Digital Commons Network^™

Obicetrapib Plus Ezetimibe As An Adjunct To High-Intensity Statin Therapy: A Randomized Phase 2 Trial, Christie M Ballantyne, Marc Ditmarsch, John Jp Kastelein, Adam J Nelson, Douglas Kling, Andrew Hsieh, Danielle L Curcio, Kevin C Maki, Michael H Davidson, Stephen J Nicholls

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Obicetrapib, a selective cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C), lipoprotein particles, and apolipoproteins, when added to high-intensity statin in patients with dyslipidemia.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and lipid-altering efficacy of obicetrapib plus ezetimibe combination therapy as an adjunct to high-intensity statin therapy.

Methods: This double-blind, randomized, phase 2 trial administered 10 mg obicetrapib plus 10 mg ezetimibe (n = 40), 10 mg obicetrapib (n = 39), or placebo (n = 40) for 12 weeks to patients with LDL-C >70 mg/dL and triglycerides (TG) < 400 mg/dL, on stable high-intensity statin. Endpoints included concentrations of lipids, apolipoproteins, lipoprotein particles, and proprotein convertase subtilisin kexin type 9 (PCSK9), safety, and tolerability.

Results: Ninety-seven patients were included in …

The Major Questions Doctrine: Right Diagnosis, Wrong Remedy, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s “major questions” doctrine has been attacked as an attempt to revive the nondelegation doctrine. The better view is that this statutory interpretation responds to perceived failings of the Chevron doctrine, which has governed court-agency relations since 1984. This article criticizes the major question doctrine and proposes modifications to the Chevron doctrine that would partially correct its failings while preserving the traditional interpretive role of courts.

Biology, Genetic Diversity, And Conservation Of Wild Bees In Tree Fruit Orchards, Olivia Mae Kline, Ngoc T. Phan, Mitzy F. Porras, Joshua Chavana, Coleman Z. Little, Lilia Stemet, Roshani S. Acharya, David J. Biddinger, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Edwin G. Rajotte, Neelendra K. Joshi

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the most economically important agricultural pollinator in North America, as well as being the most frequently studied bee species. Many agricultural systems, such as fruit tree orchards, benefit from having a diversity of bee species present. In this article, we present information about the types of bees that can be found in orchards and explore their mating behaviors, life cycles, genetic differences, flower preferences, and foraging activities. Many orchard-pollinating bees, including bumble bees (Bombus spp.), mason bees (Osmia spp.), and mining bees (Andrena spp.), are often less studied than honey …

Chevron'S Ghost Rides Again, Thomas W. Merrill

Faculty Scholarship

Professor Gary Lawson has offered a remarkable account of the fate of the Chevron doctrine during a recent year in the Supreme Court, from August 2021 to June 2022. When one examines lower court decisions, petitions seeking review of those decisions, briefs filed by the parties, and transcripts of oral arguments, Chevron made frequent appearances during the year. But when one reads the published opinions of the Court, one finds virtually no reference to Chevron. Based on the published opinions of the Court, it was as if the Chevron decision did not exist.

The status of Chevron as a …

Characterizing Genetic Diversity And Testing For Fisheries Induced Evolution In Southeastern Kansas Populations Of Bluegill (Lepomis Macrochirus), Morganne C. Borsh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) is a popular and versatile sport fish with wide distribution. Fisheries management of the species is generally nebulous due to the additive role of environmental factors, genetics, social interactions, and alternative reproductive tactics in determining bluegill growth. Size structure could be further influenced by angling pressure: large parental males are more susceptible to harvest than smaller cuckolders. The systematic removal of large individuals through angling can result in stunted populations via fisheries induced evolution (FIE). In southeastern Kansas, bluegill from popularly fished impoundments are projected to have smaller sizes compared to isolated or inaccessible impoundments from the …

Can White Nationalist Rhetoric Increase Prejudice Toward Mexican Immigrants?, Nathan Lewey

