Digital Commons Network^™

Resources And Strategies Needed To Address The Problem Of Child Labor In Erbil, Kurdistan Region Of Iraq, Evan Faiq

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Child labor is an international practice that has been on the rise in some parts of the world including Erbil, the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the different resources needed but not available for the victims, how child labor has impacted the community, and how the criminal justice system can better approach the child labor issue and reduce it in Erbil, Kurdistan region of Iraq. Social conflict theory was used to guide the study. Data were collected from 15 interviews with individuals from different areas of the criminal justice department, local organizations …

Improving Screening Of Social Drivers Of Health In A Subspecialty Pediatric Cardiology Clinic, Gloria Mlewa Okorley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

N/A

Sociocultural Factors Influencing Excess Gestational Weight Gain In Pregnant Puerto Rican Women, Sonia O. Roselló Aponte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 50% of women experience excessive weight gain during pregnancy or are overweight at the start of pregnancy, increasing their risk of short and long-term maternal and fetal complications. The literature highlights the relationship between sociocultural factors and excessive gestational weight gain (EGWG) and the need to explore these factors in ethnic subgroups. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study, guided by Nola Pender’s health promotion model, was to explore the sociocultural factors that influence EGWG for pregnant women living in Puerto Rico. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants recruited from public and private prenatal clinics in Puerto …

Strategies For Addressing Junior College Attrition Among Female African American Nontraditional Students, Antweshia Hawes-Wood

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Female African American nontraditional students (25+ years with family and work demands) have high attrition rates, they leave degree programs before graduating, worsening socioeconomic disparities. This phenomenological study described their experiences with support services, which shaped student self-efficacy related to completing programs, and identified what changes were needed to improve support for higher graduation rates among female African American nontraditional students participating in 2-year degree programs offered by junior colleges. Guided by Bean’s industrial model of student attrition and Fishbein and Aizen’s importance of intention model, the study posed two research questions: What are the lived experiences of female nontraditional …

Community Factors And County-Level Cancer Screening, Prevalence, And Mortality, Alexandra R. Drake, Eric W. Christensen, Augusto C. Ochoa, William Small, Jinel Scott, Elizabeth Y. Rula

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

IMPORTANCE Cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality vary across US counties; the broad set of community factors associated with these differences are not well understood. OBJECTIVE To assess the relative importance of diverse community measures for explaining county-level variance in cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality rates for breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This geospatial cross-sectional analysis across all US counties used random forest algorithms to estimate the relative importance of 24 community measures—including health behaviors and lifestyle, socioeconomic, and environment factors—as explanatory factors for cancer screening, prevalence, and mortality. For each cancer, county-level cancer screening and …

Psychiatrists And Non-Psychiatrists’ Attitudes To Psychotropic Optimisation For People With Intellectual Disabilities And/Or Autism: Cross-Sectional Comparison Study, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

BackgroundOff-licence psychotropic use in people with intellectual disability and/or autism, in the absence of psychiatric illness, is a major public health concern in England.AimsTo ascertain and compare views of psychiatrists and non-psychiatrists working with people with intellectual disability and/or autism on psychotropic medication optimisation for this population.MethodA cross-sectional survey of 13 questions was disseminated online among psychiatrists and other health professionals working with people with intellectual disability and/or autism across England, using a non-discriminatory exponential snowballing technique leading to non-probability sampling. The questionnaire covered demographic characteristics, perceived barriers/benefits of psychotropic optimisation (including ethnicity) and views on implementation of a national …

Palliative Care Conditions Managed At Home And Self-Reported Challenges Experienced By Informal Home-Based Caregivers In Rwanda: A Qualitative Study, Jean Claude Twahirwa, Madeleine Mukeshimana, Margaret Fitch, Godfrey Katende

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Introduction: A greater dependency on informal home-based caregivers to assist patients in their homes stems from Rwanda’s rising palliative care needs and the burden of terminal illnesses. These caregivers play a critical role in addressing patients’ physical and emotional needs and assisting with daily activities. However, in low-resource settings like Rwanda, limited attention has been given to understanding their lived experiences and the challenges they face. This study primarily aimed to explore the lived experiences and caregiving challenges of informal home-based caregivers providing palliative care. A secondary aim was to describe the range of life-threatening conditions being managed at home …

Nursing Perspectives To Promote Healthy Work Environments: Implications For Nurse Leaders, Kristine D. Marks, Joyce A. Cook, Sally A. Decker, Kourtney Garno, Julie Newton, Elizabeth Roe, Roberta Thrush

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

As part of a quality improvement project, in February 2021, 476 nurses from one hospital system responded to two open-ended questions about their experience of being a nurse and elicited suggestions for change. Qualitative content analysis results guided nurse leaders on changes that promoted a healthier work environment.

