Digital Commons Network^™

Nov. 2026 Government And Insurance Update - Sen. Jeff Irwin On Sb 105 And Advocacy, James Budd Mpp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This article features an interview with Michigan State Senator Jeff Irwin discussing Senate Bill 105, the Virtual Credit Card Payments bill. SB 105 mandates that dental providers have access to at least one fee-free method of receiving insurance reimbursements, preventing double processing fee deductions by insurers. Senator Irwin explains the bipartisan effort behind the bill's success, the importance of protecting local dental practices from unfair financial burdens, and actionable advice for dentists to engage with lawmakers.

Nov. 2026 Dentistry And The Law - Practice Break-Ups/Ownership Of Patient Records, Daniel Schulte Jd

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This legal column addresses complex issues surrounding dental practice break-ups and the ownership of patient records. Author Daniel J. Schulte, JD, provides guidance on establishing clear employment, shareholder, and buy-sell agreements from the inception of a practice partnership. Proactive legal structuring ensures continuity of patient care, clarifies record ownership rights, and mitigates the risk of costly litigation during practice transitions.

Nov. 2026 Staff Matters - What Documents Should Every Dental Practice Collect And Maintain For Its Employees?, Jodi Schafer Sphr, Shrm-Scp

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This human resources column addresses onboarding compliance for dental practices. Author Jodi Schafer outlines essential employment documentation that practices must collect and maintain for new hires beyond Form I-9, including tax forms, payroll records, licensure verification, emergency contacts, and signed handbook acknowledgments, ensuring legal compliance and organized practice administration.

Nov. 2026 Mda Insurance - Could Your Practice Be Vulnerable To Embezzlement?, Reva Darling

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This feature highlights internal financial risks facing dental practices, noting that up to 70% of dentists may experience embezzlement during their careers. Citing high-profile Michigan fraud cases, author Reva Darling outlines critical behavioral warning signs of internal theft, such as resistance to duty cross-training or reluctance to take vacations. It introduces Prosperident’s free Embezzlement Risk Assessment Questionnaire for MDA members to evaluate vulnerabilities and establish robust internal controls.

Nov. 2026 - Characteristics Of An Effective Mda Leader, William Chase Dds, Maom

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

In this commentary, former MDA President Dr. William R. Chase examines core attributes essential for effective leadership within organized dentistry. He praises the MDA's Leadership Exploration and Development (LEAD) Program and outlines key traits required of trusted volunteer leaders across boards and committees, emphasizing passion for the profession, integrity, active listening, strategic vision, and commitment to serving members.

Analysis Of The Dental Emergency Visits At Fqhcs In Michigan And Recommendations For Change, Xuesi Hua, Martha Mccomas, Elizabeth Hatfield

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

This mixed-methods study evaluates emergency dental operations across Michigan's Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Utilizing clinician interviews, surveys, and state usage data, the authors examine care delivery models, identify clinician and patient barriers to access, and analyze reasons why patients utilize hospital emergency departments rather than community health centers. System-level recommendations are proposed to optimize emergency triage, expand capacity, and improve outcomes for underserved populations.

Nov. 2026 The Back Page - Life Membership Status Awarded To 70 Members, Mda Membership Department Staff

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The Back Page celebrates seventy Michigan Dental Association members who achieved Life Membership status in 2026. Organized by local dental districts (including Central, Cloverland, Detroit, Jackson, Kalamazoo Valley, Lakeland Valley, Oakland County, and West Michigan), the feature honors their decades of clinical practice, dedicated service, and sustained support for organized dentistry across Michigan.

Effects Of Demineralization Protocols On Hydrogen And Oxygen Isotope Ratios In Fossil Bone Collagen, Linda M. Reynard

Boise State University Publications and Presentations

The effect of three commonly used preparation protocols on bone collagen δ2H and δ18O values was investigated, using six generally well-preserved faunal bones (cattle, bison, horse) ranging in age from the Holocene to Late Pleistocene. The treatments tested were ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid demineralization without gelatinization and hydrochloric acid demineralization with and without gelatinization. There are significant shifts in δ18O values among preparation methods. No systematic shifts in bone collagen δ2H values were noted among the three treatments, and most offsets were low (< 2–3 ‰) and smaller than typical measurement uncertainties. A few sample/treatment combinations yielded slightly higher inter-treatment δ2H differences (∼ 5–7 ‰). Lower mass fraction of hydrogen in …

Reliability And Validity Of Upper Extremity Neurocognitive Reactive Tests In Collegiate Athletes, Matthew L. Gauthier, Marisa Pontillo, George J. Davies

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Objectives: Neurocognitive function is vital in sports, but evidence supporting neurocognitive reaction testing in upper extremity return-to-sport testing is limited. This study's purpose was to quantify measurement properties of upper extremity reactive testing in collegiate athletes, hypothesizing acceptable measurement properties for clinical use.