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Western populism wave of ethno-nationalism (i.e., exclusionary resistance to egalitarianism: exclusionist belief in the superiority of ingroup goals over superordinate goals that are inclusive of all cultures) may increase prejudice toward minorities (Schmuck & Matthes, 2017). Integrated threat theory (ITT; Stephan & Stephan, 1996) states that prejudiced attitudes are mediated by four types of threat, which are affected by quantity and quality of intergroup contact (Stephan et al., 2000). These threats include realistic threat (e.g., fear of losing one’s job to an immigrant), symbolic threat (e.g., fear of losing one’s societal values/norms to a foreign culture), intergroup anxiety, and …

The Flow Experience Of Adults Age 50 And Older In Recreational Doubles Pickleball, Glynis Worthington

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Pickleball, often described as a combination of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, is America’s fastest-growing sport. An estimated 4.8 million players enjoyed the game in 2021, 40% greater than in 2019 (Sports & Fitness Industry [SFIA], 2022). The game is especially popular with older players when played recreationally (for fun rather than prepare for or participate in competitions) in a doubles format (four players per court) (USA Pickleball Association [USAPA], 2022). This study identifies the degree adults age 50 and older experience flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) while playing recreational doubles pickleball.

The Long Dispositional Flow Scale – Physical (DFS-2) was used to …

Assessment Of Conservation Reserve Program Enhancements At Contract Renewal: Impact On Monarch Butterfly (Danaus Plexippus) Habitat, Tristan L. Murphy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a migratory species whose primary breeding range is the upper Midwestern United States. In 2022, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature listed the monarch as endangered due to milkweed and migratory habitat loss. One of the most promising opportunities for monarch recovery is to enhance habitat quality on private land currently enrolled in the USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). In order to qualify for re-enrollment in the program and continuation of annual government payments, farmers must show adequate habitat quality or enhance their site by overseeding after burning, herbicide application, …

No Need To Set The Alarm, I’Ve Been Up Since 2:30am! Why My Teaching Job Keeps Me Up At Night: A Phenomenological Research Study On Empathic Strain Of Iowa Educators, Lindsey Cornwell

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Empathic strain describes a stressor on individuals in professions in which one cares for others who have endured their own trauma or stress (Mathieu, 2021). While previous studies have looked mainly at medical, social work and law enforcement fields as being some of the most impacted by empathic strain, more recently educators have been identified as those challenged with this phenomenon.

Through a phenomenological qualitative study, which included a Facebook marketed Qualtrics survey on empathic strain, four individual interviews and a metaphorical data analysis focus group experience, the lived experiences of educators with empathic strain were collected. Each of the …

“I Can’T Do This Anymore, But I Have 1000 More Kids To Serve”: A Qualitative Study Of Full-Time Residential Summer Camp Staff Burnout, Sarah Cohen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Early pioneers of burnout defined it as “to fail, wear out, or become exhausted by making excessive demands on energy, strength, or resources'' (Freudenberger, 1974, p. 159; Freudenberger, 1977; Schaufeli & Enzmann, 1998). The traditional structures and activities of summer camps play a large role in creating experiences for staff and campers alike, but can lead to full-time staff working long hours with little time off and a culture of being overworked as a symbol of dedication to the program. While burnout research has become more popular over the past few decades, little is known about how burnout is experienced …

Principals’ Knowledge Of Trauma-Informed School Practices, Elsa Leyhe

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Trauma has become a larger issue in schools, and it is necessary for school administrators, specifically principals, to be fully aware of and equipped to deal with trauma in the student body. There is limited quantitative research on what principals currently know about trauma and trauma-informed practices. To help fill this need for more quantitative data, this research study surveyed principals in two Midwest states to address the following questions: To what extent do principals know about traumainformed care in schools? Did the principals receive any training on trauma-informed care in their graduate/certification programs? Did they seek training on their …

The Pandemic-Uncanny: Self-Estrangement And Environment In Out There And Bliss Montage, Kersten Khaley

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the WHO on March 11, 2020. The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency lasted from January 30, 2020, to May 11, 2023. During this time, abundant literature across disciplines began appearing, assessing the pandemic experience and aftermath. However, there needs to be more investigation and application of the term uncanny in the pandemic experience and literature.

