Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Accuracy Of Point Of Care Testing Compared To Standard Laboratory Testing Among Inborn Infants In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Isha Parikh, Sepideh Saroukhani, Matthew Rysavy, Brian Chang, Mar Romero-Lopez, Lindsay F Holzapfel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Point-of-care (POC) testing offers expedited results with lower blood volume requirements than central laboratory (CL) tests, particularly for low-birth-weight infants.

Methods: A retrospective cohort included 118 patients with paired POC and CL tests within one hour in the first 14 postnatal days. Differences and agreement were assessed using linear mixed-effect models that account for within and between-subject variations.

Results: Compared to CL, POC testing underestimated sodium (6.0 mEq/L), potassium (0.1 mEq/L), chloride (5.1 mEq/L), and glucose (2.3 mg/dL), and overestimated hemoglobin (0.08 g/dL) and hematocrit (0.8%). Differences (CL- POC) varied by postnatal age and sample type, with larger differences …

Consciousness Studies In Community: Allan Leslie Combs’S Enduring Vision, Debby Flickinger Phd, Rebecca A. Damien Phd

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Consciousness studies can be found in many different disciplines. Allan Leslie Combs held an inclusive view of consciousness that was not limited to any one branch, and he inspired us to explore consciousness through many doorways. Together the authors share narratives about teaching and learning with Combs while reviewing key areas shaped by his legacy, including gatherings, archetypes, psychology, and synchronicity. Our shared intention is to honor Leslie’s legacy through a narrative that comes from the heart as well as the mind.

Keywords: consciousness studies, gatherings, archetypes, synchronicity, Allan Leslie Combs

Accepting Vs Understanding, Transgender Aliens And Alienation, Reyna G. Aliah

English

Trans people have been the subject of intense discrimination in recent years, suffering dehumanization from right-wing and conservative groups. This dehumanization (and the fear resulting from it) parallels common attitudes in science fiction about actual aliens. Orson Scott Card’s Hierarchy of Foreignness classifies individuals and species into five categories, depending on their sentience; whether they are from the same city, nation, or planet; and whether communication is possible. This paper examines how transgender people can be classified according to this system on a societal level, with said class depending on the lens used to view them as well as the …

Playing By Feel: Gender, Emotion, And Social Norms In Overwatch Role Choice, Cristo Leon, Angela Arroyo, James Lipuma

STEM for Success Resources

This paper explores how emotion, gameplay context, and social norms shape role choice in both digital and institutional systems. Using Overwatch as a case study, it examines gendered experiences of physiological excitement and decision-making during play. Women often describe heightened emotional engagement where victory represents both personal achievement and resistance to cultural expectations. Such emotions influence situational choices, including whether to play as a Tank, DPS, or Support, and which hero to select based on perceived risk or visibility. Drawing on feminist game studies and transdisciplinary communication, the authors argue that role preference is determined not only by game mechanics …

Biophysical Characterization And Structural Insights Into The Complex Between The Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factor, Pupi, With The Antisigma Domain Of The Sigma Regulator, Pupr, From Pseudomonas Capeferrum, Tajnin Sultana, Robin N. Kutsi, Alexander Tischer, Siri Froiland, Elizabeth L. Gertz, Jaime L. Jensen, Matthew Auton, Sangita C. Sinha, Christopher L. Colbert

APC Fund Awardees

Gram-negative bacteria utilize siderophores to scavenge for environmental iron. Pseudomonas capeferrum produces the siderophores pseudobactin BN7/8, which trigger cell surface signaling (CSS). Iron import CSS pathways consist of an outer membrane TonBdependent transporter, an inner membrane sigma regulator, and a cytoplasmic sigma factor that activates transcription of target genes. The P. capeferrum sigma regulator, PupR, has an N-terminal antisigma domain (ASD). Previously, the PupR ASD was purified as a dimer in the absence of its cognate sigma factor, PupI. Here we use pulldown assays to demonstrate that His6-PupIFL interacts with the PupR ASD as well as with homodimer-disrupting mutants. We …

A Comparison Of Tenecteplase To Alteplase For Treatment Of Acute Ischemic Stroke Using Epic Cosmos Database, Marco Gonzalez Castellon