Design: Cross-Sectional Study.

Setting: Collegiate athletics.

Participants: Sixty-three healthy athletes (25 females, age = 20.8 ± 1.6 years, BMI = 25.6 ± 2.6 kg/m2; 38 males, age = 20.8 ± 1.6, BMI = 25.7 ± 2.6 kg/m2).

Main outcome measure(s): Successful touches and average reaction time on the Upper Extremity Reactive Closed Kinetic Chain Test (UERCKCT) and …

Phytochemical Screening And Assessment Of Antibacterial And Antioxidant Activities Of The Crude Extracts From The Leaves Of Vernonia Lasiopus Against Diarrhea-Associated Bacteria, Jackson Iradukunda, Théoneste Muhizi

Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research

Vernonia lasiopus O. Hoffm., a member of the family Asteraceae, has been traditionally used in the management of diarrhea and has also been reported to possess antioxidant properties. However, its biological activities and therapeutic potential have not been adequately established through scientific investigation. This study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of crude leaf extracts of V. lasiopus against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus and to assess their antioxidant activity using the 2,2 diphenyl 1 picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. The powdered leaves were extracted by maceration using methanol, diethyl ether, cyclohexane, and acetone. Phytochemical screening was performed to determine the classes …

Ai And Government Disinformation: Vaccine Disinformation, Caroline Mala Corbin

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nonhuman Speakers And The Constitution, Helen Norton

Fordham Law Review

Long-standing free speech law sometimes does—and sometimes does not—turn on speakers’ human character. This Essay explores how these doctrinal threads might shape the constitutional doctrine applied to generative artificial intelligence’s (AI) speech outputs if we assume that a human speaker cannot be identified as the creator of those words and images—and that those words and images are nevertheless considered “speech” for First Amendment purposes.

For example, First Amendment doctrine sometimes requires proof of a speaker’s culpable mental state before that speaker can be held liable for what would otherwise be unprotected speech. These requirements seek to prevent the chilling of …

From The “Wild West” To Fair Play: How Conferences Can Bring Stability And Equal Opportunity To Nil In Collegiate Athletics, Sofia M. Giamartino

Fordham Law Review

The past twenty years have witnessed a steady dismantling of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) restrictions on college athletes’ labor rights. As athletes celebrated small victories, both in the courtroom and in state legislatures, the NCAA continued its attempts to restrict benefits granted to its athletes in the name of “amateurism.” Certain restrictions ended on June 30, 2021, with the NCAA continuing to prohibit direct pay and pay from collectives.

With its hand forced, the NCAA abandoned its Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) restrictions, opening the door to long unavailable opportunities for college athletes. These opportunities particularly benefited underrepresented …

Quality Reveals What Quantity Conceals: Deceptive Equity Patterns In Urban Green Space Distribution, Zheng Xian, Yoshiharu Suzuki, Kun Liu, Clive E. Sabel, Naoki Nakaya, Atsushi Hozawa, Tomoki Nakaya

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Equitable provision of urban green space depends on how green space exposure is measured, yet aggregate, quantity-focused metrics can mask disparities in quality. We introduce the concept of deceptive equity, in which apparent distributional fairness conceals substantive inequality, and test it across 344 postcode areas in Sendai, Japan. Across three dimensions — ecological (NDVI), perceptual (Green View Index) and service provision (accessible park count) — we paired a quantity indicator with a quality indicator. A quantity–quality divergence emerged in every dimension: wherever a quality indicator showed a significant socioeconomic gradient it favoured affluent areas, whereas the corresponding quantity indicators were …

A Community's Next Chapter: Introducing The Journal Of Accreditation And Quality Improvement In Medical Education, Melisa Pierce, Jason Booza, Colleen Hayden

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

No abstract provided.

Differences In Infection Prevention And Control Staffing Between Free-Standing And System-Affiliated Hospitals: A National Survey., Lucas Philip, Vittorio Maio, Pamela De Cordova, Elizabeth Monsees, Raegan Davis, Pat Moeller, Andrew Dick, Scott W Keith, Monika Pogorzelska-Maziarz

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Infection prevention and control (IPC) staffing varies across US hospitals, and traditional bed-based benchmarks may no longer reflect contemporary workloads or organizational structures. With most hospitals now system-affiliated, understanding how affiliation influences infection preventionist (IP) staffing is critical for modernizing guidance.

