Digital Commons Network^™

The Value And Significance Of Nucleolar Organizer Region Proteins As Markers Of Malignancy In Breast Cancer Patients, Magdi M. Salih, Dooaa A. Abdulgafor, Haytham A. Dahlawi, Eman H. Khalifa

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To assess argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) in 60 patients with primary breast carcinoma and evaluated their association with clinical prognostic parameters of breast cancer. Methods: Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions were stained in paraffin sections of the tissues using Ploton’s silver method. For each sample, the number of AgNORs within the nuclei of 100 tumor cells was counted. The average number of AgNORs per nucleus was calculated, and the results were expressed as mean. Results: The number of AgNORs was significantly higher in breast invasive ductal carcinoma (6.6) compared to benign breast tumors (fewer than 2.0). However, differences in …

Role Of Sonography In Detection And Evaluation Of Post Liver Transplant Complications, Muna M. Babikir, Mohammed H. Alkhalaf, Magda M. Babiker, Ali A. Alyami, Abdulaziz I. Alrashed, Abdullah A. Alhajeri, Najla M. Alkhelaiwi

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To evaluate the role of sonography in revealing and characterizing liver transplant complications based on gray scale and color Doppler, describe the normal Doppler findings, and discuss the significance of distinguishing normal transient changes in the spectral waveform from findings that may suggests ominous complications. Methods: We carried out a retrospective cross-sectional study at Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The medical records and imaging studies of a total of 122 candidates who underwent transplantation between January 2016 to February 2022 were reviewed. Results: Our results showed that most patients were males with the most frequent age …

Rate Of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency In Neonatal Indirect Hyperbilirubinemia At A Private Tertiary Centre, Hussain M. Alhiwaishil, Mohammed A. Alghareeb, Ammar S. Alkhars, Taha H. Abdalla, Abdulhadi A. Almohsen, Abbas Al Mutair

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To investigate the rate of hospitalized neonates with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency presented with indirect hyperbilirubinemia at a private tertiary center in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia, over 4 years and to compare the characteristics of G6PD-deficient and normal neonates admitted for indirect hyperbilirubinemia. Methods: The retrospective case control study was carried out at Almoosa Specialist Hospital, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from Yassasi Medical System from 2018-2021 and finalized in 2024. The study included 2 groups: G6PD-normal and G6PD-deficient neonates with indirect hyperbilirubinemia not having recognizable triggers of hemolysis. The analysis focused on serum bilirubin levels, direct bilirubin levels, …

Daily Stress, Problematic Social Media Use, And Executive Functions: A Daily Diary Approach, Wee Qin Ng

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

A growing body of research suggests that daily stress may be a risk factor for problematic social media use. However, findings concerning the relation between stress and social media use are mixed, suggesting the presence of moderators that may buffer the relation between stress and problematic social media use. Further, previous studies have relied on either cross-sectional designs or longitudinal designs that may not fully capture daily experiences of stressors and social media use. To overcome these limitations, the present study utilized a 7-day daily diary study to investigate the within-individual associations between daily stress and problematic social media use. …

Ecosystem-Oriented Development Of New Energy Vehicle Industry And Its Spillover Effects, Jianli Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The vigorous development of the manufacturing industry, along with advancements in technologies such as the Internet, has propelled the growth of China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, and exhibited characteristics of ecosystem-oriented development, which has brought positive impacts on both China's economic and social development. Benefiting from China's policy environment and developmental foundation, the Chinese automotive industry has achieved a leapfrog development in the field of new energy, with China ranking first in global sales and the penetration rate of NEVs continuously increasing. As power batteries and other domains continue to improve and intelligent driving technologies make constant breakthroughs, NEVs …

Understanding The Governance And Inheritance Mechanism Of Fujian Merchants From The Perspective Of Modern Economics, Feiyan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Under the general background of globalization and market economy, Chinese enterprises are embracing advanced governance models around the world, and facing the challenge of effectively combining them with local culture. In the history of China, Fujian (Min) merchants formed a famous commercial group, leaving modern enterprises some precious enlightenment in its unique governance and inheritance mechanism. This research will extensively explore the governance mechanism of Fujian commercial group and assess its potentials and enlightenment for application in the system of modern enterprises. This research aims to provide theoretical and practical guidance for the development of a governance model matching with …

How Does Highly Educated Chinese Woman’S Endorsement Of Traditional Family Values Impact Her Well-Being?, Qiong Zhou

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

With global advancements in gender equality and open-minded influence, Chinese women now have more opportunities to pursue higher education or independent work. However, there is a question of whether Chinese traditional family value still impacts Chinese women’s lives, thus affecting women's individual well-being.

