Digital Commons Network^™

Designing A Telemedicine-Supported Delirium Triage Pathway For Skilled Nursing Facilities: An Evidence-Based Pilot Framework, Benjamin Antill, Eric W. Bean Do, Tara Fritch Ma, Kate Huck Mba, Nha

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Breastfeeding Allocation And Comparative Data Across Lvhn, Johnathan V Torikashvili, Autumn Kieber-Emmons Md, Mph

USF-LVHN SELECT

No abstract provided.

Mental Wellbeing Of Family Caregivers Of People Living With Mental Illness In Kenya: Who Cares? A Cross-Sectional Study, Norah Obungu, Fleur Meijer, Stanley Luchters

Family Medicine, East Africa

Background Although about 60% of patients with chronic mental health disorders in sub-Saharan Africa live with their relatives, burden amongst family caregivers has not been studied much. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with caregiver burden among family caregivers of patients with chronic mental illness attending two psychiatric care facilities in Nairobi, Kenya.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 284 systematically sampled participants who completed a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Zarit Burden Interview. Moderate to severe burden was defined as a ZBI score > 41. Independent associations were examined using bivariable and multivariable …

In Vitro Pharmacological Evaluation Of Novel Cmpi Derivatives As Selective Positive Allosteric Modulators Of The Alpha4 Beta2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor, Josue Gaona, Nataly Sanchez, Wilder Felix, Nathalia Menegasso, Brisa Cea, Ganesh Thakur, Ayman K. Hamouda

School of Medicine Student Publications and Presentations

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), where degeneration of dopaminergic and cholinergic neurons disrupts neurotransmission. The (α4)₃(β2)₂ nAChR subtype is expressed on affected neuronal populations and represents a promising therapeutic target. Positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) may enhance receptor function while preserving endogenous signaling. We evaluated chemical derivatives of CMPI [3-(2-chlorophenyl)-5-(5-methyl-1-(piperidin-4-yl)-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)isoxazol] as selective PAMs of (α4)₃(β2)₂ nAChRs. Two-electrode voltage-clamp recordings were performed in Xenopus laevis oocytes expressing defined receptor stoichiometries to assess potentiation and generate dose–response curves. Cytotoxicity was assessed in HEK cells using the MTT assay. Substitutions at the pyrazole …

Mechanistic Framework Of Wood Decomposition In Post-Storm Vegetative Debris Piles Using Continuous Quality Theory, Thomas T. Lee

Master's Theses

Storm events generate significant quantities of vegetative debris composed of wood, branches, twigs, and other organic materials. Efficient post-storm resource recovery and carbon accounting depend on reliable predictions of decomposition within these large, heterogeneous debris piles. While small-scale wood decay is well studied, decomposition dynamics within multi-layer debris piles remain poorly characterized, limiting municipalities' ability to estimate material longevity and resource recovery potential.

To address this gap, this study develops the WOOD_DK (Wood Organic Oxidation and DegraDation Kinetics) model, a preliminary, exploratory one-dimensional multilayer decomposition framework simulating coupled temperature, moisture, oxygen, and carbon dynamics in MATLAB. Microbial decomposition follows Continuous …

Single-Nucleus Transcriptomics, Pharmacokinetics, And Pharmacodynamics Of Cdk4/6 And Mtor Inhibition In A Phase 0/1 Trial Of Recurrent High-Grade Glioma., Kevin C Johnson, An-Chi Tien, Jun Jiang, James Mcnamara, Yu-Wei Chang, Chelsea Montgomery, Anita Desantis, Leonel Elena-Sanchez, Yoko Fujita, Seongho Kim, Avishay Spitzer, Paul Gabriel, William F Flynn, Elise T Courtois, Amy Hong, Jocelyn Harmon, Yoshie Umemura, Artak Tovmasyan, Jing Li, Shwetal Mehta, Roel G W Verhaak, Nader Sanai

Faculty Research 2026

BACKGROUND: Outcomes for adult patients with high-grade glioma (HGG) remain poor, necessitating new treatment strategies. Key challenges include poor drug penetration in the brain and malignant cell state plasticity. Phase 0 studies identify agents that achieve target modulation through pharmacologically relevant brain concentrations.

