Digital Commons Network^™

The Sabbath In The Old Testament, Dana M. Pike

Faculty Publications

The scriptures consistently depict the significance of sacred space and sacred time in the lives of the Lord’s covenant people. Sacred time is still experienced today, as in the past, through commemorations and celebrations on specific days that are dedicated to God and thus regarded as holy. These days punctuate the passing of ordinary or common time and are intended to help bring focus and clarity to relationships with the divine.

Embedding Health And Wellbeing Opportunities For People Experiencing Homelessness In A Wider Support System, M. Paisi, L. Withers, J. Erwin, J. Horrell, R. Witton, J. Shawe, R. Byng

School of Nursing and Midwifery

IntroductionHomelessness impacts negatively on health, wellbeing and life expectancy. People experiencing homelessness are likely to suffer physical and mental health problems, be heavy users of emergency services, and die 30 years earlier than the general population.1–3 Their severe and multiple disadvantages raise personal and institutional barriers to using health, social and housing services.4In late 2021, a grass-roots initiative in Plymouth began offering a Saturday morning drop-in service for rough sleepers and those in emergency accommodation. The service responded to the bleakness, loneliness and lack of support imposed by Monday-Friday service patterns. This effort was strengthened in February 2022 by a …

Corticosteroid-Laba Inhalers Increase Phonation Threshold Pressure (Ptp) And Flow (Ptf) In Rabbits, Christopher Dromey, Kristine Tanner, Heidi J. Robison, Maya Elena Stevens, Ray M. Merrill, Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, Ben Christensen

Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study examined the effects of a combination corticosteroid plus long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist inhaler (IC) on rabbit phonation. Methods: White New Zealand male rabbits were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups (n = 11 per group). The experimental group received twice-daily doses of Advair HFA™ (fluticasone propionate 45 mcg and salmeterol 21 mcg) via a veterinary facemask with 1-way valve and spacer; the control group received aerosolized saline. After 8 weeks, animals were euthanized, larynges excised, frozen, and subsequently thawed and mounted on a standard bench apparatus. Phonation was elicited during 15 successive trials, and phonation threshold pressure …

Teaching Non-Native Sound Contrasts Using Visual Biofeedback, Shawn L. Nissen

Faculty Publications

This demonstration will explain how non-native sound contrasts can be taught to second language (L2) learners using real-time visual biofeedback through an electropalatographic (EPG) sensor. How the EPG sensor is created from a dental mold and is subsequently produced will be shown during the presentation. An explanation of how a student can visualize the contact patterns of their speech and how a tutor might use the various features of the associated software to customize the instruction to an individual speaker will be illustrated during the presentation. Possible limitations, costs, and drawbacks to using the technology will also be discussed.

Triangular Fin Array Passively Actuated By Bimetallic Coils For Cubesat Thermal Control, Josh Cannon, Rydge B. Mulford, Brian D. Iverson

Faculty Publications

CubeSat thermal control can be especially demanding due to volume and size constraints, high power dissipation per unit surface area, and highly variable internal and external heat loads. As such, CubeSat developers must rely on thermal control systems that meet the specific requirements of their mission and environmental conditions. Deployable radiators enable satellites to increase their radiative surface area and to reveal highly emissive surfaces during times when increased heat rejection is desired. In colder conditions, when decreased heat loss is preferable, the radiators can be stowed. Passive thermal control systems are unpowered and can increase system reliability by not …

Pattern-Based Target Selection For Treatment Of Irregular Past Tense: A Single-Case Experimental Design For Children With Developmental Language Disorder, Kirsten M. Russell, Amy Wilder, Julie L. Wambaugh

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Many children with developmental language disorder (DLD) demonstrate
difficulty inflecting irregular past tense verbs. We evaluated using phonological-
based patterns (i.e., schemas) to select targets for treatment of irregular verb inflection for children with DLD. We hypothesized this approach would result in acquisition of treated verbs, generalization to untreated verbs within the same phonological schema, and increased use of correct irregular verbs in naturalistic contexts. Method: Treatment was provided to three 7-year-old participants with DLD in the context of multiple baseline designs across behaviors and participants. Phonological schemas included vowel change, final alveolar, and dual change irregular verbs. Treatment …

Similar Overall Expression, But Different Profiles, Of Autistic Traits, Sensory Processing, And Mental Health Between Young Adult Males And Females, Garrett Cardon

