Digital Commons Network^™

Identifying Risk Factors For The Rising Prevalence Of Multiple Sclerosis In Saudi Arabia: A Case-Control Analysis, Omar Babateen, Jamil Adnan Samkari, Rewaa Abdulaziz Alkaki, Sadin Ayman Alamri, Manal Mutlaq Alzahrani, Mussaed Saleh Alharbi, Ali Abdulrazaq Alghamdi, Amwaj Sultan Aljurays, Amjad Faleh Aldosari, Seraj Makkawi

Neurosciences

Objective: This study aims to identify risk factors linked to the increasing prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Saudi Arabia. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune condition affecting the central nervous system, marked by inflammation and damage to nerves and the myelin sheath.

Method: A case-control study conducted from September 2022 to January 2024 included 832 participants—263 diagnosed with MS and 569 controls. Controls were matched by age, gender, residence, and employment status. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire, with written consent obtained from participants aged 18 and older. Logistic regression analysis was used to ascertain risk factors.

Results: …

Efficacy Of Erenumab In Patients With Treatment-Resistant Chronic Migraine And Medication Overuse Headache, Mohamed F. Binfalah, Anwar A. Alrayyes, Hussein H. Alhafnawi, Moiz O. Bakhiet

Neurosciences

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of erenumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor, in patients with treatment-resistant chronic migraine and medication overuse headache.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective observational study conducted at University Medical Center on 73 patients with both medication-overuse headache and treatment-resistant chronic migraine who failed at least three oral preventive medications and/or botulinum toxin injections. Clinical data were extracted from the medical records and patient interviews. The patients received monthly erenumab injections 70 mg. Key outcomes included monthly migraine days, headache severity (visual analog scale [VAS]), headache impact test (HIT-6), acute …

Association Between Extracranial Artery Stenosis And Cerebral Small-Vessel Disease In Patients With Ischemic Stroke, Ahmad Ghoochani-Khorasani, Seyed Hadi Aghili, Seyed Zakaria Hosseini, Seyed Amir Hasan Habibi, Mehri Farhangranjbar, Mahdi Abdi

Neurosciences

Objective: To review the relationship between extracranial artery stenosis (ECAS) severity and total cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD) burden and evaluated 5-year mortality, disability, and stroke recurrence in ischemic stroke patients. Cerebral small-vessel disease and ECAS often share risk factors such as hypertension and atherosclerosis and coexist in ischemic stroke. Although ECAS affects large-artery disease, its impact on total CSVD burden on MRI and subsequent clinical outcomes is not well defined.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 348 patients older than 35 who had suffered acute ischemic stroke and were admitted to selected hospitals in Tehran, Iran from March …

The Incidence Rate Of Post-Stroke Epilepsy: A Multi-Center, Retrospective Study In Taif City, Adnan A. Mubaraki, Shomoukh A. Alhumyani, Arwa M. Altowairqi, Liyan K. Abu Rukbah, Hanouf H. Alhamyani, Alhanouf A. Alkhaldi, Mohammed S. Alhamyani, Mohammed M. Algethami

Neurosciences

Background: The International League Against Epilepsy in 2014, defined epilepsy in any patient who has experienced one unprovoked seizure and has a probability of further seizures similar to the general recurrence risk (at least 60%) after 2 unprovoked seizures occurring over the next 10 years. Epilepsy patients are classified into 2 groups: early post-stroke seizures (EPSS), including patients who experience a seizure within 1 week of stroke onset, and late PSS (LPSS), including those who have a seizure more than 1 week after the stroke.

Methods: This retrospective, record-based study was conducted between January 2021 and December 2024. A total …

Vagal Nerve Stimulation As Therapy For Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: A Tertiary Hospital Experience Of Outcomes And Efficacy In King Abdullah Medical City, Bassam G. Sef, Abeer S. Albalawi, Ahmed M. Alhajji, Muhammed M. Irfan, Hanadi M. Abu Alela

Neurosciences

Objective: To determine the efficacy and safety of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for reducing the frequency of seizures and complications in drug-resistant epilepsy.

Methods: This was a retrospective case series study conducted in King Abdullah Medical City from January 2015 to December 2021 hospital record. All patients undergoing VNS were enrolled according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were followed up for 12 months, and the seizure frequency and number of epileptic drugs used were evaluated. A paired sample t-test was applied to compare the outcome variables considering p-value < 0.05 as significant.