METHODS: A national survey was distributed to US acute care hospitals participating in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) from August to December 2023, assessing IPC staffing, resource availability, and organizational structure. Hospitals were categorized as free-standing or system-affiliated; differences were assessed with Wilcoxon rank-sum and chi-square tests.

RESULTS: Of 741 responding hospitals, 550 (74%) were system-affiliated and …

Lrq-Solver: A Transformer-Based Neural Operator For Fast And Accurate Solving Of Large-Scale 3d Pdes, Peijian Zeng, Guan Wang, Haohao Gu, Xiaoguang Hu, Tiezhu Gao, Zhuowei Wang, Aimin Yang, Xiaoyu Song

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Solving large-scale PDEs on complex three-dimensional geometries remains a central challenge in scientific and engineering computing, often due to expensive pre-processing stages and high computational overhead. We present Low-Rank Query-based PDE Solver (LRQ-Solver), a physics-integrated deep learning framework for efficient CAE simulations of complex three-dimensional geometries in CAD-driven design analysis. Built upon the Parameter-Conditioned Lagrangian Modeling (PCLM) that embeds physical consistency into the learning process and the Low-Rank Query Attention (LR-QA) module that reduces attention complexity from O(N2) to O(NC2+C3) via covariance decomposition, LRQ-Solver supports multi-configuration analysis within iterative design workflows. On two benchmark datasets, it achieves a 28.6% error …

Front Matter, Jason C. Booza, Raquel Hernández Givens

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

Front matter for the Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education, Volume 1, Issue 1, Fall 2026.

Strengthening The Science And Practice Of Accreditation And Quality Improvement, Jason C. Booza, Raquel Hernández Givens

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

This editorial welcomes readers to the inaugural issue of the Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education (JAQI).

Students Drive Cqi In Step 1 Support Using The After-Action Review: A Replicable Model For Student Engagement In Accreditation-Driven Quality Improvement, Lauren B. Stumpp, Abigail Yohannes, Greg Null, Allison Serra

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

Background. Medical schools increasingly recognize the importance of engaging students in continuous quality improvement (CQI) processes, yet most institutions rely primarily on surveys that offer limited depth and no leadership role for students. This study describes a student-led CQI model combining a structured survey instrument with the After-Action Review (AAR) framework, implemented across two consecutive cohorts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Methods. Students who completed the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 in 2023 and 2024 were invited to complete a survey evaluating school-provided academic, emotional, and decision-support resources. Following each survey, 12 and 14 …

Meet The Board: A Jaqi Rountable, Ashley Gregory

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

This roundtable introduces readers to the founding members of the Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education's editorial board. Through their reflections, readers will gain insight into the experiences, interests, and aspirations that collectively inform the journal's mission and strategic direction.

Mission Seemingly Impossible: Student Satisfaction With Time For Self-Directed Learning, Sara Bradley, Robyn Bockrath, Mara Johnson, Celia Laird O'Brien

Journal of Accreditation and Quality Improvement in Medical Education

Background. Medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) are often required to demonstrate improvement on accreditation elements in a relatively short amount of time. In October 2021, the LCME cited our institution as Unsatisfactory for the self-directed learning (SDL) element after 21.3% of second-year medical (M2) students reported dissatisfaction with unscheduled time for SDL. The LCME required us to demonstrate improvement in a status update due December 2022. In this paper, we describe a rapid continuous quality improvement (CQI) approach that successfully increased student satisfaction and achieved full compliance within 1 year.

Methods. We employed a …

2026-11-01 Caudill Connection, Morehead State University. Caudill College Of Arts, Humanities And Social Sciences.

Caudill Connection

Caudill Connection newsletter for November of 2026.

