Digital Commons Network^™

Abortion—A Question Of Human Rights, Geoffrey Bennett, Christina M. Lyon

Journal Articles

Unlike the American Supreme Court which has been prepared to acknowledge, confront, and attempt to resolve the many problems associated with abortion, the European Commission of Human Rights in two cases that have only recently been reported has disappointingly side-stepped many of the difficult issues involved, and raised more questions than it answers. Furthermore, the reasoning in these decisions, which are concerned with the interpretation of several of the Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, is at times vague and curiously ill-argued. The two decisions are first a German case, Bruggeman and Scheuten v Federal Republic of Germany …

Understanding Student Perspectives On Learning Analytics To Enable Privacy Advocacy And Policy Design, Michael R. Perry, Andrew D. Asher, Kristin A. Briney, Mariana Regalado, Abigail Goben, Maura A. Smale, Dorothea Salo, Kyle M. L. Jones

Publications and Research

The rise of computing infrastructure and data collection in higher education has opened the door for colleges and universities to begin large-scale data analytics projects, commonly known as learning analytics (LA). These initiatives are defined as the “measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of [student and other data] for the purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs.” Historically, academic libraries have collected data, such as circulation statistics, without reference to specific users. The extensive data collected by library and higher-education programs and networks now regularly include personal information. More academic libraries are being asked to …

Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury In The Middle East And North Africa Region: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis To Assess Characteristics, Mechanisms, And Risk Factors, Samar Al-Hajj, Sarah H Farran, Batoul Dekmak, Layal Hneiny, Hussein Abou Abbas, Aya Hassoun, Nadine Youness, Sarah Ghalayini, Nour Abou Khalil, Fiona Lecky, Shima Shahjouieh, Layal Ghamlouche, Zainab Nasrallah, Firas Kobeissy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric traumatic brain injury (pTBI) represents a major cause of child injuries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This review aims to assess pTBIs in the MENA region and reports their clinical severity and outcomes. A search was conducted using major electronic databases, including Medline/Ovid, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and SCOPUS. Abstracts were screened independently and in duplicate to detect original research. The objective and study findings for each article were recorded, along with the mechanism of pTBI, patient age and sex, injury assessment tool(s) used, and outcome. A total of 1345 articles were retrieved, of …

Oncology-Specific Radiation Dose And Image Noise Reference Levels In Adult Abdominal-Pelvic Ct, Moiz Ahmad, Xinming Liu, Ajaykumar C Morani, Dhakshinamoorthy Ganeshan, Marcus R Anderson, Ehsan Samei, Corey T Jensen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: To provide our oncology-specific adult abdominal-pelvic CT reference levels for image noise and radiation dose from a high-volume, oncologic, tertiary referral center.

METHODS: The portal venous phase abdomen-pelvis acquisition was assessed for image noise and radiation dose in 13,320 contrast-enhanced CT examinations. Patient size (effective diameter) and radiation dose (CTDI

RESULTS: The noise reference level was 11.25 HU with a reference range of 10.25-12.25 HU. The dose reference level at a median effective diameter of 30.7 cm was 26.7 mGy with a reference range of 19.6-37.0 mGy. Dose increased with patient size; however, image noise remained approximately constant within …

Sart-3 Functions To Regulate Germline Sex Determination In C Elegans, Tokiko Furuta, Swathi Arur

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Caenorhabditis elegans gene sart-3 was first identified as the homolog of human SART3 ( S quamous cell carcinoma A ntigen R ecognized by T -cells 3). In humans, expression of SART3 is associated with squamous cell carcinoma, thus most of the studies focus on its potential role as a target of cancer immunotherapy (Shichijo et al. 1998; Yang et al. 1999). Furthermore, SART3 is also known as Tip110 (Liu et al. 2002; Whitmill et al. 2016) in the context of HIV virus host activation pathway. Despite these disease related studies, the molecular function of this protein was not revealed until …

Optimization Of Mesh Generation For Geometric Accuracy, Robustness, And Efficiency Of Biomechanical-Model-Based Deformable Image Registration, Yulun He, Brian M Anderson, Guillaume Cazoulat, Bastien Rigaud, Lusmeralis Almodovar-Abreu, Julianne Pollard-Larkin, Peter Balter, Zhongxing Liao, Radhe Mohan, Bruno Odisio, Stina Svensson, Kristy K Brock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Successful generation of biomechanical-model-based deformable image registration (BM-DIR) relies on user-defined parameters that dictate surface mesh quality. The trial-and-error process to determine the optimal parameters can be labor-intensive and hinder DIR efficiency and clinical workflow.

