Digital Commons Network^™

Retinoid Dynamics In Vision: From Visual Cycle Biology To Retina Disease Treatments, Jaclyn Swigris, Made Airanthi K. Widjaja-Adhi, Marcin Golczak

Faculty Scholarship

Light perception is a biological process that facilitates a profound interaction between the external world and the internal functions of living organisms. It begins with the absorption of photons with specialized visual pigments that contain vitamin A-derived chromophores. The light energy triggers the photoisomerization of the visual chromophore, initiating a cascade of signaling events that ultimately convert light into electrical signals interpreted as vision. However, the sustainability of vision relies on the continuous supply of the visual chromophore, which is maintained through light-dependent and light-independent processes. The importance of these processes is underscored by numerous blinding retinal diseases linked to …

Associations Between Parental Audism/Linguisticism And Deaf Individuals' Well-Being: Mediation By Interpersonal Needs And Relationship Quality, Dilan H. Arreguin, Crystal D. Oberle

JADARA

This study investigated whether audism and linguisticism from the parents of physically deaf or culturally Deaf individuals—that is, parents’ expectation of their child to communicate within audio-normative standards rather than use sign language—is related to poor mental health of the child. It also investigated whether these relationships are accounted for by interpersonal needs or child-parent relationship quality. For this study, 104 D/deaf adults completed a survey with measures of parental audism and linguisticism, depression, anxiety, thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, parental closeness, and parental conflict. Parental audism and linguisticism positively correlated with depression and anxiety, and these relationships were mediated by …

Clark Tailings Consolidated Waste Management Area (Ctcwma) Site Investigation Draft Data Summary Report 2019 Surface Water, Groundwater Seep, And Soil Characterization 2021-2023 Surface Water And Groundwater Seep Evaluation 2023 Waterloo Aps Soil And Groundwater Evaluation, Woodard & Curran

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Epa Region 8 Optimized Ufp-Qapp Review Crosswalk, Environmental Protection Agency, Emma Rott

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Ab Initio Studies On Mechanical Properties Of Freestanding Ferroic Monolayers, John Malcolm Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the role of mechanical properties and elastic couplings in freestanding paradigmatic ferroic monolayers within the framework of density functional theory. This dissertation is comprised of three interconnected published studies: (i) establishing the elastic behavior across a temperature-driven phase transition in SnSe monolayers; (ii) thermally-driven phase transitions in graphene-like silicene, germanene, and stanene, examining the structural stability and band gap occlusion; and (iii) magnetoelastic coupling in an Ising-like CrSiTe3 monolayer, focused on assessing magnetic contributions to the material stiffness by establishing a proper non-magnetic reference.

Transformational Leadership Disparities Within Nonprofit Organizations, Hillman Evans Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leadership development is a primary organizational development function. It provides an opportunity for professional growth and is essential to assisting personal evolution for individuals in any capacity. This qualitative case study explored incorporating the transformational leadership style in a multilocation nonprofit organization. Eight participants participated in semistructured interviews. Each interview lasted approximately 30–45 minutes. The interview format consisted of asking open-ended semistructured questions and allowing participants to respond based on their organizational experiences. The researcher employed three coding passes in the data analysis (open, axial, and selective) and identified eight themes. The findings suggested that managers desired a leader who …

Differences In Peer Social Connections Between Traditional And Online Nurse Residency Programs, Tatum Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The anticipated retirement of baby boomer nurses by 2030 will intensify the global nursing shortage, a crisis that demands innovative strategies for onboarding and retaining new graduate nurses. Nurse residency programs (NRPs) are designed to ease the transition from student to practicing nurse, reduce turnover, and foster professional resilience. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many NRPs rapidly transitioned from traditional, in-person seminars to synchronous, online formats. This study explored differences in peer social connections between traditional and online NRPs, focusing on three constructs: sense of community, collaborative learning, and peer social support. Using a quasi-experimental, mixed methods approach, this secondary data …

Navigating Barriers: The Experiences Of First-Generation, Low-Income, Hispanic Male Stem Majors Enrolled In Texas Universities, Katherine L. Autry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative descriptive study explored barriers, strategies, and career aspirations of 10 firstgeneration, low-income Hispanic male STEM students at Texas universities. Prior research highlighted systemic inequities affecting this group’s academic success. The study addressed how these students described educational barriers, strategies to overcome them, and influences on their STEM career aspirations. Data were collected via 10 semistructured Zoom interviews, online questionnaires, and open-ended questionnaires from participants at four Texas-based universities. Reflexive thematic analysis with NVivo software identified five themes: sociocultural and economic barriers, academic and institutional challenges, resilience and coping strategies, support systems, and influence on career aspirations and identity. …