Results: Among 9 enrolled patients, four were females, and five …

Insights Into Stroke Risk And Prediction For Underweight Individuals, Saeed Awad M. Alqahtani, Moutasem S. Aboonq

Neurosciences

This review explores the relationship between underweight status and stroke risk and outcomes. Although the impact of obesity on stroke is well-documented, the harmful effects of being underweight are often overlooked. Drawing on evidence from observational studies, case-control studies, and meta-analyses, this review highlights that underweight individuals face increased mortality, poorer functional recovery, and higher rates of major adverse cardiovascular events and recurrent strokes post-stroke. Challenges in stroke prediction for this population are examined, including the limited research focus, shortcomings of existing risk assessment tools such as the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, and population-specific factors affecting underweight prevalence …

Novel Enpp1 Gene Mutation Causing Generalized Arterial Calcification Of Infancy: A Case Report, Haifa M. Alturki, Haya S. Alfaris, Mohammed A. Al-Owain, Musaad F. Abukhalid

Neurosciences

Generalized Arterial Calcification of Infancy (GACI), a complex disorder affecting multiple systems, stems from an autosomal recessive mutation in the ENPP1 gene. This condition is marked by arterial stenosis and usually manifests prenatally or in the initial months following birth. High mortality rates characterize the first few months, a phase often termed the ``critical period.'' The report presents a case study of a four-year-old female with a new mutation in the ENPP1 gene, which broadens our understanding of this rare genetic disorder.

“Where All Is Playtime And Pleasure”: Feeling The Otherworldly In Late Medieval Literature, Anna K. Mcgill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I present intra-, inter-, and extra-textual felt responses to encounters with the otherworldly as described in Late Medieval texts as a lens through which to consider personal, social, and national imaginative potential surrounding contemporary issues across genres and disciplines. I argue that the use of otherworlds and otherworldly agents as both personally and rhetorically compelling analogues through which contemporary issues can be explored. I start my discussion of the felt impacts of encounters with the Arthurian otherworldly, with a particular focus on Glastonbury and Arthur’s alleged grave there, and how they transmit affects of sovereign authority. Next, …

2026-03-27 Minutes Of The Executive Committee Of The Academic Senate Senate, University Of Dayton. Academic Senate. Executive Committee

ECAS Minutes

Approved minutes of a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate of the University of Dayton.

Brief Of Former Federal Circuit Chief Judge Paul R. Michel And Scholars Of Law And Economics As Amici Curae In Support Of Respondents, In Hikma Pharmaceuticals Usa, Inc. V. Amarin Pharma, Inc., Jess Miers, Emily Michiko Morris, Mark F. Schultz, Kristina M.L. Acri, Bowman Heiden, Joshua Kresh, Honorable Paul Michel, Kristen Jakobsen Osenga, Douglas Park, Ted M. Sichelman

Akron Law Faculty Publications

• Innovation in Identification and Clinical Trials Testing of New Indications Yields Great Public Benefits but Requires the Incentive of Patent Protection.
• Section viii [skinny label statemetnts] was Never Intended to be a Safe Harbor for Infringement of Method of Use Patents.
• Allowing this Case to Proceed Past the Rule 12 Stage will not Deter Section viii Carve-Outs. 

Clinically Aligned Long-Context Transformers For Cross-Platform Mental Health Risk Detection, Aditya Tekale, Mohammad Masum

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Social media platforms contain rich but noisy narratives of psychological distress, creating opportunities for early mental health risk detection. However, existing datasets capture heterogeneous constructs such as suicide risk severity, depression diagnosis, and DSM-5 symptom presence, and most prior models are trained and evaluated on a single corpus, limiting their clinical alignment and cross-dataset generalizability. In this study, we fine-tune a domain-specific long-document transformer, AIMH/Mental-Longformer-base-4096, for binary mental health risk detection (risk vs. no risk) using two clinically aligned Reddit datasets: the C-SSRS Reddit corpus and the eRisk 2025 depression dataset. To handle long user histories, we introduce an LLM-based …

Weakening Relations Over Duals Of Limit Ordinals, Nikolaos Galatos, Isis A. Gallardo

Mathematics: Faculty Scholarship

We prove that all varieties generated by weakening relation algebras over duals of limit ordinals have a decidable equational theory. We also show that there are only countably-many such varieties and they form a chain that embeds in. The time warp algebra is isomorphic to one of these weakening relation algebras (over the dual of the naturals), so we obtain the main result of a recent publication as a special case. The algebras we study connect to the theory of relation algebras, to time warps and graded modalities, and to the algebraic semantics of substructural logics. Our methods are inspired …