Faculty Publications

Recent trends suggest that autism is more common in females than traditionally held. Additionally, some argue that females express autistic traits differently than males. Dimensional views of autism could shed light on these issues, especially with regards to understudied behavioral areas, such as sensory processing. We examined autistic traits, sensory processing, anxiety, and related behaviors in a large sample of neurotypical young adult males and females (n = 1122; 556 female; ages 19–26). Participants completed an online survey containing questionnaires related to the above. Between groups statistical analyses, as well as within groups correlations and mediation analyses containing these constructs …

Uncertainty, Sensory Processing, And Stress In Autistic Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Garrett Cardon, Mollie Bradley

Faculty Publications

Background: COVID-19 increased uncertainty for most and was especially disruptive to autistic people and their families, due in part to tendencies toward intolerance for uncertainty across this population. As such, COVID presented a natural experiment of uncertainty and its correlates in autism. Previous reports have shown associations between intolerance of uncertainty, sensory difficulty, and stress. Aims: We investigated changes in sensory difficulties and stress associated with COVID-related increases in uncertainty. Methods and procedures: Primary caregivers of 47 autistic children (ages 6–15) completed online surveys containing questions about demographics, experiences, and supports received during the pandemic. Additionally, caregivers filled out measures …

Similar Overall Expression, But Different Profiles, Of Autistic Traits, Sensory Processing, And Mental Health Between Young Adult Males And Females, Garrett Cardon, Miranda Mcquarrie, Savanah Calton, Terisa P. Gabrielsen

Faculty Publications

Recent trends suggest that autism is more common in females than traditionally held. Additionally, some argue that females express autistic traits differently than males. Dimensional views of autism could shed light on these issues, especially with regards to understudied behavioral areas, such as sensory processing. We examined autistic traits, sensory processing, anxiety, and related behaviors in a large sample of neurotypical young adult males and females (n = 1122; 556 female; ages 19–26). Participants completed an online survey containing questionnaires related to the above. Between groups statistical analyses, as well as within groups correlations and mediation analyses containing these constructs …

“I Am Not A Good Woman?” Exploring The Views And Challenges Of Nurses When Discussing Hpv Testing And Associated Cervical Screening With Women In Iraq, Suhailah M. Ali, Rebecca Lawes, Ayla Khedher Ghalib

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Introduction: Cervical cancer is mostly caused by high-risk Human papillomavirus HPV, with an estimation prevalence of HPV of 99.7% worldwide. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an HPV test for primary cervical screening in 2014. An HPV-DNA test, which provides higher protection against invasive cervical carcinomas, is replacing the long-standing Pap smear as the primary method of cervical cancer screening. Objective: To explore nurses’ experience and knowledge of HPV DNA testing and how screening impacts on women's health through increasing awareness and proposing actions for health education strategies. Method: A qualitative exploratory study was conducted on a purposeful …

Effects Of Parent-Implemented Interventions On Outcomes Of Children With Autism: A Meta-Analysis, Wai Man Cheng, Timothy B. Smith, Marshall Butler, Tina Taylor, Devan Clayton

Faculty Publications

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been shown to beneft from parent-implemented interventions (PIIs). This meta-analysis improved on prior reviews of PIIs by evaluating RCTs and multiple potential moderators, including indicators of research quality. Fifty-one efect sizes averaged moderately strong overall benefts of PIIs (g=0.553), with studies having lower risk of research bias yielding lower estimates (g=0.47). Parent and observer ratings yielded similar averaged estimates for positive behavior/social skills (g=0.603), language/communication (g=0.545), maladaptive behavior (g=0.519), and to a lesser extent, adaptive behavior/life skills (g=0.239). No other study, intervention, or participant

Hydrocephalus: A Neuropsychological And Theoretical Primer, Tara Zaksaite, Catherine Loveday, Trudi Edginton, Hugo J. Spiers, Alastair D. Smith

School of Psychology

Hydrocephalus is a common neurological condition, the hallmark feature of which is an excess in production, or accumulation, of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles. Although it is associated with diffuse damage to paraventricular brain areas, patients are broadly typified by a particular pattern of cognitive impairments that include deficits in working memory, attention, and spatial abilities. There have, however, been relatively few neuropsychological accounts of the condition. Moreover, theories of the relationship between aetiology and impairment appear to have emerged in isolation of each other, and proffer fundamentally different accounts. In this primer, we aim to provide a comprehensive and …

Low-Fidelity Design Optimization And Parameter Sensitivity Analysis Of Tilt-Rotor Evtol Electric Propulsion Systems, Tyler Critchfield, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Urban air mobility requires a multidisciplinary approach to tackle the important chal- lenges facing the design of these aircraft. This work uses low-to-mid fidelity tools to model rotor aerodynamics, blade structures, vehicle aerodynamics, and electric propulsion for a tilt-rotor electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. We use gradient-based design optimization and extensive parameter sensitivity analysis to explore the design space and complex tradeoffs of tilt-rotor distributed electric propulsion systems.

