Digital Commons Network^™

Estimated Burden Of Coccidioidomycosis, Samantha L Williams, Andrej Spec, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: Coccidioidomycosis is an underrecognized fungal infection that can cause serious illness and constitutes a considerable public health burden. The number of cases is likely substantially higher than the nationally reported total, as surveillance does not capture patients who do not seek medical care or who are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Coccidioidomycosis is not reportable in all states, and cases not reported to public health entities are likewise missed. A systematic estimate of coccidioidomycosis burden is needed to raise awareness and inform public health interventions and policy.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the annual burden of symptomatic coccidioidomycosis in the US.

DESIGN, SETTING, …

Climatologist Mann's Defamation Suit Victory: Can It Resolve The Crisis Of Expertise, David S. Caudill

Faculty Publications

When a jury awarded one million dollars in punitive damages to climatologist Michael Mann, in his defamation suit against writer Mark Steyn (who accused Mann of scientific fraud), it was newsworthy, even surprising, because opinions regarding scientific matters are rarely actionable. And yet it was not seen as a groundbreaking event in terms of legal doctrine, since the outcome was easily justifiable— Steyn’s accusation was provably false. However, even if the Constitutional contours of defamation law did not change, the Mann verdict has far-reaching implications for a major contemporary social phenomenon, namely the so-called crisis of expertise, a term identifying …

Iron Deficiency Without Anemia And Reduced Basal Ganglia Iron Content In Youths, Dimitri Fiani, Joo-Won Kim, Mianzhi Hu, Ramiro Salas, Sarah Heilbronner, Jacquelyn Powers, Muhammad Haque, Stephanie Dinh, Xiaofan Huang, Darrell Worthy, Sridevi Devaraj, Junqian Xu, Chadi Calarge

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Although brain iron is necessary for neurogenesis, myelination, and neurotransmitter synthesis, iron deficiency (ID) is defined solely based on hematological outcomes.

Objective: To examine the association of ID without anemia with basal ganglia (BG) iron content and its structural and functional sequelae in adolescents.

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study enrolled participants using the electronic medical record system from a large network of pediatrics clinics between December 2020 and April 2024. Otherwise healthy, unmedicated participants aged 10 to 17 years with a depressive or anxiety disorder or with no psychopathology were consecutively enrolled. Anemia and acute inflammation led …

Evaluation Of Social Worker Knowledge Of Human Trafficking At The Oregon State Hospital: A Qualitative And Quantitative Analysis Of Education, Training, And Victim Identification, Jamie Sue Pryde

Dissertations and Theses

The prevalence of human trafficking continues to increase worldwide, and the implementation of human trafficking education and victim identification within institutions is slow to catch up. The Oregon State Hospital is a psychiatric in-patient hospital that currently does not provide human trafficking education or a screening tool for staff and does not know how to provide treatment to trafficked victims. Interviews were conducted with employed social workers at the Oregon State Hospital to obtain a baseline understanding of their previous education, training, and knowledge of human trafficking to aid in the creation of a trafficking screening tool. Results indicate participants …

Irx2 And Nptx1 Differential Regulation Of Β-Catenin Underlies Mek-Mediated Proliferation In Human Neuroglial Cells, Alexander Chen, Hannah Wang, Xuanwei Li, Corina Anastasaki, David H Gutmann

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The two major genomic alterations in pediatric pilocytic astrocytoma (PA) are

Evaluating Gamified Website Designs: An Analysis Using The Octalysis Framework, Menna Mohamed Zakaria, Reem Alasfoury, Nesrin Ezzat Gamal, Maryet Youssef Bekhit

Journal of Art, Design and Music

In today's fast-changing digital landscape, websites must stand out to gain and retain user attention. Gamification techniques, which use game-design concepts to improve user engagement and satisfaction, are a method to achieve this uniqueness. This research investigates the significant role of purposeful design in the effective application of gamification on websites, emphasising the importance of deliberate and balanced context-specific implementation of gamification By examining industry-leading websites that employ gamification using the Octalysis framework and related theoretical frameworks The findings highlight that, while gamification has the potential to dramatically distinguish the website and boost user interaction and loyalty, its performance and …

Fostering Collaborative Innovation By Bridging The Engineering-Design Gap In Egypt: Hcd&E Integration And Visionary Design With Ai Integration In Education, Ahmed T.M. Fathy, Salwa El Ghareeb, Yasser Shaban

