Digital Commons Network^™

True North: Full Issue Download

Quill & Scope

Silence is embedded into the life of medical students. Silence pierces the air when you are standing in the back of a patient room observing the conversation, feet aching, wondering if your presence is unnecessary and overwhelming for the patient. We are transient members of the healthcare team. We contribute to patient medical records with out notes and bedside conversations, yet we lack power in the system---the authority to sign orders, be responsible to true coordination of care, the autonomy that residents wield to make healthcare decisions.

It is easy to lose your sense of self in this silence. We …

Greedy Algorithms And Matroids, Kiri M. Strack

LSU Master's Theses

In a connected graph with weights on the edges, a minimum-weight spanning tree can be obtained by repeatedly choosing minimum-weight edges while avoiding choosing the edge set of any cycle. This algorithm is known as Kruskal’s Algorithm, although it was first introduced by Boruvka in 1926. Prim introduced an alternative algorithm in which, at each step, the chosen set of edges forms a connected graph. Both of these algorithms make locally optimal choices that eventually yield a global optimum. This thesis considers how these algorithms can be extended to matroids. In particular, it is shown that matroids are exactly the …

Development Of Novel Plasma Proteomic Biomarkers For Cancer-Associated Thrombosis In An Advanced Cancer Cohort, Preeti, Mrinal Ranjan, Dang Pham, Juan L Bueno, Micheline M Resende, Michael E Scheurer, Christopher I Amos, Chao Cheng, Ang Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Existing risk models for cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) show suboptimal performance in selective high-risk populations with cancer. Affinity-based plasma proteomics offers a novel approach for detecting CAT risk.

Objectives: To identify plasma biomarkers for CAT using proximity extension assays in an advanced cancer cohort.

Methods: We performed a nested case-control study using the Olink Explore HT panel. The final cohort included 57 patients with CAT and 113 matched control patients from 5 selected cancer types who had samples collected between cancer diagnosis and chemotherapy initiation. Random survival forest model was used to assess nonlinear associations with CAT in 5416 normalized …

Tunable Tripcides Suppress Virulence Factor Secretion During Staphylococcus Aureus Infection And Kill Dormant Cells, Hasan Tükenmez, Taylor M Nye, Suzanne Hickerson, Chloe L P Obernuefemann, Jerome S Pinkner, Karen W Dodson, Michael G Caparon, Scott J Hultgren, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in common bacterial pathogens, including methicillin-resistant

Inflammatory Markers In The Emergency Department And Ptsd Symptoms In The Aurora Study: A Longitudinal Cohort Study, Kristen Nishimi, Stacey L House, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation is hypothesized to contribute to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) vulnerability. Few studies have examined inflammation shortly after trauma as a predictor of later PTSD symptoms. We examined whether inflammation from the emergency department (ED) post-trauma is associated with PTSD symptom severity over the following 6 months.

METHODS: Our sample included 742 AURORA participants, a longitudinal cohort of patients in 29 EDs across the United States after a traumatic stressor, followed up to 6 months. Plasma cytokines were assessed from a study blood draw in the ED: an inflammatory index (standardized sum of generally pro-inflammatory markers interleukin [IL]-6, …

An Analysis Of Web-Based Languange Learning On Students Speaking Anxiety, Alfi Syahrina, Zarfina Yenti, Monalisa Monalisa

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study explores the use of Duolingo as a web-based language learning tool and its influence on students’ speaking anxiety at MTs Nurul Falah Kota Jambi. Speaking anxiety remains a significant affective barrier in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning, particularly in traditional classroom settings where students often experience communication apprehension, fear of negative evaluation, and test anxiety. Employing a qualitative case study design, this research involved approximately 15 students who had used Duolingo for at least six weeks, along with one English teacher for triangulation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations and analyzed using thematic …

The Genus Nebo Simon, 1878 (Scorpiones: Diplocentridae) In Oman, Graeme Lowe

Euscorpius

No abstract provided.

