Digital Commons Network^™

Hospital Location, Socioeconomic Factors, And Obesity Impact On Patient Readmission Rates 30 Days Post-Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, Mazalo Looky

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is associated with a high rate of readmissions within 30 days after discharge. Patient variables such as obesity and socioeconomic status (SES) are modifiable, whereas hospital factors such as location indicate the need for a better regional needs assessment. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of hospital location, SES, and obesity (independent variables) on the 30-day readmission rate post-CABG (dependent variable) among US patients. Secondary data sets available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Society of Thoracic Surgery websites were analyzed to assess the impact of location, …

Agronomic Biofortification Of Calcium In Pak Choy (Brassica Rapa Subsp. Chinensis) Via Hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique, Regina Septiani Zahro, Khavid Faozi, Zulfa Ulinnuha, Agus Sarjito

Jurnal Kultivasi

Pak choy is rich in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin K, all essential for health. Pak choy requires a proper balance of nutrients for optimal growth. In a hydroponic system, any imbalance in nutrient levels can negatively impact plant growth and reduce the nutritional value stored in the tissues. Selecting suitable varieties and providing appropriate calcium treatment can help increase calcium content and enhance productivity. This study aims to determine the effect of calcium concentration on growth, yield, and Ca content and the most responsive varieties to increased calcium concentration. The research design used was a Split Plot Design …

The Role Of Full-Time Job Postings For Postsecondary Cte Faculty In Curriculum Design: A Document Analysis, James Bartlett Ii, Michelle Bartlett

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

This study examines job postings for full-time postsecondary Career Technical Education (CTE) faculty to explore job duties. Document analysis was used on the job postings collected on JobsEQ Real-Time Intelligence for CTE instructors in North Carolina. Over a year, 318 job postings were found through specific search terms in JobsEQ, with 205 retained. Discarded postings were due to duplication, not postsecondary CTE, or part-time positions. Examination of job postings revealed six thematic areas that tie to curricular skills: development process, inputs and standards, content of the CTE curriculum for students, uses of curriculum in the CTE instructor’s role, goals, and …

Employing The Next Generation: Defining The Need For Employability Skills Integration Through The Lens Of School District Superintendents, William Norris, Shannon L. Norris-Parish

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Since its inception, agricultural education has been instrumental in equipping secondary graduates with the necessary skills to be successful in their future career endeavors. While this has remained a priority over time, many employers claim that secondary graduates do not possess the necessary skills to be successful in the workforce. This study sought to assess the perceptions of school-district superintendents on the importance of integrating employability skills into agricultural education courses and evaluate differences in the perceptions of male and female superintendents. We used a descriptive research design to collect the data. The instrument assessed 41 individual skills in nine …

Libraries On The Front Lines: The Imperative For Disaster-Ready Information Professionals, Feili Tu-Keefner Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Libraries, particularly local public libraries, have evolved into hubs for community-first services, extending beyond traditional roles. Library personnel are now expected to act as first responders and crisis leaders during times such as natural disasters. This report documents the critical crisis leadership qualifications required for library personnel, identified through comprehensive research from 2015 to 2023. Findings from these situation-specific case studies call attention to the community’s needs for library services during emergencies, underscoring the requirement for LIS education to include disaster management. Continuing education (CE) is also critical in preparing information professionals for these essential roles.

National Parks For Future Generations?: The Covid-19 Pandemic’S Impacts On National Parks And Tourism, Colin Cummings '25

Student Research

This paper explores the complex relationship between tourism and the environment in U.S. National Parks, with a focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines how increased visitation affects wildlife, the spread of invasive species, and the overall health of natural ecosystems. The author argues for a shift in public perception of national parks, emphasizing education, community engagement, and a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of nature to ensure the preservation of these areas for future generations. The paper also discusses the role of park rangers and historical interpretations of wildlife and the environment, as well as the …

Development Of A Stable And Buffered Reference Electrode For Binary Molten Chlorides Salts, Carlos Mejia, Nicholas Christensen, Ricardo Rodriguez Ceron, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The development of stable and buffered reference electrodes (REs) is crucial for molten salt electrochemistry, particularly in pyrochemical processing, such as electrorefining. These REs must maintain a stable potential to ensure precise control over electrorefining processes by preventing unwanted shifts in the potential that could lead to impurity deposition. This study evaluated metal chlorides and metal oxides as potential candidates for REs, with their stability assessed via electrochemical methods over extended durations. While metal chloride-based REs exhibited stable potential behavior over time, their response followed the Nernst equation, leading to potential shifts with varying concentrations of oxidized species. Metal oxide-based …