Journal of Art, Design and Music

This paper addresses a key challenge in Egypt's Educational sector: the mismatch between engineering education and the needs of modern design-focused companies. This gap hinders the development of user-friendly products and the sector's competitiveness. To bridge this divide, the paper proposes collaborative design training for engineers and designers. This paper will equip them with Human-Centered Design and Engineering and VisionaryDriven Design Research skills. By understanding user needs and developing solutions for the future, engineers can create a stronger link between education and industry. The paper will explore specific points to improve collaboration between engineers and designers, the potential of artificial …

Evaluation Of Antibiotic Testing Protocols For Biofilm-Forming Escherichia Coli In A Microfluidic Platform, Caleb R. Telander

Master's Theses

Catheter-associated urinary tract infections remain an ongoing clinical problem due to biofilm persistence and antibiotic resistance. Standard antibiotic susceptibility testing cannot accurately reproduce flow conditions and the spatial complexity of the in vivoenvironment and is thus questionable in relevance to device-related infections. This study examines a microfluidic device designed to simulate physiologically relevant wall shear stress and antibiotic gradients in Escherichia coli biofilms. The polydimethylsiloxane-based system integrates a 16-well culture chamber with a gradient generator. Biofilm growth was observed using fluorescence microscopy of green fluorescent protein-labeled bacteria. Simulations performed using COMSOL Multiphysics software estimated the appropriate range of wall …

Cip Final Impact Report, Center For Innovative Pedagogy

Annual Reports and Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Ai-Based Requirements Analysis Assistant That Applies Explicit Knowledge And Includes Humans In The Loop, Steven Alter

Business Analytics and Information Systems

This exploratory paper builds on the EMMSAD 2024 paper “Could a Large Language Model Contribute Significantly to Requirements Analysis?” Eight versions of each of three LLM prompts (for system structure, analysis, and recommendations) were applied to three 3000+ word case studies. Those versions expressed different “treatments” including a control with no RAG augmentation, a version with RAG augmentation based on an analysis template used by MBA and EMBA students, and six other versions based on theoretical approaches such as activity theory, a BPM design space, work system principles, and so on. The LLM responses were somewhat reliable for summarizing system …

Balance Assessment Of Disc Golf Players By A Smartphone, Joshua Paul Kannankunni

Master's Theses

Disc golf is an underrepresented sport in biomechanics research, even though it could have effects on gait and balance. Forward and side lunges performed while throwing discs can improve static and dynamic balance. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of playing disc golf on various static and dynamic balance metrics. Static and dynamic balance experiments were done on 20 disc golf players and 20 control participants to record their RMS of acceleration during the double leg, tandem, and single leg static poses, as well as their gait speed, cadence, stride length, right step length, left step …

A Survey Of Retail Trade Patterns In South Dakota: 2015-2024, Rand E. Wergin

Faculty Publications

This paper provides an analysis of retail sales and retail trade in the state of South Dakota for the ten years 2015 to 2024. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the fifteen largest communities in the state, with further analysis of each community reporting retail sales to the state Department of Revenue.

This analysis will provide information to community leaders in the cities and towns of South Dakota. Retail pull is an economic indicator that provides a measure of community’s economic health and its ability to attract shoppers, both shoppers from its own community and from other communities. A …

Financial Data Stewardship: A Librarian's Approach To Data Discovery And A Call For Coding As A Path To Data Comprehension And Verification, Lip Hwe Tee

Research Collection Library

This conference presentation calls to advocate and emphasise coding as a means to understand datasets, to be able to correctly interpret table structure and relevant fields to extract the correct data, to ensure accuracy and relevance.

Video Game Hacking, A General Problem With Generalized Solutions, Luke Rowe

Master's Theses

As video games continue to get more popular and lucrative, the number of malicious actors seeking to exploit them grows with it. As this industry expands, so does the importance of securing games against cheating and abuse. This thesis aims to educate developers to help mitigate the abuse of video games by these malicious actors. The goal of this thesis is to provide a foundational framework for thinking like a hacker and how to make games harder to abuse once a hacker bypasses conventional anti-cheat software.

This thesis outlines some of the most common cheating methods and provides general context …

Ai Assisted Literature Review Tools For Undergraduates: Restrict, Embrace Or Curate?, Aaron Tay

Research Collection Library

As AI-driven literature review tools become widespread, academic librarians must grapple with a fundamental question—should we ban these tools, selectively curate their use, or embrace them fully? This keynote explores the three competing schools of thought shaping AI’s role in undergraduate literature reviews.