PURPOSE: To identify optimal parameters in surface mesh generation as boundary conditions for a BM-DIR in longitudinal liver and lung CT images to facilitate streamlined image registration processes.

METHODS: Contrast-enhanced CT images of 29 colorectal liver cancer patients and end-exhale four-dimensional CT images of 26 locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients were collected. Different combinations of parameters that determine the triangle mesh quality …

The Ncaa's Punts On Transgender Student-Athlete Participation, Josh Lens

Missouri Law Review

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”), which serves as college athletics’s national governing body, states that its basic purposes include supporting and promoting healthy and safe college athletics. It accomplishes this through its stated principles, which include conducting athletics designed to protect, support, and enhance student-athletes’ physical and mental health and its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. These are tall tasks, as half a million student-athletes compete in NCAA-sponsored sports. The NCAA also enjoys a history of taking strong stances on perceived discrimination. More specifically, the NCAA has used its economic influence to effect changes to state legislation or …

Temporary Access And Permanent Consequences: The Misapplication Of Takings Jurisprudence To State Regulations That Benefit The Public Welfare, Maria Ceriotti

Missouri Law Review

In 1975, California enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations Act. The Act, along with many regulations to aid in its enforcement, came after years of infighting between property owners and agriculture workers for fair pay and better treatment. Deplorable conditions included hourly wages at $0.90/hour, inadequate working standards such as a lack of toilets and segregated housing, and poor treatment from the growers. Cesar Chavez organized what is now the United Farm Workers labor organization, which helps agriculture workers across the country collectively bargain and secure their rights, fair pay, and adequate working conditions.

The Right To Remain Silent. . . Sometimes: Why § 1983 Claims For Miranda Violations Are Necessary To Fifth Amendment Protection, Logan Moore

Missouri Law Review

The police arrive at your workplace and ask to speak with you. Feeling embarrassed and confused, you agree to accompany them to an isolated room to answer questions. As you pass by the concerned looks and accusatory whispers of your co-workers, you wonder to yourself, “what did I do?” Once in the room, the feeling of helplessness becomes insurmountable. The officers have blocked the exit and begin to vehemently accuse you of a crime. Although you adamantly deny any involvement in or knowledge of the crime, the officers seem prepared to keep you in the room until you make a …

Workplace Aggression Against Healthcare Workers In A Spanish Healthcare Institution Between 2019 And 2021: The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aitor Díaz, Mireia Utzet, Joan Mirabent, Pilar Diaz, Jose Maria Ramada, Consol Serra, Fernando G Benavides

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Describe the incidence of first aggressions among healthcare workers (HCWs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Spanish healthcare institution, according to workers' socio-occupational characteristics and analyze the impact of the pandemic on it.

METHODS: A cohort involving HCWs who worked in the institution for at least 1 week each year from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021. Adjusted relative risks (aRR) were estimated using generalized estimating equations and negative binomial models to calculate the differences in WPA between the different time periods. All analyses were stratified by gender.

RESULTS: Among women, the incidence was 6.8% (6.0; …

Sound Speed Estimation For Distributed Aberration Correction In Laterally Varying Media, Rehman Ali, Trevor M Mitcham, Melanie Singh, Marvin M Doyley, Richard R Bouchard, Jeremy J Dahl, Nebojsa Duric

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spatial variation in sound speed causes aberration in medical ultrasound imaging. Although our previous work has examined aberration correction in the presence of a spatially varying sound speed, practical implementations were limited to layered media due to the sound speed estimation process involved. Unfortunately, most models of layered media do not capture the lateral variations in sound speed that have the greatest aberrative effect on the image. Building upon a Fourier split-step migration technique from geophysics, this work introduces an iterative sound speed estimation and distributed aberration correction technique that can model and correct for aberrations resulting from laterally varying …

Membranous Nephropathy In Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Responsive To Ibrutinib: A Case Report, Anna-Eve Turcotte, William F Glass, Jamie S Lin, Jan A Burger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Membranous nephropathy (MN) is an uncommon renal presentation in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and as such, there is no standard therapy for these patients. A few cases of MN in CLL have been described with varying success in MN treatment involving alkylating agents and fludarabine. Here we report the first case of MN in a patient with CLL treated with ibrutinib with complete renal response. This presentation underlines the importance of recognizing rare glomerular diseases that may occur with CLL and offers a new therapeutic avenue to the treatment of CLL-associated MN.