Potential Propagation Seedling Of Ramie (Boehmeria Nivea) From Various Types Of Stem Cuttings, Taufiq Hidayat Rahman Side, Mayasari Yamin, Sri Mulyani, Agung Pangestu Aji, Luthfi Ayunawati

Jurnal Kultivasi

Ramie is a fiber-producing plant that can replace cotton as a raw material for the textile industry. In general, ramie plants are reproduced using rhizomes, but it takes a long time, around two years, to be used as a source of planting material. Therefore, other sources of explants besides rhizomes are required, such as stem cuttings. Explants from stem cuttings are quickly available and only need 2-3 months to be used as planting material. This study aims to determine the potential of effective stem cuttings that can be used as planting material for the propagation of ramie seedlings. The research …

Wearable Surface Electromyography System To Predict Freeze Of Gait In Parkinson's Disease Patients., Anna Moore, Jinxing Li, Christopher H Contag, Luke J Currano, Connor O Pyles, David A Hinkle, Vivek Shinde Patil

Neuroscience Articles

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling yet poorly understood paroxysmal gait disorder affecting the vast majority of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) as they reach advanced stages of the disorder. Falling is one of the most disabling consequences of a FOG episode; it often results in injury and a future fear of falling, leading to diminished social engagement, a reduction in general fitness, loss of independence, and degradation of overall quality of life. Currently, there is no robust or reliable treatment against FOG in PD. In the absence of reliable and effective treatment for Parkinson's disease, alleviating the consequences …

Four Iwu Students Receive Funding To Develop Ideas Through Titan New Venture Challenge, Jeffery Woodard

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

On The Benefits Of Directness In Virtual Characters For Motivational Interviews, Michael O'Mahony, Cathy Ennis, Robert Ross

Conference papers

Understanding the factors influencing successful engagement with Embodied Conversational Agents (ECAs) remains a significant challenge. This understanding could be used to personalise agents to users to improve interactions. Some studies have shown that simulating personalities in healthcare agents can improve effectiveness and engagement. However, it is not yet well understood how variations of agent personality can be leveraged to improve user engagement with Motivational Interviewing (MI) ECAs. Specifically how the balance between agent warmth and directness can be controlled in an MI agent to improve likeability and engagement. We conducted an online Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) mediated study of two variants of …

Residential Metals Abatement Program Investigation Summary Report After The Bell Child Care Center, Environmental Resource Management (Erm)

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Recovering Phosphorus And Nitrogen From Leachate Collected From Chidaya Sanitary Landfill Dodoma Tanzania For Fertilizer Production, Yasin Y. Kifwe, Godlisten N. Shao, Washa B. Washa, Christina F. Pius

Tanzania Journal of Science

The demand for fertilizer is a global issue that poses a significant threat to future food security. Tanzania is among the countries which rely on agriculture for food production and contribute largely to the economy of the nation. However, farmers incur high production costs due to the utilization of expensive and environmentally insecure fertilizers. The present study investigated the potential of recovering nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients from leachate to produce fertilizer. Hanna pH meter (HI-98121) was used to determine the pH of leachate which was found to be 8.29 ± 0.33. The concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen was determined by …

Enhancing Civil Infrastructure Performance Through Lidar-Based Dynamic Monitoring And Phased-Construction Bridges, Khalid Hossam Alkady

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation aims to enhance the performance and structural integrity of civil infrastructure systems through two primary goals. The first goal is to develop and rigorously validate end-to-end frameworks for full-field monitoring of the dynamic response of civil structures via Ground-based Lidar (GBL) scanners. GBL can be employed to sample point clouds at a high sampling rate for dynamic data collection, which addresses the limitations of using contact-based sensors in structural health monitoring (SHM) applications used for early-detection of structural damage.

The second goal of this dissertation concerns the challenges associated with constructing bridges in phases, so they can remain …

Hyperspectral Imaging For Temperature Measurements Of Hot Spots In Shocked Plastic-Bonded Explosives, Dhanalakshmi Sellan, Siva Kumar Valluri, Dana D. Dlott

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hot spots are formed when energetic microstructures are shocked, and they play a critical role in shock sensitivity. It is important to know both the time-dependent size and temperature of the hot spots, in order to generate a kinetic model to describe reaction growth in plastic-bonded explosives (PBX). Here we use a recently developed technique where PBX is fabricated in the form of a thin wafer, embedded within a transparent polymer binder, and shocked with a laser-launched flyer plate that produces pressures of about 30 GPa range. In this method, every crystal of the cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine (HMX)-based PBX can be observed …