Based on the results of a questionnaire survey and regression analysis of 301 highly educated Chinese women, we find that the endorsement of traditional family values by these women can indirectly affect their individual well-being through their engagement in job and family; that is, their achievements and satisfactions of job, family and self will be impacted by …

The Impact Of S2b2c Model On The Performance Of Chain Enterprises, Qingyang Zhao

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

As the economy is highly developed today, enterprises are studying how to improve channel efficiency, customer loyalty, and supply chain stability along the value chain to ensure their competitive advantages. By observing the development of key chain-operated enterprises in China over the past 20 years, this study proposes to examine the impact of constructing an S2B2C model on corporate performance. A foundational theory has been established, and a theoretical framework has been analyzed. Following a logical order from the abstract to the concrete and from theory to practice, a combination of case studies and empirical analysis is employed to evaluate …

Evaluation Of Liver Fibrosis On Grayscale Ultrasound In A Pediatric Population Using A Cloud-Based Transfer Learning Artificial Intelligence Platform, Amr Mohammed, Aylin Tahmasebi, Sooji Kim, Mostafa Alnoury, Corinne E. Wessner, Tania Siu Xiao, Sharon W. Gould, Lauren A. May, Heidi Kecskemethy, David T. Saul, John R. Eisenbrey

Department of Radiology Faculty Papers

Objectives: The incidence of chronic liver diseases in children is increasing worldwide due to congenital, metabolic, autoimmune and viral diseases. Currently, liver biopsy for fibrosis assessment is considered the gold standard. However, this procedure is invasive, may result in unavoidable complications and is prone to sampling errors. These limitations have led to an increasing demand for noninvasive methods for fibrosis screening. Artificial intelligence integration in ultrasound diagnosis of liver fibrosis has gained interest in clinical research. In the current study we used a cloud-based artificial intelligence platform utilizing transfer learning to evaluate the accuracy of B-mode ultrasound based AI model …

Mormons And Their Neighbors, Marvin E. Wiggins

ScholarsArchive Data

The included files contain a list of books about members and history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Leveraging Imitation Learning In Agricultural Robotics: A Comprehensive Survey And Comparative Analysis, Siavash Mahmoudi, Amirreza Davar, Pouya Sohrabipour, Ramesh Bahadur Bist, Yang Tao, Dongyi Wang

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Imitation learning (IL), a burgeoning frontier in machine learning, holds immense promise across diverse domains. In recent years, its integration into robotics has sparked significant interest, offering substantial advancements in autonomous control processes. This paper presents an exhaustive insight focusing on the implementation of imitation learning techniques in agricultural robotics. The survey rigorously examines varied research endeavors utilizing imitation learning to address pivotal agricultural challenges. Methodologically, this survey comprehensively investigates multifaceted aspects of imitation learning applications in agricultural robotics. The survey encompasses the identification of agricultural tasks that can potentially be addressed through imitation learning, detailed analysis of specific models …

Unlocking The Vote: Hopkins V. Hosemann As A Catalyst For Restoring Voting Rights To Nonviolent Felons, Emily K. Abrams

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Multi-Level Factors Associated With Hiv Late Presentation With Advanced Disease And Delay Time Of Diagnosis In South Carolina, 2005–2019, Fanghui Shi, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Shujie Chen, Xueying Yang Ph.D., Zhenlong Li, Sharon Weissman, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study explored individual- and county-level risk factors of late presentation with advanced disease (LPAD) among people with HIV (PWH) and their longer delay time from infection to diagnosis in South Carolina (SC), using SC statewide Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System (eHARS). LPAD was defined as having an AIDS diagnosis within three months of initial HIV diagnosis, and delay time from HIV infection to diagnosis was estimated using CD4 depletion model. 3,733 (41.88%) out of 8,913 adult PWH diagnosed from 2005 to 2019 in SC were LPAD, and the median delay time was 13.04 years. Based on the generalized estimating equations …

