Digital Commons Network^™

Genie: Enhancing Information Management In The Restaurant Industry Through Ai-Powered Chatbot, Megha Gupta, Venkatasai Dheekonda, Mohammad Masum

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In the dynamic restaurant industry, we introduce "Genie," an AI-powered chatbot, represents an advancement in customer service efficiency through technological innovation. Designed to enhance restaurant operations including order processing, reservations, and FAQs management, Genie leverages advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques. By converting input queries into word embeddings and applying a sophisticated tag classification system, Genie precisely interprets customer intents and generates accurate responses, thereby markedly improving the dining experience. Our thorough examination of various word embeddings and classifiers—Word2Vec, Glove, BERT, Gaussian Naive Bayes, XGB, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), and Recurrent Neural Networks—revealed that the combination of Word2Vec and ANN …

November 2024 Cafe Newsletter, Center For Advancing Faculty Excellence

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Chasing The Albino Pygmy Giraffe, Charles H. Haddad

School of Communication and Journalism Faculty Publications

It's never a good sign when someone is knocking on the door of your hotel room at seven in the morning. That's especially true if you have been schlepping eight college students across Western China, as I had been for the past week. I now heard in this soft rapping the death knell of my fledgling professorial career. Wrapping a ratty, threadbare pillow around my head, I tried to shut out the insistent rapping. Of course, that didn't work. Bad news has a way of butting in.

So begins my novel “Chasing the Albino Pygmy Giraffe.” It is a laugh-aloud …

Enhancing Patient Education And Engagement Through Digital Intelligence Tools In Dermatology, Grace Herrick, Kelly M. Frasier, Vivian Li, Haily A. Fritts, Emily Woolhiser, Julia Vinagolu-Baur

Student Publications

This comprehensive digital health review examines the expanding landscape of digital intelligence tools within dermatology, specifically examining the innovative role of AI-powered applications aimed at educating and engaging patients in managing their skin health. Drawing upon a wide array of existing research, this review scrutinizes the evolution and impact of various digital tools. These include interactive apps that leverage AI algorithms to deliver tailored skincare guidance, considering factors such as skin type, concerns, and environmental factors. Additionally, the review explores the emerging use of immersive virtual reality experiences to deepen patients’ understanding of skin conditions, offering vivid simulations and educational …

Feasibility, Acceptability, And Initial Efficacy Of A Wheelchair Exercise Training Program In Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: Study Protocol For A Parallel Group Randomized Controlled Trial

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that examines the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of a home-based, remotely supported and supervised exercise training program that was developed using a three-step community engaged research process for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who are wheelchair users.

Materials and methods: The study design is a parallel group RCT (NCT05888727). We aim to enroll 24 wheelchair users with MS who will be randomly assigned using REDCap randomization module into exercise training or attention/contact wellness control conditions. The conditions will be delivered remotely over 16 weeks and supported using online, …

World Delirium Wareness And Quality Survey In 2023- A Worldwide Point Prevalence Study, Heidi Lindroth, Keibun Liu, Laura Szalacha, Giuseppe Bellelli, Mark Von Den Boogaard, Gideon Caplan, Chi Ryang Chung, Muhammed Elhadi, Mohan Gurjar, Gabriel Heras-La-Calle, Magdalena Hoffman, Marie-Madlen Jeitziner, Karla Krewulak, Tanja Mailhot, Alessandro Morandi, Ricardo Kenji Nawa, Esther S. Oh, Marie Oxenboell Collet, Rebecca Von Haken, Peter Nydahl, For The Wdad Study Team

Publications

Background

Delirium, an acute brain dysfunction, is proposed to be highly prevalent in clinical care and shown to significantly increase the risk of mortality and dementia.

Objectives

To report on the global prevalence of clinically documented delirium and delirium-related clinical practices in wards caring for paediatric and adult patients in healthcare facilities.

Design

A prospective, cross-sectional, 39-question survey completed on World Delirium Awareness Day, 15 March 2023.