Two short story collections, Out There by Kate Folk and Bliss Montage by Ling Ma, both published in 2022, are works of pandemic literature demonstrating the pandemic's inherent uncanniness and the human experience. The term pandemic-uncanny represents an inherent attachment …

Graduate Recital Yuxiao Sun, Piano, Yuxiao Sun

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Yuxiao Sun presented a solo piano recital on November 2, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. in Davis Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. This recital marked a partial completion of her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance. The program included the following works: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” by Ludwig van Beethoven, Partita No.1 in B flat Major, BWV 825 by Johann Sebastian Bach, and Pour le Piano, L. 95 by Claude Debussy.

Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig …

Briggs V. Southwestern Energy Production: Hydraulic Fracturing And Subsurface Trespass, Thomas W. Merrill, Henry E. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

The tort of trespass to land has proven to be controversial as applied to airplane overflights (and more recently to drones) as well as to oil and gas production using hydraulic fracking technology. The key to applying trespass to intrusions above and below the surface of land is to distinguish between possession of land and the right to possess land. Surface owners have the right to possess the column of space above and below the surface (a kind of option value), but only to the extent that this space is subject to possible effective possession. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in …

Editorial: Overcoming The Cell Membrane To Target Intracellular Oncoproteins, Christopher J Brown, Yong Li, Kanaga Sabapathy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring A 'Fishy' Solution: Unveiling Human Norovirus With Zebrafish Larvae (2023), Sahaana Chandran

Three-Minute Thesis Research Posters

Exploring a 'Fishy' Solution: Unveiling Human Norovirus with Zebrafish Larvae

The 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) is a research communication competition that challenges students to communicate the significance of their projects without the use of props or industry jargon in just three minutes. The winner of the 3MT competition moves on to the Council of Southern Graduate School’s Regional Conference in March 2024.

Australian Churches During Coronatide: Lessons & Opportunities, Pieter-Jan Bezemer, Sten Langmann

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Christian churches have played a pivotal role in the social and economic fabric of many Western countries over centuries. However, in many of these countries national censuses have revealed significant declines in the number of people that associate themselves with Christianity. For example, the latest census of the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that in 2021 less than half of the population was still affiliated with Christianity. This gradual but steady decline has had a significant impact on churches, as it has become more challenging to maintain church communities and church buildings, and serve the wider community. Early in 2020, …

James Thomas Faris Papers- Accession 1475, James Thomas Faris, Faris Family

Manuscript Collection

The James Thomas Faris Papers consist mainly of personal correspondence between Mr. James Thomas Faris (1867-1937) and his family, friends, co-workers, and love interests. There is also documentation concerning Faris’ finances and legal matters. There are several documents concerning his life insurance through Aetna Life Insurance Company, documents listing sold stock, uniform tickets from William C. Rowland Company, and correspondence between Mr. Faris and W.C Hurt Tobacco Company. There are also several documents from colleges in South Carolina including a letter from Clemson Agricultural College concerning Faris’ son and one from Winthrop College concerning Faris’ daughter. James Thomas Faris and …

Strabismus And Amblyopia In Africa – A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Prince Kwaku Akowuah, Samuel Adade, Andrews Nartey, Ebenezer Owusu, Richard Donkor, Stephen Ankamah-Lomotey

Articles

The objective of this review was to estimate the prevalence of strabismus and amblyopia in Africa. A systematic online literature search was conducted for articles on strabismus and amblyopia in Africa. Meta-analysis was performed, using the Freeman-Tukey double arcsine transformation, to estimate the prevalence of strabismus and amblyopia in Africa. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to age, gender, study year, and type of amblyopia. Meta-regression was used to evaluate the influence of predetermined factors on the prevalence of amblyopia. 8 (1 population-based & 7 school-based) and 21 (3 population-based & 18 school-based) studies on strabismus and amblyopia with sample sizes …

Fem Eem Dataset: Optimising Retrofitted Insulation For Irish Residential Building Walls, Rakshit D. Muddu, Aimee Byrne, Anthony Robinson Dr.