A Scientific Communication Mentoring Intervention Benefits Diverse Mentees With Language Variety Related Discomfort, Carrie A Cameron, Hwa Young Lee, Cheryl B Anderson, Erin K Dahlstrom, Shine Chang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We studied social-psychological effects over time of a faculty-mentor workshop intervention that addressed attitudes associated with language variety and their impact on scientific communication (SC) skill development of PhD and postdoctoral STEM research trainees (N = 274). Six months after their mentors attended the workshop, all mentees had significant gains in productivity in speaking tasks. In particular, mentees with high language discomfort rated their quality of communication with their mentor and their enthusiasm about communicating more highly (p < .05 for both measures), compared to mentees with low language discomfort. In addition, mentees raised speaking nonstandardized varieties of English reported significant reductions in discomfort related to language use (p = .003), compared to mentees raised speaking standardized English. We conclude that training mentors to understand and respond to …

School-Based Intervention Impacts Availability Of Vegetables And Beverages In Participants’ Homes, Erin A Hudson, Marissa Burgermaster, Sophia M Isis, Matthew R Jeans, Sarvenaz Vandyousefi, Matthew J Landry, Rebecca Seguin-Fowler, Joya Chandra, Jaimie Davis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

As rates of metabolic syndrome rise, children consume too few vegetables and too much added sugar. Because children tend to eat what is available at home, the home environment plays a key role in shaping dietary habits. This secondary analysis evaluated the effects of a school-based gardening, cooking, and nutrition education intervention (TX Sprouts) compared to control on the availability of vegetables, fruit juice, and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) at home. In the TX Sprouts cluster-randomized trial, 16 schools were randomized to TX Sprouts (

Court-Packing In Context, Barry Cushman

Journal Articles

From the Introduction

There is a curious lacuna in the literature on the Court-packing crisis of 1937. The proposal for reform of the federal judiciary that received the most attention and consideration in that year was, of course, president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposal to enlarge the membership of the Supreme Court from nine to fifteen justices.1 Yet, both before and throughout the battle over the president’s “Court-packing plan,” members of Congress introduced a wide variety of alternative measures for addressing their dissatisfaction with recent Supreme Court decisions invalidating various state and federal laws designed to relieve economic distress and stimulate …

Evaluation Of Roost Culling As A Management Strategy For Reducing Invasive Rose‑Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula Krameri) Populations, C. Janes Anderson, Leonard A. Brennan, William P. Bukoski, Steven C. Hess, Clayton D. Hilton, Aaron B. Shiels, Shane Siers, Bryan M. Kluever, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) are one of the most widespread invasive avian species worldwide. This species was introduced to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, in the 1960s. The rapidly increasing population has caused substantial economic losses in the agricultural and tourism industries. We evaluated the efficacy of a roost culling program conducted by an independent contractor from March 2020 to March 2021. We estimated island-wide minimum abundance was 10,512 parakeets in January 2020 and 7,372 in April 2021. Over 30 nights of culling at four roost sites, approximately 6,030 parakeets were removed via air rifles with 4,415 …

Demographic And Functional Responses Of Kit Foxes To Changes In Prey Abundance, Ashley E. Hodge, Eric M. Gese, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many carnivores exhibit demographic and functional responses to changes in prey abundance. Demographic responses often include changes in population size, litter size, and recruitment of young into the adult population. Functional feeding responses are commonly reported for many carnivore species. We investigated demographic and functional responses of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis Merriam, 1888) to changes in prey abundance during 2010–2013 in western Utah, USA. Between 2010 and 2013, litter size averaged 3.9 (±1.4) pups/litter. Survival rates of kit fox pups were 0.07, 0.01, 0.46, and 0.16, respectively, and there was a correlation between pup survival rates and rodent abundance; …