Guiding Multiple Remote Users In Physical Tasks With Language-Driven Robotic Telepresence, Ruyi Li, Jingfei Guo, Xinyi Zhang, Xuji Zhang, Zeqing Li, Jiannan Li, Jiangtao Gong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Remote assistance through robotic telepresence could involve both control and memory challenges, particularly in one expert to multiple workers situation. In this work, we proposed a novelty language-driven interface to facilitate remote collaboration through telepresence robots. Through operations and maintenance expert interviews and a scenario simulation study, we identified key pain points in executing one-expert-multiple-workers remote guidance using the telepresence robot and proposed two design goals, which together consist of five sub-design goals with corresponding features. These features were integrated into a standard telepresence robot, resulting in the development of a Collaborative LLM-based Embodied Assistant Robot, named CLEAR Robot. A …

Implementing Slack-Free Custom Penalty Function For Qubo On Gate-Based Quantum Computers, Xin Wei Lee, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Solving NP-hard constrained combinatorial optimization problems using quantum algorithms remains a challenging yet promising avenue toward quantum advantage. Variational Quantum Algorithms (VQAs), such as the Variational Quantum Eigensolver (VQE), typically require constrained problems to be reformulated as unconstrained ones using penalty methods. A common approach introduces slack variables and quadratic penalties in the QUBO formulation to handle inequality constraints. However, this leads to increased qubit requirements and often distorts the optimization landscape, making it harder to find high-quality feasible solutions. To address these issues, we explore a slack-free formulation that directly encodes inequality constraints using custom penalty functions, specifically the …

Robface: A Test Suite For Efficient Robustness Evaluation Of Face Recognition Systems, Ruihan Zhang, Jun Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Face recognition is a widely used authentication technology in practice, where robustness is required. It is thus essential to have an efficient and easy-to-use method for evaluating the robustness of (possibly third-party) trained face recognition systems. Existing approaches to evaluating the robustness of face recognition systems are either based on empirical evaluation (e.g., measuring attacking success rate using state-of-the-art attacking methods) or formal analysis (e.g., measuring the Lipschitz constant). While the former demands significant user efforts and expertise, the latter is extremely time-consuming. In pursuit of a comprehensive, efficient, easy-to-use, and scalable estimation of the robustness of face recognition systems, …

Inyoni And The Pale Man (Book Review), James C. Schaap

Pro Rege

Reviewed Title: Inyoni and the Pale Man by John Suk. Bloomington, IN: Archway Publishing, 2025. 256 pp. ISBN: 9781665770194.

Endocannabinoids Mediate Racial/Ethnic Discrimination Prediction Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms Moderated By Resting-State Functional Connectivity In Black And African American Individuals, Emily A. Albertina, Lucas Torres, Garrett Sauber, Cecilia J. Hillard, Jacklynn M. Fitzgerald, Terri A. Deroon-Cassini, Christine L. Larson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Individuals from marginalized ethnoracial groups face higher risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, exacerbated by experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination. Previous work separately explored the endocannabinoid (eCB) system and functional connectivity response to stress/trauma and suggested that experiences of chronic minority stress, such as racial discrimination, contribute to eCB tone and resting-state functional connectivity. We explored how circulating eCB tone, in conjunction with resting-state connectivity, contributes to increased risk for PTSD symptoms following trauma among individuals experiencing discrimination.

