Digital Commons Network^™

Relationships Between The Corpus Callosum Index And Current Blood Parameters And Temporal Changes In These Parameters In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis, Oruç Şahin, Muzaffer Güneş

Neurosciences

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate changes in blood parameters and examine the relationships among the corpus callosum index (CCI), plaque characteristics, and blood parameters in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In MS, the CCI is associated with brain atrophy and disease progression.

Methods: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, demographic data from 103 MS patients (38 males), along with blood parameters obtained five years earlier and current values, were analyzed in relation to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. The CCI calculated from MRI scans was assessed in relation to plaque distribution and number. Statistical analyses included paired sample t tests, Wilcoxon …

Prevalence Of Depression Among Patients With Epilepsy In Saudi Arabia: A Nationwide Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Mothana Y. Al Jabr, Aryam M. Alenizi, Faisal S. Aleisa, Mazen A. Alghamdi, Noura I. Alfehaid, Muteb M. Alqahtani, Abbas S. Almutair

Neurosciences

Objective: To assess the pooled prevalence of depression among epilepsy patients and find the associated demographics and psychosocial factors. Mood disorders are significant comorbidity between patients diagnosed with epilepsy, adversely influencing quality of life and complicating disease management. However, the incidence, prevalence, and associated risk factors of depression in patients diagnosed with epilepsy in Saudi Arabia are not well elucidated.

Methods: This review was employed used studies retrieved from medical databases and the Saudi Digital Library. Observational and cross-sectional studies assessing depression between patients diagnosed with epilepsy in Saudi Arabia were included. Data were analyzed using the Freeman–Tukey double arcsine …

Wearable Sensor Technology And Biomechanical Gait Analysis In Post-Stroke Rehabilitation: A Review With Implications For The Saudi Healthcare System, Abdullah H. Alzahrani

Neurosciences

Stroke remains a major cause of disability worldwide, with gait impairment affecting up to 80% of survivors and contributing to long-term dependence, fall risk, and reduced quality of life. In Saudi Arabia, stroke incidence is rising, with a significant burden on younger populations and disparities in access to post-stroke rehabilitation services. Conventional gait analysis tools rely on expensive, specialized laboratory equipment, which limits their availability in low-resource and rural settings. Recent advances in wearable sensor technologies, including inertial measurement units, pressure insoles, and electromyography systems, offer portable, scalable, and cost-efficient options for assessing gait in real-world environments. These systems can …

Efficacy And Safety Of Plasma Exchange And Immunoadsorption For Acute Optic Neuritis In Patients With Demyelinating Diseases: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Mehenaz A Hanbazazh, Mohammed Ridha Algethami, Abdulwahhab Omar Anbarserry, Ruba Mohammed Alghanmi, Lama Nawaf Alanazi, Ahmed Ayed N Alanazi, Bashaier Gubran Alqahtani, Mohammed Abdullah Alamri

Neurosciences

Background: Optic neuritis (ON), a common manifestation of demyelinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis (MS), neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), often leads to significant visual impairment. Although high-dose corticosteroids are a first-line therapy, many patients experience incomplete recovery. Apheresis therapies, including plasma exchange (PLEX) and immunoadsorption (IA), are being increasingly used as rescue treatments, but their efficacy and safety are debated.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating PLEX and IA for acute ON in patients with demyelinating diseases. Four databases were searched up to January 2025. The included …

Investigating The Patent Foramen Ovale–Migraine Link In Southern Saudi Arabia, Al-Amir Bassiouny Mohamed, Maeed Alkathiri, Saad Mushabab Ali Alqahtani, Naif H. Ali, Saima Kashif, Saad A. Alshahrani, Mohammed S. Alqahtani, Mohamed Gaber Mahmoud Gabr, Eltohami Zydan Dafalla, Basharat Hameed Zargar, Wael Qenawi, Ali Mohammed A. Alshehri, Fatimah Asiri, Ahmed Borai

Neurosciences

Objective: Migraine is a highly disabling neurological condition, and increasing attention has focused on a possible connection with patent foramen ovale (PFO).

Methods: This single-center observational study enrolled 45 individuals from January to April 2024: 30 migraine patients with PFO (Group 1) and 15 migraine patients without PFO serving as controls (Group 2). All subjects underwent transthoracic echocardiography and completed standardized instruments including the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), Migraine Symptom Severity Scale (MSSS), Allodynia Symptom Checklist (ASC-12), Visual Aura Rating Scale (VARS), and Migraine Treatment Optimization Questionnaire (mTOQ-6).