Nature-Derived Flame Retardant For Cotton Fabrics With Green Coconut Shells, Tarikul Islam, Abdullah Al Rakib Shikder, Md Shahabul Hossen, Md Mazbah Uddin, Md Tanvir Hossain, M. Mahbubul Bashar

Michigan Tech Publications

This study presents an eco-friendly flame-retardant solution for cellulosic fabrics using green coconut shell (GCS) extract and phytic acid (PA). Cellulosic materials are highly flammable and release harmful gases during combustion. Conventional flame retardants may pose environmental and health risks while impacting the fabric quality. GCS extract is a rich source of tannins, phosphorus, silicates, metallic salts, and oxides and is explored as a novel flame retardant (FR) for cotton fabrics. Cotton samples were pretreated with PA and then with varying concentrations of GCS extract using a padding technique. Comprehensive characterization followed, including limiting oxygen index (LOI), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), …

Ultraviolet And Blue Stimulated Emission From Cs Alkali Vapor Pumped Using Two-Photon Absorption And Four-Wave Mixing, Ricardo C. Davila, Christopher A. Rice, Nathan B. Terry, Glen P. Perram

Faculty Publications

Stimulated emission on the ultraviolet and blue transitions in Cs has been achieved by pumping via two-photon absorption and four-wave mixing for the pump transition 6²S½ → 8²D_3/2,5/2. The emission performance of the optically pumped cesium vapor laser operating in ultraviolet and blue has been extended to 650 nJ/pulse for 387 nm, 1 to 3 μ J / pulse for 388 nm, 200 nJ/pulse for 455 nm, and 500 nJ/pulse for 459 nm. Emission performance improves dramatically as the cesium vapor density is increased, and no scaling limitations associated with energy pooling or …

Understanding The Current Provisions Of Support For People With An Intellectual Disabilities And/Or Autism In Crisis: A Mixed Methods Study, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

Background:There has been significant reduction in inpatient beds for people with intellectual disability and/or autism (PwID/A) in the UK in the last decade following high profile national scandals in specialist psychiatric hospitals. To reduce inappropriate admissions a new strategy (Blue-Light, an emergency multi-disciplinary meeting to prevent admission to hospital) was introduced. However, there is no research on the influence of Blue-Light on crisis management for PwID/A.Aim:To assess Blue-Light’s impact on PwID/A’s crisis presentationsMethods:Co-produced with experts-by-experience, a mixed methods approach using a 13 question Likert based survey of health and social-care professionals along with semi-structured interviews of carers involved with consecutive …

A Constant State Of Agitation, Martin Cloutier

Valparaiso Fiction Review

No abstract provided.

Decadal Climate And Landform Variables Analysis In Iraq Using Remote Sensing Datasets, Sungwon Kim, Maryam Bayatvarkeshi, Atif Muhammad Ali, Kamal Ahmed

AUIQ Technical Engineering Science

Iraq has experienced record-breaking temperatures, making it one of the hottest places on Earth. It is also ranked among the world's top five most climate-vulnerable nations. Climate change is a hazard to Iraq's people and may cause societal disintegration, instability, and displacement. Therefore, it is important to assess Iraq's decadal climate and landform variables analysis. In the present study, the Climate Hazards Center InfraRed Precipitation with Station (CHIRPS) data in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform from 2000 to 2022, as well as rainfall, anomaly, temperature, vegetation, and water, are used to analyse climate change in Iraq. As the land …

Field Canals Improvement Projects Duration Prediction: A Comparative Analysis Of Machine Learning Models, Hania Ghouse, Ukaegbu Chinonso Ishmael, Edgar Dario Obando-Paredes, Hashem Shafik Shakir, Ali Al-Bayaty

AUIQ Technical Engineering Science

There are several essential elements in project construction management to be studied appropriately, and priority to these elements, such as cost and duration, is predominantly interesting to be investigated. In this research, the duration of field canal improvement projects (D_FCIP) was predicted using two relatively new machine learning (ML) models - the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Spline (MARS) and Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). The targeted D_FCIP was calculated using other dependent parameters, such as the length of the pipe, years of construction, the geographical zone of the network, the supplied area with water, and finally the actual cost …

In-Orbit Polymer Recyclers, Dargelys Buitrago Frías, José Muñoz González, Fon Saliki, Lamin Wright, Phuc Bui