Participants

Clinicians or researchers with access to clinical data.

Main Outcome and Measure

The primary outcome was the prevalence of clinically documented delirium at 8:00 a.m. (4 h) and 8:00 p.m. (±4 h). …

Serum Levels Of Total Bile Acids Are Associated With An Increased Risk Of Hcc In Patients With Cirrhosis, Jing Ning, Saira Khaderi, Amit G Singal, Sumeet K Asrani, Jorge A Marrero, Hannah Powell, Kinza Rizwan, Omar Najjar, Christopher I Amos, Michelle Luster, Abeer Al-Sarraj, Emad Salem, Michael E Scheurer, Jagpreet Chhatwal, Salma Kaochar, Fasiha Kanwal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported higher circulating bile acid levels in patients with HCC compared to healthy controls. However, the association between prediagnostic bile acid levels and HCC risk among patients with cirrhosis is unclear.

METHODS: We measured total BA (TBA) concentration in serum samples collected from a prospective cohort of patients with cirrhosis who were followed until the development of HCC, death, or last study date. Competing risk proportional hazard-adjusted models were used to estimate the association between tertiles of serum TBA levels and the risk of developing HCC. We quantified the incremental predictive value of serum bile acid …

Impact And Recovery Of Vha Epilepsy Care Services During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alan Towne, Ann C Van Cott, Aatif Husain

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The Epilepsy Centers of Excellence (ECoE) is a network of facilities within the Veterans Health Administration that evaluates and treats veterans with epilepsy and seizure disorders. This article outlines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted ECoE services and recovery.

METHODS: Directors of 17 ECoEs were surveyed 4 times between May 2020 and July 2022 on 5 domains: functioning of outpatient epilepsy clinics, outpatient electroencephalogram, epilepsy monitoring unit, anticipated permanent operational changes, and utility of national and local recommendations. Data on the spread of COVID-19 and administrative workload data were compared with the availability of epilepsy services.

RESULTS: There was an …

Multidisciplinary Amputation Prevention At The Debakey Va Hospital: Our First Decade, Maria Rodriguez-Barradas, Panos Kougias, David M Green, Samir S Awad

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: In 2011, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) undertook multidisciplinary efforts to improve care for patients with nonhealing foot ulcers and reduce leg amputation rates. This article examines the impact of interdisciplinary care for amputation prevention in the VHA.

METHODS: The VHA patient population was characterized using internal registries. Texas hospital admission data were used to identify sex and zip-code matched cohorts. VHA provided data on national and local frequencies of various amputations and the number of patients with diabetes.

RESULTS: Compared to matched nonveteran patients, veterans treated at VHA hospitals were older and more often self-identified as Black. They …

Factors Associated With Head And Neck Cancer Postoperative Radiotherapy Delays: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Emily A Brennan, Bhisham S Chera, Katherine R Sterba, Chanita Hughes Halbert, Elizabeth G Hill, Jessica Mccay, Sidharth V Puram, Ryan S Jackson, Vlad C Sandulache, Russel Kahmke, Nosayaba Osazuwa-Peters, Salma Ramadan, Brian Nussenbaum, Anthony J Alberg, Evan M Graboyes

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Initiating postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) within 6 weeks of surgery for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is included in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clincal Practice Guidelines and is a Commission on Cancer quality metric. Factors associated with delays in starting PORT have not been systematically described nor synthesized.

Data sources: PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL.