Results: The participant's mean age was 37.3 ± …

(R2167) Global Stability Of Seirs Model With Single Dose Vaccination In Varying Population, Govind Jha, Prabhat Mandal, Sarita Jha

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Understanding the evolution of infectious diseases within a dynamic population is essential for formulating effective public health strategies. This work introduces an enhanced SEIRS epidemic model that incorporates demographic variation and a single-dose vaccination strategy, supporting that immunity can be reduced over time. The model reflects diseases in which individuals may return to the susceptible state after recovery. Extending prior reduced three-dimensional models, this study develops a complete four-dimensional SEIRS framework, thereby increasing the model’s applicability to real-world scenarios. The inclusion of the full system presents greater analytical challenges. To overcome this, we extend the second additive compound matrix and …

The Correlation Between Left Ventricular Filling Pressure And Fluid Responsiveness In Patients With Acute Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction, Ratna Mariana Tamba, Andika Sitepu, Hilfan Ade Putra Lubis, Abdul Halim Raynaldo, Cut Aryfa Andra, Andre Pasha Ketaren, Yuke Sarastri

Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology

Background: Fluid responsiveness describes the capacity of the myocardium to raise stroke volume by at least 10% when ventricular filling is increased, consistent with the principle outlined by Frank and Starling. In patients with acute heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), elevated left ventricular filling pressure (LVFP) and impaired contractility frequently place the ventricle on the flattened segment of this relationship, resulting in a limited response to preload changes. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between LVFP and fluid responsiveness in patients with acute HFrEF. Methods: This study aimed to explore the link between LVFP and fluid responsiveness using echocardiography …

Application Of Ai Risk Prediction Tools For Cardiovascular Care In Hong Kong: A Systematic Review With Insights From Clinicians, Celine Sze Ling Chui, Celia Jiaxi Lin, Ruibang Luo, Yekai Zhou, Nadeem Qureshi, Li Wah Tam, Carmen Chan, Ian Chi Kei Wong, Kai Hang Yiu, P-Cardiac Consortium

Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) present a substantial burden on global and local healthcare systems, particularly within Hong Kong's overstretched public secondary care settings coupled with an aging population. The Personalized CARdiovascular DIsease risk Assessment for Chinese (P-CARDIAC), a locally developed and validated artificial intelligence (AI) powered cardiovascular risk assessment tool, offers a transformative opportunity for enhancing care through systematic risk prediction and a multidisciplinary care approach. Implementation strategies for its application in secondary care remain undefined. Methods: We gathered local insights from one expert meeting and thirteen semi-structured interviews with cardiologists and pharmacists, matched these with barriers and respective facilitators …

Degrees And Certificates Awarded To Native American Students In Nevada, 2010-2022, Devin Streuter, Kevin Yang, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on certificates and degrees awarded to Native Americans from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s (NSHE) teaching institutions —College of Southern Nevada (CSN), Great Basin College (GBC), Nevada State University (NSU), Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and Western Nevada College (WNC)— from 2010 to 2022. Additionally, the fact sheet reports data on degree type, gender, and the most common majors pursued by Native American certificate and degree earners in Nevada. The data are derived from the Nevada P-20 Workforce Research (NPWR) Data System.

Balancing Innovation & Safety: The Role Of State Law As The Use Of Artificial Intelligence Increases In Oil And Gas Operations, Anna Trahan

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

Much Ado Abbott Navigability: Decoupling Navigability's Roles In Natural Resources Management And Regulation Of Commerce, Mark S. Davis, Isabel A. Englehart

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Perspectives Of Refugee Youth On Education And Freedom In Malaysia, Seok Wun (Shiila) Au Yong

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines how refugee youth in Malaysia understand, experience, and reimagine education and freedom within a socio-political context that denies them legal recognition, mobility, access to public education, opportunities for legal employment, and affordable healthcare. As Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are not formally recognized by the state. Situating itself within refugee education scholarship and drawing on transnational feminism, critical refugee studies, critical disability studies, and queer theory, this study centers refugee youth as knowledge producers, interrogates dominant narratives of refugee youth, and challenges the conventional approaches to refugee education in order to …

Syphilis And Hiv Co-Infection Risk Factors At Dr. Moewardi Hospital, 2018–2022: A Retrospective Study, Endra Yustin Ellistasari, Prasetyadi Mawardi, Pratiwi Prasetya Primisawitri, Stella Gracia Octarica

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Treponema pallidum, the agent causing syphilis, is transmitted through contact with infectious lesions, bodily fluids, blood transfusions, or perinatally. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection can mask the clinical manifestations of syphilis, while syphilis may exacerbate HIV progression. This study aimed to analyze risk factors associated with HIV co-infection among patients with syphilis.