Detailed abstract attached.

Factors Influencing Nurse Manager Retention, Intent To Stay Or Leave, And Turnover: A Systematic Review, Tatiana K. Penconek, Kaitlyn C. Tate, Sarah A. Lartey, Dilsah Polat, Andrea Bernardes, Bruna Moreno Dias, Megan L. Nuspl, Greta G. Cummings

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

This presentation details the process and results of a systematic review that examined nurse manager retention, intent to stay, intent to leave, and turnover. With global nursing shortages made worse by a global pandemic, understanding reasons for staff decision-making is an important aspect of supporting and sustaining health services.

Detailed abstract attached.

A Risk-Based Assessment And Intervention Planning Tool For The Prevention Of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries, Kathleen A. Widmer

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Hospital-acquired pressure injury prevention is a priority for nursing quality and has implications for patient outcomes and healthcare costs. This project implemented a tool guiding risk screening and care planning among bedside nurses. While results were non-significant, positive trends were identified, and key barriers for prevention identified.

Detailed abstract attached.

Examining Impostor Phenomenon And Burnout In Newly Licensed Registered Nurses During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Shermel Edwards-Maddox

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

The prevalence and severity of impostor phenomenon and its relationship to burnout is examined in newly licensed registered nurses who attended nursing school during the COVID19 pandemic. Personal and professional demographics are included in the analysis in order to elucidate relationships between the study variables.

Detailed abstract attached.

Moral Distress Among Nicu Nurses Related To Child Welfare Concerns, Amber Welborn, Meredith Gringle, Tracy Nichols

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

This study aims to understand the experience of moral distress related to child custody among NICU nurses who care for families with a substance-exposed pregnancy. Preliminary findings reveal a continuum of morally distressing experiences centering on fear for infant safety and perceived nurse responsibility. Potential solutions are interdisciplinary.

Detailed abstract attached.

Bridging Language Barriers In Data Analysis For Constructivist Grounded Theory Research: A Case Study In Chinese Context, Wenyu Li, Catherine Elliott O’Dare, Catherine Conlon

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative studies across diverse linguistic and cultural contexts are rising in global social settings. However, literature addressing the potential methodology challenges of conducting such research using constructivist grounded theory (CGT) remains limited. This paper, therefore, highlights potential challenges in the data analysis phase of cross-cultural research using CGT and suggests a three-phase language conversion strategy to minimize data loss while avoiding superficial analysis based on my Ph.D. research experience, where interviews are conducted in Chinese while the target language is English. Additionally, this paper reflects on the role of bilingual researchers in CGT cross-cultural studies, exploring how the bilingual research …

Launching The Conversation: Exploring What We Call Home, The Lender Center For Social Justice

The Lender Center for Social Justice

A pamphlet describing redlining, housing injustice, environmental injustice, and poverty in the Syracuse area.

Graphene Screen-Printed Electrode For Wound-Related Biosensing, Chanyapat Sriviroch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring wound healing is critical for improving patient outcomes, especially for chronic wounds, which often have complications like delayed healing and infections. Current methods for monitoring wound healing are invasive and costly. Also, these methods have a limited ability to provide real-time, continuous data. This study seeks to explore a graphene screen-printed electrode (SPE) electrochemical biosensor that is non-invasive and efficient to constantly monitor wound healing in real time. This research study focuses specifically on the electrochemical detection of the Human Neutrophil Elastase (HNE) and Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor (SLPI), which is one of the most abundant neutral proteinases in …

Mapping Seagrass Extent Using Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery: A Case Study In Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands, Chelsea O. Bryant

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass beds provide important services in many coastal ecosystems. They provide habitat and food for a wide range of marine species, stabilize sediments, and prevent coastal erosion. These services support local fisheries and tourism-driven economies. Yet, seagrass ecosystems are threatened by changes in water quality, sedimentation, and other stressors. This study investigated the interannual variability in seagrass extent in Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands (USVI), from 2018 to 2024. The goals were to better understand temporal dynamics in seagrass extent and evaluate the influence of turbidity as a driver of seagrass health and distribution. The overarching research question …