Methods

Black/African Americans (n = 74; mean age = 33.81 years) were recruited from a level 1 trauma center. Correlational and …

(When) Can Trade Wars Be Good?, Henry S. Gao, Weihuan Zhou

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

‘Trade wars are good, and easy to win,’ tweeted Donald Trump in 2018. The US–China trade war that followed proved otherwise – especially when confronting a major economic power. Yet, can trade wars ever be good? While the academic consensus holds they harm all participants, we argue that under certain circumstances they can produce positive outcomes. Set against the backdrop of the Liberation Day tariffs announced on April 2, 2025, this paper examines the limits of the Ricardian free trade model underpinning the current multilateral trading system, identifies when trade wars may serve strategic goals, and explores alternative rules to …

What Are The Limits To Smart Innovation? The Digital Underground Initiative And New Frontiers Of “Smartness” In Singapore, Prerona Das, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper argues that the emergence of new frontiers of smart transformation, such as underground spaces, can pose significant challenges to the implementation of “smart” technological solutions. Exploring the case of Singapore’s Digital Underground initiative, we show that elements such as material complexity, co-ordination between stakeholders, and the availability of appropriate regulatory and administrative frameworks can problematize the implementation of subterranean smart initiatives. By considering multistake-holder perspectives on these “more-than-technological” factors, this paper offers lessons for urban planners, policymakers, and developers in cities around the world that are keen to leverage technology to unlock the potential of underground space.

Public Support For And Reactive Behavior Toward Technological Risk Interventions: An Extension Of Secondary Risk Theory, Hye Kyung Kim, Rui Gu, Fiona Goh, Sonny Rosenthal, Shirley S. Ho

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Project Wolbachia is a dengue control initiative in Singapore. Guided by Secondary Risk Theory, this study examined how primary (dengue) and secondary (Wolbachia) threat and coping appraisals shape public support and reactive behavior toward the project. A nationally representative survey of 1,000 Singaporeans showed that support was positively linked to the perceived primary risk, the efficacy of the project and the government, while negatively related to the perceived secondary risk. Reactive behavior was positively associated with perceptions of both primary and secondary risk. Media attention and trust in the government indirectly influenced support and behavior moderated by knowledge.

Iot Sensors As A Tool For Assessing Spatiotemporal Risk To Extreme Heat, Kijin Seong, Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The safety of urban populations sensitive to extreme heat is under increasing threat. Few studies examine the potential benefits of deploying IoT environmental sensors in the urban context and their integration with large-scale human activity data. This paper examines the deployment of IoT sensors in high-resolution extreme heat risk assessment in the case of Seoul, South Korea. This study conducted spatiotemporal analysis on heat exposure with IoT sensors, compared it with an existing land surface temperature map for validation, combined it with human activity data for risk assessment, and finally discussed the benefits of IoTs in detecting abnormal weather events. …

The Cool, Quiet City Machine Learning Competition: Overview And Results, Clayton Miller, M. Ibrahim, I.S. Akbar, B. Picchetti, Y.X. Chua, M. Frei, F. Biljecki, A. Chong, M. Quintana, C. Fu

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

The prediction of thermal and noise-based preferences in the urban context is valuable in characterizing interventions to mitigate the challenges of health, productivity, and satisfaction of urban dwellers. The growth of crowd-sourced data and data-driven techniques provides an opportunity to increase the understanding of which machine learning models are most accurate and applicable for this context. This paper outlines the results of a machine learning competition aiming to enhance the accuracy of predicting human comfort in the city context. The competition asks contestants to use contextual data to predict noise distraction and thermal preference in various indoor and outdoor spaces. …

Comparative Analysis Of Different Magnetic Anomaly Datasets Using Navigation Performance With Flight Test Data, Aaron P. Nielsen, Brandon M. Blakely, Patrick Duff

Faculty Publications

Magnetic Anomaly Navigation (MagNav) is a map-based method of navigation which relies on accurately obtaining the anomaly field to a high level of precision to achieve good navigation results. This requires utilizing high quality sensors, accurately modeling disturbance fields from the aircraft & other sources, and creating high-fidelity maps. Aeromagnetic survey data or marine track survey data must be processed into a product that can be used as a reference for a magnetic navigator and a variety of techniques can be utilized for this processing. The data collection for different survey types reflects choices typically made to study the underlying …

Correction: Imaging In Pelvic Exenteration-A Multidisciplinary Practice Guide From The Esgar-Sar-Esur-Pelvex Collaborative Group, Stephanie Nougaret, Doenja M J Lambregts, Geerard L Beets, Regina G H Beets-Tan, Lennart Blomqvist, David Burling, Quentin Denost, Maria A Gambacorta, Benedetta Gui, Ann Klopp, Yulia Lakhman, Kate E Maturen, Riccardo Manfredi, Iva Petkovska, Luca Russo, Atul B Shinagare, James A Stephenson, Damian Tolan, Aradhana M Venkatesan, Aaron J Quyn, Rosemarie Forstner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Predicting Clinical Success Of Ct-Based Functional Drained Liver Volume Assessment In Malignant Biliary Obstruction, Ethan Y Lin, Bruno C Odisio, Koustav Pal, Iwan Paolucci, Ryan P Kempen, Nicolas Cardenas, Paige Reed, Ketan Y Shah, Ahmed Awad, Rahul A Sheth, David Fuentes, Alda Tam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose

To compare the predictive accuracy of subjective versus objective assessment of three-dimensional functional drained liver volume (fDLV) for clinical success after percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD).