Methods: This retrospective, analytical, observational study reviewed medical records from the Dermatology and Venereology outpatient clinic at Dr. Moewardi Hospital, Surakarta, Indonesia, between January 2018 and December 2022. Demographic, behavioral, and clinical variables were extracted. Univariable analysis was performed using simple binary logistic regression to …

Neural Processing Of Japanese And Korean Phonological Items In Romanized Versus Native Writing Systems, Kyle Thayne Chipman

Theses and Dissertations

Romanization is a common, yet sometimes controversial, tool used to make Korean and Japanese more accessible to beginning learners, but its effects on orthographic processing and phoneme discrimination ability are not well understood. The participants consisted of 34 university students (21 female, 13 male; mean age = 20.97) enrolled in 100- and 200-level Korean and Japanese courses at Brigham Young University. Using a quasi-experimental, counterbalanced design, participants completed phonological judgement tasks in three orthographies per language while accuracy, reaction time, and cortical activation were measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS); post-task surveys contextualized learner responses. Orthography significantly affected accuracy in …

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Diagnostic Testing Time Completion For African American End Stage Renal Disease (Esrd) Patients Being Evaluated For Kidney Transplantation, Kesha Levesque, Martina Mueller, Julie Anderson, Jennifer Gander, Gayenell Magwood Phd, Rn, Faha, Faan, Ahmed I. Kamal, Michael Jin Casey, Susan Newman Phd, Rn, Crrn, Faan

Publications

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic was directly associated with fewer additions to the kidney transplant waiting list and likely contributed to delays in transplant rates, particularly for African Americans. It remains unclear if the pandemic specifically had an impact on diagnostic testing time completion for African Americans being evaluated for kidney transplant waitlisting. AIMS: To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kidney transplant diagnostic test completion time and assess racial disparities between African American and White patients. DESIGN: This retrospective study analyzed data on patients approved for kidney transplantation at a southeastern academic medical center between January 2018 and …

Prognosis Of Early-Onset Alopecia Areata: An Evidence-Based Case Report, Sarah Qanita Edwar, Lili Legiawati, Stefani Reditya Anggraini, Ratu Siti Khadijah Sarah

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune, non-scarring hair loss disorder commonly affecting children and often characterized by a chronic or relapsing course. Early-onset AA has traditionally been associated with a poorer prognosis, although current evidence remains inconclusive. This evidence-based case report aims to evaluate the prognostic significance of early-onset AA by synthesizing available cohort data.

Methods: A structured literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, ProQuest, and Cochrane databases using a population, intervention, comparison, and outcome framework. Keywords included “alopecia areata”, “child”, “pediatrics”, “early-onset”, “recurrence”, and “prognosis”.

Results: Five retrospective cohort studies (n = 760) were included. …

Seeing Is Believing: Mental Imagery Amplifies Moral, Emotional, And Motivational Responding To Mentally Constructed Hypothetical Events, Julie L. Ji, Adam S. Radomsky, Jackie Andrade

School of Psychology

Mental imagery is theorised to support important mental simulation processes, yet there remains little direct evidence of its functional impact on affective, moral, and motivation outcomes. This study examined whether the ability to generate visual mental imagery amplifies “as-if-real” responding to a mentally constructed harm event. Using a modified laboratory harm provocation paradigm, Aphantasics (individuals with no or minimal visual imagery; N = 32) and Visualisers (those with normal to high imagery ability; N = 48) were asked to write down the sentence “I hope [name of a loved one] is in a car accident”, followed by instructed mental simulation …

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Diagnostic Testing Time Completion For African American End Stage Renal Disease (Esrd) Patients Being Evaluated For Kidney Transplantation, Kesha Levesque, Martina Mueller, Julie Anderson, Jennifer Gander, Gayenell Magwood Phd, Rn, Faha, Faan, Ahmed I. Kamal, Michael Jin Casey, Susan Newman Phd, Rn, Crrn, Faan

Publications

PURPOSE:

The COVID-19 pandemic was directly associated with fewer additions to the kidney transplant waiting list and likely contributed to delays in transplant rates, particularly for African Americans. It remains unclear if the pandemic specifically had an impact on diagnostic testing time completion for African Americans being evaluated for kidney transplant waitlisting.