Senior Design Project For Engineers

The International AstroTech Team proposes an innovative technology designed to revolutionize future space missions by facilitating in-space 3D printing using locally sourced materials. This cutting-edge technology focuses on developing an automated system capable of recycling polymers in space and transforming them into high-quality 3D printing filaments. By implementing this method, the technology addresses critical needs such as on-site resource utilization, sustainability, on-demand manufacturing, and resource efficiency. This approach not only reduces the dependency on Earth-supplied materials but also enhances the overall sustainability and operational flexibility of space missions. Consequently, it holds the potential to significantly advance the capabilities of space …

The Launch: A Senior Cabaret, Otterbein Theatre And Dance Department

2024-2025 Season Productions

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Social Ties To Financial Gains: Exploring The Impact Of Social Capital In Rural Development, Mallory L. Rahe, Andrew J. Van Leuven, Trey Malone

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Social capital, defined as networks of individuals linked through bonding or bridging relationships, plays a crucial but poorly conceptualized role in place-based development. The word “capital” implies an underlying value of the social connections throughout a community, and this study explores how these social relationships are used to initiate, plan, access financial capital, and implement economic development projects in rural areas. We avoid county-level aggregation bias and use a divergent pathway case study of projects across eight communities to examine how social ties are used during rural development in places with both high and low financial capital. Both types of …

Improving Topology-Based Hypothesis Testing Algorithms Via Novel Distance Functions, Eugene Kler

Electrical and Systems Engineering Undergraduate Student Research

We investigate the properties of a modification of a hypothesis testing algorithm for topological data analysis by replacing the Wasserstein distance function, used to compute the joint loss, with the Prokhorov distance. We conclude that the Prokhorov distance achieves comparable performance, with a notably decreased tendency to report extreme p-values.

Facile Fabrication Of Water Filters With Desirable Properties For Removal Of Pathogenic E. Coli From Drinking Water At Point-Of-Use, Godfrey Michael Shayo, Elianaso Elimbinzi, Christina Fabian, Talam E Kibona

Tanzania Journal of Science

The inevitable consequences of waterborne diseases caused by consuming contaminated water have prompted the development of low-cost water filtration technologies that surpass traditional purification methods in effectiveness. Ceramic water filters have been extensively researched due to their promising application in the filtration and purification of water to produce clean and safe drinking water. The present study reports the synthesis of ceramic filtration systems incorporating silver nanoparticles with desirable properties for water purification. The obtained samples were examined by XRD, XRF, and SEM analyses. XRD analysis showed that the samples had crystallite sizes ranging between 16 to 22 nm. XRF analysis …

Volume 42-1 Complete Issue, C. Nicholas Raphael

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 42-1 Complete Issue

People And Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing And Social Science. Edited By Dianaliverman, Emilio F. Moran, Ronald R.Rindfuss, And Paul C. Stern, James D. Lowry, Jr.

The Geographical Bulletin

At the heart ofthe recent debate within the Association of American Geographers concerning the format an? cont~nt of its two journals is the eclectic and interdisciplinary nature of the field of geography. As long as geography has been a component of American academe geographers have wrestled with "The Nature of Geography" (Hartshorne 1939) and "The Circumference of Geography" (Fenneman 1919) (i.e., the definition of the discipline). Today the debate has largely returned to Fenneman's "Circumference" in that many, if not most, geographers feel more akin to academicians in other fields than to other geographers. Thus, the social geographer, for example, …

Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction By Tor Bernhardsen, John Wiley And Sons, Sharolyn Anderson

The Geographical Bulletin

Adopting the perspective of Jack Dan - germond that " . .. most of the problems with rea l GIS now have more to do with the people and the procedures they use ... than with computer hardware and software", Tor Bernhardsen continues with the philosophy that GIS is funda - mentally plagued not by technical but hu - man and organizational problems. In this, the second edition of h is Norweg ian text originally published in 1989, Bernhardsen presents an introductory text directed more toward those individuals who apply GIS technology, than those who would develop it. As such, …

Inter-Country Child Adoptionand The World Wide Web, James A. Tyner, Erik V. Parker

The Geographical Bulletin

Communication technologies, and especially the advent of the World Wide Web, are changing the geographies of business activities. In this paper the usage of Web sites to facilitate intercountry child adoption are examined. Using a two-pronged strategy, the content of Web sites are qualitatively analyzed and, second, through a mail survey the impact of Internet technology on the conduct of business is examined. Findings suggest that exposure, competition, networking, and cost-considerations are dominant motives for agencies to go 'on-line.' Findings also suggest, however, that latent costs are associated with these factors and question whether increased exposure leads to increased demand. …