Materials and Methods

This retrospective study included patients with malignant biliary obstruction and hyperbilirubinemia who underwent de novo PTBD between January 2016 and February 2017. Clinical success was defined as achieving total bilirubin level less than 1.8 mg/dL (30.8 μmol/L) within 30 days after PTBD. Seven interventional radiologists independently categorized subjective fDLV into four groups: less than 30%, 30%–50%, 51%–75%, and greater than 75% of the total liver volume. Objective fDLV was calculated …

Spatial Colocalization And Molecular Crosstalk Of Myofibroblastic Cafs And Tumor Cells Shape Lymph Node Metastasis In Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Ken Furudate, Shuya Kasai, Tadashi Yoshizawa, Yuya Sasaki, Kohei Fujikura, Shintaro Goto, Ryohei Ito, Koki Takagi, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Hiroshi Kijima, Kosei Kubota, Ken Itoh, Wataru Kobayashi, Koichi Takahashi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lymph node metastasis (LNM) is a critical prognostic factor for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Previous research has implicated the partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition of tumor cells and myofibroblastic cancer-associated fibroblasts (myCAFs) in the LNM process. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we conducted a comprehensive molecular analysis integrating original and publicly available OSCC data from bulk genome and transcriptome, single-cell transcriptome, and spatial transcriptome analyses. We found that myCAFs were quantitatively and functionally activated in LNM-positive samples and spatially colocalized with OSCC cells within the invasive tumor front (ITF), providing a niche that may facilitate …

Design Of Robust Adaptive Nonlinear Backstepping Controller Enhanced By Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient Algorithm For Efficient Power Converter Regulation, Seyyed Morteza Ghamari, Asma Aziz, Mehrdad Ghahramani

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Power converters play an important role in incorporating renewable energy sources into power systems. Among different converter designs, Buck and Boost converters are popular, as they use fewer components and deliver cost savings and high efficiency. However, Boost converters are known as non–minimum phase systems, imposing harder constraints for designing a robust converter. Developing an efficient controller for these topologies can be difficult since they exhibit nonlinearity and distortion in high frequency modes. The Lyapunov-based Adaptive Backstepping Control (ABSC) technology is used to regulate suitable outputs for these structures. This approach is an updated version of the technique that uses …

The Luminos Project: Co-Designing A Short-Stay Suicide Support Model For Young People, Aims Hansen, Samantha Speirs, Kirsten Panton, Jacinta Freeman, Zrinka Highfield, Kieren Marshall, Eleanor Tighe, Laura Hemming, Bep Uink, Francis Mitrou, Vu Vuong, Ashleigh Lin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Suicide was the leading cause of death among young Australians aged 15–24 years old in 2023, with 392 lives lost. The continued high numbers of youth suicide demand urgent exploration of alternative approaches to suicide intervention in this population. The United Kingdom-based suicide service Maytree offers an innovative short-term stay for people experiencing suicidal thoughts. Grounded by the Maytree model-of-care, the aim of the current study was to co-design a short-stay service responsive to the specific needs of suicidal young people. Methods: Semi-structured and focus group interviews with young people (n = 38), caregivers (n = 11) and key …

Comparative Analysis Of Postoperative Visual Outcomes Of Light-Adjustable Lens, Toric Monofocal, And Spherical Monofocal Intraocular Lenses, Marisa Nakagama, Dhruv Nagesh, John F. Doane

Student Publications

This retrospective study compares postoperative visual outcomes among 150 eyes treated with Light-Adjustable Lenses (LAL), toric monofocal lenses, and spherical monofocal lenses at Discover Vision Centers in Missouri and Kansas. The study included individuals with an average age of 68.9 years (25-82 years) who had cataract extraction (CE) within the past five years. Patients with prior corneal refractive procedures, including Radial Keratotomy (RK), Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK), Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) or Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) were excluded. Sixty-four percent of eyes with LALs achieved uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA) better than 20/20 after the final lock-in, 46.0% with …