Review methods: We included studies describing demographic characteristics, clinical factors, or social determinants of health associated with PORT delay (>6 weeks) in patients with HNSCC treated in the United States after 2003. Meta-analysis of odds ratios (ORs) was performed on nonoverlapping datasets. …

A Cross-Systems Primer For Synthetic Microbial Communities, Laila P Partida-Martinez, Kathryn A Patras, Marie Simonin, Britt Koskella

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The design and use of synthetic communities, or SynComs, is one of the most promising strategies for disentangling the complex interactions within microbial communities, and between these communities and their hosts. Compared to natural communities, these simplified consortia provide the opportunity to study ecological interactions at tractable scales, as well as facilitating reproducibility and fostering interdisciplinary science. However, the effective implementation of the SynCom approach requires several important considerations regarding the development and application of these model systems. There are also emerging ethical considerations when both designing and deploying SynComs in clinical, agricultural or environmental settings. Here we outline current …

Comparative Effectiveness Of Different Corticosteroid Regimens In Severe Alcohol-Associated Hepatitis, Leonardo Guizzetti, Rokhsana Mortuza, Winston Dunn, Ashwani K Singal, Douglas Simonetto, Carolina Ramirez-Cadiz, Wei Zhang, Steve Qian, Joaquín Cabezas, Shiv K Sarin, Rakhi Maiwall, Prasun K Jalal, Fatima Higuera-De La Tijera, Lubomir Skladany, Natalia Bystrianska, Diego Rincon, Kristina R Chacko, Meritxell Ventura Cots, Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao, Juan G Abraldes, Patrick S Kamath, Marco Arrese, Vijay Shah, Ramon Bataller, Juan Pablo Arab

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Xenomake: A Pipeline For Processing And Sorting Xenograft Reads From Spatial Transcriptomic Experiments, Gloria V Echeverria, Qian Zhu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

SUMMARY: Xenograft models are attractive models that mimic human tumor biology and permit one to perturb the tumor microenvironment and study its drug response. Spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) provides a powerful way to study the organization of xenograft models, but currently there is a lack of specialized pipeline for processing xenograft reads originated from SRT experiments. Xenomake is a standalone pipeline for the automated handling of spatial xenograft reads. Xenomake handles read processing, alignment, xenograft read sorting, and connects well with downstream spatial analysis packages. We additionally show that Xenomake can correctly assign organism-specific reads, reduce sparsity of data by …

Effectiveness Of Original Monovalent And Bivalent Covid-19 Vaccines Against Covid-19-Associated Hospitalization And Severe In-Hospital Outcomes Among Adults In The United States, September 2022-August 2023, Adam S Lauring, Manjusha Gaglani, Tresa Mcneal, Shekhar Ghamande, Ithan D Peltan, Samuel M Brown, Adit A Ginde, Aimee Steinwand, Nicholas M Mohr, Kevin W Gibbs, David N Hager, Harith Ali, Anne Frosch, Michelle N Gong, Amira Mohamed, Nicholas J Johnson, Vasisht Srinivasan, Jay S Steingrub, Akram Khan, Laurence W Busse, Abhijit Duggal, Jennifer G Wilson, Nida Qadir, Steven Y Chang, Christopher Mallow, Jennie H Kwon, Matthew C Exline, Nathan I Shapiro, Cristie Columbus, Ivana A Vaughn, Mayur Ramesh, Basmah Safdar, Jarrod M Mosier, Jonathan D Casey, H Keipp Talbot, Todd W Rice, Natasha Halasa, James D Chappell, Carlos G Grijalva, Adrienne Baughman, Kelsey N Womack, Jillian P Rhoads, Sydney A Swan, Cassandra Johnson, Nathaniel Lewis, Sascha Ellington, Fatimah S Dawood, Meredith Mcmorrow, Wesley H Self, Investigating Respiratory Viruses In The Acutely Ill (Ivy) Network

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Assessments of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness are needed to monitor the protection provided by updated vaccines against severe COVID-19. We evaluated the effectiveness of original monovalent and bivalent (ancestral strain and Omicron BA.4/5) COVID-19 vaccination against COVID-19-associated hospitalization and severe in-hospital outcomes.

METHODS: During September 8, 2022 to August 31, 2023, adults aged ≥ 18 years hospitalized with COVID-19-like illness were enrolled at 26 hospitals in 20 US states. Using a test-negative case-control design, we estimated vaccine effectiveness (VE) with multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, admission date, and geographic region.