METHODS: A Phase 0/1 clinical trial combined the 2 targeted inhibitors ribociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) and everolimus (mTOR inhibitor) in recurrent HGG patients, aiming to identify brain-penetrant combinations and assess their impact on malignant cell states. We enrolled 24 patients with recurrent HGG, characterized by CDKN2A/B deletion or CDK4/6 amplification, PTEN loss or PIK3CA mutations, and wildtype retinoblastoma …

Meta-Analysis Of Genetic Mapping Studies In Mice Reveals Candidate Epilepsy Modifier Genes That Are Outside The Current Drug Development Landscape., Giovanna L Durante, Anna L. Tyler, Rod C Scott, Amanda E Hernan, J Matthew Mahoney

Faculty Research 2026

OBJECTIVE: Despite decades of development in anti-seizure medications, ~30% of individuals remain refractory to all treatments, and none of the existing therapies are disease modifying. Identifying targets outside the current preclinical paradigm is critically important. This study aimed to characterize the landscape of current epilepsy treatments at the level of gene interaction networks and identify novel genetic modifiers of epilepsy as potential novel therapeutic targets.

METHODS: We performed a functional network analysis to score genes based on their interactions with known epilepsy genes, and we integrated these functional scores with population genetics data and drug tractability information. In parallel, we …

Eeg Features And Rotterdam Head Ct Score Predict Early Favorable Outcome In Pediatric Severe Tbi, Xuexin Lu

Presentations

INTRODUCTION Accurate prognostication after pediatric severe TBI (sTBI) remains challenging. We examined the utility of continuous EEG (cEEG) and Rotterdam head CT score in predicting short-term favorable outcome. METHODS 7-yr (01/2018-12/2024) retrospective study of children aged 1.5-18 yrs admitted to our PICU with sTBI and receiving cEEG monitoring per institutional protocol. Early favorable outcome was defined as Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category scale 1-3 at PICU discharge. cEEG features (background, sleep architecture, reactivity, and seizure) during the 1st 12-hrs of monitoring and initial Rotterdam head CT scores were recorded. Demographics, GCS score, pupillary reactivity, injury severity score (ISS), clinical seizure, cardiac …

Bridging The Distance: Expanding Access To Mental Health Services In School, Griffin Gallagher, Arayah St John, Kaylie Svir

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

All students should have equitable access to mental health services in schools. In Minnesota, there has been an 11% increase in students experiencing long-term mental health challenges since 2016, and only 1 in 5 students receive the assistance they need. Students are experiencing a lack of access to mental health services in schools due to barriers of cost, transportation, shortage of support staff, and stigma. When mental health services are not provided in schools, this results in a decrease in school attendance, higher dropout rates, and negative school environments, affecting the long-term outcomes and needs of the child. Mental health …

Housing After Recovery: Expanding Access For Justice-Involved Individuals, Calvin Parzych, Melinda Gillen, Juliet Worayewaa, Mikayla Witter

Master of Social Work Student Policy Advocacy Briefs

Every human being deserves access to safe, stable housing, especially individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. These individuals face significant barriers to stable housing, especially when their criminal records are considered by landlords. This can pose a risk to potential relapse, homelessness, and overall struggle to maintain recovery. Addressing housing discrimination for all members of society, especially justice-involved individuals, can aid in resolving public health and social justice issues that continue to be a long-standing problem.

When You're Just Not "Indian" Enough: The Erosion Of Tribal Sovereignty In State V. Nobles And The Case For Deference To Tribes On Questions Of Indian Status, Daniel G. Sullivan

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hss 216 Introduction To Motivational Interviewing, Juline A. Koken

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus contains links to an OER textbook that was adopted for our Introduction to Motivational Interviewing course, along with additional links to OER videos and additional readings.

Hss 295, Juline A. Koken

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus contains links to existing OER materials as well as additonal readings for our HSS 295 Community Organizing class.

The Emerging And Evolving Evidence Supporting Creatine As An Ergogenic Aid: History And Applications, Chad Kerksick, Drew Gonzalez, Jeffrey Stout, Scott Forbes, Darren Candow, Tim Ziegenfuss, Ronald Marshall, René Schwesig, Richard Kreider

Faculty Scholarship

Background

Creatine is one of the most extensively studied ergogenic aids, with over three decades of research supporting its role in exercise performance, recovery, and health.

Methods

This narrative review summarizes the historical development of creatine supplementation and evaluates evidence regarding its mechanisms, efficacy across active, athletic populations (e.g. strength, endurance, team-sport), and tactical (e.g. military, law enforcement) populations, and its safety profile.