Enhancing Hip And Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes With Immunonutrition: A Review Of The Evidence, Kyle Taylor, Winifred Chijoke, Quinci Howard, Sandra Messiha, Jocelyn Hunt, Bernice Diaz, Hamza Khalid, Janae Rasmussen

Student Publications

Total hip and knee arthroplasty are common surgical procedures aimed at improving mobility and quality of life. Despite surgical advances, postoperative complications remain a concern, particularly for patients with comorbidities and poor nutritional status. Immunonutrition, the targeted administration of nutrients that modulate inflammation, such as arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants, has been shown to reduce infections, complications in wound healing, and shorten hospital length of stay. This review examines current evidence on the role of immunonutrition in hip and knee arthroplasty, focusing on the mechanisms of key nutrients, clinical application of supplementation, and areas for future investigation. Despite promising …

Scale Model And Ship Simulator Towing Of The Iea 15 Mw Wind Turbine On The Umaine Volturnus-S Platform, Adam Roberts, Frédéric Le Pivert, Saied Kazemi, Tom Tosdevin, Adán López-Santander, Matthew J. Craven, Lars Johanning

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Floating offshore wind turbines are expected to be deployed in significant numbers across the globe in the coming decades, with wet towing of these structures between ports and farms a key operation in their installation, maintenance, and decommissioning. Platforms are likely to be towed across large distances, and accurate understanding of tow dynamics will be crucial to optimising these journeys to minimise costs, timescales, emissions, and risk. This paper presents experimental and ship simulator modelling of the oceanic towing of the IEA 15 MW turbine on the UMaine VolturnUS-S platform. The work provides indicative data for floating offshore wind turbines …

Habit And The Potential For Actor Training With Immersive And Virtual Production Technology, John Matthews

School of Art, Design and Architecture

The advance of immersive and virtual technologies draws into starker contrast the analogue modalities of dominant approaches to actor training and makes more visible certain of their dynamics, which are analysed here using a philosophical framework of habit and habitus as propositionally causative. This technology is disruptive to habit and habitus in actor training and signifies potential to experiment with these dynamics to address extant problems in actor training. Problems in training habitus discussed here derive from trainers’ habits but arise primarily for trainees, and especially so for certain groups. I use Lazlo Pearlman and Deirdre McLaughlin’s critique of the …

Combining Lumipulse P-Tau217 And Aβ42/40 As Confirmatory Tests For Aβ Positivity Prior To Disease-Modifying Therapy, James D. Doecke, Ahmed Chenna, Mintzu Lo, Youssouf Badal, Brandon Yee, Robert Martone, Christos Petropoulos, Christopher J. Fowler, Simon Laws, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Ralph N. Martins, Christopher C. Rowe, Colin L. Masters, John Winslow

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: For a blood-based biomarker to be considered a confirmatory test for the detection of abnormal amyloid beta (Aβ) levels, the sensitivity and specificity must be equivalent to that of current cerebrospinal fluid tests. Methods: In the current study we assessed the ability of phosphorylated tau (p-tau)217 and Aβ42/40 from the Lumipulse G p-tau217 and β-amyloid ratio (1-42/1-40) tests, individually and combined, to predict Aβ positron emission tomography status in two sub-cohorts from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers, and Lifestyle Study of Ageing. Results: Testing an Alzheimer's disease continuum cohort, the area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for …

Short–Range Hard–Sphere Potential And Coulomb Interaction: Deser–Trueman Formula For Rydberg States Of Exotic Atomic Systems, Gregory S. Adkins, Ulrich D. Jentschura

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

In exotic atomic systems with hadronic constituent particles, it is notoriously difficult to estimate the strong-interaction correction to energy levels. It is well known that, due to the strength of the nuclear interaction, the problem cannot be solved using Wigner–Brillouin perturbation theory alone. Recently, high-angular-momentum Rydberg states of exotic atomic systems with hadronic constituents have been identified as promising candidates in the search for new physics in the low-energy sector of the Standard Model. We thus derive a generalized Deser–Trueman formula for the induced energy shift for a general hydrogenic bound state with principal quantum number n and orbital angular …