The Restrict school argues that students who have not proven capable of writing quality literature review should be restricted from use of such tools. Much like handing a preschooler a calculator before they understand basic arithmetic will affect the learning of arithmetic, premature use of such tools has the potential to shortcut the research learning process. If …

Vector Extension On A Risc-V Cpu, Muhammad Ibrahim Lawai, Niels Holzmann, Khondakar Mujtaba

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Electricians face significant health and safety hazards when inspecting drop ceilings, including exposure to dust, asbestos, and the risk of falls. To address these challenges, this project proposes a lightweight, autonomous robot capable of inspecting drop ceilings and assisting with wire tracing tasks—thereby distancing electricians from hazardous environments. The robot employs tread-based mobility to navigate fragile ceiling panels, integrated ultrasonic sensors and bumpers for obstacle avoidance, and an antenna system to detect and follow energized wire signals. Visual feedback is provided to the operator through a real-time video feed over a secure NoMachine interface, with manual and semi-autonomous operation modes …

Open Source Arm Cortex M0 Processor, Zack Boyle

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Despite becoming a standard for low-power microcontrollers, the ARM Cortex- M0’s proprietary nature poses difficulties for developers looking for cost, flexibility, and transparency, especially in startup, academic, and hobbyist contexts. In order to overcome these drawbacks, this paper offers an open-source implementation of the ARM Cortex-M0 processor that is easily accessible and customizable. My design encourages development of open-source hardware while still maintaining compatibility with the vast ARM software ecosystem. Unlike other architectures, such as RISC-V, which do not have native support for ARM-based infrastructure, my technology allows for easy integration into current development processes. With this research, I hope …

From Cynicism To Trust: Strategies For Teaching Students Source Evaluation Skills, Mandi Goodsett, Melanie Gagich

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Concerns about the spread and adoption of misinformation abound, and academic librarians have played a part in trying to stem the tide through information literacy instruction. However, teaching students how to evaluate sources can be complicated—teaching fact-checking skills may be insufficient if it increases students’ overall cynicism about information ecosystems. This study explores how teaching fact-checking and lateral reading skills, along with instruction about “bias filters,” can help to reduce the cynicism of first year writing students, while also increasing their misinformation detection skills. Results are mixed, but teaching about the information creation process and “bias filters” is especially promising. …

Optimizing Microfluidic Murine Fibroblast And Human Epidermal Keratinocyte Cell Culture In 70Μm Microwells, Christian Navarro

Master's Theses

Cell culture is an essential technique utilized in biotechnology and medicine to remove systemic influences to study cellular behavior and morphological development of individual cell lines. However, conventional cell culture is two-dimensional and static meaning it can’t easily mimic in vivo conditions such as multicellular cell to cell interactions, fluid perfusion, or 3D structures which might alter cellular behavior and morphology. Microfluidic cell culture allows for the incorporation of in vivo conditions such as perfusion and chemical gradients allowing for more physiologically accurate models. The goal of this study is to develop a protocol for testing a microfluidic chip designed …

Data Entry In A Snap: Using Technology To Enter Paper Survey Data, Adrienne M. Duke Marks, Diana Simpson, Haley Fenn, Brianna Crumly-Goodwin

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

Snap Surveys is helpful software that can make the data management process for program evaluations more efficient. In this article, we discuss the software’s paper-scanning feature and how it has positively impacted our data management strategy.

Counterintuitive Particle Confinement In A Helical Force-Free Plasma, A. D. Light, H. Srinivasulu, C. J. Hansen, Michael R. Brown

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

The force-free magnetic field solution formed in a high-aspect ratio cylinder is a non-axisymmetric (��=1), closed magnetic structure that can be produced in laboratory experiments. Force-free equilibria can have strong field gradients that break the usual adiabatic invariants associated with particle motion, and gyroradii at measured conditions can be large relative to the gradient scale lengths of the magnetic field. Individual particle motion is largely unexplored in force-free systems without axisymmetry, and it is unclear how the large gradients influence confinement. To understand more about how particles remain confined in these configurations, we simulate a thermal distribution of protons moving …

Introduction, Dominic Davies, Candida Rifkind

WLU Press Books

This is the introductory chapter of Graphic Refuge Visuality and Mobility in Refugee Comics by Dominic Davies and Candida Rifkind.

Graphic Refuge is the first in-depth study of comics about refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, and detainees by artists from the Global North and South. Co-written by two leading scholars of nonfiction comics, the book explores graphic narratives about a range of refugee experiences, from war, displacement, and perilous sea crossings to detention camps, resettlement schemes, and second-generation diasporas.