Spartan Daily, October 23, 2025, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2025

Volume 165, Issue 27

Relationship Between Smoking And Psychiatric And Somatic Comorbidities In Older Age Bipolar Disorder: Lien Entre Le Tabagisme Et Les Affections Psychiatriques Et Somatiques Concomitantes Chez Les Personnes Âgées Atteintes De Trouble Bipolaire, Molly Howland, Arushi Mahajan, Peijun Chen, Osvaldo Almeida, Kürşat Altınbaş, Hilary Blumberg, Annemiek Dols, Nicole Fiorelli, Orestes Forlenza, Beny Lafer, Andrew Olagunju, Melis Orhan, Soham Rej, Martha Sajatovic, Matthew Schurr, Christian Simhandl, Jair Soares, Ashley Sutherland, Shang-Ying Tsai, Sara Weisenbach, Joy Yala, Farren Briggs

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective

Smoking has been associated with psychiatric and somatic comorbidities in bipolar disorder (BD) populations. However, studies in older age BD (OABD) populations are sparse. We hypothesized that among individuals with OABD, current and former smokers would have worse psychiatric and somatic comorbidities parameters compared to never smokers.

Method

Our study used baseline cross-sectional data from 27 international studies reporting data on adults 50 years old and older (N = 984). Smoking status was categorized into current smokers, former smokers, and never smokers. The distribution of demographic and clinical variables was assessed. The associations between smoking status and the …

October 23, 2025, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

A Critical Alteration In Enolase Is Identified In One Isolate Of Staphylococcus Aureus To Avoid Host Immunity, Ban M. Abdulhadi, Halah H Al-Haideri

Baghdad Science Journal

The ability of Staphylococcus aureus enolase to cleave plasminogen has been thought to be important for bacterial virulence. The genetic variants of Eno gene sequences were investigated in the present study to assess the pattern of biological diversity of one isolate of S. aureus isolated from patients with diabetic food from Iraqi hospitals. The observed variant’s possible impact in altering the enolase’s binding with its receptor was assessed by docking with plasminogen before and after mutation. Within the locus 791^st, two variations were identified with two different consequences since A>T791 (in S2, S3, S14, and S17) and …

Seasonal Variation Of Phytoplankton And Zooplankton Biomass In Correlation With Physio-Chemical Variables Of Some Water Bodies In Dolly Smaquli, Erbil, Iraq, Sana Kayfi Najmadden, Luay Abdul-Qadir Ali

Baghdad Science Journal

The seasonal variation of phytoplankton and zooplankton groups in correlation with physio-chemical variables has been examined by monthly water samples from eight distinct locations in Smaquli Dam and Streams within Dolly Smaquli in Erbil city, Iraq. The sampling time spans from September 2021 to August 2022. Nineteen physical and chemical variables were examined including Air and water temperature, Electrical conductivity (EC), Total dissolved solids (TDS), Turbidity, pH, Dissolved oxygen (DO), Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), Total Alkalinity, Total Hardness, Nitrite (NO₂), Nitrate (NO₃), Reactive phosphate (PO₄), Ca⁺², Mg⁺², Na …

Cadmium Removal From Aqueous Solutions Facilitated By Biochar Derived From Active Sewage Sludge, Aya L. Khalil, Faris H. Al-Ani, Abdul Hameed M. J. Al-Obaidy

Baghdad Science Journal

Biochar was previously confined to agriculture applications, but its utilization has since expanded across various sectors. In this case, sludge acquired from a sewage treatment facility was employed in the production of biochar. The study investigates the adsorption of cadmium in aqueous solution by both untreated biochar and biochar treated with H₃PO₄, examining the influence of adsorbent dosage, contact time, pH, and initial concentration. Phosphorus compounds present on the biochar surface activate it, enhancing cadmium removal compared to untreated biochar. The experimental results showed that the optimal dosage (1000 mg/l) and adsorption rate were significantly affected …

Use Of The Selective Cytopheretic Device With Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy In Children: A Comparison Of Contemporary Cohorts, Natalja L Stanski, Jangdong Seo, Todd Jenkins, Kelli A Krallman, Shina Menon, H David Humes, David J Askenazi, Rajit K Basu, Ayse Akcan-Arikan, Stuart L Goldstein, Katja M Gist

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction: The selective cytopheretic device (SCD) is a cell-directed extracorporeal therapy approved for use in children with acute kidney injury (AKI) receiving continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with sepsis/sepsis-like conditions. We compared outcomes for children treated with SCD to a contemporary cohort of children treated with CRRT alone.