Nature As The Foundation: A Shift In Pedagogy, Mary Moroney-Fernandez

The Cicadian

Somewhere in the United States right now, a child is sitting beneath fluorescent lights while the world outside continues without her. This paper argues that her confinement is not accidental, but rather theoretical. Examining the divergent frameworks of Friedrich Fröbel and Jean Piaget, it traces how American public schooling absorbed a vision of learning organized around cognitive individualism while displacing Fröbel's relational vision of child and nature. Drawing on reflection, historical analysis, and research, this paper contends that lasting reform requires confronting the foundational assumptions that built the classroom in the first place.

The Pebble In The Shoe, Marcos Fernandez Tous

The Cicadian

This piece offers an introspective reflection by an educator at the University of North Dakota, blending phenomenological perspectives on the nature of education with the embodied experience of participating in a sweat lodge. Framed by a meandering walk across campus, the narrative interweaves several thematic threads: the tension between clarification and explanation, the values that should guide technology education, and the role of nature with its inherent, chaotic vitality. Although the text adopts a stream‑of‑consciousness approach, it does so without leaning on the established stylistic traditions of Proust, Joyce, or Faulkner. The work is also poetic in tone, suggesting that …

Private Assistant Agent, Bao Le '26

Senior Scholarly and Creative Symposium

Our brain has limited fuel: every time we make a decision, it costs fuel. A Personal Artificial Assistant will help preserve that fuel by handling secretarial tasks and scheduling a daily timetable for its user. Personal Assistant Agent (PAA) is an AI assistant running as a text-based Windows desktop application to help users in scheduling and give reminders like a secretary. Users interact with the PAA conversationally. This project is a system of reasoning and a modular memory pipeline that makes any Large Language Model (LLM) behave like a personal assistant. The Language model is isolated inside a function to …

Arkansas Educators' Views On Corporal Punishment: Demographic Influences And Social Work Implications, Phillip Hill, Esaa Samarrah

Research and Creative Works Expo

Corporal punishment (CP) in U.S. public schools, defined as "the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to experience pain so as to correct their misbehavior" (Gershoff & Font, 2016), remains legal in 17 states despite mounting evidence of its ineffectiveness and disproportionate harm to marginalized students. This study presents survey data from 94 Arkansas public school educators, examining their knowledge of legality, personal and indirect experiences with CP, perceptions of its effectiveness, and attitudes toward its continued use. Analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics, with reverse coding applied to the negative-impact Likert items so …

Behavioral And Biomechanical Analysis Of Hand Movement Stability In Virtual Reality, M. J. M. Sunny, Dr. Aryabrata Basu

Research and Creative Works Expo

This research investigates fine motor control in virtual reality (VR) using a buzz-wire style precision task. Participants guide a loop along a wire while motion telemetry captures hand stability and movement patterns. Results show that individuals with combined VR, gaming, and athletic experience demonstrate smoother trajectories and reduced jitter, highlighting how prior expertise influences performance in immersive motor tasks.

Ada's Find-A-Dentist Campaign Takes Off In Virginia, Elise Rupinski

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Is It Harvest Time? The Ins And Outs Of Implementing A Tax-Loss Harvesting Strategy To Reduce Tax Liability, J. Saunders Wiggins

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Letter To The Editor- Dentists Save Lives, Marvin E. Pizer Dds, Ms, Ma, Ficd

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

Va Dent J January, February And March 2018

Virginia Dental Journal

No abstract provided.

I Survived The Blizzard Of ’79, Beth Ann Fennelly

Creative Nonfiction Magazine

No abstract provided.

79, Brian Broome

Creative Nonfiction Magazine

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Alice Walker, Or Alice Doesn’T Live Here Anymore, Valerie Boyd

Creative Nonfiction Magazine

No abstract provided.

Self-Interview, Gordon Lish

Creative Nonfiction Magazine

No abstract provided.

Hearts, Livers, And A Whole Lot Of Guessing: How Anatomical Knowledge Varies Among College Students And Why It Matters, Zoe Hertlein, Cadogan Wheat

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

Anatomical knowledge is crucial for personal and public health decisions, yet prior research shows that U.S. adults demonstrate low accuracy in identifying anatomical structures. Even among healthcare professionals, knowledge varies widely. This study examined how factors such as academic major, athletic participation, and state of residence influence anatomical knowledge in college students, and how anatomical knowledge varies across anatomical systems. Undergraduate students at Linfield University were surveyed to assess anatomical knowledge, demographics, political engagement, and primary news sources. Results indicated that students demonstrated greater knowledge of musculoskeletal structures than organ locations overall. Female students generally showed higher accuracy in identifying …

Letter And Article, Lloyd C. Clark

Lloyd Clark Papers

Letter to Beth Ann Simms of the UTA Alumni Association, from Lloyd C. Clark, with an attached article featuring an alumnus.