A Coupled Source Panel, Actuator Line, And Viscous Vortex Particle Method In An O(N) Scheme, Ryan Anderson, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Wake interactions play a significant role in aerodynamics. However, common modeling approaches are either expensive or lack fidelity, making them unreliable or difficult to use in the design process. The vortex particle method can capture the relevant physics effectively, but imposing boundary conditions with solid surfaces in a computationally efficient way is challenging. We explore two possible methods of imposing solid surface boundary conditions of vortex particle simulations. The first, a novel variation on a pure particle approach, is easy to implement but is moderately expensive, and suffers from some numerical instability. The second, source panels accelerated with a fast …

Aerostructural Predictions Combining Fenics And A Viscous Vortex Particle Method, Ryan Anderson, Andrew Ning, Ru Xiang, Sebastiaan P. C. Van Schie, Mark Sperry, Darshan Sarojini, David Kamensky, John T. Hwang

Faculty Publications

Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft experience complex, unsteady aerodynamic interactions between rotors, wings, and fuselage that can make design difficult. We introduce a new framework for predicting aerostructural interactions. Specifically, we demonstrate the coupling of a finite element solver with Reissner-Mindlin shell theory for computing deflections and a viscous vortex particle for capturing wakes. We perform convergence studies of the aerodynamics and the coupled aerostructural model. Finally, we share some preliminary results of the dynamic aeroelastic response of Uber’s eCRM-002 main wing, and share some qualitative observations.

Sparsity For Gradient-Based Optimization Of Wind Farm Layouts, Benjamin T. Varela, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Optimizing wind farm layouts is an important step in designing an efficient wind farm. Optimizing wind farm layouts is also a difficult task due to computation times increasing with the number of turbines present in the farm. The most computationally expensive part of gradient- based optimization is calculating the gradient. In order to reduce the expense of gradient calculation, we performed a study on the use of sparsity in wind farm layout optimization. This paper presents the findings of the sparsity study and provides a method to use sparsity in wind farm layout optimization. We tested this sparsity method by …

Isogeometric Boundary-Conforming Body-In-White Crash Model Construction, Analysis, And Comparison With Fem Model, Kendrick M. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we discuss model generation to rebuild the body-in-white of a 1996 Dodge Neon finite element model into a isogeometric conforming analysis-suitable crash model. We then perform the first known boundary-fit isogeometric body-in-white crash analysis of the vehicle and compare results achieved by traditional finite element methods. Results indicate the value and potential of high-order meshes in analysis.

Digital Learning Transformation In Higher Education: International Cases Of University Efforts To Evaluate And Improve Blended Teaching Readiness, Charles R. Graham, Ganbat Danaa, Tserenchimed Purevsuren, Adriana Martínez, Cinthia Bittencourt Spricigo, Barbara Maria Camilotti, Tserenkhand Batsukh

Faculty Publications

The global pandemic of 2019 brought heightened awareness to institutions of higher education of the need to engage in a digital transformation that extends beyond university business operations to the pedagogy of the classroom. This paper is a case study that explores three international cases of universities in Colombia, Brazil, and Mongolia that are at different stages along the path of a digital pedagogical transformation. This article tells each story, including (1) what is driving the local need to engage in digital transformation, (2) what the major challenges and barriers are to achieving a transformation, and (3) what efforts are …

Institutional Support For Academic Engagement In Online And Blended Learning Environments: Exploring Affective, Behavioral, And Cognitive Dimensions, Charles R. Graham, Jered Borup, Sara Tuiloma, Adriana Martínez Arias, Ross Larsen

Faculty Publications

In light of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders of higher education institutions around the world have been contemplating ways to help their universities engage in a digital transformation that must have student engagement and learning as the foremost considerations. This study reports on the work conducted at a university in Colombia that created an evaluation instrument based on the Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework (Borup et al., 2020) to examine how well the institution was supporting the affective, behavioral, and cognitive (ABC) dimensions of engagement in its online and blended learning course offerings. This survey, the …