Datasets

A large number of combinations of Irish wall types, insulation materials, and heating fuel types were produced to compare the multiple variables which influence Optimal Insulation Thickness values. The total cost (TC) and carbon emission (CE) at optimum insulation thickness (OIT) for all combinations of insulation material and three types of fuel are considered. The dataset presents OIT for solid wall, cavity wall and cavity block wall types located in Monaghan, Dublin, and Kerry.

Exploring The Impact Of Noise And Degradations On Heart Sound Classification Models, Davoud Shariat Panah, Andrew Hines, Susan Mckeever

Articles

The development of data-driven heart sound classification models has been an active area of research in recent years. To develop such data-driven models in the first place, heart sound signals need to be captured using a signal acquisition device. However, it is almost impossible to capture noise-free heart sound signals due to the presence of internal and external noises in most situations. Such noises and degradations in heart sound signals can potentially reduce the accuracy of data-driven classification models. Although different techniques have been proposed in the literature to address the noise issue, how and to what extent different noise …

Comparing Poor And Favorable Outcome Prediction With Machine Learning After Mechanical Thrombectomy In Acute Ischemic Stroke, Matthias A. Mutke, Vince I. Madai, Adam Hilbert, Esra Zihni, Arne Potreck, Charlotte S. Weyland, Markus A. Mohlenbruch, Sabine Heiland, Peter A. Ringleb, Simon Nagel, Martin Beendszus, Dietmar Frey

Articles

Outcome prediction after mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and large vessel occlusion (LVO) is commonly performed by focusing on favorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale, mRS 0–2) after 3 months but poor outcome representing severe disability and mortality (mRS 5 and 6) might be of equal importance for clinical decision-making.

Understanding And Predicting Cognitive Improvement Of Young Adults In Ischemic Stroke Rehabilitation Therapy, Helard Becerra Martinez, Katryna Cisek, Alejandro Garcia-Rudolph, John Kelleher, Andrew Hines

Articles

Accurate early predictions of a patient's likely cognitive improvement as a result of a stroke rehabilitation programme can assist clinicians in assembling more effective therapeutic programs. In addition, sufficient levels of explainability, which can justify these predictions, are a crucial requirement, as reported by clinicians. This article presents a machine learning (ML) prediction model targeting cognitive improvement after therapy for stroke surviving patients. The prediction model relies on electronic health records from 201 ischemic stroke surviving patients containing demographic information, cognitive assessments at admission from 24 different standardized neuropsychology tests (e.g., TMT, WAIS-III, Stroop, RAVLT, etc.), and therapy information collected …

Towards Automated Weed Detection Through Two-Stage Semantic Segmentation Of Tobacco And Weed Pixels In Aerial Imagery, S. Imran Moazzam, Umar S. Khan, Waqar Qureshi, Tahir Nawaz, Faraz Kunwar

Articles

In precision farming, weed detection is required for precise weedicide application, and the detection of tobacco crops is necessary for pesticide application on tobacco leaves. Automated accurate detection of tobacco and weeds through aerial visual cues holds promise. Precise weed detection in crop field imagery can be treated as a semantic segmentation problem. Many image processing, classical machine learning, and deep learning-based approaches have been devised in the past, out of which deep learning-based techniques promise better accuracies for semantic segmentation, i.e., pixel-level classification. We present a new method that improves the precision of pixel-level inter-class classification of the crop …

A Big Data Smart Agricultural System: Recommending Optimum Fertilisers For Crops, Vuong Ngo, Thuy-Van T. Duong, Nguyen Nguyen, Cach N. Dang, Owen Conlan

Articles

Nutrients are important to promote plant growth and nutrient deficiency is the primary factor limiting crop production. However, excess fertilisers can also have a negative impact on crop quality and yield, cause an increase in pollution and decrease producer profit. Hence, determining the suitable quantities of fertiliser for every crop is very useful. Currently, the agricultural systems with internet of things make very large data volumes. Exploiting agricultural Big Data will help to extract valuable information. However, designing and implementing a large scale agricultural data warehouse are very challenging. The data warehouse is a key module to build a smart …