Through close readings of work by diverse artists including Joe Sacco, Sarah Glidden, Don Brown, Olivier Kugler, Jasper Rietman, Hamid Sulaiman, …

Ambulatory Monitoring Of Biomarkers For Enhanced Recovery, Guneet Grewal, Grace Kurilo, Maggie Nostrand, Vismaya Panicker

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The objective of our project is to create, design and test a fully functional continuously monitoring hydrogen peroxide sensor. This sensor aims to identify early detection of diseases associated with oxidative stress which can include certain types of cancer, neurodivergent diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Early detection of hydrogen peroxide levels can provide patients with early treatment and can help reduce disease progression. Overall, the biosensor prioritizes early detection of ROS levels allowing various consumers such as healthcare sectors, patients, and research institutions to benefit from continuous monitoring for health management and disease prevention.

Educational Efficacy Of Private Well-Testing Workshops And The Surveillance Of Private Drinking Water Quality In Connecticut, Alec Janis, Michael Dietz, Meredith Metcalf

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

More than 820,000 Connecticut residents rely on groundwater from private wells, yet minimal regulations address well water quality. Extension programs across the United States have begun to provide private drinking water education and testing assistance to address this public health gap. Few studies have analyzed the efficacy of these programs.

We delivered four workshops across Connecticut, from November 2022 to November 2023, where participants were given an educational presentation on private drinking water and an opportunity to test their well-water quality at a subsidized cost. After participating in the workshops, participants believed they were more confident to begin annual testing, …

Transitioning The Cal Poly Quarter Horse Enterprise Curriculum: From Quarters To Semesters, Jacquelyn R. Huebner

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

The Cal Poly Quarter Horse Enterprise began in 1978, when student riders brought Cal Poly-bred horses to futurity events to sell them. In 1996, Gene Armstrong brought the sale to Cal Poly, and ever since, the annual performance horse auction has broken records as one of the highest grossing collegiate horse sales in the nation. This sale not only provides funding for the care of over one hundred horses housed at the Equine Center for educational use, but also provides an opportunity for students to gain experience in starting and training young horses, as well as putting on a dynamic …

Dairy-To-Go: An Informal And Formal Education Model On Milking Dairy Cattle, Elizabeth Ann Marie Kostalnick

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

Within California, 360 schools have FFA programs; however, there are still over 2,000 high schools within the state. This equates to only 18% of California high schools having access to FFA. That number may be greater than 10%, however, access to agricultural curriculum is still limited. Considering US crop production is concentrated predominantly in California and the Midwest (USDA-ERS 2017), high schools in California, regardless of location and proximity to a farm, should have access to an agricultural curriculum. The purpose of this project was to create a curriculum where middle school and high school educators can show the process …

The Objective Observer: The Washington State Supreme Court's Remedial Aspirations And Experience On The Ground, David B. Owens

Washington Law Review

The Washington State Supreme Court has adopted an “objective observer rule” for addressing whether race impacted jury selection and extended this rule to evaluating all aspects of Washington courts, including jury trials. The objective observer rule allows courts to evaluate whether decisions in those courtrooms could be viewed as the result of racial bias, even where there is no evidence of specific racial animus and in the absence of racial slurs. The rule, which covers a form of disparate impact, has now existed for over half a decade. This Article outlines the Washington State Supreme Court’s development of the objective …

The Gift Of Public Funds Bogeyman, Noah Purcell, Michelle Saperstein

Washington Law Review

Washington’s “gift of public funds” doctrine is frequently misunderstood in ways that impede innovative ideas aimed at remedying some of our state’s most intractable problems. This doctrine arises from article VIII, sections 5 and 7 of the Washington Constitution, which prohibit state and local governments from gifting assets or loaning credit. While the Washington State Supreme Court historically applied these provisions in restrictive and confusing ways, the Court’s modern jurisprudence recognizes that the doctrine is inapplicable to funding expended for any of the many “fundamental purposes” of government. Even where a government program does not fall under this broad category, …

The Fair Labor Standards Act's Fading Promise To Workers With Disabilities, Jessica Rigby

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Looking For The Public In Public Law, Nikhil Menezes, David E. Pozen

University of Chicago Law Review

The “public” is everywhere and nowhere in contemporary public law. Everywhere, in that the term is constantly invoked to justify and explain existing arrangements. Nowhere, in that serious attempts to identify a relevant public and elicit its input are few and far between. Scholars and officials depict the U.S. public as playing myriad roles in governance—checking, guiding, approving, repudiating—without offering an account of how public preferences are formed or how they exercise influence on questions of interest.

This Article seeks to identify and call attention to the foundational dilemmas underlying this disconnect, to clarify their normative contours and intellectual history, …