Understanding The Role Of Online Teaching Assistants In Student Engagement, Sara H. Tuiloma, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

In this paper, we examine how online teaching assistants (OLTAs) interact with students in terms of affective, behavioral, and cognitive support and the influence of OLTA training on these interactions. Through a thematic network analysis, using a tracking instrument and semi-structured interviews with 10 OLTAs, we examined how online university students are supported based on the quantity and quality of interactions with OLTAs, and how training contributes to interactions. Our research addressed two key questions: (1) How do OLTAs support learners in the quantity and quality of interactions? and (2) How does OLTA training around affective and behavioral support influence …

Coaching To Support Blended Teaching: A Phenomenological Study Of The Coaching Experiences Of Emerging K–12 Blended Teacher, Michelle Jensen, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

With the growth of blended teaching comes a need to support teachers that are shifting their instruction to this mode of teaching. Coaching is a form of professional development that is growing in K–12 institutions. However, research of coaching specifically intended to support blended teaching practices is lacking. This phenomenological qualitative study seeks to contribute to the body of research by exploring the coaching experiences of four K–12 teachers from second, fifth, junior high, and high school that are new to blended teaching. Through semi-structured interviews we sought to understand how our participants were experiencing the support for blended teaching …

An Exploration Of Institutional And Personal Barriers To Online Academic Engagement At A Brazilian University, Cinthia Bittencourt Spricigo, Bárbara Maria Camilotti, Charles R. Graham, Ruth Baptista

Faculty Publications

The recent global pandemic has raised institutional awareness around the world concerning the importance of having high quality online learning options for students. Learner engagement is often correlated with quality outcomes such as student academic success and student satisfaction. Learner engagement is commonly thought of as having three important dimensions: affective engagement, behavioral engagement, and cognitive engagement (ACE framework). Engagement is also enabled or limited by facilitators/barriers. Three important categories of facilitators/barriers are learner characteristics, personal environment, and course environment. Elements in each of these three areas enable or are barriers to students fully engaging in a course. This research …

“Someone In Their Corner”: Parental Support In Online Secondary Education, Courtney N. Hanny, Charles R. Graham, Richard E. West, Jered Borup

Faculty Publications

Despite increased interest in K–12 online education, student engagement deficits and the resulting student attrition remain widespread issues. The Academic Communities of Engagement (ACE) framework theorizes that two groups support online student engagement: the personal community of support and the course community of support. However, more evidence is needed to understand how members of these communities, especially parents, support students in various contexts. Using insights gleaned from 14 semi-structured interviews of parents with students enrolled in online secondary school, this study adds support to the roles identified in the ACE framework by presenting real examples of parents supporting their online …

Barriers And Enablers To K-12 Blended Teaching, Courtney N. Hanny, Karen T. Arnesen, Qi Guo, Jordan Hansen, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

The attributes of post-pandemic blended teaching (BT) will more closely resemble pre-Coronavirus conditions than the outbreak’s emergency remote teaching. Thus, barriers and enablers for teachers transitioning to BT after emergency remote teaching will be similar to those of early BT adopters. K-12 research has identified external and internal barriers and enablers to technology integration but has largely overlooked those of BT. This study involved analyzing 62 interviews of K-12 blended teachers to discover factors that enabled BT, stood as barriers to initial and continued blending efforts, and helped teachers overcome barriers. Teacher-perceived barriers included, among others, costs perceived as outweighing …

The Audit Quality Effects Of Small Audit Firm Mergers In The United States, Brant E. Christensen, Kecia Williams Smith, Dechun Wang, Devin Williams

Faculty Publications

Increased audit regulation, coupled with reports of frequent mergers among smaller audit firms, creates a dynamic environment in which to assess changes in the U.S. audit market. We examine the audit quality consequences of audit firm mergers between small audit firms that audit public clients, a topic about which little is known. Using a sample of small audit firms each involved in a single merger during 2004-2016, we find consistent evidence that post-merger audit quality decreases when PCAOB-identified audit deficiencies and audit fees are used as proxies for audit quality. In addition, we find weak evidence of lower post-merger audit …

The Impact Of Myosteatosis On Outcomes Following Surgery For Gastrointestinal Malignancy: A Meta-Analysis, A Maccormick, A Streeter, M Puckett, S Aroori

Peninsula Medical School

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this review was to evaluate the impact of preoperative myosteatosis on long-term outcomes following surgery for gastrointestinal malignancy.

METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of the electronic information sources, including PubMed MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), CINAHL and AMED. Studies were included if they reported the impact of preoperatively defined myosteatosis, or a similar term, on long-term survival outcomes following surgery for gastrointestinal malignancy. A subgroup analysis was performed for those studies reporting outcomes for colorectal cancer patients only.

FINDINGS: Thirty-nine full-text articles were reviewed for inclusion, with 19 being retained after …

Evaluation Of A Complex Intervention For Prisoners With Common Mental Health Problems, Near To And After Release: The Engager Randomised Controlled Trial, Richard Byng, Tim Kirkpatrick, Charlotte Lennox, Fiona C. Warren, Rob Anderson, Sarah Louise Brand, Lynne Callaghan, Lauren Carroll, Graham Durcan, Laura Gill, Sara Goodier, Jonathan Graham, Rebecca Greer, Mark Haddad, Tirril Harris, William Henley, Rachael Hunter, Sarah Leonard, Mike Maguire, Susan Michie, Christabel Owens, Mark Pearson, Cath Quinn, Sarah Rybczynska-Bunt, Caroline Stevenson, Amy Stewart, Alex Stirzaker, Roxanne Todd, Florian Walter, Lauren Weston, Nat Wright, Rod S. Taylor, Jenny Shaw

Peninsula Medical School

Background Many male prisoners have significant mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. High proportions struggle with homelessness and substance misuse. Aims This study aims to evaluate whether the Engager intervention improves mental health outcomes following release. Method The design is a parallel randomised superiority trial that was conducted in the North West and South West of England (ISRCTN11707331). Men serving a prison sentence of 2 years or less were individually allocated 1:1 to either the intervention (Engager plus usual care) or usual care alone. Engager included psychological and practical support in prison, on release and for 3–5 months in …

Inhibition Of Yap/Taz-Driven Tead Activity Prevents Growth Of Nf2-Null Schwannoma And Meningioma, Liyam Laraba, Lily Hillson, Julio Grimm De Guibert, Amy Hewitt, Maisie R Jaques, Tracy T Tang, Leonard Post, Emanuela Ercolano, Ganesha Rai, Shyh-Ming Yang, Daniel J Jagger, Waldemar Woznica, Philip Edwards, Aditya G Shivane, C Oliver Hanemann, David B Parkinson

Peninsula Medical School

Schwannoma tumours typically arise on the eighth cranial nerve and are mostly caused by loss of the tumour suppressor Merlin (NF2). There are no approved chemotherapies for these tumours and the surgical removal of the tumour carries a high risk of damage to the eighth or other close cranial nerve tissue. New treatments for schwannoma and other NF2-null tumours such as meningioma are urgently required. Using a combination of human primary tumour cells and mouse models of schwannoma, we have examined the role of the Hippo signalling pathway in driving tumour cell growth. Using both genetic ablation of the Hippo …

Dietary Patterns And Practices And Leucocyte Telomere Length: Findings From The Uk Biobank, Vasiliki Bountziouka, Christopher P. Nelson, Qingning Wang, Crispin Musicha, Veryan Codd, Nilesh J. Samani

Peninsula Medical School

BACKGROUND: Shorter telomere length (TL) is associated with risk of several age-related diseases and decreased life span, but the extent to which dietary patterns and practices associate with TL is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the association of dietary patterns and practices and leucocyte TL (LTL). DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data collected voluntarily from up to 422,797 UK Biobank participants, during 2006-2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LTL was measured as a ratio of the telomere repeat number to a single-copy gene and was loge-transformed and standardized (z-LTL). STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Adherence a priori to …

The Impact Of Audit Technology On Audit Task Outcomes: Evidence For Technology-Based Audit Techniques, Marc Eulerich, Adi Masli, Jeffrey Pickerd, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

As audit technology becomes more widespread, practice and academia are raising concerns about the costs and benefits of these technologies. We examine how internal auditors use technologybased audit techniques (TBATs) and how TBATs impact the efficiency and effectiveness of their audits. We use two surveys and interviews of individual auditors and chief audit executives (CAE) to examine their perceptions of TBATs. Auditors perceive TBATs as beneficial. Specifically, an increase in the use of TBATs is associated with completing more audits, finding more risk factors, providing more recommendations, and decreasing audit days. However, CAEs also perceive TBATs to be costly. An …