Digital Commons Network^™

Pm2.5 And Cardiovascular Diseases: State-Of-The-Art Review, Chayakrit Krittanawong, Yusuf Kamran Qadeer, Richard B. Hayes, Zhen Wang, George D. Thurston, Salim S. Virani, Carl J. Lavie

Office of the Provost

Air pollution, especially exposure to particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), has been associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality around the world. Specifically, it seems that PM2.5 promotes the development of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and atherosclerosis, while being associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure, and arrhythmias. In this review, we seek to elucidate the pathophysiological mechanisms by which exposure to PM2.5 can result in adverse cardiovascular outcomes, in addition to understanding the link between exposure to PM2.5 and cardiovascular events. It is hypothesized that PM2.5 functions via 3 …

The Effect Of Cotton Dust Exposure As A Longterm Impact On Lung Function Changes: A Short Narrative Review, Naureen Akber Ali, Noshaba Akber, Adeel Khoja

School of Nursing & Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Criminal Law, J. Scott Key

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews some of the most important opinions impacting the practice of criminal law delivered by the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Georgia covering the period from June 1, 2022, up and until May 31, 2023, as well as legislation adopted by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2023 session. This Article is designed to be a general overview for both prosecutors and defense attorneys of decisions and new statutes and serves as a broad guideline to how these decisions will affect the practice of criminal law.

Tales Out Of School: Delineating Student Speech Protections For The Digital Age, Jason Zenor

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

The way students communicate has also changed greatly over the last generation, but in the first two decades of 21st Century, the U.S. Supreme Court had yet to answers questions about the extent of power for school administrators to control off-campus speech on digital technologies. Then in the case of Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L (2021) the U.S. Supreme Court finally answered this question by holding that administrators do have the ability to control off-campus speech. The Court did give some specific scenarios in which administrators had power to regulate off-campus, but it did not give a bright-line rule. …

University Of Dayton Magazine, Winter 2023-24, University Of Dayton

University of Dayton Alumni Publications

The University of Dayton Magazine is published quarterly by the Office of University Marketing and Communications for alumni, parents, students, faculty/staff, trustees and other friends of UD.

Six Frames, Four Moves, One Habit: Finding Acrl’S Framework Within Sift, Allison I. Faix, Amy F. Fyn

Library Faculty Publications

The SIFT method of source evaluation, proposed in 2017 by educational technologist Mike Caulfield, was designed as a “practical approach to quick source and claim investigation.” At this time, academic librarians (including us) had already been questioning the effectiveness of popular source evaluation methods, especially checklist-based ones. Checklists seem too cursory and lack the flexibility and nuance needed to fully address the complex nature of internet sources. The number of librarian-proposed updates to checklist methods of source evaluation has accelerated in recent years, while SIFT has also emerged as a popular evaluation method with librarians. Because of SIFT’s popularity, and …

Enhancing The Classification Of Autism Spectrum Disorder From Rs-Fmri Functional Connectivity Data Using Temporal Information, Mihir Yashwant Ingole

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects the patient’s cognitive development which leads to difficulties in social functioning, daily tasks, and independent living. This necessitates intervention at an early age to take preventive measures and provide vital care. Manual diagnosis methods like Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) assessment adopts symptom-based criteria which typically manifest at a later age. To automate this process, correlations computed from BOLD (Blood Oxygen-level dependent) signals obtained through resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data of patients across sparse brain regions has been used recently as a measure of functional connectivity. The goal of this study is …

Afraid To Come Out: A Qualitative Examination Of Concealing And Negotiating Gay Sexual Identity, Michael Cheves

Communication Theses - Archive

Identity development is a fragile process for any individual but even more complex for individuals who identify as gay and who cannot openly and freely express or communicate their sexual identity for fear of rejection and hate. Acceptance of gay sexual orientation has undergone a backlash in recent years. Legislation aimed at silencing gay individuals has increasingly been passed in several states, which, in effect, could silence the gay community's discussions and communication. The resurgence of homophobia may lead to the gay individual concealing their identity or assuming a straight identity in other social settings, resulting in the inner turmoil …

Enhancing Biomedical Imaging With Ai: Compression, Prediction, And Multi-Modal Integration For Clinical Advancement, Mohammad Sadegh Nasr

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation delves into the enhancement of biomedical image analysis through the deployment of artificial intelligence methodologies, focusing on the transition from theoretical innovation to practical clinical utility. Spanning four cornerstone projects, the work encapsulates the development of predictive models for spatial transcriptomics, efficient image compression for cancer pathology slides, and critical evaluations of histopathology slide search engines. The first project employs Random Forest Regression and spatial point processes to forecast cell distribution patterns, thereby offering a novel perspective on gene expression in embryogenesis at a single-molecule resolution. The second venture introduces a Variational Autoencoder (VAE) that sets a new …