Emotional Urgency And Lack Of Perseverance Are Linked To Anxiety Sensitivity And Improve During Early Recovery From Opioid Use Disorder., Breanna A. Mcnaughton-Long, Abigail J. Pleiman, Carmen Buchfink, Chrysantha B. Davis, Rayus Kuplicki, Martin P. Paulus, Hung-Wen Yeh, Maëlle C M Gueguen, Jennifer L. Stewart

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Few studies have identified how facets of impulsivity relate to recovery in opioid use disorder (OUD). Treatment-enrolled individuals with OUD (n = 167) and healthy controls (CTL; n = 46) completed the Urgency, Premeditation, Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, Positive Urgency (UPPS-P) Impulsive Behavior Scale along with demographic and clinical measures at visit 1. Over the next three months, abstinence and return to use were documented for participants with OUD (via self-report, alcohol breathalyzer, urine drug screen, and secondary contact communication). Participants with OUD who returned to use (n = 59) did not complete further study visits, whereas those who remained abstinent …

Climate Transition Stress Testing For Corporate Credit Risk: A Replicable Data-Mining Pipeline Using Esg Risk Scores, Huynh Long Hung Nguyen, Alan @ Ali Madjelisi Megargel, Rajesh Krishna Balan, Paul Robert Griffin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We present a replicable data-mining pipeline for illustrative, scenario-conditioned corporate distress analysis under feature decoupling. The pipeline links Compustat financial statements with Sustainalytics ESG Risk Rating records for 2,144 U.S. non-financial public firms, constructs a standardized Transition Risk Index (TRI), estimates a contemporaneous accounting-distress classifier, and applies transparent transition-cost sensitivities. Distress is defined as annual operating income insufficient to cover annual interest expense; interest coverage itself is excluded from the predictors. The resulting model is not a forward default forecast or a regulatory probability-of-default model. On a held-out cross-sectional test set, the logistic specification obtains AUC 0.909, PR-AUC 0.822, and …

Tiny Large Language Models For Iot Networks: Potentials And Challenges, Muhammed Golec, Suhib Bani Melhem, Yaser Khamayseh, Abdulmalik Alwarafy, Naofal Al-Dhahir

All Works

Large Language Models (LLM), which have gained great momentum in recent years, have revolutionized the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI); while their applicability for hardware-constrained Internet of Things (IoT) environments has begun to be questioned. This has led to the emergence of compact architecture and resource-efficient Tiny LLM models. This survey paper systematically examines Tiny LLMs for IoT networks and classifies existing approaches in five basic dimensions: model architectures, optimization strategies, transfer learning methods, deployment paradigms, and explainability-security integration. By applying the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, 139 related studies published between 2020 and 2025 …

Nh Ece Data Collection Efforts Running Inventory, Jess Carson, Evan England, Tyrus Parker

New Hampshire Early Care and Education Research Consortium

The NH ECE Research Consortium maintains an inventory of current and complete NH ECE-relevant data collection efforts. Included are surveys, interviews, focus groups, needs assessments, and other ways people in the field collect information. The inventory strengthens public access for data users, improves awareness and coordination among researchers, and minimizes duplication.

Organizing Imperial Diversity: The Institutional Logics Of Roman Provincial Government And The Western Han Commanderies–Kingdoms System, Lesong Chen

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Comparison of Roman provincial government from the late Republic through the second century CE with the Western Han (202 BCE–9 CE) commanderies–kingdoms system shows that imperial legitimacy shaped the institutional forms of local rule. In the Western Han, All-under-Heaven represented commanderies and kingdoms as components of a single dynastic and moral order. In Rome, governors and military command maintained imperial supremacy, while differentiated legal statuses and municipal institutions allowed cities and local elites to retain substantial corporate responsibilities. Both empires relied on coercion, intermediaries, and negotiated cooperation, but contrasting conceptions of legitimate authority helped produce different institutional balances between imperial …

Behind The Peacock Throne: Rethinking Imperial Ethnicity In The Mughal Empire, Torre Nordgren

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

The Mughal Empire was one of the most ethnically diverse early modern states to have ever ruled, containing an array of states that are currently at the center of a geopolitical tug of war today. This brings forth the two main questions of how the Mughal Empire effectively administered their domains, and to what extent are signs of an early ethnic conflict present in the Empire? Utilizing an imperial framework with Anatoly Iseanko’s model to observe translated primary sources, a swath of rich secondary sources, and Mughal art; the early stages of an ethnic conflict reveals a rift between Hindu …

Beyond The Mountain: Rethinking Decolonization In Quisqueya Through Complementarity Of Haiti And The Dominican Republic, Mihailo Vučetić

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

By moving beyond familiar binaries, French/Spanish, Black/white, colony/nation, the paper challenges comparative frameworks that isolate Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Drawing on Achille Mbembe’s genealogical approach to decolonization, Frantz Fanon’s account of liberation as violent and world-making, and Mary Louise Pratt’s “contact zones,” it traces how colonial divergence and revolution produced not two isolated national stories but a shared terrain of forced unifications, mutual influence, and contested memory.