Interspecific Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait Competition In The Southeast United States, Wesley C. Dixon, Jacob E. Hill, Richard Chipman, Amy J. Davis, Amy Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Guha Dharmarajan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Rabies Management Program (NRMP) has coordinated the use of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) to control the spread of raccoon rabies virus variant west of the Appalachian Mountains since 1997. Working with state and local partners, the NRMP deploys ORV baits containing a rabies vaccine, primarily targeting raccoon populations (Procyon lotor). Bait competition between raccoons and non-target species may limit the effectiveness of ORV programs, but the extent of bait competition remains poorly quantified, particularly in the southeastern United States. We placed placebo ORV baits in bottomland hardwood (n = 637 baits) and upland …

Social Network Analysis Of White-Tailed Deer Scraping Behavior: Implications For Disease Transmission, Michael E. Egan, Kim M. Pepin, Justin Fischer, Scott R. Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Host contact structure affects pathogen transmission in host populations, but many measures of host contact do not distinguish contacts that are relevant to pathogen transmission from those that are not. Scrapes are sites for chemical communication by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the breeding season and potential sites of transmission of prions, the causative agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Scrape-related behaviors vary in their probability of transmitting prions to or from the environment, suggesting that behavior be combined with contact structure to better reflect potential heterogeneity in prion transmission at scrapes. We recorded visits and behaviors by …

Comparison Of An Antioxidant Source And Antioxidant Plus Bcaa On Athletic Performance And Post Exercise Recovery Of Horses, Emily Kent, Stephen J. Coloman, Jason E. Bruemmer, Renan Regatieri Casagrande, Christine Levihn, Grace Romo, Kevin Herkelman, Tanja Hess

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Antioxidant supplementation decreases postexercise oxidative stress but could also decrease muscle pro- tein synthesis. This study compared the effects of three diets: low antioxidant (control, CON), high an- tioxidant (AO), and branched-chain amino acid high antioxidant (BCAO) supplementation on postexercise protein synthesis and oxidative stress. We hypothesized that supplementing antioxidants with branched- chain amino acids(BCAA) would reduce oxidative stress without hindering muscle protein synthesis. Eigh- teen mixed-breed polo horses (11 mares and 7 geldings, with age range between 5 and 18 years, were on CON diet for 30 days (from day -45 until day 0) and then were assigned to …

Behavior Of Wild Pigs Toward Conspecific Carcasses: Implications For Disease Transmission In A Hot, Semiarid Climate, Samantha Leivers, Tyler Campbell, Michael J. Bodenchuk, John Tomeĉek

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a prolific, invasive species in the United States of America and act as vectors for many pathogens. An emerging pathogen of concern to the USA is African swine fever (ASF), a deadly viral disease affecting swine that is endemic to Africa and has spread to parts of Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. ASF affects both wild and domesticated pigs and can be transmitted via several avenues, including interactions between and consumption of dead pigs by their live conspecifics. As wild pigs are considered a serious threat in the transmission of ASF, understanding the …

Defining County-Level Terrestrial Rabies Freedom Using The Us National Rabies Surveillance System: Surveillance Data Analysis, Amber Kunkel, Gabriella Veytsel, Sarah C. Bonaparte, Haillie Meek, Xiaoyue Ma, Amy J. Davis, Jesse Bonwitt, Ryan M. Wallace

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: Rabies is a deadly zoonotic disease with nearly 100% fatality rate. In the United States, rabies virus persists in wildlife reservoirs, with occasional spillover into humans and domestic animals. The distribution of reservoir hosts in US counties plays an important role in public health decision-making, including the recommendation of lifesaving postexposure prophylaxis upon suspected rabies exposures. Furthermore, in surveillance data, it is difficult to discern whether counties have no cases reported because rabies was not present or because counties have an unreported rabies presence. These epizootics are monitored by the National Rabies Surveillance System (NRSS), to which approximately 130 …

Transient Rise In Medical Abortions At Michigan Clinic During Sars-Cov-2 “Stay-At-Home” Order, Rachel Steffes, Susanna Wang, Jennifer F. Dennis

Faculty and Staff Publications

Background

In response to the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, the State of Michigan enacted a “stay-at-home” executive order detailing social distancing guidelines on March 24, 2020, with an expiration date of June 1, 2020.