Associations Between Caregiver-Provider Communication Quality And Unmet Care Needs Among Older Adults, Jiaming Liang, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Brian Downer, Zhigang Xie

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Unmet care needs (lack of assistance with daily activities) among older adults are common and linked to adverse health outcomes, greater healthcare utilization, and caregiver burden. While effective patient-provider communication is known to improve care quality, less is understood about the role of caregiver-provider communication, particularly across sociodemographic, health, and caregiving contexts. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of pooled 2021–2023 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and National Study of Caregiving (NSOC) data, restricted to community-dwelling older adults (65 + years) who received assistance from caregivers due to difficulty with daily activities, and had at least …

The Beacon, March 27, 2026, Beacon Staff

The Beacon, 2025-2026

Club Spotlight: International Justice Mission; Perspectives through the decades: 1970s; DME abroad to Netherlands and Germany; “I Can Only Imagine 2” : simple and heartwarming; Luke Combs returns to roots with “The Way I Am”; Choir brings beautiful music to four states; The Trends of the past spilling into 2026; Why O-Staff is worth the commitment; Lost in translation: language requirement; The oldest and most discredited sport; Raiders are GPAC champions in 2026; Raiders show tenacity in post-season losses; Looking ahead to the golf spring season; The Emmy’s are on their way; Service makes your faith grow stronger

Measurable Residual Disease Testing In Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Current State, Foundational Models, And Tools For Future Development, Joseph Van Galen, Stephen D. Willis, Ashish Bains, Sara H. Small

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a lethal and rapidly progressive hematologic malignancy with high rates of relapse and treatment refractoriness. Management of AML is complicated by biological heterogeneity in a disease that is broadly defined by the clonal expansion of myeloblasts that otherwise play an important role in healthy marrow tissues. While subtypes of AML are increasingly defined by druggable driver mutations including FLT3-ITD, IDH1, IDH2, and NPM1, conventional chemotherapy and reduced intensity induction regimens (e.g., azacitidine-venetoclax) remain therapeutic backbones. One area of active development for personalization of AML treatment is the assessment of measurable residual disease (MRD). MRD testing …

Artificial Accelerated Aging And Red Wine Staining On Color Stability In Dental Composites, Zeynep Hale Keleş, Marilia Mattos Sly, Rosa Llisel Ocampo Escobedo, Nuray Kösem, Yonca Korkmaz-Ceyhan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background

The resistance of composite resins to discoloration, staining, and aging is essential for preserving both the aesthetic quality and long-term durability of dental restorations.

Objective

The study aims to evaluate the effects of artificial accelerated aging (AAA) and red wine staining on the color stability of resin composites.

Methods

A2 color disc-shaped specimens (10-mm in diameter, 2-mm thick, n = 5) of 3 resin composites: G-aenial Universal Injectable (GC Corp, Japan), G-aenial A’CHORD (GC Corp, Japan), G-aenial Anterior (GC Corp, Japan), were polymerized using a curing light through a Mylar strip and a 1-mm glass slide for 40 s. …

Prescription Tradeoff Decision Support For Pancreas Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy: From Templates To Artificial Intelligence Models, Yibo Xie, Manisha Palta, Ruilin Li, Wentao Wang, Qiuwen Wu, Yaorong Ge, Q. Jackie Wu, Yang Sheng

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Objective: To develop an artificial intelligence (AI) driven plan tradeoff decision making assistant for radiation oncologists. Methods: A user interface (UI) was developed to integrate the assistant with the treatment planning system to facilitate prescription decision process. The assistant is powered by a machine learning core which was trained to learn the balance between planning target volume (PTV) coverage and organs-at-risk (OAR) sparing. A group of 98 pancreatic stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) cases were retrospectively included for this study. The clinical plan's PTV coverage was compared against the model predicted value. A 10-fold cross validation was performed for all …

Does Concurrent Completion Of A Computer Task Interfere With Talking? Comparing Younger And Older Adults, Emma Simpson Hymas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of a computer-based divided attention task on spoken language and compares the impact between younger (18–30 years) and older (55–82 years) adults. Sixty adults participated in a speaking task and two computer tasks which varied in difficulty. The Level 1 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” and the Level 2 computer task involved highlighting each instance of the word “the” while also underlining each instance of the word “a”. Each task was completed alone and then two computer tasks with different levels of difficulty were completed concurrently with a procedural discourse …

Qualitative Analysis Of Emotion Schemes Theory Of Compassion Satisfaction In Emotion - Focused Therapy, Bronislava Šoková, Lenka Janík Blašková, Katarína Greškovičová, Júlia Halamová