Theses & Dissertations

Ischemic stroke is highly prevalent and an important cause of morbidity, mortality, and long-term disability in the in the United States. The incidence and prevalence of stroke is expected to increase in the next few years due to several factors including aging of the U. S. population, improved treatment, and socioeconomic factors. In 1996, the FDA approved rtPA for the treatment of ischemic stroke patients. Patients had a greater likelihood of recovering successfully. However, rtPA has significant limitations, such as an elevated risk of intracranial hemorrhage, administration difficulties, and limited effectiveness. In March 2025, the FDA approved the use of …

Posterior Anatomic Limit For Mandibular Molar Distalization In Subjects With Different Growth Patterns, Genders, And Growth Status, Rehana Bashir

Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study is to identify the anatomical limits for mandibular molar distalization, a technique frequently employed in orthodontics to address various malocclusions. Mandibular molar distalization plays a critical role in the management of crowding, and correction of the molar relationship.

It is imperative to assess the posterior anatomical space (PAS) in the mandibular retromolar area prior to distalization or uprighting the mandibular molars to avoid periodontal issues (dehiscence, orthodontically induced root resorption, and tooth mobility) and achieve successful treatment outcomes.

A clinical question that, however, isn't well understood is whether the amount of mandibular molar distalization is …

Mechanistic Insight Of Neuropilin-2 Expression During The Progression Of Prostate Cancer, Sanika Bodas

Theses & Dissertations

Advanced prostate cancer represents a particularly aggressive and challenging form of prostate cancer (PCa) that shows resistance to both traditional therapies, such as androgen deprivation therapy, and newer treatment modalities like hormone therapies and immunotherapies. For patients diagnosed with advanced stages of PCa, treatment options are limited, and chemotherapy is often the last line of defense. Unfortunately, chemotherapy can severely diminish the quality of life, particularly in older patients, due to its harsh side effects, including fatigue, immune suppression, and overall physical decline. Despite these challenges, researchers and clinicians remain focused on developing more effective and targeted treatments for patients …

Assessment Of Polymeric Chloroquine Formulations For Targeted Therapy Of Ulcerative Colitis And Metastatic Colorectal Cancer, Neha Kumari

Theses & Dissertations

Effective targeted drug delivery is a critical unmet need in the management of both ulcerative colitis and metastatic colorectal cancer, where conventional systemic therapies may be hindered by suboptimal efficacy and significant side effects. This thesis explores the development and preclinical assessment of polymeric chloroquine (PCQ)-based nanotherapeutics, leveraging stimuli-responsive designs for disease-specific delivery and action.

For ulcerative colitis, a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanogel system was engineered to release PCQ, a macromolecular derivative of hydroxychloroquine, specifically in the inflamed areas within the colon. Nanogels with well-defined size and positive surface charge were synthesized via reversible fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization …

Development And Characterization Of Non-Viral Delivery Systems For Pulmonary Delivery Of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, Kasturi Siddhanta

Theses & Dissertations

The development of non-viral delivery systems for pulmonary delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics is driven by the need for safer and more accessible approaches to treat lung diseases, while avoiding the systemic side effects and immune responses associated with viral vectors. Such systems encompass both non-invasive inhalation-based platforms, and systemically administered platforms designed to achieve localized lung delivery. These strategies aim to enable high drug concentrations at the site of action, rapid onset of therapeutic effect, and greater therapeutic efficacy than existing treatments. Designing effective pulmonary delivery systems requires precise optimization of particle properties—including size, morphology, surface characteristics, cell-specific targeting, …

Evaluating Joint Control Teaching Procedures For Teaching Yes-No Responding With Tact And Intraverbal Questions For Children With Autism, Desiree J. Dawson

Theses & Dissertations

Responding to yes and no questions is a general language skill that allows individuals to efficiently interact with their verbal community. Few behavior analytic studies have sought teaching this skill in general, with even fewer studies seeking to teach this skill when it pertains to a tact or intraverbal context. All behavior analytic studies to date seeking to teach this skill have used direct prompting and reinforcement of the yes and no responses, but there is little guidance for what can be done if this teaching strategy is not producing desired acquisition. The current experiments examined a teaching procedure informed …