Methods: Secondary analysis and comparison of patients ≤22 years old and ≥10 kg from a multicenter registry of patients receiving CRRT for AKI and/or fluid overload (WE-ROCK; 2015-2021) to patients from two multicenter, prospective, interventional studies of children with AKI and multiple organ dysfunction (MODS) receiving SCD (SCD-PED-01/SCD-PED-02; 2016-2022).

Results: Eighteen patients …

Xpert Mtb/Rif Ultra Assay For Tuberculosis Disease And Rifampicin Resistance In Children, Alexander W Kay, Maia Madison, Katie Scandrett, Tara Ness, Pauline Amuge, Leeberk Raja Inbaraj, Mukesh Kumar Sathya Narayanan, Lucia González Fernández, Michael Eisenhut, Nazir Ismail, Alexei Korobitsyn, Sabine E Verkuijl, Annemieke Brands, Kerri Viney, Tiziana Masini, Anna M Mandalakas, Karen R Steingart, Yemisi Takwoingi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: In 2023, an estimated 1.3 million children (aged 0-14 years) became ill with tuberculosis, and 166,000 children (aged 0-15 years) died from the disease. Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Xpert Ultra) is a molecular World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended rapid diagnostic test that detects Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and rifampicin resistance. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2020 and last updated in 2022. Parts of the current update informed the 2024 WHO updated guidance for the diagnosis of tuberculosis.

Objectives: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of Xpert Ultra for detecting pulmonary tuberculosis, tuberculous meningitis, lymph node tuberculosis, and …

Cdk4/6 Inhibitors In Breast Cancer-Who Should Receive Them?, Anran Chen, Ze-Yi Zheng, Meenakshi Anurag, Ahmed Elkhanany, Natalie C Chen, Eric C Chang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive (ER+). Endocrine therapy that blocks estrogen signaling remains the cornerstone of treatment, yet relapses continue to affect many patients. Cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) regulate the G1-S phase transition in the cell cycle, and pharmacological inhibition of this pathway has been successfully leveraged to reduce recurrence. CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with endocrine therapy are now the standard of care, although determining the optimal patient population for treatment remains a key challenge. A newly published study provides important insight, showing that loss of the NF1/neurofibromin tumor suppressor confers greater sensitivity to CDK4/6 …

Montana Kaimin, October 23, 2025, Students Of The University Of Montana, Missoula

Montana Kaimin, 1898-present

Student newspaper of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Kenyon Collegian - October 23, 2025

The Kenyon Collegian

No abstract provided.

Understanding Short Stature In Pediatrics: Key Insight, Micahel Smith, Pratibha Rana

Pediatrics in Practice: A CME Podcast

In this episode of Pediatrics in Practice, Dr. Mike and Dr. Pratibha Rana from Children's Mercy unravel the complexities of caring for patients with short stature. They discuss common causes, evaluation techniques, and treatment approaches. Ideal for pediatricians, this episode highlights clinical decision-making tools for better patient outcomes.

Click here to stream the podcast episode.

Comprehensive Descriptive Analysis Of Large Alzheimer's Disease Patient Cohorts, Ehsan Yaghmaei, Attallah Dillard, Mohammadreza Rezaei, Ahmad Razaei, Albert Pierce, Hongxia Lu, Eric Adams, Nikolay Todorov, Louis Ehwerhemuepha, Jianwei Zheng, Seyed Ahmad Sajjadi, Mohsen Bazargan, Cyril Rakovski

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Objective

Methods

Dominant Factors Affecting Employment Opportunities In Indonesia, Muhammad Nur Afiat, Muhamad Armawaddin, Ahmad Ahmad

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Studi Pembangunan

The Classical and Keynesian debate over the equilibrium of the open economy continues today. This research uses Keynes's theory of income and Cobb-Douglas's theory of production. The purpose of this study is to examine and analyze the partial effect of consumption expenditure, government expenditure, investment, and net exports on employment opportunities in Indonesia. In particular, this study knows the dominant factors that affect employment opportunities in Indonesia. The data type uses panel data from 33 provinces and the period 2010-2022. Data analysis using panel data regression and selection variables and stepwise least square forward. The results found that the best …