Reframing And Advancing Academic Mentorship To Support New And Early Career Faculty Members, Juanita-Dawne R. Bacsu, Patricia C. Heyn, Steffi Kim, Zahra Rahemi, Monique J. Brown, Darina V. Petrovsky, Justine S. Sefcik, Jodi L. Southerland, Jeremy Holloway, Elyse Couch, Ayse Malatyali, Matthew L. Smith

Faculty Publications

Mentorship is critical to fostering professional growth and career development in academia. However, academic mentorship is often an informal activity that is overlooked and under researched. There is much ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding mentorship roles and strategies in academia. This paper provides recommendations and strategies to reframe and advance academic mentorship to support new and early career faculty.

Allura Red Ac Is A Xenobiotic. Is It Also A Carcinogen?, Lorne J. Hofseth Ph.D., James Hébert Scd, Elizabeth Angela Murphy, Erica Trauner, Athul Vikas, Quinn Harris, Alexander A. Chumanevich

Faculty Publications

Merriam-Webster and Oxford define a xenobiotic as any substance foreign to living systems. Allura Red AC (a.k.a., E129; FD&C Red No. 40), a synthetic food dye extensively used in manufacturing ultra-processed foods and therefore highly prevalent in our food supply, falls under this category. The surge in synthetic food dye consumption during the 70s and 80s was followed by an epidemic of metabolic diseases and the emergence of early-onset colorectal cancer in the 1990s. This temporal association raises significant concerns, particularly given the widespread inclusion of synthetic food dyes in ultra-processed products, notably those marketed toward children. Given its interactions …

Allura Red Ac Is A Xenobiotic. Is It Also A Carcinogen?, Lorne J. Hofseth, James R. Hébert Scd, Elizabeth Angela Murphy, Erica Trauner, Athul Vikas, Quinn Harris, Alexander A. Chumanevich

Faculty Publications

Merriam-Webster and Oxford define a xenobiotic as any substance foreign to living systems. Allura Red AC (a.k.a., E129; FD&C Red No. 40), a synthetic food dye extensively used in manufacturing ultra-processed foods and therefore highly prevalent in our food supply, falls under this category. The surge in synthetic food dye consumption during the 70s and 80s was followed by an epidemic of metabolic diseases and the emergence of early-onset colorectal cancer in the 1990s. This temporal association raises significant concerns, particularly given the widespread inclusion of synthetic food dyes in ultra-processed products, notably those marketed toward children. Given its interactions …

Leads Data Insights: Equity — October 2024, University Of North Dakota

LEADS Development Documents

October 2024 Data Insights presentation for the EQUITY core value of UND LEADS. The slides review Equity-related Activity Inventory coverage and summarize data on differential student retention and degree-completion outcomes, textbook and course-resource costs, and student subpopulation trends.

Surviving The Rule Of Reason: An Antitrust Analysis Of Employment Noncompetes, Erin Lee

Fordham Law Review

When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a rule banning noncompete agreements as unfair methods of competition, it reinvigorated debates regarding the purpose of federal antitrust law. At its core, federal antitrust law seeks to preserve a competitive economy and promote new entry into the marketplace, primarily to protect consumer interest. Under President Biden’s administration, the FTC has increased its efforts to expand the scope of antitrust protection beyond consumer welfare by applying it to other public policy concerns, such as employee mobility. The FTC points to noncompete agreements as detrimental constraints to employees’ economic freedoms. In practice, employment noncompetes …

Bridging The False Certification Gap: Why “Resulting From” In The 2010 Aks Amendment Requires But-For Causation, Alexandra Wildman

Fordham Law Review

Before 2010, violators of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) could avoid False Claims Act (FCA) liability if claims for items or services borne of their kickback scheme were submitted to federal healthcare programs by a third party. In 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress attempted to close this loophole in the FCA by amending the AKS. Under the amendment’s terms, claims submitted to federal healthcare programs for items or services “resulting from” an AKS scheme are false for the purposes of establishing FCA liability, regardless of who submitted the claims.