Role Of Nadph Oxidase 4 In Murine Cancer-Associated Fibroblast, Faith M. Gomez

Theses & Dissertations

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women in the United States. Frontline hormone therapies for breast cancer prove ineffective in triple negative breast cancer tumors wherein the hormones estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 are downregulated or absent; therefore, patients diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer are primarily limited to chemotherapies which carry a higher failure and resistance rate. Here we target cancer associated fibroblasts as potential drivers of chemoresistance in triple negative breast cancer. We investigated the mechanism by which Nox4 regulates the YAP/TAZ pathway in modulating DTX sensitivity and sought to determine if targeting Nox4 …

Development Of Self-Assembled Polymeric Polyplexes For Microrna Delivery: Toward Treatment Of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease, Marjina Akter Kalpana

Theses & Dissertations

Self-assembled polymeric polyplexes have the potential to serve as an RNA interference (RNAi) delivery platform for the combined inhibition of CXCR4 and miR-155 in the treatment of alcohol-associated liver disease (AALD). A central challenge in RNA delivery is balancing the extracellular stability of polyplexes, cellular uptake, and intracellular release of RNA cargo. We developed polymeric polyplexes using the CXCR4-antagonist polymer PAMD, designed to target CXCR4 on activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and deliver therapeutic miRNA to activated Kupffer cells (KCs) in fibrotic liver. We improved the polyplexes by cholesterol modification of PAMD and by PEGylation of PAMD-Ch. The cholesterol modification …

2025 Winter Series Animal Tracks Identification Challenge, Alison Coleman

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Betting Apps, Broadswords, And A Battle For Better Pay: Stories Of New York City As Reported On “Audiofiles”, Jarrod Barry

Capstones

This capstone is comprised of three different stories for “AudioFiles”, a bi-weekly radio and podcast news show that covers current events in and around New York City. The portfolio covers three different types of pieces: a narrated feature, a nonnarrative feature, and a quick-turn daybook story. The narrated feature looks at the growing popularity in gambling apps and their link to gambling addiction. The second piece is a nonnarrated feature profiling a modern gladiator and his experience fighting in the Armored League. The final piece looks at City Council legislation that provides a bonus to the city’s paraprofessional teaching assistants. …

The Bmt: Will This Time Be Different?: Red Hook Braces For A Mega-Project On The Waterfront. Can It Avoid The Mistakes Of Atlantic Yards?, Steve Kastenbaum

Capstones

"The BMT: Will this time be different?" investigates how New York City's push to rapidly build housing is reshaping communities. A $3.5 billion mega-project at the Brooklyn Marine Terminal promises transformation through 6,000 apartments, a modernized port, and waterfront improvements, but residents are split on whether it represents progress or displacement. The development uses a controversial "general project plan" process that bypasses normal community review, the same approach that enabled the still-unfinished Atlantic Yards project. Local voices in Red Hook range from excitement about investment, jobs and amenities to fears about gentrification and broken promises. This pilot episode launches a …

En Tiempos De Trump, El Cuidado De Hijos Estadounidenses Hacia Sus Padres Inmigrantes Se Intensifica, Ana Maria Betancourt

Capstones

In immigrant families, children born in the United States (or first-generation Latinos) are taking on the role of caregivers for their parents to protect them from the deportations and detentions that are occurring in the country.

The Neverending Manifestations Of Gambling In Children’S Spaces, Brandon M. Malave

Capstones

The pervasiveness of gambling in American culture has gotten out of control. Unlike traditional casinos of that are easily recognizable by their slot machines and blackjack tables, these contemporary forms of gambling lurk in spaces that children frequent, specifically within popular culture. My experiences in contemporary gambling within the computer game Counter-Strike and trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, is following along the century long trend of exploiting culture to generate wealth. Should this continue, gambling will continue to manifest in spaces that it should never be allowed to exist in.