On The Development Of A Sensing System Methodology To Evaluate The Viscoelastic Properties Of Soft Tissues As A Means Of Disease Prognosis, Shashank S. Kumat

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Identification of tissue viscoelastic properties could provide valuable information for assessing its healthiness or disease state. Current technologies present challenges to access and perform localized tissue assessment in confined spaces in the human body through contact indentation/palpation. As such, there is a need for a diagnostic system capable of measuring tissue relaxation response at the local site by accessing the tissue through a natural orifice. This dissertation presents a strain gauge-based uniaxial micro-force sensor, part of the aforementioned system, capable of measuring tissue response data in confined human space environments. A sensing system design methodology is developed and presented. The …

Multiple Dipole Source Position And Orientation Estimation Using Non-Invasive Eeg-Like Signals, Saina Namazifard

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The human brain comprises of neurons that connect with each other via electrical signals. One can record and measure these activities using an electroencephalogram (EEG). An essential use of the EEG is in locating the generating source of these signals, usually approximated by dipoles. This is important because, in some particular circumstances, neurons may not function optimally and could make the equivalent dipole generate abnormal signals. This could be a result of seizures or other brain disorders. In order to isolate such disorders, the challenge is to find a non-invasive way to locate the anomalous source. This research aims to …

Advances And Applications In Ultrasound-Switchable Fluorescence Imaging, Liqin Ren

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Cancer diagnosis is a prerequisite for further medical therapy and treatment. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging is a desirable modality without invasiveness and nonionizing radiation. However, fluorescence suffers from a strong light scattering in tissues, leading to a low spatial resolution and low sensitivity in centimeter-deep tissue (limited to several millimeters). To enhance spatial resolution and avoid the high scattering of conventional fluorescence imaging in deep tissue, ultrasound-switchable fluorescence (USF) imaging has emerged as a highly promising technique for biomedical imaging and research. The principle of improving spatial resolution in USF imaging is to confine the fluorescence emission from thermosensitive fluorophores …

Quantification Of Dynamic Changes Of Hemodynamic And Metabolic Responses To Brachial Artery Occlusion: A Broadband Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study, Caroline Elizabeth Carter

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death in the United States, and non-Hispanic African Americans are at higher risk than other racial and ethnic groups. Endothelial dysfunction is a major contributor to CVD development and progression. Remote ischemic pre/conditioning (RIC), which involves exposing cells or tissues to brief sublethal stress, has been shown to protect cardiovascular cells from ischemia and reperfusion injury, including CVD. This study aimed to investigate hemodynamic and metabolic dynamics in response to 5-min forearm arterial occlusion using broadband near-infrared spectroscopy. My thesis is a tripartite investigation that weaves RIC, mitochondrial dynamics, and health disparities …

Formation And Morphological Changes Of Stress Actin Filaments In Adipose-Derived Stem Cells, Adam Priester

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) are a sub-type of stem cell that can be collected and isolated from the adipose tissue. Adipogenesis describes the commitment and differentiation of stem cells, including ADSCs, toward the adipocyte lineage. While much research has been completed on this process in the long term (>2 weeks), morphological changes of adipogenesis during the early phase (<24 hours) are lacking in the literature and remain to be elucidated. The current study focuses on these changes in the early and later stages of adipogenesis using adipogenic differentiation factors and fluorescent imaging analyses. Quantifiable data on morphological changes during both phases can provide insight into how these changes affect later differentiation and lay the groundwork for additional research in this area. Using fluorescent image analysis, it was shown that the eccentricity of ADSCs, a measure of cellular circularity, decreases exponentially in the early phase of adipogenesis. In contrast, the cellular area appears to increase exponentially during the same early period. During the later stages of differentiation, it was shown that actin filament length decreases exponentially and the ratio of lipid to actin length increases exponentially, demonstrating that lipid accumulation outpaces actin filament shortening and increasing circularity during the later stages. These findings may be used in future studies to further define the role of actin filament-mediated morphological changes and mechanobiology during adipogenesis.

“Increasing Renewable Energy Potential Of Landfill Gas By Electrocatalytic Conversion Of Carbon Dioxide To Methane At Low Temperature.”, Asma Akter Rony

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The conversion of carbon dioxide into methane at a low temperature has great potential to reduce current international environmental issues like global warming and will create new sources of renewable energy. The overall goal of this research is to increase renewable energy production from landfill gas using an unconventional process – electrocatalytic methanation of carbon dioxide – which has not been implemented for landfill gas yet. The electrocatalytic methanation follows the Waseda process, which applies an electric field in the presence of a Ruthenium-supported cerium oxide (CeO2) catalyst. The specific objectives of this research were: 1. To explore the impact …