RESULTS: Among 7028 patients, 2924 (41.6%) were …

Solid Tumour-Induced Systemic Immunosuppression Involves Dichotomous Myeloid-B Cell Interactions, Angela Alexander, Ling Wu, Zhan Xu, Liqun Yu, Yang Gao, Fengshuo Liu, Hilda L Chan, Che-Hsing Li, Yunfeng Ding, Weijie Zhang, David G Edwards, Nan Chen, Azadeh Nasrazadani, Naoto T Ueno, Bora Lim, Xiang H-F Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Solid tumours induce systemic immunosuppression that involves myeloid and T cells. B cell-related mechanisms remain relatively understudied. Here we discover two distinct patterns of tumour-induced B cell abnormality (TiBA; TiBA-1 and TiBA-2), both associated with abnormal myelopoiesis in the bone marrow. TiBA-1 probably results from the niche competition between pre-progenitor-B cells and myeloid progenitors, leading to a global reduction in downstream B cells. TiBA-2 is characterized by systemic accumulation of a unique early B cell population, driven by interaction with excessive neutrophils. Importantly, TiBA-2-associated early B cells foster the systemic accumulation of exhaustion-like T cells. Myeloid and B cells from …

Residential Proximity To Oil And Gas Developments And Childhood Cancer Survival, Maria I Castellanos, Jeremy M Schraw, Elyse Burgess, Erin C Peckham-Gregory, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Michael E Scheurer, Amy E Hughes, Philip J Lupo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Environmental toxicants may impact survival in children with cancer, but the literature investigating these associations remains limited. Because oil and gas developments emit several hazardous air pollutants, the authors evaluated the relationship between residential proximity to oil or gas development and survival across 21 different pediatric cancers.

Methods: The Texas Cancer Registry had 29,730 children (≤19 years old) diagnosed with a primary cancer between 1995 to 2017. Geocoded data were available for 285,266 active oil or gas wells and 109,965 horizontal wells. The authors calculated whether each case lived within 1000 m (yes/no) from each type of oil or …

Neighborhood-Level Deprivation Mediates Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Hcc Diagnosis In Texas, Abiodun O Oluyomi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Texas has the highest HCC rates in the United States, and the greatest burden is among Hispanics. Racial and ethnic disparities in HCC incidence have multiple underpinning factors. We conducted a mediation analysis to examine the role of neighborhood disadvantage (Area Deprivation Index) as a potential mediator of the association between neighborhood race and ethnicity distribution and neighborhood HCC case counts in Texas.

METHODS: The primary outcome measure was counts of new HCC diagnoses per census tract based on Texas Department of State Health Services Texas Cancer Registry data. The primary exposure of interest was the race and ethnicity-based …

Asn Kidney Health Guidance On The Management Of Obesity In Persons Living With Kidney Diseases, Alex R Chang, Allon N Friedman, Meera N Harhay, Elizabeth Yakes Jimenez, Brandon Kistler, Aleksandra Kukla, Kristin Larson, Lindamarie U Lavenburg, Sankar Dass Navaneethan, John Ortiz, Rocio I Pereira, David B Sarwer, Philip R Schauer, Evan M Zeitler

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Macrophage Iron Dyshomeostasis Promotes Aging-Related Renal Fibrosis, Yuebo Huang, Yuxiang Sun, Shuangshuang Shu, Ting Luo, Tiantian Liang, Weiyan Lai, Jialing Rao, Zhaoyong Hu, Hui Peng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Renal aging, marked by the accumulation of senescent cells and chronic low-grade inflammation, leads to renal interstitial fibrosis and impaired function. In this study, we investigate the role of macrophages, a key regulator of inflammation, in renal aging by analyzing kidney single-cell RNA sequencing data of C57BL/6J mice from 8 weeks to 24 months. Our findings elucidate the dynamic changes in the proportion of kidney cell types during renal aging and reveal that increased macrophage infiltration contributes to chronic low-grade inflammation, with these macrophages exhibiting senescence and activation of ferroptosis signaling. CellChat analysis indicates enhanced communications between macrophages and tubular …