Objectives

Given that medical abortions allow for pregnancy tissue to be passed in the privacy of one’s home, the authors hypothesized that there would be an increase in medical abortions over first trimester surgical abortions in 2020 compared to 2019 due to social distancing guidelines.

Study Design

Retrospective data was collected from an abortion clinic in Southeastern Michigan between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020 (n=4,703). …

Covid-19 Return To Sport: Collegiate Baseball Injury Prevalence Analysis, Troy B. Puga, Joshua Schafer, Grace Thiel, Laura Ramaker, Tejas Patel, Kevin Treffer

Faculty and Staff Publications

In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly brought college baseball to a halt. Most college baseball players saw disruption of their training and development due to interruptions of their seasons. With these interruptions, it is necessary to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on collegiate baseball injury epidemiology. Data from a small-school Midwest collegiate conference was tallied for the number of collegiate conference injuries per year, and for the injuries per anatomic region. An unpaired t-test was conducted upon the overall conference mean injuries per year and on each anatomic region for the mean injuries per region …

19th Annual Great Defender Of Life Dinner Honoring Gerard V. Bradley And Pregnancy Help Inc. And Celebrating The Overturn Of Roe V. Wade, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

Program contents:

• Anne Manice introduces Nicole Moore, Director of Pregnancy Help, p.33
• Nicole Moore, remarks, p. 34
• Helen Alvaré introduces Gerard V. Bradley, p.35
• Gerard Bradley, remarks, p. 38

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 …

Diversity, Dignity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Age Of Division, Discord, And Disunion: Stereotyping, Sexist, Hegemony In Education, Abha Gupta

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The article addresses diversity issues related to language, gender, and culture. Topics include fundamental areas of research essential to the discussion on language diversity in the context of education with respect to equity, poverty, stereotype threat, Pygmalion Effect, non-sexist language, and Matthews Effect. The discussion on diversity and equity creates a space to think about issues of access, opportunity, voice, and equal participation within society and educational settings. Diversity among humans requires thoughtful considerations, accommodations, and differentiations in educational treatment, yet providing equal opportunities for growth and learning for all.

Trials And Tribulations Of Transitioning Into Leadership, Brandon M. Butler, Diane Yendol-Hoppey

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

Self-study research into teacher education leadership is still in its relative infancy (Allison & Ramirez, 2020). Much of this research has been conducted at the higher levels of administration, which include the deanship (e.g., Clift et al., 2015), with some scholarship on low-level administration, (e.g., Allison & Ramirez, 2016; Haniford et al., 2021; Kitchen, 2016). In this self-study, the authors - a college dean and a program administrator - sought to understand what shared experiences exist among TE administrators, the challenges/possibilities of enacting our administrative roles and responsibilities, and how reciprocal mentoring would assist in the learning of teacher education …

Apt Adversarial Defence Mechanism For Industrial Iot Enabled Cyber-Physical System, Safdar Hussain Javed, Maaz Bin Ahmad, Muhammad Asif, Waseem Akram, Khalid Mahmood, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty

VMASC Publications

The objective of Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks is to exploit Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) in combination with the Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) by using fast attack methods. Machine learning (ML) techniques have shown potential in identifying APT attacks in autonomous and malware detection systems. However, detecting hidden APT attacks in the I-IoT-enabled CPS domain and achieving real-time accuracy in detection present significant challenges for these techniques. To overcome these issues, a new approach is suggested that is based on the Graph Attention Network (GAN), a multi-dimensional algorithm that captures behavioral features along with the relevant information that other methods …

Blockchain And Puf-Based Secure Key Establishment Protocol For Cross-Domain Digital Twins In Industrial Internet Of Things Architecture, Khalid Mahmood, Salman Shamshad, Muhammad Asad Saleem, Rupak Kharel, Ashok Kumar Das, Sachin Shetty, Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues

VMASC Publications

Introduction:: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a technology that connects devices to collect data and conduct in-depth analysis to provide value-added services to industries. The integration of the physical and digital domains is crucial for unlocking the full potential of the IIoT, and digital twins can facilitate this integration by providing a virtual representation of real-world entities.

Objectives:: By combining digital twins with the IIoT, industries can simulate, predict, and control physical behaviors, enabling them to achieve broader value and support industry 4.0 and 5.0. Constituents of cooperative IIoT domains tend to interact and collaborate during their complicated …