Tri-Dimensional Segment-Based Urban Traffic Crash Models, Farzin Maniei

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The continuous expansion of highway and freeway networks further exacerbates the risk of traffic crashes and highlights the critical importance of freeway safety management. To improve overall road safety, many organizations acknowledge the necessity of pinpointing locations experiencing higher-than-expected crashes (known as hotspot identification, HSID), identifying the factors contributing to traffic crashes, and determining the most effective preventive measures. Previous studies highlighted two major drawbacks associated with this approach: (1) HSID based on the total number of crashes can lead to incorrectly identifying hazardous areas; (2) the arbitrary selection of a fragment size (due to the lack of explicit recommendations) …

Compound Flood Modeling Of Tropical Cyclone Events In Coastal Bays And Estuaries, Nahal Maymandi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Flooding due to tropical cyclones can cause severe impacts on coastal communities, particularly when multiple types of flooding (e.g., coastal and riverine) interact to create a compound flood event. In typical flood hazard assessments, these drivers of flooding are considered separately, even though they may interact and produce more severe flooding. Understanding the interactions between flood drivers is necessary to accurately plan for and respond to future flood events. This dissertation aims to improve the assessment of coupled coastal, fluvial, and pluvial flooding in coastal bays and estuaries impacted by tropical cyclones. To do this, a hydrodynamic model is developed …

Editorial 2023 - Another Exciting Year Of Progress And Fulfilment, Edwin Van Teijlingen, Rafat Jan, Abeer Musaddique

Journal of Asian Midwives (JAM)

No abstract provided.

Strengthening The Integration Of Midwifery In Health Systems; A Leader-To-Leader Collaboration, Erlandsson K, Borneskog C, Pedersen C, Ternström E, Byrskog U, Tamang L, Niraula G, Mehra D, Mehra S, Sharma S, Lindgren H

Journal of Asian Midwives (JAM)

Barriers and facilitators for quality midwifery care exist on different levels in the health systems. After decades of challenges and varied degrees of success, a stakeholder leader-to-leader collaboration could provide added value through knowledge sharing on how to integrate the midwifery cadre into an existing health system. Initiated by The Midwifery Society of Nepal, Dalarna University Sweden and MAMTA - Health Institute for Mother and Child India, a research network focusing midwifery has been formed. The background, purpose and activities of this network has been described in this News and Events paper.

Determinants Of Delayed Emergency Caesarian Sections In Machakos County Referral Hospital, Kenya: A Retrospective Study, Anne Loko Mutiso

MSc in Advanced Practice Midwifery

Background: Labour to delivery is a natural process which begins and ends spontaneously. However, the need for an emergency caesarean section arises if the life of the mother or the foetus or both are in danger. Time is of essence and therefore a Decision to Delivery Interval of 30 minutes is considered the gold standard (NICE 2021).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to establish hospital and client related factors that cause delay in emergency caesarean sections in Machakos County Referral Hospital.

Methodology: A Retrospective Descriptive study design was adopted whereby sample of 368 files of …

Determinants Of Poor Perinatal Outcomes Among Babies Born Of Mothers With Preeclampsia At Mama Lucky Kibaki Hospital, Nairobi County, Sarah Wambui Chege

MSc in Advanced Practice Midwifery

Background: Preeclampsia is a life-threatening pregnancy illness characterised by the onset of hypertension in a non-hypertensive woman after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Studies have connected preeclampsia to significant adverse effects on the mother and the newborn, a common obstetric emergency in Kenya. Determinants of poor perinatal outcomes in babies born to preeclamptic mothers have not been intensively investigated.

Objective: The study evaluated the determinants of perinatal outcomes among neonates born to mothers diagnosed with preeclampsia at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital between July 2021 and June 2022.

Methodology: A quantitative retrospective cross-sectional inquiry was conducted. Data reviewed comprised …

Soil Legacy Nutrients Contribute To The Decreasing Stoichiometric Ratio Of N And P Loading From The Mississippi River Basin, Zihao Bian, Hanqin Tian, Shufen Pan, Hao Shi, Chaoqun Lu, Christopher Anderson, Wei Jun Cai, Charles S. Hopkinson, Dubravko Justic, Latif Kalin, Steven Lohrenz, Steven Mcnulty, Naiqing Pan, Ge Sun, Zhuonan Wang, Yuanzhi Yao, Yongfa You

Faculty Publications

Human-induced nitrogen–phosphorus (N, P) imbalance in terrestrial ecosystems can lead to disproportionate N and P loading to aquatic ecosystems, subsequently shifting the elemental ratio in estuaries and coastal oceans and impacting both the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems. The N:P ratio of nutrient loading to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin increased before the late 1980s driven by the enhanced usage of N fertilizer over P fertilizer, whereafter the N:P loading ratio started to decrease although the N:P ratio of fertilizer application did not exhibit a similar trend. Here, we hypothesize that different release rates of …