Results

The evidence suggests that creatine enhances phosphocreatine resynthesis and cellular energy availability, resulting in consistent improvements in high-intensity exercise performance, training adaptations, lean body mass, strength, and power. Additional findings indicate that creatine may attenuate exercise-induced …

Analyzing Access To Livelihood Opportunities Among Migrants, Refugees And Asylum-Seekers In Egypt, Sara Sadek, Nada Hegazy, Shaimaa Gheith, Mahmoud Mansour

Faculty Journal Articles

The study “Access to livelihood opportunities among migrants, refugees and asylum- seekers in Egypt,” was conducted under the framework of the Egyptian Migration Hub (EHUB) project. It focused on underscoring the prospects of challenges with regards to the employment of such groups in the informal labor economy in Egypt considering the current limitations in the legal framework. The study adopted a qualitative method including 46 KIIs and 46 FGDs conducted in three governorates: Greater Cairo, Alexandria and Damietta. In December 2024 the law 164 governing refugee and asylum issues in Egypt was enacted with Article 18 stipulating the right to …

Argument-Based Consistency In Toxicity Explanations Of Llms, Ramaravind K. Mothilal, Joanna Roy, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Shion Guha

Health Services and Informatics Research

The discourse around toxicity and LLMs in NLP largely revolves around detection tasks. This work shifts the focus to evaluating LLMs’ reasoning about toxicity—from their explanations that justify a stance—to enhance their trustworthiness in downstream tasks. Despite extensive research on explainability, it is not straightforward to adopt existing methods to evaluate free-form toxicity explanation due to their over-reliance on input text perturbations, among other challenges. To account for these, we propose a novel, theoretically-grounded multi-dimensional criterion, Argument-based Consistency (ArC), that measures the extent to which LLMs’ free-form toxicity explanations reflect an ideal and logical argumentation process. Based on uncertainty quantification, …

Table Of Contents, Editorial Board, Law School Faculty And Administration

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Behind Every Case Is A Conversation, Donna Shestowsky

Nevada Law Journal

Lawyers play a central role in guiding clients through critical decisions that shape the trajectory of litigation. Among the most consequential of these is the choice of procedures by which disputes will be resolved—whether through trial, mediation, arbitration, or other mechanisms. Despite the weight of these decisions, legal scholarship offers little guidance on how lawyers might structure conversations about procedural options. This Article seeks to address that gap by drawing on empirical research from psychology and related disciplines to develop recommendations for educating and counseling clients—particularly those with little or no prior exposure to the civil justice system—so that they …

Systemic Functioning Of Puerto Rican Families With A Cancer Patient: A Qualitative-Oriented Mixed-Methods Study, Nicole M. Velez-Agosto

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Systemic family interventions of Latino families with a cancer patient have been suggested as effective and necessary, but few studies have focused on evaluating systemic functioning to design culturally relevant interventions. The purpose of study was to assess systemic functioning in Puerto Rican families with a cancer patient using the Spanish translated version of the Family Genogram Interview (FGI) that measures Bowen’s four emotional processes in nuclear family and family of origin. Fifty-one Puerto Rican participants related to a cancer patient were interviewed. Results suggested an acceptable reliability for the FGI-Spanish and higher presence of symptoms in a spouse or …

Scoping Review: Facilitators, Barriers, And Cultural Adaptations In The Caregiver Skills Training Program For Children With Developmental Concerns, Cecilia Montiel-Nava, Maria C. Montenegro, Ana C. Ramirez, Victoria Villarreal, Lucia Murillo Chacko, Pamela Dixon, Sarah Dababnah

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Autism interventions are predominantly developed in high-income countries, limiting access for families in low- and middle-income countries due to systemic, cultural, and logistical barriers. The Caregiver Skills Training program aims to address this disparity by equipping caregivers with practical skills. This scoping review examines the cultural adaptations, facilitators, and barriers to the implementation of Caregiver Skills Training, focusing on its accessibility, feasibility, and acceptability. A comprehensive search of ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science identified eligible studies that reported cultural or linguistic adaptations of Caregiver Skills Training. Forward searches and manual reference checks supplemented the review. Data were extracted …