Towards Sweetness Classification Of Orange Cultivars Using Short‑Wave Nir Spectroscopy, Ayesha Zeb, Waqar Shahid Qureshi, Abdul Ghafoor, Amanullah Malik, Muhammad Imran, Alina Mirza, Mohsin Islam Tiwana, Eisa Alanazi

Articles

The global orange industry constantly faces new technical challenges to meet consumer demands for quality fruits. Instead of traditional subjective fruit quality assessment methods, the interest in the horticulture industry has increased in objective, quantitative, and non-destructive assessment methods. Oranges have a thick peel which makes their non-destructive quality assessment challenging. This paper evaluates the potential of short-wave NIR spectroscopy and direct sweetness classification approach for Pakistani cultivars of orange, i.e., Red-Blood, Mosambi, and Succari. The correlation between quality indices, i.e., Brix, titratable acidity (TA), Brix: TA and BrimA (Brix minus acids), sensory assessment of the fruit, and short-wave NIR …

Discovering Child Sexual Abuse Material Creators’ Behaviors And Preferences On The Dark Web, Vuong Ngo, Rahul Gajula, Christina Thorpe, Susan Mckeever

Articles

Background: Producing, distributing or discussing child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) is often committed through the dark web in order to remain hidden from search engines and regular users. Additionally, on the dark web, the CSAM creators employ various techniques to avoid detection and conceal their activities. The large volume of CSAM on the dark web presents a global social problem and poses a significant challenge for helplines, hotlines and law enforcement agencies.

Objective: Identifying CSAM discussions on the dark web and uncovering associated metadata insights into characteristics, behaviours and motivation of CSAM creators.

Participants and Setting: We have conducted an …

Toward Inclusive Online Environments: Counterfactual-Inspired Xai For Detecting And Interpreting Hateful And Offensive Tweets, Muhammad Deedahwar Mazhar Qureshi, Muhammad Atif Qureshi, Wael Rashwan

Articles

The prevalence of hate speech and offensive language on social media platforms such as Twitter has significant consequences, ranging from psychological harm to the polarization of societies. Consequently, social media companies have implemented content moderation measures to curb harmful or discriminatory language. However, a lack of consistency and transparency hinders their ability to achieve desired outcomes. This article evaluates various ML models, including an ensemble, Explainable Boosting Machine (EBM), and Linear Support Vector Classifier (SVC), on a public dataset of 24,792 tweets by T. Davidson, categorizing tweets into three classes: hate, offensive, and neither. The top-performing model achieves a weighted …

Biogeography Based Optimization With Salp Swarm Optimizer Inspired Operator For Solving Non-Linear Continuous Optimization Problems, Vanita Garg, Kusum Deep, Khalid Abdulaziz Alnowibet, Hossam Zawbaa, Ali Wagdy Mohamed

Articles

In this paper, a novel attempt is made to incorporate the two effective algorithm strategies, where BBO has a strong exploration and Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA) is used for exploitation of the search space. The proposed algorithm is tested on IEEE CEC 2014 and statistical, convergence graphs are given. The proposed algorithm is also applied to 10 real life problems and compared with its counterpart algorithm. Results obtained by above experiments have demonstrated the outperformance of the hybrid version of BBO over other algorithms.

Do Games Reduce Math Anxiety? A Meta-Analysis, Pierpaolo Dondio, Viacheslav Filonenko, Mariana Rocha

Articles

In this paper, we meta-analyse the empirical evidence about the effectiveness of game-based interventions to reduce students' level of math anxiety. After performing a search for randomised controlled studies relevant to game-based intervention for math anxiety, 16 experimental studies with a total of 686 participants described in 11 peer-review articles met the selection criteria.A random-effects meta-analysis indicated a small and non-significant reduction of math anxiety (mean effect size ES=-0.32, CI=[-0.64,0.01]). The results were moderated by several factors: non-digital games were more effective, while digital games had a negligible mean effect size of $ES=-0.13$, $CI=[-0.33,0.08]$. The effect size was moderated also …