AIMS:

To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kidney transplant diagnostic test completion time and assess racial disparities between African American and White patients.

DESIGN:

This retrospective study analyzed data on patients approved for kidney transplantation at a southeastern academic medical center between January 2018 and …

“Cutting-Off With My Family Is Never An Option In My Mind”: An Exploration Of Navigating Identity, Connections And Relational Resilience In Family And Intimate Relationships For Transgender Asian Americans, Jixuan Zhao

Dissertations - ALL

Transgender Asian Americans navigate gender identity within complex cultural, familial, and relational contexts shaped by collectivist values, racialized stereotypes, and social stigma. Despite increasing research on transgender experiences, limited scholarship has explored how transgender Asian Americans understand and negotiate their identities within family and intimate relationships. Grounded in Minority Stress Model and intersectionality theory, the current study, adopted strength-based perspectives, aims to understand unique experience related to familial and intimate relationships as well as their supports, and how they manage their relational needs as well as resilience process, shaped by the intersection of transgender identity and racial/ethnic identity. Through semi-structured …

Talking From The Soul: Exploring The Impact Of African American Vernacular English (Aave) In Digital News On Black Youth Political Behavior, Ananda Collins

Dissertations - ALL

Black youth have a long history of political engagement yet consistently report the lowest levels of traditional forms of political participation in the entire U.S electorate. While social media has emerged as an alternative political space, structural and linguistic barriers continue to limit their engagement. This dissertation examines whether African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in digital political news media influences the political behavior of young Black Americans. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines a survey experiment and in-depth interviews, this study tests whether political news written in AAVE, compared to Standard American English (SAE), affects political engagement, information retention, and …

Tomboys In Dystopia: An Analysis Of Gendered Traits In Ya Dystopian Literature, Bethany H. Jenkins

English Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity

This thesis explores the world of young adult dystopian literature. Katniss (Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games), Tris (Veronica Roth’s Divergent) and Tierney (Kim Liggett’s The Grace Year) are all tomboy protagonists living in a dystopian society. Apart from the expected challenges of living in a dystopia, being a tomboy means facing conflicts that are a result of their gender non-conformity. Drawing heavily from the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, each protagonist is analyzed within the context of their own story to identify feminine and masculine traits that they express. These traits’ impact on the events of the story is …

Complex Question Analysis In Voice Commands Using Generate Sql For Database Searching, P. Prabaswara, D. Wardani

Baghdad Science Journal

The definition of a complex question is a long sentence with many focal points that may have many answers, involve many entities, or use non-standard linguistic constructs. Complex questions can be obtained from voice commands. It will help some people with blindness or visual impairments. Voice commands have become a mandatory feature of applications, including the basic one to access databases. In this work, the Generate Structured Query Language Configuration (GSC) approach was developed to answer complex questions in the Indonesian language. The non-learning approach was chosen as the learning process needs costly computation and is inappropriate for low-resource languages. …

Grit, Self-Assessment, And Second Language Proficiency: A Large-Scale Examination Using Data From The Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource, Andrew T. Skoy

Theses and Dissertations

Grit has been defined as being "perseverance and passion for long-term goals" (Duckworth et al., 2007). Research has tied grit to success in the discipline of second language acquisition (SLA), where researchers have adapted Duckworth's general grit self-assessment instrument to capture measurements of grit within second language learners (Teimouri et al., 2022). Such a scale appears on the Language Ability Self-Evaluation Resource (LASER), a standardized language proficiency test developed by researcher at Brigham Young University. With the aim of replicating the studies that were done to validate the design of the LASER, responses to the grit-measuring section of the test …

A Black Feminist Materialist Consideration Of Reconstruction Era Education In Virginia March - August 1866, Lida Colón

Dissertations - ALL

In this archival study of outgoing correspondence from the Superintendent for Freedmen's Schools in Virginia, I developed a Black feminist intervention into New Materialisms in writing studies that names the material conditions of Reconstruction era education beyond the settler colonial narratives of federal archives. In doing so, I aimed to develop a frame of reference for navigating our contemporary teaching conditions as antiracist writing pedagogues. I aimed to address three overarching research questions for this dissertation: (1) What context for our own material conditions can be provided from an examination of Reconstruction era education? (2) What context can be provided …