Project Link: https://www.the-analog.net/blog/the-never-ending-manifestations-of-gambling-in-childrens-spaces

Github: https://github.com/brandonmalave/Magic-The-Gathering-Card-Price-Analysis

City Council Bill To Decrypt Police Radio Has A Surprising Winner — Citizen App, Mikella Schuetter, Kennedy Sessions, Marina Samuel

Capstones

After the NYPD encrypted police scanners in 2024, eliminating public access to police radio communications, the New York City Council passed a bill on Dec. 18 to restore limited access for journalists and the public. The move could benefit Citizen, a crime-alert app that has pushed for decryption while entering a “no cost” partnership with the city, even as former employees and advocates raise concerns about the app’s practices and growing role in New York City’s public safety.

The Debate Over The Lebanese Diaspora’S Vote: As Lebanon Tries To Reform Itself, The Diaspora Wants A Say At The Ballot Box, Sandra Sadek

Capstones

The Lebanese diaspora is demanding full voting rights ahead of the 2026 parliamentary elections. The movement comes at a time when the 2026 parliamentary elections coincide with a moment of national reckoning. Despite urgency from a vocal diaspora and pressure from several members of parliament and the cabinet, the bill to permanently amend the current electoral law has stalled on the speaker’s desk. The outcome of that struggle stands not only to determine how much influence this global constituency can have on Lebanon’s future but also what the country’s recovery path can look like amid a dramatically changing regional landscape. …

More Nyc Households To Qualify For Energy Efficiency Upgrades Under Tweaked State Program, Elise Robley

Capstones

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority's EmPower+ program aims to provide low- and moderate-income households with energy-efficient upgrades. These upgrades help lower people's energy costs, especially how much it costs to heat and cool their homes. Starting this year, more low-income households in New York City will be eligible to apply for the program's benefits. This piece looks at this history of the EmPower+ program, why it's so beneficial to low- and moderate-income New Yorkers, and the potential positive impact the program's tweaks could have on local communities of color that might be dealing with high energy …

Early Childhood Educators Around The City Struggle With Delayed Payments From The City, Shenal F. Tissera

Capstones

My story focuses on early childhood education centers and funding issues that teachers have gone through with the city. Many early education centers receive funding directly from the NYC Department of Education to operate and rely on such funding for rent, electricity and supplies. Since COVID, the city has had an issue with getting payments to these centers on time. My story focuses on a education center teacher and owner who dealt with these issues while going through personal tragedies. The problem is complex and has much to do with staffing shortages that are slowly getting back to pre-pandemic levels …

For 600,000 New Yorkers, Toxins Are In Their Tap Water: A New York Focus Analysis Of State Inspection Data Shows Key Toxins Are In Public Water Systems From Long Island To The Adirondacks, Posing Risks For Cancers And Other Diseases. Millions Are Being Spent To Fix Problems, But Even Well-Planned Efforts Have Faced Delays. Poorer Towns Wonder If They Can Afford To Fix The Problem., Shuchi Shah, Hayden Betts, Aurora Martinez, Rebecca Mccray

Capstones

The story stems from an analysis of New York State data on drinking water contaminants. The state inspection data shows key toxins are in public water systems from Long Island to the Adirondacks, posing risks for cancers and other diseases. Millions are being spent to fix problems, but even well-planned efforts have faced delays. Poorer towns wonder if they can afford to fix the problem.

Evaluating Bmx-001 As A Selective Radioprotector For Healthy Tissue In Pelvic Cancers, Molly Myers

Theses & Dissertations

Pelvic cancers, including rectal, anal, and prostate cancer, are relatively survivable cancers with high five-year survival rates, partially due to the addition of radiation to treatment regimens. Radiation confers excellent tumor control, but also causes damage to surrounding tissue, resulting in both short-term and long-term side effects. In a patient population that is surviving longer after treatment, limiting the impact of side effects is instrumental to improving patient quality of life. Radiation-induced ROS is instrumental in causing these side effects and provides a unique opportunity to protect healthy tissue from damage while sensitizing cancer tissue to treatment, as cancer cells …

Exposures, Protections, And Barriers: Advancing Understanding Of Agricultural Worker Health, Alexandra A. Farfalla

Theses & Dissertations

Farming is a hazardous occupation. Exposures are multifactorial, variable, and shaped by overlapping tasks, environments, and social contexts. This dissertation aimed to illustrate the complexity of agricultural exposures and the barriers to protective practices through three complementary studies.