“Cancel Culture” And Criminal Justice, Steven Arrigg Koh

UC Law Journal

This Article explores the relationship between two normative systems in modern society: “cancel culture” and criminal justice. It argues that cancel culture—a ubiquitous phenomenon in contemporary life—may rectify deficiencies of over- and under-enforcement in the U.S. criminal justice system. However, the downsides of cancel culture’s structure—imprecise factfinding, potentially disproportionate sanctions leading to collateral consequences, a “thin” conception of the wrongdoer as beyond rehabilitation, and a broader cultural anxiety that “chills” certain human conduct—reflect problematic U.S. punitive impulses that characterize our era of mass incarceration. This Article thus argues that social media reform proposals obscure a deeper necessity: transcendence of blame …

Perturbation Based Decomposition For Motor Unit Number Estimation, Anna T. Pham

Master's Theses

Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) is of clinical significance because information associated with motor unit populations and the loss of motor units over time are crucial to the diagnosis and monitoring of neuromuscular disorders. The responses of individual motor units can be extracted through incremental stimulation of a muscle group of interest and further analyzed through various methods to compute the MUNE. In this work, the utility of the perturbation-based decomposition by Szlavik will be investigated for this application and compared to the original MUNE approach developed by McComas. Successful decomposition may suggest an alternative method for motor unit number …

Research Practice Partnership: Teacher Turnover Patterns In The State Of Nebraska, Brian W. Stevens

Educational Leadership Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

The purpose of this research is to showcase the process of a local Research- Practice Partnership (RPP) with possible policy implications by analyzing teacher attrition patterns over many years. The RPP is a collaboration between a principal, the practitioner, and statistic students, the researchers. All groups were graduate-level students at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. This collaboration is part of the Nebraska Education Policy Research Lab (NEPRL). NEPRL is a collaboration between the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and researchers at the University of Nebraska. It was established as a learning lab to conduct rigorous research for the purpose of developing …

Developing Community-Engaged Learning In Chemistry To Address Food Insecurity And Nutrition With University Farms And Gardens, Douglas B. Collins, Mark Spiro

Faculty Contributions to Books

Adding context to educational environments has shown benefits in a variety of cases, but it can be difficult to generate relatable and relevant real-world materials with which students can engage meaningfully. Community engaged learning (CEL) is a high impact educational practice that delivers place-based context to course content through a partnership with community organizations. It has been demonstrated in the literature that CEL leads to improved academic outcomes for students, and there has been increasing interest in having CEL appear throughout the curriculum (across levels and disciplines). Introducing community engagement can be challenging for courses that traditionally have significant amounts …

Issue 38.1 Full Issue

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cerebellar Symptoms After Dengue Fever With Bright Middle Cerebellar Peduncle Sign, Soban Khan, Zaid Waqar, Zakir Jan, Muhammad Tariq

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Dengue fever is a seasonal epidemic that effects population all across Pakistan every monsoon season and leads to thousands of cases every year. Dengue fever can be associated with neurological complications both during the acute stage and after recovery. These include encephalitis and hemorrhagic complications as well as late immune-related conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. Here we present case of a patient who developed new onset cerebellar symptoms two weeks after recovery from dengue fever, with a middle cerebellar peduncle sign on MRI Brain.

Utility Of Pudendal Nerve Electrodiagnostics In Cases Of Bladder-Bowel Dysfunction- A Retrospective Study From A Tertiary Care Center In Pakistan, Hina Imtiaz, Ayisha Farooq Khan, Zuha Alvi, Dureshahwar Kanwar

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Background and Objective:

Electrodiagnostic studies play a crucial role in identifying neurogenic and non-neurogenic causes of bladder and bowel dysfunction. Such data is scarce in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to evaluate utility of pudendal nerve assessment in bladder-bowel dysfunction.

Methods:

A retrospective observational study was carried out at the neurophysiology lab in Aga Khan University Hospital. Patients referred for electromyography/nerve conduction studies (EMG/NCS) for pudendal nerve assessment from June 2013 to June 2023 were included. Clinical data, EMG/NCS results, and demographic information were analyzed using SPSS.

Results:

Twenty patients (11 male and nine female) were included. Five …

Co-Occurrence Of Recurrent Migrainous Headaches And Transient Global Amnesia Following Minor Head Trauma: A Case Report, Aziz Badruddin Sonawalla, Saadia Arshad, Shafaq Saleem

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

A 32-year-old male, with a history of recurrent throbbing headaches, presented with three episodes of minor trauma to the head followed by throbbing headaches and blurred vision. In two of these episodes, he also had clinical features suggesting the occurrence of transient global amnesia (TGA) at the same time. Although migraines as well as TGAs are reported to occur following minor head trauma, the simultaneous occurrence of both is rather unusual and would support the fact that spreading depression is the main pathophysiological mechanism underlying TGAs as it is for migraines. We report an unusual case of migraine and TGA …