The Qualitative Report

There is little to no research focused on the qualitative understanding of compassion satisfaction among helping professionals, despite the demanding nature of the profession. Our aim was to examine how helping professionals experience compassion satisfaction through the lens of emotion scheme theory applied in emotion-focused therapy. Eight helping professionals were randomly selected from the pool of 29 participants representing a convenience sample, with the age range from 20 to 44 years. Data were collected via online in-depth interviews with open-ended questions concerning emotion scheme of their intense experience of compassion satisfaction. To analyze the data, phenomenology and consensual qualitative analysis …

Functional And Structural Basis Of A Hypermorphic Trpc3 Variant, Briar Bell, Angela M Jaramillo-Granada, Luis O Romero, Irene A Gutierrez, Venkata K P S Mallampalli, Guizhen Fan, Sameer Varma, Matthew L Baker, Irina I Serysheva, Valeria Vásquez, Julio F Cordero-Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cerebellar ataxias are characterized by impaired motor coordination resulting from neuronal dysfunction within the cerebellum. The mechanisms underlying this pathology and its cerebellar-specific neurodegeneration remain unknown. We uncover how a gain-of-function canonical transient receptor potential member 3 (TRPC3) mutation, coupled with a cerebellum-specific isoform, stabilizes the channel’s open state, resists the leading inhibitor Pyr3, and drives calcium-dependent cell death. Restoring calcium homeostasis by expressing a Purkinje cell calcium pump improves cell viability. Transgenic expression of the TRPC3 hypermorphic variant in Caenorhabditis elegans induces neurodegeneration, confirming its pathogenicity across species. Cryo–electron microscopy and molecular simulations reveal the structural basis for the …

Deprescribing Following Access To Lifestyle Treatment: A Retrospective Chart Review Of Primary Care Outcomes In Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, Yoav Jacob, Kara L Staffier, Samveda Menon, Puja B Gandhi, Joeita F Macfield, Gia Merlo, Stefanie M Meyer, Shivani S Patel, Caroline Rhéaume, Madeline Watson, David Donohue, Wayne S Dysinger, Micaela C Karlsen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Among individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), lifestyle improvements can restore glycemic control, yet few studies have examined deprescribing in settings where it was necessitated by improvements in health. This study aimed to (1) identify instances of medication deprescribing among adults with T2D in a primary care setting where patients had access to lifestyle medicine (LM), (2) document lifestyle changes among deprescribed patients, (3) assess changes in body mass index (BMI), glucose, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) following deprescribing, and (4) assess the safety of deprescribing in the context of LM-informed care by identifying adverse events.

Methods: A …

Social Isolation And Firearm Secure Storage In The Usa: Results From The 2022 Brfss, Alexander Testa, Daniel Semenza, Dylan B Jackson, Karyn Fu, Sandra Mckay, Kyle T Ganson, Jason M Nagata, Jack Tsai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Firearm secure storage (ie, storing firearms unloaded and locked) is recommended to reduce unintentional injuries and suicides. However, the relationship between psychological states, such as social isolation, and firearm secure storage practices is under-researched.

Methods: Data are from 7136 individuals with firearms in their households from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between social isolation and firearm storage.

Results: Among respondents, 71.6% reported storing firearms unloaded, 14.2% stored firearms loaded and locked and 14.2% stored firearms loaded and unlocked. Most respondents reported feeling 'never' (40.7%) or 'rarely' (33.3%) socially …

Precision Spectroscopy Of 2s-Ns Transitions In Atomic Hydrogen: A Determination Of The Proton Charge Radius, R. G. Bullis, W. L. Tavis, M. R. Weiss, Orellana O. Cisneros, A. J. Cheeseman, Ulrich D. Jentschura, D. C. Yost

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present absolute frequency measurements of 2S_1/2-nS_1/2 two-photon transitions with n=8, 9, and 10 in a cryogenic beam of atomic hydrogen. Each transition has been measured with a fractional uncertainty of ≈2.6x10^-12. Combining the results from this Letter and the 1S_1/2-2S_1/2 transition frequency, we extract a root-mean-square proton radius of rp=0.8433(31) fm and a Rydberg frequency of cR_∞=3 289 841 960 252.9(9.7) kHz. These are in good agreement with the CODATA 2022 recommended values.

Collaborative Care For Depression In Chronic Illness: A Narrative Review, Chun Wong, German E. Corso

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Depression commonly coexists with chronic medical illness and is associated with impaired self-management, poor adherence, increased healthcare utilization, and higher mortality.