The first study examined co-exposures to solvents and noise as risk factors for hearing loss (HL) among 7,495 farmers and ranchers in a 7-state region. Results indicated nearly 60% of co-exposed participants reported hearing loss, with an adjusted odds ratio nearly six-fold (OR=6.03, [4.67-7.78]) for moderate/severe HL. This work highlights the importance of recognizing chemical exposures as a modality in HL in …

Regulation Of Chromatin Remodeling By The Post-Hsa Domain Of Brg1, A Subunit The Baf Atp-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Complex, Min Sze Ewe

Theses & Dissertations

The ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler BAF complex regulates nucleosome positioning, chromatin accessibility, and tissue specific gene expression. Its catalytic subunit, BRG1, contains several regulatory domains including the post-HSA region, proposed to modulate ATPase activity. Multiple cancer-associated mutations map to these regulatory regions underscoring their importance, yet the precise role of the post-HSA region in chromatin remodeling remains poorly understood.

To investigate the function of the post-HSA domain, we ectopically expressed FLAG-tagged BRG1 with post-HSA deletion (Δpost-HSA BRG1) in mouse embryonic stem cells. Western blot analysis confirmed expression of the mutant protein. To determine the effects of mutant protein expression on chromatin …

Advancing Point-Of-Care Healthcare Diagnostics To Tackle Future Outbreaks And Pandemics: Nanotechnology-Driven Developments And Impact On Rapid Pathogen Detection, Naresh Mandal, Bidhan Pramanick, Tarun Kanti Bhattacharyya, Baljit Singh

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

No abstract provided.

Czy Możliwe Jest Utrzymanie W Mocy Umowy Kredytu Hipotecznego Odnoszącego Się Do Waluty Obcej Zawierającej Niedozwolone Postanowienia Określające Mechanizm Indeksacji? Kilka Uwag O Braku Możliwości Podziału Abuzywnych Klauzul Indeksacyjnych Na Gruncie Orzecznictwa Trybunału Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej I Sądów Krajowych, Marta Fabiszewska

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts on the possibility of separating out abusive clauses defining the indexation mechanism, the elimination of an isolated element of such clauses, and, as a result, the possibility of preserving the validity and applicability of the overall mortgage loan agreement referring to a foreign currency. This issue is currently among the most significant jurisprudential problems arising on the ground of court cases on mortgage loan agreements between consumer-borrowers and banks.

The author aims to answer the question of …

An Integrated Multivariate Econometric Modeling Framework For Risky Driving Behavior Related Crashes: Evaluating Crash Risk And Severity Across Zones, Pabitra Kumar Roy

Dissertations and Theses

Rapid advancements in crash modeling have yet to fully integrate multiple behavior-driven crash types and their severity outcomes within a single, scalable framework, specially in a way that captures the sequential nature of these behaviors where one risky action may amplify another. This study proposed an integrated multivariate econometric framework to jointly model crash frequency and severity outcomes for three major behaviorally driven crash types: alcohol-related, distraction-related, and aggressive-driving-related crashes. Specifically, using Oregon's 2022 census block group-level crash data, we propose an Integrated Multivariate Negative Binomial – Generalized Ordered Probit Fractional Split (IMNB–GOPFS) model to analyze these dimensions simultaneously while …

Amp: Single-Shot Ultra-Wide Fisheye-To-Cubemap Pnp Pose Estimation, Ryan M. Raettig, Richard R. Nyquist, Scott L. Nykl, Clark N. Taylor, Christine M. Schubert Kabban

Faculty Publications

Estimating the position and orientation of a rigid object from an image is critical for situational awareness in robotics and autonomous systems. This study explores relative pose estimation using an ultra-wide fisheye camera for unmanned aircraft inspection vehicles. Ultra-wide fisheye lenses introduce radial distortion and capture features beyond the rectilinear image plane, rendering rectilinear Perspective-n-Point (PnP) algorithms inadequate. Designing a bespoke ultra-wide fisheye localization algorithm requires consideration of both the feature detection method and the pose estimator itself. This study proposes a novel method that combines (1) a fisheye-to-cubemap reprojection, (2) a You Only Look Once (YOLO) convolutional neural network …