Predictive Validity Of The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-4 And Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Ii Severity Scale, Eric A. Storch, Ryan J. Mccarty, Maya Zehavi, Mahnoor Ahmad, Joseph D. Hovey, Isabella A. Cruz, Monica E. Ochoa, Nadeen Salhadar, Laura D. Seligman

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Efficient and accurate screening tools are crucial for improving early identification and treatment outcomes among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of two OCD screening measures: the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-4 (OCI-4) and the Florida Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-II (FOCI-II) severity scale. The measures were administered in a large transnational sample of Spanish speaking Latin American adults (N = 1696) with elevated obsessive-compulsive symptomatology. Participants completed diagnostic interviews (MINI and Y-BOCS) and self-report assessments across 23 sites in 11 countries. Both measures significantly distinguished OCD from non-OCD cases, with the FOCI-II demonstrating somewhat better predictive performance (AUC = …

Understanding Desired Greater Collaboration Ties, Seong Won Yang, Giuseppe Labianca, James A. Coutinho, Andrew Pilny, Daniel J. Brass, Carlo J. Labianca

Sociology Faculty Publications

Whereas organizational network studies infer employees’ agentic desires through observed network changes, we capture desires to collaborate more closely with co-workers directly through a survey. We argue that formal structures create workflow dependencies between employees as they gather others’ inputs to complete their tasks, and individuals desire to alter their networks to manage those dependencies using the following two main collaborative approaches: (1) collaborating more intensely with existing formal workflow network partners; and (2) engaging in bypassing approaches with specific partners outside of their prescribed formal workflow. We found that employees pursued a tie-strengthening approach with formal partners they already …

Mainstreaming Mistrust: The Shift In Us Vaccine Policy Under The Trump Administration, Sanjin Musa, Amy Estlund, Megan A. Berman

Faculty Scholarship

Department of Health and Human Services led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., represents a significant departure from long-standing public health norms. This commentary explores how historically marginalized anti-vaccine activism has moved into the mainstream of government oversight. Key actions driving this transition include the wholesale replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the departure of senior CDC officials, and the public questioning of established childhood immunization schedules. Furthermore, the administration has ceased financial support for global health entities like the World Health Organization and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, while canceling funding for innovative mRNA vaccine platforms. 

These domestic policy …

Meta-Analysis Of Genetic Mapping Studies In Mice Reveals Candidate Epilepsy Modifier Genes That Are Outside The Current Drug Development Landscape., Giovanna L Durante, Anna L. Tyler, Rod C Scott, Amanda E Hernan, J Matthew Mahoney

Faculty Research 2026

OBJECTIVE: Despite decades of development in anti-seizure medications, ~30% of individuals remain refractory to all treatments, and none of the existing therapies are disease modifying. Identifying targets outside the current preclinical paradigm is critically important. This study aimed to characterize the landscape of current epilepsy treatments at the level of gene interaction networks and identify novel genetic modifiers of epilepsy as potential novel therapeutic targets.

METHODS: We performed a functional network analysis to score genes based on their interactions with known epilepsy genes, and we integrated these functional scores with population genetics data and drug tractability information. In parallel, we …

The Indian Law Aunties, Torey Dolan

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Resisting Overcompliance, Meera E. Deo

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Glp-1 Drugs And The Emerging Mass Tort Crisis: Navigating Legal Risks And Regulatory Gaps, Angelina Ferrara

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Grwd1 Inhibits Nucleolar Stress And Reduces The Sensitivity Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma To Oxaliplatin., Yuanyuan Li, Yumeng Wu, Shenghuan Zuo, Wenjing Zhao, Jibin Liu, Yilang Wang, Xiubing Zhang, Jian Xu, Feng Sun, Dianzheng Zhang, Shudong Zhu, Aiguo Shen

PCOM Scholarly Works

No abstract available

Can We Refute A Role For Infections In Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis?, Zena K Chatila, Michael R Duggan, Esther Silberberg, Juan Fernandez, Lavinia A Auber, Elizabeth M Bradshaw, Nikki M. Schultek

PCOM Scholarly Works

While a growing body of literature suggests a role for infections in Alzheimer's disease (AD), microbial contributions to AD remains a contentious topic, in part due to challenges in reconciling the positive evidence with studies reporting null findings. Here, we examine the evidence that argues against a role for infections in AD, while offering mechanistic hypotheses that may account for both the negative and positive findings, including dysregulated host immunity and gene-environment interactions of AD-associated genes.