National Liver Cancer Screening Trial (Tracer) Study Protocol, Jorge A Marrero, Sneha Deodhar, Stephanie Page-Lester, Camden Lopez, Ziding Feng, Nabihah Tayob

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Professional guidelines recommend HCC screening in at-risk patients using semi-annual ultrasound with or without alpha-fetoprotein (AFP); however, this strategy has limited effectiveness due to low adherence and sensitivity. Increasing data support the potential role of blood-based biomarker panels, which could improve both aspects. The biomarker panel GALAD, comprised of sex, age, and 3 blood biomarkers (AFP, AFP-L3, and des-carboxy prothrombin des-carboxy prothrombin), has shown high sensitivity and specificity in biomarker phase II (case-control) and phase III (retrospective cohort) validation studies. However, prospective validation in a large phase IV biomarker clinical utility trial is necessary before its adoption in practice. …

Omnidirectional Wireless Power Transfer For Millimetric Magnetoelectric Biomedical Implants, Joshua E Woods, Prahalad Chari, Yumin Su, Jacob T Robinson, Kaiyuan Yang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Miniature bioelectronic implants promise revolutionary therapies for cardiovascular and neurological disorders. Wireless power transfer (WPT) is a significant method for miniaturization, eliminating the need for bulky batteries in today’s devices. Despite successful demonstrations of millimetric battery-free implants in animal models, the robustness and efficiency of WPT are known to degrade significantly under misalignment incurred by body movements, respiration, heart beating, and limited control of implant orientation during surgery. This paper presents an omnidirectional WPT platform for millimetric bioelectronic implants, employing the emerging magnetoelectric (ME) WPT modality, and “magnetic field steering” technique based on multiple transmitter (TX) coils. To accurately sense …

Age Modulates The Predictive Value Of Self-Reported Sleepiness For All-Cause Mortality Risk: Insights From A Comprehensive National Database Of Veterans, Melissa B Jones, Hoormehr Nozari, Meir Kryger, Amin Ramezani, Javad Razjouyan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Study objectives: Excessive daytime sleepiness is prevalent and overwhelmingly stems from disturbed sleep. We hypothesized that age modulates the association between excessive daytime sleepiness and increased all-cause mortality.

Methods: We utilized the Veterans' Health Administration data from 1999-2022. We enrolled participants with sleep related International Classification of Diseases 9/10 codes or sleep services. A natural language processing pipeline was developed and validated to extract the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) as a self-reported tool to measure excessive daytime sleepiness from physician progress notes. The natural language processing's accuracy was assessed through manual annotation of 470 notes. Participants were categorized into normal-ESS …

Ad Fontes: Divergence-Time Estimation And The Age Of Angiosperms, Stephen A. Smith, Jeremy M. Beaulieu

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Accurate divergence times are essential for interpreting and understanding the context in which lineages have evolved. Over the past several decades, debates have surrounded the discrepancies between the inferred molecular ages of crown angiosperms, often estimated from the Late Jurassic into the Permian, and the fossil record, placing angiosperms in the Early Cretaceous. That crown angiosperms could have emerged as early as the Permian or even the Triassic would have major implications for the paleoecological context of the origin of one of the most consequential clades in the tree of life. Here, we argue, and demonstrate through simulations, that the …

Perceptions Of Sexism Through A Latine Lens, Erick Herrera Hernandez, Debra L. Oswald

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This study aims to compare Latine men and women’s perceptions of hostile and benevolent sexist behaviors, while also examining the associations between these perceptions and Latine cultural values. Participants who identified as Latine (55 men, 57 women; M_age = 32.05, SD = 10.63) were presented with 14 scenarios reflecting hostile and benevolent sexist interactions and were asked to rate their perceptions of these interactions as sexist and caring. The findings suggest that Latine men and women perceive benevolent sexist behaviors as less sexist and more caring than hostile sexist behaviors. Latine women were also more likely than Latine men …