Although the amendment widened the FCA liability …

A Rose Or A Unicorn? Asean’S Mission Under The Spotlight, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In a commentary, SMU President Professor Lily Kong explores the question posed by political scientist Donald Emmerson in 1995 - is Southeast Asia more like a vibrant rose or an elusive unicorn? Against the backdrop of the 44th ASEAN Summit, with the theme "Connectivity and Resilience", Prof Kong highlights ASEAN's efforts in fostering regional connectivity and resilience through economic growth, cultural exchanges, and digital advancements. Despite substantial economic integration and digital connectivity, she points out that ASEAN faces challenges in creating a cohesive regional identity. The piece argues for deeper cultural engagement and a focus on shared values to build …

Fulcrum, Newsletter Of The Furman University Libraries. Issue 21, Madeline Eastergard, Kathie Sloan

Libraries Institutional Records

Paladin Legacy Project: Preserving the Stories of Furman's Student Organizations

From the Director

Furman Library Presents 'Medieval Manuscripts' Exhibition

Libraries Receive Gift of 17th and 18th Century Literature

Enhancing Library Student Assistant Training: A New Era Begins

Meet Our New Library Team Members

A Heartwarming Story Pulled from the Digital Archives

Furman Libraries Welcome Music Librarians for Conference

Publish Open Access with Transformative Agreements

Cothran Center Conversations Now Online

What We're Reading

When Truth Is No Longer A Casualty Of Myth: Américo Paredes And The Texas Rangers, Manuel F. Medrano

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Linkage Between Fuz And Gpr161 Genes Regulates Sonic Hedgehog Signaling During Mouse Neural Tube Development, Sung-Eun Kim, Hyun-Yi Kim, Bogdan J Wlodarczyk, Richard H Finnell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling regulates embryonic morphogenesis utilizing the primary cilium, the cell's antenna, which acts as a signaling hub. Fuz, an effector of planar cell polarity signaling, regulates Shh signaling by facilitating cilia formation, and the G protein-coupled receptor 161 (Gpr161) is a negative regulator of Shh signaling. The range of phenotypic malformations observed in mice bearing mutations in either of the genes encoding these proteins is similar; however, their functional relationship has not been previously explored. This study identified the genetic and biochemical linkage between Fuz and Gpr161 in mouse neural tube development. Fuz was found to be …

Anger Outbursts In Youth With Asd And Anxiety: Phenomenology And Relationship With Family Accommodation, Allie N Townsend, Andrew G Guzick, Alyssa G Hertz, Connor M Kerns, Wayne K Goodman, Leandra N Berry, Philip C Kendall, Jeffrey J Wood, Eric A Storch

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anger outbursts (AO) are associated with severe symptoms, impairment and poorer treatment outcomes for anxious children, though limited research has examined AO in youth with co-occurring autism and anxiety disorders. This study examined AO in children with autism and anxiety by evaluating clinical characteristics, family accommodation, and changes in AO following anxiety-focused treatment. The sample comprised 167 youth with autism and anxiety enrolled in a multi-site randomized clinical trial comparing standard care CBT for anxiety, CBT adapted for youth with autism, and usual care. Most participants (60%) had AO, which contributed to impairment above and beyond anxiety and autism. AO …

Viability Discrimination Of Bacterial Microbiomes In Home Kitchen Dish Sponges Using Propidium Monoazide Treatment, Christina K Carstens, Joelle K Salazar, Shreela Sharma, Wenyaw Chan, Charles Darkoh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Dish sponges are known to support the proliferation of human bacterial pathogens, yet they are commonly used by consumers. Exposure to foodborne pathogens via sponge use may lead to illness, a serious concern among susceptible populations. The extent of exposure risks from sponge use has been limited by constraints associated with culture-independent or dependent methods for bacterial community characterization. Therefore, five used dish sponges were characterized to evaluate the presence of viable bacterial foodborne pathogens using the novel application of propidium monoazide (PMA) treatment and targeted 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Select pathogen viability was confirmed using targeted selective enrichment. …

Regulation Of Fibrinogen Synthesis, Dre'von A Dobson, Richard J Fish, Paul S De Vries, Alanna C Morrison, Marguerite Neerman-Arbez, Alisa S Wolberg