Objective: To synthesize evidence published between 2000 and late 2025 on the effectiveness of the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) for depression in adults with chronic medical illness, with particular attention to contemporary U.S. implementation, policy, and equity considerations.

Methods: A narrative review of randomized controlled trials, pragmatic and implementation studies, systematic reviews, and policy analyses was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Evidence addressing collaborative care for depression in adults with chronic medical illness was identified and synthesized …

Reconstruction Of Information System Acceptance Model In The Era Of Integrated Artificial Intelligence: A Systematic Literature Review, Ilham, Merlin Apriliyanti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study aims to explain the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which has driven significant transformations in the development and use of information systems. However, most classical information system acceptance models, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and  (UTAUT), have not been able to fully explain the unique characteristics of AI-based systems that are autonomous, adaptive, and complex. This study aims to reconstruct the information system acceptance model in the era of integrated AI through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. This study was conducted using the PRISMA protocol on 130 leading scientific articles indexed by Scopus and …

Just City And Racialized Media: How A Non-Profit Provokes Policy And Fights Criminal Injustices, Isabella L. Wollfarth

LSU Master's Theses

This study explored the intersection of racialized media narratives, nonprofits, and penal policy through a case study of Just City, a nonprofit criminal justice organization located in Shelby County, Tennessee. Through the lens of Just City, this study explored how nonprofits resist racialized media narratives regarding crime and how in turn this contributes to penal policy reforms. This is accomplished using a thematic analysis to draw larger conclusions from coding Just City’s Instagram and through extensive interviews with Just City staff and local Shelby County and Tennessee politicians. These methods are guided by framing theory, an ideological framework that explains …

Mouse White Matter Matters: Cortical Origins And Spatial Organization Of Mouse White Matter Tracts, Sofia D Gordeev, Melissa Franch, Sarah R Heilbronner

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

White matter—the fundamental structure underlying network connectivity—lies at the heart of the brain’s computational power. White matter is organized into fiber tracts, or bundles, in both human and nonhuman primate brains. These bundles consist of long-range axonal projections with a set of shared origin and termination points and exhibit a predictable organization. However, the organization of white matter in the mouse brain remains relatively unknown. This knowledge gap is surprising given the central role of mice in neuroscience, with mouse brains serving as the dominant model for transgenics, in vivo calcium imaging, and circuit manipulation. To address this gap, we …

Measuring Indigenous Cultural Strengths: A Systematic Review Of A Decade Of Approaches., Melissa L. Walls, Danica Love Brown, Victoria M. O'Keefe, Evan J. White, Miigis Gonzalez, Ivy Blackmore, Tara L. Maudrie, Meenakshi Richardson, Timothy R. Werwie, Hariata G Tai Rakena, Multiple Additional Authors

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Indigenous Peoples experience severe health inequities rooted in experiences of colonization. Calls for strengths-based, culturally grounded research and practice to redress these harms continue to grow. This systematic review assesses how Indigenous "culture" has been quantified in research across the globe over a 10-year span. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched four databases (2013-2023) for peer-reviewed, English-language articles featuring quantitative measures of Indigenous culture as a positive/protective factor. Data were extracted via a double coding system to assess cultural domains, operationalization strategies, and sociodemographic characteristics of reviewed studies. We reviewed 279 records and identified 461 measures, 289 of which were unique. …

In The Realm Of Dreams: The Feminine Imagination In Music, Katie Scarlett Ellender

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines selected works by Clara Schumann, Rebecca Clarke, and Lili Boulanger that contain representations of night, dream, and mythology. These composers were influenced by the prevailing artistic movements during their lives, including German Romanticism, Impressionism, and Symbolism, which emphasized nocturnal landscapes, supernatural beings, and liminal states. Descriptive analysis and performance recommendations are provided for selected Lieder by Clara Schumann, Rebecca Clarke’s Morpheus, and Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne. Particular emphasis is given to how each composer uses night, dream, and myth imagery as expressive frameworks that inform decisions on harmonic language, level of cadential resolution, motivic repetition and transformation, texture, …

3'Utr Mapping Reveals Alternative Polyadenylation In Right Ventricular Failure, Rahul Neupane, Kartiga Natarajan, Erik E Suarez, Henry J Pownall, Kai-Lieh Huang, Eric J Wagner, Ajay Kumar Verma, Rambabu Majji, Hari Krishna Yalamanchili, Ashrith Guha, Rajarajan A Thandavarayan

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

No abstract provided.