Impact Of Racial, Ethnic, And Socioeconomic Disparities On Presentation And Survival Of Hcc: A Multicenter Study, Amy Hughes, Karim Seif-El-Dahan, Darine Daher, Gloria Figueroa, Stephanie Castaneda, Lisa Quirk, Michael Gonzales, Osiris Carranza, Samantha Bourque, Nargis Baset, Adam C Yopp, Amit G Singal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities have been reported for HCC prognosis, although few studies fully account for clinically important factors and social determinants of health, including neighborhood socioeconomic status.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective multicenter cohort study of patients newly diagnosed with HCC from January 2010 through August 2018 at 4 large health systems in the United States. We used multivariable logistic regression and cause-specific Cox proportional hazard models to identify factors associated with early-stage HCC presentation and overall survival.

RESULTS: Of 2263 patients with HCC (37.6% non-Hispanic White, 23.5% non-Hispanic Black, 32.6% Hispanic, and 6.4% Asian/other), 42.0% of patients …

Loss Of Sc5d Results In Micrognathia Due To A Failure In Osteoblast Differentiation

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mutations in genes related to cholesterol metabolism, or maternal diet and health status, affect craniofacial bone formation. However, the precise role of intracellular cholesterol metabolism in craniofacial bone development remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to determine how cholesterol metabolism aberrations affect craniofacial bone development.

METHODS: Mice with a deficiency in Sc5d, which encodes an enzyme involved in cholesterol synthesis, were analyzed with histology, micro computed tomography (microCT), and cellular and molecular biological methods.

RESULTS: Sc5d null mice exhibited mandible hypoplasia resulting from defects in osteoblast differentiation. The activation of the hedgehog and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathways, …

Integration Across Biophysical Scales Identifies Molecular And Cellular Correlates Of Person-To-Person Variability In Human Brain Connectivity, Ada Zhang, Sydney Covitz, Matt Cieslak, Audrey J Weber, Ashley B Adamson, Julia P Andrade, Emily H Poovey, Kendall A Curtis, Hamad M Muhammad, Jakob Seidlitz, Ted Satterthwaite, David A Bennett, Nicholas T Seyfried, Jacob Vogel, Chris Gaiteri, Jeremy H Herskowitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Brain connectivity arises from interactions across biophysical scales, ranging from molecular to cellular to anatomical to network level. To date, there has been little progress toward integrated analysis across these scales. To bridge this gap, from a unique cohort of 98 individuals, we collected antemortem neuroimaging and genetic data, as well as postmortem dendritic spine morphometric, proteomic and gene expression data from the superior frontal and inferior temporal gyri. Through the integration of the molecular and dendritic spine morphology data, we identified hundreds of proteins that explain interindividual differences in functional connectivity and structural covariation. These proteins are enriched for …

The Power Of All: Tort In The Age Of Constitution, Cristina Carmody Tilley

Faculty Publications

Life in a multicultural nation can be fraught. The United States is a case in point, with hostile tension between members of competing identity groups playing out today on streets, in offices, and across the media. Modern Americans assume that bridging race, gender, and class inequity is the stuff of public—constitutional—law. This assumption follows the lead of modern American lawyers, who migrated to this body of law just as historians, sociologists, and economists began to insist that the private law of tort was exclusively concerned with the accidental physical harms inevitable in a modern economy. According to this econostory, tort …

2024 November, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for November of 2024.

Building Lasting Connections In A Temporary Setting: First-Year Residential Students' Experiences At A Primarily Nonresidential Institution, Pamela Ghigliotti Mihalik

Theses & Dissertations

Living on campus during college offers students a unique opportunity to adjust to their new environment. As they navigate this transitional phase, first-year students encounter both new opportunities and challenges that help them forge connections within their community. The type of institution, including the number of students residing on campus, can significantly influence their overall college experience and expectations. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of seven first-year students residing at a primarily nonresidential institution. Through semi-structured interviews and photo journals, the research aimed to understand how these residential students connected with their campus and what factors influenced their experiences. …