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The plasma protein fibrinogen is encoded by 3 structural genes (FGA, FGB, and FGG) that are transcribed to mRNA, spliced, and translated to 3 polypeptide chains (Aα, Bβ, and γ, respectively). These chains are targeted for secretion, decorated with post-translational modifications, and assembled into a hexameric “dimer of trimers” (AαBβγ)2. Fully assembled fibrinogen is secreted into the blood as a 340 kDa glycoprotein. Fibrinogen is one of the most prevalent coagulation proteins in blood, and its expression is induced by inflammatory cytokines, wherein circulating fibrinogen levels may increase up to 3-fold during acute inflammatory events. Abnormal …

Ficture: Scalable Segmentation-Free Analysis Of Submicron-Resolution Spatial Transcriptomics, Yichen Si, Changhee Lee, Yongha Hwang, Jeong H Yun, Weiqiu Cheng, Chun-Seok Cho, Miguel Quiros, Asma Nusrat, Weizhou Zhang, Goo Jun, Sebastian Zöllner, Jun Hee Lee, Hyun Min Kang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Spatial transcriptomics (ST) technologies have advanced to enable transcriptome-wide gene expression analysis at submicron resolution over large areas. However, analysis of high-resolution ST is often challenged by complex tissue structure, where existing cell segmentation methods struggle due to the irregular cell sizes and shapes, and by the absence of segmentation-free methods scalable to whole-transcriptome analysis. Here we present FICTURE (Factor Inference of Cartographic Transcriptome at Ultra-high REsolution), a segmentation-free spatial factorization method that can handle transcriptome-wide data labeled with billions of submicron-resolution spatial coordinates and is compatible with both sequencing-based and imaging-based ST data. FICTURE uses the multilayered Dirichlet model …

Clonal Hematopoiesis Of Indeterminate Potential Is Associated With Reduced Risk Of Cognitive Impairment In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease, Cissy Xiao, Manjula Kurella Tamura, Yang Pan, Varun Rao, Celestin Missikpode, Caitlyn Vlasschaert, Tetsushi Nakao, Xiao Sun, Changwei Li, Zhijie Huang, Amanda Anderson, Md Mesbah Uddin, Do-Kyun Kim, Jonathan Taliercio, Rajat Deo, Zeenat Bhat, Dawei Xie, Panduranga Rao, Jing Chen, James P Lash, Jiang He, Pradeep Natarajan, James E Hixson, Kristine Yaffe, Tanika N Kelly, Cric Study Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) and dementia disproportionately burden patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The association between CHIP and cognitive impairment in CKD patients is unknown.

Methods: We conducted time-to-event analyses in up to 1452 older adults with CKD from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort who underwent CHIP gene sequencing. Cognition was assessed using four validated tests in up to 6 years mean follow-up time. Incident cognitive impairment was defined as a test score one standard deviation below the baseline mean.

Results: Compared to non-carriers, CHIP carriers were markedly less likely to experience impairment in attention (adjusted …

Sentiment Analysis Of Harry Potter: Exploring Ai Versus Human Interpretation, Xander Newman, Katherine Elkins

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

The project starts by examining whether a smaller window size of 5% allows the algorithm to determine cruxes and their sentiment more accurately than the standard 10% window size, using the passages identified by the crux report to assist me. I find that the smaller window size seems to be more accurate for the most part, but this is not always the case. Moreover, regardless of window size, the algorithm struggled with definitively assessing ambivalent sentiment, much like how a reader has their own interpretation of emotionally charged moments. Moreover, using the results of the 5% and 10% window size …

Human-Chatbot Interaction Patterns: A Topic Modeling Analysis Of 3,275 Conversations With Chatgpt, Hannah Sussman

IPHS 200: Programming Humanity

This research presents a topic modeling analysis of the WILDCHAT-FULL dataset, examining user interactions with ChatGPT across over one million conversations. The study focused specifically on extended conversations (five or more exchanges) between U.S.-based users and ChatGPT in English. Using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), I identified 50 distinct conversational topics with coherence scores ranging from -1.5 to -14.92 (mean: -4.47). The analysis revealed diverse interaction patterns spanning creative writing, jailbreaking (attempting to get ChatGPT to do something against its guidelines), technical discussions, business applications, and educational queries. A particularly striking finding was that creative writing and role-play scenarios dominated the …