Deepguard, Aldo Antano Lopez

Linfield University Student Symposium: A Celebration of Scholarship and Creative Achievement

DeepGuard is a desktop browser extension that detects deepfakes and misinformation in real time. The rise of AI has increased the rate of scam calls, fake news, and AI-generated faces. Such events have already caused large-scale damage, including a Hong Kong company that lost $25 million in a single deepfake video call. DeepGuard runs two shields simultaneously inside your browser: one analyzes live video calls for AI-generated faces, and one that fact-checks spoken and written claims as you hear or read them.

Integrating Advanced Geochemical Workflows With Modern Statistical Tools To Improve The Decision-Making Process At Ccr Sites, A Case Study, Glenna Thomas

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

While statistical assessment provides the foundation for CCR compliance reporting, incorporating a holistic geochemical framework transforms statistics from a compliance requirement into a powerful predictive tool. Strategic geochemical insight established the basis of understanding needed to support successful statistical approaches and to ensure that statistical outcomes reflect actual groundwater behavior. Whether it is trend analysis, delineating source mechanism, or updating geochemical conceptual site models (GCMs), geochemical context provides the technical foundations for statistical outputs and methods. A continuously refined GCSM enhances the ability to anticipate how groundwater chemistry should evolve, improving interpretation and predictive capability. This allows practitioners to understand …

Before The Limit Hits: Lessons From A Proactive Construction Air Monitoring Program, Brian Egan, Nicholas Golden, Wendy Depp

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

This presentation describes a comprehensive air monitoring program designed to protect workers and nearby neighborhoods during ash pond closure work. The program uses three main components: project (or boundary) monitoring at the site perimeter to track dust near the project boundaries, work area monitoring placed near active construction zones, and personal sampling on individual workers at regular intervals. Together, these approaches provide data on both community impacts and worker exposures, helping the team respond quickly when levels approach action limits. The Teams actions prior to exceedance of regulatory limits has helped prevent exposures. The talk will explain how monitors are …

Monitored Natural Attenuation Evaluation And Additional Characterization Of A Ccr Unit Lithium Groundwater Plume, Matt Barickman, Adam Piestrzeniewicz Pg

World of Coal Ash Proceedings

Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) refers to the reliance on natural attenuation processes (within the context of a carefully controlled and monitored site cleanup approach) to meet groundwater protection standards (GPS) for a CCR unit within a reasonable time frame (USEPA, 1999). MNA is being evaluated as an adaptive management strategy for a CCR unit groundwater plume with statistically significant lithium concentrations above GPS, though with little risk of offsite migration. A previous MNA evaluation was performed for the lithium plume following the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) “tiered lines of evidence approach” (USEPA, 2015), which determined that there were …

Near And Far Waters: The Geopolitics Of Seapower, Anand Toprani, Colin Flint

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Hill 119: Defending A Reconnaissance Marines’ Op, Vietnam, 1969–70, Steve Fisher, Michael O. Fallon

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Research & Debate—The First Ai War, Thomas C. Linn

Naval War College Review

From the earliest human conflicts to today, human ingenuity in warfare has led to some of humanity’s greatest technological wonders. Recent developments within the Department of Defense (DoD, also called the Department of War) point to the most recent wave of warfare innovation: that of artificial intelligence (AI).

Artificial Intelligence Challenge To Strategic Assessment Organizations, Thomas J. Welch

Naval War College Review

As artificial intelligence—particularly agentic artificial intelligence—continues to evolve, defense strategists must understand its capabilities and limitations. Emerging technologies will impact established frameworks, practices, and rhythms, and strategic-assessment organizations in particular must maximize efficiency while preserving the human elements that are indispensable to strategic planning.