Racial Differences In Hiv Testing And Hiv Infection Among Adults With Seborrheic Dermatitis In Atlanta, Georgia, Olivia Elizabeth Collins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

Ghanaian Men's Experiences With The Police In The United States, Martin Gbadago

Research Papers

While previous research has examined the police encounters of various immigrant populations and the general U.S. population, the specific experiences of Ghanaian men remain largely unknown. This study explored the police experiences of Ghanaian men in the United States. Using in-depth interviews, conducted via Zoom, with fifteen Ghanaian men, aged 27 to 48, this study investigated their encounters with U.S. police, perceptions of law enforcement, experiences of racial profiling, mistreatment, and violence, and the impact of their immigrant status on their encounters with the police.  Analysis of interview data shows that Ghanaian men’s experiences with U.S. police vary based on …

Exploring Pediatric Leprosy In An Endemic Area: Case Series Of Eight Patients In Indonesia, Gitalisa Andayani Adriono, Tri Rahayu, Sri Linuwih Sw Menaldi, Nelfidayani Nelfidayani, Retno Sulistyo Wardani, Kahlil Gibran, Malika Sabrina Yunifananda, Kartika Qonita Putri, Yunia Irawati

Journal of General - Procedural Dermatology and Venereology Indonesia

Background: Leprosy remains a significant public health concern in endemic regions such as Indonesia. Children are particularly vulnerable due to their naive immunity and close familial contacts. This study aims to report cases of pediatric leprosy in Lembata, Indonesia, focusing on clinical characteristics and associated risk factors.

Case Illustration: A case series of eight pediatric patients (<15 >years) diagnosed with leprosy was conducted during a community-based screening program in Lembata, Indonesia, in 2022. Of 140 individuals examined, 8 were children. Most patients were male (6/8) with a mean age of 11.75 years. Multibacillary (MB) leprosy predominated (7/8), and a history …

Folr1-Targeted Actinium-225-Based Alpha-Particle Therapy Eliminates Ovarian Cancer, Neetu Singh, Esther Need, Ayden Berndt, Matthew Goff, Lydia J. Wilson, Firas Mourtada, Feng Guo, Tara Mastren, Taslim Al-Hilal, Anil K. Sood, Amit Maity, Scott C. Miller, Satoshi Minoshima, Shreya Goel, Sixiang Shi

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Despite the advancement in therapies, ovarian cancer treatment is challenging because of poor prognosis and high relapse associated with acquired resistance. Emerging targeted alpha particles, particularly actinium-225 (225Ac), for treating refractory cancers have opened avenues for improved therapeutic options. Here, we describe a successful example of folate receptor 1 (FOLR1)–targeted 225Ac alpha-particle therapy for treatment of ovarian cancer. Longitudinal positron emission tomography imaging demonstrated high tumor-specific uptake of αFOLR1 (anti-FOLR1 antibody) in SKOV3 xenografts. FOLR1-targeted 225Ac demonstrated high therapeutic efficacy, achieving marked tumor regression, 80% survival, and 40% complete tumor elimination. The therapy resulted in tumor-specific double-stranded DNA damage, and …

Online Rights Defense Among Chinese Americans Against Racial Aggression In The U.S. During The Covid-19, Fangzhu Lu, Wenshan Jia

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose

This study investigates how Chinese American communities responded to heightened racial discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing social media platforms to safeguard their civil rights, articulate collective concerns, and mobilize resistance against racial aggression.

Methodology

Through qualitative case study analysis, the research examines the social media activities of six advocacy organizations, including three X accounts (WashTheHate, Chinese for Affirmative Action, Asian Americans Advancing Justice) and three Instagram accounts (Stop AAPI Hate, Stop Asian Hate, Advancing Justice: AAJC). The analysis focuses on the content strategies and communication mechanisms employed to counteract racial hostility.

Findings

The selected organizations used social …

The Unintended Consequences Of Deregulating Confidential Treatments, Jiahui Han

Dissertations - ALL

This paper examines how the SEC’s deregulation of confidential treatment under the FAST Act affected firms’ material contract redaction behavior and the broader economic consequences associated with disclosure opacity. Using a large sample of SEC filings, I document that confidential treatment is positively associated with both product market competition and lower 10-K readability, suggesting that redaction reflects both proprietary protection incentives and broader disclosure opacity. Further analyses using abnormal file size show that discretionary disclosure complexity remains significantly associated with redaction behavior after controlling for firms’ underlying economic complexity and reporting environment. I further find that the association between redaction …