among the researchers in recent times. The recent advancements in IoT introduces various critical security issues and increases the risk of privacy leakage of IoT data. Implementation of Blockchain can be a potential solution for the security issues in IoT. This review deeply investigates the security threats and issues in IoT which deteriorates the effectiveness of IoT systems. This paper presents a perceptible description of the security threats, Blockchain based solutions, security characteristics and challenges introduced during the integration of Blockchain with IoT. An analysis of different …